“…Total of 187 deceased villagers, with 17 survivors, all women. Their emotional states are unstable, and they have been sedated.”
“Thirty-seven pirates dead, including one bounty target named Jericho, alias the Ripper, captain of the Ripper Pirates, with a bounty of 16 million berries.”
“Preliminary investigation indicates that the massacre was solely perpetrated by the Ripper Pirates, employing extremely brutal methods.”
In a hazy state, Rosha seemed to hear many voices around him.
The intervals between the voices were long, and he couldn’t hear them clearly, as if separated by a thick wall.
Rosha was having a long dream.
In the dream, he arrived in a paradise-like world.
Two kind and loving elderly people were always watching him with affectionate eyes.
In that world, there was no hunger, no pain, no despair, and no hatred.
Only a peaceful life.
Fishing, collecting shells, weaving bamboo baskets, sitting on the beach enjoying the sea breeze.
“Rosha, it’s daylight. Let’s go out to sea with Dad today. I’ll take you to catch oarfish. Do you know, they sell for a lot? Last time, the village chief got lucky and caught three. Guess how much he sold them for?”
“Twenty thousand berries each, so three make sixty thousand berries!”
“Our family can’t earn that much in a year.”
“But Dad, if each one is twenty thousand berries, three would be sixty thousand berries, not fifty.”
“Oh? Is that so? Hahaha, my son can do math, he’s a genius. If you ever go to Spider Miles, you’ll make a name for yourself there.”
“Rosha, here, this is a bamboo basket your mother wove for you. How do you like it? She even added a little flower. When you grow up a bit, you can use it to collect shells and small fish by the sea.”
“Mom, I’m a boy. I don’t like flowers.”
“Why not? I wove a sunflower, the most radiant flower, just like the sun, perfect for a young man.”
“But I want a bamboo sword.”
“Rosha…”
“Rosha…”
“My child…”
Outside the cabin.
Akainu frowned, looking at the sweating Navy doctor, Desmond Doss, standing before him.
“Doss, did you really treat that kid properly? Why hasn’t he woken up after seven days?”
The young doctor, in his early thirties, holding a roll of bandages, wiped his forehead nervously, stammering:
“My treatment plan was flawless. The surgery went smoothly. Admiral Sakazuki, weren’t you there the whole time? After stitching the wounds and completing the blood transfusion, his vitals stabilized.”
“His recovery has been rapid. He should have woken up by now. The only explanations are either his brain is affected, or…he doesn’t want to wake up.”
“You haven’t done anything to him these past days?”
“No! Absolutely not! I haven’t conducted any experiments on him. I swear!”
“Really?”
Akainu’s face was full of suspicion. He glanced at his daughter, Hibari, who was stifling a laugh.
Seeing her father’s look, Hibari immediately reported:
“I saw Doctor Doss draw blood from him!”
“I didn’t! Don’t talk nonsense, Hibari, I’ll get in trouble!”
Doss’s face turned pale, and he frantically waved at Hibari to stop talking.
Suddenly, the temperature on the deck seemed to drop, and Doss shivered involuntarily.
Feeling the huge shadow looming over him, he wanted to explain but felt himself being lifted by the collar and then hurled off the deck into the sea.
“Swim 100 laps around the ship! No meals until you’re done!”
Akainu’s roar echoed from the deck.
“No! I’m just a weak ship doctor! I’ll die, Admiral Sakazuki!”
Ignoring the cries from the sea, Akainu frowned and looked toward the cabin.
Boom!
A heavy thud came from inside, sounding like someone hitting flesh with great force.
Boom!
The sound was solid and powerful, accompanied by heavy breathing.
With his sharp hearing, Akainu even caught the grinding of teeth.
“This kid…”
“Admiral Sakazuki, should we…?”
A Navy soldier approached, seeking instructions after hearing the sounds.
“Wait outside.”
Akainu stepped toward the cabin but paused, then instructed, “Prepare some food.”
“Yes, sir!” The soldier saluted and left.
“Is that strange person awake?”
Hibari blinked, following Akainu into the cabin.
She wasn’t unfamiliar with Rosha.
Out of curiosity, Hibari had been following Doctor Doss around, sneaking into the rest area to observe Rosha every day.
To Hibari, Rosha’s appearance somewhat resembled a certain Navy officer she remembered.
Both were so thin they looked like walking skeletons.
The only difference was that this skeleton’s face was less frightening, and his frame was taller and sturdier.
Though equally gaunt, Hibari could tell Rosha wasn’t ugly, just severely malnourished.
Despite her young age, she was perceptive.
She had noticed subtle hints that her father seemed somewhat interested in this person.
This piqued Hibari’s curiosity even more.
In her mind, her father, Sakazuki, was like an old scholar with a rigid personality.
His daily routine was either hunting pirates or on the way to hunt pirates.
In the vast Navy Headquarters, besides his old subordinates and Uncle Borsalino, he rarely spoke to anyone else.
Grandpa Sengoku once said Sakazuki was like a stone in a latrine, smelly and hard.
If not for his formidable strength, his personality would have made it hard for him to keep his head up.
Hibari had never seen her father so concerned about a Navy soldier.
To uncover the truth, Hibari used her ultimate weapon.
Charm.
Even an iron-willed man couldn’t resist the charm of an adorable daughter, especially someone like Akainu, who only became a father in his thirties and had a rather flawed personality.
So, Hibari learned that Rosha was the ‘hero’ responsible for the Ripper Pirates’ demise.
This discovery made Rosha even more memorable to Hibari.
After a brief glimpse of Red Leaf Island that day, Hibari had nightmares for five days straight.
Especially the gruesome sight of the pirate captain Jericho, giving her a severe aversion to tofu in the ship’s mess hall.
Inside the dimly lit rest area of the ship’s cabin, Hibari followed Akainu, hearing heavy thuds again.
As they entered, they saw a tall, skeletal figure with white hair sitting hunched on the bed, repeatedly punching his growling stomach.
Boom!
Boom!
The force of his punches made the bed creak like it would collapse at any moment.
Gurgle, gurgle…
Boom!
Rosha, with disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, gritted his teeth, pounding himself.
Seeing this, Hibari hid behind Akainu, peeking out cautiously.
Akainu watched silently.
Boom!
Another punch landed.
With that, the bed finally gave way with a crack, collapsing and leaving Rosha lying amidst the broken wood.
Rosha lowered his head, his bloodshot eyes empty.
His stomach churned, spasming with intense hunger waves crashing over him.
Pulling him out of the dream he wished never to wake from.
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