Early in the morning, Vir woke up, ready to find the moving sandbag from yesterday and continue training his Armament Haki.
After washing up, he had a hearty breakfast and headed back to Black Iron Rock Island.
Returning to the spot where he had beaten up the platypus the day before, he found it still there. It seemed it hadn’t learned its lesson or perhaps had forgotten about the thrashing it received from Vir.
Without hesitation, he charged at the creature, starting their fight anew.
It didn’t take long for Vir to notice that the creature was much more cooperative today. It had frequently tried to escape yesterday, but today it showed no sign of running.
As Vir pondered this change, he heard a rustling sound all around him, as if many creatures were moving through the underbrush, closing in on his position.
A sense of foreboding washed over him. He looked at the platypus, which hadn’t taken the opportunity to attack him while he was distracted, and was simply staring at him.
Realizing something was amiss, Vir decided to retreat but found it was too late. He was surrounded.
A large group of platypuses encircled him, at least a hundred strong.
Vir felt a chill run down his spine. He had never felt this uneasy, not even when he was surrounded on Totto Island. Those had been a rabble of misfits, but these creatures each had the power to seriously injure or kill him. One mistake could be fatal.
No longer considering Haki training, he drew his twin swords, activated his “Thunder Mode,” and charged at the platypuses, his only hope being to break through the encirclement.
He approached one platypus, slashing at its back. The sword barely penetrated the exoskeleton, causing minimal internal damage, increasing Vir’s anxiety.
Abandoning the idea of carving a bloody path, he kicked the platypus away and ran forward.
However, kicking one away only led to several others closing in, attempting to drive him back into the encirclement.
Vir knew that retreating now would mean certain death. He gritted his teeth and pressed forward.
Just then, a huge maw lunged at his waist. He dodged as best he could, but it was too late.
Thinking quickly, Vir used his swords to block the attack from the front and back.
With a clang, he heard a sound like metal clashing and felt intense pain and pressure, as if he was being squeezed in a vice.
A platypus had its jaws clamped around Vir’s waist. Without the swords blocking, he would have been cut in half.
Despite the pain, Vir didn’t stop moving. His years of combat experience told him that stopping now would be fatal.
Dragging the platypus clamped onto him, he charged desperately, miraculously breaking out of the encirclement. However, he felt the tearing at his waist grow stronger. Looking down, he saw that other platypuses were biting the one attached to him, trying to weigh him down and prevent his escape. The one biting him was barely alive.
These were truly fierce and intelligent beasts. The ambush, the self-sacrifice for the greater good, was beyond what most pack animals would do.
Running, Vir used his swords to pry open the jaws clamped around his waist. The platypus, near death, had a weakened bite, and Vir managed to free himself.
He checked his injuries. His waist was covered in gaping wounds, each the size of a thumb, some even worse. His pants were soaked with blood.
Removing the bandages from his hands, which he had wrapped in the morning to protect them during fistfighting, he wrapped them around his waist. The bleeding lessened somewhat but was still serious.
He had to get back to his ship; otherwise, he would bleed out.
Barely managing a few steps, Vir felt dizzy. Blood had marked his escape route. He realized that only his years of training with the “Thunder Stab” technique had kept him conscious.
Though struggling to stay conscious, he knew he couldn’t stop. If he collapsed, the platypuses would follow the blood trail and finish him off.
His vision darkened, and he vaguely sensed something approaching. His last thought was regret over dying on such a deserted island. Then everything went black as he lost consciousness.
After an unknown amount of time, Vir woke up, feeling cold and parched, with a sharp pain in his abdomen. The pain brought him back to full awareness, and he realized he was still alive. That was enough for now.
He slowly sat up, taking in his surroundings. He was in a tree hollow, large enough to lie down in. Crawling to the entrance, he saw that he was high off the ground.
Puzzled, he heard something climbing the tree. Despite his weakened state, he peeked out and saw the familiar rabbit from the previous day.
Everything made sense now. The rabbit had saved him and brought him to this hollow.
Feeling a wave of gratitude, Vir watched as the rabbit climbed up and nodded at him.
It held two bright red fruits in its paws, offering them to Vir.
Without hesitation, Vir took a bite. He trusted the rabbit that had saved his life and figured it wouldn’t give him anything harmful.
The fruit’s juice quenched his thirst, and he felt much better after eating them.
“Rabbit, can you take me to the tree’s base? Do you understand me?” Vir asked, testing the rabbit’s understanding.
Although the rabbit didn’t understand human language, after some gesturing and drawing crude pictures, it understood that Vir wanted to return to his ship.
The rabbit, surprisingly strong, hoisted Vir onto its back, causing him intense pain but he made no sound, just sweated profusely.
The rabbit quickly made its way to Vir’s ship. Vir motioned for it to board, and after some hesitation, the rabbit jumped onto the unfamiliar “big piece of wood.”
Once on board, Vir managed to start the ship and headed to his cabin to tend to his wounds.
He thought to himself about his recent string of bad luck, two near-death experiences within a month.
After cleaning, stitching, and bandaging his wounds, he smiled at the rabbit exploring the ship.
Finding a large carrot in the food storage, he handed it to the rabbit, indicating it could eat.
The curious rabbit took a bite and was immediately hooked, devouring the carrot with delight.
Vir laughed, bringing out several more large carrots for the rabbit. After showing it around the ship, he returned to his cabin and lay down, quickly drifting into a much-needed sleep.
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