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**Chapter Cover Story: The 100 Million Rookie, Part 4: ‘It’s Only Been a Few Days?!’**
**Location: West Blue, Lasgap Island, a small village. Villagers gather around reading a newspaper. The old village chief stands in front of Lily’s grave, shaking Liam’s bounty poster in frustration, complaining incessantly.**
—
The girl’s sobbing was so heartbreaking that it made passersby stop in their tracks.
A man with a face painted like a clown and a woman waving a pendant in front of the girl tried to comfort her for a long time. Gradually, the girl’s cries subsided— not because she had calmed down, but because her voice had become hoarse from crying, and she was exhausted.
The wandering artist George and the self-proclaimed hypnosis master Tilda tried everything to cheer the girl up but to no avail. Eventually, an old aunt hurried over, half out of resignation and half out of sympathy, and took the girl back home.
“My home isn’t here… wuwuwu…” The girl sobbed as she was led away by her aunt, gradually disappearing into the distance.
“Is this related to the Heavenly Tribute?”
“Yeah.” The wandering artist George, his face still comically painted, sighed. “It seems her father couldn’t afford the taxes, so he decided to risk going to sea… but he ran into pirates and died at sea!”
“That’s really unlucky…”
Tilda fumed, “That’s why men are such fools! Going out to sea alone? Was he asking to get himself killed? If I had seen him, I would have given him a ruthless hypnosis session!”
“Are you really a hypnotist?”
“Haha, yes!” George laughed heartily, holding his stomach. “But she’s so impatient! She never waits for the hypnosis to work and just pulls out a weapon to knock people out instead— by the way, who are you?!”
Suddenly, it dawned on him—who was talking to them?
When George and Tilda turned around, they saw a young boy and girl, seemingly around the same age, who had somehow joined the conversation unnoticed.
Robin was still looking in the direction where the girl, who had lost her only father, had been taken away, her voice hoarse from crying.
Liam turned to Tilda, the self-proclaimed hypnosis master, and asked, “I have a question— how exactly does hypnosis work?”
Since he had been hypnotized by Laffitte before, he didn’t doubt the effectiveness of such abilities. If it hadn’t been for the independent consciousness of the Stand ‘B.I.B.’, Liam would have been completely hypnotized by Laffitte, subject to his every whim.
Laffitte could have made him reveal any secret, and Liam would have done so like a puppet, word for word.
Moreover, in the manga, besides Laffitte, there were other instances of hypnosis or hypnosis-like abilities.
In the East Blue arc, on Usopp’s home island, the Black Cat Pirates’ Jango used hypnosis to make his subordinates’ muscles swell, allowing them to smash rocks with a single punch, becoming as fierce as if they were on steroids.
The Baroque Works member Mr. 3’s partner, the artist girl Miss Goldenweek, although not a Devil Fruit user, could control Luffy’s emotions and body with simple paint patterns.
“So, how does hypnosis work?” A question mark appeared above Tilda’s head as she stroked her chin in thought. “Well… if you really focus on wanting to hypnotize someone, it just naturally happens, right?”
“Oh, I see!” George clapped his hands in realization, exclaiming, “It’s the amazing power of hypnosis! By the way, why do I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before?”
Trying to hypnotize someone simply by focusing on the intention to hypnotize them? Robin found this logic utterly baffling. From a certain perspective, it truly was incredible!
Liam immediately suggested that since they couldn’t explain it clearly, Tilda should try to hypnotize him.
“I’ve heard hypnosis can make someone stronger, strong enough to punch through a wall!” Liam eagerly proposed, “Why don’t you try that?”
“It should be possible, but it takes a lot of time!” Tilda wasn’t confident; after all, she had never had the patience to go that far… Meanwhile, someone kept tapping her on the shoulder.
Annoyed, Tilda snapped, “George, what is it?! You…” She extended her hand, ready to hypnotize the curious boy in front of her. But when she turned around, she saw George with a terrified expression, pointing at a bounty poster on the nearby wall and then at the two kids standing before them.
George and Tilda’s eyes widened in shock as they looked back and forth between the photos on the bounty posters and Liam and Robin.
“Over there!”
“Don’t let them escape!”
“Stop right there!”
At that moment, down the street behind Liam and Robin, a mixed group of Marines and local enforcers was rushing toward them.
“Captain Jolyne, it’s all yours!” Liam waved his hand, and the Stand ‘B.I.B.’ surged toward Robin like a jet-black Iron Man suit, enveloping and armoring her.
Robin remained calm, allowing the ghostly armor to take over her actions, and charged directly toward the Marines and enforcers.
With ‘B.I.B.’ fully replicating Liam’s strength, she was more than capable of handling the situation. The Marines and enforcers, who had to be cautious of the civilians around them and couldn’t fire freely, were no match for her.
Their swords and weapons couldn’t keep up with the armored Robin. Although Liam hadn’t yet mastered Soru from Rokushiki, the near-blink short-distance movement technique, his speed was more than enough to outmaneuver ordinary soldiers.
Even when they managed to draw their guns, ‘B.I.B.’ could swiftly guide Robin through the crossfire, dodging bullets with ease.
George and Tilda watched in horror as the seemingly fragile girl beat down the well-armed Marines and guards, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.
So this is what a pirate with a 100 million bounty is like?!
“Don’t be scared, alright?” Liam said innocently. “I just want to understand hypnosis! Let’s move to a different place first…”
Holding the trembling artist and hypnotist like two little chickens, Liam moved them to a less crowded park in the city, where he found a large tree with few people around.
George and Tilda sat side by side on the grass, looking at each other in disbelief. How did this boy manage to carry both of them so effortlessly? He didn’t seem to be straining at all!
“If worse comes to worst, I’ll pay you to hypnotize me, that should be okay, right?” Liam said, feeling exasperated. “A pirate’s life is still a life! I mean, even if I am a pirate, it’s fine as long as I’m paying for the service, right?”
Since he was already on the Marine bounty list, he was no different from a pirate in the eyes of ordinary people.
Liam didn’t see himself as a pirate but wasn’t interested in explaining that to anyone who thought he was. He didn’t feel wronged being thought of as a pirate by Marines or ordinary people; to him, these labels were irrelevant. He was just using the most convenient way to refer to himself as a pirate to these two…
Speaking of which, he and Robin didn’t even have a ship right now! If that counted as being a pirate, then they were the most punk pirate in history…
So what could George and Tilda do?
In this desolate corner of the park, with no one around, shouting would be pointless! Even if they called the enforcers, they probably couldn’t handle a terrifying 100 Million Bounty kid…
Liam pointed at the nearby tree, “Hypnotize me and let me try to break this tree.”
“Alright, fine!” Tilda reluctantly began to swing the pendant, starting to hypnotize Liam. “Now… focus on the pendant…”
Hypnosis required patience, and Tilda’s patience was genuinely lacking. During the process of hypnotizing Liam, George had several times desperately tried to stop her from grabbing a stick to hit Liam…
Liam tried to relax, keeping his eyes focused on the swinging pendant.
Tick-tock, tick-tock…
“When you hear a snap, you will hand over all your money and go to the Marine base to turn yourself in…”
Gradually, Liam’s thoughts began to drift, slipping into a hazy state.
Snap!
“Is it over?” Liam seemed to come back to his senses. He started rummaging through his pockets, appearing as if he was really going to hand over all his money…
George and Tilda exchanged glances and covered their mouths, grinning mischievously.
Liam pulled out a stack of cash and handed it to Tilda and George.
Tilda clicked her tongue, reaching out, but was stunned when Liam flipped his palm and grabbed her wrist, causing a sensation of weightlessness…
“You idiot!” Liam promptly performed a shoulder throw, sending Tilda crashing down.
The wandering artist was startled, his whole body shaking in fear. After throwing Tilda, Liam walked over and said cheerfully, “She’s too bad! I’ll give you the money and then go turn myself in…”
“Really?” George eagerly reached out to take the money, only to have Liam grab his wrist. Oh no… George felt a dizzying spin as tears welled up in his eyes.
“Who’s going to turn themselves in?!” Liam executed another shoulder throw.
****
When Robin arrived at the secluded part of the park with ‘B.I.B.’, she saw the following scene…
Under the large tree, the wandering artist George and the hypnotist Tilda were neatly kneeling in front of Liam, with their arms outstretched, crawling and apologizing, “Sorry…”
……
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