After resting on the grass for a while, Liam struggled to get up, enduring the soreness all over his body. Together with Stand, he started the “Lily Exercise.”
This set of exercises, originally played by the original owner’s mother for fun, didn’t seem to have much practical use. It didn’t harbor any hidden techniques as Liam initially imagined.
Despite the original owner playing with it for years, it seemed to yield no tangible results.
However, Liam felt that these movements were somewhat useful for improving body coordination. Therefore, after each workout, he would perform the routine to relax his body.
Liam and the black-armored Stand completed the “exercise” in unison, then slowly returned to attention.
“I’m ready,” Liam adopted a horse stance, fists clenched tightly, and said solemnly, “Come at me.”
‘B.I.B.’ silently entered Liam’s body.
“Hmph! Is this all you’ve got?” Liam disdainfully said.
Then.
Pū Tōng.
He knelt on the grass with sweat pouring like syrup. Under the hot, reddened skin, his muscles began to tremble.
Robin: “…”
…
Inside a restaurant, a large table was filled with various delicacies. Liam, looking like he was starving to death, grabbed a large piece of meat and devoured it.
After so many days, Robin had already gotten used to his eating habits. She silently took some food that matched her appetite and listened to the commotion at the surrounding tables.
Without the Flower-Flower Fruit (Hana Hana no Mi), she was unable to grow ears and eyes on the surrounding walls, so Robin became even more attentive. She constantly observed details around her, considering that Liam might not always be with her or might one day choose to betray and abandon her.
Moreover, a person’s energy is limited. She watched Liam exercise tirelessly every day, knowing that he might always be in a state of exhaustion. She couldn’t rule out the possibility that he might not have the energy to take care of the disguise on her face.
Besides, the ability of the Flower-Flower Fruit (Hana Hana no Mi) also had limitations, with a limited range. To ensure the disguise on Robin’s face, she had to linger in the places Liam paid attention to and make sure he didn’t forget. If he forgot, the disguise on Robin’s face would naturally fall off.
In any case, unexpected situations could arise at any time.
Robin ate small bites, stealing glances at Liam feasting next to her.
After twenty days, Robin’s buzz cut had grown a little. Her true appearance was always a time bomb, that carried with her, and it might explode one day. Robin believed he was well aware of this.
Although she had been with this boy named Liam for twenty days, Robin still felt that he was mysterious.
“Why do you keep staring at me?” Liam mumbled while eating, “Do I have something on my face?”
Robin saw flower petals quietly growing on his face. Unable to hold back, she chuckled.
“I didn’t lie! If I lied to you, I’d jump out of this window right now!”
At this moment, someone nearby started shouting loudly.
Robin and Liam immediately shifted their gaze.
The one shouting was a small old man in his 40s to 50s. Judging by the attire of the people at their table, each of them had a merchant’s emblem on their chests, seeming to be commercial travelers to this place.
The short old man, Henry, shouted to the people at the adjacent table, “I definitely didn’t see it wrong. They were sailing in the direction of this island. It must be the Upwind Pirate Crew! They must have heard about the rumors of Pirate King Roger’s spirit on this island, got interested, and came to check the situation…”
“Henry, are you crazy? We are members of the World Government’s Allied Kingdom! There’s a Marine base not far away from here. What kind of foolish pirates would dare to come here?” Someone retorted.
Henry sneered, “Were the Marines here since the beginning? According to your logic, what kind of idiot would become a pirate if they’re so afraid of Marines?”
Surprisingly… that makes sense! Others quietly thought.
“Recently, there have indeed been traces of pirates appearing on this island.” Another person from a nearby table spoke. He came from a coastal port town and sighed, “Just the day before yesterday, a group of pirates showed up in our town. No one knew when they arrived or where they anchored their pirate ship… Although they didn’t deliberately make a scene or loot, they were arrogant and disturbed the town. Everyone stayed at home that day, afraid to go out…”
“And the guards, as well as the Marines, didn’t do anything?” Someone was surprised.
“By the time they reacted, those pirates had already run away! The ‘Dynamite’ guys won’t confront pirates…” Another person said.
Someone added, “It seems they came because of the rumors about Pirate King’s spirit!”
“I heard that the Devil Child was also seen on this island recently…” Someone supplemented.
“Do the pirates want to find Pirate King’s spirit and inquire about the legendary treasure?”
“What nonsense! Besides, Pirate King’s spirit is definitely fake, right?”
“No way! I saw it with my own eyes that day. The spirit of Pirate King really wrote that sentence on the wall!”
In the restaurant, discussions were lively, and people exchanged stories enthusiastically. Someone confidently claimed to have seen the ghost of Pirate King roaming the streets when he went out to pee drunk one night.
Another scoffed, arguing that spirits couldn’t be seen with the naked eye. He shared an incident where he, armed with a telescope to enjoy the scenery, witnessed a paranormal event: the curtains of a pretty lady’s window mysteriously closed by themselves!
“Too eerie! It must be the spirit of Pirate King!”
“Maybe that lady caught you peeping!” People around shouted angrily at the eavesdropper.
“Hey! Is it the time to discuss such things?” A young man impatiently waved his arms, exclaiming, “That’s the Upwind Pirate Crew! Their Boss has a bounty of 17 Million Belly!.”
His words resonated, and the restaurant fell silent for two seconds.
Indeed, it was a big pirate with a bounty of 17 Million Belly! People suddenly seemed to wake up.
If the Upwind Pirate Crew had really landed, who knew if they would be like those inconspicuous small pirate crews, sneaking in and out quietly, or if they would wreak havoc because they couldn’t find the spirit of the Pirate King, burning, killing, and plundering at will?
Even if the Marines intervened, even if the King’s guards resisted, the ones to suffer would still be the ordinary people and the small towns around the port!
Henry, the short old man among the merchants, sighed, “I hope those pirates don’t have designs on our merchant ships…”
A companion at the same table comforted him, “Don’t worry, we’ve hired a skilled pirate hunter as a guard on our ship! It’ll be fine.”
“It seems like they were attracted by the sentence you wrote.”
Robin finished eating and whispered to Liam.
“Why don’t you say they became pirates because of Roger’s sentence?” Liam, his belly bulging from the meal, felt re-energized.
He shrugged as he spoke, “Whether or not they disturb something here, they might disturb other islands. Whether or not it’s because of the sentence I wrote, it might be due to other trivial matters. Maybe it’s just because they are in a good or bad mood and decide to rob along the way…”
Robin nodded silently.
“Let’s go, back to the residence!” Liam stood up, paid the bill, and signaled to leave.
…
At night, Robin sat at the desk, pouring two cups of hot milk.
Liam twiddled his fingers, sprinkled flower petals into both cups, casually sat on Robin’s bed, and chugged down the flower-infused milk tea.
“You don’t seem to like milk, but you drink it every day. Why?” Robin flipped open a book and curiously glanced at Liam beside the bed.
“I have gotta grow up!” Liam placed the empty cup on Robin’s desk, reclined casually, and rested.
In reality, it was the armored Stand, ‘B.I.B.,’ that reminded him and suggested that he should develop a habit of drinking milk.
Why?
Because if one day drinking milk alone could strengthen teeth, it meant he had learned a new skill.
Liam found it quite reasonable and rewarded ‘B.I.B.’ with two extra sets of pull-ups.
“Your ghost seems to be absent?” Robin suddenly remarked.
Liam looked at the ceiling, “How do you know?”
“I guessed.” Robin secretly chuckled and continued reading under the lamplight.
On the other side, the dark-armored Stand moved like a ghost, traversing through the hazy night, heading straight for the small village near the port.
(End of this chapter)
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