‘This kid was bold and headstrong, and with his Devil Fruit ability, even the branch Marine officers might find it hard to restrain him…’ Kuzan thought to himself.
“Kid, where are your parents? Do they live on this island?” Kuzan asked calmly, “I’m taking you with me.”
Zephyr-Sensei would surely be interested in disciplining and reforming such a child.
“What’s wrong with you, old man?” Liam sat up on the icy ground, irritated. “You say you’re a Marine, right? Do Marines just take innocent civilians away without any reason? I’m not going with you!”
Kuzan responded coldly, “A kid who isn’t afraid of the ‘Spirit of the pirate king’ and is unusually close to a heavily bountied ‘Devil Child’— do you think I, as a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, don’t have a legitimate reason to take you for re-education?”
“Ugh! Why bother?” Liam ruffled his hair in frustration. “There are kids more dangerous than me all over the seas. Why pick on me? How about you just beat me up and call it a lesson?”
Kuzan said, “Most of those other kids can’t stir up much trouble. But you, if left unchecked, might go down the wrong path and cause problems for the Marines and the world…”
“You really have a strong sense of justice!” Liam rolled his eyes.
“For instance, this conversation we’re having is not something an ordinary child could manage,” Kuzan said lazily. “Kid, how old are you?”
“I’m probably just over 10… I don’t really remember,” Liam scratched his head. The icy ground was too cold, making his backside uncomfortable, so he quickly stood up.
Kuzan glanced at Liam and said, “You look more like 12 or 13.”
“Maybe I developed well! You must have been taller than your peers when you were ten, right?” Liam replied nonchalantly.
Kuzan nodded, though it was unclear if he agreed with Liam’s first or second statement.
Liam dusted off his pants and said indifferently, “When I woke up, I was at the bottom of a garbage heap by the seaside on this island. It seemed like someone thought I was a dead kid… I’ve forgotten most things from before. I vaguely remember a woman who might have been my mother, but she wasn’t from this island. Other than that, all I remember is the tumultuous sea…”
He tried to recall the memories the original owner of his body had left behind, memories he’d reviewed countless times during quiet nights.
“But those memories of the sea are mostly unpleasant, always shrouded in a grayish hue…” Liam shook his head and sighed. “They probably weren’t good memories, no wonder I’ve forgotten them so thoroughly.”
In fact, they weren’t completely forgotten.
At least, the face of Laffitte, the “Demon Sheriff,” had left an indelible mark in the original owner’s memories.
Liam could imagine how terrified the original owner must have been of Laffitte.
He suspected that the pirate ship the original owner was on had been hunted down and destroyed by Laffitte, and the boy had ended up drifting alone to this island, ultimately dying by the roadside, discarded as trash.
“I see…” Kuzan loosened the knot of his tie while sitting on his bicycle. “You may or may not know, but Devil Fruit users can’t swim. You probably had a mishap at sea, but you were lucky enough not to drown. You drifted to this island… Given that, I can’t just leave you alone.”
“Ding Ding!” Kuzan rang the bicycle bell. “You must want to regain your memory, return home, and see your mother again, right? Then get on the bike.”
Liam hesitated. “But I… really don’t want to be a Marine!”
He had told Robin before that he didn’t want to work, so he wouldn’t join the Marines!
This damn situation… even in the world of the pirate king, the rule of “never say never” applies?!
“Whether you become a Marine or not is uncertain,” Kuzan said flatly. “At least, I don’t want to see a kid like you end up as a pirate.”
Liam sighed. “Fine, you win.”
Since Aokiji was determined to take him to the Marine Headquarters for re-education, what could Liam do?
Against Aokiji’s Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) and Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki), Liam’s Stand ‘B.I.B.’ had lost its effectiveness. And using his own physical strength to escape from Aokiji was even more impossible…
Speaking of not being able to escape from Aokiji…
However…
Liam glanced at the future Marine Admiral and decided against pushing his luck by revealing what he knew. There were different degrees of recklessness.
Being cheeky wasn’t a crime, and Liam could confidently provoke Kuzan without fearing retribution from the Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral. But discussing Kuzan’s deliberate release of Robin was another matter.
If Kuzan got really irritated, he might kill Liam to keep the secret— though that was unlikely. Or, if Kuzan thought, “This kid has seen through me, I might as well stop slacking off,” and went after Robin to capture her, that would be a disaster!
“But your bike doesn’t have a back seat, old man!” Liam muttered, walking over reluctantly. He only then noticed that Kuzan’s bicycle indeed lacked a back seat.
So, where exactly was he supposed to sit?
In the basket? There wasn’t one.
On the handlebars?
As Liam gave the three-meter-tall man on the bike a deadpan look, icicles began to extend from the back wheel. It was as if an invisible mold was pouring liquid ice into place, quickly forming a back seat.
With a flourish, Kuzan took off his white suit jacket and draped it over the ice seat to prevent the kid’s butt from freezing.
Liam climbed onto the icy seat with a melancholy expression.
The dark armor merged back into his body. Liam shivered despite the jacket. It was still quite cold.
Kuzan pedaled, and the bike rolled toward the sea. As the front wheel touched the water, the surface instantly froze into a solid path.
The bicycle moved forward across the sea as if on solid ground.
Liam, sitting in the back seat, reviewed the Stand memories in his mind. Looking back, the island grew smaller and smaller.
The bike left a trail of ice in its wake.
—
“Ding Ding!”
Kuzan pedaled effortlessly, occasionally ringing the bike bell and politely saying, “Excuse me, please move aside,” when sea creatures surfaced in their path.
The fish would dive back into the water.
Liam hugged his knees, squatting on the back seat, staring blankly at the vast expanse of sea. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.
His butt was still freezing…
“Huh?” Kuzan suddenly slowed down and stopped the bike. As his long leg touched the ice, the sea surface beneath him solidified, anchoring them in place.
“What’s going on?” Liam asked, rubbing his cold backside. “Did we hit a red light?”
He followed Kuzan’s gaze.
Not far ahead, a broken plank floated on the water. Lying on it was a figure, barely visible.
A shipwreck survivor? Liam squinted, then realized the figure on the plank had a straw hat covering its face, with a few strands of red hair peeking out from under it.
“Help! The Marines are capturing people!” Liam shouted dramatically.
……
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