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Without the skilled use of Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki)…
Relying only on an extraordinarily keen intuition, Laffitte couldn’t hear the sound of the Stand armor of course.
His face, beginning to fester, was a mixture of confusion and resentment…
As blood poured from his seven orifices and all over his body, Laffitte collapsed gently into a pool of his own blood.
“Splish!”
The black surface of the sea cracked open.
Liam’s head emerged from the water.
He had “headphones” in his ears and a virtual screen in front of his face.
He had experimented with this before: when he controlled ‘B.I.B.’ through the virtual screen, there was a slight delay between the commands of his main body and the actions of ‘B.I.B.’.
This time, however, he used that delay to his advantage, delaying the killing intent that surged from his main body!
This allowed him to successfully deceive the highly perceptive hypnotist, Laffitte!
…
Liam, holding Robin, struggled to tread water, his body rising out of the water inch by inch. He used almost the last of his strength to swim with Robin towards the shore.
A hand covered in blue flame patterns reached down.
Smack!
Liam grabbed it.
『B.I.B.』 pulled them up onto the shore in one swift motion.
“Li-Liam?” The villagers, already confused by the chaos, were even more confused.
Having seen Liam emerge from the sea with Robin, they hadn’t even begun to rejoice when Liam’s casual glance stopped them in their tracks!
For a moment, intimidated by the atmosphere and his presence, no one dared step forward.
This must be the look of someone who has fought to survive the harsh seas…
Exhausted and completely drained, Liam didn’t have the energy to deal with the people. He laid Robin flat on the ground and took the green Den Den Mushi from her pocket.
Just like Robin, the little green snail, a user of the Shiro Shiro no Mi (Castle Fruit) ability, had drunk enough seawater to be stuffed unconscious, with swirling eyes.
“Hey! Hey!”
Liam called weakly, trying to stay awake, and slapped Robin’s cheeks gently.
The girl’s skin was cold as if she had lost all body heat.
In the pool of blood beside them, Laffitte seemed to be struggling to turn his head towards them… His nearly disintegrated lips moved, gasping as if he wanted to say something. But Liam didn’t care.
Liam clasped his hands together and pressed hard against Robin’s chest.
He lowered his head, listened to her heartbeat, and kept pressing, one, two…
He freed a hand to press on the limp green Den Den Mushi.
The surrounding villagers remained silent, none daring to step forward to interrupt.
Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale…
Liam squeezed out the last of his strength and performed CPR on Robin.
“Blurp, blurp…”
Under his compression, Robin and the little green snail convulsed, both spitting out a high and low stream of water.
“Ugh! Ugh!” Robin coughed violently and slowly opened her eyes.
Her blurred vision gradually cleared to reveal a pale Liam looking down at her. Forcing a smile, he seemed to exhale in relief before collapsing backward onto the floor.
“Bluur?” The green Den Den Mushi twitched awake, scuttling around in a panic.
“Bluur?” It stopped, noticing a group of unfamiliar humans around it, and its keeper inexplicably lying on the ground…
The green Den Den Mushi crawled over, nudging Liam’s cheek. What was wrong with the keeper, sleeping like that?
“…”
Robin sat up dazed, seeing Liam lying unconscious on the ground.
She looked around at the villagers, who were more nervous than she was, and suddenly remembered what had happened before she fainted.
Worried, she grabbed Liam’s arm and scanned the area until she spotted the bloody figure lying in the pool of blood, startling her.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was Laffitte, his flesh had almost completely disintegrated…
What had happened… Robin grabbed Liam’s arm.
“Ah… it’s the cruel sea!”
The tense and silent villagers parted as the old village chief, with a head injury and leaning on a stick, walked out.
He looked at the crumpled Laffitte, then at the sound asleep Liam, and turned back to the villagers, saying in a deep voice, “Although Liam’s departure was indeed reckless, I think you should understand, at least sympathize with his situation now, right?”
The villagers looked at each other and remained speechless for a moment.
“To be honest, I’m a little afraid of him now,” Someone muttered.
No one else had the courage to disagree. Even though they hadn’t seen the entire battle, the terrifying ferocity of the birdman monster was enough to gauge the ferocity of Liam fighting against him.
The villagers were at a loss for words, especially when they saw the figure in the pool of blood, no longer quite human.
Despite his brutality, Liam had allowed them to beat and abuse him that evening… What kind of heart must one have to endure this at such a young age?
Who were they to criticize and vent on his mother and him?
Perhaps when Liam came back in the evening with his fragmented memories, his mind was focused only on his mother and never paid attention to their nonsense…
****
Liam slept all day and all night.
When he woke, the morning light streamed in through the window.
“Ah…”
Liam yawned, turning his head to see the black armor standing by the bed as if on standby.
Turning his head again, he saw Nico Robin lying on her side, sleeping peacefully with a light floral scent on her breath.
What had happened?
Liam blinked, staring at the ceiling, feeling a bit confused… This was supposed to be Lily’s house, wasn’t it?
“Faceplate.”
He lifted his hand from the bed.
『B.I.B.』 turned, and its black faceplate with white glowing eyes detached, landing in his hand.
Liam put the faceplate on and made 『B.I.B.』 replay the battle from the night before last… Huh? Was it the night before last?
Anyway, it didn’t matter…
Liam quickly reviewed the battle from that night.
As he watched B.I.B.’s memory of Laffitte’s death after being forcibly injected with the second Devil Fruit, the Pipe Pipe Fruit, Liam thought, “This completely collapsed body looks like someone who was exposed to massive nuclear radiation in Chornobyl… Could it be that the DNA or ‘lineage factor’ has collapsed?”
Robin sat up beside him and rubbed her sleepy eyes, “You’re awake…”
The young girl blinked, looked at Liam, and smiled before quickly choking back a smile, “You’re awake~”
……
As the entire village watched in shock, Liam, still wrapped in bandages and with his arm in a sling, continued to devour mounds of food on the table in front of him. His previously chiseled abs were now round from eating so much.
Robin was used to it, but the villagers were secretly horrified, thinking he might overeat and die.
Even the old village leader was stunned by his voracious appetite. His stick clattered to the ground unnoticed.
He picked it up, steadied himself, and asked, “So, Liam, what are your plans now? Will you stay in the village or continue as a bounty hunter…”
Liam, with a round belly and a chicken bone in his mouth, replied, “Next, huh…”
“Achoo!” Robin turned away, sneezing privately.
She wiped her nose, slightly embarrassed as the others watched.
She hadn’t felt it when Liam was asleep, but now that he was awake, she had caught a cold…
Liam looked at her, bit off the chicken bone, and pointed it in a certain direction of the sea with a smile, “We’re going to find a doctor!”
The old village chief followed his direction.
That was… towards Reverse Mountain.
The entrance to the Great Line.
……
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