Chapter 162

While Robert was screaming and clutching onto his head, he could see Ken fighting with the 5 Elders.

'Shit! What happened to Captain? Why is he fighting with them, and what happened when I passed out? Where is Laffitte?'

"ARGH!"'

Robert's face started turning pale as the pain became worse and worse. However, you could suddenly see a light shine in his eyes for just a split second, like he became enlightened.

'Wait, I can feel the shadows inside that room. Maybe it is possible to…'

"Shadow Dome!"

A dome made out of shadows suddenly surrounded Ken, blocking the attacks from the 5 Elders. The other person in the room suddenly looked straight at Robert.

'Can he see me! And what is with this pressure? Even Captain can't compare to this! I need to get him out of there quickly!'

"SHADOW PORTAL!"

In an instant, Ken disappeared from that room, and Robert blacked out.

---

The shadows finally disappeared around Robert, giving the Azure Pirates a chance to see what's happening. Sabo wanted to look at Robert, but someone was blocking his view. The person turned around with a confused face. The Azure Pirates looked shocked.

"KEN!" screamed everyone as they pounced onto him and hugged him, not giving him a chance to sort out his thoughts. He fell onto the ground and started suffocating from all the people on top of him.

(Of course, not everyone hugged him, just the ones you expect it from. So no Kuzan, Mihawk, Shiryu etc.)

"Stop it! You guys are suffocating me!" But no matter how hard he screamed, nobody listened to him. But someone suddenly dropped down from the ceiling and kicked everyone off of him.

"Haa, thank you, Mura. I can always count on you," said Ken as he stood up and dusted himself off. But Mura didn't look at him or say anything. "Are you okay? Did you become shy or something?" He grabbed her shoulder and looked at her teary eyes, looking surprised.

"I'm sorry, Captain! I should have been there to protect you. But I was too ignorant and thought that there would be no one that you couldn't beat. I am really sor-" Ken didn't let her finish and pulled her in a hug.

"It's okay, Mura. It's not your fault that I got taken. Even if you were there, you wouldn't have been able to do much. Even I was no match. So don't beat yourself up over it. I'm back now, and everyone is safe, so that's all that matters."

Mura didn't say anything, but he could see a small relieved smile. He let her go and looked at Robert.

"Now, can anyone tell me how this guy managed to save me while I was surrounded by the 6 strongest people in the world and way out of his portals reach?"

"We don't know. His powers suddenly went out of control, and when I tried to stop him, you suddenly appeared next to him," said Sabo.

"It doesn't matter how; all that matters is that you are back. Sabo didn't let us have fun at all since you were gone," said Perona.

The rest nodded, making Sabo glare at them.

"Sigh, looking at your guys' faces, I can't see a hint of anger for making such powerful enemies and leaving you guys alone to face the Big Mom Pirates."

"How can we get angry at our Captain when he always has the best in mind for us. If we got angry at you, our fate would become horrible," said Van Augur.

"Yeah, we know that you care about us more than you let on sometimes. But just know that we love you 10 times more," said Brook.

"Tsk, I should punch you for that one, but I'll forgive you this one time. Anyway, let's wake Robert up and get answers from him."

"How are you going to wake him up? Do you know some special technique?" asked Deuce.

"Yeah, it's called the Fist of Love." Ken immediately punched Robert on the head.

"AAAHHH!" Robert woke up screaming.

"You idiot!" Deuce slapped Ken on the back of his head. "How can you do something so reckless!"

"Why are you making a big deal out of it? It always worked on Ace, Sabo, Luffy, and me. It's the most effective way to wake someone up."

"Agreed," said Ace and Sabo.

"Not you guys too!"

"Captain? Is that really you?" asked Robert.

"The one and only. Thank you for rescuing me, Robert."

"So that wasn't a dream?"

"Dream? Can you tell me what you saw?"

"What are you doing questioning my patient! I should first do a check up."

"It's fine, Deuce, except for a slight headache; I am completely fine."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded.

"Sigh, fine."

Robert took a deep breath before he started talking.

"I, I suddenly appeared in a pitch black place after I fell unconscious. I don't know how long I stayed there, but it was definitely for a long time. But just a little bit ago I suddenly saw a light, and when I ran towards it, I could see you in a room surrounded by 6 people. I didn't know what happened, but I suddenly got a terrible headache. It felt like my head was about to explode. I then suddenly felt like I could control the shadow in the room you were in, so I created a dome and a portal. But when I created the dome, the person standing in front of the door looked straight at me and released a pressure on me that I have never felt from either you, Kaido, Whitebeard, or Shanks."

"It seems like you had a rough time. I am sorry about that."

"No, it wasn't your fault, Captain! I was just too weak."

"You managed to save me from people that can kill me, so you are way stronger than you think. Now rest some more so that I'll be able to rely on you like I always did. I need to take care of something, and we'll hold a banquet tonight. If we aren't drunk, we can't be honest with each other," said ken with a smirk as he looked at his crew. He left the arrangement to Sabo and started leaving the room.

"Wait, Captain! You forgot your sword," said Robert.

Ken walked out of the door and waved his hand. "I don't need it right now, so give it back when you've rested up enough." He disappeared from there, leaving a quiet room behind.

"Why are you suddenly crying, Ace?" asked Deuce.

"Look who's talking."

"Huh?" Deuce touched his cheek, feeling that they've become wet. A moment later, everyone had tears coming out of their eyes, but some managed to hide it better than others.

"You guys better cry as much as you can right now so that you won't show any of it tonight. We can't worry him more than he already was," said Sabo.

Everyone nodded.

---

"Knock, knock."

After a minute of waiting, there was no response.

"I have been gone for a little bit, and you've already forgotten about me."

The next second, the door immediately opened, revealing a beautiful blue haired girl with teary red eyes. When she saw his face, she immediately hugged him.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot!"

"Haha, yeah, I hear that often. But I am glad that you are safe, Celine."

"Why did you make me so worried? I thought that you were supposed to be strong."

"Ouch, did you just call me weak?"

"Idiot."

"Hahaha, yeah, I might not be as strong as you thought, but I'm still strong enough to sweep you off your feet."

"It's good to hear that you're still the same old Ken I knew. And thank you for coming back alive."

"Don't thank me, thank Robert. That guy somehow made the impossible possible and saved me. But enough about me, what happened to you? Why do you look like this?"

She looked confused.

"I did my best to fatten you up, and now you're going back to being a twig."

She glared at him and started hitting him on his chest.

"If this is your idea of trying to cheer me up, it isn't working."

"Now that I think about it, it did sound kinda stupid. But you'll forgive me, won't you?"

"No."

"Aww, that's too bad." He let go of her. "Then I'll go and ask someone to console my now broken hearth. I wonder if Perona, Robin, or Mura have time."

"That won't work on me, Mr. Ken. Go to your room and rest. I'll bring you something to eat later," said Celine with a stern voice.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll do as you say. I'll be taking my leave then, ma'am."

The moment Ken left, she hurried to the kitchen with a relieved and excited face.

'This is the ideal moment to make a move. In all the stories I have read, they always say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.'

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(Thank you all so much for the Power Stones. I hope that you guys will show just as much support again today.)

[Was what Robert did Ass Pull, or could it be possible. Who knows, he might have somehow awakened his Devil Fruit after falling unconscious, which gave him the power to do it.]

Facts:

- A good hug actually makes you happier. Hugging is proven to increase your body's levels of oxytocin, also known as, the "love" or "feel good" hormone. But there's a catch: It really has to be a good hug — 20 seconds or longer!

- A group of bunnies is called a "fluffle". And a group of pugs is called a "grumble".

- Watching cute animal videos actually helps you concentrate. Looks like your parents can't get on you for getting trapped in a YouTube black hole anymore. A study at Hiroshima University in Japan found that participants concentrate better on tasks after viewing cute images.

- Helping others really is human nature. A study of one-and-a-half-year-olds showed that they will almost always try to help an adult who is struggling with a task without being asked. In the experiments, an adult dropped something in front of a toddler and then pretended not to be able to reach it. The toddler almost always helped retrieve the object.

- The actor who voiced Mickey Mouse was married to the actress who voiced Minnie Mouse. Their names were Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor.