The World He Left Behind 6

When the Straw Hat Pirates disbanded, and the crew went their separate ways,

they made and exchanged Vivre Cards for every crew member.

So that they could always rush to help each other whenever needed.

...Though in Zoro's case, everything was already over by the time they could have gone to him.

When Roronoa Zoro died, the Straw Hat Pirates, scattered across the seas, saw Zoro's Vivre Card burn up completely.

...Shortly after, they saw an identical Vivre Card appear in its place.

Even the notes they had written on each card to avoid confusion were exactly the same.

At first glance, it seemed like Zoro had been severely injured, causing the Vivre Card to shrink significantly, then somehow healed rapidly through a Devil Fruit ability or medical treatment.

However, every member of the crew knew.

Roronoa Zoro's Vivre Card hadn't just shrunk to an invisible size—it had definitely burned up completely.

And that signified.

Roronoa Zoro's death.

In the cool room where everyone was gathered, Sanji turned his head and smoked a cigarette. Yet he couldn't avoid looking at Zoro's body lying right in front of him.

Just as Nami had said, Zoro didn't look dead at all. His body had been cleaned, the blood wiped away, wounds stitched, and the torn clothes replaced with new ones.

Every time he looked, Zoro seemed just like the sleeping marimo he knew, making Sanji think he might wake up with a yawn if he kicked his shin.

"Cough, cough!"

The cigarette was harsh. For the first time in a long while, Sanji choked on his smoke and coughed. The wrongly inhaled smoke made his throat sting.

For a long time, only Sanji's coughing echoed in the Sunny's infirmary.

Jinbe watched Sanji. Since joining the Straw Hat Pirates, he had seen Zoro and Sanji fight countless times.

They never agreed on anything, constantly clashing. But when facing enemies, they fought back-to-back, coordinating seamlessly as if they were one.

"..."

Jinbe, with his long experience as a pirate, knew that such cooperation was impossible without deep trust and mutual respect.

"The cause of death is shock from excessive blood loss."

Chopper spoke in a calm voice. But only his voice was calm; his face was already a mess of tears and snot.

"A massive volcanic bomb exploded nearby, causing a landslide that buried Zoro's body under rocks. But it didn't contribute to his death. ...Being cut off from the air prevented decomposition."

The fact that Zoro's body hadn't burned to ashes despite the volcanic bombs, heat from the volcano, and volcanic ash was nothing short of a miracle.

"And... he had these with him."

On a thin tray Chopper held out were nine Vivre Cards. 'Nami,' 'Usopp,' 'Chopper'... and lastly, 'Jinbe.'

The handwriting of the names, written to avoid confusion, was unmistakably familiar.

It was Zoro's handwriting.

Sanji looked at the two pieces of paper without names.

One said 'Cook.'

The other said 'Me.'

Brook opened his skull and pulled out the Vivre Card he had for Zoro. Then he placed it in front of the Vivre Card labeled 'Me.'

Rustle. Rustle.

The two pieces of Vivre Card immediately moved towards each other, as if they had been waiting.

Seeing the sight, Brook quietly but confidently spoke.

"It is indeed Zoro's Vivre Card."

Usopp, who was crying so hard his face was soaked, trembled with confusion.

"But, Zoro... Zoro is... here... here, he's dead, dead... wahhhh!!!"

Unable to continue, Usopp collapsed into sobs. Franky put a hand on Usopp's back. Of course, tears were streaming down Franky's face like an open waterfall.

"No, he is alive."

Even if he had died once. Brook continued calmly.

Nami sniffled and leaned on Robin. Robin held Nami's body with both arms, but she, too, was trembling slightly.

Robin spoke with difficulty.

"Brook. We've tried every method."

While Luffy was still alive, the Straw Hat Pirates had not only focused on extending Luffy's lifespan but had also looked for various ways, including reviving someone after death.

They had come to understand that, in this world, the only way for the deceased to return from the afterlife was the Revive-Revive Fruit.

Brook looked at the two pieces of Zoro's Vivre Card, now nearly fused together on the steel plate.

And at Zoro's body, lying as if asleep.

"Chopper, this body is definitely Zoro's, right?"

"Yes. I've checked multiple times."

Even cloned humans created by duplicating genetic factors can't replicate specific scars and treatment marks. Chopper, who had consulted with Vegapunk on medical technology, knew this well.

Tony Tony Chopper is the doctor who treated Roronoa Zoro's body the most. He had to acknowledge that the various scars and subtle physical characteristics matched his memories and medical records exactly.

This person was definitely Zoro.

Therefore, the answer was clear.

"Zoro has died once and is living somewhere else, not in this body."

"How? We know that's impossible in this world."

Nami's question echoed Sanji's thoughts.

When they found the One Piece and learned all the truths of this world, it became clear. There is no reincarnation or return from death in this world. The only way for someone to come back from death is through the Revive-Revive Fruit.

Suddenly, Robin seemed to realize something and spoke.

"If it's impossible in this world... it might be possible in another world."

"Huh?"

"What are you saying?"

"Recently, some scholars published a theory that other worlds exist."

It was a theory suggesting the existence of entirely different worlds, with different laws, orders, and beings, which might interfere with this world once every few thousand years.

Although it lacked substantial empirical evidence and was almost dismissed in the academic community.

But if that theory were true?

"There may be no way for the dead to come back to life in this world, except for the Revive-Revive Fruit..."

"—but in another world, it might be possible."

Robin nodded at Jinbe's words.

"Although we don't know how Zoro got involved with another world."

"Maybe it's because he's bad with directions?" Usopp's innocent but factual statement made Nami chuckle.

Chopper looked up with a hopeful expression.

"Then, should we go to another world to find Zoro?"

"Chopper, all of Zoro's Vivre Cards are here. We don't know where he is."

When Zoro came back to life, he didn't bring the Vivre Card with him. Since he doesn't have a Vivre Card now, the Straw Hat Pirates can only know that he's alive but not his current location.

Even if Zoro had made a new Vivre Card in that other world, it was uncertain whether a Vivre Card from another world would be drawn to one from this world.

Chopper's eyes filled with tears as he listened to Sanji's explanation.

"Then we... we'll never see Zoro again?"

"..."

They had only just speculated about the existence of another world. They didn't even know how Zoro ended up in another world in the first place. And in that situation, they had no idea how to travel to another world.

No one answered Chopper's question. Even Robin couldn't look Chopper in the eye and turned her head away.

Sanji spoke up.

"It's okay, though."

He's a fool, an idiot, bad with directions, and an annoying guy, but...

"If he's alive somewhere."

If, beyond some distant world, he's wandering around with that mossy head of his.

Even if they never meet again, isn't that much better?

Better than him being dead like this.

"...Sob, hic... waaaaaah!"

Chopper nodded but eventually broke into sobs. Usopp pulled the small reindeer into his arms. Franky pulled Nami and Usopp close, hugging them tightly.

Even Robin, who hadn't cried until now, had tears in her eyes. Brook bowed deeply in respect to Zoro's body. Jinbe did the same.

Sanji turned his head and lit a new cigarette.

...

Coming out of the infirmary, Sanji leaned against the railing of the Sunny with a cigarette in his mouth.

Robin, who had followed him out, watched him for a moment before asking,

"Can I have a cigarette too, Sanji?"

Sanji looked surprised.

"Robin-chan, have you ever smoked before?"

"A long time ago, briefly."

She had quit because the smell made it easy to be tracked. Robin muttered.

Sanji took out a cigarette from his pack and handed it to Robin. When Robin put it in her mouth, Sanji politely lit it for her with his lighter.

The way she deeply inhaled and exhaled the smoke naturally showed Sanji that she had indeed smoked before.

There was a long silence. They both looked ahead, not at each other.

It was unlike Sanji, who usually would be eager to start a conversation with a woman beside him, but neither Robin nor Sanji spoke about it.

After a prolonged silence, Robin suddenly said,

"Couldn't he have waited?"

Sanji turned his head. Robin's profile looked lonely as she added, "For us. Couldn't Zoro have waited for us?"

"If Zoro hadn't fought alone, the World Federation could have won."

Robin's words were true. The World Federation, led by Luffy's father, Dragon, was powerful and successfully taking control of the entire world.

If they had waited a bit longer and received help from the crew and the World Federation, Marimo wouldn't have died. They might have won.

Although some of those who had hidden from the World Federation for a long time might have fled into the shadows and scattered, making it impossible to completely wipe out the leaders as they did now.

That foolish swordsman would have known at least that much. No matter how foolish, he knew that retreating and joining others would mean he wouldn't have to die.

"You know, don't you, Robin-chan."

But that doesn't mean anything.

"That idiot marimo isn't someone who can do that."

Because Roronoa Zoro isn't someone who can make such a choice.

Ignoring civilians being trampled underfoot.

Running away alone, leaving the little girl who showed him kindness.

Letting someone who planned to harm his comrades and friends go free.

Retreating from a fight, leaving his comrades and friends to take on the battle.

All of these things are impossible for him.

He doesn't even consider such things, and before he can think it through, his body moves first.

He's as stubborn as Luffy. He might think he's smarter than Luffy, but to Sanji and the others, he's just as much of a fool.

...Which is why he could protect everything.

'Damn consistent bastard.'

Sanji, recalling the sight of Zoro standing alone on Thriller Bark years ago, put a new cigarette in his mouth and flicked his lighter several times. Strangely, the flame wouldn't catch.

"Don't blame yourself, Robin-chan."

"..."

"That's not what he would want."

He simply wanted to protect until the end.

The child who showed him unrequited kindness and the innocent villagers.

His ambition to surpass an insurmountable wall.

His pride as a swordsman to never show his back to the enemy.

His responsibility to be at the forefront of the battlefield, facing the most formidable foes first as the strongest in the crew.

In a fight where losing even one means defeat...

"He won."

"..."

"Zoro won."

So there's no need to be sad.

The victor was Zoro.

Robin saw the tears streaming down Sanji's cheeks but pretended not to notice and turned her head. Tears welled up in her own eyes and began to fall.

The hazy cigarette smoke blurred the clear winter sky.

...

The former Straw Hat Pirates searched the Hatowari Archipelago thoroughly for months but found no more of Zoro's belongings. The last items Sanji found were Enma, the haramaki, and the bandana.

They never found Zoro's other two swords, Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu.

They did not hold a funeral. You can't hold a funeral for someone who is alive.

They cremated the body. Usopp decided to personally take Zoro's ashes to be buried in his hometown of Shimotsuki Village.

Although Zoro's infamy wasn't as great as the Pirate King Luffy's, it was still considerable, so they couldn't put up a gravestone with his name on it.

Still, Usopp promised through tears and snot to bury him in a good place.

Among the Straw Hat Pirates, Sanji was the last to leave the Hatowari Archipelago.

Smoking a cigarette, Sanji looked at Enma's purple scabbard sticking out of his bag.

The sword was too well-known and valuable to leave at Zoro's grave. It would be like shouting that Roronoa Zoro was buried there.

The crew unanimously decided to leave the handling of Enma to Sanji.

"Wouldn't it be better for you to take it, Brook? You're a fellow swordsman, after all."

To Sanji's question, Brook shook his head and said no.

"I trust you, Sanji. You've made the same resolve as Zoro. Yohohoho!"

"..."

"If Zoro returns to this world, give it back to him. ...If not, pass it on."

To a young person who can carry on Zoro's will.

With those words, Brook left the Hatowari Archipelago and returned to Twin Cape, where Crocus and Laboon were.

Sanji gazed out at the beach of the Hatowari Archipelago. Thanks to the cooperation of the crew and the villagers and several months of effort, much of the volcanic ash that had covered Island No. 2 had disappeared.

Tap, tap, tap, tap!

The sound of someone running quickly over the sand came from somewhere. A blue-haired girl, Noko, who had given Zoro a handful of berries, stopped in front of Sanji, her face red from running so hard.

"Huff, huff... I found it, mister! I found my brother's sword!"

"...What?"

"Huff, there's a sea beast that comes here regularly to hunt for food. Huff. It swallowed it."

Noko had been searching for Zoro's sword all along. Even though her parents had told her to stop, she kept sneaking into a diving suit and walking underwater to find Zoro's sword.

And then she found it.

A jet-black blade lodged in the tongue of a sea tiger, a creature as huge as an island.

"The sea tiger left soon after, and the adults said it was a hallucination, but…"

Having seen Zoro up close, Noko knew.

"I'm sure it was his sword. It gave off an eerie yet sharp feeling."

"...You felt that?"

Noko looked at Sanji as if it were obvious and nodded.

"Yes. It's very unique, you know?"

Sanji looked at Noko with a slightly surprised expression. Chopper had once mentioned that Zoro seemed to sense the aura of his swords. However, it was unexpected that Noko, who wasn't the sword's owner, could recognize its unique presence.

"Where did the sea tiger go?"

Noko bit her lip.

"I don't know. It's a strange creature that only appears on this island for a few days every ten years in the spring…"

No one knows where it goes at other times. It hasn't been seen on nearby islands, so everyone guesses it lives in the deep sea or a trench where humans can't reach.

There was essentially no way to track it. Unless they waited for ten years until spring and defeated it to take the sword back. After listening to Noko's explanation, Sanji put a new cigarette in his mouth.

"You know, mister."

"I'm not—"

"I want to become a great swordsman like him."

When she was forced onto the evacuation ship by adults,

and when she watched the volcano erupt from the deck of the ship,

Noko felt frustrated.

'I couldn't do anything.'

Even when enemies came to trample the village where she was born and raised.

Even when that brother stood alone against the enemies just because she had given him a few berries.

There was nothing Noko could do.

The weak cannot even choose how they die. That was what the village elder, who was once a pirate, used to mumble when he got drunk.

'Grandpa was right.'

In the face of a confrontation between people strong enough to shake the world, Noko couldn't even fight for her life.

The only reason she was still alive was that the victor, her brother, wished for her survival.

She didn't want that anymore. At the very least, she wanted to decide her own end.

For that, she had to become strong.

"I want to become strong. No, I will become strong."

As strong as that brother.

Sanji froze at the unexpected words from the young girl.

"Noko-chan, that's a very... very tough and painful path."

Even Sanji couldn't know how strong Zoro had become at the end. It had been a while since they last met, and that beast-like marimo swordsman got stronger every time he fought.

Even if Zoro's growth had stopped at the level Sanji last remembered, it would still be extremely difficult to become a swordsman of equal caliber.

The world's greatest swordsman.

A title that belonged solely to him on the sea.

With eyes blazing like a blue flame, the girl slowly nodded.

"I know."

But I will become that. Absolutely. Noko said firmly.

"I won't lose to anyone until I become like that brother."

For a moment, an image from years ago at Baratie flashed through Sanji's mind. The sight of a swordsman crying with his sword raised before Luffy after being defeated by Mihawk.

"Until the day I defeat him and become the world's greatest swordsman... I will never lose again!"

Sanji remembered Zoro's face from that day. The face of a fool who, despite the despair in front of an insurmountable wall and continuous tears, promised relentless progress.

The face he saw that day overlapped with the girl standing before him now.

Sanji took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.

'Damn marimo.'

Making me see your face in a young lady, what's up with that? Sanji thought to himself.

A person's life will inevitably come to an end someday.

But some wills transcend even death and continue on.

For decades, even centuries.

Sanji looked at the small girl who might carry on his comrade's will with complex emotions. Then, he quietly spoke.

"Alright, I'll support you."

"..."

"Thank you for helping him."

Noko's eyes widened. Trying to hold back her tears, she bit her lip, but eventually, she couldn't hold back and burst into tears. Sanji, flustered, gently hugged her.

...

A while later, a new grave was added to the cemetery in Shimotsuki Village. A gravestone without a name, adorned only with a green haramaki and a black bandana.

At the grave next to Kuina's, Koshiro placed a slice of watermelon that the grave's owner used to eat as a child, saying,

"You did well."

You really did well, Zoro-kun.

...

The Straw Hat Pirates returned to their daily lives.

Zoro's Vivre Card continued to shrink several times but always returned to its original state without burning away.

Over and over again.

Seeing this, the Straw Hat Pirates realized.

Zoro was indeed alive somewhere, fighting fiercely.

Just like when they were adventuring together on the same ship.

That was enough for them.

...

Ten years later.

A female swordsman named Noko appeared on the sea.

After slicing the giant sea tiger that lived in her hometown with a single strike, Noko set out to sea and made a name for herself as one of the great swordsmen.

With her beautiful blue hair braided long, this slender swordsman fought with two swords.

One was a sword crafted by a blacksmith from her home in the Hatowari Archipelago.

The other, surprisingly, was the black sword Sandai Kitetsu, once wielded by the former world's greatest swordsman, Zoro.

— The World He Left Behind: Complete —

...

[Author's Note]

Vote with your power stones, it motivates me to keep posting chapters.

If you're interested, you can read 20 advance chapters on my Patréon.

patréon.com/fumiaki