Chapter 188: Victory Banquet and Loyal People.

"That guy Kuma..."

Roman looked at Zoro, who was wrapped in his paper and glowing green all over, and rubbed his temples.

"That was too heavy-handed, wasn't it?"

If it were any other member of the Straw Hat crew, their bodies would be cold by now! Even Roman himself wasn't confident he could withstand such terrifying injuries, like having his entire body shattered.

"Surviving is already good enough,"

Facing Roman's complaints, the severely injured Zoro remained calm.

"The opponent is from the World Government. It's already a blessing they didn't wipe us out. — In fact, I was prepared for the worst..."

The end of dreams!

After Chopper treated the injuries, a massive amount of life force from Roman's paper flowed into Zoro's body, nourishing every cell, which was why he could speak now.

"By the way," Zoro glanced at Roman beside him, "Roman, you seem to know that man called Kuma? Before you could say anything, he sent you flying—"

"Yes,"

Roman nodded, hesitating slightly.

"I know him, but he doesn't know me. Kuma's identity is very complicated, and I can't say much..."

Maybe it was Roman's 'calm' and 'familiarity' with the unknown enemy that made Kuma choose to send him flying, or maybe it was for some other reason—but that didn't matter now:Roman patted Zoro on the hospital bed, "Anyway, take good care of yourself. After all, we defeated another Warlord of the Sea, didn't we?"

Although he was the weakest one, this time there were no external factors, and they defeated him fair and square! — Even if it was a team effort, it was still the Straw Hat crew's achievement.

However, this was also the current limit of the Straw Hat crew.

"Hey—food is here!"

A spirited Luffy came over carrying a huge package. The rule of the Straw Hat crew: after defeating a strong enemy, it's time for a traditional banquet~~Besides the Straw Hat crew, there was also the 'Forest Pirates' led by Lola, and the Victim's Alliance where the 'seriously injured old man' was. —To celebrate seeing the light of day again, everyone spontaneously organized and brought food and wine from Moria's castle.

"What happened after we lost consciousness?"

As Roman began to ponder the 'gains and losses', Sanji walked over, glanced at Zoro on the sickbed, and handed over a bowl of thick, medicinal porridge with a crooked face.

"This is for you. You... never mind,"

Sanji, wanting to say something, finally shook his head and left a vague mumble.

"I won't hold it against you for hitting me..."

"Zoro, you need to get better soon!"

Facing the cheerful Luffy, Usopp and the others couldn't help but complain, "Why do you look like nothing happened?"

"How should I know?"

"Go, go," Roman began to shoo them away, "Why are you all gathered here? Don't you know the patient needs rest!"

"Hey, isn't Zoro supposed to recover just by drinking?"

"What kind of treatment is that???"

---"I actually saw it all,"

When Sanji came to the temporary 'kitchen' to prepare food, Brook silently followed.

"Maybe because I'm just a skeleton, that man named Kuma didn't notice I was conscious, so here's what happened..."

"...Zoro took on all of Luffy's 'injuries'?"

After listening to Brook's account, Sanji silently lit a cigarette, "I see, so Luffy recovered, and Zoro ended up like that."

And he said 'nothing happened'?!

That idiot—"Should we tell Captain Luffy about this?"

Facing Brook's question, Sanji shook his head.

"No,"

"Zoro didn't do it for anyone's gratitude. Besides..."

"If Luffy knew his pain was transferred to Zoro, how would he feel?"

"I understand,"

The afro-skeleton Brook nodded.

"Having companions is great, you are all willing to risk your lives for each other~~"

"As long as everyone is safe, that's all that matters. I'm going to cook."

As Sanji finished speaking, an 'ear' suddenly turned into petals and fell from behind the wall.

"So that's how it is."

Robin smiled sweetly. Although the Straw Hat crew was full of idiots rushing to 'take the hit', it was the most reassuring place in the world.

"Time for the banquet~~!!"

With Luffy's shout, everyone began to eat and drink, singing and dancing! They celebrated life in this way! And Brook walked over to a piano.

"Let me play a tune for everyone, to liven things up."

Ding dong dong~~As the white finger bones danced on the keys, the melodious piano music began to echo in the hall.

"Bink's Sake? Such a familiar song~~"

"Hey, Brook."

Luffy, lying on the piano, looked at the skeleton playing the piano.

"You will join us, right?"

..."Roman, why do you still look unhappy?"

Facing Nami's question, Roman flipped his wrist, and a half-white, half-black piece of paper fell into his hand and was handed to Nami.

"Is this...?"

"Yes," Roman nodded, "Moria's 'Shadow-Shadow Fruit' ability. You don't need to develop all those random abilities, but you must learn the life-saving skill 'Shadow Mage.'"

Sigh,Nami helplessly covered her forehead, and for a moment, even the wine in her hand lost its appeal.

"We just defeated a Warlord of the Sea head-on, do we really need to push ourselves this hard—"

Although she said this, Nami had already put down her wine glass and accepted the half-black, half-white page to add to the "Thieves' Ultimate Skill": she, the navigator, was almost being forced by Roman to become a walking 'Devil Fruit Encyclopedia'..."However, this isn't really our true strength," Roman pointed out calmly after taking a sip of orange juice.

"Moria is the weakest of the Warlords of the Sea, and we first eliminated his subordinates. Then we prepared various tools to counter his abilities, —with careful planning, we barely managed to defeat him."

There would be no more 'weak' bosses like Moria in the future, so how could Roman be happy?

Moreover, there's Ace...

With his stubbornness, he would never bow to the Marines, which would disgrace 'Whitebeard's' name. In the end, he would likely end up in the war at Marineford. —Luffy would definitely go to rescue him, so:How should the Sabaody Archipelago arc be controlled...Roman raised his glass and took a sip of orange juice, hiding his thoughtful face.

—————Crash,

In the ruins of the empty mansion, a huge broken wall 'flipped' open, revealing a fat middle-aged man with purple hair wearing a fishnet outfit.

"Hey, get up!"

A beast-like voice lowered its tone in the air, but the fat middle-aged man under the rubble remained motionless, like a real corpse. The invisible Absalom impatiently threatened.

"Hogback, your body has been modified! You can't die so easily, —if you don't get up, I'll bite your throat off!"

Facing his colleague's threat, the pretending-to-be-dead mad doctor had no choice but to roll over and get up.

"Hiss... cough, cough, it's Absalom. Have the damn Straw Hat Pirates left?"

"No,"

A figure 'appeared' from the air, wearing a luxurious coat, a hat with Moria's emblem, and golden hair. The 'invisible man' Absalom appeared beside him, making the mad doctor Hogback look at him in surprise.

"Absalom, your hands?"

Licking the blood beside his lion's mouth, the 'invisible man' named Absalom had both hands broken at the wrists, with jagged wounds that looked like they had been bitten by a beast!

"I was careless and got caught by the Straw Hat crew with Seastone handcuffs."

He waved his arms, which were haphazardly bandaged to stop the bleeding, "To escape, I had to bite off my own hands!"

"...Hiss, hiss, hiss, I really have a new level of respect for you."

Standing up and stretching his fat body, the mad doctor was ready to make a run for it—Swish,

A blood-soaked arm hooked around his neck, and behind him was Absalom's cold voice.

"Where are you going, Hogback!"

"Hiss, hiss, of course, I'm escaping. Do you still want to mess with the Straw Hat crew who defeated our master?"

..."I'm not that reckless, but—"

"Before we leave, let's rescue our master!"

..."Alright, Lord Moria shouldn't be defeated in this gutter. I'll go with you to save him!"

After the two... or rather, the cyborgs finished discussing, they instantly disappeared under Absalom's ability, leaving only a trail of footprints extending out. Under the gaze of a hollow-eyed crow perched on a tree trunk, they sneaked around the hall where the banquet was being held and headed to the back.

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