A familiar voice entered Vivi's ears. She turned her head sharply and saw a tall, silver-haired young man stepping across the air toward her. With a wave of his hand, he pulled forcefully in her direction.
"Whoosh!"
Invisible air currents surged madly. Chains of compressed air coiled around the falling people, pulling them away from the collapsing island above.
When she saw the tall young man appear before her, Vivi's eyes welled up with tears, and she couldn't help but cry out—
"Brother Rorschach!"
Rorschach reached out and grabbed her by the arm. Like an adult lifting a child, he easily picked up the petite Vivi.
"Mm, that must've scared you. Don't worry— I'm getting you all out of here right now."
"Rorschach! You came just in time. A few seconds later and we would've been digested by that terrifying stomach acid!" Cobra's face was pale as he looked down at the violent green liquid churning beneath them, still trembling from the close call.
The island that had flipped over crashed down into the acid below, raising towering green waves that surged toward them. The guards turned as white as sheets.
Yet, Pell and Gaka suddenly grew calm.
Both men turned toward Rorschach. As long as this young man was here, danger no longer meant danger.
Meanwhile, Acier— clutching his daughter Olga tightly— was trembling uncontrollably, eyes shut tight as if awaiting a cruel death.
Rorschach's right hand moved again, and the air chains tightened, pulling everyone together into one cluster. Then he formed a thick, compressed air dome to encase them all.
Not stopping there, deep-blue Haki poured out from his body, layering over the air dome for further protection.
"Vivi! Are you ready? We're going out."
Rorschach looked down to find Vivi clinging to him for dear life.
He had planned to toss her into the protective dome with the others—
—but the little girl refused to let go, hugging his arm so tightly she resembled a sloth clinging to a tree branch.
Rorschach could feel the soft pressure against his arm, and heat rose in his chest. Steeling his mind, he pulled Vivi into his embrace and stepped forward.
Boom!
A powerful air blast erupted within the anglerfish's body. Lightning energy surged from Rorschach's skin, gathering above his head into a compressed, spear-shaped bolt. With a thunderous roar, he shot upward, charging into the writhing, pulsating flesh above.
The dark red inner walls were like tectonic plates, forming the anglerfish's stomach lining.
Corrosive green mucus dripped down endlessly from above.
Holding Vivi with one arm and gripping the blue air shield with the other, Rorschach drove himself upward through the storm of wind and lightning, piercing directly into the quivering flesh.
Squelch!
The thick, tough walls tore apart effortlessly, ripped open by Rorschach's thunderous power as he bored deeper through the layers of flesh.
And yet, the massive creature didn't even seem to notice.
It was simply too huge— unless Rorschach unleashed an attack on the scale of Lightning Welcomes Heaven, this minor internal disturbance felt like nothing more than a tickle.
In fact, not even that.
Crackle, crackle, crackle!
The dense walls of flesh, as thick as mountains, were pierced one after another as Rorschach forged his way through.
Dozens of seconds later, with a surge of overwhelming pressure, he and the others burst through the anglerfish's stomach wall and out into the dark depths of the sea.
It was impossible to tell how deep they were.
Rorschach felt as though he had been thrown into a hydraulic press, with the ocean crushing him from all sides.
The air dome protecting Cobra and the others compressed instantly, shrinking several sizes and forcing everyone inside together.
Rorschach and Vivi were shielded by thick layers of compressed air and Armament Haki armor, which isolated the seawater and preserved his strength.
Locking onto the direction of the surface with his Observation Haki, Rorschach prepared to ascend—
—but something caught his eye.
In the pitch-black depths, a glowing golden sphere shimmered like a miniature sun.
It was the anglerfish's luminous lure— the glowing bulb atop its head.
As he gazed at the golden light, a thought flashed through Rorschach's mind.
Pure Gold.
Acier had mentioned that aside from the small amount forged into rings for himself and his daughter Olga, all the rest of the Pure Gold had been absorbed and filtered by the anglerfish, stored along with other gold inside the glowing bulb on its head.
Such a treasure— even if he didn't need it right now— would be a waste to leave behind.
With Pure Gold, those old admirals in the Navy could preserve their health and youth much longer.
That could prove extremely useful for Rorschach's future plans.
Having decided, Rorschach tightened his grip on the air dome that protected Cobra and the others and pushed it upward.
The air dome, far less dense than seawater, shot toward the surface like a massive rising bubble.
Rorschach himself, holding Vivi close, darted through the sea like a marlin— swift and sleek— streaking straight toward the golden "sun."
Pop!
With a crisp sound— like breaking through a bubble— he and Vivi plunged into the blinding radiance.
"Brother Rorschach, where are we? It's too bright— I can't open my eyes!"
Vivi buried her face against his chest, the light so intense it penetrated her eyelids even when tightly shut.
"Don't look— you'll go blind."
Rorschach pressed her head gently into his chest and closed his own eyes, scanning the surroundings with Observation Haki instead.
What he sensed left him utterly stunned.
He was in a world of gold.
Everywhere— above, below, ahead, and behind— was gold.
Mountains, ground, trees, coral, even fish and shells were sculpted entirely from gold.
Brilliant veins of light pulsed like living arteries across their surfaces, interlocking in harmony to radiate the brilliance of a miniature sun.
At the very center of this golden world floated a transparent orb the size of a soccer ball, held aloft by a twisting tentacle and shining a thousand times brighter than everything else around it.
"Found it! The Pure Gold is in there!"
Rorschach's heart leapt. His figure blurred, and his right hand shot out, gripping the glowing orb with all his might.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
An immense force surged from his arm, yet the tentacle connecting the orb wouldn't break.
Instead, the golden ground below them began to rise and bulge upward as he pulled.
The entire radiant world trembled violently.
From outside came the muffled roar of surging seawater— followed by a furious, earth-shaking bellow that rattled the ocean itself.
The anglerfish had been disturbed.
"What the hell is this tentacle made of?! It's tougher than steel!"
Rorschach yanked again, but the tentacle refused to snap.
As the enraged anglerfish began dragging him deeper into the abyssal depths, Rorschach clenched his teeth, lightning bursting from his right hand.
With a thunderous crack, the orb shattered.
He didn't have time to grab the whole thing. Instead, he snatched up a chunk of gold the size of his fist, then blasted forward— crashing back through the glowing membrane and streaking through the dark water like a blazing thunderbolt toward the surface.
Behind him, the ocean churned violently as the maddened anglerfish thrashed, stirring chaos through the currents as though it could upend the entire sea.
Rorschach glanced at the dazzling golden chunk in his hand, frowning slightly.
"…How am I supposed to hide this thing?"
If it kept shining like this, anyone would notice he was carrying Pure Gold.
Even mountains of ordinary gold didn't glow so intensely.
As he sped toward Cobra's rising air dome, a thought suddenly sparked in his mind—
Olga and Acier's rings!
Those rings were made of Pure Gold too, yet they didn't emit this blinding light— they just looked slightly brighter than normal gold.
Why was that?
Rorschach raised the chunk of Pure Gold and suddenly realized what he had to do.
Electricity surged from his hand.
"Lightning Metallurgy!"
Sizzle!
The Pure Gold melted instantly into flowing golden liquid.
Rorschach's magnetic power flared, splitting the molten gold into countless tiny beads— each the size of a mung bean— which floated in the dark water.
As the large chunk broke apart, the intense glow dimmed rapidly.
Rorschach grinned.
Just as he thought—
The brightness of Pure Gold was proportional to its quantity. The more it was concentrated, the stronger the glow.
When divided into small pieces— like Olga's ring— the light weakened dramatically.
He scattered the beads, and as they spread out, the last traces of golden radiance faded completely.
Then he recalled them, guiding the tiny golden beads to attach across various points on his own body— each bead spaced apart so none would emit noticeable light.
With that done, Rorschach held Vivi tight and surged forward, lifting the air dome containing Cobra and the others.
With a thunderous boom, they burst through the ocean's surface, wind whipping wildly as they soared into the sky.
Using his Observation Haki to lock onto Hibari's position, Rorschach angled upward, flying straight toward the Thriller Bark, the massive ship where Hibari awaited.
End of Chapter)
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