Usopp asked,
"What the hell is going on with that elephant, Luffy?"
"In short, someone ordered him to keep walking in this stretch of sea, and he can't stop."
"Why?"
"I have no idea at all." Luffy shook his head. "He said he heard the Drum of Liberation a long time ago and has been looking for me ever since."
Could it have been during the Marineford War?
Could the sound of the Drum of Liberation really travel that far?
Or was it back on Fish-Man Island?
He had tried to ask the elephant about that as well.
But there was no proper way to communicate—almost as if it only kept repeating the word "atonement."
Even so, it obeyed Luffy's orders.
Luffy told it to stop shouting, and now it was walking in complete silence.
"Don't worry. Let's head up and find the Road Poneglyph first. By the way, where's Robin?"
Luffy didn't see Robin anywhere.
At that moment, pink petals seemed to flutter through the air, and Robin's clone suddenly appeared, wrapping its arms around Luffy from behind.
"Luffy, are you looking for me?"
Everyone was startled.
---xXx---
Germa Kingdom
Vinsmoke Judge and the others worked together to finally break through the continuous waves and protect the castles behind them.
Yonji said unhappily,
"That Straw Hat… why did he attack us as soon as we met?"
Reiju sighed.
"We were the ones who attacked the giant elephant first, and that giant elephant seemed to be some kind of friend of his. That was just a warning, since we were doing it for Sanji's sake."
"Hmph, Ichiji, you did a good job!"
Judge still looked displeased and said in a cold voice,
"You three, return. Reiju, stay."
Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji obeyed their father's orders completely and immediately returned to the castle.
Reiju looked at her father, probably already knowing what he was going to say.
Treating Sanji like that when he was a child… it was only natural to be hated.
"Reiju, you had a good relationship with Sanji when you were young. Go and invite the Straw Hat crew. Don't fail, understood?" Judge ordered in a deep voice.
"Yes."
Unable to resist, Reiju could only nod. Still, there was a sense of helplessness in her heart.
Her father had devoted himself entirely to restoring the glory of the Germa Empire, nearly abandoning everything else for it.
Was it really worth it?
"Go. I'll follow that giant elephant from a distance."
"Understood."
Reiju immediately leapt up and once again headed toward the top of the elephant.
A dense fog still lingered over the sea.
The Straw Hats finally arrived behind the elephant.
Not everyone had come. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Brook, and Robin.
As for the others, they were still happily taking part in the banquet on Fish-Man Island.
Under Luffy's lead, everyone walked forward for some distance. Soon, an ancient city came into view.
The city gate was tightly shut, with arrow-shaped towers standing on both sides.
As they approached, they heard a hissing sound, and a rain of arrows fell upon them like a curtain of rain.
"Are we not welcome?"
Zoro drew one of his katanas and easily deflected the arrows.
Sanji immediately followed up with a Tempest Kick, blocking all the attacks.
"There's no need to attack us the moment we meet—we didn't do anything, right?" Usopp said in surprise, taking out his slingshot.
"Luffy, should we fight back?"
Everyone took up a combat stance.
Robin stepped back and stood behind Luffy.
"Be careful."
As soon as she finished speaking, a figure suddenly burst out of the nearby forest.
The movement was extremely agile. It leapt over everyone's heads and slammed a paw into the ground, crackling with lightning.
"Horn Point!"
Chopper jumped above Usopp's head, a pair of large horns growing from his head.
At the same time, he coated his horns with Armament Haki.
Boom!!
Claws and antlers collided in midair, and in an instant, lightning flashed everywhere.
"Wait, Carrot!"
Someone shouted from the distant city wall.
Only then did everyone clearly see that the person who had attacked them was a…
"A rabbit?" Zoro was momentarily surprised.
"Chopper, like you, did she also eat the Hito Hito no Mi?" he asked.
"Are you stupid? Two fruits of the same Devil Fruit can't exist in this world!" Sanji couldn't help but complain. "It's the Mink Tribe! The same race as Bepo the bear."
At that moment, Robin looked at Carrot.
In the next instant, four arms sprouted from behind Carrot, locking her from behind and firmly restraining her joints.
With a plop, the small rabbit girl fell out of the air.
"Ow!"
Her head hit the ground, forming a large bump, and her eyes were already spinning in spirals.
Luffy laughed and said,
"Let her go, Robin."
Robin nodded and released her grip.
Carrot got up from the ground, did a few backward flips, and quickly put some distance between them.
"Who are you?" Carrot asked.
Hearing that, everyone exchanged looks of utter despair. There was a subtle feeling of having gone back in time.
Usopp stroked his chin and said,
"Luffy, she doesn't know us."
It was extremely rare for someone not to recognize Luffy.
At that moment, several figures jumped down from the top of the city wall and landed beside Carrot.
These people were clearly divided into two groups.
On the left were three individuals dressed very similarly, all wearing hats, purple cloaks, and swords at their waists. They looked like the Three Musketeers.
As for the person on the right, there was a man with the face of a leopard—brown nose, yellow fur covering his body, and long, wavy blond hair.
The leopard-man stepped forward.
"Pedro!" Carrot said solemnly. "Be careful, they're very strong!"
The leopard-man named Pedro looked at everyone and finally fixed his gaze on Luffy.
That straw hat… it's the same as Roger's.
He said,
"Strangers, what are you here for? This is the Duchy of Mokomo, and I am the captain of the guardians here—Pedro!"
After a pause, he added with a grim expression,
"Was it because of you that Zunesha's anomaly just happened?"
Hearing this, all the Straw Hats looked at Luffy.
Adjusting his straw hat, Luffy took two steps forward toward the other group and smiled.
"Mink Tribe, your king has returned! I am Monkey D. Luffy, the Sun God!"
(End of chapter)