Chapter 35: Mirage at Sea
The Going Merry was now a floating patchwork quilt. From the outside she looked like a ship that had lost a fight with a sewing machine. From the inside? Even worse. The main mast had been broken and repaired so many times that it was basically held together by prayers and duct tape.
Everything that could be replaced had been—some parts multiple times. The only original piece left was probably the keel.
Luo Lin refused to even step aboard anymore—one wrong step and you'd fall straight through the deck into the hold.
His own Devil, on the other hand, had been sailing for ten years and still looked brand-new. Any damage got fixed immediately with top-tier craftsmen and unlimited budget. Not everyone was a reckless barbarian like Luffy.
"That's it! You damn pirates are finished!"
Luffy, busy nailing the mast back together, looked up in confusion.
"Crap! It's those Marines that keep chasing us!"
"What do we do?! The mast isn't fixed yet!"
"It's all Luffy's fault!"
"Are we fighting?!"
Zoro was the calmest, hand already on his swords.
Unexpectedly, the warships didn't fire. They turned and went after the former Mayor Wetton—who, surprise, used to be a pirate.
"Huh? What's going on? They're not attacking us?"
"Who knows? More importantly—fix the ship! They might change their minds any second!"
Even without immediate danger, Zoro stayed on guard and joined the repair crew. If they left it to Luffy alone, the mast wouldn't be done until next week.
Luo Lin didn't care—he was already horizontal.
The Straw Hats had no idea what was happening on shore, but while they were still patching the mast, Professor Henzo showed up with a squad of Marines… escorting the bound Wetton and his grandson.
"BAD NEWS! MARINES INCOMING!"
The others stopped hammering. Chopper's legs blurred into afterimages as he sprinted behind Zoro—hiding only his face.
"They really came for us after all!"
"Damn it, ship's still broken!"
"Guess we fight!"
Zoro drew steel. Sanji lit a cigarette. Luffy clapped excitedly.
"Alright guys! Let's go!!"
He charged—then tripped and ate dirt.
"Wait!" Henzo called.
Luffy skidded to a halt, failed, and face-planted.
"What's up?"
Henzo gestured to the two Marines in front.
"We're not here to fight! This is Lieutenant Rabani and Ensign Isoka—they won't raise a hand against you!"
Everyone's eyes nearly popped out. Jaws hit the deck.
"NANI?! The explosion aged you into an old man and made you a Marine?! SUGOOIII!!"
Luffy looked genuinely shocked.
"You idiot!" Nami face-palmed. "Something obviously happened! They were on the ship when we left the mist—then vanished!"
"Oh… right?"
Rabani spoke up.
"Exactly. The explosion threw me out too—but I landed on Ruruka Island fifty years in the past. When I woke up, Isoka and the kids were already there raising me."
"So… time travel!" Robin's scholar mode activated. Notebook out, scribbling furiously.
"Then why are you here?!"
"Oh right! I almost forgot—I'm here to arrest you!"
Everyone: ???
"Looks like we're fighting after all!"
Usopp, Nami, and Chopper instantly fled to the Devil—Merry's hull was too fragile; one stray cannonball and they'd be fish food.
Luo Lin was cuddling Robin on the beach chair when the three cowards dove behind it.
"Uh… what are you doing?"
"Shhh! Luffy's about to fight Marines! We're here to protect you and Robin-nee!"
Luo Lin: …
You three? Protecting me?
"Hiding behind Luo Lin is definitely the safest! I'm not scared anymore!"
Nami & Usopp: (̿▀̿ ̿Ĺ̯̿̿▀̿ ̿#)
Chopper, don't say the quiet part out loud!!
On the Merry, the big three were in battle stances.
Rabani continued:
"We sail under the banner of Justice! We can't let wanted pirates walk free!"
"Alright! Let's fight!"
Luffy cracked his knuckles.
Rabani suddenly grabbed his own hair in frustration.
"But we have to escort Wetton and his family to Impel Down first! We don't have enough men! Rescue ships might arrive tomorrow—or the day after! What if the Straw Hat pirates escape in the meantime?! Damn it!!"
"Isoka!"
"Sir!"
"We're leaving right now! We'll deliver these criminals, then come back to chase the Straw Hats! I hope they don't run away while we're gone!"
"Eh?"
"What are you waiting for?! Move!"
"Yes, sir!"
And just like that, Rabani stormed off, still yanking his own hair and cursing.
The trio watched him leave, dumbfounded.
"…That works?!"
"This guy's on Luffy's level of dumb!"
"HAHAHAHA! That was hilarious!"
All tension gone, they went back to fixing the mast.
Rabani took Wetton's gang to prison. Peace restored.
The next day.
The Merry was limping along when suddenly—junk started raining from the sky.
In Luo Lin's disbelieving eyes, an entire ship—ten times bigger than the Merry or Devil—came crashing down from the heavens.
Watching the chaos on the Merry, a light bulb went off in his head.
Dead memories attacked.
"Emmmm… a ship falling from the sky… SKYPEDIA!!"
His grin stretched ear to ear.
It's finally here!! Hehehe—no, KYAHAHAHA!!
Robin, reading and sipping coffee beside him, rolled her eyes at the creepy laugh.
She didn't ask what evil scheme he was cooking—Luo Lin would never harm her, so whatever.
She was far more interested in the ancient design of the fallen ship.
Robin ran over to investigate. Luo Lin followed—but when he saw her about to touch the dusty old corpses, he panicked.
No way his baby's delicate hands were touching that filth! Those hands were for daily life and squeezing him only!
Under his strong protest, Luo Lin became the one doing the skull reconstruction.
And damn—he was having way too much fun. It felt like building a Gundam.
Nami, Chopper, and Usopp watched from maximum safe distance, trembling as he got more and more excited.
"As expected of the Devil's Child and her Devil Guard—same creepy hobbies!"
"Shut up! Robin-nee is doing research! Only Luo Lin's the creep!"
"Both terrifying!"
After Luo Lin's chaotic assembly and Robin's professional analysis, they got a shocking amount of info: the ship's era, the victims' ages, health conditions—everything.
Everyone was in awe of Robin's knowledge.
Luo Lin puffed out his chest: That's my wife!!
"HELP!"
"Luffy, swim faster!"
Panicked shouting.
Nami turned to see Luffy flailing in the water. Usopp was cheering from the deck instead of helping—definitely plotting to become captain via drowning.
Zoro dove in, rescued the idiot, and Luffy came up grinning—holding a map to Skypiea!
Cue massive argument with Nami, followed by violent suppression.
But Luffy was still captain. Nami grumbled but gave in.
They needed the ship's logbook and records.
Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji immediately donned Usopp-made diving suits and jumped in.
(Say what you will about Usopp—he's a crafting god. Clima-Tact, Merry repairs, diving suits—all top quality.)
Mid-salvage—
A ship full of monkeys came by, banging drums, blowing whistles, being generally obnoxious.
Confirmed with eye contact: Luffy's long-lost relatives.
They were so loud that before they got close—
Slash!
One casual flying sword slash from Luo Lin cleaved their ship clean in half.
Can't you see I'm fishing?! Have some awareness!
Nami, Usopp, Chopper: !!!
"I must be dreaming…"
"Ah! A dream!"
"Then everything's fine!"
This was the first time they'd seen Luo Lin actually use swordsmanship.
In Alabasta and during "training," he never went all-out—just casually blocked Zoro's three swords with one hand.
They knew he was stronger than anyone on the crew, but… how much stronger?
Now they knew.
Left hand holding fishing rod, right hand loosely swinging Yuhun—one lazy slash.
A ship several times larger than the Merry—cut perfectly in half like butter.
The cut surface was mirror-smooth.
They genuinely thought they were hallucinating.
"NANI?! MY SHIP! WHO DID THAT?!"
"Boss! Help!"
The drowning screams confirmed: not a dream.
"It's… not a dream!"
The trio turned robotically toward Luo Lin.
He casually planted Yuhun straight into the deck.
Usopp saw it—his eyeballs nearly launched again.
"Luo Lin! Your swor—"
He suddenly remembered something and shut up.
"Huh? What?"
"N-Nothing! I was gonna say—super valuable sword, right? Would be bad if seawater corroded it! Want me to put it away? Haha… hahaha!"
"Oh, sure! Thanks, man!"
"No problem!"
Usopp wiped nonexistent sweat.
Nearly ratted him out—if he had, he'd be the one in two pieces!
As expected of Great Captain Usopp—pure genius!
He carefully pulled Yuhun free.
"So… heavy!"
Meanwhile, the monkey pirates swam over.
"Hey! Did you see who attacked our ship?!"
Usopp glanced at the monkey-faced captain.
"…Holy shit, a monkey?"
The guy scratched his head, embarrassed.
"Do I really look that ape-like? Haha!"
"That wasn't a compliment!"
"Even if it was, I wouldn't be happy! Answer the question!"
"Nope, didn't see anything!"
Usopp wasn't about to sell out a teammate.
The ape-man bought it.
"Then can we come aboard? Too far from any island!"
"No!" Nami instantly refused.
"What about the other ship? I'll pay in treasure!"
"Really?! …No, still no!"
Her eyes flashed beli signs, then she shook her head.
The ape-man didn't push, just floated there hugging his chest.
His crew, however, wasn't having it.
"Boss, we can't float forever! Let's just take their ship!"
"Idiots! Only sunken ships are treasure! I never attack living ships—even if this one's falling apart!"
"Ohhh! We get it, boss! Boys—sink it! Just punch a hole! Once it's sunk, it's treasure! Then we fix it!"
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! GET BACK HERE!"
Too late—his crew dove under to start drilling holes.
"Crap!"
"If the Merry sinks I'm definitely drowning!"
"What do we do?!"
The coward trio panicked.
Robin and Luo Lin didn't move an inch.
After a long, silent wait with no sinking—panic subsided.
They peeked over.
All the monkey minions were floating face-up, unconscious.
Only the captain was awake.
"What happened…?"
"No way…"
"Luo Lin poisoned them?!"
Luo Lin's mouth twitched—y'all really believe anything.
"Yep. Poisoned. And you three are poisoned too."
"NANI?! ANTIDOTE! I DON'T WANNA DIE!"
"Just drink a bowl of lemon juice."
"That's it?"
"Yep!"
Usopp and Chopper bolted to the kitchen.
Nami was slightly smarter.
"You're lying, right? What poison is cured by lemon juice?"
"Exactly. I made it up."
Robin: "Pfft—HAHAHAHA!"
Nami: (▼皿▼#)
Before she could explode, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and one giant turtle surfaced.
Luffy proudly held up a Log Pose labeled "JAYA."
They climbed aboard, stripped off the diving gear—
And the sky suddenly went dark.
Everyone looked up in confusion—it wasn't nighttime yet.
Then they noticed the turtle's eyes bulging in pure terror, staring ahead.
Following its gaze—
Everyone turned pale as death. Throats closed up.
In the distance—several colossal black silhouettes towered from sea to sky, blocking their path.
The closer they got, the bigger they became.
The Merry was the size of the turtle's eyeball.
Those shadows were dozens—hundreds—of times larger.
Even Robin instinctively hugged Luo Lin's arm tight against her chest.
Luo Lin wiggled his arm slightly.
(º ﾛ º*) Hiss~ Nice!
He wasn't fazed by the shadows at all.
Just normal people's shadows cast down from Skypiea.
He wasn't scared in the slightest!
(He was very busy enjoying the moment.)
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