Chapter 45: Chapter 42: Zoro’s Resolve!

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Chapter 42: Zoro’s Resolve!

Meanwhile, Luffy had already made his way to Moria and found him in the freezer where the wall has already broken down.

Oz...has been awakened!

But Luffy’s shadow was still with him...which means, Moria had used Franky’s shadow instead!

“SUUUPPPEEERRRR!!!”

In the distance, you could already hear Oz shouting at the top of his lungs!

If you were outside, you can also see Oz raising both of his arms high up in the air while posing slantly.

“...”

Luffy ignored Oz in the meantime and focused on beating Moria.

What happened next was still similar to what happened in the original story. Though Oz hosted Franky’s shadow instead of Luffy’s, he was still deadly and hard to deal with.

The only good thing here was the lack of moves he could do.

Naturally, Oz couldn’t do something like Weapons Left or Coup de burst so he was mainly using Strong Right...though the hand doesn’t exactly leave the arm…

With this, it was easier for the others to also restrain him and Luffy could focus more on Moria.

In the process of fighting Moria, Luffy was blown away and met with Lola and other humans trapped in Thriller Bark.

They gave him a hundred shadows to temporarily strengthen himself for 10 minutes, Nightmare Luffy!

While in Nightmare Luffy mode, Luffy was able to easily subdue Oz now and turned to Moria for their next round of battle.

When Moria finally realized that Oz can’t win, he decided to take in all the shadows in a desperate attempt of turning the tables.

“Shadows Asgard!”

Even the shadows that Luffy had taken in were also removed from him as he returned to normal.

Seeing the gigantic Moria, he still didn’t back down.

“Everybody! We don’t have much time! I’m gonna go a bit wild...so you guys take care of everything afterward!”

Luffy’s gonna exert himself one more time and he’s afraid that he’ll be unconscious later after the fight. He can only entrust himself to his crew!

“If it’s a nightmare you want, I’ll show you one, Moria!!!”

“I’m not gonna play nice with you!”

Gear...Second!

Luffy disappeared and reappeared in the air in front of Moria. His arms stretched and held onto Moria as he aimed himself at his stomach!

“Tekkai...! Gomu gomu no...Jet Rocket!”

“Gah-!?”

Moria felt his insides churning with that attack and vomited not blood, but shadows!

Luffy wasn’t done yet.

“Shigan…! Jet Snipe!”

His move was similar to that of his normal rifle attack, but instead of a punch, he used a single finger to pierce Moria at high speed while rotating!

Then, he swung his feet like a whip while in mid-air.

“Rankyaku…! Jet Kamaitachi!”

A flurry of wind blades shot out and rained down on Moria!

Moria coughed up more shadows but still remained standing!

Luffy started to become even more desperate as he bit on his thumb and blew on it.

“Gear...Third!”

“How can he be using both Gear second and third at the same time!?”

“Luffy! Don’t overdo it!”

“You're body will be torn apart!”

His crew started to panic and worry about what would happen if Luffy continued to exert himself!

But Luffy chose to ignore them and focused on defeating Moria.

“...Tekkai…! Gomu gomu no...Gigant…! JET SHELL!!!”

“!!!”

*BOOM*

Moria blanked out the instant he was hit and every shadow in his body was...finally released!

“OWAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

“The shadows...the shadows are returning!”

Everyone started to celebrate except for Luffy who’s currently unconscious.

However, their celebration came to an end when they heard an unfamiliar voice.

“I see...my uneasy feeling seems to have been dead on.”

“So it seems.”

“Just when we found a successor to Crocodile, it’s not good to have another Shichibukai defeated.”

Everyone finally saw where the voice came from.

When they turned to look, they saw a large man talking to a denden mushi. He seemed to have reported what happened just now.

Zoro heard the term Shichibukai and held onto his swords with a serious expression.

Robin saw the figure and her eyes widened.

“That person…”

“Robin! Do you know him!?”

Robin nodded with a pale face.

“That is none other than the Tyrant, Bartholomew Kuma! Another...Shichibukai!”

!!!

Despite everyone’s shock and surprise, Kuma ignored them and simply focused on his call at the moment.

“Nevermid, if Moria is still alive, we’ll allow him to continue being a Shichibukai. We don’t have time to pick another one. The news shouldn’t reach the rest of the world yet. Do you understand what I’m saying? We can’t have any eye-witness of Moria’s defeat.”

“...”

“Obliterate every single soul left on that island.”

“...Easy.”

Kuma’s face becomes deadly as he turned his focus on the others.

They all heard their conversation just now so naturally, they knew what will happen next.

“Dammit! To have a continuous battle of Shichibukais!”

“...You guys step back, I’ll do this!”

Kuma turned to look at Zoro who stepped out first.

“Pirate Hunter Zoro...let’s start with you.”

“Enough talk! Nitoryuu Iai...Rashmon!”

Zoro performed a quickdraw with two swords only to cut a rock in half instead of Kuma.

By the time Zoro noticed that Kuma had disappeared, Kuma already appeared in front of him and was about to deliver a palm strike.

*Boom*

Zoro rolled to the side and saw the area he was previously on already has a hole in the shape of a paw.

Kuma turned to him and delivered another palm strike in the air.

Thanks to his instincts and shallow advancement in Observation Haki, he was able to make out a faint image of a paw heading towards him.

He dodged to the side and sure enough, the wall behind him was struck by a paw-shaped attack.

Zoro looked back at Kuma and bit on his third sword.

“Gotoryuu...180 Pound...Ballista!”

Five swords! With Zoro’s original three swords, plus his two legs, it created a never before seen...5 sword style!

The 5 sword slashes shot forward and twisted on one another, creating an even stronger force!

Kuma only glanced at the incoming attack and raised both of his hands.

The moment the attack hit his hands, Zoro’s attack was…deflected! And with such ease too!

“Even that attack was repelled!?”

Seeing Zoro being helpless against Kuma, Sanji ran forward and spun with a kick!

“Concasse!”

“Hey! Who asked you to…!?”

Zoro was angry at Sanji for butting in their fight but suddenly, Sanji started screaming in pain while holding his leg!

“What’s with that hardness!? Is his face made of steel or something!?”

Usopp shot a flame bird towards Kuma but Kuma just casually swatted it back to him appearing to be bored.

“Now that you’ve been weakened like this, destroying you isn’t interesting at all...the government’s order was to completely destroy you all but…”

Kuma sighed and started to raise both of his hands as if to embrace the air.

His ability activated and a faint silhouette of a paw could be seen.

Nami’s face paled when she saw this.

“He’s applying pressure to a ball of air that he repelled with his paws...it’s been compressed that much!”

“If that much air returns to its normal state, it would create a gigantic shockwave...like a bomb!”

Kuma compressed the air to the size of a small fist and spoke.

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“I will...spare your lives. In exchange, I’ll be taking Strawhat Luffy. As long as I take his head, the government won’t complain.”

“...You’re telling us to betray our comrade!?”

“...”

There was no need for discussion amongst them. Everyone knows the answer.

“HELL NO!!!”

“...That’s a pity.”

Kuma shook his head and sighed.

He tossed the compressed air towards them and released it.

“Ursus Shock…!”

*BOOOM!!!*

From a distance, you could see a huge transparent paw-shaped explosion enveloping the surrounding area!

After the explosion finished. Kuma glanced at the rubble and only took a moment to figure out where Luffy was.

He lifted a piece of debris and threw it away.

Looking at the still unconscious Luffy, Kuma sighed and reached out his hand.

But just when he is about to take him away, Zoro’s eyes snapped open and immediately attack Kuma with a one sword quickdraw!

“Shishi Sonson!”

Kuma staggered but didn’t fall. However, the clothing on his shoulder was ripped off and Zoro was able to see that Kuma didn’t have skin underneath...instead, his shoulder was metallic and wired!

“Bastard! This body…so you're a cyborg!? Just like Franky!?”

No...this hardness is way higher than steel!

Zoro was surprised that he wasn’t able to cut down Kuma despite him being a cyborg.

Kuma didn’t answer and simply opened his mouth.

A bright light gathered in it and….

*Boom*

A laser beam!?

Zoro quickly dodged just in time as his previous location exploded from the beam.

Only now did Kuma answer.

“I am indeed a cyborg...but I am far beyond Franky’s type! I am what they call ‘Pacifista’. An incomplete human weapon created by the world government!”

!!!

Zoro gritted his teeth.

With such a body...and a devil fruit...it seems their hope has already vanished! Even Zoro’s body is already so injured from the Ursus Shock a while ago…

“Why...must you take Luffy’s head…!?”

“This is already my best offer.”

“...I see. Go on and take the head...however! Let mine substitute his! Let my life exchange for his! I beg of you!”

Zoro didn’t care how lowly it was for him to beg. Right now, that’s not important! What’s more important is to make sure Luffy is safe!

“I know my head is not worth much at the moment...but eventually, I will become the World’s Strongest Swordsman! I’d say exchanging my life for his is an equally good deal!”

“...If you have such great ambition, then by dying for him...how will you ever be satisfied?”

Kuma asked.

“...Aside from that...there is already no other way to save the crew! Lucas isn’t here...so I can only do my best to protect them! If I can’t even protect my Captain’s dream, then whatever ambition I have is nothing but just talk!”

Zoro stared straight into Kuma’s eyes.

“Luffy...must be the man who becomes the Pirate King!”

“...”

Kuma fell silent upon seeing Zoro’s determination.

Before he could reply, another person stepped forward.

“Hold on a minute, you jerk. What are you going to do if you die!? What happened to your dream...idiot!”

Sanji ignored Zoro and pointed at Kuma.

“Oi, you big blob! Just ignore this marimo swordsman...if you must kill somebody, then just take my life! I know the marines don’t give a damn about me...but soon enough, the man who will be most feared by the marines will be me, Black Leg Sanji!”

“...”

Seeing Sanji about to give his last words to him, Zoro stood up and knocked Sanji out!

“B-bastard…!”

*Thud*

…

Zoro saw that Sanji wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, he looked back at Kuma and spoke.

“I hope you will keep your promise after I die…”

“...In that case, if I still lay my hand on Strawhat, my honor would be at stake.”

Kuma sighed and picked up Luffy.

Zoro frowned but didn’t stop him as Kuma didn’t seem to emit malice at this point.

“Rest assured of what I will do now, as I will leave him unharmed...however, what you are about to experience now is...Hell!”

Kuma touched Luffy with his hand and a huge paw-shaped ball was expelled from within Luffy’s body.

“What I’m repelling from his body now...is pain and fatigue. All the damage inflicted on him in his battle against Moria is accumulated here. If you wish to die in his place, then you must receive his suffering. Since you already don’t have much life left in you, taking this pain will only lead to your...Death!”

“...”

Kuma picked a small part of the paw-shaped ball and tossed it to Zoro’s body.

“Have a try.”

The instant the small ball went inside Zoro, his eyes widened as the intense pain seemed to course throughout his body!

Pain!

Just a small pinch of that is already this...painful!?

In that case, just how much pain was Luffy carrying all this time!?

Zoro gritted his teeth and became even more determined about his decision.

“Well?”

“...Just...let me decide on the location…”

Zoro knew that for him to take this pain, it would be impossible for him not to scream in pain. He didn’t want to wake everyone up to know what he was doing!

Finally settling in a quiet and far location, Zoro gritted his teeth and pushed both of his arms in!

“Ghh-....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

…

Kuma stood in the distance, watching as Zoro takes in every single pain from Luffy.

“To find such loyal companions...your son is indeed amazing...Dragon…”

Kuma sighed in relief.

If it turned out that his crew would easily give him up under such circumstances, then he wouldn’t hesitate to kill them all!

As for delivering Luffy to the marines, he naturally wouldn't do that. Instead, he would send Luffy to his father.

But his crew exceeded his expectations.

Kuma smiled for a second before returning back to his expressionless face.

Then...he left quietly.

At the same time, it wasn’t just Kuma who was watching this.

Another figure was hidden in the darkness as he watched Zoro bear the pain on his own.

“...So this is his crew…”

The figure muttered quietly but didn’t intervene. Just like Kuma, he also left without a word...

After waking up, Sanji quickly tried to find Zoro, only to find him still alive and conscious. However, his body was covered in blood all over!

“Why the heck are there so much blood!? Oi! Are you still alive? Where did that guy go!? What on earth happened here!?”

“...Nothing...Nothing at all…!”

Afterwards, Zoro fell unconscious and has yet to wake up.

Other than Sanji, the only people who knew were Robin, and Brook.

Another day had passed.

Zoro finally woke up and they were about to set off once more to Mermaid Island.

Before leaving, Lola gave Nami a vivre card.

Luffy saw this and remembered the vivre card that Ace gave him.

He took it from a pocket in his strawhat to have a look.

“Hm? It’s kinda burnt, and smaller than before?”

“Ahh!”

Lola suddenly shouted as she saw the state of the vivre card.

“This is most certainly a vivre card...however...there’s something I hadn’t told you about these. They can reflect the ‘vitality’ and ‘life-force’ of their original owner! This...it belongs to someone important to you?”

“Yeah, it’s my brother’s!”

“...I hate to have to tell you, but..this person’s life, it’s fading away!”

“Ehhh!?”