Chapter 116: The Sun, the Drum, and Rubber 3
Luffy doesn't know about that day's events and has no intention of ever telling him. A few of the crew might know, but they've also kept silent.
It wasn't a deed done for recognition or to show off.
Luffy was just someone who shouldn't have died.
With his mouth full of food, Luffy asked,
"So Zoro, you've really become strong. What happened?"
"Hm? Oh, a lot has happened."
"Tell me?" Zoro asked nonchalantly, and Luffy replied, "Not now. Later!" as he continued to stuff more meat into his mouth.
Zoro nodded and then, without looking, used his fork to stab at a hand reaching for the meat on his plate. Of course, Luffy dodged it with his Observation Haki.
"That's too much!"
"You have your own."
"Yours looks tastier."
"Anyway…"
Tsumiki watched the scene quietly for a moment.
Having lived in the same house as Zoro for over a decade as siblings, she knew him too well.
'Zoro dislikes having people around.'
It wasn't that he hated people or couldn't socialize; he just found it bothersome. Thus, even though he mingled well once he was in company, he rarely initiated interaction.
His expression was intimidating, and his manner of speaking was very direct and blunt, so people outside the sorcerer society seldom approached Zoro casually.
'The same goes for people in the sorcerer society.'
He was infamous in the sorcerer world from a young age as someone who knew nothing but cutting curses.
Of course, Zoro had his family including Tsumiki, and he formed his own groups with people he got along with. He was indifferent to people's murmurs, but Tsumiki felt sad about it.
'He's a good person.'
However, since Zoro seemed fine and not lonely as he was, Tsumiki didn't press further.
For Zoro to have someone he followed meant more people for him to protect and care for, and that was worrying yet a good thing for Tsumiki. Zoro always had to protect and be responsible for others, but now there was someone to look after and take responsibility for Zoro. Following his captain would naturally lead Zoro to meet many people.
Of course, this depended on Luffy being a good person who would actively protect Zoro, but Tsumiki had no doubts about that.
'The person Brother Zoro decides to follow couldn't be bad, right?'
"You said your name is Luffy, right?"
"Yes!"
"Please take good care of my brother. He's a good person."
"I know!"
Zoro is a good guy, Luffy grinned broadly as his rubber arms stretched and wrapped around Zoro. Tsumiki hesitated for a moment and then said to Luffy,
"My brother might think he doesn't need protection because he's the strongest, but… please fight alongside him anyway."
Being the strongest doesn't mean he can't get hurt. Being the strongest doesn't mean he doesn't need help from others.
In the end, no one can live in this world alone.
Luffy chuckled.
"Of course, Zoro is my crewmate."
Luffy can't swordfight, navigate, lie, cook, practice medicine, study archaeology, build ships, play music, or steer a ship.
Despite having so many shortcomings, Luffy could rise to the position of King of the Sea because he had many friends and crewmates.
Crushing the enemies of his friends and crew was the only thing Luffy was good at.
He never considered the identity or strength of the opponents, nor the circumstances behind their actions or who was at fault.
Even if his crew tried to stop him or refused to come to his rescue, Luffy didn't care. He never intended to listen to the circumstances, and even if he did, he wasn't smart enough to understand them.
Luffy simply crushed his crew's enemies and protected his crew.
...In that sense, there was something Luffy had to ask Zoro.
"Let's go, Zoro."
"Where to?"
"Anywhere!"
"Hold on, wait!"
Luffy wrapped his arm around Zoro and darted out of the window. Toji immediately tried to follow, but paused when he saw Zoro's mouth shape the word,
'Wait.'
By then, Luffy and Zoro had already disappeared into the distance. Gojo peeked out the window.
"They're gone. Where did they go?"
"...They're idiots, so probably somewhere high up."
Whatever those two idiots would discuss was anyone's guess. Toji sighed as he looked at the card Zoro left behind and the long bill, seeing the restaurant owner timidly approaching.
...
Luffy, with a "yup," pulled himself up to the rooftop of the building using his hand. Zoro also jumped up and landed softly next to him. Looking out over the city filled with dense buildings from the rooftop, Luffy exclaimed,
"Awesome."
"Yeah."
It was a place Zoro also liked. The view of Tokyo from the rooftop of the tallest building nearby was indeed impressive.
Zoro calculated the chances of Luffy being caught on CCTV or smartphone cameras as he stretched his arms up the building, then just let it go.
'It would be strange if there wasn't some commotion with Luffy around.'
Rules of sorcery or whatever, controlling Luffy was impossible. And as a crewmate, it shouldn't even be attempted.
The authority to decide what the crew does belongs solely to the captain. As a crewman, Zoro's role was merely advisory at best. Even then, Zoro hardly ever thought of advising.
'Leaving it to Chopper, Usopp, and Nami to hold him back has always been the way.'
A faint smile appeared on Zoro's face as he remembered those dear faces.
"What did you come all the way here to say?"
Zoro easily realized that Luffy had something to discuss privately, hence this escapade. Luffy turned to Zoro with a rare serious expression.
"Hey, Zoro."
"Yeah?"
"—Were you dead?"
Blink. Zoro closed his eyes briefly, then reopened them.
It wasn't that he thought Luffy wouldn't notice. After all, compared to his past life, the scar on his chest had disappeared, his age was different, and both his eyes were intact.
And Luffy had good intuition. There was no way he wouldn't notice such a fundamental change in his crewmate.
Luffy's face was unusually somber. Unlike usual, his face was expressionless, showing no emotions. But Zoro knew.
'He's angry.'
Extremely so.
The Conqueror's Haki was boiling with deep anger and hostility. Uncontrolled flashes of dark red lightning from Luffy's Conqueror's Haki appeared and disappeared around his arms.
Crackle, crackle.
Sparks of black lightning flew. Zoro was unfazed, but with such a level of Conqueror's Haki, any ordinary person would faint from a great distance away from Luffy if he weren't consciously suppressing it.
Considering Luffy's current intensity, if he were to fully unleash his Conqueror's Haki, everyone in Tokyo's Minato Ward who wasn't a sorcerer might faint. It wasn't good for Luffy, nor for Zoro.
"..."
Zoro didn't really want to talk about it. Talking about his death would only make Luffy feel guilty. But seeing Luffy's face demanding an answer, he couldn't lie or remain silent.
"Yeah, I was dead."
"...I told you to live as you wished."
That final command to live as he wished was something Luffy had said only to Zoro among all the crew.
Why he had said that only to Zoro, Luffy himself didn't know. It just felt right to say it to Zoro at that moment.
Zoro shrugged.
"I lived as I wanted to."
He had never aimed to die. There were just things that had to be done with the readiness to die, and he did them but ended up dead.
"You did too."
Luffy pursed his lips. He seemed to have a lot of grievances but couldn't figure out how to express them. His pouting look reminded Zoro of Megumi, and he let out a small laugh.
From the rare bits of conversation that stuck in Luffy's mind, he knew that this place was very different from their past life.
"After dying, were you reborn here?"
"Yeah."
"When did you die?"
"At twenty-three."
Not an old age, but such was the life of a swordsman and a pirate. From the moment Zoro aimed to be the strongest swordsman, he had been prepared for death, and he faced it calmly.
The irony of a person like that living a second life was absurd. Zoro sighed. Explaining how it all happened was complicated.
"It's not like I ate a Devil's Fruit like Brook. It just... turned out this way."
While he lived with no regrets and to the fullest, he had no intention of defying death. Zoro, who should have met an ordinary end, was pulled from the cycle of death due to someone's interference and was reborn in another world.
"Who killed Zoro?"
"Not 'who,' but 'who's.' And I took care of them all."
"All of them?"
"All of them."
An alliance of remnants from the old era, displaced by the new era Luffy had ushered in. Zoro faced them alone, and his sword thoroughly destroyed them.
The main officers were defeated in battles with Zoro and were left unable to fight again, while the lesser ranks were knocked out by his Conqueror's Haki and swept away by rough waves.
'Even if the lesser ranks survived by luck, with the officers in that state, reassembling was impossible.'
Complete annihilation. That was the end they met.
I'm not sure exactly how many there were. Probably tens of thousands, maybe even millions. It was several times, perhaps dozens of times, more than the 100,000 troops I saw in Fishman Island. But in front of Zoro with Conqueror's Haki, it hardly mattered.
"What about the others?"
"They're all safe."
It was just that there was no time to call them.
Although the Straw Hat crew had disbanded, they still kept in touch periodically. If Zoro had called, they would have gladly come to help. But after the disbandment, they were living in their respective hometowns and regions. It would have taken time for them to reach where Zoro was.
The situation at the time was too urgent to wait. The remnants of the old era were about to execute a plan that would ruin the entire world along with the new era, and naturally, Zoro couldn't just watch.
So, Zoro fought alone and defeated them all.
He smashed each of their members, permanently thwarting their plans, and saved and protected what he wanted to save. It was something even Whitebeard had not accomplished.
It was certainly a victory for Zoro.
Both as a battle and a war.
No shame, no regrets, no lingering attachments. For a pirate, as well as a swordsman, it was a fitting end.
"So don't cry."
Zoro said, looking at Luffy's face, twisted from forcibly holding back tears.
It wasn't bad.
Luffy leaped up and wrapped his arms around Zoro as if cocooning him. It seemed like a gesture meant to comfort Zoro, but it also seemed as if he was clinging to a lifeline.
The memory of his brother dying right before his eyes while trying to save him was a wound Luffy would never forget in his lifetime. The thought that Zoro too might have died defending his dream felt heart-wrenching.
Luffy buried his face in Zoro's reliable embrace and mumbled.
"I'm sorry, Zoro."
Protecting the era wasn't Zoro's job. It was something Luffy was supposed to do.
Zoro scoffed.
"Don't apologize."
Pirates don't apologize for acting on their beliefs.
Both Luffy and Zoro. They just lived and died that way.
Luffy hugged Zoro's neck a bit tighter.
"Was it okay here?"
"Somewhat."
He had to let go of all his connections from the previous life, but here too, he found precious people. Family, friends. Those who had either disappeared without leaving memories or died leaving painful ones in his past life.
They weren't the same people or the same meanings as before, but now, Zoro's family and friends are alive and by his side. There had been various incidents, but it wasn't bad. Really.
Luffy spoke in a trembling voice.
"I'm glad."
"…?"
"That you're okay… that we could meet again…"
"Luffy?"
"I'm so relieved!"
Luffy, bursting into tears and snot like a fountain, hugged Zoro's face so tightly with his legs that it was almost suffocating. Zoro, caught off guard, also hugged Luffy back with his arms to support him.
Luffy, crying profusely, tightened his embrace around Zoro. It was the first time Zoro had seen Luffy cry this much, which left him a bit stunned. For some reason, there was a tightening in his chest.
"I'm sorryyyy. I missed youuuuu."
"…Yeah, me too."
"Uwaaaaah!!!"
I'm glad, I'm glad. Luffy repeated these words.
Zoro, feeling Luffy's heart thumping like a drum and his warmth like the sun in May, said,
"It is fortunate."
That we could meet again.
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