Chapter 5: Chapter 5 - Thank You
Chapter 5 - Thank You
"What is this? Lava?"
Jericho, clutching his severed hand, skidded to a stop, nearly crashing into the suddenly appearing crimson wall.
The intense heat blasted him, forcing Jericho to retreat, rolling and crawling.
Only after retreating over ten meters did the scorching heat, which made breathing difficult, slightly lessen.
The reality of the sensation immediately dispelled his thoughts that this might be an illusion.
But why did lava suddenly appear along the coast of Red Leaf Village?
And how did it form a ring-shaped wall, blocking half of the island and sealing his escape route?
"Could I be so unlucky to encounter an underwater volcanic eruption?"
Jericho cursed his bad luck, turned around, and ran in another direction, trying to get away from Red Leaf Village.
But as he turned, his body froze.
He saw a demonic figure standing not far behind him.
Turning around allowed him to see the grin spreading across Rosha's face.
"Hello, pirate. Shall we continue?"
The searing heat had restored a bit of life to Rosha's stiff body.
He felt like he could move again.
Suppressing the pervasive exhaustion and pain, Rosha approached the despairing Jericho step by step.
"Stay back! No, get away! You monster! Stay away from me!"
Jericho's voice came out in gasps, his tongue swollen, mouth filled with blood.
The pain from his severed hand made his vision blur.
Given his willpower, it was already remarkable he had lasted this long.
Facing Rosha again, who had left a deep psychological scar, Jericho couldn't move, paralyzed with fear, his body trembling.
Fear overwhelmed him, pain blurred his thoughts.
He cried.
Like a child, he slowly collapsed, kneeling before Rosha's towering figure, shaking and sobbing.
"I know I was wrong. Please, please spare me. I won't be a pirate anymore. Please don't kill me, please."
With a clatter, the short sword fell to the ground. Jericho clutched his severed wrist, crying hysterically.
Tears streamed from his eyes.
"Please don't kill me. I have a wife waiting for me at home and a newborn child, Jamie. He's so cute, so young, he can't lose his father."
"I didn't want to be a pirate. My home couldn't afford the Heavenly Tribute, and we were expelled by the World Government. Then pirates looted us. I had no choice but to pick up a weapon and join them."
Through his tears, Jericho's eyes suddenly brightened. He sobbed and cried out:
"You can't kill me. Do you know whose subordinate I am? I'm an outer pirate under the command of Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. If you kill me, you'll be hunted by the Donquixote family forever. So, let me go, and we'll call it even. You can take all the money and food; I won't need them."
"So, you're just as unfortunate as I am."
Rosha sighed, bending down and using his skeletal fingers to wipe away Jericho's tears.
Jericho's body trembled, nodding quickly: "Yes, we're both unfortunate. So…"
"So, why continue living in this world that makes you so miserable?" Rosha's voice was gentle as he placed his hand on Jericho's head, lightly stroking. "You have a family? I thought you were an orphan."
"You…" Jericho's mouth opened, trying to say something.
The hand that had been gently patting his head slipped down, with hard knuckles pushing into his eye sockets.
"Ahhhh!"
Jericho's throat emitted an inhuman scream.
He reached for the short sword on the ground, grabbing it and slashing at the arm gripping his face.
Crunch!
Rosha's left hand grabbed down, fingers digging into Jericho's shoulder. Large and prominent knuckles clenched tighter, causing the shoulder blade to crack and splinter.
Jericho's body felt like it was being crushed by a hydraulic press, slowly being squeezed and shattered.
The excruciating pain overwhelmed him.
Jericho's mouth gaped, producing only hoarse sounds, unable to scream.
But his mind remained clear.
Clear enough to feel the two steel-like fingers prying into his eye sockets, breaking through the skull and penetrating his brain.
At the same time, his left shoulder was completely crushed.
The shoulder blade flattened, and skin, muscle, and bone fused together, indistinguishably.
Jericho felt the hand crushing his shoulder move across his face, gripping the back of his head and behind his ears.
There, where the skull naturally had gaps, was one of the few weak points in the human brain's defenses.
Those gaps evolved to aid childbirth, allowing the skull to flatten and reduce in size slightly.
Rosha's skeletal hand fit perfectly into those gaps, slowly applying pressure inward.
"I understand your desire for revenge, to devour your enemy. But if you become a cannibalistic monster, I'll bury you and this island without hesitation."
A deep, resonant voice suddenly sounded behind Rosha, making his hand pause.
Rosha slowly turned, seeing a soldier towering over him, his expression indifferent.
Though reality differed from the image on paper, Rosha recognized this man's face.
He once cursed this iron-fisted soldier for another man's death.
But now, he only wanted to say to this man:
"Thank you."
Two words left Rosha's mouth as his will and strength, sustained until now, completely relaxed. His eyes rolled back, and his tall body fell backward, hitting the ground with a thud, and sinking into a deep coma.
Akainu silently watched the unconscious Rosha for a long time, speechless, until a girl's voice calling from the other side of the magma wall jolted him.
"Thank you… It's been a long time since I heard those words."
________________________________________To read advanced chapters visit my patreon: patreon.com/Hiddenfanfics
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone