Chapter 176: [176] : [BONUS] – Setting Sail for Sabaody Archipelago!

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Kuma held no fear of death.

For him, Bonney represented the continuation of both Ginny’s life and his own soul. As long as Bonney could live well, Kuma felt his own spirit would not be extinguished.

But if he could personally witness Bonney grow up…

The thought made Kuma’s very soul tremble. If he weren’t already a complete cyborg, devoid of the ability to cry, tears would surely be streaming down his face.

For a father to be unable to watch his daughter grow up—was an immense, eternal regret.

Bonney was only nine years old now, not even having celebrated her tenth birthday. Though Bonney, with her Age-Age Fruit, could disguise herself as an adult woman, in Kuma’s eyes, she was still just his precious nine-year-old girl.

The most important line in the last words Kuma intended to leave for Bonney was simply: ’Happy Tenth Birthday, Bonney…’

What would Bonney be like at eighteen?

What would she be like when she got married?

When she had children of her own?

When she grew old?

Kuma’s mind often drifted, imagining these future versions of Bonney.

But Kuma knew with grim certainty that he was about to ’die’, that he would never see Bonney’s future. This regret was even greater than not being able to witness Nika’s descent firsthand.

But now… if, as a soul, he could return to this world from the underworld after death…

Those images of Bonney’s future he so often imagined—could he REALLY witness them all with his own eyes?

Though Kuma’s cyborg body couldn’t tremble with excitement, his soul certainly was!

“What… What must I do?” Kuma’s body bowed before Rowen, listening intently to his words.

This was Kuma’s way of expressing a gratitude so profound it transcended words, coming from the very depths of his soul.

“Simple. I’ll leave an imprint on your soul. After you ’die’, I can find your soul in the underworld,” Rowen explained with a smile.

The underworld was very big—even as an Awakened Man of the Underworld, Rowen couldn’t identify every soul’s former identity. He had to leave his own mark on the soul he wished to find.

Crocodile, Enel, and Moria had all died by his hand—their souls naturally bore traces of his own spiritual aura. But Kuma’s ’death’ would be the complete erasure of his consciousness, while his body, and even his Devil Fruit ability, remained. Rowen had no intention of preventing this death…

Given Kuma’s code of conduct, he wouldn’t break his agreement with the World Government and Vegapunk, even though the World Government was the root cause of all his tragedies.

This was the measure of the man, his personal charisma. If he lost himself, then even if alive, his soul would be dead, just like Moria before. And Kuma’s cyborg body was now irreversible; he couldn’t even laugh or cry like a normal human.

Plus, as a Buccaneer, viewed as a natural-born slave by the Celestial Dragons, his bloodline was one of the sources of his tragedy.

Kuma even felt happy Bonney wasn’t his biological daughter, as she didn’t inherit the fate of a natural-born slave. Under these circumstances, the ’death’ of Kuma’s physical consciousness was the only way to bring his tragedy to a close—

—Thus, Rowen’s plan was to find Kuma’s soul in the underworld after his ’death’, not to save his physical body.

WHOOSH!

An Air Door to the underworld opened! Soul energy was extracted from within!

FWOOSH!

This soul energy, transformed into Demonic Blue Fire by Rowen’s combined Flare-Flare and Revive-Revive abilities, enveloped Kuma!

Kuma’s body trembled violently. His soul—was burning under this power!

“Using Demonic Blue Fire, I will leave an indelible imprint on your soul. When you reach the underworld after your ’death’, with this imprint, I can accurately locate your soul,” Rowen explained, controlling the Demonic Blue Fire with a smile.

The Demonic Blue Fire, created by combining the Awakened Flare-Flare and Revive-Revive Fruits—just like Manigoldo’s in Saint Seiya—had the property of using souls as fuel, directly burning an enemy’s soul.

If one’s Haki was completely broken, their soul would be burned to nothing. Even mere contact with Demonic Blue Fire would leave an indelible mark on the soul. And because it was soul damage, conventional healing was useless—only soul-based powers, like the Soul-Soul Fruit, could repair it.

Rowen used this property to mark Kuma’s soul.

With this mark, and the spiritual power channel now established, the moment Kuma ’died’, his Warlord ’Fortune’ would be plundered by Rowen without any waste—as for the minor soul damage Kuma sustained from the Demonic Blue Fire, once Rowen obtained Big Mom’s Soul-Soul Fruit, he could easily repair it!

“Thank you… truly, thank you… Rowen,” Kuma’s soul pulsed with gratitude, despite the intense pain.

The form of address, ’Rowen’, was what the man himself had requested.

This man… truly treated him as an equal!

The debt of gratitude he owed this man was immense. Only by fighting for him with all his might after death, as a soul—could he repay even a fraction of it.

“Shishishi! Next time we meet, I’ll be Awakened! You’ll get to see Nika then!” Luffy grinned.

“Ah… I look forward to it,” Kuma replied.

His life, at this moment, felt filled with hope. He had thought his life was about to end, yet here, with Rowen, he had found a new beginning.

He would be able to see Nika, and see Bonney grow up…

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“I’ve packed my things!” Perona flew out from the ruined, gloomy castle, carrying a large bundle.

“Be careful on your journey, Perona,”

Moria’s soul murmured, watching her with immense fondness. He had never imagined he would one day be able to see his ’Daughter’ off as she set sail.

“Waaah! Don’t be so gentle, Moria-sama!” Perona cried, moved to tears.

“Don’t call me Moria-sama anymore, Perona. Call me…” Moria hesitated, unsure what she should call him.

Just then, Nami’s eyes twinkled. She leaned over and whispered something in Perona’s ear.

“I’m off then… Father,” Perona declared, shouldering her bag, beaming a sweet smile towards Moria’s soul.

“UWAAAAAH! KUMA! DID YOU HEAR THAT?? PERONA CALLED ME FATHER! YOU BASTARD!” Moria’s soul wailed with joy, repeatedly trying to pat Kuma on the back, but only passing through his cyborg body.

Kuma, lacking any soul-based Devil Fruit, couldn’t hear Moria’s words. But he understood his meaning. And he continued to comfort the weeping Moria.

Perhaps because—they were both fathers.

“Set sail with a smile! Don’t make Father worry!” Perona sniffled, wiping her nose, then stepped onto the deck of the Going Merry.

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“Zoro… Luffy’s latent injuries—are yours,” Rowen stated before they set sail, pointing towards the ball of pain and fatigue he had repelled from Luffy’s body.

The repelled pain and fatigue didn’t just vanish; someone had to bear it. Otherwise, it would eventually return to Luffy—and Zoro, possessing the Demonic Physique Trait, could recover quickly from injuries, even growing stronger from them.

Using the Paw-Paw Fruit’s ability in this way could even accelerate Zoro’s physique training.

“Leave it to me,” Zoro replied, then plunged both his hands directly into the orb of pain.

“HUFF!” The accumulated pain and fatigue from Luffy’s insane training instantly flooded Zoro’s body. Even he broke out in a cold sweat, his muscles tearing.

Of course, Zoro now was countless times stronger than his original counterpart at this stage—there was no dramatic spray of blood.

“From now on, you’ll be the one to bear Luffy’s latent injuries. It will accelerate your physique training,” Rowen added with a smile.

Though Sanji, with his awakened Modified Exoskeleton, could also easily endure this, Zoro’s Demonic Physique Trait allowed him to grow stronger through recovery—making him the most suitable candidate.

Whether in the original story or now, Zoro was destined to be Luffy’s designated pain-bearer—

“LEAVE IT TO ME,” Zoro gritted out with a stoic grin.

To get stronger… What’s a little pain??

Besides this is enduring pain for a comrade!

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“Well then, see you next time, Moria, Kuma,” Rowen said with a smile, looking at Moria’s soul and Kuma.

Before departing, Rowen used his Door-Door Fruit to bring Brook’s dilapidated pirate ship here and give it a proper burial.

Thriller Bark was an island that drifted from West Blue, the homeland of Brook and the Rumbar Pirates. To rest in peace on the soil of their homeland was a fortunate end.

Though Thriller Bark’s center was destroyed by Rowen’s Galaxy Impact, its vast outer regions still had land.

To bury the departed on this land was to show respect for the dead, and more importantly, respect for life.

Zoro also buried Ryuma’s remains.

Though they hadn’t dueled as in the original story, obtaining Shusui from Ryuma warranted this respect from Zoro, as a swordsman.

The dead are gone…

Life continues…

Everyone looked out at the distant sea and smiled.

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“UWAAAAAAH! FATHER! I’LL SEE YOU AGAIN!”

The moment the Merry set sail, Perona, who had intended to depart with a smile so as not to worry Moria, burst into tears.

“UWAAAH! KUMA! I’M STILL SO WORRIED! PERONA IS GOING TO FIGHT THE FOUR EMPERORS!”

Moria’s soul pulsed with frantic, weeping fluctuations.

Moria’s soul couldn’t remain in the mortal world for long. To exist as a pure soul without a vessel, defying the natural laws, required the power of Rowen’s combined Revive-Revive and Door-Door Fruits.

The longer Moria’s soul remained, the greater the stamina drain on Rowen. It was like Kizaru being unable to fly long distances as pure light, needing a warship to reach his destination.

However, once Rowen obtained the Soul-Soul Fruit and made Moria and the others into special Homies, giving their souls a vessel, this stamina drain would be significantly reduced.

This conclusion was derived by Rowen through his Human-Human Fruit’s Enhanced Intellect and feedback from the System—at the very least, having the Soul Legion fight a war for him in the mortal world would be completely sustainable.

“With Rowen here… what are the Four Emperors?” Kuma replied, now able to directly understand Moria’s soul fluctuations, as they were both fathers.

Rowen was too miraculous…

Even the Four Emperors couldn’t do such things… And Rowen was still young, his potential not yet fully realized—yet he was already a new Emperor.

In Kuma’s view, Rowen becoming the Strongest Man in the world was only a matter of time.

And Luffy was Nika!

The combination of Rowen and Luffy, plus the other Straw Hat rookies full of potential—becoming the World’s Strongest Pirate Crew was inevitable!

And he, too, would soon become a part of Rowen’s strength.

Kuma felt a strange emotion. He was actually… looking forward to death.

“You’re right,” Moria’s soul pulsed in agreement.

He would return to the underworld and wait… wait for the day he would fight for this great man!

An Air Door to the underworld opened, and Moria vanished within…

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“What… what a power!”

In a shadowy corner of the now-fragmented Thriller Bark, one of Big Mom’s daughters, Charlotte Lola, stared at the distant Going Merry, her expression one of profound shock.

That power, she was familiar with it!

It was the power only her mama possessed—Haōshoku Coating!

Had another pirate of such terrifying caliber appeared on these seas?? The Warlord Gecko Moria had been so easily killed.

Lola, who had her shadow stolen and was imprisoned here, had no knowledge of Rowen or the crew’s information. And she hadn’t dared to get close to the earlier confrontation, so she didn’t hear their dialogue.

“WE’RE FREE!” Lola and the other pirates imprisoned on Thriller Bark erupted in cheers.

Lola’s presence, of course, hadn’t escaped Rowen’s notice, but he had no interest in her—including the Vivre Card of Big Mom she possessed that could intimidate Homies… With his Revive-Revive Fruit, the Soul-Soul Fruit posed no threat to him whatsoever.

And the Going Merry—sailed towards Sabaody Archipelago.

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