Chapter 22

With a thought, the ground beneath his feet returned to its original state.

Kaido felt he had objections, but he merely loved fighting and wasn't foolish—this Straw Hat and that imitator over there had abilities that were extremely troublesome, not to mention Whitebeard and a group of marines.

Can't have enough fun.

"Tch." Kaido decided on a tactical retreat, planning to find these people alone later for a proper fight.

As the light element gathered for the final time, countless feathers of light fell again from the sky.

"Quick, bring out the wounded!" cried medics and some marines who had just regained their wits.

Admiral Sengoku and Karp walked over; Su Lin wasn't in a hurry—he wasn't even his true body here.

Soon, the crowd parted, clearing a path for Karp and Sengoku.

The two walked up to Su Lin.

"Hahaha!" Karp laughed loudly: "What an impressive young man."

Sengoku stared grimly at Su Lin: "Thank you—for saving the wounded."

With that, the two passed by Su Lin and walked toward the rear of the marines.

"Aren't you going to look for Blackbeard's whereabouts? There should be at least some gains." Su Lin asked.

"Blackbeard? Tich?" Sengoku stopped and turned to look at Su Lin.

"He started this war—he's likely released a batch of Level Six prisoners. Logically, he should have reached this area by now."

Hearing this, Sengoku recalled the Impel Down convicts who had appeared on the battlefield earlier.

He took out a Den Den Mushi from his bag and called Impel Down.

"Magellan! How's Impel Down?"

"Blackbeard and his accomplices were locked up by Magellan," Sengoku said, putting away the phone. "Looks like this guy has grand ambitions."

"Though, a few troublesome ones escaped."

After speaking, Sengoku turned and left with Karp.

"Is that so."

Su Lin was slightly surprised but didn't dwell on it—perhaps it had something to do with the Straw Hat kid.

He picked up his hat and made a farewell gesture toward the camera.

Su Lin's figure vanished from where he stood.

Left behind, his hat slowly drifted down.

"Such a variety of abilities~," Karp said, watching Su Lin disappear into thin air. "Is that a clone or something?"

"Whatever it is, now those trash won't be able to sleep soundly, hahaha."

Karp laughed heartily.

"Karp."

"Ah, sorry, I accidentally spoke the truth, hahaha," Karp grinned freely.

"I'm planning to resign," Sengoku said quietly, not reprimanding Karp. "Regardless, I must bear some responsibility."

"Besides, I'm a bit tired."

"Is that so?" Karp showed little surprise. "Want to come with me to the East Blue for a vacation?"

"Let's talk about it later," Sengoku thought for a moment. "I haven't settled accounts with your grandson yet."

"Also, I'm confiscating all your rice crackers."

"Huh!? Why?!"

A marine soldier transformed into Su Lin's appearance and walked toward Luffy.

Of course, this was also a historical projection.

Survive. Must survive.

Who knows if someone might sneak up on him—like Imu hiding behind the scenes.

"Su Lin!" Luffy reverted to his normal form and ran toward Su Lin, waving his hand.

The marines along the way showed varying expressions, but none stopped him.

On one hand, they couldn't beat him.

On the other... he was Karp's grandson.

If it were any other pirate, they'd already have slashed at him, regardless of whether they could win.

Might as well pretend not to see him.

"Luffy, is he your friend?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, definitely. Thanks to Su Lin, I had the chance to rescue you, Ace," Luffy slapped Su Lin hard on the shoulder—if the effects of all those strength-enhancing drugs hadn't worn off yet, Su Lin would've been knocked to the ground.

"Hello, Ace, Whitebeard, everyone," Su Lin smiled and greeted them. "Let me properly introduce myself—I'm Su Lin, Luffy's friend."

"Kururururu."

"Thanks to you, Su Lin, I owe you a massive debt," Whitebeard said seriously. "If you ever need anything, just ask—I'll give my life to help you."

"Same here," Ace said solemnly. "My life is yours—take it whenever you need it!"

"We do too."

Whitebeard's captains all voiced their agreement.

"I don't need your lives. By the way," Su Lin reached into empty air and pulled out a hat, placing it on his head. "If you want to thank someone, thank Ace's younger brother."

"Just help them out whenever you encounter them on the sea."

"Uh... alright."

Everyone thought: The Straw Hat kid's gotten this strong.

"The Straw Hats owe us two massive debts as well," Whitebeard solemnly promised, his voice resonating with authority.

"Whatever you want, just ask—as long as the Whitebeard Pirates can do it."

"Ace is my brother, what do you mean owing favors?" Luffy said, dissatisfied.

"Then we'll talk later. Red Hair's ship is here. Boys, get ready to board."

Red Hair's Face-Face Fruit didn't even get a chance to show its worth before Su Lin stole the spotlight.

He waved toward the Whitebeard side, lowered the gangway, and let the people on the battlefield board the ship.

"Mmph, that guy Akainu really got wrecked pretty badly, hahaha." Red Hair jumped down from the ship, exchanged a glance with Akainu—who wore an unwilling expression—and waved with a smile.

Akainu sulkily turned his head and walked away.

"Shanks! You bastard!"

"Hm?"

Red Hair turned around and saw a familiar figure.

……

Amid Buggy's harvest of his underlings' praise, everyone boarded the return ship.

Marines watched resentfully from a distance, especially those led by Akainu.

Su Lin, of course, chose to wave them goodbye with a smile.

One day later.

The aftermath of the banquet always makes one's heart skip a beat.

"Su Lin, how about a guy like you joining my crew!" Red Hair leaned against the ship's railing and invited Su Lin.

He also held up a bounty poster tossed down by a news gull.

Composite Ability User, Su Lin, 3.5 billion Berries.

Red Hair could tell at a glance that this guy was a good person, and didn't have much ambition.

As a companion, one could feel completely at ease.

"I'm going back with Luffy." Su Lin said, snacks in his mouth: "I should have mentioned it, right? We're not from this era."

At last night's banquet, Luffy and Jinbe also explained the whole story. Luffy told them everything except the chat group.

He didn't care about these things now either.

After learning about what had happened in another timeline, Ace and the Whitebeard Pirates grew even more grateful toward Su Lin.

At the same time, they also learned just what their little brother had gone through in another timeline to become this strong.

Upon learning that Luffy's two other rookie captains had beaten Kaido and Big Mom, the banquet's atmosphere reached its peak.

"Of course I know that." Red Hair came over drunk, reeking of alcohol: "After you go back, the you from this timeline should join our crew!"

"No way, Su Lin is my companion!" Luffy said bluntly, meat in hand.

"Yeah, it's a bit hard to explain." Su Lin smiled helplessly: "I don't belong to this timeline. Meeting the Luffy from the original timeline was an extremely coincidental event."

"So after I go back with Luffy and the others, your crew will only have this timeline's Luffy and Jinbe left."

"Oh?" Red Hair was a little surprised, but on this sea nothing was strange to hear about, so he quickly returned to normal: "Is that so, what a shame."

"But just thinking about those World Government guys fretting over a person who doesn't exist, hahahahaha, that's hilarious." Shanks laughed heartily: "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" ×N

These pirates had somehow sobered up again at some point.

The atmosphere of a banquet is always a joyful one.