Chapter 397

"Old immortal, hand over the thing right now!"

"The thing is no longer in my hands. I've hidden it somewhere you'd never imagine."

"Then spit it out quickly! Or I'll make you taste my torture!"

"Torture? Hmph." He pulled out the gun in his hand and fired rapidly.

The big man gripping the old man realized something was wrong and immediately dodged, blocking the attack with Armament Haki.

"Old man, you should know that this pistol is just a toy to us. Stop resisting and tell us where the thing is!"

"Inside that thing is hope—how could I hand it over… and also…" He revealed a strange smile. "The gun is useless to you, but useful to me."

He raised the gun to his temple.

Boom—

The big man stared dumbly at the fallen figure.

He hadn't expected this old man, who always clung to life, to be so decisive.

The big man muttered a curse under his breath. Now all leads were gone. If that thing fell into someone else's hands, their end had come.

Wait, what did he just say?

Hidden it somewhere they couldn't think of?

"Old man, you didn't realize your last words betrayed your thoughts. That thing must be hidden somewhere in Seven Water City—I'll turn this city upside down until I find it!"

The big man's face turned sinister. If Zoro were here, he'd recognize this man as the one he'd met on Hagar Island—the first to rush out of the cave to block him.

The big man prepared to leave, but then remembered the old man's corpse.

"What a nuisance—even dead, you need someone to clean up after you."

The big man cursed under his breath but still had to deal with the body.

You know, islands have one advantage: they're close to the sea.

The big man tossed the corpse into the sea, watching a splash rise and vanish.

But he didn't know the sea had troublesome currents—and unpredictable… tsunamis.

Mermaid.

The excitement passed, and Usopp suddenly remembered something.

"By the way! Sima Di!"

"Huh? What's up?"

"After I got hurt, a man in a suit shoved this into my hand. He said, 'Usopp, I know the Heart is on your ship—give this to her, she'll know what to do.' I thought and thought—only you on this ship could be the Heart, and your bounty poster even has a tiny mark saying 'Heart,' right?"

Usopp pulled out the object and handed it to Sima Di.

Sima Di took it and froze.

"Strange… that man knew me, and knew you… who exactly is he? Huh? Sima Di? What's wrong? Is there something odd about this thing?" Usopp asked.

"Uh… no, nothing."

"By the way, what exactly is this little black rectangle? Looks like gum."

"Just a keepsake… just a keepsake. By the way, do you remember what that man who gave it to you looked like?" Sima Di tucked the object safely against his body.

"He… looked about fifty, with a perfectly groomed slicked-back hairstyle, and… his face was long," Usopp thought and described.

A name surfaced in Sima Di's mind.

It must be him—the one who accidentally joined the game.

But why give me something like this?

Something that can't be used here at all.

USB drive!

"You look shocked. Is he your uncle? Or… your father?" Usopp speculated aimlessly.

"An uncle. A distant relative."

"An uncle? But how would he know me?"

"Maybe… because you're too dazzling in Luffy and Zoro's bounty posters," Sima Di lied casually.

"Hah! That's it! It must be that! Oh my, I've stolen the spotlight from them—I feel embarrassed! But what can I do? I was just born this handsome!"

"Enough idle talk. I know you're handsome, but you need rest right now—and I… have my own duties to attend to."

Sima Di turned and walked into the forward gun deck cabin.

"Got it! Sima Di!" Usopp replied cheerfully.

But the moment the Cang Sect door closed, Usopp's smile vanished, replaced by deep concern.

They all knew Sima Di's origins were complicated, but no one dared ask. As long as Sima Di hadn't chosen to speak up, no one would press for answers.

"I hope Sima Di is safe."

Usopp said this, then turned to rest.

The next day.

The inn where the Straw Hats were staying.

"Not here… nowhere to be found," Nami searched Sima Di's room but saw no trace of him.

"What's going on... Robin's gone, Usopp's like this, and now Sima Di too... *wail*... 1.0..." Chopper burst into tears.

"Regardless, let's go look for him," Sanji sighed, lighting a cigarette.

"Wait… what's that?" Sanji stepped forward and picked up a piece of paper blown by the wind.

It bore Sima Di's handwriting: I'm going for a walk. Don't worry about me.

"At least Sima Di left a note, but Robin…" Nami took the note and read it.

"Let's go find Young Lady Robin…" Sanji said.

At Zoro's suggestion, everyone split into three groups to search.

Luffy and Nami went one way, Chopper and Sanji another, while Zoro acted alone.

Zoro was wanted as soon as he stepped out; Luffy and Nami, hearing news of Bingshan's attack, rushed to investigate, while Chopper and Sanji learned that Akula... 【garbled text】...

85 planned to find someone on the island.

Sanji: "Hey! Something terrible has happened! A man named Akula... 【garbled text】..."

Chopper: "That's right, that's right! In the second half of today, this city will be submerged by seawater! Including this coastline!"

Sanji: "This is dire! We cannot just sit and wait! Quickly go to higher ground for shelter!"

Chopper: "That's right! That's right! Go to shelter! Shelter! Shelter!"

On the Merry.

Usopp stood on the deck, as if hearing someone shouting in the distance, when Sima Di happened to open the door and step out from the forward cannon deck.

"Sima Di, did you hear something?"

"It's Chopper and Sanji. They came to tell us the tsunami is about to hit and urged us to seek shelter..." Sima Di said, "See, everyone still cares about you."

"Chopper... Sanji..." Usopp fell into thought, then suddenly jumped off the ship, preparing to apologize to the two.

However, Chopper and Sanji, mindful of Usopp's pride, had already run out of sight.

"Let's first repair the ship and move the Merry to a safer place," Sima Di suggested. "As for the apology... we have plenty of time."

"... Alright, Sima Di."

14 The two prepared to repair the ship, but discovered they lacked materials. They left the ship together to purchase some.

Fortunately, Sima Di had the habit of carrying money, so they bought the materials easily. At that moment, Ah Yin also transformed into the shape of a large dog, carrying the materials for the two.

At this time, Water 7 was very desolate; there were almost no pedestrians on the streets. The wind howled, raging through every alley.

Yet one place had gathered many people, who were watching something.

"Who could be so cruel?"

"I think he committed suicide?"

"Just before Mr. Bingshan had his incident, now a corpse has appeared..."

"Perhaps this person was also struck down by an assassin."

"If not for the tsunami receding the tide, he probably would never have been discovered..."

"Truly pitiful..."

The crowd chattered endlessly.

"Something seems to be happening over there. Sima Di, should we go take a look?" Usopp asked.