Chapter 434

"You are the Ship Spirit..." Luo suddenly remembered a member of the Straw Hat Pirates and couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly. "You are Merry! A member of the Straw Hat Pirates!"

"That's right!" Merry lifted her proud head. "I am the Ship Spirit of the Straw Hat Pirates, Merry! I never thought you would know of my existence; you truly are someone Dad approves of."

"Dad?"

"Yes. Although Dad's bounty is lower than yours... it's only a little lower. But Dad is amazing, super amazing! The fact that I can stand here is due to Dad's ability! And also, Dad is very amazing! Three hundred million Berries! Much higher than yours! Much higher!" Merry said, shaking her head back and forth.

Luo paused slightly. Three hundred million Berries? That would be Straw Hat Luffy, wouldn't it? So the "Dad" this little girl speaks of is Luffy. Then who is the "Dad" he speaks of?

A. Zoro, with a bounty of one hundred and twenty million Berries

B. Sima Di, with a bounty of one hundred million Berries

C. Sanji, with a bounty of seventy-seven million Berries

Luo shook his head, driving the nonsensical options from his mind.

The answer must be the second one! Zoro and Sanji are both grown men! How could they be "Dad"? Besides, Luo had also heard that the Straw Hat of Straw Hat Luffy is something very important to Luffy, which is why he always wears it on his head. And the bounty poster of Sima Di also features his straw hat. What does this prove! Being able to lend something so important to someone else just for a bounty poster absolutely proves that the relationship between Sima Di and Luffy is anything but ordinary!

"So... the 'Dad' you speak of is Zo... Sima Di?" Luo almost slipped up, nearly voicing his true thoughts.

Compared to the option that Sima Di is "Dad," he leaned toward choosing the first answer.

"Mm-hmm, it seems you know Dad too." Merry nodded, satisfied.

Facing Merry's unhesitating answer, Luo couldn't give up and asked for confirmation once more.

"So... Sima Di is your Dad? Luffy is your Dad?"

However, the response was Merry lifting an innocent, harmless smile and nodding, saying "That's right."

Luo took a deep breath.

Just now... something must have gone wrong somewhere? He had never said anything about being married or having a boyfriend.

"Speaking of which, why are you here?" Merry tilted her head, looking at the other person with innocent eyes.

Luo did not want to answer this question.

Ever since entering the mist, strange things had been happening constantly. Just when he had finally figured out whose territory this was and what exactly had happened, he had become separated from the others, and the ship was gone.

Fortunately, hearing from Perona that they would not die, but would only be expelled from here, Luo finally set his anxious mind at ease.

"Let's discuss this question later... Where is Sima Di? Where is Sima Di? Take me to see him." Luo's tone held a hint of urgency.

"I... I don't know... I got separated from Dad and the others. Waaah... I can't find the way home." As Merry spoke, she burst into loud sobs.

"Stop crying!" Luo shouted.

Merry's crying stopped abruptly, but it only lasted for a mere instant before she cried even louder.

Luo was at a loss for what to do; he didn't dislike children, he just had no idea how to interact with them.

"I... I understand! I will go with you to find them! So, please don't cry, okay?"

Luo's tone was initially quite stern, but by the time he reached the last two words, it had softened into a gentle reassurance.

"Mm... you must keep your promise..." Merry sobbed, looking at Luo with pitiful little eyes.

"Ah, I will."

Southwest of the Thriller Bark.

A ship with a very unique style gradually approached this place.

The hull was about three times the size of the Sunny, painted entirely in green, with the sails also a shade of green; fortunately, a huge red rose pattern was in the center of the main sail, otherwise one might really suspect the ship's name was "Forgiveness."

Although this ship was large, there were only two people inside.

One was a man of about twenty, wearing dark round sunglasses, with short, curly dark brown hair that looked like a rose at first glance. He wore a fluorescent green suit with a wine-red shirt underneath, a flashy pink bow tie around his neck, and a bright red rose in the left pocket of his suit. His taste in dress was truly unique.

The other was a bronze-skinned girl with short silver hair, much shorter than the man beside her, standing at no more than one meter fifty. The girl wore silver lipstick, had silver hoop earrings around her ears that were a size larger than a fist, and held a long-handled blade in her hand that was taller than herself.

The two standing together were simply the best combination for visual impact of the year.

"My lord, we are arriving soon, hoo-hoo~" The girl habitually twirled the long-handled blade in her hand, her excitement uncontrollable on her face.

"Yes... we are arriving soon. It has been a year since I last saw you, my beloved Di; I wonder, are you well now?" The man revealed a hint of nostalgic expression.

The Straw Hat Pirates' Second Squad.

Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and Franky, a group of five, officially set foot on the island and began searching for the whereabouts of Sima Di and the others.

They had completed the side quest to tame the two dogs and one fox beast, and teamed up to clear the zombie dungeon, grinding the zombies in the dungeon to the point where they didn't want to crawl out of the graveyard anymore. Afterwards, Luffy casually accepted a main quest issued by a "Critically Ill" old man: defeat one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Gecko Moria.

Unlike the arduous journey of Nami and the others, the five arrived at the tall, gloomy Gubao in a posture of absolute domination.

"Time passes and never returns~ Memories can only be recalled~"

Before the five even reached the entrance, they heard a faint singing voice coming from a distance.

"This song is... Sima Di." Zoro paused, searching everywhere for the source of the sound.

"Indeed it is him. I once heard him sing this song for a whole week." Luffy said with a smile.

"That's right! It's Little Sima Di! I have also heard him sing this song!" Sanji's eyes lit up. "Little Sima Di! I am here to save you!"

After this shout, the singing stopped abruptly.

"The singing... has stopped." Robin said.

"The sound seems to be coming from inside there." Franky noticed a large pineapple-shaped vase placed at the entrance of the Gubao.

The vase was about one meter high, entirely cobalt blue, covered with intricate golden patterns, exquisite and beautiful.

"Something like this, Nami would probably like very much." Zoro said.

"It's impossible for sound to come from here, right? No matter how you look at it, it's just a vase." Sanji shrugged.

Luffy curiously leaned close to the vase, looking up and down, and even squinting to look inside, but all he saw was a pitch-black void.

"This vase looks very rare; it should have considerable historical value." Robin also leaned over, carefully stroking the patterns on it.

"Is that so..." Luffy stroked his chin, thinking, and finally simply stuck his hand straight inside.

"Crack—"

"Ah!" Luffy quickly pulled his hand out; a row of very obvious tooth marks was already on it.

"It seems there's something inside," Robin said.

"What on earth is it! It actually dared to bite me! How detestable!"

Luffy moved to kick the vase, but Robin stopped him in time.

"This object has great historical value; it's better not to destroy it lightly."

"Luffy, don't be so impulsive! What if it's Sima Di?" Sanji offered his opinion.

"Hah? Cook, are you dreaming? How could Sima Di fit in there? That bottle is less than a meter tall. I don't recall teaching him the Bone-Compression Technique," Zoro said.

"Why not? Female bodies are very flexible, so she should be able to get in quite easily," Sanji said.

0............

"Understood," Zoro replied.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was wrong!" A person suddenly shot out from inside the vase, hands raised in surrender. "Please don't use such crude things as weapons, okay?"

Everyone was stunned upon seeing this girl, while Sanji was like someone who had just won the jackpot, cheering and jumping for joy.

The young woman had fair skin and beauty, with a head of cobalt-blue wavy long hair, and her pupils were that same deep color. She wore a cobalt-blue qipao patterned like the vase's designs, full of charm. The only flaw was the obvious stitching marks on her body, which marred her overall beauty.

On the young woman's right arm was a clear number—Number Three Hundred Eighty.

"Um... hello everyone, my name is Lina, the vase girl who lives inside the vase. Please give me your guidance." Lina bowed slightly, her smile enchanting.

Such a polite self-introduction surprised the five of them.

"What a beautiful Miss~ Why do you choose to dwell in such a narrow vase? How about coming out and dancing with me?" Sanji approached with a serious expression.

"About that... I'm sorry." Lina took a step back.

"Don't go any further, dead cook, you're scaring her," Zoro blocked Sanji.

"You say you're the vase girl... then can't you come out?" Franky raised a question.

Come to think of it, Lina only showed her upper body to everyone; her lower half was hidden inside the vase and completely invisible.

"About that... my lower body is this vase." Lina smiled slightly. "It seems someone told me I'm a scary zombie under the command of Miss Perona. But... who is Perona?"

"Did you lose your memory?" Robin asked.

"No. I'm just new here," Lina said. "Why have you come here? Are you new too? Or... are you seniors?"

"We came looking for someone," Luffy said. "Have you seen a man with a long nose, a reindeer with a blue nose, a woman with orange hair, and a... utterly unremarkable woman?"

"Sima Di would surely cry if he heard that," Robin said with a laugh.

"Then... there's a girl wearing pink overalls with two small braids..."

Before Luffy could finish, Sanji from behind stepped forward and kicked him.