Chapter 42

The old bears, giant tigers, and other fierce beasts on this mountain were also successively defeated and tamed by Luo En during this period.

Sometimes he would even take Luffy and the other three riding on the giant tiger, traveling through Dashan, laughing freely.

For Luffy and the other three.

The powerful, calm, and mature Luo En had already become the goal they yearned for and admired in their hearts.

……

This day.

Heavy rain began falling on the mountain.

The five hurriedly searched for a place to take shelter from the rain, and finally found a tree hollow.

The five squeezed together sitting side by side, gazing at the curtain of rain before them.

No one knew who laughed first.

Then all five burst into laughter together.

Luo En, whose heartstrings had been taut with the desire to grow stronger, also rarely felt his body and mind completely relaxed.

After fully merging into a body of this age.

The distance between him and this world seemed to draw closer.

"Ha hehehe, Luo En, Kuina, I've decided."

Luffy said with a bright and cheerful smile, "When I become the Pirate King, I want you two to become my crewmates, just like Ace and Sabo!"

"No."

Kuina refused him outright.

"Why?"

Little Luffy looked at him, his face full of confusion.

"My goal is to become the world's greatest swordsman, not a pirate."

Kuina said with a resolute gaze.

"Oh, then forget it. What about you, Luo En? Will you become my crewmate?"

Luffy looked at Luo En.

Ace, Sabo, and Kuina's gazes also gathered on him together.

Luo En, who had been gazing at the curtain of rain outside, turned his head and smiled at the four: "I won't either."

Sabo asked curiously: "Luo En, you're so strong, yet you still cultivate so diligently. Like Kuina, is your goal also to be the world's strongest?"

"No, it's so I can enjoy life better."

"…………"

All four were utterly dumbfounded.

"Think about it — if you're not strong enough, can you eat delicious food, drink fine wine, go wherever you want, and do whatever you please?"

Luo En said to the four in all seriousness,

"So, my goal is to become a traveler who possesses absolute strength, with enjoying life as my life's purpose!"

"This... how is it any different from being a pirate?"

"Of course!" Luo En replied without hesitation: "I'm not interested in that so-called great treasure, I don't plan to seize other people's things, and I have no intention of dominating the sea or holding dominion over a region — how could that count as being a pirate?"

"…………."

Ace, Sabo, and Kuina were all rendered speechless by what he said.

So this is the reason you've been cultivating so hard.

Truly... quite the unique way of thinking.

Luffy scratched his head and said: "If you put it that way, being a traveler is even freer than becoming the Pirate King? Then I don't want to be the Pirate King anymore — I want to be a traveler too!"

"Little Luffy, wait until you can land even one hit on me before you talk about becoming a traveler."

Luo En raised his hand, bent a finger, and flicked his forehead with a smile.

Little Luffy rubbed his forehead, grinned at him, and laughed foolishly.

Ace gazed at him with doting eyes:

"Idiot Luffy."

For a moment, all of them burst into laughter.

………………

These pleasant and harmonious days did not last too long.

What Sabo had been worrying about still happened.

His father, the nobleman Otluk III, issued a search notice, posting it everywhere throughout the Goa Kingdom to track down his whereabouts.

Late at night, he stared at the search notice in his hand, glanced at Ace and Luffy still fast asleep beside him, and secretly made up his mind, arriving at a decision.

That day.

After finishing his training.

Sabo called out to Luo En and spoke with him alone.

Two days later, Sabo disappeared from Mount Gorbo without saying goodbye.

When Ace and Luffy went madly searching for him all over the mountain.

Luo En came to that mountain bandit's house.

Inside the mountain bandit's house, Dadan held a cigarette in her mouth, staring blankly at a search notice in her hand.

"Big Sis, there's a little brat outside saying he wants to see you."

"Huh? A little brat?"

GLOSSARY: 【Luo En, Dashan, Kuina, Luffy, Ace, Sabo, Otluk III, Goa Kingdom, Mount Gorbo, Dadan】

Dadan stood up. "I'll go take a look."

She walked out of the house.

A black-haired boy carrying a long saber on his back stood in front of the house. Though a group of fierce, towering mountain bandits faced him, his expression was calm and composed to an astonishing degree.

"Whose little brat are you?"

Dadan walked up to him and spoke. "What do you want with me?"

"Before Sabo left, he asked me to find a chance to deliver this letter to you."

The black-haired boy's words caused Dadan's expression to shift slightly in an instant.

She took the letter he handed over, did not rush to open it, but looked at him and said: "I heard Ace, Sabo, and Luffy — those three — were training and cultivating with a boy about their age. That boy should be you, right?"

Luo En neither confirmed nor denied it.

"Did Sabo… say anything else to you?"

Luo En glanced at the missing-person notice clutched in her hand, looked at the fierce-looking but inwardly kind old woman before him, and said: "He said he was going back to settle things with that family of his. If everything goes smoothly, he'll be back very soon."

The hand with which Dadan gripped the missing-person notice loosened slightly.

"Then why didn't he come tell us in person?"

"I asked him that same question. He said that if he told you face to face, he probably wouldn't have been able to make up his mind in the end."

Luo En said softly.

"That… stupid little brat!"

Dadan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "It's just going home — does it need to be this melodramatic? Making everyone else worry like that."

Luo En said nothing.

But he knew very well in his heart just how much Sabo detested that family.

Choosing to go back alone and settle everything took how much courage.

"Then I'll take my leave first."

Luo En gave her a nod, turned, and prepared to leave.

"Thank you for helping Sabo, and for saving Luffy and the others."

Dadan's voice rose behind him, causing his departing footsteps to pause for a beat.

…………

!

34. The Departing Sabo, The Promise to Set Out to Sea (3/5)

After Ace and Luffy came back.

After learning the situation from Dadan, the two of them — anxious and panicked — finally breathed a sigh of relief.