Three-Way Consultation in the Flower Room

"Send it back?"

Luo pressed the parchment against the bar, pressing his fingers along the tear to prevent the paper from being blown away by the wind.

"The Op-Op Fruit has never left the Trafalgar Family." Imu stepped down from his High Seat, the Black Lines around his feet tightening. "Thirty-eight years ago, your father took it to Flevance; thirteen years ago, you took it to the God Valley."

My father didn't perform the surgery for you.

"He kept my patient safe for me."

Luo raised the Kikoku, the tip of his knife aimed at Imu.

"You dare call yourself a patient?"

Imu stopped in the middle of the Flower Room.

"He kept my medical records for eight hundred years."

"Then what are you?"

"Manager."

"Will the administrator send the patient to the Throne?"

"The patient will die if he does not receive treatment."

Luo chuckled briefly.

"You register the living as the dead, write children as samples, seal off the entire island, and then put their lives on the Throne. I've only ever seen doctors like this in the World Government's archives."

You're not qualified to talk about being a doctor.

Imu raised his hand.

The ground Flower Room cracked open, and Black Chains emerged from the cracks in the rocks, instantly wrapping around Luo's ankles.

Expand ROOM.

Luo and the chains vanished simultaneously, and the next moment, he appeared behind Imu, his Kikoku slashing horizontally across Im's waist.

The blade pierced through the body.

There was no blood.

Imu turned around and placed his palm on Luo's chest.

Luo's body was propelled by a force, crashing through the Flower Rack, his back scraping against the wall, and coming to a stop by the Tavern door.

Lami immediately turned his wheelchair around.

"Elder brother!"

"Don't come any closer."

Luo leaned on his knife to stand up, blood seeping from the wound on his left shoulder again.

Lin Qi glanced at his injury, then looked at the parchment in front of him.

"Throne, how will the surgery be performed?"

Imu looked at him.

"You don't even know your own identity, yet you dare to attempt surgery on the Throne?"

"I only ask about the process."

"The Initial Terminal is not eligible."

"Let me rephrase the question: Who is the anchor point for Reverse Surgery?"

Imu did not answer.

Luo seized upon this silence.

"Vegapunk, connect to the system."

A screen lit up on the wall.

Vegapunk's face appeared on the screen, the lines behind him still flashing.

"I'm here. Don't let that guy continue. The Throne is trying to seize system communication privileges."

Can you locate the anchor point?

"Complete information could not be found; access permissions have been split into three levels."

Lin Qi raised his gun and pointed it at Imu.

"Then ask him."

Don't ask.

Luo turned to look at him.

"Why?"

He'll deliberately give you an answer you can understand.

"He doesn't seem like he'd be willing to cooperate."

That's why it's dangerous.

Imu raised his other hand, and five Black Lines rose from the bottom of the Flower Room, leading straight to the roof.

In the distance, the roars of the Five Elders could be heard.

The ice walls of the Aokiji began to crack, and seawater poured into the High Tower from the rift, but it still couldn't suppress the regenerating bodies.

"What are they waiting for?" Lin Qi asked.

"We're waiting for you to take the Throne."

Luo stared at Imu.

"Even after you lost your authority, the Life Contract remains on the Throne."

"Permissions can be granted to anyone, but the contract can only be severed by the Op-Op Fruit."

So you want me to do it?

"You've already made your move."

Imu pointed to the parchment.

The heart on the paper began to beat slowly, and all twenty lines lit up at the same time.

Lami could see the words at the bottom.

"Brother, the anchor point isn't a person."

What did you see?

"Twenty."

Vegapunk immediately asked, "Twenty what?"

"Twenty Life Support Terminals, located at various former royal sites."

Luo opened the parchment; the lines on the map extended from the Holy Land, across the Red Line, and to all parts of the world.

"Imu has scattered the twenty kings."

"The Throne lies only among the Flower Room."

"The Throne is here, the patient is not."

"Right."

Imu finally spoke.

"If the Reverse Surgery begins among the Flower Room, the practitioner must endure twenty instances of backlash."

Lin Qi looked at Luo.

Are you still going to do it?

Luo did not answer.

Lami gripped the armrest of his wheelchair and asked Imu, "Why are you telling us this?"

Imu looked at her.

"Because you're on the list too."

Lami's finger rested on the wheel rim.

"I?"

"Your medical records have been transferred from Flevance to the Throne. Sixteen years ago, you signed a Holder Confirmation on behalf of your brother."

Luo turned his head.

"Lami."

"I don't know what that is."

What did you sign?

"I told you, I don't know."

She grabbed the wheelchair and tried to turn it around, but the wheels got stuck in the gravel.

Luo walked over, knelt down on one knee, and lifted the stone for her.

Look at me.

"You should go have the surgery first."

"I asked you what you signed."

Why are you asking this now?

"Answer."

Lami turned his face to the side.

"The Throne says, 'As long as I confirm that one person is alive, I can grant you seven more days of life.'"

Luo's hand stopped beneath the wheelchair.

"Who?"

"Corazon."

There was a two-second silence among the Flower Room.

Luo stood up, and twirled the Kikoku halfway through his hand.

"You see," Imu said, "Doctor Trafalgar, "Your family has always been signing papers for others."

"Then I won't sign today."

Luo put away the parchment.

"I'll perform the surgery."

Lami grabbed the hem of his shirt.

"Elder brother."

You stay here.

Where are you going?

"Find the Throne."

There are twenty patients there.

"So I'll go."

You will die.

"Know."

Are you still going?

Luo looked down at her.

You just said you agreed to go together.

"Then I'll go with you."

Your legs can't walk yet.

I have a wheelchair.

There is no road beneath the Throne.

"Then let it exist."

Lin Qi placed the bent Hunting Rifle on the bar.

I have a way.

Luo looked at him.

"The Tavern Cellar?"

"There's another layer below the Cellar; it was revealed when the Throne was assimilated."

You didn't say that.

I just saw it too.

The chef poked his head out from the doorway.

"Boss, is there a charge for the lower level of the Cellar?"

Bookkeeping.

"Whose is it?"

Lin Qi pointed at Imu.

"Make a note of him first."

Imu's expression finally changed.

Lin Qi patted the bar counter.

"Throne holder, the Flower Room is now under my control. If you want to take her away, you'll have to settle the bill first."

"You think a Tavern can confine me?"

"Cannot be contained."

Lin Qi walked under the bar and took out the Black Stone Slab.

But I can let you answer questions.

The system screen lit up in front of everyone.

[The Public Question begins]

[Question: Do the twenty patients of the Empty Throne still possess independent will?]

Imu raised his hand to interrupt.

Black Chains pierced the screen.

Lin Qi didn't dodge, but the screen rose on its own, and the chains pierced the ground, embedding themselves at Imu's feet.

Images from all over the world lit up simultaneously.

Luffy looked up from outside the High Tower.

Lin Qi asked another question.

Shanks deflected the God's Knights's longsword.

"Listen carefully, don't let them touch the screen."

On the Whitebeard Pirates' ship, Marco grabbed a charging knight.

"No one is allowed to interrupt before the answer is given."

The system has started a countdown.

Imu raised his hand, and all the exits Flower Room closed simultaneously.

You will regret letting the world see this question.

Luo gripped the Kikoku hand tightly.

That depends on your answer.

Countdown to zero.

Only two words appeared on the screen.

[No]

The next moment, heartbeats could be heard simultaneously from twenty royal sites around the world.

The heartbeat was arrhythmic, like twenty people knocking on the door of the same hospital bed.

One by one, the Life Line behind Imu snapped.

The screams of the Five Elders came from the direction of the High Tower.

Lin Qi's expression changed as he looked at the new notification on the screen.

Twenty patients have requested transfer to another hospital.

[Receive location: East Blue Tavern]

"This time we don't need to smash up the shop." He looked up. "The shop needs to see patients."