Severing an Eight-Hundred-Year Heartbeat

When the first Life Line broke, a section of the ground Flower Room collapsed.

Imu reached out and pressed down on the stone slab, and five Black Lines shot out from under his palm, wrapping around the screen.

Luo swung his knife and cut two of them off.

As the blade fell, the Black Line split into four segments, but the cuts immediately rejoined.

"It's no use."

"Then cut it again."

Luo stepped into the ROOM, where the entire Flower Room was covered by a pale blue light.

Lin Qi stood behind the bar, staring at the system notifications that kept popping up.

[Patient transfer applications, 16 copies]

[Medical record completeness: 7%]

[Insufficient capacity at the receiving end]

"Vegapunk, how many people can the Tavern accommodate?"

"Based on current defense and oxygen supply, thirty-seven."

"Twenty."

"I know there are twenty, but the problem is that their Life Line are connected to the Holy Land. Once they're brought in, the Tavern will become the new Throne."

"Can we refuse to accept it?"

"Can."

Luo looked at Lin Qi.

Don't refuse.

What would you turn the Tavern into?

"Receive first, then disconnect."

What happens after it's cut off?

"The patient is the patient, Throne is the Throne."

Lami turned his wheelchair and moved closer to the parchment.

"Brother, there's another line on the picture."

Which one?

"It doesn't connect to the old site, it connects to the Tavern."

She pressed her finger below the heart image, and the almost invisible thin line lit up.

Where does this line come from?

Joy Boy's voice came through the High Tower's wiring.

"Joy Boy?"

"Under your feet."

The ground Flower Room cracked open, revealing a disc encased in black metal.

There was an old scar on the disc, with the Trafalgar Family mark etched along its edge.

Luo walked over and used the tip of his knife to pry open the metal cap.

There were no mechanisms inside, only a grayish-white stone.

It's pulsating.

One time.

Another one.

Lin Qi's system notification updated accordingly.

[Initial Surgery Core detected]

[Formerly kept by Doctor Trafalgar]

Luo reached out to take it.

Imu swung his sword from behind.

The sword had no blade; it was merely a patch of light whose color had been erased.

Luo dodged to the side, but his shoulder was still cut open.

Lami stood up, using the wheelchair for support, and the wheelchair slid backward half a circle.

"Elder brother!"

"Step back."

"You just told me to step back too."

This time it's for real.

"When wasn't it real?"

Imu approached, sword in hand.

"Your father hid the core here, waiting for someone willing to take the Throne."

He wasn't waiting for me.

He's waiting for you.

He doesn't want me to go near the God Valley.

"But you still came."

"Because you brought the patient to me."

Imu brought his sword down.

Luo opened the room and moved Lin Qi and Lami to the bar, but he was forced back three steps by a lightsaber.

Lin Qi reached out and grabbed Lami's wheelchair.

Your brother said to step back.

He also said he wanted to leave together.

"Can't you siblings argue at another time?"

"Go and pick up the patient."

"I can't answer."

"You're the Tavern owner."

"I sell alcohol."

Lami pointed to the bouncing stone.

"You can get it into the store."

That's the Throne Core.

"The Tavern is also accepting patients."

"Taking over and taking over are not the same thing."

"Then let it in first."

Lin Qi looked at her.

Do you know what will happen after you come in?

"Know."

"You do not know."

I know that more people will survive.

Lin Qi didn't ask any more questions.

He raised his hand and pressed it against the stone plate.

The sound of stones bobbing drifted into the Tavern, causing the dishes in the kitchen to rattle.

On the Cellar wall, seventeen names lit up simultaneously.

Imu raised his sword and thrust it forward.

This time, Luffy fell from above the Flower Room.

"Gear Fifth!"

The fist deflected the sword's light, smashing through the roof Flower Room.

Luffy next to the bar, his head still in the shape of a giant.

"Lin Qi, how long will it take to pick them up?"

"Ask Vegapunk."

"Vegapunk, how long will it take to pick them up?"

"Thirty seconds if no one disturbs you."

"Then I'll hold them off for thirty seconds."

"Can you stop them?"

"If you can't stop it, then stop it for another thirty seconds."

Imu turned around, his sword flashing horizontally.

Luffy raised his arm to block, and his arm was cut open, but the wound quickly healed amidst laughter.

"This guy's sword is wrong."

Luo said, "It cuts the records."

"Then I'll shatter the record."

"Don't touch the files of those twenty patients."

I'm talking about him.

Luffy punches Imu.

Imu didn't take the hit head-on; his figure was pulled back by the Black Lines, and his fist landed on the ground among the Flower Room, sending stones flying.

Using the rubble as cover, Luo covered the entire area with ROOM.

"Lin Qi, give me the stone."

If you take it, the Tavern will disconnect.

"Reconnect after the connection is lost."

"Easy for you to say."

"Doctors are only responsible for saving lives."

Luo extended his hand.

Lin Qi threw the stone over.

As soon as the stone left the stone slab, all the Black Lines Flower Room tightened simultaneously, and Imu's sword light pierced through Luffy's shoulder, heading straight for Law's chest.

Lami pushed his wheelchair and crashed into Luo.

The front of the wheelchair bumped into Luo, causing him to stumble. The sword flashed past his chest, slicing through his clothes.

"Lami!"

"See, I can help too."

"Go back."

"You can start cursing me after you survive."

She pressed the old Button onto the stone plate.

The rhythm of Dragon's heartbeat emanated from within the Button.

One pause, then two pauses.

The stone's bouncing slowed down.

Imu took a step back for the first time.

That Button shouldn't have been left.

Lami asked, "Are you afraid of it?"

"It logged an error."

What error?

"A child shouldn't have been saved by a doctor."

Luo pressed the stone into the hilt of the Kikoku knife.

The blade immediately split open.

A deep blue light extended along the blade, piercing into the ground among the Flower Room.

A new notification popped up.

[Temporary Life Anchor Established]

[Spellcaster, Trafalgar D. Wa Tie'er]

Luo looked at the parchment.

"Wa Tie'er?"

Over the long-distance communication, Wa Tie'er coughed.

"I'm not dead yet, I can still use it for now."

Do you know the price?

"I knew it thirty-eight years earlier than you."

You want to do it for me?

"Your father registered me as dead so that I would live to see this day."

Luo gripped the hilt of the knife tightly.

"You all like to make decisions for other people."

So this time it's your decision.

No sooner had Wa Tie'er finished speaking than the voices of the Five Elders came from the direction of the High Tower.

"The circuitry beneath the Throne has been locked; the Reverse Surgery cannot be performed."

Lin Qi looked at the screen.

The transfer of twenty patients has stalled at 40%.

[Receiver encounters life return]

[Oxygen supply in the Tavern is starting to decrease]

The cook shouted from the Cellar, "Boss, black smoke is coming out of the water pipes in the wine cellar!"

"Close the door."

"It can't be contained!"

The helper cried out with a mournful face, "The ledgers are on fire!"

Lin Qi picked up the ledger.

Don't touch it!

This ledger records who owes money.

What are you going to do?

Lin Qi turned to the last page.

That page was originally Blank, but now twenty names have appeared.

He picked up a pen and wrote the recipient's name on the first line.

Lin Qi, East Blue Tavern.

"They have to register before they come to my shop for medical treatment."

Imu looked at him.

"You are not qualified to treat the Throne's patients."

"You gave me that qualification."

Lin Qi lowered his pen.

Didn't you just ask who would take the Throne?

He looked up at Imu.

"Now I know."

"This is the shop."