The Choice Between Life and Death
"Ah..." All three of them rolled around on the ground, their arms covering their heads. Their clothes, soaked in blood, were covered in dust, but they had no time to care about that. The pain from the burning of their souls was far more intense than the physical injuries. Even someone as resolute as Zoro could hardly bear the pain of his soul being torn apart for the first time.
"How is this possible? The three of them working together couldn't even withstand a single blow from the other side. Has the gap in strength really reached this level?" Nami could hardly believe her eyes. Although Ace had always emphasized that Nightmare was very strong, she didn't have a concrete understanding of it until now. Only now did she clearly understand the difference between the great pirates of the East Blue and the great pirates of the Grand Line.
"Oh no... Oh no! Luffy must be seriously injured. What are you doing? Usopp, bring the three of them back quickly!" Chopper said to Usopp, who was slumped on the ground, his legs still trembling uncontrollably.
"Although I really want to do that, I can't move and my whole body is in unbearable pain. Have I been injured too?" Usopp was covered in cold sweat and didn't even have the strength to stand up.
"No, that's not true! You're just too scared to move!" Chopper roared.
"Ah! Luffy, Sanji, Zoro!" Usopp and Chopper screamed in disbelief after regaining their senses.
In an instant, feelings of despair, regret, and fear washed over everyone. Vivi, in particular, was filled with remorse. If she had known it would end like this, she would have preferred never to have met Luffy.
"Is this all the power you have? You're utterly pathetic!" Roy said indifferently, looking down at you.
"You... you bastard, I... I'll definitely beat you to a pulp!" Luffy stood up angrily, just about to endure his injuries and fight Roy to the death, but a sharp pain from the depths of his soul caused him to lose his footing and fall to the ground again. He could only pound the ground in frustration, "Get up, get up!"
"Damn it, is this the power of a man with a bounty of 300 million even before entering the Grand Line?" Sanji roared hysterically, suppressing the waves of pain surging through his mind. "No wonder those cold-blooded monsters submitted to him. Damn it, is there really no hope?"
"The sword in Nightmare's hand doesn't seem to be a physical object, but a projection of his current state? If it is the real thing, even Hawkeye's World's Strongest Black Blade in the world couldn't exert such pressure on me!" Zoro's desire for the Supreme Grade Sword had suppressed the swelling pain in his soul, and he even temporarily forgot about his current situation.
But Zoro quickly looked at the pile of iron filings in his hand and smiled bitterly, "The Third Generation Kitetsu and Yubashiri, which I just acquired not long ago, are already broken like this? It seems that in front of such Great Sword Master, only weapons of the level of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords can barely keep us fighting!"
"You lot, have you decided how you want to die? Considering how hard you fought, I can let you choose your own way to die. Of course, I won't condone dying of old age or dying a happy death." Roy stroked his smooth chin, revealing a devilish smile.
"Die... how did I die?" Usopp's vision went black, and he passed out.
"Usopp, pull yourself together!" Chopper grabbed Usopp's shoulders and shook him frantically, finally waking him up.
Just as everyone was waiting for the final verdict of fate, Vivi suddenly knelt down on the ground and banged her head forward, instantly staining the ground red with blood.
"Nightmare, all these mistakes stem from my ignorance and shallowness. I am willing to bear all the blame, but please let them go. They are just innocent people who were implicated by me."
"Vivi, don't beg him. He's probably just waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves!" Nami pulled Vivi up and shielded Vivi behind her like a mother hen.
"No, no, no, I think this suggestion is excellent." Vivi's face lit up at first, but Roy's next words plunged her and Nami into an icy abyss. "However, the person who dies can only be a member of the Straw Hat Pirates!"
Roy's indifferent gaze swept over Luffy and his crew before he slowly said, "Your Straw Hat Pirates now have six members. I can generously allow five of you to leave, but in return, the last one will be laid to rest forever beneath this earth."
After Roy finished speaking, the room fell into a deathly silence, and the atmosphere became particularly heavy.
"This isn't such a difficult choice, is it? Sacrificing one person will allow the other five to escape alive," Roy began to tempt, like a devil. "And the one destined to be sacrificed is naturally the least valuable person in your pirate crew. So, who is the most useless one among the six of you?"
"I... I'll do it. I... I'm a good-for-nothing who can't do anything but talk big, but no one has ever looked down on me. This journey on the high seas has been the happiest time of my life. Now it's my turn to contribute to everyone! Nightmare, take this life!" Usopp was initially timid and tearful, but in the end he suddenly wiped away his tears and spoke with thunderous force, making everyone almost unable to believe that this was the Usopp who was always getting sick.
"No, I'm the one who should have sacrificed myself!" Nami tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, a sweet smile playing on her lips. "You fools never looked down on me for being a thief, and after I tricked you, you still believed I would be your navigator. Actually, if it weren't for you, after that 100 million Beli was taken by Captain Nezumi, I would have lost the will to live. But you not only rekindled my desire for life, but also helped me destroy the Arlong Pirate Crew. From that day on, my life no longer belonged to myself."
"Waaah, Nami, how could you say such discouraging things? Even if someone has to die, it should be me." Sanji's expression suddenly turned desolate. "Besides, my birth was a mistake. I'm just someone who shouldn't exist in this world. If I can help everyone live, then my life has value."
"I'm just a monster who brings misfortune and disaster, and I'm not as courageous as everyone else. No matter how you look at it, I'm the most useless one!" Chopper said through gritted teeth, his eyes filled with tears. "Let me sacrifice myself in your place."
"Don't joke around. If I were to trade your lives for a temporary survival, I'd rather die here in battle!" Zoro said succinctly.
"Everyone who boards this ship is my partner, the most important person to me! So, my answer is, we will live together and die together!" Luffy shouted his vow.