Departure

P.S. Here is today's update, and while I'm at it, please vote for the Qidian 515 Fan Festival. Everyone has eight votes, and voting even earns you Qidian coins. I'm begging for your support and appreciation!

"Everyone, we're leaving." Li Ziming walked into the room where Luffy and the others were resting and clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Why? The meat here is really good," Luffy asked in confusion.

"This is pretty much why." Li Ziming took out several wanted posters. "Since Mr. Luffy defeated a Shichibukai, his bounty has risen to one hundred million. Another Marine force has already arrived. If we don't leave now, things could get dangerous."

"Wait! Are you saying you want to come with us?" Zoro gripped his sword hilt.

"Not just Ming. Me too. Would you let me aboard?" Robin walked over with a smile.

"Robin, my dear!" Sanji immediately approached her with a lovestruck expression.

"Wait, they used to be with Baroque Works. We can't..." Usopp hastily tried to stop them.

"Huh? But I wanted to hear about the exploits of the great hero Usopp," Li Ziming said, looking troubled. "What will I do if I never get to hear them again?"

"A great hero, huh?" Usopp said smugly. "Well, that settles it. You can come aboard."

"I have no objections." Nami had once again been won over by Robin's diamonds.

"No!" Luffy said unexpectedly. At least, it was unexpected to Li Ziming.

"May I ask why?" Li Ziming asked, puzzled.

"Because you're too boring," Luffy said as though it were obvious.

Robin burst out laughing at his reason and gave Li Ziming an amused look.

"I knew it." Li Ziming shook his head helplessly. "Give me a moment." With that, he disappeared from their sight. Before long, he returned carrying a glass of red liquid garnished with lemon and a celery stalk.

"Want a taste?" Li Ziming handed the drink to Luffy. "Straw Hat. I hope you like it."

"This drink tastes great!" Luffy's eyes lit up after one sip, and he promptly drained the glass in a single gulp. "There's just too little of it."

Curious, Sanji sampled a little of the remaining liquid. "Tomato juice and tequila? This is a pretty good cocktail." His instincts as a chef kicked in, and he badly wanted to know how Li Ziming had mixed it.

"A bartender, Captain. May I come aboard?" Li Ziming asked.

"Hmm, a bartender, huh? All right, you can join us." Luffy flashed a broad, toothy grin.

"Getting aboard sure wasn't easy, Captain." Li Ziming shrugged. "Good thing I have a useful skill."

"All right, let's get out of here!" Nami gave the order with quite the air of a captain.

"Ah, this feels good." Zoro savored the desert night, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Meanwhile, Luffy kept eating the food he had brought from Cobra's palace.

"Luffy, why are you still eating?" Usopp asked helplessly.

"Because it's so good! Sanji, let's make this next time!" Luffy said to Sanji.

"That's exactly what I was thinking, so I asked for all the recipes." Sanji might have been a bit of a lecher, but when it came to cooking, he upheld a chef's professional standards.

"Nami, are you worried about Vivi?" Robin noticed that Nami seemed down.

"Want to bet?" Li Ziming suddenly cut in.

"What are you talking about? Vivi's our friend! Right, Nami?" Sanji said irritably.

"I've decided!" Nami suddenly raised her head. "For Vivi's sake, I'll give up that billion!"

"That's what you were thinking about?!" everyone roared in outrage.

"Ha! I told you!" Li Ziming laughed smugly, inwardly giving himself a big thumbs-up for his cleverness.

When they reached the Going Merry, they spotted a familiar figure—or perhaps a perverted one?

"Mr. 2?" Li Ziming smiled. "Or should I call you Bon Clay?"

"I never imagined you knew my real name, Five! That's my best friend for you!" Bon Clay exclaimed excitedly.

"Li Ziming. That's my real name." Li Ziming held out a hand. "Sorry for all the trouble, Bon."

"Oh, oh, I'm so touched!" Bon Clay shed tears of excitement, then shouted indignantly at Luffy, "Hey! Don't you have anything to say to me?"

"No," Luffy answered bluntly.

"You people!" Bon Clay grew furious. "Do you know why I stole this ship back from those Marines, warned you, and helped you? Can't you even say thank you? Aren't you going to invite me aboard for a visit?"

"Is that necessary?" Luffy looked annoyed. "We're enemies, aren't we?"

"Baroque Works is gone, so we're not enemies anymore." Bon Clay slumped onto the ship's gunwale.

"Even if we're not enemies, why should we invite you aboard?" Luffy looked puzzled.

"That's so heartless!" Bon Clay looked incredulous. "I stole this ship back for you!"

"We really do owe Bon our thanks for that. Without a ship, none of us might have been able to leave Alabasta." Li Ziming spoke up for Bon Clay.

"Then why did you help us?" Luffy still looked distrustful of Bon Clay.

"Because of..." Bon Clay raised his thumb. "Friendship, of course!"

"You really are a good guy!" Luffy immediately grabbed Bon Clay and began dancing with him.

"So you actually wanted to find some allies because Alabasta's under blockade and you couldn't escape either," Zoro said, mercilessly exposing Bon Clay's motives.

"It's fine. One more person means one more target. If we really can't escape, we can just throw him out there to draw their fire." Li Ziming smiled as he said something that made everyone gulp.

"Devious!"

"Devious, plus one!"

"Devious, plus!"

"If you've got time for that, get over here and help me!" Nami unleashed Nami's Punch. The Luffy, Usopp, and Bon Clay vessels were sunk, while the Chopper vessel suffered a fright. At least everyone started working, but even then, they couldn't escape the Marines' pursuit.

"What's wrong with those Marines? Shoot cannonballs at us!" Luffy shouted in frustration.

"Enough. That's the famous Black Prison Hina over there. Captain, if you've got time to yell, you should focus on stopping the iron bars behind you." Li Ziming once again used the shockwave from an explosion to deflect the incoming iron spears.

Though Li Ziming and the others kept knocking the iron spears away, the Marines fired relentlessly from every direction, and the Going Merry was soon riddled with holes.

"This isn't working! The ship's going to sink at this rate!"

"Wait!" Bon Clay pointed in one direction, where two Marine ships were about to sink. "We can break through over there!"

"You can go if you want. We can't," Luffy said, rejecting Bon Clay's suggestion.

"Why?!" Bon Clay felt as if he were going mad.

"We have to go..." Luffy said firmly. "Pick up our friend!"

Bon Clay looked stunned. "Leaving now would go against the Okama Way!" he declared resolutely. "I'll draw those Marines away. Go pick up your friend right now!" With that, Bon Clay disguised himself and his subordinates, then sailed his own ship south. The Marines took the bait at once and followed.

"A bunch of idiots! We're masters of disguise! And we're Straw Hat's good friends!" Once his ship had drawn close enough to the Marine vessels that he could even see the famous Black Prison Hina aboard one of them, Bon Clay dropped their disguises.

"Even if we stray from the path of men, even if we stray from the path of women, we're still on the path of humanity! Farewell, my friends, beneath the clear sky! Let me blossom for you—the Okama Way!" Bon Clay faced Hina without a trace of regret. "Come... get me!"

As though the horn for an all-out assault had sounded, Bon Clay led his subordinates in a fearless attack against Hina, who far outmatched him.

"Bon-Bon!" Luffy and the others cried emotionally. "We won't forget you!"

"Mind if I add fuel to the fire?" Under everyone's puzzled gazes, Li Ziming walked to the side of the ship. "Air Detonation!"

Violent explosions immediately erupted throughout the Marine fleet fighting Bon Clay. Li Ziming swayed, but Robin caught him.

"Whether they escape now is up to them." Li Ziming sank weakly into a chair. Air Detonation used air as a medium, connecting him to the air aboard the Marine warships and turning it into bombs. The energy cost was rather high, however, and he had already exhausted his strength.

After overcoming one difficulty after another, the Going Merry finally reached East Port Tamarisk. But Vivi's voice over the broadcast made everyone realize that she apparently wouldn't be coming.

"Let's go. It's already past noon."

"There's no way she isn't here!" Luffy still refused to believe it. "Let's all get off the ship and look for her!"

"Give it up, Luffy." Sanji sounded downhearted too. "She's not the same person she was when she was with us."

"Tsk, tsk. I can't agree with that." Li Ziming had recovered a little strength. "What if she comes?"

But as the Going Merry turned to leave, Vivi still hadn't appeared. Everyone was dispirited, except for Li Ziming, who still wore a faint smile.

"Everyone!" A sudden voice from shore lifted everyone's spirits. Luffy hurriedly shouted for them to turn around and pick Vivi up, but her next words left him stunned.

"I came to say goodbye!" Vivi took a microphone from Karoo's back. "I'm sorry I can't go with you. Thank you so much for everything you've done! I want to go on adventures too! But I love this country! I... love my homeland too much! So I can't leave with you!" Vivi's eyes had reddened. "I've decided to stay here! If we meet again someday, will you call me your friend again?" By then, tears were streaming down her face.

"I..." Luffy tried to shout something, but Nami stopped him.

When no answer came for a long time, Vivi felt deeply hurt. But when she saw the left arms raised aboard the ship, she smiled happily through her tears.

Straw Hat sRaha

Ingredients: tequila ~41, tomato juice as needed, 1 celery stalk, 1 lemon slice

Equipment: long stirring spoon, drinking glass

Method: place ice cubes in the glass and pour in the tequila. Then add ~ times as much chilled tomato juice and stir gently. Finish by garnishing with the lemon and celery.

[515 is almost here. I hope we can keep pushing up the 515 Red Envelope Rankings, so the red envelope shower on May 15 can give something back to readers and promote the story. Even one yuan is love. I'll definitely keep the updates coming!]