With a thought, the ground beneath his feet returned to normal.
Kaido had objections, but he loved fighting, not stupidity. Straw Hat and that imitator's abilities were extremely troublesome, and there was also Whitebeard and a whole bunch of Marines.
He wouldn't be able to enjoy himself.
"Tch." Kaido decided on a tactical retreat. After some time had passed, he would find these people again and fight them properly one-on-one.
As the light element gathered one final time, countless feathers of light descended from the sky again.
"Quick, bring out the wounded!" the medics and some Marines who had come to their senses shouted.
Sengoku and Garp walked over. Su Lin was in no hurry; after all, the one here was not his real body.
Before long, the crowd parted, leaving a path for Garp and Sengoku.
The two stopped before Su Lin.
"Hahahaha." Garp laughed heartily. "What an impressive young man."
Sengoku looked at Su Lin with a grim expression. "Thank you. I mean for saving the wounded."
With that, the two brushed past Su Lin and headed toward the rear of the Marines.
"Aren't you going to look for Blackbeard? There should at least be some gains," Su Lin asked.
"Blackbeard, Teach?" Sengoku stopped and looked at Su Lin.
"He started this war. He should have released a group of Level Six Prisoners by now. Logically speaking, he should have reached this area already."
Upon hearing that, Sengoku recalled the Impel Down prisoners who had appeared on the battlefield earlier.
He took out a Den Den Mushi from his bag and called Impel Down.
"Magellan! How is Impel Down?"
"Blackbeard and his accomplices were locked up by Magellan." Sengoku put away the Den Den Mushi. "It seems that man has grand ambitions."
"Still, several troublesome people escaped."
After saying that, Sengoku turned and left with Garp.
"Is that so?" Su Lin was somewhat surprised, but did not dwell on it. Perhaps it had something to do with Straw Hat Kid. "Give this to them."
He tossed out a location map. Under Sengoku and Garp's astonished gazes, he picked up his top hat and made a farewell gesture toward the cameras.
Su Lin vanished from where he stood, leaving behind a top hat that slowly drifted down.
"He really does have all sorts of abilities." Garp watched Su Lin disappear into thin air. "Was that a clone or something?"
"Whatever it was, those pieces of trash won't be sleeping peacefully now. Hahaha."
Garp laughed freely. The Celestial Dragons being unhappy made him happy.
"Garp." Sengoku's voice was slightly cold.
"Ah, sorry. I accidentally spoke the truth. Hahaha." Garp laughed without restraint.
"Take this map to Akainu." Sengoku's expression was grave. "You need to go with him."
"What is it?" Garp froze for a moment.
"These are the locations of the Impel Down prisoners who escaped. The other party also possesses unknown technological power." Sengoku became somewhat worried, but then put the matter aside. What mattered now was the situation before them. "In exchange for the help, remember to spare Buggy when you see him. Do as he requested. After all, we owe him a favor."
"Truly incredible, hahaha. Young people these days." Garp took the map and glanced at it. "Those Celestial Dragon pigs might have a hard time in the future."
"I plan to resign." Sengoku did not reprimand Garp, merely speaking softly. "No matter what, I should bear some responsibility."
"Besides, I am somewhat tired too."
"Is that so?" Garp was not very surprised. He put away the map and said, "Then how about coming to East Blue with me for a vacation?"
"Let's talk about it later." Sengoku thought for a moment. "I still haven't settled the matter of your grandson with you."
"Also, those rice crackers you've been hoarding are confiscated."
"Ah!? Why!"
A Marine soldier transformed into Su Lin's appearance and walked toward Luffy.
Of course, this was also a Historical Projection.
Keep a low profile. He absolutely had to keep a low profile.
Who knew whether someone might secretly strike at him, like Imu hiding behind the scenes?
"Su Lin!" Luffy returned to his normal form and ran toward Su Lin, waving his hand.
Though the Marines along the way had changed expressions, none of them stopped him.
On one hand, they could not beat him.
On the other hand, he was Garp's grandson.
If it were any other pirate, they would have already started slashing, whether they could win or not.
They would just pretend they had not seen him.
"Luffy, is he your friend?" Ace asked.
"Yeah, that's right. Thanks to Su Lin, I got the chance to save you, Ace." Luffy vigorously slapped Su Lin's shoulder. If the effects of the various strength potions had not yet worn off, Su Lin would have been slapped into the ground.
"Hello, Ace, Whitebeard, everyone." Su Lin smiled and greeted them. "Let me properly introduce myself. My name is Su Lin, and I am Luffy's friend."
"Gurararara."
"Thanks to you, Su Lin, I owe you an enormous favor." Whitebeard spoke seriously. "If you ever need anything, say the word. Even if it costs me my life, I will help you."
"Me too. If you need it, you can take this life of mine back at any time!" Ace said solemnly.
"So will we."
The commanders under Whitebeard all voiced their stance.
"Your lives are of no use to me. Oh, right." Su Lin pulled a hat from the Void with one hand and placed it on his head. "If you want to thank someone, thank Ace's younger brother."
"If you encounter them at sea in the future, just lend them a hand."
"Uh, no problem."
Everyone thought that Straw Hat Kid was already so strong.
"The same goes for Straw Hat's side. We owe the two of you an enormous favor." Whitebeard made the solemn promise, his booming voice carrying a trace of Majesty.
"Ask for anything you want, so long as the Whitebeard Pirates can do it."
"Ace is my brother. What do you mean, owing favors?" Luffy said unhappily.
"Then we can discuss it later. Red-Hair's ship has arrived. Boys, prepare to board."
Red-Hair's Face Fruit did not get the chance to show its power before Su Lin stole the spotlight.
He greeted Whitebeard's side, lowered the gangplank, and let everyone on the battlefield board the ship.
"Mm, Akainu really got beaten up badly, huh? Hahaha." Red-Hair jumped off the ship and exchanged a glance with Akainu, whose expression was full of reluctance, then waved with a smile.
Akainu turned his head away in annoyance and left.
"Shanks! You bastard!"
"Hm?"
Red-Hair turned around and saw a familiar figure.
Amid the praise of Buggy's new underlings, everyone boarded the ship for the return journey.
Some Marines could vaguely be seen staring angrily in their direction, especially those led by Akainu.
Naturally, Su Lin chose to smile and wave goodbye to them.
One day later
The remains scattered all over the ground after a banquet were always startling to behold.
"Su Lin, how about joining my ship?" Red-Hair leaned against the railing and invited Su Lin.
He was also holding a bounty poster dropped by a seagull.
Composite Ability User, Su Lin, 3.5 billion Berries.
Red-Hair could tell at a glance that this guy was a good person and had no great ambitions.
He would make a perfectly trustworthy companion.
"I'm going back with Luffy." Su Lin chewed on snacks as he spoke. "I think I told you before. We aren't from this era."
At last night's banquet, Luffy and Jinbe had also explained the full story. Other than the Chat Group, Luffy had told them everything.
It did not matter anymore anyway.
After learning what had happened in another spacetime, Ace and the Whitebeard Pirates became even more grateful to Su Lin.
At the same time, they learned what Luffy had gone through in that other spacetime to become so strong.
When they heard that Luffy and the other two rookie captains had defeated Kaido and Big Mom, the atmosphere at the banquet reached its peak.
"Of course I know." Red-Hair staggered over drunkenly, the smell of alcohol on his breath. "After you go back, the Su Lin from this spacetime can join our ship!"
"No way, Su Lin is my companion!" Luffy came over with a piece of meat and said bluntly.
"Mm, it's a little difficult to explain." Su Lin smiled helplessly. "I don't belong to this spacetime. Meeting Luffy from the original timeline was also an extremely coincidental event."
"So after Luffy and I return, your ship will only have this spacetime's Luffy and Jinbe."
"Oh?" Red-Hair was somewhat surprised, but nothing was strange on these seas, so he quickly returned to normal. "Is that so? What a pity."
"But just thinking about those World Government bastards worrying themselves sick over someone who doesn't even exist—hahahahaha, that's too funny." Shanks laughed loudly. "Cheers!"
"Cheers!" XN
These pirates had somehow woken up again.
The atmosphere of a banquet was always joyous.
(End of Chapter)