Return

According to Whitebeard, they had originally planned to celebrate lavishly for several days, but Su Lin was in a hurry to return.

Imu on the Void Throne had probably already begun paying attention to this matter.

For now, Su Lin thought it was better to keep his distance from the existence behind this Pirate World.

"You said you wanted Devil Fruits, but those things aren't easy to get on short notice. This is all we have in stock." Whitebeard handed over three Devil Fruits with strange patterns, colored blue, red, and purple.

"If you're willing to stay another month or two, finding ten won't be a problem," Marco added.

"That's enough. Thank you." Still wearing the casual clothes he had arrived in, Su Lin took the Devil Fruits, glanced at them, and placed all three into the system storage.

He would probably gain more if he stayed longer, but Su Lin only wanted to keep a few as collectibles. He had no intention of eating them himself, so a handful was enough.

These three were all fruits that were not listed in the encyclopedia, so none of the Whitebeard Pirates' commanders had considered eating them. If they turned out to have ridiculous abilities, not only would they gain no combat strength, they would also acquire the weakness of seawater.

"Then we'll be going, Uncle Whitebeard." Luffy waved goodbye to Whitebeard. "Ace, make sure you train hard~."

"Shut up."

"Sorry for the trouble, but we'll leave it to you all to explain what happened to the people of this era," Jinbe said to Whitebeard.

Over the past two days, Jinbe and Luffy had both been deeply satisfied, having made up for the regrets in their hearts.

"Don't worry."

There was no way to know whether their counterparts in this era would retain the memories of these past few days after they returned, so Whitebeard was entrusted with everything that came after.

Red-Hair had already hurried off that morning because Su Lin had mentioned the current condition of a certain songstress to him the previous night.

After Shanks heard it, he had summoned everyone with a dark expression and immediately departed.

He had probably gone to save her.

"Come to think of it, instead of leaving him to Rayleigh, why not let this old man train him?" Whitebeard said unhappily as he dug at his ear.

One matter was one matter. To thank the Whitebeard Pirates for the Devil Fruits, Su Lin had spent 100 points to exchange for a medicine. It could not restore Whitebeard's youth, but it could at least heal his old injuries and illnesses.

So now, Whitebeard had set his sights on the Straw Hat Kid of this era.

"I can use that Kaido-style teaching method you mentioned too."

At worst, he could just use the blunt side of his blade.

When Jinbe heard that, he hurriedly tried to persuade Whitebeard to abandon the idea. Only after a long bout of coaxing did he get Whitebeard to agree to send Straw Hat to Daughter Kingdom afterward and contact that guy Rayleigh along the way.

But that expression was obviously just perfunctory.

Su Lin watched from the side without exposing him. This point in time was already a complete mess anyway.

He could more or less guess what Whitebeard was planning.

"See you."

The three said goodbye to everyone in the cabin. Together with Kid and Luo, who had been waiting nearby, they pressed their pocket watches.

The question was what the other two had done after returning to this era.

Click—

The hands began turning clockwise again.

After the chaos.

Everyone returned to Wano Country, maintaining the same postures and clothes they had when they left.

Meanwhile, at that point in the other parallel world.

Inside Whitebeard's cabin, Whitebeard revealed a "sinister" smile as he watched several groggy people wake up.

"Just leaving him to that guy Rayleigh really would be too much of a waste."

"Old man." Ace covered his face, silently mourning his younger brother's upcoming fate.

"This old man did not break his word. I simply don't intend to let Rayleigh teach him alone."

Whitebeard grabbed the noisy Luffy with one hand, opened the cabin door, and tossed him into the sky.

"Kid, training begins!"

Back in Wano Country, Luffy stretched lazily in satisfaction.

The [Zochet's Linear Pocket Watch] in Su Lin's hand had not disappeared. It simply showed a damaged status after being stored in the system space.

The item description had changed.

[Zochet's Linear Pocket Watch (Damaged)]: The beauty I created was never truly related to me. It was only a dream, a dream that allowed me to embrace a shattered past and walk toward the future. A terrible present, a future with an unknown ending. The past was always filled with regrets and imperfections, while the future was always endowed with expectations of perfection and beauty. In the end, I returned to the original line, struggling as I stepped toward the future I dared not face...

(Unusable)]

Su Lin looked at the pocket watch that had stopped moving and fell into thought.

This pocket watch actually had considerable hidden value.

Forget it. He had already used it. With 22,153 system points, he had made a fortune this time.

With a snap, he closed the pocket watch and tucked it into his clothes as a keepsake.

Its status said it was damaged, but that did not prevent it from being used as an ordinary pocket watch.

Before it was used, the hands had been still. The first time it was used to return to the past, the hands had moved backward. Now, they were turning clockwise.

The past was over. Just as the pocket watch said, he had to face the future eventually.

It had been worth using this pocket watch to get through the beginner phase.

In Su Lin's opinion, 22,153 system points was a pretty good haul.

Su Lin had originally planned to go home right away, but since he had made the rare trip here, he figured he might as well eat, drink, and enjoy himself before leaving. After all, the huge chunks of meat in manga really did look tempting.

But his appetite was nowhere near Luffy's. The people of this world all seemed to be massive eaters. They could stuff giant grilled squid bigger than half his body, as well as the meat of unknown Sea Kings, into their stomachs.

He would be stuffed after eating just one.

Not long after, amid Kid's grumbling, Luffy received the news that he had become a Yonko. Luffy did not pay much attention to it, though, and dragged Kid into continuing the feast.

Seeing that the group chat was somewhat quiet, Su Lin uploaded a photo.

Su Lin: [Image]

At night, in a brightly lit town, all kinds of fruits and food were laid out, while countless people celebrated.

Ye Fan: "You guys came back through?"

Su Lin: "We've been back for two hours already. It felt like entering a special dungeon in a game."

Xiao Yan and Ye Fan naturally understood what a game dungeon was.

Su Lin: "There's a feast going on here. Back when I watched anime, I was always interested in this food with its amazing visual presentation."

Ye Fan: "True. But I want to eat food from home even more."

After being sent to another planet, he cultivated all day long. What he ate were spiritual fruits, heavenly treasures, and strange beasts.

Those foods were far better than ordinary human food in terms of what they did for the body and spirit, but what Ye Fan missed was the feeling of home.

Especially Xiao Yan. Having lived two lives, he had nearly forgotten the food and scenery of Earth.

Ye Fan: "I want hot pot and soup dumplings @Su Lin."

Xiao Yan: "I want some too. @Su Lin"

Uh, judging by what those two meant.

Su Lin: "Delivery, or are you coming over yourselves?"

(End of Chapter)