" Sabo, you... you said you killed my father?"
In a certain place in Dressrosa, Luffy's incredulous voice rang out.
"Right!"
A deep, muffled sound rang out, followed by a silence that stretched for an unknown duration.
After a while, Sabo's voice rang out again.
To be frank, it was indeed I who killed your father and most of the Revolutionary Army!
"Except for a few Revolutionary Army stationed elsewhere, all the Revolutionary Army on Baltigo Island... I killed them all!"
Sabo's voice trembled, carrying an indescribable meaning.
The people around were stunned when they heard this.
They had just learned that Luffy actually had an older brother besides Ace, and that Luffy had thought he was dead all these years.
The problem is that now that the two brothers have finally reunited, Sabo's words, "I killed your father," plunged the scene into silence once again.
Everyone looked at each other, momentarily speechless.
until...
"You didn't kill him, so why do you insist on saying you did?" Xia Chen said calmly, sitting to the side and looking at Sabo.
"Um?"
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately turned their gaze towards Xia Chen, and several question marks appeared above their heads.
What's the meaning?
They're starting to get confused; one side firmly believes they killed him, while the other insists it wasn't you.
However, out of trust in Xia Chen, they ultimately decided to believe Xia Chen words.
Nami asked directly, " Xia Chen, what do you mean by that?"
Xia Chen ignored Nami and looked directly at Sabo, asking, "Were you conscious when you were controlled by Imu?"
"..."
"Have!"
Sabo remained silent for a long time before speaking.
"Although my body was under his control the whole time, I was fully aware of what was happening!"
"Because I can still see everything that happens, I can still see everything I've experienced during this time, but I can't control any of my actions!"
"So... even if I didn't do it, what difference does it make if I did?" Sabo said with a bitter smile, a hint of despair in his eyes.
"If that's the case... then it's exactly the same thing you did. No wonder you're so devastated!"
"Very few people could bear the experience of watching themselves kill the person who grew up with their own hands!"
Xia Chen nodded thoughtfully.
"Yes... that feeling..."
Sabo muttered a few words, then fell silent.
"I think I understand now! Xia Chen, you mean Sabo was controlled by someone during this time and then committed the act of killing Luffy's father, right?"
Sanji looked at Xia Chen and asked calmly.
"That's right!"
"Oh~" Luffy finally understood after Sanji's explanation. He then looked at Sabo.
" Sabo, if that's the case, then it has absolutely nothing to do with you! You were forced into it too, so don't suffer like this!"
"We'll find the person who's controlling you and settle the score with them!"
Sabo slowly raised his head, his gaze towards Luffy appearing somewhat dazed.
"You... you don't blame me for killing your father?"
"No, I don't blame you!" Luffy shook his head and said.
"Didn't Xia Chen say you were being controlled? So what does this have to do with you? On the contrary, you're the victim!"
" Luffy..."
Sabo murmured softly, then hugged Luffy and burst into tears. Tears and snot streamed down his face!
Xia Chen, standing to the side, was a little dumbfounded when he saw Sabo's appearance; he had never seen Sabo look like this before.
In the original work, aside from his somewhat abstract crying when he learned of Ace's death, Sabo mostly gives the impression of being powerful and calm.
But now she cried even more dramatically than in the original story!
However, Xia Chen could understand. Anyone would feel the same way if something like this happened to them; it would be strange if they didn't break down.
Just like Dragon, although he is Luffy's father, to be fair, he is actually closer to Sabo.
Sabo has been living with the Revolutionary Army ever since he was rescued as a child; it has become his home.
And Long and the others are all their family!
Now that your entire family is dead, and killed by "yourself"—who could bear that?
In no time, Sabo hugged Luffy and cried until he fainted.
Even after he had fainted, his brows remained tightly furrowed.
Xia Chen: "Let's take him to a nearby place to rest first!"
--
After some time, the group found a house that was still relatively intact. After giving the owner some Beli, they put Sabo inside to lie down.
Xia Chen jumped onto the roof and sat there, gazing into the distance.
A moment later, Luffy also appeared next to Xia Chen and sat down, looking ahead.
"I want to go and fight the person who controlled Sabo and killed my father!" Luffy didn't turn his head, but his firm voice reached Xia Chen's ears without missing a single word.
"That might be a bit difficult!" Xia Chen replied calmly.
"With your current abilities, it's impossible for you to do it, and the chances of you doing it in the future are extremely slim!"
This isn't Xia Chen looking down on Luffy; he's just stating the truth.
Just like he said before, even a pig that has lived for over eight hundred years would become a spirit, let alone Imu.
Moreover, the Imu in this timeline absorbed the power of Athena and Zeus, making it infinitely stronger.
Even now, he's only no longer afraid of Imu's threats, but if he were to actually fight Imu, he couldn't guarantee he'd win!
Imu's strength has always been a mystery, and even what he revealed while controlling Sabo's body this time is probably just the tip of the Iceburg.
Putting aside his special abilities, he hasn't even mastered God-Level Haki in terms of Haki alone. But the problem is that Imu's true form definitely has mastered God-Level Haki, that's beyond doubt!
Otherwise, he wouldn't have said that he was almost killed by Imu's God-Level Haki back in Water 7.
At that time, that Pistol, which contained Imu's God-Level Haki, posed a tremendous threat to him!
Of course, that only applied to that time!
Xia Chen has no fear of Imu at all, because he doesn't even know how strong he really is.
He hasn't fought at full strength in far too long.
Even if Imu is strong, he is definitely not weak. This is his confidence in himself; otherwise, he wouldn't have confronted Imu head-on just now.
After hearing Xia Chen's words, Luffy turned to look at him curiously.
This was the second time he had heard Xia Chen say that the chances of him surpassing this person in the future were very small; most of the time, Xia Chen said that he would definitely be stronger than so-and-so in the future.
He still remembers the scene when Xia Chen first said those words to him:
"You'll never surpass me. Just keep dreaming about it during the day, it'll make things easier!"