By the time Toki excitedly rushed off, Michael already knew exactly what was happening.
Another time traveler from the future had arrived.
"Father! Hurry! This person... seems to be in bad shape!"
Michael sighed.
This was what they called fate.
Then, turning to Samir, who was standing behind him, he said:
"Samir, return to the Land of Wano and make the necessary arrangements."
With that, he turned and chased after Toki.
Samir hesitated for a moment.
He had initially intended to follow, but since Michael himself had given the order, there was no reason to disobey.
So he turned and left for the Land of Wano.
...
Michael soon found Toki in the thick of the jungle.Before her lay a tall man who had lost a leg and an arm.
Toki looked up at the trail of broken branches...
"Father! This man seems to have fallen from the sky! Just like... how you arrived back then!"
"Alright! Next time don't rush ahead like that, could you wait for me?" Michael sighed. "As for this man... he did indeed fall from the sky."
Michael moved closer for a better look, and sure enough...
The man with tightly closed eyes was none other than Rocks.
It seemed this unlucky fellow had already found that damned Lunar Technology in God Valley.
Michael gently nudged Toki aside.
Then he crouched down to examine the man's condition.
Though one arm and one leg were lost to the tremendous energy of the Lunar Technology, there were no open wounds...
The severed limbs appeared to have been cauterized by extreme heat.
His breathing was faint as a thread.
"But Father, you didn't look nearly this bad when you arrived back then?"
"Don't worry about such things, child," Michael said with a smile. "Can't you see he's barely breathing?... Let me revive him first, alright?"
"I'm not stopping you from saving him, am I?" Toki spread her small hands in a gesture she'd learned perfectly from Michael.
But now... wasn't the time to dwell on such things.
Truth be told, Michael didn't know Rocks that well either... even after meeting the future version of Rocks a few times, it was hard to fully understand someone from just those encounters.
But from what he could tell from their interactions...
Not exactly a good man, but not evil either.
No wonder Michael was willing to save him...
And most importantly, only by reviving Rocks now could he later return to the future and tell the future Michael how to travel through time back to 800 years ago.
"Everything comes full circle."
Michael smiled wryly, then extended his hand as Holy light began gathering in his palm.
In an instant, Rocks was enveloped in the glow.
His condition rapidly improved and stabilized.
Almost in the blink of an eye, his injuries began healing.
Except for the missing limbs, Rocks was soon restored to peak condition.
During this process, however, Rocks' hair gradually took on the color of Holy light.
At the same time, the once-feared pirate suddenly opened his eyes.
"Where... where am I? Is this still God Valley?!" Rocks struggled to sit up, now realizing he was missing an arm and leg.
"Damn it... couldn't save them after all... Who are you people? Why did you save me?"
"Why save you? Well, you fell from the sky - can't I be curious?" Michael rolled his eyes, then said to Toki.
"Toki... go make him a wooden crutch."
"Huh? Me?"
"Who else?... Look at his condition. If you don't make him a crutch, are you going to carry him, or should I?"
"Fine, fine, I'll go make the crutch then."
With that, Toki went off to find suitable wood for the crutch.
Watching Toki's receding figure, Michael turned back and reached out to help Rocks up.
"You deliberately sent that girl away... what did you want to tell me?" Rocks calmly looked at Michael.
"It seems you know my identity... If you can help me, I can give you any treasure you desire."
"The famous Rocks... of course I know you." Michael raised an eyebrow. "But it seems you don't fully understand what's happened to you."
"What could have happened... just some inexplicable terrifying energy that cost me an arm and a leg."
"The changes to your body are trivial details." Michael patted the stumps of Rocks' missing limbs.
"But do you know where you are? No... do you know what era you're in?"
"What... do you mean?" Rocks' eyes widened. "What era?"
"Exactly, the era." Michael's smile made Rocks' heart skip a beat.
"Welcome to an age when the Great Kingdom still existed... about 800 years before your time."
...
"You're not messing with me, are you?"
"First, I have no interest in messing with you... Second, even if I were, what could you do about it?"
Michael stood beside Rocks, curling his lip.
Rocks froze.
Only then did he suddenly realize there wasn't a trace of power left in his body!
His formidable strength that once dominated the seas had completely vanished.
Now, he was just a disabled man with a relatively strong physique.
This gap instantly shattered Rocks' mental defenses.
Time travel was one thing, but losing his proud strength was another.
Not even when the Rocks Pirates were defeated at God Valley by the combined forces of the Marines, Roger Pirates, and God's Knights had he felt this despondent.
"...Wait, how do you know my name? Don't tell me you're also from God Valley—"
"Don't worry about that now... Just know that we're in the same boat."
As he spoke, Michael's eyes held a hint of pity.
For people in this world, especially the strong, the most unbearable thing wasn't death...
It was losing the power they took pride in.
This immense gap... could truly drive someone mad.
But...
Rocks was no ordinary man.
The expected breakdown never came.
Instead, he quickly accepted his situation.
He even turned to Michael and said:
"Since we're here, we might as well make the best of it... Anyway, I'm kind of hungry now."
"You... are something else."
Michael sighed.
This kind of mentality was beyond ordinary people.
"Father! I made the crutch!"
Toki popped out from the side and handed a roughly made crutch to Michael.
Michael nodded and had Rocks try it out.
Rocks obliged, taking a few steps with the crutch.
"This actually works? I just imagined what a crutch might look like and made it randomly."
"What's there to work or not." Michael whispered in Toki's ear. "He should be thanking us."
As soon as the words were spoken, Rocks turned his head and said with a smile:
"Thanks!"