"You fought Zoro, didn't you? Are you with the Marines?"
The massive, towering figure standing before them was none other than one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Bartholomew Kuma, known to the world as the Tyrant.
"Straw Hat Luffy, I am not your enemy."
Kuma looked at Luffy with an expressionless face and spoke slowly.
"I was entrusted by your vice captain, Shirogai Yamikuro, to help you escape the danger here."
"Entrusted by Shirogai?"
Luffy did not lose his composure this time. Faced with real danger, his instincts were sharp.
He stared fixedly at Kuma, keeping his injured crewmates behind him, his body tense and ready to fight at any moment.
"I don't believe you!"
Luffy slammed his foot into the ground, his body beginning to emit a faint reddish heat.
Clenching his fist, he shouted angrily, "You fought us before. Why should I trust anything you say!"
"…"
Kuma fell silent for a brief moment.
Sharp instincts, just as expected of Dragon's son.
"When you first met, Shirogai saved Long Nose Usopp, and right in front of you, he cut down a small island."
Kuma calmly repeated the words Shirogai had instructed him to say.
"Huh?"
Luffy froze. The tension in his body eased slightly.
"Only a few of us should know about that…"
His gaze wavered as he looked at Kuma, doubt and hesitation mixing together.
"Luffy, is he telling the truth?"
Robin, the only one still conscious, asked weakly from behind him.
"Yes. He is telling the truth."
Kuma's words were something even Robin herself had not known.
"…Mm."
Luffy nodded.
Robin spoke softly, her voice strained, "Trust him. This sounds exactly like Shirogai's way of thinking."
In truth, Robin had already sensed something odd back on Thriller Bark.
The three Shichibukai had dared to make a move while Shirogai was present. Were they not afraid of being killed outright?
By that time, Shirogai's reputation had already spread across the seas.
Any pirate with a functioning mind knew what a bounty of five billion Berries represented.
That was Emperor level combat power.
No matter how strong the Shichibukai were, even Mihawk could not casually defeat someone on that level.
This was not about fame, it was a genuine gap in strength.
Kuma and Moria might have acted for their own reasons, but Mihawk would never recklessly challenge someone like Shirogai.
And though all three were defeated, it never felt like a real fight.
Robin had no doubt. If Shirogai had wanted to, he could have killed all three of them without difficulty.
In her eyes, Shirogai now stood at a level close to the divine.
Even Admiral Aokiji, who had once left an indelible shadow in her heart, no longer felt as terrifying by comparison.
"Alright then!"
Trusting Robin completely, Luffy released his rubber arms that had been holding his companions together.
"Shirogai asked me to pass on a message."
Kuma looked at Luffy and Robin and spoke evenly.
"You are too weak. Go and become stronger.
No matter how much he helps you, the future you walk must still be chosen by yourselves.
If you enter the New World now, you will only face endless despair against enemies far stronger than you.
It would be better to stop, train for two years, and then step into that sea filled with monsters."
"Huh?"
Luffy scratched his head, completely confused.
Before he could process the meaning of those words, Kuma removed his glove and swung his paw toward the unconscious Chopper.
Slap!
Chopper vanished from where he lay.
"What?! You bastard, what did you do!"
Luffy's mind went blank. His eyes turned bloodshot as he glared at Kuma.
He did not understand Kuma's Devil Fruit at all.
In his eyes, it looked like Chopper had been erased with a single strike.
Whoosh!
Luffy disappeared from where he stood.
"Gum Gum Jet Stamp!"
Appearing behind Kuma at blinding speed, Luffy kicked fiercely at his back.
Slap!
Kuma did not dodge. He ignored Luffy's attack entirely and calmly swung his paw again, sending Brook, unconscious and missing a burned skeletal leg, flying away as well.
"Stop it! Stop it!"
Luffy roared, raining blow after blow on Kuma's arm.
"Don't interfere."
Kuma spoke indifferently and slapped Luffy away with a casual motion.
His gaze then settled on the last remaining figure, Nico Robin.
"Nico Robin," he said slowly, "if you were to travel, where would you want to go?"
"So that's it… your Devil Fruit ability is…"
Robin seemed to grasp the truth of his power.
She did not get the chance to finish her sentence.
Slap!
Robin vanished as well.
"…"
Kuma stared at the distant sky, where several figures had already disappeared beyond sight.
"Hehe… Dad, it's fun…"
For a fleeting moment, he saw himself and Bonney flying freely through the sky, carried toward unknown destinations.
"You possess the ability that grants the most freedom, yet you bind yourself tighter than anyone else."
That smiling young man had once said that to him.
Kuma did not know why, but within those words he had heard pity, mockery, and regret, regret over his unwillingness to walk further.
…
"When the time comes, just send them wherever you think suits them. I can track them anyway."
Shirogai had smiled lightly as he spoke.
"I left a mark on them."
"Very well, but the future you describe is too beautiful. I don't believe it can exist."
Kuma had sat on a stone, speaking flatly.
Shirogai had spoken of a world free of Celestial Dragons, free of slavery, free of suffering.
A world where people were equal.
Such a world felt unreal to Kuma.
"This is the sin of this world," Shirogai had sneered. "After centuries of kneeling, people have even forgotten how to dream.
If my people lived here, they would have risen long ago, shouting, 'Do Celestial Dragons even have hearts?' and overturned this rotten world."
"You sound like the Revolutionary Army."
Kuma had been surprised by the similarity in their ideals.
"Compared to my homeland's history, they are too cautious."
Shirogai's words had stirred something deep within him.
"They underestimate the power of the people and overestimate the so-called nobles.
They think they walk a tightrope, unseen by the masses, yet forget that a single spark can ignite a wildfire.
The ones truly on the tightrope are the nobles. The oppressed masses could multiply the Revolution a thousandfold."
…
"I hope the world you speak of can truly come."
Ignoring Luffy's frantic attacks, Kuma lightly slapped himself, vanishing from sight.
In the next instant, he appeared between Sakazuki and Zoro.
Using his massive body, Kuma blocked Sakazuki's strike, magma searing into his modified mechanical frame.
"Kuma! What are you doing!"
Sakazuki was forced to pull back his fist.
A body modified by Vegapunk was a priceless asset to the Marines. Sakazuki could not destroy it with his own hands.
"Roronoa Zoro…"
Ignoring the murderous gaze behind him, Kuma looked down at the barely conscious swordsman lying on the ground.
"If you were to travel," he asked quietly, "where would you want to go?"