At that moment, Nami finally felt the faint beat of Ha Shiro's heart.
The reason she couldn't sense it at first was because Ha Shiro had layered multiple barriers of sound-dampening hair around his chest, completely isolating the pulse. Only now, after gradually loosening several layers of that restriction, could she detect the faint rhythm beneath her palm.
"Ah! His heartbeat—Ha Shiro isn't dead! Chopper—Chopper, where are you!?"
Nami's voice burst out instinctively. The instant surge of hope made her shout at the top of her lungs.
And as fate would have it, her voice reached Chopper, who was riding a camel.
"That's Miss Nami's voice! Over there—let's go!" Sanji reacted instantly, steering the camel with Chopper and Usopp clinging on as they bolted in her direction.
"Chopper! Finally! Hurry—save Ha Shiro, hurry!"
Seeing them arrive, Nami looked as though she had just spotted a savior descending from the heavens. She waved frantically, desperation and relief pouring out at once.
"This kind of injury—?!"
Sanji finally saw Ha Shiro's blood-soaked body. His eyes widened in shock. The injuries looked fatal—just what kind of fight had Ha Shiro gone through?
"Chopper, how is he?" Nami asked anxiously as Chopper applied medicine with trembling hooves.
"I can only stop it from getting worse for now," Chopper replied, focused and serious. "Luckily, he wrapped the wounds with his hair in time. Ha Shiro will definitely survive."
He didn't dare examine all the injuries yet—first he had to stabilize Ha Shiro. The rest would depend on what followed.
Whew… somehow I managed to bluff my way through.Ha Shiro let out a quiet sigh of relief in his heart.
The group resumed their urgent march forward.
Meanwhile, on Vivi's side—though she had successfully met with Kousa and reached a reconciliation—the rebels had just discovered Crocodile's conspiracy. And at the very moment Kousa led the city guards to surrender, he was shot by Crocodile's men.
The clash between the rebels and the royal army reignited instantly.
And Vivi… had been captured by Crocodile.
At that same moment, Ha Shiro suddenly opened his eyes. He could feel it—Vivi was in danger.
"Puppet…! Catch her!"
Vivi had been thrown from the top of the city wall by Crocodile. If no one caught her, she would be seriously injured.
Ha Shiro's body erupted with countless strands of hair. They shot outward like living shadows, weaving themselves into a humanoid figure that leapt forward and caught her in midair.
Luffy happened to arrive at that exact moment as well—the crew was finally beginning to converge.
"Haha! Ha Shiro's move is really awesome!" Luffy shouted with sparkling eyes when he saw the puppet form cradle Vivi safely as it landed.
"Luffy! Thank goodness you're okay!" Vivi cried out, breathless. "We have to move—Crocodile is above us, and he's prepared a massive shelling attack!"
She glared up at Crocodile in frustration.
"Well, after I've eaten, I'm definitely going to defeat that guy!" Luffy stretched his arms, cracking his knuckles eagerly.
"Princess Vivi! It's a delight to see you again!" Sanji burst forward instantly—and even Zoro, despite his terrible sense of direction, managed to arrive. A small miracle in itself.
Seeing everyone reunited, Luffy let out a relieved grin. Without hesitation, he used his powers to rocket straight toward the high platform.
Round two between Luffy and Crocodile was about to begin.
And Ha Shiro also had to awaken fully—there were still too many things he needed to do.
"Ahem—Vivi… are you okay?" Ha Shiro asked, deliberately weak.
"I'm fine—but what about you, Ha Shiro!?" Vivi rushed over and checked his wounds in panic.
"I'll live. But you look so anxious… did something happen?"
Ha Shiro knew parts of the story, but he wasn't omniscient, so he asked.
"Crocodile said that in ten minutes, there will be a massive bombardment," Vivi said urgently. "It'll destroy everyone and the entire city."
"What!?"
"Where is the weapon?" everyone shouted at once, knowing time was running out.
"I don't know," Vivi said, frustrated. "But it must be real—we have to find it."
"Then let's split up." Ha Shiro forced himself to stand. "We'll cover more ground that way."
"Ha Shiro, maybe you should rest…" Vivi said, worried.
"I'm fine. I'm still the fastest. Puppet—! Ahem…"
Hundreds of black, villain-like hair constructs erupted behind him, scattering in all directions to search.
Immediately afterward, Ha Shiro collapsed again.
"Ha Shiro… thank you… 555~"Vivi hugged his blood-stained body tightly, tears falling again as she pressed a gentle kiss to his brow before rushing off with the others to search for the cannon.
Phew… acting really takes effort.Time to prepare the final curtain call gift.
Ha Shiro accelerated instantly, leaving Alubarna behind as he sprinted toward the open sea.
— — —
Luffy, on his end, had just been defeated again by Crocodile, only to be revived thanks to the water Vivi gave him.
The protagonist, after all, was still the protagonist—he wasn't going down that easily.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Dusty encountered Robin. Instead of calling for backup, she chose to face Robin alone and ordered her subordinates to search for the bomb.
"What an idiot," Robin muttered.
Of course, Dusty was no match for her. Robin used her ability to immobilize her, even turning one of Dusty's own blades against her as it hovered at her neck.
"Ha Shiro… I'm coming to join you…"Dusty closed her eyes, accepting death quietly.
"Huh? What's with that long hair?" Robin frowned.
Dusty's long hair suddenly twisted into two hands—one grabbing the tip of the knife, the other shielding her body.
"Ha Shiro! Are you protecting me!?" Dusty burst into tears as old memories surged back.
"Hmph. Whatever. Move."Robin flung Dusty aside and continued toward the royal mausoleum.
But Dusty didn't crash to the ground—the hair behind her cushioned her landing gently.
"S-Stop…! Mmm—!"
Dusty tried to get up, but the hair-formed palm clamped over her mouth, signaling clearly: Don't follow. Don't interfere.
"Ha Shiro… why are you still protecting me…? Why…?"
She sat on the ground, stunned. The hair-hand patted her head, wiping away her tears from time to time.
"Experience girl, can't you just stay put for once? Why pick fights with people you clearly can't beat?" Ha Shiro muttered, continuing on.
His plan was simple:Bring rain to this country.
Simple to say, incredibly difficult to execute.
He needed a massive amount of fresh water—and he had found it—but now he needed to get it into the sky.
That was the real problem.
But he didn't have a single minute to waste.
This rain would be his parting gift to Vivi.
As for Robin?She was destined to join the crew sooner or later. Once he picked her up after the rain, he'd have plenty of chances to raise her affection later.
But Vivi would be staying in Alubarna—that's why Ha Shiro had to prepare this farewell gift now.