Orochimaru completely ignored Sanji. He looked up at Luffy's location, his mind filled with questions: "How long has it been? This shouldn't be right. The battle should be over."
Then, Orochimaru turned to Robin and said, "Robin... check on Luffy's current situation."
Robin nodded and immediately activated her Flower-Flower Fruit ability. In the blink of an eye, pairs of hands with eyes appeared on top of the building, quickly looking around.
Soon, these hands discovered Lucci lying unconscious on the ground and a mini Luffy struggling to get back up.
From the scene, it seemed the battle had already concluded.
Pairs of hands appeared beneath Luffy, steadily lifting him and quickly throwing him downwards.
At the same time, Robin said to Orochimaru, "Orochimaru, go catch Luffy. I'm throwing him down. Luffy seems to have shrunk."
What did she mean by 'shrunk'? Orochimaru flew up and caught the falling Luffy, and Luffy looked at him, wide-eyed.
"Luffy???" Orochimaru's voice changed, looking at the thing in his hands in surprise. Was it possible for the Gum-Gum Fruit to not only shrink but also change age?
"Yo... I won... Orochimaru," Luffy looked at Orochimaru, raising his hand with difficulty.
Orochimaru incredulously shook Luffy, who was dangling from his hand. This feel was indeed Luffy. Devil Fruit powers truly were amazing.
Just as he was thinking, the Luffy in his hands suddenly reverted to his 17-year-old appearance. He showed a hint of disdain and casually tossed him to Sanji, who was still silently weeping.
"Alright, alright... stop crying! I agree, isn't that enough?"
Orochimaru looked at Sanji with a headache. Was there still hope for him?
"Sanji... aren't you not interested in boys... why don't you have Nami-san pretend?"
Sanji, carrying Luffy, instantly dried his tears. "Just a substitute... Nami-san is too expensive. Besides, Orochimaru doesn't care about gender anyway, and mermaid clothes look really good."
"Fine..." Orochimaru conceded... After all, Water 7 had so many beautiful clothes, and after escaping from here, there should be a grand feast, and mermaids wouldn't be bad either.
Orochimaru, deep in thought, suddenly heard a mysterious sound. Everyone looked in that direction. Through the cannon fire, a small sailboat was sailing towards them with the current.
"mina... come back. Return to the sea of adventure... I've come to pick you up."
Luffy covered his ears in shock, looking at the ship before him. "Merry... that's Merry... why?"
Usopp, Nami, and Chopper couldn't control their tears. What Orochimaru said was true... Merry really came to pick them up... Was this Merry's final voyage?
As Merry arrived, everyone transferred to the going merry. Orochimaru put away the giant warship.
"We're back... Merry," Orochimaru caressed the sheep's head.
Luffy excitedly ran around on the going merry. "A living Merry!" The others looked at Luffy and felt that this was good. This was the real Luffy.
Franky looked at the going merry in disbelief. The legendary ship spirit really existed... What a pity... As the final journey began, the going merry, using its own advantages, sailed through the giant warships with the ocean current. Under Franky's ultimate move, "Coup de Burst," the going merry once again flew into the sky.
Usopp fired a smoke bomb, and the flying going merry gradually disappeared from the sight of the Marine.
In fact, the Marine were also a bit confused. They received a Buster Call, and not long after arriving, a pirate used unknown means to steal two warships. But there was nothing they could do; they couldn't beat them, nor could they find them, so they could only bombard Enies Lobby. After all, a Buster Call was a targeted eradication... They didn't even know what had happened, and the pirates had already fled... Everyone on Enies Lobby had run away... The five Vice Admiral on the warships took a deep drag from their cigarettes. So... was Enies Lobby moving? And they just used a Buster Call to clear the map...? It was very frustrating... truly very frustrating... especially according to the government officials who escaped and their verbal accounts... Spandam just accidentally pressed it.
So... this cleanup fee was really expensive!
Forget it... let those pirates run. According to the World Government's nature, they wouldn't admit their mistakes, so those pirates would have to take the blame... The going merry flew for a long time in the sky... but eventually landed in the sea, its speed gradually slowing. After spotting a ship from Water 7, the going merry completely stopped, and under the gaze of a group of people, it broke into two halves... Luffy knelt on Merry's sheep's head, saying to Iceburg and the others, "Uncle! Please, save Merry... Aren't you shipwrights! Please! Think of something! He's our Companion/Crewmates we've adventured with... he just saved us!" Luffy excitedly pleaded with the group.
Iceburg looked deeply at Merry. When Orochimaru entrusted him with repairing the going merry, Iceburg had heard Merry's voice and already had some awareness.
"Then let it rest in peace. We've done everything we could. Its existence was truly remarkable."
Luffy froze for a moment... then lowered his head... "I understand."
Everyone stood together on a small boat, watching Merry. Luffy held a torch... "Everyone... are you ready?"
Flames ignited the going merry along the broken seams.
"Thank you, going merry, for carrying us for so long. The bottom of the sea is dark and gloomy... let us accompany you on your final journey," Luffy looked at Merry, his eyes full of reluctance.
As the flames burned, snow suddenly began to fall from the sky... Everyone looked at the burning Merry, remembering all the little moments over such a long time, and couldn't help but shed tears. Merry, as a ship, was about to leave them.
At this moment, Merry suddenly spoke.
"I'm sorry... I originally wanted to carry you further... I'm sorry... I can't continue adventuring with you..."
Hearing Merry's voice, Luffy cried, looking at Merry and loudly apologizing to him.
"I'm sorry, Merry... My helmsmanship was too poor... I crashed you into an iceberg... and damaged your sails... Zoro and Sanji are also idiots, always getting you hurt. Although Usopp can fix you... but... I'm truly sorry."
Luffy apologized with all his might, crying uncontrollably... The tearful people on the ship couldn't help but nod... Indeed... a very profound self-reflection.
On the other side, Orochimaru, amidst the flaming going merry, looked at merry's soul beside the culture dish.
"merry... are you ready...? From now on, you'll be human. It might be very difficult, and we'll have to be apart for a while, but when you grow up, you can choose your own life... Luffy and everyone will always be your Companion/Crewmates."
merry looked at the child of about 3 years old in the culture dish and nodded. He knew this was his body... Orochimaru had already tried his best to accelerate his growth... but it was already the limit.
Orochimaru took out the child's body and injected Chakra into it, allowing the Chakra to flow synchronously between the flesh and the soul.
This body was cloned by Orochimaru after extracting the active cells from Merry's keel and fusing them with Hashirama cells.
Unafraid of soul incompatibility, he took the chubby little hand and made a gesture.
"Merry, you make this gesture too... then shout, 'Spiritualization Jutsu: Release!'"
merry interlaced his fingers according to the body's gesture.
"Spiritualization Jutsu... Release!"
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