Fierce flames devoured the going merry, tongues of fire licked every inch of the hull, and black smoke billowed upwards. The mast, bearing the straw hat flag, collapsed… Everyone's tears flowed uncontrollably.
As the flames died down, they saw Orochimaru slowly approach from the water, holding a child.
The child had long, silvery-white hair, dazzling like stars twinkling in the night sky. His eyes were like the deep ocean… His small body was tightly wrapped in soft clothing, resting quietly in Orochimaru's arms.
PS: I've posted a collection of merry's pictures in the circle.
Usopp gazed at the child, and with just one look, he recognized him—that was Merry!
Nami, Usopp, and Chopper, stepping past the still-crying Luffy, gathered around Orochimaru. Usopp carefully reached out his hand, "merry…"
merry nodded and extended a chubby little hand towards Usopp.
Usopp, holding merry, looked at Orochimaru, a bit flustered. "Why isn't merry speaking?"
"It hasn't adapted to its new body yet, so it can't speak for now. It will be fine in a few days," Orochimaru said, gently poking merry's chubby cheek with his finger, a faint smile on his face.
Nami snatched merry from Usopp's hands, lifted it high, and said with delight, "Kawaii!! Orochimaru, is merry a boy or a girl?"
Orochimaru paused slightly, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "Shouldn't a ship spirit be genderless…?"
Sanji's cigarette suddenly dropped from his hand. He stared blankly at Orochimaru, his mouth slightly agape, as if he couldn't believe what he had heard. For a moment, everyone stood stunned, their expressions varied. Franky's jaw practically hit the floor.
A moment later, everyone's mouths began to twitch, and they all wore expressions of helplessness and speechlessness.
Nami's eyes widened, and she roared furiously at Orochimaru, "There's no such thing as a genderless creature in this world!!! Get some common sense!!! What will merry do later?!" Her voice echoed across the entire coast, as if to shock Orochimaru awake!
Orochimaru clutched his aching ears, feeling a little wronged. Was gender really that important?
Before Nami's roar, Robin took merry and considerately covered merry's ears. A child so fragile shouldn't be startled.
Nami's roar woke Luffy, who was still crying. Looking at the others, Luffy was very angry.
"I'm telling you all!!! merry is already gone! Why are you still playing around?!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Robin pointed to her arms. "Luffy… look here… This is merry… It's still alive."
Robin briefly explained Orochimaru's experiment, and Luffy cried and laughed… then ran to Orochimaru, grabbing his neck and shaking him.
"You sly snake!!! You wanted to deliberately see me cry, didn't you!!! It was the same with Sabo back then!! You're too much!"
Orochimaru was a bit shocked, looking at Luffy.
"You actually figured that out… Aren't you an idiot?"
"Orochimaru!!!!" Along with Luffy's roar, everyone playfully made their way back to Water 7.
In the quiet little house, Luffy was sleeping in a chair.
Orochimaru slumped bonelessly on the sofa, holding merry and kneading it, looking a bit dispirited.
Sanji and Zoro stood side by side, Zoro wiping plates and handing them to Sanji for cleaning.
Nami watered her beloved orange trees; after a few days at Orochimaru's, Nami always felt the orange trees looked a bit wilted.
Chopper took Robin to the bookstore they were forced to part from earlier and bought the books they wanted.
Usopp was adjusting his new slingshot, occasionally hitting Luffy with rubber pellets.
The afternoon was so peaceful that the author felt like crying… (҂ ꒦ ິ ヮ ꒦ ິ)
"Ow~ Are you all super energetic?" Franky kicked open the door with his butt and struck a strange pose with the Square Sisters.
"Franky… what are you doing so suddenly?" Sanji complained that Franky had disturbed the warm and tranquil moment.
"Listen up!" Franky looked solemnly at the group. "I have something very important to say."
Franky pushed his sunglasses onto his head and sat on the floor.
"On a certain island constantly plagued by war, the people of History Island launched a war filled with cannon fire. Everyone on the island died, and the entire city became ruins, but a giant tree still stood there, unyielding no matter what happened. People quickly rebuilt cities and nations next to the tree. There are only a few such strongest trees in the world, and they are called the Adam Treasure Tree."
Chopper tilted his head in confusion. "A tree? What about it?"
"A part of this tree is very occasionally traded on the black market. Although I really wanted it, it's a treasure worth two hundred million, so I haven't been able to get my hands on it. I didn't expect a group of Pirates with huge sums of money to appear at this time—that would be you," Franky said, shrugging helplessly, then lowered his head with an unreadable expression, clenching his fists.
"I once decided never to build ships again, but I still want to follow that man, the one I've always looked up to as a role model.
By the time I came to my senses, I had already drawn up the ship's blueprints. My dream is to use the Adam Treasure Tree to build a dream ship that can cross any sea once again.
I've got the Treasure Tree, and I have the blueprints. Next, I'm going to build this ship.
So, after it's finished, will you sail out to sea on this ship I've built?"
Chopper stammered, "Th-th-that…"
Sanji and the others were flattered. "You… you're going to give us that ship?"
"That's right. If people I like can sail on it, there's nothing happier than that. Besides, the money came from you anyway.
The ship of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, the Oro Jackson, which circumnavigated the world, was also built with this tree. I will definitely build an amazing ship with it to show you."
Orochimaru glanced at Franky's solemn promise and casually tossed a large lump of gold over. "Build… use the best materials."
Franky swallowed, looking at the lump of gold… "Are you guys that rich?"
Everyone nodded in unison. "Yes… very rich."
"Yoshie!! Then leave it to me with confidence!! What do you all need! Remember to tell me!"
As everyone happily celebrated the new ship, Orochimaru suddenly shivered, sat up abruptly, and looked in horror at the wall opposite Luffy.
"Orochimaru… what's wrong?" The group looked at Orochimaru, whose pupils were dilated and face was pale, their nerves tense, and all looked in the direction of Orochimaru's gaze.
With a loud crash, the wall shattered, and a Marine wearing a dog-head hat suddenly appeared in everyone's sight.
"You must be the Straw Hat Pirates! I've come to see that Captain Monkey D. Luffy, and that so-called 'seductive' Ninja, Orochimaru!!!" The Marine's voice carried a grinding, teeth-clenched quality.
The Marine looked at the guy sitting in the chair, sleeping with snot bubbles coming out, and chuckled. "Hmph, still the same hopeless guy as always."
With a flash, he appeared before Luffy, who was behind the wary crew, and punched Luffy into the floor.
"Get up, old man!!!"
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