"Hey, looks like you guys are getting along quite well!" Taro said with a smile as he retracted his Incarnation state in mid-air and landed on the Going Merry.
"Whoa~~"
"Taro! You really are alive!"
Seeing Taro's sudden appearance, Luffy let out an exaggerated shout, and Nami also cried out in pleasant surprise.
Taro first nodded to Luffy and the others, then looked at Chopper, whom he had seen at the bell tower but hadn't spoken to yet, and smiled, "Tony Tony Chopper, I know you; you're a very excellent doctor."
"You bastard, even if you praise me like that, I won't be happy." Chopper spoke the words, but his body wiggled honestly, and his face blossomed into a wide grin.
Finally, Taro turned to Nico Robin and took a stack of papers from his robes. "This is what you wanted. I've annotated it in the Common tongue. I think with your talent, it shouldn't be hard to learn!"
Robin didn't reach out for it immediately; instead, she looked at Taro. "Don't you want to ask what I learned in the Royal Mausoleum?"
Taro paused for a moment, scratching his messy, scorched hair. "I have no ambition to rule the world. That thing doesn't hold much appeal for me. While I'm a bit curious, I know you wouldn't tell me even if I asked, so why bother?"
Only then did Robin take the Pinyin reference sheet and some basic Chinese character copybooks from Taro's hand.
"Well then," Taro nodded and waved to everyone, "Goodbye, my friends!"
The latter half of the sentence was spoken in the Chinese language, leaving everyone bewildered except for Robin, who froze for a moment and looked at the papers in her hand.
Taro leaped into the air, transformed into a Falcon, and quickly vanished... Soaring high above, a massive hawk-shaped shadow was cast onto the deck of the warship. The Marine Soldiers looked up into the sky, their eyes wide with surprise.
Taro deactivated his ability and landed on the deck.
"Ah..."
The Marine Soldiers on the ship screamed as if they had seen a ghost. Taro frowned. "What's with those expressions?"
What the hell? Why was there more fear than surprise on their faces!
"Lieu-Lieutenant Taro? Is it you?" a Marine Soldier asked cautiously.
"Nonsense, who else would it be?" Taro curled his lip. "Where is Captain Hina?"
Just as Taro finished asking, the door to the Captain's quarters suddenly opened. Captain Hina walked out, followed by Captain Smoker and Sergeant Tashigi.
"What's all the noise about!" Captain Hina shouted angrily, then cried out in surprise, "Ah, Taro!"
"You're not dead! This... this is wonderful!"
Her face was filled with uncontrollable joy. She instinctively ran a few steps toward him before restraining herself and walking over to Taro.
Taro also smiled, acting casually. "Haha, what could possibly happen to me!"
Hina approached and examined Taro carefully. After confirming he was fine, she suddenly turned and glared at Smoker.
Smoker was also bewildered and turned his head to look at Tashigi.
Tashigi was even more confused. She looked at the unharmed Taro in bewilderment. "Lieutenant Taro, you... weren't you... that explosion..."
Taro waved his hand. "I was far away from that area before the explosion. I haven't been back these past few days because I was delayed by some other matters."
Just then, Fumbudhi and Jango popped out. "Miss Hina, since Lieutenant Taro is back, then his grave..."
"You bastards," Hina barked, kicking both of them away with a swift leg.
Taro was stunned for a moment. "Hina, what grave?"
Hina felt a bit embarrassed and waved it off. "No, it's nothing. I have work to do, I'm going back inside."
Taro finally realized. "You... you guys didn't think I was dead, did you?"
The scene was awkward for a moment until Tashigi stepped forward and bowed deeply to Taro. "I am very sorry, Lieutenant Taro. I took it upon myself to report your death to Captain Smoker without confirmation, so..."
"Oh, it's fine, it's fine." Seeing Tashigi's solemn apology, Taro felt bad about blaming her. After all, she was a girl. He waved his hand. "There's no need for this..."
"Therefore, Captain Smoker reported it to Marineford. By now, the news of your death has likely spread among the Marine top brass."
Tashigi continued.
"You... what did you say?" Taro's eyes widened. He blinked a couple of times, looking first at the bowing Tashigi, then at Smoker, and finally at the surrounding Marine Soldiers.
Taro really wanted to die now. He couldn't imagine what Garp's reaction would be upon hearing of his death only to find out he was still alive.
I'll be beaten to death!
Sighing, Taro rubbed his forehead weakly. "Forget it, forget it."
"Also, don't report that I'm alive for now, and especially don't let Vice Admiral Garp know."
...Captain's quarters.
Taro rested his hands behind his head and gave the others a brief account of what happened after the explosion. Then he said, "I've been really exhausted lately. I need to find a place to rest for a few days. If you're heading back to Marineford, whatever you do, don't take me with you."
Taro really didn't dare return to Marineford right now. He figured he should wait for the commotion to die down, have Hina talk to Vice Admiral Tsuru first, and then sneak back to apologize to Garp.
"A vacation?" Hina thought for a moment, her eyes lighting up. "There's a place nearby called Rest Island. It's a famous vacation resort!"
Hina actually sounded a bit excited as she said, "We could go to Rest Island for a few days!"
Taro felt a headache coming on. It's me, not us, older sister figure!
He had to make things clear with this older sister figure as soon as possible, or something bad was going to happen.
Sneaking a look at Smoker's reaction, Taro finally spoke up. "Don't you have a mission? You've captured so many pirates."
"Marineford's orders are to deliver them to the nearest Marine detention center first. Rest Island is right on the route to the detention center," Hina replied.
Rest Island? Taro pondered the name of the island. After thinking for a while, he was sure Luffy hadn't been there, so why did it feel somewhat familiar?
Oh well, whatever.
Taro nodded. "I see. What about you, Captain Smoker?"
"We need to return to Loguetown first. We've been away for too long," Smoker said flatly.
At the same time, on Small Garden island.
Miss. Golden Week, Miss. Valentine, and Mr. 5 of Baroque Works were inside a pure white Wax house.
This house built of wax was Mr. 3's masterpiece. It was exceptionally sturdy, and none of the ancient creatures on Small Garden could damage it in the slightest.
"Hey, Miss. Golden Week, think it over. Don't be impulsive."
Miss. Valentine spoke nervously to Miss. Golden Week, who was packing her bags.
"Yeah, the three of us probably aren't strong enough. It's better to reconsider," Mr. 5 echoed.
Miss. Golden Week continued packing her small suitcase without looking back, her voice firm. "No, I've already decided. I'm going to save them, and you two are coming with me!"
"Waaah, ah, ah, ah, nooo!"
On the table nearby lay a recent newspaper. The headline reported the news of the capture of the Advanced members of Baroque Works.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.