Vivi ran through the palace hallways, pausing only to hastily ask a few passing workers where her father, King Cobra, was. Once she had her direction, she hurried toward the chamber and burst inside.
As soon as she crossed the threshold, she saw her father standing a short distance away from a large bed. The bed itself was surrounded by two or three royal doctors, all of them intensely focused as they examined Gojo. Vivi quickly crossed the room, her footsteps echoing softly, and took her place right beside her father. King Cobra turned his head toward Vivi and offered a reassuring nod. He reached out and gently patted her shoulder, a silent gesture meant to convey that everything would be fine, and that Gojo would make it through.
Before long, the lead doctor stepped away from the bedside and walked up to King Cobra and Vivi. He bowed respectfully to them both. "Your Majesty. Princess."
"What is Gojo's situation?" King Cobra asked, his voice heavy with concern.
The doctor sighed softly, glancing back at the bed before answering. "A few of his ribs are broken, and he has multiple fractures across his body. As for the rest of him, he seems to be fine. Fortunately, his life doesn't appear to be in any immediate danger. With proper rest and care, he should recover soon enough."
Thank goodness...
Hearing those words, a wave of profound relief washed over Vivi, and King Cobra visibly relaxed beside her as well. It was a massive weight off their shoulders. After all, to King Cobra and the vast majority of the people in Alabasta, Gojo was nothing short of a savior. Even though Gojo had charged them a 'fee', he had also left behind quite a lot of things for them—resources and aid that were truly helping Alabasta recover from its hardships at a much faster speed.
Now, there was nothing else that could be done except to wait patiently for Gojo's recovery.
…
Three days later, Gojo finally woke up. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking against the light of the room as he looked around. It didn't take him long to recognize that he was clearly lying in a grand palace room. In truth, he had fully expected this outcome, because he had intentionally set his coordinates for Alabasta. He had used his Limitless to teleport himself directly into the palace grounds, but the moment he arrived, his consciousness had given out. The sheer exhaustion of teleporting across such a vast distance—especially while dragging his entire ship along with him—had been incredibly taxing on his body, forcing him to faint immediately upon arrival.
As Gojo looked around the quiet room, he noticed Vivi sitting on a chair right beside the right side of his bed. Her head was resting down on the edge of the mattress, her eyes closed as she slept soundly. Clearly, she must have been staying by his side and taking care of him this entire time.
Slowly and deliberately, Gojo sat up in the bed. He looked down at Vivi and noticed that a few stray strands of her light blue hair had fallen across her face, brushing against her eyelashes. Seeing this, Gojo smiled faintly. He reached out with a gentle, steady hand and tenderly tucked her hair behind her ear so it wouldn't bother her.
The slight motion and the soft touch immediately alerted Vivi, breaking her from her slumber. She stirred and woke up, and as soon as her eyes opened, she saw that Gojo had finally awakened and was looking right down at her. A bright, genuine smile instantly broke across her face the moment she realized he was conscious.
"It is good that you are fine and woke up," Vivi said, her voice filled with immense relief. "I was really worried about you."
Hearing her words, Gojo chuckled softly to ease her mind. "You didn't have to worry about anything at all. With such small injuries, my body won't be truly harmed. I would have recovered from this anyways, no matter what."
Gojo then paused, casting his gaze down to look at his own torso and limbs, noting the extensive amount of bandages wrapped securely around quite a lot of his body. He let out a light sigh, the smell of clean linen and medicinal herbs wafting up from the sheets. Looked back up at her, he added, "I just have to eat properly and get some good food into my system, and then I should be absolutely fine."
Gojo said this with a warm, easy smile on his face. Watching that familiar, confident smile, Vivi found herself looking at him, slightly mesmerized by his carefree attitude despite the situation. Gojo noticed her gaze and kept his eyes on Vivi, the atmosphere between them growing quiet and still.
Suddenly, a sharp, intentional cough broke the silence of the room.
Both Vivi and Gojo instantly snapped their heads toward the sound, looking over to see King Cobra standing just inside the doorway.
Cobra's face was tense, and as he walked forward, he looked directly at Gojo, a heavy, angry tone lacing his voice. "Do you know what you have done, and do you have any idea what the consequences of that action will be?"
Gojo knew exactly what King Cobra was talking about. He knew it was about him tracking down and killing the Celestial Dragon, Saint Jalmack. Yet, he chose to remain completely unbothered, feigning ignorance as he leaned back slightly. "What exactly have I done for you to be looking so angry toward me, Your Majesty?"
The moment King Cobra heard that casual response, detecting the clearly playful, dumb tone in Gojo's voice, his temper flared. He stepped closer to the bed and said, "Don't play dumb with me, Gojo! You clearly know exactly what I am talking about."
As soon as those words left Cobra's mouth, the relaxed smile on Gojo's face receded entirely. His expression shifted, hardening into a dead serious look as his gaze levelled with the King's. "I don't give a shit about who that person was," Gojo said, his voice dropping to a cold, flat register. "I don't care what his identity was. That person was the one who killed my parents, so I killed him in return. That is all there is to it."
Hearing this blunt declaration, a vein in Cobra's forehead twitched, clearly irritated and deeply stressed by Gojo's stubborn, reckless words. He threw his hands up slightly, demanding, "Do you even comprehend what you are talking about right now? The person you killed is a Celestial Dragon! He wasn't just some normal pirate or a random Marine against whom you were taking a petty revenge!"
After hearing this, Gojo looked directly toward Cobra, his face dead serious as he firmly reiterated what he had said before. "I killed the murderer of my parents. That is all. I did not kill him out of impulsiveness or a sudden fit of rage, so you don't have to sit there thinking that I did not know whom I was killing or what the consequences of it would be."
The moment Cobra heard this calm acknowledgment, his eyes narrowed and he snapped back, "You know the consequences of it? Then tell me, do you know that my Alabasta Kingdom is associated with the World Government? We are a kingdom directly affiliated with them. By all laws, I can turn you over to the marines right now."
Upon hearing this threat, Gojo's serious expression melted away, and a knowing smile crept back onto his face. "You won't do it," he said confidently. "Do you know why I directly came here, of all the places in the world that I could have gone to? It's because I know that you, father and daughter, are quite stupid, and you both will never send me to the Marines. And even if you somehow managed to harden your heart to do so, your daughter would never allow it. You are—all of you are just so kind. Stupidly kind. But I like it. That's exactly why I came here."
Standing right at the bedside, Vivi listened to Gojo openly call her father stupid, and then turn around and call her stupid too. She immediately pouted, her cheeks flushing with annoyance. "Who are you calling stupid?" she huffed, swinging her fist to give Gojo a soft, playful punch on his right arm.
But the moment her fist connected, Gojo sharply inhaled, his face twisting as he slightly grimaced in pain from his fractured body.
Oh no—
Vivi immediately panicked, her anger vanishing as she gently but frantically held his arm. "Are you fine? I'm so sorry!"
Gojo simply shrugged with his good shoulder, letting out a breath and forcing a small smirk to show he was fine. Cobra, watching this affectionate, chaotic scene unfold right in front of him, felt like his head was going to explode with sheer anger and stress. Vivi caught the furious expression on her father's face and realized things were getting out of hand. She quickly walked up to him, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "Father, calm down. Please. He is just like this. You know how he is." She paused, looking down for a second before continuing softly, "And honestly... today or tomorrow, such a thing would have definitely happened anyways. This is what those people deserved."
Cobra stared down at his daughter, completely struck dumb. He was clearly surprised by her words. He had known from the start that Vivi would definitely take Gojo's side in an argument, but he had never expected that she would actually take Gojo's side even in a matter as extreme as murdering a Celestial Dragon.
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