Chapter 115: Preparing to Leave
After thinking it through, Luo Han's earlier excitement faded. There was no way to directly influence someone's brain — a limitation of Kyoka suigetsu . If only he could one day manipulate the brain's signal reception directly, then it would become true Kyoka suigetsu .
"Hm… the brain…" Luo Han suddenly recalled the scent he had detected with his spiritual sense. But sensing through spiritual means and detecting an actual scent were two different things — one was idealistic, the other material.
The scent, like a physical aroma, was real, though minuscule and invisible. But the "aura" he sensed spiritually was more like an emotional frequency. If both existed simultaneously, perhaps they were connected at the root.
Luo Han speculated: if he could use his psychic powers to record that aura and then guide it into someone's brain — could he trigger instant frenzy in others?
"I can already sense it… record it… All that's left is injecting it. That'll come down to how well I can manifest my mind powers. With a clear concept and enough training, I should get there. If that works, then even Observation Haki might not be able to detect my Kyoka suigetsu anymore. Hahaha!"
He laughed out loud, excitement flashing across his face.
Having unraveled new uses for Kyoka suigetsu and conceptualized a way to "inject" the aura, Luo Han flew one last round around the island in search of any clue about Wano. Unsurprisingly, like many islands before this, he found nothing.
He was used to it by now. Most of their prior stops had yielded nothing, and they always left quickly after.
He returned to the ship. The island's secret had been solved — no point staying longer.
The moment he landed on the grass, Toki ran over, clearly eager. "Luo Han! You're back. Did you find anything?"
"Nope. Same as before. Let's head to the next place," he replied with a sigh and waved his hand.
Toki pouted, disappointed. "Ugh… why is it so hard? Doesn't anyone know where Wano is?"
Hmm… Luo Han paused. Right! If they didn't know something, they could just… ask someone who did. Wano had existed for years — surely someone out there knew where it was. The World Government, for sure. It just wasn't easily accessible.
Clap clap! Luo Han clapped his hands to get Toki's attention. "You just gave me a great idea. We can just find someone who knows where Wano is! No more blind searching."
Toki perked up, then asked curiously, "Like who?"
"Let's ask Whitebeard. He should know."
Whitebeard had once visited Wano. Kozuki Oden had even sailed on his ship.
But the moment Luo Han mentioned Whitebeard, Toki turned into a furious kitten. She jumped and shouted, "No! We can't go to Whitebeard!"
"…Why not?" Luo Han was baffled.
Toki just pressed her lips together and refused to speak, but her eyes were firm — absolutely not.
What the hell? Luo Han was annoyed now. So she did know a way back but didn't want to go? Was she just clinging to him?
He started to spiral into wild speculation.
…
"That jerk's back, so why hasn't Big Sis returned yet?" Aishi complained, watching Luo Han and Toki interact in the distance. She turned to Sora with irritation.
Sora chuckled. "Didn't Big Sis say she'd be back by noon? It's not noon yet."
Aishi froze, then flushed slightly. Trying to cover her reaction, she said, "Right! I'll go prep lunch for when Big Sis gets back." And she hurried off to the ship.
Sora remained, thoughtful. She glanced in Luo Han's direction. He seemed a little… rushed. What exactly had he been doing earlier?
…
By noon, Spoon-jie returned. Everyone gathered on the grass to eat together.
This time, heeding Luo Han's warning, they didn't eat anything from the island. Instead, they used provisions from the ship to prepare a feast. Since it was their last meal here, it was a lively one — or at least, it was supposed to be.
"What's with those two?"
Spoon-jie nudged Aishi and nodded toward Luo Han and Toki. The two of them were eating silently, not saying a word to each other.
"Oh, Big Sis…" Aishi blinked, mid-chew. "They were arguing about whether or not to go to Whitebeard. I don't know the details, but clearly, they didn't agree."
"Whitebeard…?" Spoon-jie frowned, not sure what that was about.
A meal that should've ended in laughter and chatter concluded quietly because of Luo Han's silence.
Afterward, everyone packed up and boarded the ship. Once everything was ready, Luo Han took them off the island and back out to sea.
Just as they reached the water, they spotted the Twin Blades Pirate Crew — the very ones Luo Han had previously launched into the distance — huddled near the cliff, clutching scraps of broken wood.
Luo Han didn't bother attacking again. He calmly guided the ship past them, even standing at the bow to show how "magnanimous" he was.
"That's the rookie pirate crew who ruined Luo Han-kun's dramatic entrance," Spoon-jie murmured, glancing at the miserable Vitas and his crew.
"Yup, that's them, Big Sis," Aishi said loudly — and deliberately shot a look at a certain someone.
Said "someone," still standing at the bow, decided it was time to get the hell off this island. The ship sped up and quickly vanished from the view of the battered Twin Blades crew.
…
Huff… huff…
The Twin Blades Pirates collectively sighed in relief.
"He's gone. Thank God that monster's finally gone," Jinbin gasped. That brief stare from Luo Han just now had frozen him in place — he couldn't even breathe.
"Let's climb up first. Good thing you brought that rope, Jinbin," Vitas said, turning his gaze from where Luo Han had disappeared.
"Got it. I'll go up first," Jinbin replied, and began scaling the cliff again.
Watching his comrade climb, red-haired Vitas clenched his fists. He silently vowed never to let his crew suffer again. And as for that Blue Demon…
One day, he would defeat him.
He still remembered the moment they were blasted away — the entire crew and their ship launched into the sky. They'd hit the water hard and nearly drowned, only surviving because none of them had Devil Fruit powers. They clung to planks and drifted overnight, facing sharks, dehydration, and more, before finally reaching the island base again. But even then, they hadn't dared return until Luo Han was gone.
Luo Han's Conqueror's Haki had left a permanent scar on this rookie crew — so much so that even now, Vitas could only curse Luo Han after he had left… and only in his head.
What they didn't know was that something far worse than Luo Han awaited them on this island.
(END CHAPTER)
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