After the Straw Hat Pirates disappeared, only a few half-dead members of the Spade Pirates remained on the ground, groaning weakly.
Lloyd raised his hand calmly. Several thin bolts of lightning fell from the sky and erased the remaining pirates without leaving a trace. He frowned slightly and looked up at the sky. The power Luffy had released just now felt extremely familiar to him.
It reminded him of the power he had felt when he met Imu.
From what happened earlier, it was obvious that Joy Boy had taken control for a moment to help Luffy escape. That strange force belonged to Joy Boy, not Luffy himself.
It could only be said that Monkey D. Luffy truly was the Child of the Plane. Roger had once been a man favored by destiny, yet compared to Luffy, even Roger seemed insignificant. Joy Boy himself had stepped in to protect Luffy.
And at the same time, there was Kozuki Toki, the user of the Time Time Fruit.
However, the original world line had already been completely destroyed by Lloyd's actions. Momonosuke had died early at his hands, and Kozuki Oden had been crippled by him, losing the ability to continue the Kozuki bloodline. That meant Hiyori never even existed in this timeline.
During the war twenty two years ago, Kozuki Oden had never appeared on the battlefield. Lloyd had long suspected that Oden had been sent back to Wano Country before the war began. In that state, he would only have been a burden.
With a crippled body, Oden's fate after returning to Wano could easily be imagined. If he had met Kaido in that condition, the result was obvious. Perhaps he had already ended up in the famous Oden stew.
So it made perfect sense for Kozuki Toki, who had lost her husband and had no children left, to choose to travel through time.
The ability of the Time Time Fruit was extremely powerful when it came to escaping, but there was one thing that could not be changed. No matter how far into the future she traveled, even if it was hundreds of years, she would still reappear on this same world line.
And whenever they returned, Lloyd would be waiting.
He glanced at the ruined surroundings one last time. The entire area was completely unrecognizable. Then his figure blurred and disappeared from the spot.
…
On a quiet shore somewhere in the Sabaody Archipelago, Trafalgar Law was leading the Heart Pirates toward their ship, which resembled a submarine. They were just about to board when a black sword slash suddenly fell from the sky and carved a bottomless trench directly in front of them.
Law and his crew froze in horror.
Lloyd slowly descended from the sky with his arms crossed, hovering calmly above the trench.
Law reacted instantly. The moment he saw Lloyd, he raised his hand and shouted,
"ROOM!"
A transparent space spread out instantly from his palm. At the same time, he drew his famous sword, Kikoku, and slashed toward Lloyd from a distance.
However, the scene he expected never happened.
Lloyd stood there without moving at all. Not even a single scratch appeared on his body.
Looking at Law's shocked expression, Lloyd spoke calmly,
"Has no one told you that Haki can resist devil fruit abilities?"
The next second, Lloyd raised his hand and pulled.
Law's body was dragged toward him as if caught by an invisible force. The moment Lloyd grabbed him by the neck, the ROOM space disappeared instantly.
Lloyd had no intention of killing him yet. Law was still useful.
However, the members of the Heart Pirates rushed forward the moment they saw their captain captured.
Crack.
Silver lightning wrapped around Lloyd's fingertips. He was about to wipe them out when Law suddenly struggled and shouted,
"Please wait! You are Admiral Black Dragon, right? I am Colonel Rosinante's man!"
Lloyd paused.
A hint of surprise appeared in his eyes, and the lightning faded.
The next moment, a wave of Haoshoku Haki burst out from him. The members of the Heart Pirates collapsed instantly, all of them losing consciousness at the same time.
Lloyd then dragged Law to an open space and threw him onto the ground.
Law clutched his throat and coughed violently for a moment before slowly standing up again. He looked at Lloyd with a mixture of fear and respect.
"Admiral Black Dragon… Mr. Rosinante is still undercover with Doflamingo. I was the one he saved."
"So you became a pirate," Lloyd replied calmly.
Law shook his head quickly.
"I never wanted to become a pirate. My dream has always been to become a doctor. But I had no choice. Mr. Rosinante told me that Doflamingo planned to offer me to a big figure in Mary Geoise. If I went to the Navy, I would still be sent there sooner or later. After I escaped, my ability was exposed once, and the World Government immediately placed a bounty on me."
Lloyd understood everything instantly.
The big figure Law mentioned was clearly himself. The thought almost made him laugh.
Still, his expression did not change at all.
"And you are telling me this without fear that I will send you to Mary Geoise anyway?"
Law shook his head again.
"I am not afraid. Mr. Rosinante once told me that Admiral Black Dragon is a good person."
Lloyd raised an eyebrow slightly.
He only remembered meeting the young Rosinante once. He never expected Rosinante to leave such a good impression of him.
And if Rosinante was still with Doflamingo, then Doflamingo had not discovered his identity yet.
Now that he thought about it, since waking up, he had not gone to see Doflamingo even once. After this matter was finished, he would need to pay him a visit.
After all, during the years he had been asleep, Doflamingo had still tried to prepare a "gift" like Law for him. That was surprisingly thoughtful.
Besides, Lloyd also wanted to see how strong Doflamingo had become after being trained by him and obtaining the Float Float Fruit.
Of course, even if Doflamingo had not improved much, Lloyd would still reward him with a proper title.
Law finally spoke again when Lloyd remained silent for too long.
"Admiral Black Dragon… will you take me to the Navy?"
Lloyd looked down at him with a faint smile.
"No," he replied calmly. "You are coming with me to Mary Geoise."
Law's pupils shrank instantly.
Before he could react, Lloyd struck him lightly on the neck. Law collapsed immediately, losing consciousness.
Lloyd lifted him effortlessly with one hand and spoke softly,
"Since Rosinante thinks I am a good person, I will be a good person this time."
===
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