Five days passed in the blink of an eye.
During those five days, the name of the red rabbit who had killed Saint Charloss and slaughtered the Goa Kingdom royal family spread to every corner of East Blue.
As news of Da Hong's public execution in Loguetown spread, the pirates who had narrowly escaped the Marine dragnet because of him practically popped champagne in celebration.
Even the unlucky pirates who had already been arrested by the Marines broke into song and dance inside their cells after hearing the uplifting news.
Loguetown itself became more crowded than ever.
Ship after ship entered the harbor. The moment people disembarked, they rushed straight toward Loguetown Square, all hoping to grab the best possible place to watch Da Hong meet his end.
Among the endless stream of people pouring into Loguetown were bounty hunters who had roamed East Blue for years, pirates in disguise who had narrowly dodged disaster, and members of the Revolutionary Army's Eastern forces.
Disguised as a noblewoman and accompanied by two trusted subordinates, Belo Betty had abandoned her usual fiery outfit and blended into the crowd as she made her way into the town.
She was just as curious about Da Hong as everyone else.
She wanted to see with her own eyes whether the rabbit who had beaten her commander's father until he coughed blood really had three heads and six arms.
Of course, she also hoped to see Kairo appear before the execution.
She simply refused to believe he was the type to abandon a companion and go off to enjoy himself elsewhere.
As for why she thought that…
Call it a woman's intuition.
When she met Kairo in Shimotsuki Village, her first impression had been of a gentle, refined man with just a trace of roguish charm—dangerously close to the ideal type for women like her.
Belo Betty was not the only one to come to Loguetown.
There was also Roronoa Zoro, the bounty hunter who had made a name for himself overnight by capturing Da Hong.
Only five days had passed since he turned in the rabbit and collected the five hundred million bounty, yet in that short time, no matter where he went, he kept hearing stories about himself.
Some rumors were relatively grounded, saying he had just gotten absurdly lucky and that the World Government had practically handed him five hundred million for free.
The rest were completely ridiculous.
Some claimed he had three heads and six arms, with a ferocious face and monstrous strength, making him the most terrifying bounty hunter in East Blue.
Others insisted he had eaten some kind of Eagle-Eagle Fruit and only managed to capture Da Hong because rabbits were prey to hawks.
In short, every rumor was more outrageous than the last. Most of them were exaggerated to the point of absurdity, leaving Zoro red-faced and deeply embarrassed every time he heard them.
Still, none of that was why he had come to Loguetown.
He was here for one reason only:
to find out whether Droopy and Da Hong's prison-break plan would change now that a public execution was involved.
By noon, Loguetown Square, the very place where the Pirate King Gol D. Roger had once been executed, was packed solid.
Looking out across the square, all one could see was a sea of human heads.
At the very top stood the execution platform.
Around it, hundreds of armed Marines stood guard, watching the surroundings as if facing a great enemy.
On the elevated platform behind the execution stand, Admiral Kizaru sat in command personally, with the four Headquarters vice admirals led by Gion seated on either side.
Like the Marines below, they were vigilantly scanning the crowd, monitoring every movement.
In the past five days, Gion and the others had already learned everything Garp knew about Kairo, Da Hong, Droopy, and Green Rabbit.
They now knew that this bizarre group each possessed extraordinary abilities.
Although Kairo had only displayed Conqueror's Haki once, they had every reason to believe that someone capable of keeping monsters like Da Hong, Droopy, and Green Rabbit by his side could not possibly be ordinary.
If Kairo really came to storm the execution ground with Droopy and Green Rabbit, it would become a brutal fight.
Even though Loguetown had already been turned into a trap with defenses laid layer upon layer, none of them dared relax.
After all, the dog named Droopy possessed teleportation-like abilities.
And even Green Rabbit—who had remained largely unknown, with most of their information coming only from Garp—was still one of Kairo's companions.
Just then, the previously boiling Loguetown Square suddenly fell silent.
A moment later, Da Hong emerged from an iron cage, escorted by Smoker and Tina, still wearing shackles on both hands and feet.
After only a few seconds of silence, the square exploded again.
"Huh? That's the red rabbit?"
"It doesn't look scary at all!"
"Hahaha! This little thing wiped out the entire Goa Kingdom royal family? No way. It's kind of cute!"
As Da Hong's figure became clearer and clearer, almost everyone felt their understanding of reality collapse.
In their minds, the "red rabbit" should have been huge and terrifying.
At the very least, it should have looked vicious.
But what they saw was a small, somewhat cute rabbit wearing a red plaid prison uniform, his expression blank and his face almost harmless. His eyes were a little fierce, perhaps, but because of his size, almost no one felt genuine fear.
Most importantly, even now—even in handcuffs and shackles, even as he was being led to the execution platform—Da Hong had not forgotten to study.
He still had a magazine in his hands and was reading it with relish.
In an instant, the mood of the crowd shifted.
Many people began to suspect that the Marines had just grabbed a random rabbit to use as a scapegoat.
Standing in the crowd, Belo Betty's eyes turned crafty the moment she heard those doubts around her. She immediately stepped forward, faced the execution platform where Kizaru and the others sat, and shouted loudly:
"A rabbit this cute can't possibly be the one who killed a Celestial Dragon! Did you arrest the wrong rabbit?!"
The moment her voice rang out, the crowd around her began shouting too.
"That's right! A rabbit this cute must be innocent!"
"He's still reading and studying even on the execution platform! He's obviously a good rabbit!"
"Free the rabbit!"
"The red rabbit isn't the killer! Let the Marines explain!"
The sudden wave of shouting from the square made Kizaru and the others on the platform collectively sprout question marks over their heads.
What was this supposed to mean?
Cute rabbit?
Innocent rabbit?
Had these people ever seen Da Hong in his berserk state?
That was the same terrifying monster who had sent Marine hero Garp flying with one blow, and now the crowd was calling him adorable?
"…No, something's off."
Kizaru's brow furrowed slightly.
At first he had not thought much of it. After all, the public had never seen Da Hong in action, so it was only natural that many would question things after seeing how harmless he looked.
But very quickly, he noticed something strange.
The crowd's reaction was too intense.
Too unified.
Gion noticed it too. After sweeping a glance across the masses below, she made her judgment at once.
"Someone is influencing the crowd."
"Terrifying methods," Kizaru muttered. "Revolutionaries?"
"Who knows."
Gion looked up at the sky, then rose decisively.
"Admiral Borsalino, the time has come. Give the order."
Kizaru did not immediately speak. Instead, he turned to look at Hatori Yuto, who stood nearby with a Den Den Mushi in hand.
"Buru buru…"
Suddenly, the Den Den Mushi rang.
"Report, Agent Hatori! We may have found traces of the traveler Kairo!"
"Excellent!"
Hatori nearly jumped on the spot from excitement.
"Have they entered Loguetown yet?"
"No!"
The voice on the other end sounded a bit shaky.
"Our latest intelligence says a young traveler claiming to be a wanderer checked into a hotel in Shells Town with a Droopy dog and a rabbit in green clothes. Based on those companions, we judged he is very likely Kairo."
"And afterward, they cleared out the local shoe shops…"
"Enough!"
Hatori exploded before the report could continue rambling.
"What I want to know is whether they've come to Loguetown!"
"Apparently… not…"
The voice on the other end became even weaker.
"According to our latest information, they were not heading for Loguetown at all. A hotel attendant says that young traveler mentioned their next destination was Cocoyasi Village."
"Cocoyasi Village?!"
Hatori nearly cursed on the spot.
Your companion is about to be executed, and you're still out traveling?
What kind of loyalty is that?
Had that dog literally eaten the concept of companionship?
So this was the game, was it?
Fine.
Then he'd behead the rabbit first and hunt them afterward.
With that thought, Hatori no longer bothered with the caller. He lifted his head and shouted angrily at the two executioners standing beside Da Hong on the platform:
"Execute him! Cut that damned red rabbit down!"
The sudden order to proceed with the execution made the square fall silent all at once.
In the crowd, Zoro instinctively scanned the people around him. Even though Droopy had told him Da Hong would break out by himself, Zoro still could not help hoping he might somehow spot Droopy in the crowd.
At the same time, Belo Betty's heart tightened when she heard Hatori give the order. She immediately grabbed the subordinate who had just squeezed over to her through the crowd and hissed:
"What's going on? Still no sign of Kairo?"
"There is!"
Her subordinate hurriedly wiped sweat from his forehead.
"One of our people reported that they saw a traveler with a Droopy dog and a rabbit in green clothes land in Syrup Village. That should be Kairo."
"He's really not coming to save him?"
Hearing that Kairo had already reached Syrup Village with Droopy and Green Rabbit, Belo Betty was completely thrown off.
Her orders had been simple: if Kairo appeared to rescue Da Hong, she was to use her Pump-Pump Fruit to influence the crowd and create chaos. Otherwise, she was not to act rashly.
And Dragon had issued those orders because he had been sure Kairo would appear.
"What now? They're about to cut Da Hong's head off!"
Belo Betty looked up at the execution platform. Seeing the two executioners raise their blades, she felt a surge of frustration.
If she had known Kairo was not coming, she would not have come either.
And yet, when she looked at Da Hong, she almost burst out laughing.
Because even with the executioners raising their swords over him, Da Hong was still reading his magazine.
He even sat there on the platform with one leg crossed over the other, his foot swinging rhythmically as though he were resting in a park.
Then it happened.
The two executioners, without the slightest hesitation, brought their blades down toward Da Hong's neck.
In that instant, the entire square went so silent that one could hear a pin drop.
Some stared with bulging eyes.
Others covered their eyes on reflex.
Then—
before anyone could react—
the swords failed to cut through.
Hatori thought for a moment that his vision had blurred. He rubbed his eyes hard, then stared at the execution platform with widened pupils.
Da Hong's head was still attached.
Not a scratch.
Hatori sucked in a sharp breath and clenched his fists.
"Stab him!"
At his order, two reserve executioners rushed forward holding bayonets and drove them straight into Da Hong.
Crack.
The bayonets snapped into pieces the moment they struck his body.
Da Hong continued reading.
He remained completely absorbed in his magazine, as if the one being executed was not him at all.
"Damn it!"
Hatori truly lost his temper now.
He stormed up onto the platform, red-eyed, and roared:
"Bring out the guillotine!"
Very quickly, the guillotine was wheeled onto the platform.
At its top hung a massive blade, weighing over half a ton, glinting coldly in the sunlight. Just looking at it was enough to send a chill down people's spines.
The crowd had already witnessed two miraculous failures to harm Da Hong, but the sight of the guillotine still made many of them break out in cold sweat for him.
Among them, the most nervous was naturally Belo Betty.
If not for the fact that an Admiral was personally overseeing the platform, and if not for her fear of exposing her identity as an Eastern Army commander, she would have unleashed her Pump-Pump Fruit on the crowd right then and there to force chaos.
Compared to her anxiety, Da Hong remained utterly emotionless.
Still with one leg crossed over the other and magazine in hand, he allowed the executioners to move him beneath the guillotine.
Even with the massive blade hanging directly above him, he did not move his eyes from the page.
On the platform, seeing that Da Hong's emotional state had remained stable from start to finish, Gion and the other vice admirals quietly let out breaths of relief.
Earlier, they had worried that being executed might trigger his berserk state.
Now it seemed their concerns might have been unnecessary.
Compared to his own life, it looked as though reading magazines mattered more to this rabbit.
"My instincts tell me the guillotine won't work either."
At that moment, Vice Admiral Momonga, who had been silent until now, turned to the equally relaxed Kizaru.
"Admiral Borsalino, Kairo and the others still haven't appeared. Could it be they trust their companion's strength completely? That they know we can't kill this red rabbit?"
"Who knows."
Kizaru pouted slightly, then casually checked the time.
"Why isn't it quitting time yet?"
His voice was soft, but Gion and Momonga still heard it clearly.
Neither knew whether to laugh or cry.
It was noon, and their Admiral was already counting down to the end of the workday.
Of course, Kizaru was not the only Admiral with peculiar habits.
Aokiji, the one with the Ice-Ice Fruit, was not the type to clock out the moment the hour struck, but every time he took leave, he would inevitably end up riding his bicycle out across the sea.
Among the three Admirals, the most normal in this regard was Akainu.
If others clocked out, he clocked in for overtime.
If others took leave, he worked even harder.
A true workaholic among workaholics.
"Execute him! Execute him!"
Hatori's near-hysterical shouting rang out again.
"Kill that damned red rabbit!"
Under his roar, the great guillotine blade at the very top was released and came crashing down with tremendous force.
Clang!
The massive blade struck Da Hong's neck.
Before anyone in the square could react, the thick steel suddenly split into countless cracks.
In the very next moment, the entire blade shattered into fragments and scattered across the execution platform.
Da Hong remained completely unharmed.
But this time, he was no longer indifferent.
As the broken pieces rained down around him, Da Hong—after enduring three separate executions—finally moved.
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