Chapter 175: Kuma Appears

The previous scene of Chopper’s side effects was still vivid in their minds!

What was he trying to do by taking out this clearly more advanced pill now?!

Still drowning in sorrow, Robin instantly sprouted two arms on Chopper, trying to stop him.

But at this point, Chopper’s strength had already surpassed Robin’s.

She couldn’t stop him!

Just as Chopper was about to pop the Rumble Balls into his mouth…

A strange voice suddenly echoed in the minds of all the Straw Hats.

“Chopper~ take it easy~”

“Don’t worry about Vir~ he’s going to be fine~ he said he’s just too tired~ he’ll wake up soon~”

“He told me to tell you all~ An Admiral is coming~ You must leave quickly~”

“And don’t let anyone know he’s still alive~”

The sudden voice stunned Chopper.

A flicker of clarity returned to his otherwise hollow gaze.

At the same time—

A small figure appeared before them.

It was Merry.

But only the Straw Hats could see her.

Everyone gasped in surprise when they saw her.

The overwhelming sorrow that had clouded their hearts suddenly lifted.

Merry had left with Vir.

So it made sense she knew what was going on with him.

And Merry never lied!

Vir was really still alive?

Robin stared blankly at Vir in her arms.

Then, she suddenly noticed the faint twitch at the corner of Vir’s lips.

Only then was she convinced—

This guy really wasn’t dead!

Though that brief smirk on Vir’s face carried a hint of mockery…

She really wanted to smack him.

But…

Escape came first.

Robin scooped up Vir, and no one made a sound.

There had to be a reason Vir was pretending to be dead.

No one else could find out he was still alive.

Chopper also snapped out of it at that moment.

He had seen that subtle twitch of Vir’s lips too.

The darkness that had engulfed his heart was instantly pierced by a beam of light.

It didn’t just pierce through—it overwhelmed the darkness entirely.

Joy exploded from within Chopper.

He burst into tears of happiness, unable to stop them.

He was just a little reindeer—how could he have any bad intentions?

All he knew was—his Big Bro was the kindest person in the world to him.

If his Big Bro died…

Then even if it cost him his life, he’d tear a piece of flesh off the one who did it!

Go back to the Drum Island?

That thought had long been tossed aside.

Or rather, it had never even entered his mind.

The crew got up, ready to leave.

But Robin noticed the photo lying on the ground.

Remembering how Vir had clutched it tightly before “dying” she immediately reached to pick it up.

Yet her movement—

Instantly made Momousagi explode.

“Don’t move! Don’t you dare!”

She yelled while charging over.

Rayleigh noticed Momousagi’s reaction as the Straw Hats tried to leave.

He understood immediately—

There was no getting out of here without dealing with her.

But Momousagi didn’t care about the fight—she just wanted the photo back.

Still, when she saw Rayleigh coming at her, radiating killing intent like a blade—

She instantly got serious.

If she let her guard down for even a second—

She could lose her head!

With no other choice, she raised her sword to block.

The two clashed and instantly began to fight.

Meanwhile, Robin looked down at the photo, her expression turning strangely unreadable.

Holding Vir, she sprinted toward the Sunny.

But she kept glancing at Vir with a strange look in her eyes.

This situation was unbearable for Vir.

He felt embarrassed.

Because the person in the photo—

Was Jozu.

And not just regular Jozu.

Cross-dressing Jozu.

But please don’t get the wrong idea.

Vir wasn’t in the picture.

It was just Jozu, in a frilly little dress, with lipstick on, pigtails, and holding a tiny whip.

Marco had shown it to him back on the ship.

At the time, Marco pulled out a whole stack—

A literal pile.

All embarrassing photos.

All of Jozu’s worst moments.

Vir could only sigh and say, “You two really are best friends.”

The number of cursed photos…

Could rival his grandma’s age.

And when Marco packed them up again, he had accidentally left this one behind.

The one Robin was now staring at.

Jozu in a skirt.

With a whip.

Burned into her mind.

Now, with Robin glancing at him with that weird look—

How could Vir not know what she was thinking?

She definitely thought there was something between him and Jozu!

But there really wasn’t!!

He had just grabbed it randomly from the med kit to scare Momousagi!

But no matter how hard he tried to explain—

His “questionable taste” was already completely exposed…

Everyone was sprinting full-speed now.

So fast they were almost flying.

Before long, the Thousand Sunny appeared in the distance.

Everyone’s faces finally relaxed a little.

Once they got aboard the Sunny—they’d be safe!

After all, the Sunny had cola-powered propulsion.

Once activated, it could blast away in an instant.

There was no way the Marines could catch them.

But just as they got close—

They spotted a massive figure sitting near the Sunny.

Blocking their path.

He wore a hat with bear ears and was reading a book.

When he saw the group approaching—

He slowly closed the book.

But when Kuma caught sight of the unconscious Vir in Robin’s arms, even he was shocked.

What the hell?

What happened to Vir?

Someone on this island managed to do this to him?

That was brutal.

Looks like the Navy had already made a move.

And fast.

That meant… he couldn’t wait any longer either.

He had to send Joy Boy away—immediately!

The thought left a deep impact on Kuma.

Then, without another word—

He vanished from sight.

“It’s him! That Shichibukai!”

Luffy and the others instantly recognized him.

Everyone tensed up, ready for battle.

They kept their eyes sharp, fully alert for Kuma’s return.

They’d already seen how terrifying he could be back when they dealt with Moria.

But just then—

A soft voice rang out.

Despite its gentleness, the overwhelming pressure behind it made everyone shudder.

“If you could go on a journey… where would you want to go?”

Everyone’s heads whipped toward the voice.

Zoro saw it up close—too close.

The massive figure towered over him, hand raised.

With his speed—

Zoro didn’t even have time to react.

He could only watch.

Kuma was just on another level.

“ZORO! DODGE!” Luffy screamed in panic.

But the moment the words left his mouth—

*Pop!*

A crisp sound rang out.

Before their bulging eyes—

Zoro vanished.

No trace of him was left behind.

As if he had never existed.

Before anyone could process what had happened—

*Pop!*

*Pop! Pop!*

Kuma moved like he was trying to clock out early, just like Kizaru.

Every move clean and efficient.

Each palm strike rang like thunder.

In under a second—

Only three people remained on the field:

Robin holding Vir,

Chopper standing beside her,

And a devastated Luffy, staring in shock…