"We're finally back here."
Staring at the massive island in the distance, Meiser said, "Now I can finally get a good night's sleep."
In order to take care of that bastard Luffy, he hadn't closed his eyes for the past few days.
"It's been five or six days since we left Marine Headquarters..." Meiser said. "I wonder when you'll wake up."
Glancing at Luffy, who was still fast asleep, a hint of helplessness appeared in Meiser's eyes.
If he didn't know what was going on with this guy, he would have thought he was about to die.
Shaking his head, Meiser looked down at Erha below him and said, "Hurry up, I can't wait to get back on land!"
"Woof!"
Erha responded with a bark, then sped up, swimming swiftly toward Kuja Island in the distance. It wasn't long before he reached the island.
Carrying Luffy on his back, Meiser jumped off Erha and said, "Alright, I don't need you for now. You can go back."
"Woof!"
Erha barked in response, then turned and plunged back into the sea, leaving.
Watching him depart, Meiser smiled. "It's pretty nice to have a pet like this."
It was just a pity that Erha didn't have Chakra, otherwise, he would have wanted to use him as a summoned beast.
Shaking his head, Meiser slowly walked toward the interior of Kuja Island.
"Merry, we're back~"
Looking at the huge city in the distance, a smile appeared in Meiser's eyes.
"Granny Nyon, can you see if there's anything wrong with the snake egg I'm incubating?" Merry asked.
Granny Nyon walked over upon hearing this, carefully examining the snake egg before saying, "There's no problem. It should hatch in about another month."
It seemed this child had taken her words to heart. What a serious little one!
At this thought, a smile immediately appeared in Granny Nyon's eyes.
"That's good," Little Merry said with a sigh of relief.
As long as there were no problems, the baby egg could grow up smoothly!
"Don't worry, there won't be any problems," Granny Nyon said with a smile.
"Mhm!"
Merry nodded, then turned to look at Granny Nyon and said, "Granny Nyon... so many days have passed, why haven't Meiser and Luffy come back yet?"
As she spoke, a worried look appeared in Merry's eyes.
Could... could something have happened to them?
At this thought, Merry wanted to use the Summoning Technique to bring Meiser over, but she gave up the idea when she remembered Luffy was still with him.
"Those two are quite strong, they should be fine," Granny Nyon said.
Although a place like Impel Down was extremely dangerous, with their strength and abilities, they should be able to return to Kuja Island safely.
'I just don't know if they managed to rescue the person from Impel Down,' Granny Nyon mused inwardly.
If they managed to rescue the person from Impel Down, that would be one thing. If not... they would have to go to Marine Headquarters to participate in that war!!!
And a war of that level was extremely dangerous; the slightest misstep could lead to death!
Thinking of this, Granny Nyon sighed in her heart. 'I hope they can rescue the person from Impel Down.'
"That's true," Merry said. "Meiser is very strong, he should be fine."
After saying that, Merry turned around and sat back down on the sofa, her expression relaxing considerably.
Then she asked, "Has Sister Hancock come back?"
"No."
At the mention of Hancock, Granny Nyon's expression became somewhat grave.
Knowing how powerful Whitebeard was, Granny Nyon was well aware of how dangerous that war was.
Right now, she could only hope that Hancock wouldn't clash with Whitebeard himself, otherwise...
Perhaps thinking of a certain possibility, Granny Nyon sighed.
Seeing this, Merry immediately said, "Don't worry, Granny Nyon."
"Sister Hancock will definitely be fine too!"
"I hope so," Granny Nyon said.
Just then, two figures appeared in the courtyard, immediately drawing the attention of the two.
"Meiser!"
Seeing Meiser carrying Luffy on his back, Merry's eyes immediately lit up with joyful surprise. She instantly stood up from the sofa and ran towards Meiser, who was standing in the courtyard.
"Yo~"
"We're ba—"
Before Meiser could finish his sentence, he saw Merry leap out of the house and rapidly descend towards him.
Meiser immediately stopped talking and simultaneously summoned a Susanoo arm to grab Luffy from his back.
Only then did he take a step forward to catch Merry.
Pat.
"Waaah, Meiser!"
"I was so worried about you guys!"
Caught by Meiser, Merry immediately burst into tears, little pearls rolling down her cheeks.
"Don't worry, the Marines can't do anything to us," Meiser said, rubbing the little one's head.
Merry nodded at his words, then her gaze fell on Luffy. "What happened to Luffy?"
"Him..."
Glancing at Luffy, held by the Susanoo's hand, Meiser revealed a helpless expression. "This guy isn't awake yet."
Merry: ???
What did he mean, not awake yet?
"Is he injured?" Granny Nyon asked.
"I guess so," Meiser said after a moment's thought. "But it's not a big deal. He'll be fine once he wakes up."
Once this guy Luffy woke up, he would probably be fully revived.
"Then let's put him in the house," Granny Nyon said. "Let him sleep."
In any case, with Hancock, a Royal Warlord of the Sea, around, the Marines wouldn't come here to search for people, so... they had plenty of time.
Meiser nodded and then brought Luffy and Merry back into the house.
After placing Luffy on the sofa, Meiser let out a long sigh. "I can finally rest a bit."
"You look a little exhausted," Granny Nyon said. "Did you not rest at all on the way here?"
"Where would I find the time?" Meiser shook his head.
Although he had Erha, he still needed to be on guard against pursuing Marines. After all... the World Government was very interested in him!
So, until he safely reached Kuja Island, he had to remain vigilant.
"It seems you had a tough journey," Granny Nyon said.
"It's fine, I can handle it," Meiser said, shaking his head.
It was just a few days without sleep, not a big deal for him.
Then, Meiser asked, "Is Hancock back?"
"No," Granny Nyon shook her head. "I haven't received any news of Hancock's return."
She hadn't even received a call from her Den Den Mushi.
"Still not back?" Meiser frowned. "Is it because the Marines don't have time to escort people back right now?"
Was it because there were too many injured, so the Marines couldn't spare the manpower to escort people?
That was certainly a possibility...
"No time to escort people?" Granny Nyon was taken aback for a moment, then frowned. "If you put it that way... the Marines must have suffered heavy losses."
"After such a brutal war, of course the losses were heavy," Meiser said.
Hearing Meiser's words, Granny Nyon showed a look of surprise and then said, "From the way you're talking... you went to Marine Headquarters?"
Did that mean... Meiser and the other one didn't manage to rescue the person from Impel Down?
"Yeah, we went to Marine Headquarters."
"But why?" Granny Nyon asked, puzzled. "Did you not see Ace?"
"We ran into some trouble in Impel Down and missed the best opportunity to rescue Ace," Meiser said. "We had no choice but to go to Marine Headquarters together to save him."
Recalling what they had encountered before, a trace of helplessness flashed in Meiser's eyes.
Who would have thought Magellan would attack Luffy in such a way?
He had to admit, that guy who ate the Venom-Venom Fruit was truly insidious!!!
'I just wonder if that guy is dead or not,' Meiser muttered to himself.
If nothing unexpected happened, Magellan should have bled to death.
After all... Yomotsu Hirasaka lasted for a whole month!
As long as no special circumstances occurred, that guy was a dead man!
At this thought, a smile appeared in Meiser's eyes.
After hearing Meiser's words, Granny Nyon showed a look of emotion. "It seems rescuing someone from a place like that is no easy task."
It truly lived up to its name as a prison that hadn't been breached in eight hundred years!
"It was mainly because that poison-user was disgusting," Meiser said.
If it weren't for that guy, they wouldn't have been delayed.
"Poison-user?" Granny Nyon paused, then asked in confusion, "Who?"
"The warden of Impel Down," Meiser said. "A guy who ate the Venom-Venom Fruit, named Magellan."
"We were delayed for some time because of him."
"The Venom-Venom Fruit," Granny Nyon frowned. "That's a very dangerous ability."
As an old woman who had lived for nearly a hundred years, Granny Nyon knew very well how dangerous such an ability was.
After all... poison is the bane of all living things!
Even if you were a Logia type user, you could still be taken down by poison if you encountered someone like that!
This was probably why the World Government had this man guard Impel Down.
"It is indeed very dangerous. Luffy was almost poisoned to death by him," Meiser said.
As soon as he said this, Little Merry's expression changed instantly.
After covering Luffy with a small blanket, Merry asked anxiously, "Is Luffy okay then?"
"Don't worry, the poison has been neutralized."
"That's good," Merry said with a sigh of relief.
As long as he's okay... as long as he's okay!
"Don't worry, this kid is tough, he won't die," Meiser said with a smile.
Not only would he not die, but he had also gained a powerful poison resistance as a blessing in disguise!
With this resistance, Luffy would be immune to most poisons!
"So, you're saying you defeated Magellan head-on and then escaped from Impel Down?" Granny Nyon said.
"More or less."
Although he had only fought Magellan at the very end, he had indeed beaten the man half to death in a direct confrontation.
He just didn't know if that guy was cold yet.
"Truly impressive," Granny Nyon said with emotion.
From now on, the myth of Impel Down never being breached has been broken by these two!
The World Government must be furious right now, hahahaha.
"What happened after that?" Merry asked. "How did you get to Marine Headquarters?"
"Of course, we snatched a warship outside Impel Down," Meiser said. "Then we used that warship to take all of us to Marine Headquarters!"
"All of you?"
Granny Nyon showed a look of surprise. Did that mean... Meiser and his group had staged a mass breakout?
"Yes," Meiser nodded. "Knight of the Sea, Jimbei, Crocodile, Ivankov, and a whole series of others."
"These guys all broke out with us."
"Breaking out with a group of people," Granny Nyon said. "Mmm... that was indeed the optimal solution."
Although the people Meiser mentioned were all unruly individuals, as long as everyone shared a common goal, they could unite, couldn't they?
Just like... the Rocks Pirate Crew back in the day!
Then, Granny Nyon continued, "And these guys could also serve as an effective force to attack Marine Headquarters."
"Indeed," Meiser nodded.
Although Ivankov and the others were no match for a Marine Admiral, they had no problem holding off Navy Vice Admiral-level figures for Luffy.
It was precisely because of this that he was able to free up his hands to entangle that guy Kizaru!
Just then, Granny Nyon said, "Meiser... what was the outcome of the war?"
"The outcome of the war..."
Looking at Granny Nyon's somewhat complicated gaze, Meiser said, "We successfully rescued Luffy's brother, but... Uncle Whitebeard died in battle."
"Whitebeard died in battle?"
Granny Nyon was stunned, clearly not expecting that man to die at Marine Headquarters.
"Yes, he died in battle," Meiser said.
"How—how did he die?"
Meiser fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then said, "After a great battle, Uncle Whitebeard's body was struck hundreds of times by the Marines, including two fatal wounds inflicted by Akainu."
"But even so, Uncle Whitebeard still displayed an incredibly terrifying power, shattering Marine Headquarters to pieces!"
"Afterward, Uncle Whitebeard engaged in a fierce battle with the Blackbeard pirates who had arrived at Marine Headquarters, and in the end... he died in battle there." After finishing, Meiser paused, then said with a complex expression, "That man never fell, even in death. He was a true hero!!"
That man truly deserved the title of the World's Strongest Man!
"So that's how it was." Granny Nyon fell silent after speaking, her eyes becoming somewhat complicated.
For that man, ending his story in such a way might have been the best conclusion.
After all... he was the World's Strongest Man!
How could such a man be willing to accept an end from sickness or old age?
So, this outcome was indeed the best for Whitebeard.
'You must have thought so too, Newgate...' Granny Nyon murmured in her heart.
After a moment of silence, Granny Nyon let out a quiet sigh.
Newgate... may you rest in peace!