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Voyage Chapter 16: In Time of Need
🕑 Added 2025-06-03 17:09:30 +0000 UTC~Yuji Liberio~
Fuck!
The first thing I was awoken by in the middle of the morning was my fucking throat getting gouged open by a series of blades. The pain was blinding, worse than anything I had ever experienced. It barely failed to sever my spinal cord and kill me. That didn't mean it didn't not shred every artery in my neck.
Putting aside the fact that my throat was somehow durable enough to withstand Kuro's attack without being defended...
The only reason I was alive was because I had the bandages on me, which the moment they detected the wound, sped up and coiled around my body before wrapping around my neck, stabilizing it and slowing down the bleeding as I jumped out of bed.
I saw Kuro, his claws stained in my blood. I got arrogant. I was overconfident.
Why wouldn't he be able to cut me up as I slept? How was I so sure he would keep in character no matter what? Why did I think I knew better? Was I so stupid to sleep under the same roof as my enemy? Apparently, I was.
At least I got lucky enough to learn my lesson.
I am not being taught again.
In lightning speed, I swapped out whatever power I had equipped with Ozone Baby before creating a Wind Canon faster than I ever have. Two zones of extreme pressure appeared one after another before Kuro could even turn out.
Snap!
Without being able to use my throat I simply snapped my fingers, and the moment Kuro realized what was behind him, it was too late as the zones let go. But Kuro was a smart shit so the first thing he did was jump back as the wind canon shot.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!! Crash!
A large wind canon tore through the room and a part of the mansion as I blasted Kuro to kingdom come but I knew he managed to mitigate the blow and would walk off with mild injuries. Not only that, but now he was outside at night. I couldn't give chase.
Chasing an assassin specced fully into speed at night? If I wanted to die I wouldn't have gotten out of my bed.
Kuro... you fucking bastard.
I clenched my throat, I needed medical attention asap, I had some of the potions Kaya hadn't drunk yet. I needed to fix this throat as soon as possible.
But... how the hell did I survive that? Granted, I hadn't taken any damage in this world yet but I didn't think I was that tough, I didn't have strength slotted in or anything.
As I was thinking to myself I heard clamor rushing up the stairs. Of course, I blew a part of the mansion to absolute kingdom come with a Wind Canon. Before long the door to my room was kicked open by a worried-looking Merry accompanied by Nami, Alice and Kaya.
Damn girl. Aren't you supposed to be bedridden? How did you rush up the stairs? Everyone turned to me with shocked expressions as I tried to smile before pointing to my throat covered in bandages completely soaked in crimson blood, Kaya looked lightheaded while Nami looked scared, it was her first time seeing me injured after completely trashing a pirate crew after all. Must be quite shocking.
"W-what happened here!?"
Merry shouted as Alice seemed to be the one to regain her bearings the fastest.
"Wait! The potions! He is injured, we should get the medicines!"
It took a few minutes for them to scramble to the kitchen and hand over the surplus potions that I poured over the gauze. It would take a bit for me to heal so, deciding to drop all pretence I used my Zoan transformation, shifting into a hybrid to recover faster.
"W-what is that? You have horns, Mr. Yuji? Could you please tell us what happened here?"
Hearing the unknown emotion in Merry's voice I chuckled, would they even believe me? Well, they had no choice to.
"Well, your dear butler Khaladore, or more precisely Kuro happened. Even I am not immune to getting my throat slashed out at night it seems."
Kaya gasped while Merry's face flip-flopped between outrage and confusion.
"What are you talking about!? Where is Khaladore? What do you mean he did this?"
I sat back down on the bed covered in rubble while looking Merry in the eyes.
"I said what I said. Well, I guess I should elaborate. I came to this island to hunt down Captain Kuro of the Black Cat pirates. Personal grudge, don't ask. But when I came to this mansion I saw he had turned over a new leaf and had a new identity too, so I decided to leave him alone."
Trying to sell the act better, I chuckled wryly as if I had been betrayed.
"But I guess he hadn't, I overheard him talking to someone about forging your signature and killing you off to get your inheritance."
I stared at Kaya who held a horrified face, almost falling to her knees before Merry helped support.
"N-no! You are lying! Khaladore would never do that!"
"You bastard! How dare you talk about like that!"
Merry shouted at me while Alice looked conflicted about what was happening. I just sighed again.
"Obviously you wouldn't believe me. I get that. But do you know the medicine I fed you, Miss. Kaya? Or do you think I slashed my own throat? with 4 different knives at once"
Fuck my throat hurts like hell while sleeping. But I reached under the bed and took out the Alchemilla under it before turning to the description of the Green Vial and tossing the took to the enraged Merry.
"Go, read the description, it's the same medicine I fed your mistress."
He unfurled the pages and started reading before his face got paler and sweat trickled down his forehead. Seeing Kaya's gaze he spoke out loud.
"...The Green Vial is used for treating Posions and other toxins. It is very effective against most mundane toxins..."
Kaya looked at the book with disbelief as Merry handed it over to her before he slumped down on the floor with a disbelieving expression.
"But... I can't believe this... Khaladore... he couldn't..."
"Sorry Merry, but I don't think I am even capable of fabricating something as complex as this. If I did I certainly wouldn't have slashed my fucking throat. And if you haven't noticed, Khaladore isn't anywhere. Don't the butlers sleep downstairs?"
I turned to Alice, noticing that she had been pretty quiet this whole ordeal despite giving Kaya sympathetic looks.
"What about you Alice? Do you believe me?"
Alice scratched her cheek with a difficult expression.
"...I can't say I'm not having a hard time believing it, but I haven't known Mr. Khaladore for that long, and he has always been the secretive type. But I don't think you are the type of person to lie Yuji."
Wow, she is a terrible judge of character. Now I just feel bad.
"Thanks for believing me I guess, I wouldn't have blamed you if you hadn't."
The room was swallowed by an uncomfortable silence as no one really spoke, before Alice broke the silence, trying to lighten the mood.
"So... good look with the horns."
I smirked, everyone just forgot about the elephant in the room being my large horned form when I revealed Kuro.
"Thanks, it's a Zoan ability, from a devil fruit, it allows me to turn into a bull or a bull hybrid. So I am pretty damn tough. That's probably why I am still on my feet right now."
Alice nodded with a curious expression.
"...So do you taste like beef-" "What do you plan to do now Mr Yuji?"
Alice was cut off by a solemn Merry making her pout comically while I turned to the man, rubbing my throat.
"I plan to beat up Kuro and hand him over to you guys, at least you deserve the right to decide what happens to him yourselves." I left out the part where I would be breaking most of his bones for cutting my throat open of course. If he can walk in the next 3 months I will have done a shoddy job.
Merry gave a wry smile, patting the shocked Kaya's back.
"I'm... glad, Mr. Yuji. I'd at least like to question him myself. Thank you."
"No nee-"
"KAYAAAA!!! I heard an explosion! Are you okay!? H-heyyyyy!"
My words were cut off by the worried shouting of Usopp in the distance. Seems like he heard the explosion from my canon and rushed as fast as he could. Kaya looked back towards the source of the noise while Merry wore a sour expression.
"Usopp...!"
"That boy, at this time-!"
I got up and placed a hand on Merry's shoulder and shook my head as Kaya turned towards the noise.
"Just let them be man, Usopp doesn't seem like a bad kid, besides, she could use a friend her age right now." Discounting the fact I was roughly her age too of course. Merry looked as if he swallowed a bitter pill before nodding.
"Alright, fine. I just hope he doesn't fill her head with more nonsense. I'll... escort Kaya. Come on my lady, let's leave Mr. Yuji to tend to his injuries."
Kaya nodded to Merry with a thankful smile, she also tried to give me one but her conflicted emotions were apparent. As they left Alice also gestured to herself.
"I should probably go with them. And the sun will be up soon, I'd best get started on breakfast first. But you are more than welcome if you want to join me."
With that, Alice excused herself downstairs too. Leaving me alone with Nami. She looked a bit lost as I snickered.
"What? Too shocked seeing me get injured? Didn't know you cared about me that deeply Nami."
Nami blinked, looking at my bandaged throat before speaking in a soft tone.
"I don't get it, why are you helping this village? You are more than strong enough to just take everything they have. You don't have to help them in any way."
...She was definitely projecting, wasn't she? Even if I could use this moment to manipulate her I did not want to. I don't want to live a fake life. Playing this kind of game with the people you like is bad for the soul.
"Because I want to. That's all there is. Just because I am a pirate doesn't mean I have to pillage and rob people you know? I am a pirate because I want to be able to do whatever I want to, and I don't want to hurt people down on their luck."
I smirked despite my pain at the silent and contemplative Nami.
"Besides, I don't need a reason to help cute girls. For me, pretty girls are the real treasure out there in the sea compared to the gold. I just can't resist it when a pretty girl needs my help. Hahaha- ow!"
I rubbed my pained throat as Nami sighed and rubbed her face with a slight blush.
"...That is so stupid."
My grin did not falter.
"Sure is. But that is the way I decided to live my life. So, I'll be taking care of the big bad butler."
Nami shook her with a conflicted expression before turning around and heading towards the door. But before she left... she stilled for a second.
"Just... don't die."
"Your wish is my command."
I had no intention of dying.
With Nami out of my room, I admired the rising sun on the horizon with refreshed determination.
Feat Achieved! Survive a lethal injury
+1x Gold Trait Gacha Ticket
Rolling Gold Trait Gacha...
An Elite Trait!!
[ In Time of Need]
|Rarity: Elite|
-A Hero arises. Once every 120 hours you can restore your stamina and energy to full. Hours afterwards you will be extremely exhausted.
Right after my speech too huh? Does this thing have a sense of humour?
A/N:
Yuji: "I'm not a hero."
Chaos: "Yeah, sure, whatever buddy, here is your shonen hero kit with Cellular Overdrive and In Time of Need."
Yuji learns a lesson he won't need to be taught ever again. He is no longer fucking around as much. Kuro better watch his back because the Ozone Train is ready and it is vengeful. Kuro and his crew are going to wish they faced the Straw Hats next chapter.
Yuji and Nami have a proper heart-to-heart conversation for the first time. Yuji is no Luffy pureheart bullshit but he is pure and true to his desires. Nami finally sees that he is not just a regular pirate. Who knows what she is thinking? Did you guys like the Nami heart-to-heart and the Kuro reveal? I'd love to know.
Comments
dontenglish
Hey bronz I have sugestion related to the gatcha I think that limitless should be ranked down from epic just cause the fact it requires either 6eyes or just unholy amounts of energy energy control efficiency and abilty to perform high speed calculations like yes in theroy it deserves epic rank but in practice its limited to the point where its better off just not using
Alex I
"I'm not a hero!" "No shit, you forgot to pack your powers before you left, don't worry I grabbed them for you."
BronzDeck
Yuji could sell a snake oil merchant snake oil. He is a master of bullshitting his way through stuff.
BronzDeck
Ozone Baby has more potential due to being an Elite ability, no matter what if you spent 100mp on Ozone Baby or Gale, Ozone Baby will always give you more bang for your buck. But unlike Ozone Baby, Gale has far more versalility and synergy with other abilities.
Rez
I like Ozone cannon but dosent gale have more potential when trained throughly enough?, like what if he used ozone to hold somebody in place while using a wind slash then releasing the ozone so they just get sliced in half, maybe im not thinking about it properly plus he dosent have the time to really train it right now so
Colin Peden
I enjoyed the heart-to-heart between Yuji and Nami. I hope this helps her along the path to trusting Yuji, as he is not a mass murder kind of pirate. As for the Kuro reveal.... It was good, but did Merry have to interrupt Alice's question? 😝 I really want to hear his answer to her. Besides that though, the way Yuji can spin a ball of bullshit into a wearable sweater is pretty good.
