"What is this? Rocks... lava?"
Jericho, who was running while holding his severed hand, suddenly stopped and almost collided with the red wall that had suddenly appeared in front of him.
The intense heat rushed towards him, causing him to crawl back.
Even after retreating more than ten meters, the sensation of extreme heat that made breathing difficult didn't fade.
This realistic experience immediately dispelled his belief that he was imagining things.
But why did this lava suddenly appear on the shore of Red Leaf Village?
Moreover, it formed a circular wall around half of the island, completely blocking his escape route.
"Could I be so unlucky to encounter an underwater volcanic eruption?"
Jericho thought in disappointment and turned to head in another direction away from Red Leaf Village.
But as soon as he turned, his body froze completely.
Because he saw a figure resembling a demon, he didn't know when it had arrived right behind him.
At that moment, when he turned, he saw a wide smile on the opponent's face.
"Hello, pirate, shall we continue?"
The high temperature heating the ground had restored some vitality to Rorschach's frozen body.
He felt that his body could move again.
Suppressing the ubiquitous fatigue and pain, Rorschach began to approach the despairing Jericho step by step.
"Don't come closer! Go away! You monster! Stay away from me!"
Jericho spoke with difficulty, his tongue swollen, and his mouth full of the taste of blood.
His severed hand caused him sharp pain, making him feel dizzy.
For his mental strength, it was challenging to endure up to this point.
Facing Rorschach again, who had left him with a significant psychological scar, he couldn't move from his place, standing frozen, his body trembling.
Fear flooded his heart, and the pain made him lose consciousness.
He started crying.
Like a child, he slowly sat down and knelt in front of Rorschach, his body trembling violently as he sobbed.
"I know I was wrong, I know I was wrong, please, please let me go, I won't be a pirate anymore, please don't kill me."
The short sword fell to the ground, and Jericho sat holding his severed wrist, crying bitterly.
Tears flowed continuously from the corners of his eyes.
"Please don't kill me, I have a wife waiting for me at home, and a child who hasn't reached his first month yet, his name is Jamie, he's very cute, he can't lose his father now."
"I didn't want to be a pirate, my country couldn't afford the high taxes of the world government, so it was removed from the allied countries, then plundered by pirates, I had no choice but to take up arms and join them."
In his crying, Jericho's eyes suddenly lit up, and he continued sobbing, saying:
"You can't kill me, do you know who I am? I'm one of the subordinates of the Shichibukai, Donquixote Doflamingo, if you kill me, you'll be hunted by his family forever. So, please, let me go, let's end our feud here, you killed all my subordinates, I can leave the money and food for you."
"It seems you're like me, a miserable man."
Rorschach sighed, bent down, and wiped Jericho's tears with his dry fingers.
Jericho's body trembled slightly, and he nodded quickly: "Yes, we are miserable, so..."
"If the world makes you so miserable, why do you still live?" Rorschach said softly, placing his dry hand on Jericho's head, gently stroking, "Do you have a family? I thought you were an orphan."
"You..." Jericho opened his mouth to speak.
But the hand that was gently stroking his head began to press its fingers into his eyes.
"Ah, ah, ah!"
Jericho screamed a horrific scream from the depths of his throat.
He grabbed the short sword from the ground and began striking Rorschach's arm forcefully.
But Rorschach grabbed his left shoulder with his strong fingers, which started to press until Jericho's shoulder bones broke, as if inside a giant hydraulic press.
Jericho felt pain beyond description, lost the ability to scream, but his consciousness was clear enough to feel the fingers pressing into his skull.
"I understand your desire for revenge, but if you're going to turn into a man-eating monster, I'll bury you with this island."
A deep, strong voice interrupted Rorschach's thoughts.
Rorschach slowly turned to see a huge soldier standing there, looking at him with a blank expression.
Despite the difference between reality and animation, Rorschach remembered this man's face.
He had cursed this harsh soldier in his heart because of another man's death, but now he just wanted to say:
"Thank you."
Those words came out of Rorschach's mouth, and his body completely collapsed, falling to the ground and entering a deep coma.
Akainu looked silently at the unconscious Rorschach, without saying a word, until a girl called from the other side of the lava wall.
"Thank you... I haven't heard those words in a long time."
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