Chapter 40: Apayado
The sudden scene made the shop owner's jaw literally hit the floor. His whole body shook uncontrollably, cold sweat pouring down.
"HELP!!!"
He screamed, legs blurring into afterimages as he vanished from the shop like he'd seen the devil himself.
Luo Lin and Robin didn't even glance at him. Useless anyway.
All his subordinates were down in an instant, and now a blade rested against the White Beret captain's neck. The man gritted his teeth, but instead of fear, his face was filled with vicious defiance.
"How stupid! You actually dared resist us?! You're courting death! The almighty God will definitely punish you! Prepare to die without a grave!"
"I think you're the one who doesn't understand who's in control here!"
That arrogant tone pissed Luo Lin off. One punch to the gut. While the guy doubled over, an elbow to the back left him gasping, mouth wide, unable to speak.
Still not satisfied, Luo Lin turned to Robin for approval.
"This guy's so punchable! I really wanna kill him!"
"Mmm, hold it in. Ask first, kill later!"
"Fine! Then I'll beat him a bit more—he's pissing me off!"
Another storm of fists and kicks instantly turned the captain's face into a pixelated mess. Who knows how many teeth flew out.
"Robin-baby, your turn!"
Robin stepped forward and crouched beside the mosaic-faced man.
"Have you seen the Poneglyphs on this sky island? Square stones with unreadable text. And your 'God'—what exactly is he?"
The captain wheezed for a while before finally forcing words out.
"Heh… hehehe… you're gonna die horribly! You stupid trash! The almighty God and His priests will slaughter every last one of you!"
Luo Lin: ???
Are you actually not afraid of dying?! Just answer the damn questions!
"Looks like you still don't get the situation!"
SLASH!
One clean cut—his entire arm came off at the shoulder.
Before he could scream, Luo Lin stomped on his mouth, muffling the sound into pathetic grunts.
No teeth left anyway.
"Clear-headed now? I don't know how we'll turn out, but even if your almighty God shows up, I'll kill him, chop him into pieces, and feed him to the fish!"
Most people fear death. This "captain" was no exception. Faced with life or death, he folded.
"God is everywhere… but He and the priests won't come here. Those who defy Him go to the forbidden land—Apayado. There, the almighty God and His priests personally deliver judgment!"
"Oh? Sounds pretty convincing. Might actually scare someone who didn't know better!"
The captain stiffened.
"This is no bluff! When God's judgment falls, you'll realize how ignorant you are right now!"
"Cut the crap! Have you seen the Poneglyph or not?!"
SMACK SMACK! Two more slaps.
"I don't know! If it exists, it's in Apayado where God resides!"
"And where's Apayado?"
The captain froze. As expected! Scared after all? Trying to find out where the holy land is so you can run far away?
Heh! Too late!
(If Luo Lin knew what he was thinking, he'd ask: Do I look scared to you? I'm heading straight there!)
"God already knows everything that happened here. Judgment is coming soon. Running is pointless now! But fine—I'll tell you. Apayado is on the neighboring island. Head east and take the cloud path!"
Luo Lin nodded, satisfied. He looked at Robin—she nodded too. All questions answered.
After Robin's confirmation, Luo Lin decided not to kill the guy after all. He'd already beaten him senseless and taken an arm—anger vented. Spare his life.
He wasn't some bloodthirsty demon.
The two left the shop and stepped onto the street.
The once-bustling road was now deserted. Word had spread: these two had blasphemed God.
Plenty of people had done the same before. Their endings were never good. Even locals instinctively avoided anyone marked for divine punishment.
"Hm?"
As they prepared to head back, Luo Lin suddenly looked up.
"What is it?"
"Something's coming."
The corner of Luo Lin's mouth curled up.
Attacking from this far? As expected from one of the strongest Logia fruits!
"What?"
Robin looked up too—saw nothing.
Luo Lin scooped her up and shave—gone in a flash.
At the same moment—
Two massive lightning bolts crashed down from the sky.
One struck where they'd just stood.
The other obliterated the shop.
Luo Lin dodged his easily.
The White Beret captain inside? Not so lucky.
A charred scream echoed from the rubble.
Luo Lin and Robin glanced over.
Yikes. Completely fried!
"So this is the 'judgment of God'?"
Robin was a little stunned. Lightning control was eerie. She had a guess but wasn't sure.
"Yep. Don't worry—just a Logia user. These natives have never seen the outside world."
"As expected?"
(On Sky Island, people know about Devil Fruits and even recognize Luffy as a Paramecia, yet they still genuinely believe Enel is an actual god! Huge plot hole!)
…
Meanwhile, Enel lounged on his sofa, looking momentarily surprised before smirking.
"He dodged it? Another Mantra user? This is getting interesting. Doesn't matter. Everyone ends up here eventually."
Luo Lin and Robin left the area and headed back toward Angel Beach where the Devil was anchored. Countless residents peeked at them from hiding.
"Luo Lin, look! The Merry!"
"Yep! Looks like Luffy and the others made it up here!"
"But where are they?"
"Dunno! They'll show up eventually!"
"Mm!"
At that moment, the Straw Hats were guests at Conis's house. They'd spotted the Devil on the way in—Nami, Chopper, and Usopp had even excitedly boarded it looking for safety.
Only to find it empty.
Afterward, while playing on the beach, they met Conis walking her cloud fox and got invited over.
Luo Lin and Robin re-boarded the Devil. Luo Lin's stomach growled—he hadn't eaten since morning.
Robin could cook decently, but compared to Luo Lin? Not even close. Usually he cooked.
He headed to the galley. Robin sat under the parasol and opened her book again.
"Robin!"
"Hm?"
Reading, Robin closed her book and looked around—no one in sight, yet the voice came from far away.
"Over here! Over here!"
She stood up.
Luo Lin poked his head out of the kitchen too.
There—waving frantically from a distant house window—Luffy and Usopp.
"Of course it's them. In just a few hours they've already mooched food and shelter off someone! Meanwhile I'm cooking for myself!"
Robin burst into bright laughter.
Luffy and the others were thrilled to see them again.
"Hey Robin! The food up here is insane! Come try it!"
"No need~ Luo Lin's already cooking!"
Luffy didn't push and went back to fighting over food with the others.
Robin sat back down—then frowned.
Did the ship just move?
Luo Lin was seasoning in the kitchen when the whole ship rocked.
His hand slipped—an entire jar of salt poured into the pot.
(Observation Haki isn't always active, but danger triggers it passively!)
Luo Lin: @#%×#
BAM! He kicked the door open.
He was going to see which blind idiot just ruined his precious sky fish! He wanted to share that fresh catch with Robin-baby!
(No way he suspected Robin—she was the definition of gentle and graceful! Maybe a little teasing, but never sudden chaos unless danger was involved. And he would've sensed danger instantly!)
Robin was already at the railing, looking down.
"What happened?!"
"There's a huge shrimp!"
"Eh?"
Luo Lin rushed over.
Holy— A shrimp even bigger than the Express Shrimp was carrying the Devil on its back!
"Uh… self-delivered ingredients?"
Robin: …Your first thought is eating it?
"Could be another transport shrimp? Looks similar—just bigger and darker!"
Mid-sentence, the shrimp fully lifted the ship and whoosh—shot forward.
"Emmmm confirmed. Definitely an Express Shrimp."
"Seems so!"
Luo Lin was confused: "Where's it taking us?"
"Probably to wherever that 'God' is."
"Huh? How do you know?"
"It literally says 'GOD' on its head."
Luo Lin leaned over and looked—face darkened.
Sure enough, three huge letters: GOD.
Right after the Devil sped off, a White Beret appeared near Angel Beach.
"Hehehe! The trial of God has begun! Ride the Super Express Shrimp I summoned and receive the almighty God's judgment!"
At Conis's house, the Straw Hats were stuffing their faces when Chopper yelled:
"WOW! Luffy! Luo Lin and Robin just left!"
"Huh? No way! He ditched us?"
Luffy mumbled through a full mouth.
"It's true!"
Luffy: "Lemme see! Whoa! They're really gone! Where're they going?"
Usopp: "Wait! Look—the ship is going backwards!"
Luffy: "So cool! As expected of Luo Lin—he can even sail backwards!"
Everyone: …
"Idiot! No ship sails backwards! They definitely didn't leave willingly!"
Zoro's head hurt. Not the first time he questioned his future with this captain.
"Hey old man! Any idea where they're headed?"
Conis's dad thought about it and shook his head—no clue.
"Whatever! We'll look later! Luo Lin's super strong—he'll be fine!"
Luffy went right back to eating and started asking about the forbidden land (Nami had ridden off on the waver, and Conis mentioned it in passing).
The more dangerous, the more Luffy wanted to go.
Meanwhile, Luo Lin and Robin just stood on deck watching the scenery fly by.
"Once we get there, this shrimp's useless, right? It ruined my sky fish—time to repay with its own tail!"
"Sure♪ I wanna try sky island shrimp too."
Poor Super Express Shrimp—its fate was sealed!
To prevent them from jumping overboard, a whole school of giant sky fish followed behind in all shapes and sizes.
Luo Lin: (✧∇✧)
"It's dragging us to Enel and delivering ingredients too? How embarrassing—I didn't even ask!"
Mouth saying "embarrassing," hands already moving.
Whoosh into the cabin—whoosh back out, now holding a massive harpoon.
Tied one end of a rope to the bow, the other to the harpoon.
"Let me spear us a fish!"
War cry, slapped his cheeks a few times, then hurled the harpoon.
Perfect hit—right through a sky shark's head.
Rope snapped taut—the whole ship lurched, then resumed speed.
Super Express Shrimp: You're unbelievable. You want fish, make me tow it?!
About ten minutes later, the shrimp carried the Devil into an island.
"Is this Apayado?"
"Probably. Or maybe just passing through."
Soon it proved this was the final stop.
The river ended at an altar!
As they neared, the shrimp leaped—flinging the Devil straight onto the altar with a massive crash and creaking of wood.
After dumping the ship, the shrimp prepared to dive back into the water and leave.
"DON'T YOU DARE RUN! You damaged my ship! Today your tail is dinner!"
Luo Lin shave—appeared on the shrimp's head, blade raised.
CLANG!
One clean cut.
Super Express Shrimp—dead.
Luo Lin happily sheathed Mitama, dragged the corpse ashore, and reeled in the rope.
The harpoon still had the sky shark impaled.
Quickly cleaned both sky island delicacies and started a barbecue—he was starving!
Robin watched the smooth, practiced movements and sighed.
"Luo Lin."
"Hm? What's up?"
"We're just… eating here?"
"Yeah! Where else? No better spot!"
"I mean—be careful. This shrimp was clearly sent to deliver us for judgment. Someone could attack any moment!"
"Don't worry! With me here, what's there to fear? The world is big, but eating comes first! I'm hungry—food now, fight later!"
"Oh!"
Robin trusted him unconditionally. She only warned him out of habit.
Luo Lin genuinely wasn't worried.
Enel? Just a Logia + top-tier Observation Haki.
No Armament, no Conqueror's.
Meanwhile him?
Great Swordsman, wielder of a Supreme Grade blade, mastered all three Haki at advanced level + perfect Rokushiki.
One Conqueror's Haki coating and he was already untouchable.
Advantage: completely on his side!
==============================================================
Support me and be 100 chapters ahead of webnovel:
patreon.com/inkshield