Paper Paper Fruit In One Piece

Aboard the Thousand Sunny— 

"Hey, everyone—" 

Usopp clapped his hands after pacing around the deck, but no one responded. This gloomy silence didn't suit the Straw Hat Crew at all. 

"Why do you all look so down? Luffy is the Pirate King now, and we're his crew! We should be celebrating…" 

 "That's enough, Usopp." 

Leaning against the ship's railing, Zoro opened one eye and looked at the long-nosed sniper, who was trying hard to lighten the mood. 

"You're usually the most pessimistic one here. We don't need you to cheer us up." 

"…Seriously, this should be a huge victory for us." 

Nami stepped out of the cabin, rubbing her forehead. Her appearance immediately drew everyone's attention. 

"Nami, are you feeling okay? Maybe you should rest a little longer—" 

"I'm fine." 

Even though her eyes were red, Nami forced herself to stay strong. "I'm the navigator. I don't have time to rest. If I let my guard down, who knows what kind of crazy place Luffy will take us to next…" 

"No, no, no." 

Usopp shook his head with a look that screamed, 'You're wrong,' then pointed to the deck behind him. 

"Luffy won't be causing trouble anymore because—" 

"Aaahhh~~ I'm so bored~~" 

The so-called 'Pirate King' was currently sprawled out on the deck like a slug, chewing on the floorboards. There wasn't a single trace of dignity in him. If other pirate crews saw this, their grand image of the Pirate King would completely shatter, and they might as well go home and become farmers. 

"For some reason, ever since we left Laugh Tale, everyone's been feeling… off." 

Even Robin, who usually had her nose buried in a book, was resting her chin on her hand, lost in thought. 

"You could say it's just the 'emptiness' that comes after achieving a dream, but…" 

If it was just one or two of them, maybe. But everyone? That wasn't normal—especially Luffy and Nami. 

Nami was pushing herself to act normal, but she lacked the usual spark of confidence. As for Luffy… 

"Don't mind me~~ I'm just a snail~~" 

He was practically useless, like he'd been hit by one of Perona's 'Negative Ghosts.' 

"Actually, I've had this weird feeling too." 

Usopp, having failed to lift the mood, slumped down as well. Even he had been feeling oddly frustrated ever since they left Laugh Tale. 

It wasn't just post-dream emptiness, as Robin suggested. It was more than that. 

"It's like… we forgot something important?" 

"You feel that too?" 

Sanji frowned as he tapped a cigarette into an ashtray piled high with ashes. It really felt like… 

"We're missing someone." 

Zoro answered confidently, "No, we're missing a beauty!" 

Sanji immediately switched gears. 

"No, wait! I swear it was a kid!" 

Usopp furrowed his brow, trying hard to remember. "Wearing a raincoat… carrying a tool hammer…" 

?! 

"Wait… are you talking about the 'ship Pokémon'?"

On the other side, Franky, sitting cross-legged on the ground, pushed up his sunglasses. 

"From your description, a kid in a raincoat holding a hammer... isn't that—?!" 

BAM!! 

Franky suddenly stood up, clutching his forehead, sweating. 

"Right! How could I forget about *Sunny*...?" 

'Guys!' 

? 

"GUYS!!" 

As soon as Franky spoke, a child wearing a red raincoat suddenly appeared on the deck, as if he had been there all along... 

"I've been here the whole time! You guys just forgot about me!!" 

Seeing the angry Sunny, the entire crew finally snapped out of it— 

"Sunny~~ Waaaah!!" 

Tears gushed out of Franky's eyes as he cried like a father reuniting with his child. "I actually forgot about you~~ Waaah!! Looks like the human brain has its limits... I need to replace mine with a chip brain!" 

"Wait, Franky... are you really giving up the last bit of humanity you have?" 

"Hehehe, so it was Sunny! I knew I was forgetting something—" 

As his noisy crewmates finally 'reacted,' the little boat spirit in the red raincoat trembled all over. 

"Enough!!!" 

? 

"What is wrong with you guys?" 

The Straw Hat Crew, now completely confused after being yelled at by *Sunny*, watched as his voice, on the verge of tears, came from under the red raincoat. 

"Luffy, Franky, Nami... everyone, what exactly happened to you on that island?" 

"Merry and I have been trying to get your attention, but you completely ignored us! And more importantly—" 

"Where is Roman? Why didn't Roman come back with you?" 

?! 

"Merry... you mean the *Going Merry*? But we burned it back at Water 7..." 

"Roman? Who's Roman? That name sounds kind of—" 

"Wait!!" 

Nami quickly unfastened the book from her waist and crouched in front of Sunny. She flipped to the first page, where a line of text was written: 

"Only those who persevere can reach the peak." 

—Roman 

"You mean this Roman?" 

"Yeah." 

The child in the red raincoat nodded. "Roman gave you that Book of Powers. It's practically a love token between you two..." 

"What?! Nami-swan is already married?!" 

Sanji, utterly shocked, turned to Sunny, who gave him a strange look. 

"Didn't you also marry Miss Pudding, Sanji?" 

??? 

"M-my wedding with Pudding... wasn't it ruined by Luffy...?" 

Now it was Sanji's turn to start questioning his reality! 

"So tell me... what exactly happened to you all on Laugh Tale?" 

Sunny looked at the familiar crew members in front of her. Ever since they returned, they had been ignoring her and Merry, which was already strange enough. But now, they had even forgotten about Roman and Miss Pudding… 

It made sense that Miss Pudding stayed in Whole Cake Island to help rebuild her home, but Roman? He had traveled to Laugh Tale with everyone! 

What exactly happened? 

Although Sunny and Merry had gained the ability to appear and talk to others thanks to Roman's "Soul-Soul ability," they were still ship Pokémon at the end of the day. If someone had no concept of their existence, then to that person, they were nothing more than invisible, silent ghosts. 

But because they were "not human," they had actually avoided Imu's "memory modification"! 

"Wait a minute! Forgotten—" 

Nami suddenly stood up. If… 

"If what Sunny said is true," she muttered, rubbing her temples as the little ship spirit protested, "Of course it's true!" 

"Then there's only one possibility: someone has tampered with all of our memories!" 

?! 

"In other words, we should have one more crew member. That person is—" 

The missing eleventh member, Roman! 

——— 

Holy Land, Mary Geoise. 

"Hahaha! Roman, you brat!" 

"Garp, please watch your words!" 

"The person standing before you is the soon-to-be crowned ruler of the world—Lord Neo, the Divine!" 

"Leave us." 

With a wave of his hand, Roman dismissed the men in black suits who had stepped forward to scold Garp. Then, he rubbed his temples as he looked at the silver-haired old man laughing without a care in the world. 

"Garp-sensei, you…" 

"What do you think… about Luffy becoming the Pirate King?" 

Hearing Roman's question, Garp simply waved him off. 

"That brat can do whatever the hell he wants! If it weren't for that bastard Shanks, Luffy would've joined you and become one of the twin pillars of the Marines by now! I wouldn't expect him to marry a Celestial Drago—cough, cough—but at the very least, he could've fought you for the position of the next Fleet Admiral." 

So even Garp-sensei's memories had been altered… 

Through Roman's careful probing, Imu had made it clear: she had rewritten the memories of everyone who had ever come into contact with him. His real name was now "Neo," while "Roman" had become nothing more than an alias. 

His two years of training with the Marines had been rewritten into official history. On top of that, he had even been "promoted" to Admiral. Congratulations? Yeah, right! 

By the way, Kizaru had taken this opportunity to retire in style. He now held the title of "Admiral Consultant" and spent his days at Marine Headquarters, casually sipping tea and reading newspapers—though, honestly, it wasn't all that different from before. 

"…Take care, Sensei." 

After bidding farewell to Garp, Roman sighed and turned toward the Hall of Authority. There's an old saying: life is like… well, you know. If you can't fight back, just close your eyes and go with it. 

Besides, if Imu really wanted to force things, what could Roman do but go along with it? 

Sigh… Looks like life won't be boring from now on. 

Just as Roman was wondering how to "reclaim his rightful position"— 

"You've finally given up, haven't you, Garp?" 

In a small alleyway of Mary Geoise, Sengoku's voice made Garp stop in his tracks. 

Then—whoosh! 

In an instant, both figures disappeared. 

"What the hell are you doing?!" 

When they reappeared, Sengoku found himself being dragged at high speed by Garp, using "Soru," to a secluded courtyard—a place reserved for Marine Admirals to rest. 

"Sengoku, I saw little Roman." 

"He... seems to have given up." 

Just like Zephyr couldn't turn back time and make his students young again, veterans like them, who had been immersed in Haki for a lifetime, had developed a natural resistance to any Devil Fruit abilities. Even Imu's "memory alteration" had no effect on top-tier warriors like Garp and Sengoku. 

Facing Garp's serious expression, Sengoku nodded. 

"This is the right choice. Once the two of them get married, our Marine can use Lord Neo as our backing to clean up this world..." 

"Sengoku!!!" 

Garp's deep voice cut off his old friend's words. "You know that's not what I meant! I don't know what little Roman and Luffy saw in Laugh Tale, but—" 

"Makoto!" 

This time, it was Sengoku who covered Garp's mouth. 

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" 

Garp calmly pushed Sengoku's hand away. 

"You must have noticed too, right? 'That one' is completely focused on little Roman now and doesn't even look at us. If what Roger meant by a 'turning point' is this..." 

"Impossible!" 

Sengoku shook his head firmly. "Even if... that one is completely fixated on Roman now, even if we could... gather enough forces!" 

The moment he said it out loud, even Sengoku felt a cold sweat run down his face. Because this meant openly considering rebellion. But after waiting a while, no "divine punishment" came crashing down. 

"Well, it looks like little Roman is far more charming than I thought... If I'd known, I should've tried seducing her myself..." 

As a former Fleet Admiral, a top warrior who had sent countless legendary pirates to Impel Down, how could Sengoku not know about Imu's existence? How could he not know the truth of history? 

Otherwise, given the kind of men they were, would these old Marines really bow to the Celestial Dragons like dogs? Not a chance! With Garp and Luffy's shared stubbornness, with Zephyr's sense of "justice as a hero," and with Sengoku and Tsuru's wisdom, would they really allow those parasites called the Celestial Dragons to rule this world? The only reason they hadn't acted—was because of Imu. 

Imu's Observation Haki, just like Roman's, had "x-ray vision" and "clairvoyance," making the entire Marine headquarters and the Holy Land constantly under her watch. Anyone who reached Admiral-level strength would immediately catch her attention—and at the same time, they would sense her invincible power! 

That was the only reason why so many righteous Marines had never stormed the Holy Land. And on top of that— 

"Especially in this Holy Land, it's completely impossible!" 

Sengoku crushed Garp's suicidal thoughts. 

"Garp, you know as well as I do. With that 'secret treasure' here, even if every Marine soldier united as one, we still wouldn't have a chance." 

In the Holy Land, Imu was truly unbeatable! 

(End of Chapter)