The mosquito needles rolled like a tide, densely covering all the gaps, eroding Luffy's trembling pupils. Luffy and the others stared with trembling eyes. Goosebumps rose all over their bodies, especially the skin around their necks. It was as if someone was choking their throats, making them unable to breathe.
The dense needle holes were less than a fingertip away from their eyeballs. The bone-chilling needles seemed to have pierced into their eyeballs and pierced through their entire bodies. The straw hats stood stiffly on the spot. They did not even dare to breathe, let alone resist.
Time seemed to have stopped. It was dead silent!
"It's a pity that at the last moment, Dr. Culeja begged to spare your lives." A deep voice broke the silence. Dalaran's reluctant voice entered the ears of the straw hats. He smacked his blood-thirsty lips. "Desperation is the best seasoning for blood. It's rare that I have to taste it for the last time after I've made it. What a difficult situation!"
The tip of the needles trembled and the vacuum blood vessels behind made a hissing sound. It was like a group of hungry snakes anxiously drooling over the delicacies close at hand.
Luffy and the rest felt uncomfortable as if they were being pricked by needles. They felt that behind the scarlet back, the eyes of the monster who called himself the Sixth Apostle were wandering around their bodies. The eyes did not seem to be looking at living people, but choosing the food on the table — the human-shaped blood pot.
"Sigh!"
Amidst the sigh, countless blood vessels retracted back into the bloody mouth. The bloody man closed his long, narrow, and curved mouth. His hollow eye sockets had congealed black blood flowing, as if they were revealing some sort of anthropomorphic, terrifying emotion that made one's hair stand on end.
Usopp and Nami's legs went soft. The courage that they had worked so hard to muster just now disappeared like a flood. They knelt on the ground weakly. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji supported each other. Luckily, they did not sit directly on the ground. Their minds were in a mess. It was the panic and confusion of surviving a disaster.
Choba, who was pinned to the ground by the blood pillars, shrank back to his original size. The blood prison around him shrank as well and continued to pin him to the ground. He looked at the straw hats who were still alive and his mind was blank. "That monster seemed to say that Dr. Culeja asked for Luffy and the rest to be spared?"
How should the word "request" be interpreted correctly?
"I want to see Dr. Culeja!" Choba twisted his body and rubbed against the blood prison, creating a creaking sound. He glanced sideways and could only see Dalaran's body below his knees. Dalaran's feet were moving towards him.
"A talking pet. Actually, what I want to taste the most is the blood in your body. What a pity!" Dalaran placed his palm on the blood prison, and it immediately collapsed into drops of blood that seeped into his skin along the lines of his palm. He then grabbed Choba by the back of his neck and lifted him up like a puppy. Then, he walked towards the collapsed sand wall. "Don't worry, you'll be reunited with Dr. Culeja soon."
"…" Choba looked up at Dalaran's bloodthirsty eyes and shivered. He said, "Luffy, Luffy, they want to …?"
"Hey, where are you taking our ship's doctor?" Luffy moved his tired body and walked towards Dalaran's departing figure.
"If I were you, I wouldn't chase you anymore. Although I promised Dr. Culeja to let you live, it doesn't mean I'll allow you to continue to provoke me recklessly!" Dalaran stopped and turned to glance at Luffy coldly. Then, he lifted Choba up like he was stroking an animal's fur. A devilish smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Come, don't let Dr. Culeja wait for too long. Say goodbye to your companions. I'm afraid you'll never see each other again in this life!"
Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Usopp all held their breaths and looked at the tearful Choba. Choba's entire face was scrunched up. He looked at everyone for a moment and then gritted his teeth. "Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Usopp, thank you all. I've been very happy during this time, but since Dr. Culeja wants me to find her, I can only get off the ship. Luffy, you must lead everyone away from here and continue your dreams on the sea. I believe you'll become the Pirate King one day!"
"Goodbye, everyone!" Choba's eyebrows were scrunched up and tears flowed down his cheeks silently. The sand wall in front of them quickly closed up and completely blocked everyone's sight.
"Choba!" Nami covered her mouth in disbelief. Usopp had already turned into a tearful man. Sanji and Zoro's faces were extremely gloomy and they were silent. Luffy stared at the closed wall. The three-meter-tall bloody man in front of him remained where Dalaran was just standing, blocking Luffy's way. The man's hollow eyes looked down at Luffy and his mouth opened slightly. It was like an uncrossable sea of blood was blocking Straw Hats and the others.
"Luffy, Choba didn't mean what he said!" Usopp cried with snot and tears.
Luffy's body trembled uncontrollably with his back to everyone. The pain of unwillingness and powerlessness seemed to be devouring every inch of his body. He clutched the straw hat on his head and covered his forehead with it. He let out a painful roar from his throat. After a while, he took off the straw hat and looked up at the bloody man's spinning eye sockets. He said word by word, "Let us go!"
"Luffy!" Usopp wanted to say something anxiously but was interrupted by Zoro's hoarse voice. Zoro's voice was as resolute as a knife cutting through his heart. "Luffy is the captain. Since he has made the decision, we have to obey the captain's orders."
"Don't talk about Usopp. Luffy is the one who is in the most pain. He has to sacrifice one of his own crew members to save the others." Nami hugged Usopp, who was crying bitterly, and stared at Luffy's back. Her heart twitched as if she was about to suffocate. This kind of helpless despair made her feel like she had once again returned to the time when she faced the dragon.
That time, Crowe had saved him from the abyss. What about this time? They were facing an enemy ten thousand times more terrifying than the dragon. It was even possible that Crowe's boss, Colonel Yarlin, was hiding behind them. The fear and despair that filled the air was enough to freeze one's soul.
"Choba is only leaving temporarily. We will definitely rescue him later." Sanji clenched his fists, his thick curly golden eyebrows trembling.
The bloody man opened his palm, and a blood-solidified rope appeared from his palm and wrapped around the straw hats. Then, he raised his hand above his head. The winding rope was like a vine that kept growing and climbing to the top. A few human-shaped fruits were attached to the vine, and a whirlpool appeared on the sand supporting it. The straw hats were thrown heavily onto the desert. The bloody rope collapsed and seeped back into the sand. A few drops of blood quietly splashed on the backs of their necks, forming a water-droplet-shaped blood tattoo. It also looked like a creepy vertical eye that stared at the direction in which the straw hats were staggering away …
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