Chapter 23: Is This Your Wife’s?

Train.

Chug, chug…

Rushed forward, breaking through the fog.

Racing toward what lay ahead.

At last, it burst out of the mountains and woods, arriving at the outskirts of Jiuzhou City. The train passed by a villa district, where many trees had been toppled and the railway destroyed.

The train could only stop here.

“We’ve finally made it to Jiuzhou City,” Luffy said, stretching his arms high above his head, looking quite lazy.

But just as the train halted, the sudden sound of whistling air exploded all around them.

In an instant, countless vines lashed toward the train.

Screams erupted.

Luffy had not anticipated this at all. Ordinary people, without armor, were impaled on the spot.

Those in battle armor, however, remained unharmed.

In the blink of an eye,

More than half of the ordinary people onboard were dead.

They had thought arriving in Jiuzhou would mean safety, never expecting such a disaster to strike.

Blood streamed out from the train, shattered glass flying everywhere.

Zeng Hongsen wielded his Crimson Flame Sword, hacking desperately at the withered vines, trying to reach the little girl nearby. But in the next moment, another wave of vines stabbed inward.

“No—!” Zeng Hongsen roared in fury.

Yet the little girl was unharmed; Luffy had rescued her and led her off the train.

He entrusted her to Xiaolongnu, then strode toward the oncoming vines.

There stood a towering banyan tree, from which uncountable vines writhed. Its colossal trunk radiated a terrifying presence.

On the trunk, a face emerged, looking utterly pleased.

“The blood of humans is truly sweet—far better than the taste of zombies,” the banyan tree spoke.

“To dare kill before my eyes—you’re the first. I’ll see to it you die a miserable death,” Luffy said, his eyes narrowing at the banyan.

A chime sounded: “Third-tier mutated banyan. The liquid at the crown can heal any wound or poison. A rare treasure.”

“Really? There’s something that valuable?” Luffy’s gaze burned with greed as he looked at the mutated banyan.

“You… humans are truly fearless. To look at me with such eyes—I’ll drain every drop of your blood!” the banyan tree thundered in rage, sending a storm of vines hurtling toward Luffy.

But Luffy’s Cross-Flame Slash severed them in an instant, fire spreading along the cut vines.

“You know how to wield fire?” the banyan gasped, startled. Fire could reduce it to ash; one careless moment and it would be destroyed—no wonder this third-tier tree-spirit dreaded Luffy.

Luffy laughed. “How could I forget that trees fear fire? Didn’t I once burn an entire school’s mutated flora?”

With that, he summoned a barrel of gasoline and doused the banyan. Since it couldn’t run, it would have to burn.

The banyan blocked the gasoline with every vine it could muster, but they were quickly soaked.

Vines covered in gasoline would burn to ash all the same.

“You… you—!”

The banyan tree-spirit lashed out with every vine, attacking Luffy in a frenzy, but it was futile—it couldn’t land a blow.

And the tree-spirit dared not strike Luffy with its gasoline-soaked vines, for one touch of his Cross-Flame Sword would set it ablaze, and then it would be doomed.

The third-tier banyan grew more furious with each failed attack. Where was the human getting all this gasoline? Barrel after barrel, pouring it over—infuriating!

Suddenly, Luffy darted to the side.

With a Cross-Flame Slash, he struck a cluster of gasoline-soaked vines.

The banyan spirit was overwhelmed by anger and despair, unable to think of any way to save itself, not even able to drag Luffy down with it.

Boom!

The banyan’s vines tried to block the fiery slash, but it was useless.

They were severed in an instant.

A spark leapt onto the gasoline-drenched vines, and flames roared skyward.

When Zeng Hongsen and the others rushed up, they saw that the tree-spirit had already been reduced to ashes by their leader.

It was nothing short of astonishing.

Everyone looked at Luffy in awe, jaws agape, utterly astounded.

The banyan spirit writhed in agony, but there was no hope for survival in the inferno; in no time, it was reduced to cinders.

“Boss is incredible—took out the monster in an instant. Pity about all those ordinary people,” Zeng Hongsen said, shaken by the unexpected tragedy.

“As long as you’re still alive,” Luffy replied.

Drawing his Crimson Dragon Sword, he severed the banyan’s crown, found the healing liquid there, and filled a bottle with it.

“What is that, Boss?” Zeng Hongsen asked curiously.

“It’s a treasure,” Luffy said, tucking the bottle away before heading back to the train.

“Let’s bury the dead,” Luffy said helplessly. The tree-spirit’s attack had been too sudden; there had been no time for anything but self-defense.

This was how the apocalypse worked. The weak lived or died at fate’s whim; only by growing ever stronger could one seize control of destiny.

The thirty survivors quickly buried the bodies,

then,

planted nameless wooden markers.

Luffy and his group moved on. The villa district was shrouded in darkness, the dawn still hours away—it was just past four in the morning.

The sky was pitch black along the horizon.

Everyone followed Luffy onward, stopping in front of a villa.

The house was five stories tall—surely there would be no one inside? It seemed a perfect place to rest.

They strode toward it.

“We’ll rest here tonight,” Luffy said, standing before the shadowed house.

“Looks like we can finally sleep in a villa,” Zeng Hongsen said with a grin, already forgetting the horrors just passed—he was never one to dwell.

Luffy led the way, pushing open the outer door and entering. The flowers and grass in the little garden showed no sign of mutation.

Thud, thud…

Orderly footsteps echoed in the quiet neighborhood.

The villa’s inner door was tightly shut,

and made of solid steel.

“Boss, let me handle this.” Zeng Hongsen seized the moment to curry favor, unsheathing his Crimson Flame Sword and bringing it down on the steel door.

A tremendous crash—“Bang!”—and the door split open.

Zeng Hongsen waited at the threshold until Luffy entered, then followed.

Inside, a man sat in the living room, visibly agitated. “Who are you? Why did you—why did you break down my door?” he stammered, nervous.

“You’re the owner of this villa?” Zeng Hongsen glanced at the man, noting his pajamas, disheveled hair, and the scattered undergarments on the floor.

“Yes, but what do you want from me?” the man asked, fear creeping into his voice.

“We just want to borrow your villa for a night,” Zeng Hongsen said, frowning.

“No… no way… Get out!” the man shouted, voice trembling.

Luffy crossed his arms behind his back, glancing at the undergarments on the floor and letting out a cold laugh. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice what’s really going on here? Are these your wife’s?”