Shimotsuki Yasuie’s words struck Omamori Heisaburo’s heart like a cold hammer, and also clearly reached the ears of Shimotsuki Lumaru, who had just woken up with a brand new soul.
Leaving Wano Country…
This thought had a huge impact on Shimotsuki Lumaru, who had just “woken up.”
One moment he was frustrated about the Pirate King being on hiatus, the next he became the son of a lord, an orphan with a severed arm, fleeing in the world of pirates.
In his mind, fragments of the original body's memories (mainly warm moments about his father, Shimotsuki Ushimaru, and fear and hatred for Orochi and Kaido) intertwined with a massive amount of information from the 21st century.
(Especially the vague plot, characters, and settings of One Piece) wildly intertwined and collided, bringing a violent dizziness and headache.
“Cough, cough… Water…”
He spoke again weakly, his voice extremely hoarse.
This time, Omamori Heisaburo almost tremblingly brought the water bowl to his lips.
Watching the young master swallow in small sips, his eyes showed immense joy at having him back and deep sorrow—for the young master’s severed arm, and for the departed Lord Shimotsuki Ushimaru and many comrades.
Onimaru gently nudged Shimotsuki Lumaru’s intact right hand with his wet nose, letting out a low whimper, both comforting and mourning.
Shimotsuki Yasuie looked at the child who had escaped death, his gaze complex.
He saw the confusion and pain in the child’s eyes, but also caught a glimmer of something different from a child, an unusually calm light.
This child, seemed different somehow?
“Lord Yasui…”
Omamori Heisaburo put down the water bowl, his voice heavy, “Leave… Where can we go? This sea… is Kaido’s territory!”
He was not afraid, but worried about the young master’s safety.
Wano Country’s isolation policy left most samurai ignorant of the outside world, knowing only that it was a terrifying place where “Devil Fruit users ran rampant” and “pirates plundered.”
“Precisely because it’s Kaido’s territory, you must leave even more!”
Shimotsuki Yasuie’s tone was resolute, “Staying in Wano Country, no matter where you hide, Orochi’s minions and Kaido’s Gifters will pursue you like maggots on bone!
Only by completely leaving this sealed sea can there be a glimmer of hope!”
He pointed in the direction of Hiemi’s desolate coastline, “The boat is ready; it’s a small sailboat used by Flower Capital smugglers to transport goods, inconspicuous but sturdy enough.
It has enough fresh water and dry food for half a year, and a simple sea chart.”
He paused, his gaze sharply fixed on Omamori Heisaburo: “Bing Sanlang, your responsibility is no longer to fight, but to live!
Live on with the bloodline of the Shimotsuki family!
Lumaru… is Wano Country’s last hope.”
Omamori Heisaburo’s body trembled as he looked at the young master in his arms, pale-faced, his left arm’s severed wound simply stitched and bandaged.
With a calm gaze, a heavy sense of responsibility overshadowed his sorrow and confusion.
He nodded heavily: “Yes! Lord Yasui!
Omamori Heisaburo swears by the honor of the Omamori family, who have served the Shimotsuki family for generations, that he will protect Young Master Lumaru until his last drop of blood is shed!”
“No need to shed your last drop of blood,”
Shimotsuki Yasuie shook his head, looking at Shimotsuki Lumaru, his tone carrying a hint of imperceptible expectation, “You must live, and carry hope into the future.”
Shimotsuki Lumaru was rapidly calculating in his mind at this moment.
“Go to sea!”
Leaving Wano Country was the only way to survive.
But as Bing Sanlang worried, outside was the territory of the Four Emperors, Kaido—the New World!
Sailing a small sailboat in the monster-infested New World was simply courting death!
He had to find a place to rest and resupply first, preferably somewhere Kaido’s influence was relatively weak or where he was too busy to pay attention.
(Inner monologue: Fish-Man Island? Too far, the boat is too small to go down. Sky Island? No coordinates. The nearest, relatively safe place… Could it be… Punk Hazard? Or closer, those small islands not fully controlled by Kaido? Too little information, a crude sea chart, headache…)
“Companions!”
The loyal but severely injured swordsman retainer Omamori Heisaburo.
Onimaru, with great potential but currently just an ordinary fox.
(Inner monologue: Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Great Monk form… This potential must be tapped! But how to make it eat the fruit? Who knows where the fruit is now!)
And himself, a weak, 9-year-old burden with a severed left arm… A hellish start.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the chaotic thoughts and the intense pain in his body, and spoke in as clear a voice as possible, addressing Shimotsuki Yasuie:
“Lord Yasui… Thank you.”
His voice was still weak, but the calm in it slightly moved Shimotsuki Yasuie.
“When… do we depart?”
“Immediately!” Shimotsuki Yasuie said decisively.
“The pursuers could reach Hiemi at any moment.
Onimaru knows the way to the secret docking point on the coast; it will lead you.
Bing Sanlang, hold Lumaru tight, and follow Onimaru closely!”
There was no time for hesitation or goodbyes.
Omamori Heisaburo carefully picked up Shimotsuki Lumaru, securing him to his broad but scarred back with cloth straps, ensuring his wound wouldn't be jostled.
Onimaru let out a low growl, then turned and agilely darted towards the coast.
Shimotsuki Yasuie stood on the desolate slope, watching the three figures—one big, one small, and one fox—rapidly disappear into Hiemi’s desolate night and mist.
He tightly gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, his eyes resolute and bleak.
He had sent off a spark of hope, and he himself would stay behind, lurking in the darkness, gathering strength, waiting for a dawn that might never come.
“Live, Lumaru… Bing Sanlang… Onimaru…” He murmured to himself, his figure slowly merging into the shadows, as if he had never been there.
Led by Onimaru, they avoided possible patrols and arduously reached a secluded rocky shore in Hiemi.
A small, not-new but seemingly sturdy single-masted sailboat lay quietly in the shallow cove, gently swaying with the waves.
Omamori Heisaburo, carrying Lumaru on his back, waded through the cold seawater to board the boat.
Onimaru lightly leaped onto the deck.
Bing Sanlang quickly checked the rudder, sails, and cabin.
Food, water, a crude sea chart, a worn compass… Shimotsuki Yasuie’s preparations were quite thorough.
Untying the mooring rope and raising the sails.
Under Omamori Heisaburo’s unpracticed handling, they shakily left the coast of Wano Country.
However, Onimaru was ruthlessly left behind in Wano Country by Shimotsuki Lumaru, as if it were an insignificant being.
Lumaru knew very well that in this mysterious country, Onimaru would encounter its own destiny.
Onimaru watched with wide eyes as the boat gradually moved away, eventually disappearing at the edge of the horizon, its heart filled with despair and helplessness.
It didn't understand why Lumaru would leave it alone here; it felt utterly abandoned.
Onimaru’s cries echoed along the coast of Wano Country, a heartbreaking wail, as if its entire world had collapsed at that moment.
Its tears gushed out like a broken dam, unstoppable.
…………
When the outline of that huge island, shrouded in dark clouds and symbolizing pain and darkness, gradually blurred at the edge of their vision.
Omamori Heisaburo couldn’t help but look back, his tiger eyes filled with tears.
That was his homeland, the burial place of the lord he served, and the place where the young master he desperately protected lost his arm.
Shimotsuki Lumaru, lying on Bing Sanlang’s back, also silently looked back.
His feelings were even more complex.
For this country, he had the original body’s hatred and attachment, as well as the transmigrator’s “reader’s perspective” of pity and a strange sense of detachment.
More importantly, he clearly knew that this land’s suffering for the next 19 years had only just begun.
And he, an anomaly who shouldn’t exist, with a damaged body and a soul from another world, had embarked on a completely unknown voyage.
The salty sea breeze ruffled his dark blue short hair, and sharp pains constantly shot through the severed stump of his left arm.
He looked at the boundless, turbulent black sea ahead—that was the “New World,” ruled by the Four Emperors, known for its cruelty and chaos.
But, at least, they were alive.
Hope, like this lonely boat stubbornly moving forward through the raging waves, was tiny, yet it had not been extinguished.
“Bing Sanlang…” Shimotsuki Lumaru spoke softly, his voice faint but clear in the wind and waves.
“Direction… South.”
“Yes, Young Master Lumaru!” Omamori Heisaburo immediately responded, adjusting the sails.
Shimotsuki Lumaru directed based on vague geographical concepts in his mind (the South Blue and East Blue were relatively close to the New World, and were Kuma’s birthplace.
At this time, Kuma had already eaten the Paw-Paw Fruit; he could definitely heal the severed arm, and the timeline matched, which was safer than plunging directly into the depths of the New World) and the crude sea chart.
“Avoid the main shipping lanes… find an island nation, I need to… treat my wound.”
“Understood, Young Master!!”
Omamori Heisaburo executed without hesitation. Although he didn’t understand, he chose to unconditionally trust this young master who showed astonishing calmness in a desperate situation.
The small boat, carrying hope and a heavy future, began its lonely and arduous voyage in the dark, Beast Pirates-controlled waters of the New World.
And Shimotsuki Lumaru’s soul, amidst the intense pain and exhaustion, began to truly consider his path in this cruel yet magnificent world.
The pain of his severed arm constantly reminded him of his predicament, and the reality of going to sea made his “script-reading” advantage seem so pale and powerless in the face of absolute power disparities and temporal displacement.
The path of survival and revenge had only just begun.