"Let's go!"
Kong Tai raised his leg and walked towards Ryoma's corpse. "This corpse can't be left here!"
After a few steps, he stood by Ryoma's corpse, looking down at it. "Ryoma... senpai."
"Is that really Ryoma?"
Kuina walked to Kong Tai's side, also looking down at the ground in surprise. "It really is the legendary Dragon-Slaying Swordsman 'Sword God Ryoma'."
"Mm!"
Kong Tai nodded.
"Wasn't he in Wano Country?"
Kuina then asked curiously, "How did he get here?"
"Dozens of years ago, Moria went to Wano Country and fought Kaido, who was there and is now one of the Four Emperors in the New World, 'Beast Kaido'."
"That guy was that weak, and he could still fight an Emperor?"
Hearing this, Kuina was surprised again.
"After all, he was young once, wasn't he? Haha!!"
Kong Tai laughed heartily and continued, "After Moria was defeated, he went to steal Ryoma's corpse and 'Shusui', then brought them here, and took Brook's shadow to create this zombie."
"Oh..."
Kuina nodded. "This guy must have had his spirit crushed by Kaido, which is why he turned his attention to zombies!"
"Mm! You could say that."
"Let's find a place to bury this corpse! After all, he was a senpai. As for Shusui..."
Raising his sword, Kong Tai fell into deep thought.
He thought of Zoro.
Master Koushirou would not treat him unfairly; as soon as Zoro set sail, his master would surely give him a good sword.
Perhaps it would be a sword like his 'Zankon', which, while not as powerful as 'Wado Ichimonji' or 'Shusui', would not be inferior to any renowned blade.
That guy uses three swords; with his strength, ordinary swords might not be able to withstand it, especially now with much greater power than in the original story.
"Should I leave it for him?"
He believed Zoro would definitely come to the Grand Line, perhaps even before two years passed.
Well...
It was also possible that this guy was someone who could get lost at any moment if not watched. Without Sanji, he probably wouldn't have survived in the East Blue.
Although his strength was formidable, on his own, he certainly wouldn't be able to reach the Grand Line.
"Forget it, I won't think about it anymore."
Kong Tai lowered his hand, put Shusui into his dimensional bag, and decided that if he heard news of Zoro later, he would send it to him.
With his speed, it wouldn't take long to return.
He now had two swords in his dimensional bag: one was Shusui, which he had just stored, and the other was dropped by the CP9 officer he killed a few days ago.
What was that guy's name again?
He had forgotten.
But he hadn't forgotten the sword he carried.
This sword was the second weapon he had encountered that had eaten a Devil Fruit.
The previous one was now Aru's 'Meikyu', and its power even surprised him.
However, this sword, which had eaten the 'Elephant-Elephant Fruit', didn't feel particularly strong to him.
This sword was originally an ordinary sword. Although it could transform into an elephant, its sharpness and toughness were inferior to Zankon, let alone Wado Ichimonji.
So, afterward, he tested it and casually threw it into his dimensional bag, thinking he could study it later if he had time.
To see how objects could eat Devil Fruits.
With so many Devil Fruits in his possession now, if objects could eat them, wouldn't he become like a "wandering god"?
He found the thought quite exciting.
However, most fruits would be useless if eaten by objects.
Because objects couldn't develop Devil Fruit powers, giving them to them would be a waste.
Only functional fruits like the 'Door-Door Fruit' could be eaten by objects.
Then, he could create spatial doors for his companions. If he had to leave, no one would be able to harm them.
Ah, and the 'Time-Time Fruit', that was a god-tier fruit!
If an object ate it, it could absorb the time of pirates.
Time stop, time acceleration, time reversal...
Although not as powerful as when eaten by a human, all of these were life-saving abilities that might come in handy at some point.
Thinking about it now, Cartel's guy was really overconfident.
With such a powerful ability, he didn't prepare beforehand. Had he forgotten after decades of not fighting?
Or did he truly believe he was invincible?
He mocked Cartel in his mind before shaking his head. Kong Tai's gaze returned to Ryoma's corpse.
"Ryoma senpai, although you surely wanted to return to Wano Country, your body is here now. So, this junior can only bury you here. As for Shusui, I will find it a master who cherishes it later, so please rest assured!"
As his voice faded, Kong Tai's thoughts moved, and the ground around Ryoma's corpse rumbled as four walls rose up, enclosing Ryoma's body like a coffin.
After all, he was a senpai, and Kong Tai had taken his sword. Even if he didn't use it himself, he would give it to Zoro later!
Therefore, he had to acknowledge this debt.
He didn't bury him carelessly like others but gave Ryoma's corpse a coffin.
His eyes narrowed, and a crack suddenly opened in the ground beneath the stone coffin, like the gates of hell, instantly swallowing the coffin.
Boom—!
The crack closed.
Then, the surrounding soil flowed like water, pouring into the center and piling up where the coffin had disappeared, gradually forming a grave.
A stone slab rose from in front of the grave. A gentle breeze blew, carrying fine sand, and characters gradually appeared on the stone slab.
"Grave of Sword God Ryoma."
Kong Tai looked at the grave in front of him and nodded with satisfaction.
He had to admit, he was becoming more and more proficient at this.
Kuina and Brook stood beside Kong Tai, having witnessed the entire process. They both looked at Kong Tai with strange expressions.
"What are you looking at me for?"
Kong Tai glanced curiously at Kuina and Brook.
"Hehehe!!"
Kuina withdrew her gaze, pursed her lips, and smiled slightly. "Nothing?"
"Yohohoho~"
Brook laughed heartily. "Mr. Kong Tai, this, this, this ability is really convenient, isn't it? Yohohoho~"
He didn't know how else to describe Kong Tai's ability, so he could only call it convenient.
"Haha!! It is indeed very convenient."
Kong Tai clapped his hands, picked up the wine gourd from his waist, pried open the stopper with his thumb, extended his hand, and tilted the gourd downwards.
Clear, bright wine flowed like a silver thread, slowly falling to the ground.
"Rest in peace, Ryoma senpai."
He then bowed, straightened his body, withdrew his hand, and raised the wine gourd.
Gulp, gulp, gulp!!
He took several large swigs.
Then, he let out a breath of wine, hung the gourd back on his waist, turned around, glanced at Ah Hua and the other two who were still fighting, curved the corners of his mouth, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Let's go! Let's go back first, rest a bit, have a full meal, and then set off."
"This cursed place is really uncomfortable to stay in."
"Yohohoho~ Eating? Mr. Kong Tai, please allow me to eat a lot. Don't be fooled by my skeleton, I still need to eat."
Brook laughed heartily and followed.
"Oh... so you still need to poop then!"
"Kong Tai, don't you think these questions are inappropriate?"
Kuina took Kong Tai's hand and looked at him with a smile.
"Yohohoho~ Although my body is different from others, I actually eat and excrete like ordinary humans!"
"Haha!!"
On the way, they reunited with Robin and Indigo and headed towards the Thousand Sunny.
As for Ah Hua and the other two, Kong Tai stopped them on his way back.
After all, they still needed someone to cook for them, didn't they?
Even though he had been utterly embarrassed in front of everyone today, the meal still had to be made.