With a "squeak", Trafalgar Law pushed open the door of the operating room, carrying with him the pungent smell of disinfectant. As he walked, he took off the plastic gloves wrapping his hands. The sweat on his forehead was clearly visible, and his indifferent face could not hide his tired look.
Eric, who was standing outside the operating room, handed over a white towel: "Thank you for your hard work."
Taking the towel to wipe his hands and sweat, Luo shook his head.
Marco advised in the operating room: "Dad, you just finished the operation, don't get up and move right away!"
"The attending doctor is leaving. I don't want to owe such a huge debt without even saying a word of thanks!" Whitebeard's voice came from the operating room, and there was a sound of clanging and falling objects. , the door of the operating room was pushed open again.
White Beard's bare chest was covered with a white medical bandage, and there were many infusion tubes connected to his body. Because White Beard was more than six meters tall, the doctors following him had to hold up the IVs in their hands. shelf.
Luo spoke in an emotionless tone: "As a doctor, I suggest you take a good rest these days, do not exercise casually, and do not drink alcohol."
"Gula la la..." Whitebeard laughed, "After the operation, my body has felt more relaxed than ever in the past few years. I really want to thank you, Trafalgar Law, right? ?”
"No, you should thank our captain." Luo replied coldly: "I don't understand why Captain Eric wants to treat Whitebeard, who is an enemy."
"It's so sad that the strongest man in the world was defeated by the passage of time." Eric clenched his fists: "I want to rely on my own strength to defeat him with my own hands!"
"Gu la la la... How dare you say that, little thunder and lightning kid." The corners of Whitebeard's mouth raised, revealing his big white teeth: "If you want to beat me, you are a hundred years too early!"
The rubber tube on Whitebeard's body swayed back and forth amidst his laughter, and the liquid in the bottle spit out a few bubbles from time to time.
"Nothing else, we're leaving now."
"Wait a minute." Marco called to the two of them and called the members of the Whitebeard Pirates to carry out some treasure boxes. "No amount of treasures can be worth the kindness of curing dad's chronic illness, but please accept it." These."
"...I know." Taking away the treasure, Eric had no intention of staying.
Marco, who loves parties, asked in surprise: "Aren't you going to stay and have a party together?!"
Eric choked angrily: "Are you still having a party? Is it because Whitebeard drank too little wine and died quickly enough?"
"Even if there is no party, I will still drink!" Whitebeard curled his lips and said, "Leave me a few bottles of the good wine you drank last time!"
"You're dreaming!"
◇
Kakuzu's bond level has reached 4 and can be used for the next summons, but Eric has trouble choosing and doesn't know which devil fruit to choose as the summoning medium.
'Kakuzu becomes a Shichibukai and needs another partner to act with him. This character is male and cannot be weaker than Kakuzu, otherwise he may die in Kakuzu's own hands...' (with Kakuzu) Except for Hidan, everyone in the group seems to have died at Kakuzu's hands)
Eric finally made a decision based on this criterion.
Kakuzu stood outside the summoning formation, and a dull voice came from under the mask: "The next person you recognize is the partner who will act with me?"
"That's right."
"Eh?" Deidara was a little unhappy: "Boss Eric, Brother Kakuzu and I are old acquaintances. Wouldn't it be more appropriate for him and I to team up together?"
Kakuzu objected: "You're too noisy."
Deidara said angrily: "Hidan is noisier than me!"
"If Hidan wasn't immortal, he would have died in my hands long ago."
"Others know that you are my subordinate, how can I let you and Kakuzu act together." After Eric finished speaking, he put the phantom beast devil fruit obtained by completing the system mission into the blood summoning array, and muttered:
"You who were born in nothingness and dissipated in contentment, responded to my call and obeyed the contract of blood——"
"Show yourself, guardian of the scales!"
As the summoning words were finished, the lines drawn by the blood emitted a faint emerald green fluorescence, and the black whirlwind filled everyone's field of vision, covering the surrounding scenery with a strange color of green and black.
Kakuzu asked in a low voice: "Blood contract?"
"It's the boss's chuunibyou." Deidara shrugged: "Anyway, I've never heard the same summoning word before. He just chants whatever comes to his mind."
Kakuzu: "..."
The quiet conversation between the two men made several women around them roll their eyes.
The whirlwind dissipated, and the rolled leaves and dust fell together. In the center of the summoning array, stood a slender man——
He has short black hair, pale skin, green vertical pupils, two dark green facial lines similar to tear stains on his face, and a white horned helmet-like mask covering the left half of his head.
The black hole in his collarbone attracted everyone's attention.
Deidara whispered: "Isn't this guy a dead man?"
Eric complained: "Are you different?"
[Name: Ulquiorra Cifer]
[Physique: Nine Stars]
[Physical Skills: Eight Stars]
[Swordsmanship: Eight and a Half Stars]
[Armed color domineering: 0]
[Seeing and hearing domineering: six stars]
[Devil Fruit: Seven Stars]
[Bond level: 1 (ordinary friend)]
[Skills: Black Void Flash, Thunder Spear, Moonlight Sword, Super Speed Regeneration, Shared Vision, Ring Spin, Detect Nerve, Void Bullet, Steel Skin]
[Comprehensive strength: eight and a half stars]
[Note: Born in a cave of nothingness, he has been associated with the boundless darkness since his birth. All the companions around him have black bodies, but he has pure white skin, and only has eyes and no mouth and nose. Under the exclusion of his companions, Leaving the cave alone, walking to the end of the world, and being swallowed by loneliness——】
The man faced Eric, and before Eric could speak, Ulquiorra put his right hand in front of his abdomen, his left hand behind his waist, and bowed: "Sir Eric."
[Ulquiorra Cifer's favorability increases, but the bond level remains unchanged]
Eric scratched his cheek, "Tell me about yourself?"
"Yes." Ulquiorra maintained a cold expression and stretched out his right hand——
"Pfft" he dug out his left eye.
"Hey!" Although Kakuzu had seen the behavior of ripping out other people's hearts, he had never seen a ruthless person who would harm himself as soon as he got up, which shocked everyone.
Ulquiorra held the eyeball with his right hand and crushed it hard. The broken eyeball turned into countless crystal thin lights and floated around everyone.
"W-What is this..." Miku immediately hid in Eric's arms.
Eric covered Mijiu's eyes and comforted softly: "Close your eyes and breathe gently."
The tiny, radiant particles were inhaled into everyone's nostrils, and everyone in the room learned about Ulquiorra's past in the blink of an eye.
Although this skill is very useful, it is not user-friendly enough for normal people.
I really hope you try not to do this next time.
"Um..." Wendy jogged to Ulquiorra's side and asked in a low voice: "Does it hurt? I'll help you heal the wound..."
Ulquiorra, who closed his left eye, lowered his head and looked directly into Wendy's eyes with his emotionless right eye. After a moment of silence, he said, "No, this little injury will heal soon."
After saying that, Ulquiorra opened his closed left eye, and the eyeball in his left eye socket had returned to its original state.
"Yeah, really." Wendy said embarrassedly, "It's me who's troublesome..."
"No, thank you." The words came out of Ulquiorra's mouth without any color.
This was the first time in Ulquiorra's life that he was grateful. Since he was ostracized by his companions and left the cave alone, he has been alone from beginning to end. The hollow parts of his body seem to represent the loneliness deep in his heart.
Wendy was stunned for a moment and replied happily: "You're welcome."
Human beings' sorrows and joys are not the same, but the transmission of language can connect the emotions between people, especially the expressions on their faces.
Ulquiorra thought: 'What does this feel like...? '
In Hueco Mundo, which was forgotten by the world, there was a meaningless battle. Ulquiorra stepped on countless corpses of the same kind and stepped into the endless desert. Wherever his eyes could see, there was nothingness.
Human beings degenerated into nothingness due to strong resentment, and then evolved through devouring. Only those individuals with strong self-awareness can maintain themselves in the endless assimilation.
If there is no meaning of existence, life will come to an end.
The newborn Ulquiorra had neither past nor future, only the instinct of survival driving him forward until he found the [meaning] of his existence.
The confused life found its final destination in wandering. In a strange white forest, he decided to bury himself in nothingness.
Looking at Wendy's smiling face, this smile was too dazzling for Ulquiorra, who desperately longed for the "meaning" of existence and longed to know what the "heart" was.
'Can I get a heart too? With this question, Ulquiorra spoke: "Sir Eric, please forgive me for having an immature question."
Ulquiorra bowed and asked, eager for an answer: "Heart - what exactly is it?"
"..." Everyone who knew about Ulquiorra's past fell silent.
"Money, money can fill your empty heart." As his future partner, Kakuzu replied with a sneer: "You actually want to trouble yourself with such a problem?"
Turning to Eric, he said: "Boss, you actually let such a guy be my partner? He won't live for a few days."
"No, you should be no match for him."
"What?!" Angry, he half-squinted his eyes and stared at Ulquiorra: "How could I not defeat a guy who doesn't even understand the meaning of his own existence!"
Ulquiorra ignored Kakuzu's provocation and looked directly at Eric who was deep in thought with his green vertical pupils.
Eric closed his eyes and fell into thinking. After a long time, he finally answered: "I don't know either."
"..." Ulquiorra's eyes widened. Even the master who could resurrect him didn't know what [Heart] was?
"Any answer I give you will become an obstacle on your way to understanding [the heart]. If there are a thousand people, there will be a thousand different answers."
Eric pointed at Kakuzu and said, "His [heart] is money."
Kakuzu crossed his arms and snorted: "Hmph."
Pointing at Deidara again, "Explosion Art."
Deidara nodded complacently: "Yeah."
Pointing at Wendy, "The Dawn Pirates, the bond of family."
Wendy smiled shyly.
"In the end, you need to find the answer in philosophy. You might as well find it slowly in the future. On the way to pursue the answer, you can gradually understand what [mind] is."
[Ulquiorra's favorability increases, bond level 1 (ordinary friend) rises to 2, and 1 bond point is obtained]
"Really?" Ulquiorra was not discouraged when he didn't get any answer.
In the past, he had been walking alone. He had no companions who could teach him what the heart was. He kept moving forward based on his own instinct, and finally reached the end of his life.
So now, with his companions, he should be able to get the answers he wants in the future, right?
"Hey." Kakuzu's words interrupted Ulquiorra's thinking, "The boss said that the two of us will form a team in the future. Before forming a team, we must first understand the strength and ability of our partners. Is this request not too much? "
"Stop, you are no match for me." Ulquiorra's voice was emotionless.
"Really..." Kakuzu's right arm was trembling: "I wonder if there will be an extra black hole in your heart."
With his hands in the pockets on both sides of his pants, Ulquiorra turned to face Kakuzu without drawing out the weapon at his waist.
"Since you insist on fighting, I will reluctantly become your opponent."
"Earth Release·Earth Spear!" With the extremely fast fist seal, the sutures at Kakuzu's wrist were quickly opened, turning into a jet-black right hand, which was connected by dense black lines and shot out, heading straight for Ur Kiora's chest and away.
Scathach frowned: "This guy, as soon as he takes action, he goes towards the opponent's fatal wound?"
Esdeath expressed a different view, "He naturally wants to entrust his back to a trusted companion."
"clang!"
Taking out his left hand from his pants pocket, Ulquiorra blocked the direct fist with one hand.
"Huh?" Deidara said in surprise: "This guy is not weak. He can actually block Brother Kakuzu's tentacle punch in his earth spear state with his bare hands."
"..." Kakuzu, who was easily knocked away from the attack, used the connected black thread to quickly retract his right wrist that flew out.
"Your body is very hard..." Kakuzu began to pay attention to his future partner, "I don't know if you can withstand the temperature of the flames."
"Fire Release: Head Hard!" The mask on Kakuzu's right shoulder was pulled out by the connection of the tentacles. The red-painted mask opened its mouth, and a sea of flames surged toward Ulquiorra.
"..." Ulquiorra pulled out the Zanpakuto from his waist in silence. The sword energy shining with emerald green light split the raging sea of fire into two, and the scorching waves of fire shot towards the person behind Ulquiorra. It attacked from two directions, burning all the trees on the path.
"It seems that if I don't defeat you, you will not team up with me." Ulquiorra slowly raised the Zanpakutō in his hand: "Block it, Black Winged Demon!"
The green spiritual pressure condensed into liquid and fell like a heavy rain.
Miku screamed: "W-what is this?"
When everything returned to calm, Ulquiorra appeared in front of everyone with dark wings.
