One Piece: Mandala Swordsman

Chapter 14 Departure

Although she knew that plans could never keep up with changes, Garrett deeply hated the random variables that would appear.

It was another tea party for middle-aged women, with a full house, flowers and gold dust everywhere. The women were dressed elegantly and fashionably, with beautiful postures, while the men wore suits and top hats and behaved like gentlemen. Plates of freshly baked pastries were quickly brought to the table by the Homies.

Under the watchful eyes of the older women, people, though on edge, chatted and laughed freely. The air was filled with a sweet aroma, and the rising steam seemed to warm people's stomachs.

In short, everything seems fine, if the old woman doesn't go crazy. But all of this has nothing to do with Garrett; her current extreme distress isn't just because her plans have been disrupted.

The biggest reason is that she is dying.

She is now hiding under a moored ship, with the people she is trying to escape on board.

She left the children's room under the pretext of needing to check the cargo at the port.

Although she is not yet an adult, even a child can do small things for the family, and checking some gifts happens to fall into the category of small things.

Meanwhile, Garrett took the opportunity to slip onto a transport ship that was about to leave after an old ladies' tea party.

The cargo hold of the transport ship was mostly filled with miscellaneous goods. Because of the hasty arrival, useful and useless items were piled up in a long-unused storage room. Although, in Garrett's eyes, the contents weren't entirely useless, compared to the ostentatious decor of the ship, the cargo was negligible. No wonder it wasn't taken seriously. However, this was a boon for Garrett; not only did she not have to worry about being discovered, but with luck, she might even find food. Even without food, as long as there was some water, she could survive.

But as soon as Galette had concealed herself, her Observation Haki detected someone approaching from a distance.

Seriously? My luck is that bad?

The other person's footsteps seemed to be heading towards the ship.

Left with no other choice, Garrett jumped out of the window into the sea. Although she could hide on the boat, once discovered, she would have nowhere to escape.

The visitors were Dafu and Owen.

"Is it necessary to check? Isn't Katakuri being too suspicious?" Daifuku said lazily.

It's pouring rain right now, and for Devil Fruit users, this kind of weather can be quite irritating.

The raindrops kept hitting my body, which was very uncomfortable.

"Well, since Katakuri said so, let's check it out. But next time, let's hand over these trivial tasks to our younger siblings," Oven said as he walked away.

Although they have a deep bond with Katakuri as brothers, there's one thing they just can't understand: why make them, as representatives of strength, do such a small thing when a young child could do it?

Although they don't say it out loud and readily agree, they still have small complaints.

As Katakuri's twin brothers, their feelings for Katakuri are not tainted by any special aura, but stem from a pure brotherhood forged through over a decade of fighting side by side.

But we still have to complain about what needs to be complained about.

Anyway, it's just the two of them now.

What Daifuku and Owen didn't know was that in Katakuri's plan, if they really encountered an enemy, it wouldn't be a problem that his younger siblings could solve. He would only assign tasks to people he deemed strong enough.

Of course, they won't realize this feeling for the time being.

After all, compared to Katakuri and Perospero, they were indeed reckless brutes, and given Big Mom's reputation, neither of them believed that anyone would dare to break in at this time.

Indeed, no one dared to break in, but some dared to run away.

As the representative of Charlotte's family's fighting strength, even if she is not a Sweet Commander, she has come through mountains of corpses and bloodshed. Galette has no doubt about the use of Armament Haki and Observation Haki.

Although she was indeed quite good at using Observation Haki, Galette did not want to challenge their Observation Haki level at this time.

As ability users, the seawater is a forbidden zone for the two of them, so diving into the sea is the best option.

However, this caused Garrett to suffer greatly.

She was about to suffocate.

Although Garette, who was lurking under the ship, didn't need to go deep into the sea, her lungs seemed to be about to give out.

Even so, she couldn't let her head surface. Dafu and Owen were definitely not ordinary people. If she were discovered, how would she explain herself?

No, the explanation isn't the key. If we miss this opportunity, we'll have to wait for the next one, which means we'll have to start all over again.

However, the lack of air began to make Garrett feel dizzy and have tinnitus.

It was like a knife constantly cutting into her flesh; the pain caused her agony, but it kept her from losing consciousness.

My vision started to blur; my eyes must be bloodshot by now.

I don't want to move at all, but once I start moving, I can't control my breathing.

"Gurgle, gurgle."

Garrett was screaming in silent agony. This pain was not physical; it was not caused by external forces ravaging her body, but by her own actions.

If only I had a knife, I could cut myself and maybe that would lessen the pain of suffocation.

The proverb "drinking poison to quench thirst" finally makes sense. When pain strikes, it can erode all a person's willpower. Even if it means having another kind of pain to cover up the original pain, the body will feel a little better.

I am a sinner, I am deep-sea garbage, I am a poisonous insect on the surface, am I about to die?

Every second, Garrett felt like she was pushing her body to its limits; her chest was being squeezed to an indescribable degree.

If there were even the slightest mishap, her body would automatically break down, ultimately leading to her death.

What she found even more unbearable was that she could immediately escape this inexplicable pain as soon as she stopped enduring it.

"It seems there's nothing wrong. I've looked it over from all angles." Dafu stretched, feeling like he should be enjoying tea and snacks with his brothers, but instead he was called over to do this boring thing.

"Let's go to the next place then." Owen casually glanced around, his steps already quickening.

Dafu also sidestepped and leaped off the boat, ignoring a small wave that rose up beside the boat as the two turned around.

Ah, I'm saved! Damn it, I almost died.

She no longer needed to look in the mirror; the ripples on the water revealed her bluish-purple face, and her lips were bleeding from being bitten.

We should be thankful that it wasn't Katakuri who came; otherwise, given his Observation Haki, if he had seen Galette from the future surface, he certainly wouldn't have left.

Since God is on my side this time, my free time is coming.

After glancing once more at the luxurious yet dark kingdom, Galette quickly looked away and gazed towards the future.