Chapter 145: Cavendish

Because of the extra detour, Qiu Bai and Monet returned much later than planned. Just as everyone was beginning to suspect that Qiu Bai had gotten himself into trouble again, they saw the two of them carrying a huge snowball back onto the ship...

When the snowball finally melted, revealing the person trapped inside, well, everyone’s first reaction was the same: Qiu Bai must have lost his mind again.

“Qiu Bai, what’s going on here?” Luo asked.

Was this an abduction? Had Qiu Bai been poisoned by Doflamingo’s influence? As a former officer of the Donquixote crew, had he finally fallen into the dark path of human trafficking?

The continuous cold had put the person inside the snowball into a dormant state. During this peaceful slumber, the sleepwalker had already switched personalities—he transformed from “Hakuba” back to Cavendish. Now he was merely in his “normal” state, nothing like the bizarre persona he had just displayed.

“Judging by your reactions, why do I feel like I did something wrong again?” Qiu Bai said with some exasperation. This time, it was rare for him to have a good deed under his belt... though the other party had volunteered for it. “I told you not to be deceived by appearances. This guy is an indiscriminate killer, commonly known as the ‘Rommel’s Scythe.’”

Fortunately, fourteen-year-old Cavendish was only Rommel’s Scythe. If he had been “Rommel’s U*ba Scythe,” Qiu Bai would have been in serious trouble.

But even with Qiu Bai’s explanation, doubts lingered. No one really saw him as the type to “punish evildoers and protect the innocent.”

Monet’s actions were more convincing... She had gone into the cabin and somehow produced an iron chain, then returned to the deck and tightly bound Cavendish, wrapping him up like a rice dumpling.

This finally made everyone realize that the boy was indeed dangerous.

“Compared to earlier, he’s downright adorable now,” Monet remarked, though whether she truly meant it was another matter.

For some reason, Qiu Bai had a peculiar feeling that Monet was more interested in the exaggerated face Cavendish had made during his secondary personality state.

But indeed... the two personalities were like night and day—one a murderous maniac, the other a narcissist. Cavendish was a person walking two extremes simultaneously.

“So, what’s your purpose in bringing this person back?” Ain asked, knowing that although Qiu Bai had some odd habits, he wouldn’t just knock someone out and bring them on board for mere display.

“That’s not to be revealed yet. You’ll find out soon enough. The real question now is how long the ship repairs will take. We can’t stay here any longer.”

After being bound, Cavendish was left to rest temporarily.

“The ship’s load-bearing structure wasn’t damaged. We only need to replace some planks, and after accelerating the work, we can leave this island by tomorrow,” the crew reported.

Qiu Bai thought for a moment and said, “That’s best. We need to return to the first half of the Grand Line as soon as possible.”

Normally, repairing a ship this quickly would be impossible, but with enough money, any obstacle could be overcome—whether by cutting in line or working overtime. After all, the funds left on the ship by Doflamingo were at their disposal.

...

The term “Rommel’s Scythe” had been around for a long time. Cavendish’s alternate personality had started manifesting when he was very young, but it wasn’t until years later, as he grew older and stronger, that his indiscriminate killings could no longer be concealed.

He came from Rommel’s nobility, so his youthful misdeeds were covered up until his true identity was fully exposed.

Regardless of noble or commoner, this matter had nothing to do with Qiu Bai, who cared little for such distinctions.

For the people of this country, having Cavendish taken away was probably a good thing, even if that was only a side effect of Qiu Bai’s actions, not his intent.

Cavendish was temporarily confined in a certain cabin on the ship, specially reinforced because it had once held a Navy admiral—a sturdy prison within the vessel.

Groggily, Cavendish felt he had slept quite uncomfortably, his whole body aching. Before he opened his eyes, voices drifted into his ears.

Two unfamiliar male voices.

“Do you think it’s possible to separate multiple personalities?” Qiu Bai asked Luo, his tone purely clinical, as if conducting medical research. He vaguely recalled that in the future, Luo would be able to use his Operation Fruit ability to easily swap souls between people.

Though that was the future Luo, he was at least an expert in certain matters, even if the present Luo was not on Qiu Bai’s level.

Luo thought for a moment before answering, “If the Operation Fruit really has the soul-swapping ability you mentioned, then personality separation, I don’t think that’s possible. Whether it’s dissociative identity disorder or multiple personalities, it’s ultimately just different manifestations of the same soul. So if you transfer the soul, all personalities would transfer together.”

“Is that so?” Qiu Bai had anticipated this result. “What a pity.”

Luo glanced at Qiu Bai, then asked, “So what do you intend to do with that inner personality called Hakuba once you separate it?”

“White Horse” Cavendish—without his white horse, is he still Cavendish?

“Well... it’s like splitting a company before listing it—good for control and appreciation,” Qiu Bai gave an explanation no one could understand.

“Or... for medical experimentation, maybe we should dissect him first? Who knows, it might work,” he half-joked, already aware that Cavendish had awakened.

Probably no one could remain calm and eavesdrop patiently after hearing two sneaky guys plotting to dissect them.

“Who are you people? Why have you captured me? Let me go!” Cavendish demanded.

“Oh, Lord Cavendish, you’re awake? Good morning,” someone outside said. Qiu Bai wasn’t sure what time it was, but it was definitely no longer morning.

“Sorry, this all started because you attacked us last night. So although we’re holding you without authorization, it’s self-defense...” This explanation was somewhat absurd; what law could justify such a degree of self-defense?

“It seems you’re uncomfortable being tied up like this... I apologize for my subordinate’s behavior; she’s recently developed some strange tendencies.”

Cavendish was currently bound with his limbs tangled tightly together, a sight somewhat grotesque—and the one responsible was none other than Monet. Qiu Bai suspected she was embracing a sadistic streak.

“Your family is looking for you, but for various reasons, we can’t release you yet. So please come with us for now...”

At that moment, the ship shuddered slightly.

“We’re setting sail,” Luo said from the side.

The Miss Love Daku had begun to leave Rommel’s harbor.

“Wait, where are you taking me?” Cavendish panicked upon hearing the words “setting sail,” still too young to handle the sudden change.

“Well...” Qiu Bai put on a friendly smile and said, “Guess.”