# 1710
Chapter 1710
The broken tree trunk gradually healed, engulfing Lin Qiye's form. His eyes slowly closed, and he resembled a stone statue, hidden in the darkness.
At the same time, the severely injured Kusuen, having regained consciousness, had dense willow branches flying through the air. He was about to move the roots deeply embedded in the ground forward, but his form suddenly froze in place.
Because before him, a man appeared—a man who seemed somewhat familiar, but whom he couldn't recall for the moment.
The man looked at him, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and spoke gently:
"How is it? Did you reach the end of the Grand Line and find my treasure?"
Kusuen's flying willow branches suddenly froze in mid-air. He stared blankly at the man, and in that instant, a buried past surged into his heart!...
It was him!
The Pirate King, Zhang San!!
Didn't he come all the way from beyond the domain just to find the legendary treasure left behind by the Pirate King, Zhang San?! Now, the man himself had actually appeared here?!
As this memory grew clearer, an invisible thread of karma lit up along the veins of Kusuen's trunk, beginning to bind his form.
But soon, a powerful force surged from within the trunk, seemingly instinctively trying to break free from this karmic thread. The face of the Pirate King Zhang San also began to blur.
Just as Kusuen was about to break free, a second man walked out from the void.
"Lao Ku, I want to eat fish."
The moment this voice appeared, another wave of buried memory surged into Kusuen's heart. He looked at the man with the slicked-back hair, feeling overwhelmed with mixed emotions.
"Brother Zhang..." The pale face among Kusuen's tree crown let out a sharp, distorted growl.
"Do you still remember Xia Yuhe at Daming Lake?" A third figure emerged from the void, a gentle voice reverberating through Kusuen's mind.
The third layer of buried memory unlocked, overlapping with the previous two, causing Kusuen's consciousness to frantically shuttle between illusion and illusion. Each fragment of the past felt so genuine, yet something about them seemed fundamentally wrong...
"Lao Ku, isn't 322 upstairs where the Ma family lives?"
"..."
"Secretary General, you should learn foreign languages. I want to learn them too, having more skills is better..."
"..."
"Lao Ku, I want to play basketball."
"..."
"Everyone tonight, all expenses are on Young Master Ku!"
"..."
"You're quite the charmer."
"..."
More and more figures stepped out from the void. They all seemed to share the same face, yet each was a different person... As they appeared, dense threads of karma lit up across Kusuen's surface, like a massive cocoon of interweaving strands, trapping him within!
The countless willow branches froze completely, the flowing and shimmering mist gradually dissipated, and the enormous shadow of the willow tree became like a stone statue, rigid in place.
Huo Qubing witnessed this scene and finally let go of the breath he'd been holding, his heart settling.
Once the taut string relaxed, Huo Qubing's consciousness began to blur. His body went limp and he collapsed into a pool of blood.
Chloe gasped at the sight and rushed forward to support him, but when her hand touched his chest, she felt only a fragment of a crimson heart.
"You..." Chloe froze.
She had thought he wasn't badly hurt since he'd been standing just moments ago... But now it was clear—besides his heart, he had at least four or five other fatal wounds. That he'd managed to stand at all was a miracle!
Huo Qubing's face was deathly pale as his gaze slowly swept across his surroundings. His voice emerged as barely a whisper, trembling as he asked:
"Did Hu Jia make it?"
"No..." Chloe shook her head, her voice tight.
"After Lin Qiye and I destroyed the star fragments in the sky, we sensed the explosion from here and used the oath teleportation to reach this place. Wu Quan and the others must still be in the carriage below."
Huo Qubing fell silent, his gaze settling on the direction where Lin Qiye and Kusuen had been. His blood-soaked hand trembled as it curled into a fist.
"Marquis!"
A familiar voice rang out from the distance. Zhan Yuwu and Yan Zhong, drenched in mucus, stumbled across the fractured earth toward him.
"Marquis, are you alright?!" Zhan Yuwu called out urgently. Once close enough, his eyes fell upon the massive pool of blood and his pupils contracted sharply.
"...Take me to find Hu Jia."
"What?"
"Take me to find Hu Jia!" Huo Qubing gritted his teeth, his grip tightening around a white chess piece now stained crimson with his own blood.
Yan Zhong and Zhan Yuwu stood motionless, exchanging uncertain glances.
It was Yan Zhong who finally broke the silence. "Marquis, there's... one other option."