Ingredients News Coo; Arriving at Orange Town

Somewhere in the unknown waters of the East Blue, The scorching summer sun blazed down fiercely on the three of them.

Luffy stuck out his tongue, lying limp on the ship's deck.

"So hot, so hungry. Zoro, do you have anything to eat?"

Zoro shot Luffy a disgusted look. "You're the one who said a few days ago that you didn't want to be sent off like a hero, so you insisted on sneaking away without taking any supplies. And now you have the nerve to complain about being hungry."

"A pirate like you is a real freak!"

Luffy was annoyed and tried to straighten up to argue.

Can Yue suddenly looked up at the sky, signaling the two to be quiet.

Above them, a white seagull wearing a hat appeared.

It flew in a straight, unwavering line, slowly approaching the three.

Can Yue made a silencing gesture, and Luffy and Zoro immediately understood.

The three sat as still as solemn buddhas, even holding their breath.

Just as the News Coo was about to drop the newspaper onto the ship, Can Yue instantly drew Demon God Slayer and swung it with a shing.

If any bird had witnessed this scene, it would have been scared out of its wits.

Half an hour later, Luffy gnawed on a grilled bird leg, his cheeks bulging as he asked Can Yue, "Is this really okay? I've never heard of anyone eating a News Coo before."

Can Yue ate the breast meat while reading the newspaper, not responding to Luffy.

Zoro shot Luffy a contemptuous look and reached for another bird leg, but a stretchy hand shot out from the side.

The bird leg was gone! Zoro glared at Luffy with a dark expression.

"I'll cut you! Three Sword Style~~~"

After the commotion, Can Yue gestured for the two to look at the newspaper's bounty posters for the three of them.

After reading the newspaper, Luffy slumped face-down on the small boat, dejected.

"Dammit, I'm the captain, so why is my bounty only half of Can Yue's?"

Zoro naturally didn't care. "The gap in strength is obvious. What do you have to complain about?"

Indeed, after the past few days of Can Yue training the two in Armament Haki, they had a much clearer understanding of his strength.

"But since we all agree Luffy is the captain, then..." Zoro didn't say it outright, but slowly looked at Can Yue.

Can Yue understood Zoro's meaning and replied with a smile, "Don't worry!"

Hearing this, Zoro breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that Can Yue might not accept Luffy as captain due to his superior strength.

If, at some critical moment in the future, Can Yue held an opinion completely opposite to the captain's, the Straw Hat Pirates would be nothing but a name.

But Luffy didn't seem to care about their conversation at all, still drawing circles on the boat, venting his dissatisfaction as the captain with the second-highest bounty.

After sulking for a few minutes, Luffy suddenly sat up and stared seriously at Can Yue.

Zoro sensed trouble and watched Luffy closely, waiting to see what he would do next.

Luffy pointed a finger at Can Yue and said, "I'll definitely work hard to beat enemies and surpass your bounty within a year! So keep training me in Armament Haki."

Zoro let out another breath. If Luffy had started a conflict with Can Yue over the bounty difference, it would have meant he'd chosen the wrong captain.

Can Yue nodded in response. "Get ready to be hit. You too, Zoro."

Great. The breath Zoro had just exhaled was now sucked back in with tension.

Training began.

Luffy: "Iron Head! Ah, that hurts!"

Zoro: "...Steel Chest! Damn!"

As dusk fell, the sea's surface slowly lost its daytime brightness.

Luffy and Zoro had already been knocked out and were snoring loudly.

Can Yue sat nearby like a meditating monk, entering a state of deep thought while training his Haki and pondering.

When they reached the next island, the three would face their first enemy, Clown Buggy.

Though his impression was that this guy was weak, his instincts told him to be highly suspicious of Buggy's strength. This guy was probably not simple.

The next day, in waters about a dozen nautical miles from Orange Town.

Luffy started complaining again. "I'm starving!!! Is there any News Coo today I can eat?"

Just then, a large bird flew overhead.

Before Can Yue could act, Luffy launched a Gum-Gum Rocket straight up.

He ended up stuck solidly in the beak of this bird, which was bigger than the small boat.

It flew straight off into the distance.

Zoro facepalmed, Can Yue speechless.

Can Yue turned to look at Zoro and said, "Chase!"

"Got it!" Zoro rowed the oars with all his might, the small boat speeding along like a jet-powered yacht.

After a while, Zoro was panting heavily. Suddenly, he realized something and glanced sideways at Can Yue, who was sitting steady and composed, asking in confusion.

"Can Yue, why aren't you rowing?"

"This is your training. Now try coating the oars with Armament Haki."

"I... damn it, aargh."

Can Yue felt the sea breeze blowing in from the boat's rapid movement and muttered to himself, "Pretty cool."

Zoro: ...

On the streets of Orange Town.

A vibrant young beauty with short orange hair, wearing a skirt and high-heeled sandals, was being chased by a gang of ruffian pirates.

"You damn woman, hand over the navigation chart!"

"Or Captain Buggy will kill us. Stop right there, don't run!"

Just as the girl was about to be caught by the pirates, with something unspeakable about to happen—

"Ah!!!!!"

With a shout from the sky, comrade Luffy fell straight down from midair, crashing onto Buggy's crew's grunt pirates.

And just like that, Luffy and Nami met.

On the shore of Orange Town, Zoro was gasping for air, looking like he was one step away from dropping dead.

Can Yue acknowledged Zoro's effort but also offered the next suggestion.

"Haki release duration is passable, but only the front third of the oars had Armament Haki. Keep working on it."

Zoro didn't even have the strength to argue, lying flat on the ground questioning his existence.

Just then, a massive flash of light and an explosion erupted from the town center.

The sheer destructive force caused an entire row of buildings in the town to collapse.

"With that much noise, Luffy must be over there!" Zoro said, standing up as his stamina recovered a bit.

"Yeah, go check it out first. I'll catch up." Can Yue planned to look for clues related to Buggy on the island, so he replied like this.

"Alright!" Zoro didn't overthink it and immediately dashed toward the site of the explosion.

After Zoro left, Can Yue began pondering his next direction.

'I'll start by gathering info from the local townsfolk.'

With that thought, Can Yue used his sense of smell to keenly detect that on the west coast of the island, many townsfolk were clustered together living there.

So, the silver-haired handsome man headed toward the residential area on the west coast.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the Grand Line, bounty posters of Can Yue and the other two were appearing one after another.

Though the bounties weren't high yet, in the East Blue—the weakest sea—they still stirred up no small waves.

In a bar on some island in the East Blue, a group was discussing the Straw Hat Pirates.

"They got bounties for killing a Marine Colonel."

"Pretty bold, going directly against the Marines, even if that Morgan was notorious too."

"The place they caused trouble is close to where Clown Buggy lives. Think there'll be some conflict?"

"Haha, if that's the case, it'll be something to watch. Really looking forward to the next newspaper."