Taming the Lion, Defeating the Enemy with Bare Hands

"Roman~~"

"Let me out of here, quick!"

Facing Luffy, who was excitedly calling for help from inside the iron cage, Roman ignored him and looked to the side first.

Short orange hair, a perfect physique, and a three-section staff in hand. That's right: it was Nami, a navigator of genius level. ······ Good, finally I can escape this boring daily life.

So scary!

However, facing Roman's 'scrutinizing' gaze, Nami felt a chill run through her body, as if a blade was scraping against her skin! It felt like she could be decapitated at any moment...

"Roman!"

"She's Nami, our Navigator."

As Luffy's voice came, Roman extended his hand to the girl who had fallen to the ground in fright.

"Nami, huh..."

"Hello, I'm Roman."

"My idiot captain has caused you trouble—please bear with us in the future."

"Ah, ah, ah? Okay... okay..."

Nami, pulled up by Roman, blinked. In front of her was a handsome, sunny, and polite young man. Why had she felt so terrified just now...

"Roman?"

"Captain, that guy couldn't possibly be..."

On the other side, the members of the Buggy Pirates, seeing Roman acting as if no one else was there, hesitantly turned to their captain for confirmation.

"Could it be that Silver Light..."

"Are you Roman, the combat captain of the Silver Light Pirates, 'The Counterattacker'?"

Captain Clown Buggy, sitting imposingly on his throne, propped his face with one hand, feigning profundity.

"Could it be that this woman is also from your Silver Light Pirates? Sent as a spy..."

What—

Nami, who had just stood up, was startled and almost fell back to the ground!

The Silver Light Pirates, a pirate crew that came from the North Blue to the East Blue. In just half a year, they had become famous in the East Blue! Their captain had a bounty of thirty million, two combat captains with bounties of ten million, and even their ordinary pirates were all seasoned fighters.

Moreover, their ship, the 'Wave Rider,' was incredibly fast! They had clashed with the East Blue overlord, Commander Krieg, and as a result, relying on their fast ship and strong crew, they easily annihilated three of his warships and sailed away.

—Absolutely ruthless characters who could make children cry at night!

"Sorry, you have the wrong person."

Roman denied it without hesitation, making Nami next to him breathe a sigh of relief. So it was just a case of mistaken identity...

"The Silver Light Pirates, ship and all, have already been sunk to the bottom of the sea by me."

?

"I am now a crew member of the Straw Hat Pirates, Roman," Roman turned to face the dense crowd of pirates and replied calmly, "That's all."

??

Wow, that's even more terrifying!

Poor Nami felt like she was about to fall to the ground again, her legs as soft as noodles, sliding downwards...

Snap, "Are you alright?"

Facing Roman's 'inquiry,' Nami, who was being supported... or rather, lifted by one of his hands, forced out a smile that was uglier than crying.

"I... I'm fine..."

"Oh? So, the Silver Light Pirates no longer exist?"

Clown Buggy sneered repeatedly, pointing at Luffy in the iron cage.

"But your judgment isn't great, to think you'd throw in your lot with such an idiot."

Then he gestured around at the dense crowd of pirates.

"And what's even worse judgment is that you'd even try to go up against so many of us in the Buggy Pirates!"

Clang!

Click, Rattle—

Cutlasses, flintlock guns, chains... various weapons were held in the hands of Buggy's pirates. Upon hearing that the 'Silver Light Pirates' were now just Roman, their 'courage' immediately surged!

"How about this,"

Sitting on the main seat, looking at the three people who had fallen into their 'surroundings,' Clown Buggy rubbed his bright red nose.

"Roman, I'll give you a chance."

"You'll fire the cannonballs and swear your loyalty to me with that Straw Hat idiot's head!"

"If you do that, you and Nami can become our 'nakama'," Clown Buggy said with a sinister grin, lifting his chin. "I can even make you a combat captain under me."

"How about it, power..."

"I refuse."

Roman interrupted before the other could finish. Facing the pirates closing in from all sides, he strode forward with both hands empty!

"You want me to be loyal?"

"Sorry, you clearly don't have the skill for that."

"Hey, hey, hey, Luffy..."

Nami, who had retreated to the iron cage, watched Roman face them alone and anxiously looked at Luffy inside the cage.

"He'll die! So many people..."

"He won't,"

Luffy in the cage smiled confidently.

"Roman is very strong."

"Is this all the Buggy Pirates are capable of?"

In just a few minutes, the rooftop was littered with bruised and battered pirates. Roman, bare-handed, shook his head.

"I think you guys should just go back to being a circus,"

"At least you wouldn't have to worry about when you'll get chopped to death."

To be fair, while the members of the Buggy Pirates were all dressed... bizarrely, and couldn't be said to be similar to circus performers, they were identical! However:

Their agile movements and ruthless fighting skills were undeniable! Let alone ordinary people, they were all skilled fighters who had surpassed the 'average level' of pirates. Yet:

In front of Roman, let alone 'fighting', they didn't even have the ability to leave a scratch on him.

One punch for one, one kick for a group.

He dominated the entire time!

"Captain, there's something strange about this kid."

Kabaji, the Buggy Pirates' Chief of Staff, who was riding a unicycle, had a cutlass at his waist, his hair covered his left eye, and he wore a scarf and cape. He tilted his head slightly and whispered to his boss.

"I saw several times that our brothers' weapons clearly hit him, but they had no effect at all."

"Does that guy have some kind of defensive armor under his clothes?" Clown Buggy touched his chin and snapped his fingers.

"Mohji, go put on a beast show for everyone!"

"As you command, Captain."

A man wearing a doll's headgear, with fur of the same color on his chest, responded to the order. As he 'stood' up, he immediately cast a shadow!

Don't misunderstand, this guy wasn't some burly man, but rather, beneath his crotch:

A giant lion!

Although it was called a lion, its size... it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it an elephant.

And for animals, huge size represented immense 'strength'.

"Ooh ooh ooh ooh, the First Mate is here~~"

"Go get him, First Mate Mohji!"

"Take him down, Richie—"

The giant lion's name was Richie, and the man sitting on its back was Mohji, the First Mate of the Buggy Pirates. The man and beast slowly approached Roman, their house-like bodies casting a large shadow over him.

"Well, I should have given you a chance to surrender."

Mohji, on the lion's back, sneered. "But I don't want another annoying guy like Kabaji competing with me for power, so—"

"ROAR!!!"

A roar, close at hand, a true 'Lion's Roar', accompanied by a foul-smelling gust of wind, attacked Roman! Even Nami, who had retreated, instinctively covered her ears.

"Richie, tear him apart!"

Following the sudden 'Lion's Roar' came two lion paws the size of millstones, whistling through the air as they descended upon Roman! Eight claws, extended like daggers, were about to rip him open.

CLANG!!

However, with a crisp impact sound, the giant lion's claws suddenly stopped! They were forcefully held back by two palms. Although Roman wasn't thin, compared to the elephant-sized giant lion, he looked as comical as a child wrestling a giant.

"What—"

Even more comical was that the giant lion was being pushed back bit by bit by Roman.

"Richie, bite!"

As the beast tamer on his back gave another order, the giant lion lowered its head and used its third weapon: its teeth! It bit down fiercely at Roman, as if it would tear him limb from limb in the next second.

Hmph.

Falling backward, Roman landed silently on the ground! His legs curled up, compressing his entire body into a tight ball. Then, facing the gaping maw lunging at him, he suddenly unfurled!

Inch by inch, as Roman stretched out his body, the joints of his spine shifted and pushed, each inch of movement allowing Roman's body to straighten bit by bit along his spine.

At the same time, the movement of his spine also drove the movement of his entire skeletal structure and the stretching and contracting of his muscles. Like a lever, power was transmitted bit by bit from the ground, his arms, and his back to his chest, then along his waist and abdomen all the way up, finally landing on his legs.

All his strength converged in one place!

This power erupted, robust and forceful, like a gunpowder keg suddenly ignited. For a moment, Roman was like a master archer, his spine the bow, his feet the arrow, his entire body's strength unleashed in a single, exhilarating kick.

BOOM!!

With a deafening roar, the massive lion flew high into the air! In the stunned eyes of everyone else, it traced an arc backward before crashing heavily onto the rooftop! The immense impact caused the roof, unable to bear the load, to collapse with a thunderous crash, leaving only a gaping hole and:

Snap.

With a flip like a carp, Roman sprang to his feet, still empty-handed, and brushed off his pants.

"Did you really think,"

He glanced at the stunned Buggy Pirates opposite him, "that someone with a mere ten million bounty would be worthy of being a member of the Straw Hat Pirates?"