Dog and Old Man: Captain's Duel

"Puff, puff, puff, puff~~"

After sprinting all the way, the three of them stopped on the town's main street.

"We... we got out..."

Facing the panting Nami, Roman calmly spoke while seriously beginning to plan out a fitness regimen for her.

"Even if you're our pirate crew's navigator and don't need to fight, your stamina is way too terrible."

"Who's your navigator—"

Hm?!

Faced with Roman's suddenly icy gaze, Nami wept inwardly and had no choice but to close her eyes and nod.

"Yes, yes, yes, it's all my fault for holding you back..."

Still:

This guy named Roman was so strong!

He had moved freely through the notorious Buggy Pirates as if no one could stop him. With one hand holding her and the other carrying a huge iron cage containing their idiot "captain," he had sprinted all the way without even turning red or breathing hard.

Maybe she could trick this guy into dealing with...

"Wow, look, that dog isn't moving at all."

Luffy had broken free of his rope while escaping, and the moment he was out of danger, he went right back to fooling around. This time, the target of his teasing was a dog by the roadside. It was just an ordinary mutt, sitting motionlessly in front of a small shop.

"Is this dog dead? Could it be a statue~~"

"Rubber... Two-Finger Strike!"

He stretched an arm out from the cage and jabbed his index and ring fingers into the dog's eyeballs. Then:

Crack.

"Ahhhhh, that hurts!"

Uh...

Watching the man and dog fight furiously through the cage, Roman began to reflect once again on whether he had fed Luffy too much.

"What an idiot!"

Nami beside him was equally speechless at this "man-versus-dog battle."

"But the more I think about it, the more I feel like I'm an idiot too."

As she spoke, she patted her clothes, pulled out a key, and tossed it beside the cage.

"While you two were fighting, I stole the key." The orange-haired girl curled her lips in annoyance. "Honestly, I didn't even steal any treasure or navigation charts..."

"Haha, great!"

Luffy, who had been idling inside the cage, was delighted. "This cage put me through hell~~"

"Hmph, isn't it because you're stupid?"

Roman snorted helplessly. Still, considering the guy had "recruited" a navigator...

He bit down—

Gulp~!

"Ahhhhh, you stupid dog! Spit out the key!!"

?

"Luffy, tell me honestly. Did you really eat the Rubber-Rubber Fruit, not some Dumb-Dumb Fruit!?"

One that not only lowered your own intelligence, but also lowered the intelligence of every living thing around you...

Roman rubbed his temples and sighed.

"Fine, then let's have dog meat hot—"

"Hey!"

"You three, stop bullying Shushu~~"

An old man wearing leather armor and protective gear, with a spear on his back and glasses on his face, came running over angrily.

"So you're the mayor of this town?"

"And this dog is called Shushu?"

"Then why is it sitting here~~" Facing the questions from Roman's group, the old man sighed.

"This shop..." The old mayor pointed at the little store behind him. "It was opened by an old friend of mine and Shushu."

"To them, this shop was their most precious memory..."

"But the pirates are already here." Nami followed up in confusion. "The townspeople have all fled to take shelter, right? Why leave this dog here to guard the place? Wasn't your friend afraid it would be killed by pirates—"

"He's already dead."

The old mayor sighed again.

"A few months ago, my old friend got sick and went to the hospital, and then..."

"So this dog has been guarding this place, waiting for its owner to come back?" At Nami's sigh, the old mayor smiled.

"No. Shushu is a smart dog. He must know his owner will never return."

"It's just that this shop is his most precious memory, so he has kept guarding it." As he spoke, the mayor covered his forehead, and his voice began to tremble.

"What a stupid dog!"

"Heh, aren't you about the same, old man?"

Roman, leaning against the shop door with his arms crossed, lifted his eyelids. "You came here to check on things at a time like this because you can't let go of this town either, right?"

"When it comes down to it, you aren't much smarter than that dog~~"

"Hehe."

Faced with Roman's "mockery," the old mayor smiled and shook his head.

"That's right. This town was built bit by bit from wilderness by us—a group of refugees whose homes had been destroyed by pirates! It carries our hard work, sweat, joys, sorrows, meetings, and partings! So, so..."

He removed his glasses. When he put them back on, only determination remained in his eyes.

"So, I'm already old! I can't run anymore."

"If I must die, then I hope to die in my own home..."

"Roman."

Luffy pressed down on his straw hat from within the cage, his usual giggling gone.

"We're going back."

He raised his head, his eyes filled with nothing but seriousness, as though he had become a completely different person.

"I'm going to send that Red-Nose flying!"

What a willful guy...

"As you wish."

Roman stood up and stretched his muscles.

"Captain."

"Hey, hey, hey, you three young people should hurry up and take shelter~~" Seeing the three... no, two of them looking like they were about to pick a fight, the old mayor hurriedly tried to persuade them.

"And one of you is still locked in a cage—"

Smack.

Roman crouched halfway down, grabbed the thumb-thick iron bars of the cage with both hands, and then:

Rip.

In an instant, the veins on Roman's arms bulged and his muscles swelled. His formerly loose sleeves burst apart! As the muscles in his beautifully powerful arms rolled, he suddenly pulled outward with all his strength.

Clang, clang, clang—

Amid the ear-piercing screech of metal, the thick steel cage was forcibly bent and warped outward in Roman's hands! In the end, it revealed a hole large enough for a person to crawl through.

"Done."

"Thanks, Roman!"

Freed from the cage, Luffy rolled his shoulders, looking eager to fight.

"Let's go send that Red-Nose and his men flying!"

"Fine."

Thud.

The old mayor in leather armor had already collapsed onto the ground in fright! He was clearly just a handsome, sunny young man, yet he possessed inhuman strength capable of bending steel...

So strong!

Meanwhile, Nami gained an even deeper understanding of the boy named Roman. That kind of strength was already no weaker than those people, right?

If... if the Straw Hat guy had that kind of strength too, maybe she could trick them into going to her hometown, and then...

Still, watching the two "pirates" preparing to go back and cause trouble for the Buggy Pirates, Nami's eyes flickered.

Pirates preparing to "uphold justice" were just unbelievably stupid!

She couldn't stand it...

"Good!"

The old mayor beside them felt his long-lost blood begin to boil. "As the mayor, if I don't protect this town, who will? I'm coming too—"

Thud.

Unfortunately, before he could finish his bold declaration, Luffy grabbed the back of his head and slammed it against the door of the nearby shop.

His eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.

"Luffy, what are you doing?!"

Before they had even begun fighting, he had sacrificed an ally first. The girl named Nami was instantly furious! If Roman had not been beside her, she would have made that Straw Hat idiot taste her fist, which was as big as a disposable cup...

"Haha, this is a battle between pirates."

Luffy turned to look at the mutt by the shop entrance. "Shushu, protect your owner's friend! We're going to take care of some business—"

"Woof, woof, woof!"

"Do you think a dog can understand what you're saying?"

"Haha, didn't the old man say Shushu was very smart..."

Luffy and Nami's bickering continued from beside him without stopping, making Roman shake his head with a smile. Compared with the killing intent and greed that had filled the air before his past battles, this strange atmosphere...

Wasn't bad either.

"Hehehe, I thought you had already run away."

In front of the ruined buildings at the center of town, a group of filthy pirates glared at the trio that had returned, their eyes practically spitting fire!

"Red-Nose."

Luffy stepped forward, eagerly rubbing his fists together.

"I've decided. I'm going to send you flying!"

Dead silence!

Then:

"Ahhhhh, what did you just say, Straw Hat Kid?!"

"Don't you know Captain Buggy hates it most when people call him Red-Nose?"

"That's right, Red-Nose is the captain's taboo! The moment he hears those words, he'll explode..."

"And what's wrong with Red-Nose anyway? Isn't that a nose? That's discrimination based on appearance—"

"Red-Nose, Red-Nose, Red-Nose..."

Captain Buggy, dressed like a clown and so furious that veins bulged across his forehead, waved both hands. With several popping sounds, the pirates who had been jumping around and shouting moments ago immediately dropped to the ground.

"If you wanted to anger me, then your goal has been achieved—"

!!!

An aura like blazing flames swept across the battlefield. The boy named Luffy looked at the pirates on the ground with throwing knives embedded in their backs. His face was filled with rage.

"Casually hurting your own companions... someone like you—"

Whoosh—

His figure flashed, and he suddenly charged in front of Clown Buggy, his clenched fist launching the first attack!

"Doesn't deserve to be a captain!"