"Bastard!"
On the roof of the largest building in town, a group of pirates had gathered.
"You can't even catch a single thief. What use are you? Performing acrobatics—"
Among the pirates, the captain seated on a throne was beside himself with rage, his enormous nose swelling bright red!
The captain wore a clown's outfit, with a white skull painted on his forehead, two blue streaks slashed diagonally across his eyes, a huge red nose, and red lipstick.
He wore a clown hat with long blue hair hanging from it. He had on red-and-white long sleeves, a purple scarf around his neck, white gloves, blue trousers, clown shoes, and a captain's coat draped over his shoulders.
Though the outfit was truly beyond criticism, its intimidation factor—
"Captain, it wasn't just that female thief. She has a boss too, a seriously powerful expert..."
Several battered pirates hurriedly explained. More or less, they meant, 'It's not that we didn't try hard enough; it's that the other side has a Gundam.'
"What kind of expert? How many stories tall is he?"
"Captain,"
The lackey at the door came forward to report.
"That thief came to us herself..."
"Good. Bring her up—"
"Wait, she came back on her own?!"
What kind of move was that? He couldn't make sense of it... Forget it. He would first see what she had to say.
The clown-dressed captain waved a hand, and someone immediately went downstairs to bring the person up. It was:
Thud.
Luffy, tightly bound with rope, was thrown onto the ground. Facing the vicious pirates all around her and their clown-dressed captain, Nami smiled faintly.
"Captain Buggy, he was the one who told me to steal the sea chart."
"I caught him for you, and I brought the sea chart back too~~"
"Nami, you tricked me!!"
Luffy, who had been suddenly attacked and tied up by her, wriggled on the ground like an inchworm.
Uh...
"Good work!"
Though he had no idea what was going on, he still had to maintain his image. Captain Buggy, dressed like a clown, gave a wicked smile. "But... what is this about...?"
"I had a falling-out with my boss,"
The girl named Nami answered calmly.
"I've had enough of him, so please let me follow you."
Meanwhile, Luffy, locked in an iron cage, could only puff out his cheeks angrily. "Hmph, I don't want you as my partner anymore."
Uh...
"Had... had enough? ~~Hahahahaha~~ What an interesting woman." Nami's words first stunned the pirates on the roof, then sent them bursting into laughter.
"Excellent, excellent!!"
Captain Buggy, dressed like a clown, stood and spread his arms.
"The sea chart to the Grand Line has been recovered,"
"And we've gained a new companion..."
"Men, let's have a feast!" he announced loudly. "Cheer to your hearts' content, eat and drink to your hearts' content! Then—"
"Give it everything you've got in the next battle!!"
"OOOOOH~~~"
"Long live Captain Buggy!!"
"A toast to the captain,"
"A toast to the treasure!"
"Cheers~~"
The pirate lackeys hurriedly brought over all kinds of beer, cooked food, knives, forks, and plates! Then they naturally formed little groups and began the happiest pastime of pirates:
Eating huge mouthfuls of meat, drinking huge bowls of liquor, and dividing gold by the scale...
"New girl, come drink with us!"
"Sure~~"
After she drank several pirates under the table in one go, the atmosphere grew even livelier! At the edge of the crowd, a pirate with poor alcohol tolerance looked at the girl who had overwhelmed everyone with both envy and fear, then nudged the person beside him who was only focused on eating meat.
"Hey, do you want to give it a try too?"
"No, I don't drink."
"Ah, what a shame." The pirate with poor alcohol tolerance forked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, vaguely feeling as though he had overlooked something.
Heh heh, my drinking capacity isn't ordinary.
After knocking down several pirates in a row, Nami smiled smugly when no new "challengers" came forward.
As long as she kept drinking like this, once these pirates were all drunk, she could steal the sea chart back again—and take all the Buggy Pirates' treasure while she was at it!
Pirates were nothing more than a bunch of simple-minded fools...
"Hey~~ Hey~~~"
Faced with all the pirates eating and drinking wildly before him, Luffy, locked in the iron cage and starving, angrily began to: eat iron!
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
What a set of teeth—he was leaving bite marks in the iron cage—
"Hi, boss."
Squatting before the cage, the girl named Nami examined Luffy inside.
"How does it feel? You were so easily fooled, and you still dared call yourself a pirate..."
"I'm hungry!"
"I want meat too~~"
Their thoughts clearly weren't on the same wavelength. Feeling as though she was talking to a cow, Nami helplessly passed the food in her hand through the cage. It felt like she was feeding something, and then:
Chew, chew.
"Delicious."
"You're a good person—be my partner after all,"
Nami was utterly speechless at Luffy's reversed attitude yet again.
"No way!"
"Do you even know what situation you're in? You'll be sold as a slave, then die miserably in a mine pit..."
"Still,"
Her tone shifted. "If everything goes smoothly, I might steal a key and let you out while I'm at it—"
"Pwahahaha~~~"
At that moment, footsteps and exaggerated laughter from behind interrupted Nami. Captain Buggy, dressed like a clown, approached with a swaggering gait.
"Straw Hat, your subordinate is pretty good."
"She's not my subordinate!"
"I understand, I understand. After all, she betrayed you~~"
Captain Buggy waved his hand magnanimously, but in the next second, he lowered his head, and a dark, terrifying expression crept across his face!
"No matter what, you shouldn't have stolen from Buggy," he said, directly waving a hand. "Bring that thing over!"
Rumble, rumble.
An enormous muzzle-loading smoothbore cannon was pushed over. Though it was merely the oldest kind of firearm, its thick barrel and cannon mouth large enough to stuff a person into spoke of its terrifying power!
And the cannon was aimed directly at:
Luffy, locked in the iron cage!
"This is the 'Buggy Ball' I made," Captain Buggy, dressed like a clown, said as he took out a cannonball as large as a human head! It even bore his pirate emblem.
"One shot can blast through an entire block of buildings!"
Once the cannonball had been loaded and the fuse installed, a box of matches was placed in Nami's hand.
"Come on, Nami."
Buggy, dressed like a clown, pointed at Straw Hat Luffy in the cage.
"Send your 'former boss' off with my 'Buggy Ball,' then conquer the world with me!"
In an instant, cold sweat slid down Nami's face.
Pirates,
Were not merely "simple-minded." They were also "utterly vicious."
"H-Hey, Captain Buggy..."
"D-Don't let this guy spoil our fun," the stiff-faced girl tried to muddle through with cuteness. "Let's keep drinking..."
"Kill him."
Yet Captain Buggy, dressed like a clown, merely glanced at her. The icy killing intent rendered Nami speechless, and then he flicked his captain's coat and turned away stylishly.
"Blow him up!"
"Blow him up!!"
"Hurry up and do it~~~"
"Hahaha,"
"Let's start betting~~~"
"Let's see how many 'pieces' that guy has left—"
The surroundings were filled with pirates' wild laughter and shouting. In an instant, the pirates who had seemed so "honest" while drinking and chatting bared their "utterly evil" fangs!
This was bad... If she didn't kill him... she would be killed instead...
Kill someone? Or be killed herself?
Faced with that choice, Nami began to tremble slightly. She turned to look at the Straw Hat Youth in the cage. He had no grudge against her, and he had even saved her once. Though he claimed to be a pirate, judging by how stupid he looked...
"Hey, you're scared."
Luffy in the cage looked at the girl who held his life in her hands with a confident smile.
"If you don't have enough resolve and preparation, you can't just casually deal with pirates."
"Heh... heh... What resolve?"
"The resolve to kill people whenever you want?"
Faced with Nami's retort, Luffy laughed brightly.
"Wrong! The resolve to risk your life!"
Heh heh.
At the edge of the pirate crowd, the youth who had been focused on eating curled his lips into a slight smile.
"Hey!! Nami!"
Captain Buggy's urging came from behind her. "Hurry up and do it. Don't spoil everyone's fun! Or what—"
Did she want to die?
Kill, or be killed—
"New girl, can't you even light a fuse?"
A pirate who could no longer stand watching snatched the matches from Nami's hand, struck one expertly, and brought it toward the fuse. "All you have to do is—"
Thud!
A stick smashed viciously into his head, knocking the pirate to the ground.
??!!
"What are you doing?"
"Nami, what do you mean?"
"You've got some nerve!"
Crap, she had accidentally...
"So you really are my partner."
"Shut up, idiot!"
With her back to the iron cage behind her, Nami gritted her teeth and swore angrily, gripping the iron rod.
"I refuse to become like the pirates who killed the people most important to me!"—trampling lives at will.
"Oh, no wonder you hate pirates so much..."
"Heh heh heh, whether you couldn't bear to do it or have some other scheme," the clown captain said, his expression darkening as he pointed forward, "you dared fool Captain Buggy. I'll show you what cruelty means! Get them—"
A group of pirates immediately charged at her.
"Nami, I want you to be my partner!"
The youth at the edge, who had been eating with his head down, also stood up and wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin pulled from his palm.
"It's over..."
Facing the swarm of pirates rushing toward her, the orange-haired girl wore a look of despair. She was only a thief. Against a group of murderous maniacs, there was only one possible outcome:
Thud—
A figure flashed, and all the charging pirates were sent flying back!
A figure stood in front of Nami, along with his signature catchphrase.
"You attacked first,"
With one strike...
Who was this...
"Roman!"
Luffy's delighted voice from the cage behind her made the youth before Nami turn around, revealing a handsome face, along with:
A look of disgust.
"Yo, Luffy."
"It's only been a little while. How did you end up this pathetic?"
Before you continue