The group walked into town with their arms around one another, laughing and joking.
"Let's throw a banquet for our warriors of the sea, everyone!"
Igaram shouted with a laugh and patted Luffy on the shoulder. "No matter what, we're going to give you all a proper welcome today."
"Wahahaha! You're so nice, old man!" Luffy said, bursting with excitement.
Lina only had a vague memory of the original story, especially the early parts. He'd been pretty young when he watched them.
He could only vaguely recall that this was the town where Crocodile's assassination organization operated. A bunch of bounty hunters pretended to be villagers and specialized in tricking naive, childish pirates who had just entered the Grand Line, then killing them.
"They're just a few small fry." Lina kept his expression neutral as he thought, This mayor should be Vivi's... um, what was it? Uncle? Guard? Whatever. Aside from him and Vivi, there's nothing here worth paying attention to.
In truth, Lina wasn't particularly fixated on Crocodile, either. His undead couldn't inherit Devil Fruit abilities, and as far as physical strength went, Crocodile was nowhere near the two giants on Little Garden.
Blue Ogre Dorry and Red Ogre Brogy.
The leaders of the Giant Soldier Pirates from Elbaf in the New World. The enormous Sea Kings they had once hunted were larger than several volcanoes and took up half of Little Garden.
Lina could still picture the moment Elbaf's Spear: Gun World pierced the Island Eater Goldfish in a single blow.
He couldn't think of anyone in the first half of the Grand Line who could withstand that attack head-on.
You say a Logia could take it?
...Well, never mind, then.
"Girls, look! There are two handsome blond guys here!" A shout interrupted Lina's thoughts.
A group of curvy beauties rushed out of the crowd. Their outfits were scandalously skimpy, and they all had slender figures and bright smiles as they gathered around Sanji and Lina.
Sanji couldn't resist. He instantly rushed toward them, his eyes spinning and his face turning lovestruck.
"What's your name, handsome?"
Several girls came over to Lina, their delicate hands immediately clinging to him. One wrapped herself around his waist while another stroked his chest.
Even through his clothes, Lina could feel the warmth and softness pressing against him.
They were testing their officers with this kind of thing?!
Who could possibly resist?!
"Such an easy catch~" Lina grinned around his cigarette and couldn't help laughing. "The Grand Line is great, the Grand Line is wonderful!"
Laughing heartily, Lina opened his arms. He draped one over a girl's shoulder and pulled another close by the waist, holding them on either side of him.
"Oh, you're so naughty~"
"Your arms are so strong, sir. I can hardly breathe~"
He wasn't some stuffy prude. The more beauty traps like this, the better.
"Tonight, I'm taking on ten!"
"Oh, you're so naughty~ Can you really handle that, sir~"
The girls giggled, not minding Lina and Sanji's wandering hands in the slightest.
At the back of the group, Nami and Zoro could only shake their heads, exasperated as they watched the others get led away after just a few words.
"Honestly, those guys are completely hopeless!" Nami gritted her teeth. "Think about it! How could there possibly be a town in the world that welcomes pirates?"
"Eh, whatever. Let's see what happens first," Zoro said indifferently.
"At least you're reliable, Zoro."
"As long as there's booze, I don't care about the rest."
"Idiot! I just praised you, and now you go and say that!" Nami shouted angrily.
The group followed the villagers' enthusiastic welcome into town.
Soon, night fell.
Every home in Whiskey Peak shut its doors and put out its lights. On the quiet, deserted Cactus Island, only one building still glowed with a dim yellow light.
Their arrival had made the place lively, and laughter and cheerful chatter poured from the building.
"Another chef's down!"
"That's already the third one! Just how much can he eat?"
The crowd stared in stunned disbelief at Luffy, who was wolfing down food. At the same time, astonished shouts rang out from elsewhere.
"Oh my god! That swordsman just drank thirteen people under the table!"
"And that beautiful woman over there is still going strong. She's taking on her fifteenth opponent!"
Inside, Zoro and Nami were competing in a drinking contest. Determined to win the generous prize money, Nami had been drinking one opponent after another under the table.
Lina lounged on the sofa, surrounded by beauties who fed him one bite after another. He couldn't have been happier.
The room was full of revelry. The villagers wore smiles, but inwardly they were cursing up a storm.
In a shadowy room on the second floor, a woman with long sky-blue hair, delicate features, and a high ponytail peered through a crack in the door, glaring at the scene downstairs.
"Where did these starving ghosts come from? If they keep eating and drinking like this, we're going to lose a fortune on this job."
A man with yellow curls and a crown replied, "Exactly! Is all this really necessary, Mr. 8? They're only a few pirates from the East Blue."
"Your intelligence work is terrible. Take a look at this."
A low voice came from Igaram, known as Mr. 8. He took several wanted posters from inside his coat.
He slapped the posters onto the table and spread them out. They showed Luffy, Zoro, and Mr. 1.
"Thirty million! For that goofy-looking kid?"
"And the green-haired swordsman has a bounty of sixteen million!"
"What are those two supposed to be?" the crowned blond man cried. "A combined bounty of twenty-five million? I don't think I saw them!"
"They're probably guarding the ship. The men we sent out said they saw a few figures aboard," Igaram said casually.
"Over seventy million in total!"
"If we fight a great pirate crew like that head-on, we won't stand a chance."
Creak~
The door to the room opened.
"Don't worry. They're all down."
A tall, dark-skinned woman with muscular limbs walked in and addressed the others in the room:
"That group eats an absurd amount. We were already low on supplies, and they nearly ate everything. At least their bounties are high."
"Is everything taken care of? Then tell everyone to get to work. Come on." Igaram tugged at his collar and led them out through the window.
Cactus Island was famous for its several green mountains. Cross-shaped gravestones covered the slopes as far as the eye could see, looking from a distance like the spines of a cactus.
In the banquet hall, after the feast had ended, Lina opened his eyes and sat up on the sofa. He pulled himself free of the sprawled-out pile of women.
"It's the middle of the night already, isn't it? They really know how to party." Looking at the wrecked hall, Lina couldn't help scratching his head of blond hair.
Click!
A lighter flicked on, and Sanji's voice came from beside him. "You can say that again. This schedule's no good."
"Here."
"Thanks." Lina casually caught the cigarette tossed his way, then turned toward Zoro at the bar. "Where's Nami?"
"She said she was going to search for their treasure. She's already gone," Zoro replied flatly. He had woken up ages ago and was sitting at the bar, pouring himself a drink.
Lina lit his cigarette and chuckled. "Then she's wasting her time. My undead already checked. This place is completely broke."
"Zzz~~"
A loud snore suddenly rang out.
"Only Luffy could sleep this soundly in an enemy's lair." Usopp climbed up from the floor and shook his head.
The bodies were sprawled all around the room. In the dim yellow light, some of them smoked while others drank, completely unconcerned about their situation.
Everyone looked calm, undisturbed by the crisis that was about to arrive.
Before you continue