Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Although Rodney didn't understand how these people could fire dozens of rounds without magazines, he still had to dodge.
As he dodged, his hands moved without pause. Leaning against a wall, he slapped his palm against the ground. "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
A wall of earth suddenly rose from the ground, blocking the incoming bullets one after another.
"Water Style: Water Turbulent Wave!"
A surging torrent burst out from behind the earthen wall, washing the group away like they were being flushed down a toilet.
Only a few people remained, including Mr. 8.
Seeing that his subordinates were useless, Mr. 8 snorted. "What a bunch of trash. I knew I shouldn't have let you handle this." When he saw Rodney poking his head out, he said, "Prepare the bombardment!"
Gun barrels emerged from the curly hair on his head.
"Bombardment preparations complete!"
He tugged on his bow tie!
"Curly Cannon, fire!"
Boom, boom, boom!
Bullets the size of lychees shot out.
Rodney punched the earthen wall away. It collided with the bullets, and the impact triggered an explosion with a thunderous boom.
Soru!
A figure suddenly rushed over and appeared in front of Mr. 8, striking his neck with a hand blade.
Mr. 8 was knocked unconscious by the blow and collapsed to the ground.
Rodney turned his gaze toward the bounty hunters rushing over and smiled faintly. "Shadow Clone!"
Poof, poof, poof!
Three clones split off and charged toward the approaching crowd.
They tore through them like a tiger breaking into a pack of wolves, just as Madara had once surrounded an entire army of ten thousand ninja by himself, beating them until they couldn't fight back.
After piling them together, Rodney slapped Mr. 8 awake and asked, "Baroque Works?"
"You know about it?" Mr. 8 asked in surprise.
"Of course. You people are my target this time. I'm going to deal with all of you." Rodney smiled. "Come on, tell me where the Baroque Works headquarters is, or help me summon a few people here so I can kill them more conveniently."
He pressed a kunai against Mr. 8's chin. "Think carefully. Your life is at stake."
"I... Who are you, exactly? What are you after?"
"Trying to get information out of me?" Rodney chuckled. "Jotaro J. Rodney. You only need to know that I'm going to disband Baroque Works. Now... hurry up and decide! Otherwise, I'll kill you!"
"A bounty hunter from the East Blue, yet so strong—and worth only three million berries?"
"I offended someone before, and the bounty was revoked a long time ago. Your intelligence system is terrible."
Crocus walked over with his hands behind his back and laughed. "You won't get much out of him that way."
"I'll make him talk," Rodney said. He didn't need to use the Sharingan yet. He had his own plans, and there was no rush.
Mr. 8 looked at all the unconscious bounty hunters. They were actually members of Baroque Works. The organization had recruited them to establish this town, using it to deceive rookie pirates who knew nothing of the truth.
He sighed and said, "Baroque Works is in Alabasta, but I don't know the exact location either. You can go there and try your luck. That's all I can reveal."
He and Princess Vivi had infiltrated Baroque Works to investigate the truth, but they still hadn't found anything conclusive. Although the man before him was a bounty hunter, Mr. 8 didn't know whether he was trustworthy. If he crossed paths with Baroque Works, he might expose the truth behind everything.
Rodney didn't see through Mr. 8's true thoughts, and he couldn't be bothered to find out. If Mr. 8 hadn't seemed like a good person, Rodney would have killed him outright. The people here only wanted pirate bounties, and letting them serve as a sieve wasn't a bad idea. At least it would keep a group of villains from harming ordinary people.
"That's enough. You have no more value to me." Rodney squeezed Mr. 8's neck and knocked him unconscious again.
"Is that it?"
"Of course not." Rodney searched Mr. 8's body and felt the thing he wanted. He chuckled. "There it is."
A Permanent Pose quietly rested in his hand.
The pose recorded Alabasta's magnetic field. It would always point toward Alabasta, never changing.
"A Permanent Pose? How did you know he had one on him... Did you see it again?" Crocus asked curiously.
"Not exactly. As a member of Baroque Works, he was fairly likely to be carrying a Permanent Pose, so I thought I'd check."
Rodney admitted that he had been gambling. The important thing was that he had won.
He tossed the Permanent Pose in his hand and said, "Old man, let's go."
"We haven't been gone that long. Ah, whatever. There's still some liquor in the tavern. Let's take it with us."
"Let's go."
Although both of them were quite strong, they couldn't carry very much. They only managed to move half a warehouse of liquor. Rodney carried Crocus on his back, while Crocus balanced a large wooden board on his head. Barrel after barrel of liquor was stacked on the board as they formed a human pyramid and entered Laboon's mouth.
They put the liquor in a warehouse inside Laboon's body and resumed their journey.
Little Garden
After several days of sailing, Laboon stopped in front of an island near nightfall. They would spend the night there.
After landing on the island, Rodney took a deep breath and inhaled a noseful of sulfur.
"There must be a volcano on this island. Otherwise, the sulfur smell wouldn't be so strong," Crocus said as he set down the barrel on his shoulder.
"Then this must be Little Garden. There really is a volcano here, and the smell is awful." Rodney covered his nose and looked around. The trees in the forest looked like something from the Jurassic era, resembling tree ferns, along with a pile of other strange plants.
"Don't worry. You'll get used to it after breathing it in for a while."
"Let's see what kind of prey there is. We'll get dinner for Laboon and find something for ourselves, too." Rodney waved his hand and walked into the jungle.
"Oh, then this old man will go start a fire." Crocus went to gather dry branches.
Rodney walked through the jungle. The sky was dim, and yellowish sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, reducing visibility.
He stopped and looked up. A saber-toothed tiger crouched on a fallen tree trunk, glaring at him hungrily. Its long teeth were like two sharp blades, capable of easily piercing his body.
"Tsk, this is my first time seeing a saber-toothed tiger—and it's alive." Because the seas were so vast, the islands had little contact with one another, and their development differed greatly.
Some had already entered modern society, while others remained in the prehistoric era.
Many islands had unique creatures that didn't exist beyond their shores.
This island had a special climate and location, allowing it to support dinosaurs and other ancient species that had long since vanished. The saber-toothed tiger wasn't even a top predator here.
Rodney thought for a moment. He needed to hunt something big. One saber-toothed tiger wouldn't be enough to fill him.
"Get lost!" Power erupted into a wave of air, frightening the saber-toothed tiger into fleeing with its tail between its legs.
He climbed a tree and gazed into the distance. He spotted Thunder Dragons eating the leaves of tree ferns—Thunder Dragons nearly a hundred meters tall.
They traveled in herds. One of them was covered in old scars and had a fierce look in its eyes. Its aura was far more imposing than that of the others, so it was probably the leader.
"You'll do." Having chosen his prey, Rodney flexed his fists until they cracked.
Soru!
He appeared in front of the Thunder Dragon leader as if he had teleported.
"Power Fist!"
His fist struck the Thunder Dragon leader's head with enough force to split mountains and shatter rocks. Without any suspense, it knocked the leader to the ground. Its enormous body crashed down like a mountain collapsing.
"Want to die?" Rodney asked the other Thunder Dragons.
The Thunder Dragons shook their heads one after another and hurried away.
"Hmm, the old man and I can eat the legs, and Laboon should be able to swallow the rest whole." Laboon's body was enormous, and he ate a great deal at every meal. This much would only fill his stomach a little, so Laboon would still have to hunt for the rest himself.
He dragged the Thunder Dragon's body once, twice, three times...
Ugh, it was a little strenuous. Even in his Power state, dragging this thing was exhausting.
Boom, boom, boom!
Thunder rumbled, and Rodney couldn't help looking up. "Is it raining?"
A giant wearing armor and wielding a battle-axe and round shield appeared, blocking out the sunlight. He saw the fallen Thunder Dragon leader and Rodney dragging it and asked curiously, "A human?"
His voice was like thunder as he asked with curiosity, "Have more humans come here? Human, do you have any liquor?"
"I do. Want some?"
The giant gave a distinctive laugh. "Gababababa, sure! I'll help you. Come onto my hand."
"Great!" Rodney jumped onto his palm, which was the size of a pickup truck, and pointed the way. "Go that way."
"Gababababa, we're off!" He dragged the Thunder Dragon along and carried Rodney away.
Before you continue