Iron Arm? I Only Know Astro Boy

(Thanks to Shark Carving Passerby for the 500-coin tip. Thank you for being willing to tip a little nobody like me (*＾3＾)

Docked at Maple Leaf Island Port was a pirate ship flying a pirate flag bearing a skull, along with two skeletal arms clad in iron.

The Iron Arm Pirates were led by a man named Cook, also known as Iron Arm Cook. He came from the South Blue, the strongest of the Four Seas, and had a bounty as high as 20 million Belly.

Don't underestimate a bounty of 20 million Belly. The Great Pirate Era had only just begun, and many of those rushing out to sea were still inexperienced newcomers.

Moreover, this was the first half of the Grand Line. Iron Arm Cook could already be considered a Big Shot around here.

Before entering the Grand Line, pirates in the weakest of the Four Seas, the East Blue, had an average bounty of merely 3 million Belly—only equivalent to 30,000 Choppers.

Iron Arm Cook's 20 million Belly bounty made him a prominent figure even among the newcomers of the South Blue, where bounties were the highest.

When they heard that their captain had arranged liquor, food, and women for them before they had even set foot on the island, the pirates of the Iron Arm Pirates erupted into cheers.

Why were people nowadays flocking to this sea? Aside from Roger forcefully giving it a round of publicity, wasn't it mostly for wealth and fame?

At every island, they could plunder vast wealth without lifting a finger and commit all manner of atrocities without restraint. For idlers and thugs, such a life was practically heaven.

Of course, to live freely and recklessly at sea, there was one prerequisite: joining a powerful pirate crew and having a strong captain capable of protecting them.

In the eyes of most Iron Arm Pirates, their captain, Iron Arm Cook, was precisely such a powerful existence.

Since setting sail, their pirate crew had continued to grow in the South Blue. They had even escaped successfully from Marine pursuits several times, enjoying unparalleled momentum for a time.

Their captain had once punched a pursuing Marine light warship right to the bottom of the sea. That was how he earned both the title "Iron Arm" and his current bounty.

The moment the Iron Arm Pirates' ship docked, Cook heard alarm bells ringing from the island and immediately revealed a rather disdainful smile.

"Boys, the bells welcoming us to the island have already rung. Now, let's announce our arrival to this island in the way of the Iron Arm Pirates!"

At Iron Arm Cook's command, the pirates under the Iron Arm Pirates all revealed bloodthirsty, excited smiles. Drawing their weapons, they prepared to slaughter their way from the harbor into the town.

However, just as several pirate lackeys at the front, brimming with excitement, were about to charge into the island town, they vaguely saw a figure flash past them. Then, their vision caught sight of their own bodies still running forward.

A streak of blade light swept through the air. Accompanied by three spurting columns of blood, three fine heads flew straight into the air.

Those pirates who had been charging at the front probably never understood, even at the moment of death, why they could see their own backs.

"Welcoming bells? Why do I hear funeral bells being rung for you instead?"

His waist-length black hair fluttering in the wind, Wood slowly emerged from the side opposite the Iron Arm Pirates, one hand gripping his scabbard and the other his long blade.

The blood still dripping from his blade seemed to declare that although the young man before them looked immature, he was anything but easy to deal with.

The three companions who had been decapitated in an instant made the previously excited pirates cool down at once.

The Iron Arm Pirates had plundered more than one or two islands since traveling from the South Blue into the Grand Line, and naturally, they had faced plenty of resistance along the way.

But so long as it was not some large island with an established nation, the resistance they encountered was usually not particularly strong.

Their opponents were generally just ordinary town residents, utterly powerless in their eyes.

But Wood, who had just appeared, had killed three of their companions with a single slash, and they had not even been able to see how he made his move.

No matter how they looked at it, the man before them was no ordinary character. They might be pirate lackeys, but they had brains too. Having realized the gap in strength, they naturally would not rush forward mindlessly to die.

"Interesting. I never expected a small island to have someone like you.

"But the world outside is vast. If you think you can spout such arrogant nonsense just because you have a little strength, then you're seriously underestimating me, Iron Arm Cook!"

Wood's feat of killing three with one slash had successfully intimidated quite a few of the Iron Arm Pirates' Small Fry, but as the pirate crew's captain, Iron Arm Cook was clearly not so easily frightened.

He had merely cut down three lackeys with one slash. If Iron Arm Cook wanted to, he could send more than a dozen people flying with a single punch.

"Iron Arm Cook? I've never even heard of you. If you said your name was Iron Arm Astro Boy, I might think a little more highly of you.

"But with that name of yours, paired with such an obvious background-character face, you're clearly just a minor extra."

Iron Arm Cook only half understood Wood's words. Based on his past experiences, whenever he announced his name in the South Blue, most people should first say something like, "So you're that so-and-so with a 20 million Belly bounty?"

But Wood clearly did not play by the usual rules. He did not know what kind of character Astro Boy was, but Iron Arm Cook was a great pirate who struck fear throughout the South Blue. How could he tolerate being looked down upon by some mere brat?

Cook had originally intended to send one of the crew's officers or the Vice Captain down to spar with Wood, but Wood's ability to provoke people was simply too strong.

Angered after just a few words, Cook slammed the Arm Gauntlets on his hands together, producing a crisp metallic clang, then leapt directly in front of Wood.

Looking at the towering figure before him, Wood could not help sighing again. Human height in the Pirate World truly was a mystery. He could not understand why, when they were all supposedly ordinary humans, most people could grow to over two meters tall.

At 1.9 meters tall, Wood would have stood out from the crowd in his previous world. Yet Iron Arm Cook before him was at least around 2.5 meters tall based on his build alone.

Leaping into the air, Iron Arm Cook swung a punch clad in pure iron Arm Gauntlets, the fist carrying a howling wind as it smashed directly toward where Wood stood.

BOOM—!

Combined with his iron Arm Gauntlets, his tremendous arm strength sent shattered stones flying everywhere as he punched a basketball-sized crater into the spot where Wood had been standing.

The lack of impact from his fist told Cook that his violent strike had missed, which put him in quite a foul mood.

But before he could vent his frustration, Wood, who had evaded the attack, slashed out a streak of blade light that tore through the dust kicked up around them and shot straight toward Cook's vulnerable neck!