Daddy Who Brings Children

"I am Lord Rody's butler, Mike. I advise you to leave at once. Otherwise, when Lord Rody arrives, given his temperament, you will have no chance of survival," Mike said calmly.

"Is... is that so? Well, I really should thank you for that," Toby said through gritted teeth.

"Every one of you makes Slayer sound so terrifying, but I'd really like to see whether he's as powerful as you claim—whether he can kill me, Boxer Toby, with a single wave of his hand."

"Let me first test the skills of you, his butler!"

Toby wore steel gauntlets on his hands as he swung both fists at Mike. Mike raised his cane and blocked Toby's punches, only to feel an enormous force travel through it. Following the force of the blow, Mike redirected it into the ground, and the steel gauntlets left two small craters in the pavement.

Mike swiftly thrust his cane toward Toby's chest. If his opponent had been of normal height, the straight thrust would have targeted his waist and abdomen. But because Toby was so short, it instead aimed for his chest. Though Toby was small, his reactions were quick. He immediately raised his right hand before his chest and blocked Mike's powerful strike. The two exchanged dozens more moves before finally retreating from each other.

"Old man, is that all you've got?"

Mike was breathing slightly heavily as he looked at the still-energetic Toby. "In the end, I'm old. My stamina can't compare to what it was in my younger days."

"Mr. Windfire Wheel, go find Lord Rody and tell him what's happening here first."

"Alright, Butler Mike, hold on for now. I'll go find the captain right away," Windfire Wheel said as he transformed into a motorcycle and sped off.

"Just you wait! Once I meet up with the captain, you're all dead!"

Seeing Windfire Wheel turn into a motorcycle, Toby's eyes shone even brighter. He turned to the pirates behind him and ordered, "You lot hold this old man back. Everyone else, come with me! Don't let that motorcycle get away!"

The dozen or so pirates Toby had brought chased after Windfire Wheel. The pirates left behind watched Toby gradually disappear, then immediately scattered and fled.

"Heh, it seems not all pirates are fools," Mike said with a smile, leaning on his cane.

"Butler Mike, now that those pirates have run away, we should hurry and chase after Windfire Wheel," Carmen said anxiously.

"No need to worry, Miss Carmen. There's no need to chase after him. Don't forget, Mr. Windfire Wheel is a vehicle. Those pirates can't catch him. Once they follow Mr. Windfire Wheel to Lord Rody, I'm afraid not a single one of them will survive," Mike said slowly, shaking his head.

After buying their things and preparing to rendezvous with Mike and the others, Rody and Nami turned past the entrance of a small alley and heard several gunshots. Looking over, they saw a sharp-eyed middle-aged man in a loose cloak standing where the shots had come from. Beside him lay six gun-wielding pirates, along with another pirate collapsed on the ground, trembling all over.

"Too... too fast, and too accurate!"

"I... I didn't even see how you fired. They were all hit before I knew it, and... and every shot hit the heart!"

"So this is the marksmanship of Daddy, the bounty hunter with the best gun skills among the bounty hunters of East Blue—the Daddy who brings his child along?" the pirate sprawled on the ground cried out.

Daddy, whose full name was Daddy Masterson, had once been a genius sniper in the Marines. He later lost in a duel against Yasopp, the sniper of the Red-Haired Pirates. However, Yasopp saw a photograph of Daddy with his daughter and thought of his own son, Usopp, so he spared Daddy's life. Yasopp's words made Daddy think of his daughter. Wanting more time to spend with her, he left the Marines and became a bounty hunter instead.

Today, Daddy had caught several small-time pirates with bounties on them as usual and was heading to the Marine base in Loguetown to collect the rewards from the base commander, Colonel Smoker. As usual, he had also dealt with a few small pirates who had tried to take revenge on him.

But when a man and woman emerged from around the corner, Daddy's body tensed. A sniper's unique instincts were frantically warning him. The sense of danger came from that man. That hair color, those distinctive markings on his face—there was no mistake. This was... "The highest-bounty criminal in East Blue, the man with a bounty of 50 million Beli—Slayer Rody!"

"Oh? You want to turn me in for the bounty?"

Seeing Daddy's tense body, Rody asked with interest.

"A 50 million Beli bounty... I don't think there's any bounty hunter who wouldn't want that," Daddy said, staring at Rody without blinking.

"Rody... Slayer Rody!"

"Those distinctive markings and that face are exactly the same as on the wanted poster!"

"You... you must be the strongest and most vicious wanted criminal in East Blue, Slayer Rody!"

"Hahaha..."

"Daddy, you bounty hunter, you're dead! Lord Rody has the power to wipe out a five-thousand-man fleet..." The pirate on the ground had not even finished speaking when—

A motorcycle came speeding down the alley ahead. Upon seeing Rody, the racing motorcycle cried out in a human voice, "Captain, save me! Save me!"

"Someone is trying to steal the little motorcycle that the captain loves!"

"Could you not say something so shameless every time?" Rody said helplessly, rubbing his forehead.

The motorcycle pulled up before Rody. Amid a series of mechanical clacks, Windfire Wheel transformed into his robot form.

"H-He turned into a person... and he... he can talk!"

Daddy and the pirate on the ground were both stunned by Windfire Wheel's transformation, while Rody and his group had long grown accustomed to the shock of bystanders.

"Windfire Wheel, tell us slowly. Who's trying to take you?" Nami asked.

"Captain's wife, it's a group of pirates. Their leader is called Boxer Toby. Butler Mike couldn't defeat them because they had strength in numbers, so he had me come find the captain first." Seeing Rody, Windfire Wheel calmed down and explained slowly.

"Didn't you tell them who Rody is?" Nami asked in confusion.

"I did, but they didn't believe me. They said no person could possibly destroy a fleet of fifty ships, and that everything the newspapers said was just bragging and exaggeration." Windfire Wheel looked thoroughly displeased. "Those guys are just frogs in a well."

"Hurry, hurry! That motorcycle turned into this alley!"

Amid a flurry of footsteps, more than a dozen pirates ran into the alley. At their head was a short pirate.

"Hehe, motorcycle, you can't escape. You belong to me!"

"Slayer Rody!"

"And the bounty hunter, Daddy!"

"Captain, look! That man with the markings on his face is Slayer Rody!" one of Toby's subordinates said nervously as he looked at Rody.

"You're Slayer Rody?" Toby's smile vanished. Ignoring Daddy completely, he stared at Rody excitedly.

Seeing that Rody ignored him, Toby grew furious. "You dare look down on me like this? Perfect—let Boxer Toby see whether you're really as powerful as the rumors say!"