A Brief Interlude

Aaron got dressed and walked out of the inner room.

Well, clothes really did make the man.

He wore a white undershirt on top and black riding pants below, with a belt cinched tightly around his waist, showing off his slender figure.

His fair face was flushed pink, and a pink helmet sat atop his golden hair, shining together with it beneath the sunlight.

His fingers clenched and loosened unconsciously, while his lips pouted high.

What a youthful, beautiful girl!

"Aaron..." Nami and Kaya both stared in a daze. "I didn't expect you to look this good!" Nami teased, then turned to Kaya. "We should thank you for the clothes too, Kaya."

"Mm-hm, it was nothing." Kaya shook her head with a smile. "Aaron-chan's build looks a lot like mine when I was younger, so I brought out some of my old clothes for her to try. I didn't expect them to fit perfectly."

Hearing that only made Aaron more depressed.

It was not because of the women's riding outfit, but because he regretted his own height.

Previously, Aaron had only seemed rather delicate because he wore tattered clothes.

Yes, this was not some setting the author had suddenly added.

"Aaron, what was that move where you suddenly got bigger? It looked really awesome!" Luffy had been watching the two women fuss over Aaron in boredom when he suddenly asked, his eyes brimming with excitement.

"Huh? What getting bigger?" Aaron stopped pouting and asked in confusion.

"You don't know? Just now, you..." Luffy proceeded to explain what Aaron had done earlier.

"Hmm... hearing you say that..." When Aaron heard that he had turned into a muscle-bound brute, he closed his eyes and carefully sensed his body. Then he opened them and said hesitantly, "...I think I can control that transformation now."

As he spoke, he closed his eyes again. Not long after—

Riiip!

With the sound of tearing clothes, Aaron transformed into a muscle-bound brute again. This time, his eyes were clear, but that idiot-like expression paired with that body was even stranger than rolling his eyes back and showing the whites.

At least the latter, despite being paired with a youthful face, had a kind of wildness in those upturned eyes. But this...

Yes, it gave off the immediate impression of a big dumb lug.

Aaron scratched his head, looked at the scraps of cloth all over the ground, and said to Luffy and the others, "Ahahaha~ My clothes got ripped again."

At this moment, Aaron was completely naked, with only a pair of briefs hanging around his waist.

As for why the briefs were such good quality.

Because this was a serious work.

"..." Nami and Kaya looked up at Aaron speechlessly. In the end, Nami asked Kaya, "Um... Kaya, do you have any spare clothes?"

Kaya looked at Aaron awkwardly and said to Nami, "I do, but they're mostly... not elastic enough to withstand Aaron-chan's antics." Kaya tilted her head, looking at Aaron with a frown before suddenly relaxing. "I think I have one outfit, but..."

"Great! Let us borrow it!" Nami clapped her hands.

"But... that outfit..." Kaya looked at Aaron with some hesitation.

"No matter what it is, let Aaron wear it first! We can't just let him run around naked!" Nami cut Kaya off.

"...All right."

"Nami... these clothes are so tight." Aaron moved his body uncomfortably, looking at Nami with pitiful eyes.

"Pfft!" Nami finally could not hold it in anymore. She clutched her stomach and burst into wild laughter.

"Hahahahahaha!"

"Aaron, you look like a plucked cat right now," Luffy said with a serious expression as he looked at Aaron.

Yes, Aaron was wrapped from head to toe in a pink outfit that tightly outlined his figure.

Yes, it was a bodysuit.

And an extremely elastic one at that.

"I didn't expect you to have clothes like this, Kaya!" Nami looked at Kaya with eyes full of teasing.

"No, my father bought this for me..." Kaya's cheeks turned bright red.

Yes, there seemed to be a story here.

But making things up was too exhausting, so it would not be told.

"This feels kind of strange..." Aaron tried moving his arms again. Although he had a layer of clothing on, he felt as light as if he were wearing nothing at all. "It feels... kind of convenient."

It had that feeling of being pretty exciting once you accepted the premise.

"All right, we should go find Zoro now!" Luffy suddenly said. "Aaron, let's go!" As he spoke, he stretched out his arms and swung through the forest like an ape.

"Huh? Oh, wait for me!" As he spoke, Aaron transformed into a muscle-bound brute again.

This time, the clothes did not rip.

But those knotted muscles were stuffed into pink sexy underwear, paired with that innocent, clueless face.

...The author would not describe it further.

"Wait for me, Luffy!" After transforming, Aaron hurried after Luffy, crashing through several trees along the way. He was extremely vicious.

"..." When Nami and Kaya saw Aaron after his transformation, they could not laugh anymore.

It was simply too painful to look at!

"Um... Kaya-san." Nami turned around. "Could you make us a more elastic outfit? We can pay you."

Yes, Aaron had become so painful to look at that Nami was willing to pay for clothes.

Meanwhile, on Zoro's side.

For once, he had actually found the pirate ship!

See? I knew I could find it! Zoro roared inwardly.

Looking at the ship full of underlings, a bloodthirsty smile that had not appeared for several chapters surfaced on his lips. "Perfect. I've been really pissed off!" He tossed Usopp aside and charged into the crowd like a tiger among sheep.

A slash to the left, a slash to the right, an upward sweep, a downward chop, a straight thrust.

There was no need for any elaborate technique. Even basic swordsmanship carried immense destructive force with Zoro's monstrous physique.

Clang!

Zoro blocked Siamese Cat Sam's claw strike. A wild smile appeared on his face. "I've been waiting for you!"

One Sword Style, Crow Dog!

Elsewhere, Jango met Klahadore.

Before this, Jango had intended to follow Aaron inside to chase after Zoro.

But then he suddenly saw the captain's signal, so he headed to a dense part of the forest.

"Captain Kuro..." Jango bowed, looking respectfully at the man before him.

Sunlight filtered through the trees, and mottled shadows fell across Klahadore's face, making the indifferent butler seem faintly terrifying.

Klahadore—no, Captain Kuro—pushed up his glasses and looked at Jango. "Have they all arrived?"

"Yes! Captain Kuro!" Jango lowered his head even further, cold sweat pouring down his body.

"Mm..." Kuro nodded slightly. "Pass the word. Some unexpected changes have appeared, so the plan will be moved up..."

But before he could finish, a black dot suddenly appeared in the sky, racing straight toward him. Before he could react, that black dot had already rushed before Kuro.

Bang!

It sent him flying.

"Ah, that was dangerous, dangerous." Luffy adjusted his hat. Though he said it was scary, he flashed a bright, toothy grin.

"Ah! Sorry!" Luffy suddenly noticed that he had landed on top of someone. He hurriedly stood up, helped the man to his feet, and bowed in apology.

"Huh? Aren't you that butler?" Once Luffy saw Kuro's face clearly, he cried out in confusion.

"..." Kuro felt a little dizzy, but hearing Luffy's cry abruptly cleared his mind. His sharp gaze turned toward Luffy.

"Why are you here?" Luffy looked at him with a grin.

"..." Kuro said nothing, his expression darkening slightly. Without a word, he returned to his original position, took out a suitcase, opened it, and pulled out something inside.

"Hm?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion as he watched Kuro's movements.

Whoosh!

Luffy saw him suddenly vanish from where he stood!

A sharp pain suddenly shot through his left arm. Luffy had already darted aside, his body moving faster than his mind. That was precisely why his arm had not been severed.

Kuro suddenly appeared where Luffy had been standing. Both his hands now wore gloves fitted with ten blades each, and blood dripped conspicuously from the blades on his right hand.

"You..." Luffy stared at Kuro in surprise.

"Since you have discovered me, I have no choice but to silence you!" Kuro pushed up his glasses and looked coldly at Luffy.

"Luffy! Wait for me!" A shout suddenly came from afar. Amid repeated tremors that shook the ground, a pervert appeared before everyone.

Yes, it was Aaron.

"..." Seeing Aaron's appearance, Kuro's normally steady hands trembled unconsciously. His eyes twitched continuously as he looked at Aaron and asked, "What are you?"

"Huh?" Aaron scratched his head. "My name is Aaron, Aaron Copperfield." As he spoke, his chest muscles twitched twice on their own, making the pink underwear tremble wildly with them.

"I'm not asking your name. What exactly are you?!" Kuro felt as though some string in his mind was about to snap.

"Me? I'm a pirate, of course!" Aaron said matter-of-factly.

Suddenly, he spotted Jango. Aaron happily waved his thick arm. "Yo! It's you again, sir!"

"Jango... do you know this pervert?" Kuro asked Jango, suppressing his killing intent.

"Uh... y-yes!" Jango's eyes twitched violently as he looked at Aaron.

"Then good. Get rid of him for me!" With that, Kuro silently launched himself toward Luffy.

He truly did not want to look at Aaron any longer!

"Uh..." Jango looked at the three-meter-tall Aaron, then at his own height of less than 1.8 meters. All he could think was, Your servant truly cannot do it!

"Um... sir?" Aaron looked at Jango, who was blankly staring at him, scratched his head, and asked tentatively.

"..." Jango came back to his senses and said with a mournful expression, "Um, how about the two of us have a chat?"