I, Aaron, Can't Be Cut!

The blazing sun beat down, its rays like an ardent young wife—ordinary people could hardly endure such passion.

Roronoa Zoro was clearly no ordinary person.

He was built like a sea monster!

But even monsters needed energy.

Roronoa Zoro had gone three weeks without a drop of water and was close to utter exhaustion.

So he remained half-asleep, half-awake, trying to conserve what little nourishment he had left.

Tap! Luffy stood before Roronoa Zoro.

Roronoa Zoro lifted his head, saw Luffy before him, and sneered. "You again? You really have nothing better to do."

"Hehehehe." Luffy flashed his white teeth. "I'll untie you, so become my companion."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm looking for companions to become pirates with." As he spoke, Luffy stepped forward and tried to untie Roronoa Zoro.

"I refuse." Roronoa Zoro stopped him. "You want me to willingly do evil? Don't waste your time!"

"What's so bad about being a pirate?" Luffy pouted and asked.

"Pirates are crooked criminals. Who'd want to be one?"

"What does it matter? Aren't you an evil bounty hunter in other people's eyes too?"

"No matter what others say, I've never done anything I regretted," Roronoa Zoro said seriously. Then he showed a bloodthirsty grin. "So no matter what, I have to live and finish what I need to do."

"Hmm..." Luffy folded his arms. "But I've already decided you're going to be my companion, so there's nothing I can do."

"Don't decide that on your own!"

"Hehehe! You use swords, right?" Luffy asked with a grin.

"Huh? Y-Yeah..."

"I'll get your swords back. In exchange, you become my companion."

...Alright, no more padding. Time for the protagonist to make his entrance.

Aaron clutched the package in his hands, looking left and right as he said helplessly, "Where is this? Why does every room look the same...?"

At this very moment, Aaron was inside the Marine base.

After making the hamburgers, Aaron had planned to find Roronoa Zoro with Luffy and bring him food. But when he left the kitchen, he discovered they had already vanished without a trace. With no other choice, he tried hard to recall how he had gotten to Roronoa Zoro's location in the first place.

But Aaron's entire body had been soaked by seawater, and naturally his brain was no exception. After thinking so hard he nearly squeezed out his brain matter, he still couldn't remember. In the end, it was the girl's directions that allowed him to successfully reach the Marine base.

Well, there was still a slight deviation. Aaron hadn't found the execution ground and had entered the base instead.

Even though the execution ground was right next to the base.

Well, Aaron's brain was already waterlogged, so they couldn't expect too much from him, right?

"Hmm... When you can't find a place, you should go somewhere high. With a wide view, you'll be able to find it! Mm-hmm, I need to go to the rooftop!" Thinking this, Aaron looked around and ran up the stairs, acting as though he owned the place.

On the rooftop, a tall and imposing man whose jaw was encased in an iron brace swung the enormous axe embedded in his right arm and said, "I am the greatest."

...Blurting out "I am the greatest" the moment he opened his mouth nearly scared the author senseless. How narcissistic did someone have to be to say that without shame?

Yet the surrounding soldiers showed no reaction at all, simply carrying out their duties faithfully.

They were hauling up a massive stone statue.

The face of that statue was unmistakably the man's own.

"I will make everyone in this town feel my greatness. This statue is the first step toward my greatness," the man said calmly, as though he were stating an undeniable truth.

"Dad, why haven't you gone and had that man executed yet? He hit me! Even you've never hit me..." Beside the man, Helmeppo clutched his swollen cheek and whined pitifully.

This man was none other than Helmeppo's father, Captain Axe-Hand Morgan.

"I don't hit you..." Axe-Hand Morgan looked down at his son, then suddenly struck Helmeppo hard with the back of the axe on his right arm, sending him flying into the wall. He nearly fell off the rooftop.

Axe-Hand Morgan walked over and used the handle of his axe to jab at Helmeppo's collar, lifting him up. "It's only because you're such a stupid son that you aren't even worth hitting!"

"Wow! What an amazing statue!" A shout suddenly rang out from the doorway.

Everyone turned and saw a blond boy who stood barely over four feet tall.

Yes, it was our protagonist, Aaron.

Seeing everyone staring at him, Aaron gave a shy smile, dimples appearing on his flushed cheeks. "Um, hello, everyone!" Then he hurried to the edge of the wall, stood on tiptoe, shielded his eyes from the sun with his right hand, and looked around. "Hmm... Ah! There!" He spotted Roronoa Zoro.

Having found Roronoa Zoro, Aaron did not hesitate. He turned to leave, but a tall figure blocked his view. Aaron raised his head and saw Axe-Hand Morgan staring coldly at him.

Axe-Hand Morgan asked, "What is in that package?"

Aaron replied, "It's hamburgers, sir. I'm going to bring food to Roronoa Zoro."

"Bring food? Do you know that pirate hunter is a condemned criminal? Bringing food to a condemned criminal is defying me. Are you prepared to bear the consequences of defying me?"

"But sir, that man is my companion. I can't let him go hungry." Aaron looked at the package in his hands, then raised his head to look at Axe-Hand Morgan helplessly.

"Looks like you don't know what happens when you defy me!" As he spoke, Axe-Hand Morgan raised his right arm high and brought it down viciously. Before Aaron could react, his upper body had already been split into two, sagging apart to either side.

"This is what happens when you defy me!" Axe-Hand Morgan turned around and looked at his subordinates as though making an example of Aaron.

But he saw no awe in their eyes. Instead, they were filled with shock and... a trace of fear.

"Um... sir, may I leave now?" Aaron's voice sounded behind Axe-Hand Morgan at just the right moment.

"What? Didn't I already..." Axe-Hand Morgan spun around in shock. Aaron had both hands pressed against the separated halves of his head. With a hard push inward, his sagging upper body fused back together without a trace. Azure water seeped out from the split, and as it slowly soaked in, the crack miraculously vanished. Then Aaron picked up the package from the ground, patted off the dust, and looked up at Axe-Hand Morgan with a questioning gaze.

"D-Damn it! Damn it! Damn it, damn it!" Seeing Aaron like that, Axe-Hand Morgan felt as if his dignity had been insulted. Like a berserker... he went berserk.

He raised his arm and hacked wildly at Aaron, frightening Aaron into... quickly tossing the package aside so Axe-Hand Morgan would not chop it apart.

"Um... s-sir... I... can't... be cut..." His voice kept breaking off. Well, that was only because his mouth occasionally got chopped apart.

Axe-Hand Morgan gradually came to his senses as well. The feeling of cutting Aaron was wrong!

There was none of the smooth sensation of cutting a person. It felt more like he was chopping at some kind of absorbent stuffing.

Looking more closely at Aaron's wounds, there was no blood at all, nor were there any visible internal organs.

A Devil Fruit user? As a captain, Axe-Hand Morgan knew about Devil Fruits.

So he stopped and waved his left hand. "Gunners, fire at this monster!"

Just then.

"Yahoo!" With a strange cry, Luffy leaped onto the platform. "Ah! I overshot it!" He hurriedly stretched out his hand and grabbed the statue's head, using the recoil to land safely.

Well, then that head landed safely too.

It fell off.

It dropped in free fall and shattered to pieces.

"Sorry!" Knowing he had messed up, Luffy quickly scratched his head and apologized.

Silence!

The world seemed to fall silent at that very moment!

Axe-Hand Morgan stared wide-eyed at his shattered "self," a stormy sea churning in his heart.

Veins bulged on his face, on his arms, over his entire body! Blood raced through him, even causing his whole body to swell by a size.

"You're all going to die!" Well, Axe-Hand Morgan had completely gone berserk and charged at Luffy.

"Sorry, sorry!" Luffy jumped up and dodged Axe-Hand Morgan's attack, still apologizing nonstop.

After landing, he suddenly noticed Helmeppo hiding in a corner. "Ah! You're the one I was looking for!" Luffy said delightedly, then grabbed Helmeppo and ran downstairs.

"Luffy! Wait for me!" Seeing this, Aaron quickly picked up his package and hurried after him.

"Chase them!" Axe-Hand Morgan shouted furiously.

"Yes!" A group of soldiers ran down the stairs, leaving Axe-Hand Morgan alone to glare darkly at the statue. Then he too strode downstairs.

"Luffy! What are you doing here?" Aaron asked, gasping for breath. His short legs were nearly broken from running just to barely keep up with Luffy.

"I came for Roronoa Zoro's swords." As he spoke, Luffy punched Helmeppo again. "Where are the swords?"

"Roronoa Zoro... Oh, right, right, right! I almost forgot! Luffy, I'm going to bring Roronoa Zoro his hamburgers first!" Saying that, Aaron hurried to a window and jumped out.

"Ahhh—splat!" The Marine base was not very tall, and Aaron reached the ground in only a few seconds.

His head was buried deep in a pile of sand, and his entire body lay motionless, as if he were dead.

Suddenly, he pulled his head out, sprang to his feet, raised both arms, and shouted,

"Let's do that again!" His eyes gleamed with joy.

But then he noticed the package clenched tightly in his hand and remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He ran toward Roronoa Zoro.

"Roronoa Zoro, I made these hamburgers for you. Hurry up and eat them!" Aaron opened the package. Inside were four huge hamburgers, still giving off a faint warmth because they had only just been made.

The aroma stirred Roronoa Zoro from his half-conscious state. He looked at Aaron. "I'm not eating."

"You've been hungry for three weeks. You should eat something!"

"No need. There are still ten days left. In ten more days, I'll be free."

"But you're going to be executed tomorrow."

"What?" Hearing that, Roronoa Zoro stared at Aaron in shock.

"Helmeppo never intended to keep his promise, so hurry up and eat these hamburgers, then go teach them a lesson!" Aaron's intelligence was finally online.

"My hands are tied. I can't eat at all!" Roronoa Zoro relented.

Swish, swish!

Aaron instantly pulled out a shovel and sliced it apart in a few quick strokes. He held both pieces out in front of him. "Here!"

Roronoa Zoro swayed as he rose to his feet, took Aaron's hamburger, then squatted down beside him. He looked at Aaron strangely. "Kid, your swordsmanship is pretty good!"

As a swordsman, Roronoa Zoro could naturally see how extraordinary that move had been.

"Oh, I just practiced by cutting hamburgers. It's no big deal." Aaron waved a hand dismissively, then looked at Roronoa Zoro with eager anticipation. "Hurry up and try it!"

Hearing that, Roronoa Zoro took a huge bite. He chewed for a while, then suddenly went still.

"How is it?" Aaron asked with a smile.

Roronoa Zoro said nothing. He merely finished the hamburger in his hand in a few bites, grabbed another, and stuffed it straight into his mouth, chewing nonstop.

Aaron's smile gradually widened. A customer wolfing down food was the greatest affirmation Aaron could receive.

Looks like I'm another step closer to making the most delicious hamburgers, Aaron thought.

"Whew!" Roronoa Zoro quickly finished the hamburgers. Looking at Aaron in surprise, he said, "I didn't expect you, kid, to have some talent after all."

"Hahahaha!" Aaron laughed oddly. "This is my dream! To make the most delicious hamburgers, catch the biggest jellyfish, and blow the most beautiful bubbles!"

"...What kind of nonsense is that?" Roronoa Zoro looked at Aaron strangely, then stood up. "Forget your dream for now, kid. The enemy is here. Hurry up and find somewhere to hide!"

In the distance, several soldiers were hurrying toward them with guns in hand.

"No. We're companions. How can I just let my companion protect me?" As he spoke, Aaron took a small bottle from his clothes.

"Huh? Companions? You're a pirate too? A kid like you?"

"Why can't I be a pirate? And I'm not that young. I'm older than Luffy!" Aaron glared at Roronoa Zoro unhappily.

Roronoa Zoro was startled at first, then showed his trademark predatory grin. "Then let's go together!"

"I don't need you!" Aaron was unhappy that Roronoa Zoro was treating him as someone to protect. He unscrewed the bottle and dipped his index finger inside.

A transparent, viscous liquid slid across his finger. Aaron curled his index finger into a ring and pressed it tightly against his thumb, then slowly pulled them apart. A transparent film appeared before his eyes.

Aaron looked at the film with satisfaction. Then, facing the soldiers, he blew hard from his mouth.

"Whoosh!"