Lion Can Opener

"Hey! Brats! Don't you bully Chouchou!"

A vigorous roar interrupted everyone's thoughts.

An old man with white hair, dressed in armor and wearing round glasses, stormed over aggressively. He waved a broom in his hand and shielded the little dog named Chouchou.

"Huh? Who are you, old man?" Zoro asked impatiently, folding his arms.

"I'm Boodle, the mayor of this town!" The old man watched them warily. "And you? Who are you people, and why are you here?"

Luffy lay sprawled in the cage, pressing his face against the bars and flashing a mouthful of white teeth.

"I'm Luffy! I'm the man who'll become King of the Pirates!"

"Smack."

Victor, Zoro, and even Nami all covered their foreheads in perfect unison.

This guy really had to advertise his pirate identity everywhere he went.

"What?! Pirates?!"

Mayor Boodle's expression changed drastically, and he tightened his grip on the broom.

"I knew it! You're just like Buggy's crew! Leave this place immediately! Pirates aren't welcome here!"

"Hey, old man." Zoro sighed helplessly. "We're not like Buggy's lot. We're just passing through, so relax."

"I won't believe a word you pirates say!" Boodle roared stubbornly.

While the two sides remained deadlocked, Victor ignored the argument. He crouched down, reached out, and gave Chouchou's head a good rub.

Nice feel. Soft and fluffy.

"A pet..."

Victor looked into Chouchou's determined little black-bead eyes. His thoughts drifted inward as he opened the system's [Summoning Beast] interface.

As a ninja, how could he not have a summoning beast?

Yet when he saw that string of numbers, half his heart went cold.

[Ninja Hound]: Price: 2,000 Ninja Way Points.

[Summoning Crow]: Price: 3,000 Ninja Way Points.

[Mount Myoboku Toad (Medium)]: Price: 5,000 Ninja Way Points.

[Kurama]: Price: 10,000,000 Ninja Way Points.

"Hmm..." Victor looked at his pitiful three-digit balance and silently closed the interface.

Forget it. He might as well catch a Sea King later and make do with that.

At that moment, Nami walked over as well. She gently patted Chouchou's head, then turned to Victor.

"Hey, thanks for saving me earlier. That fire-breathing ability... did you eat a Devil Fruit too?"

Victor smiled and raised a finger to his lips.

"No need to thank me, Miss Navigator. As for that... it's a magician's secret."

"Hmph, acting all mysterious." Nami curled her lips and changed the subject. "Anyway, why is this dog sitting here all the time?"

"Guarding the shop."

Perhaps noticing that Victor and Nami meant Chouchou no harm, Mayor Boodle's tone softened slightly.

He stepped forward and took a bag of dog food from his clothes.

"Guarding the shop?" Nami looked up. "Ah, this is a pet supply store, isn't it?"

"That's right. The owner of this shop was a good friend of mine."

Boodle opened the shop door, skillfully took out a food bowl, filled it with dog food, and set it before Chouchou. "I came in his place to feed Chouchou."

"In his place?"

"Yes." Boodle's eyes dimmed. "The owner of this shop passed away from illness three months ago."

Nami froze, looking at the little dog lowering its head to eat the food.

"Does that mean... it's been waiting for its owner to return all this time?"

"That's what everyone says. But I think that perhaps, to Chouchou, this shop is the most precious memory it shared with its owner—a treasure it would protect to the death."

Boodle looked at Chouchou, his eyes full of affection.

"Ah... that's so touching." Nami could not help being moved.

Just then, in that warm and touching moment—

"Gulp..."

An utterly ill-timed swallowing sound rang out.

Victor turned his head and saw Luffy pressing his face against the bars, staring fixedly at the dog food in Chouchou's bowl. Drool had pooled all over the ground.

"That looks really tasty..."

A vein twitched on Victor's forehead as he could not help saying, "Luffy, that's Chouchou's dog food..."

"Has your diet really expanded to this extent?"

Before his words had even faded, Victor's expression suddenly changed.

He sprang to his feet, frowning tightly, his black eyes instantly turning toward the end of the street.

"What is it?" Nami jumped at his sudden movement.

"Nami, take the mayor and leave first."

Victor's voice turned icy.

Zoro, beside him, also sharply sensed something. His hand rested on his sword hilt, and a battle-hungry smile curled his lips.

"Yeah, someone with killing intent is coming. Leave the rest to us."

"Enemies?" Nami's face went pale. She immediately grabbed Boodle's hand. "Quick, Mayor! Run!"

Boodle still wanted to pick up Chouchou. "Chouchou! Come with me! It's dangerous!"

"Woof!"

But Chouchou barked at the mayor and remained firmly at the shop entrance, unwilling to leave even half a step.

"It won't go!" Boodle was sweating anxiously.

"There's no time!" Nami glanced at the dust rising in the distance, gritted her teeth, and forcibly dragged Boodle toward the back alley. "Victor! We're leaving it to you!"

The instant the two of them had retreated—

"Roar—!!!"

A deafening lion's roar echoed through the street.

Then the ground shook violently.

"Boom!"

A gigantic lion, as large as an elephant, descended from the sky and smashed heavily into the ground before Luffy and the others, kicking up a skyful of dust.

"Whoa! What a huge lion! It looks like it has so much meat!" Even inside the cage, Luffy's focus remained bizarre.

The dust cleared.

On the lion's back sat a beast tamer wearing a fur scarf and sporting a strange hairstyle.

Mohji looked down at them from above, flicking his whip with an arrogant expression.

"So you're that red-eyed brat with the nerve to cause trouble, and Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro?

"Hmph, I didn't expect you not to have run away. That saves me the trouble of looking for you."

"A nobody with quite the big mouth."

Zoro snorted and slowly drew Wado Ichimonji. "You think you're invincible just because you're riding a big cat?"

"Sure saves us the trouble of finding you, you idiot furball."

Veins bulged on Mohji's forehead. "A nobody?! Furball?! You're ridiculously arrogant! I'm Mohji, vice-captain of the Buggy Pirates and a beast tamer!"

"Ah! I want meat!" Luffy shouted from inside the cage.

That completely enraged Mohji.

"Aaargh! Shut up! Richie! Eat them!"

Mohji snapped his whip.

"Roar!"

The giant lion named Richie let out a roar, pushed off with its hind legs, and sent its massive body soaring into the air.

It opened its bloody maw and pounced fiercely at Zoro in the front, carrying a foul gust of wind!

The attack was immensely powerful, making even the air boom.

Zoro's gaze sharpened as he prepared to dodge aside and draw his sword to counterattack.

"Excuse me."

A voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.

Victor did not dodge. Instead, he exerted both hands and hoisted the heavy iron cage containing Luffy.

Chakra surged, strengthening his power in that instant.

"Since it's a lion, help us open this can!"

Victor shouted. Rather than protecting Luffy, he threw the iron cage in his hands like a bowling ball, accurately sending it into Richie's attack range!

"Ah?! Victor, what are you doing?!" Luffy screamed in terror from inside the cage.

The next second—

"Bang—!!!"

Richie's enormous lion paw, powerful enough to shatter rock, slammed viciously into the iron cage.

The previously unbreakable iron cage instantly deformed and twisted beneath the monster's brute strength.

With a piercing screech of tearing metal, it then—completely fell apart!

"Waha! I'm out!!"

Luffy sprang out of the shattered cage, raising both hands in delighted cheers.

"Nice one, Victor! I'm finally free!"

However—

Before he could even enjoy that single second of happiness—

Richie's paw, which had smashed the cage, did not stop. Carried by its remaining momentum, the enormous paw pad slapped straight into Luffy's face.

"Smack!"

"Waaah—!"

Luffy, who had just gained his freedom, was swatted away like a fly. His entire body became a blur as he crashed with a boom into the nearby ruins.

The entire scene fell silent.

Mohji sat atop the lion's back, watching Luffy fly away. He gave a smug snort and slowly raised one finger.

"One."