The Pirate Way and Ingratitude

The first ray of morning sunlight tore through the darkness over the horizon.

"Click."

Victor expressionlessly slid his longsword back into its sheath.

At the same time, he casually flicked his other hand, sending a kunai streaking out like a black flash that instantly pierced Jango's body just as he tried to crawl away.

The hypnotist did not even have time to scream before collapsing completely onto the beach.

By then, Zoro had finally finished off that "little kitty" and arrived at the beach below with Wado Ichimonji in hand.

Looking at the beach littered with corpses, he could not help clicking his tongue.

"Hey, Luffy! This is all because you led us the wrong way! I missed the best part!"

Zoro turned and complained to Luffy beside him.

Luffy scratched his head innocently and blinked his wide eyes.

"But Zoro, you were the one who pointed out the way. You said there were sounds over there."

"I meant the direction the sounds were coming from! Who told you to jump straight off the cliff?!" Zoro snapped furiously.

"Pwahahaha!"

Victor could not help laughing at the sight, and much of the cold killing intent around him faded away.

"What an unstraightforward, directionless swordsman. You clearly cannot even tell left from right."

"What did you say?! Want to fight, you red-eyed bastard?!" Veins bulged on Zoro's forehead.

"Ah!! My treasure!!"

Just then, a shrill scream interrupted everyone's quarrel.

Nami finally arrived with the panting Usopp.

She looked at the treasure scattered all over the ground, her face filled with heartbreaking anguish.

"Those bastards! How dare they dirty my Beli!"

Nami instantly became a blur, darting across the battlefield as she expertly cleaned up the aftermath, picking up every scattered gold coin one by one.

Luffy picked up a gem-studded golden crown from a bag on the ground, casually placed it atop his Straw Hat, and asked with a grin.

"This is really pretty. Victor, do I look cool?"

"Cool as hell, Captain." Victor gave him a perfunctory thumbs-up.

"HAHAHA! We really are too strong! This is the power of Captain Usopp, the great pirate!"

Usopp had finally caught his breath as well.

Looking at the enemies strewn across the ground, he was still trembling uncontrollably, but he proudly gave himself a thumbs-up, as though his nose had grown even longer.

"Did you see that?! This is my overwhelming presence! The moment I made a move, they all went down!"

"Huh? That had nothing to do with you!"

Nami, who was frantically stuffing money away, retorted without even looking back. "Weren't you hiding behind a rock and shaking the whole time?"

"Uh..." Usopp's expression froze before he forced out an explanation.

"I was giving you all a chance to show off! If I made a move, my eighty million subordinates would have charged out, and then the situation would have gotten out of control!"

"Ah, amazing! As expected of Usopp!" Stars appeared in Luffy's admiring eyes once more.

"Bang!"

Nami could not take it anymore. She slammed a fist into Luffy's head so hard that the crown on his hat tilted sideways.

"Luffy! Are you an idiot? You actually believe that nonsense?!"

Victor ignored their antics.

He walked over to Nami, pointed at the huge Black Cat Pirates ship anchored by the shore, and said with a smile.

"Nami, do not just stare at this little bit on the ground."

"That ship is the Black Cat Pirates' base. There might be even more good stuff inside. Go loot it."

The moment she heard "more good stuff," Nami's eyes instantly turned into Beli symbols.

"Understood, Vice Captain! I'm on it!"

Nami instantly forgot her exhaustion. Carrying an empty sack, she raced toward the Black Cat Pirates' ship like a gust of wind.

By then, the sun had fully risen above the sea, golden sunlight covering the land and dispelling the bloodshed and gloom of the night before.

Victor wore a faint smile.

"Well, the battle is over. Let's go tell Merry so the villagers can relax too."

Naturally, everyone nodded in agreement.

"Hey, if I 'accidentally' say anything later about Captain Usopp fighting bravely, you guys will not expose me, right?"

Usopp said quietly.

The moment Luffy heard that, he clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.

"Hehehe! Usopp, you really love bragging!"

Usopp's face turned bright red as he craned his neck and protested.

"Hah! I did defeat several pirates just now! I just... added a little artistic embellishment!"

"Ah... I'm hungry! I want meat!"

At the back of the group.

Zoro deliberately lagged behind by two steps, walked up beside Victor, and bumped Victor's back with his shoulder.

"Hey."

Victor paused and turned his head. "What?"

Resting his sword on his shoulder, Zoro looked at Luffy's back ahead of them and spoke quietly.

"Next time, do not try to play hero alone. You may be strong, but we are a team, right?"

Although Victor's act of jumping into the enemy ranks alone had ended well, it still made Zoro very unhappy.

Victor froze for a moment, warmth rising in his heart.

But he quickly concealed it, curling his lips into a mocking smile as he said disdainfully.

"That is only because you are too weak, and you are directionless too. If we waited for you to arrive, everything would have been over already, you idiot moss-head."

"Hah?!"

Veins instantly bulged across Zoro's forehead. His face darkened as his hand went to his sword hilt.

"Fight me! You red-eyed bastard! I'll cut you down!"

Not long afterward, the group returned to the village along the road amid noisy bickering.

The village was utterly silent, eerily dead.

Every house stood wide open, and the interiors were a mess. Clearly, while they had been fighting, Merry had organized everyone and urgently brought them to higher ground.

The group headed uphill and soon reached the high ground where the mansion stood.

Sure enough, the plaza before the mansion was packed with villagers taking refuge there.

When Merry, standing at the front, saw them return safely, bloodstained but otherwise unharmed, he finally let out a breath of relief. His legs went weak, and he nearly dropped to his knees.

He hurried forward and asked nervously.

"May I ask... those pirates...?"

"Hehehe! We took care of every last one of them!" Luffy raised both hands and shouted happily.

Upon hearing that, Merry finally relaxed completely, joy at surviving the disaster spreading across his face.

The residents behind him also quickly became lively upon hearing that the pirates had been eliminated. The tense atmosphere vanished in an instant.

But soon, several discordant voices rose from the crowd.

"Hey, Merry, what kind of formidable pirates could they have been if a few brats like these could handle them?"

"Exactly! You made such a huge fuss, drove us out of our homes, and brought us here to freeze in the wind!"

"I did not even lock my door. What if something gets stolen?"

"Pirates at that level could have been dealt with by us using hoes! What a pointless fuss!"

The murmurs grew louder and louder, full of complaints that Merry had overreacted and contempt for Luffy and the others' strength.

"Hey!! What are you saying?!!"

Usopp trembled with rage upon hearing those words and shouted furiously.

"We risked our lives to save you! Those were the Black Cat Pirates! They were terrifying!"

Luffy simply held down his hat, seemingly unconcerned by any of it.

Merry was at a loss when he saw this and hurriedly waved his hands in explanation.

"Um... everyone, please calm down... They are our benefactors. If not for them..."

"Benefactors? I think it was all an act." A fat villager said disdainfully.

Victor watched the scene coldly, disgust flashing through his eyes.

Sure enough, no matter where he went, foolish and arrogant humans were all the same.

In that case, the solution was simple.

That was... to settle it the pirate way.

"Thud!"

Victor suddenly sprang into action. Without a word, he launched a flying kick straight into the stomach of the fat man who had been shouting the loudest.

"Pwah!"

The fat man was kicked five or six meters away like a ball, crashing heavily onto the ground with a scream.

"It hurts like hell! You... you want..."

The fat man was about to curse when his voice abruptly stopped.

A cold long blade was pressed against his throat, its sharp edge even slicing through a layer of his skin.

"Gulp..." The fat man swallowed, his entire body stiff with terror.

Holding his sword in one hand, Victor's scarlet Sharingan slowly spun as he swept a cold gaze over the surrounding crowd.

"Who was it that said they could handle them? Step forward."

Victor's voice was not loud, yet it carried a suffocating killing intent.

The previously noisy crowd immediately fell silent.

The villagers stared at the boy who had looked so friendly moments ago but now seemed like a demon ready to devour people. Their faces turned pale, and none of them dared even breathe loudly.

This was a true pirate!

Seeing the cowed crowd, Victor snorted disdainfully and withdrew his blade.

"A bunch of ungrateful fools."

Merry sighed helplessly at the sight.

He knew the villagers had indeed gone too far, but he did not want the situation to become any worse.

He hurried over to Victor and gave him a deep bow.

"I am deeply sorry! Please forgive their ignorance and offense! Mr. Victor, please do not lower yourself to their level."

Then he made a welcoming gesture and said respectfully.

"Please come with me to the mansion. To thank you for saving us, Miss Kaya has instructed me to prepare the finest food and wine for all of you."