You Bastard, You Seem Pretty Arrogant

"Sea Restaurant—Baratie! What do you think, everyone? That's the most famous restaurant in the East Blue!"

Johnny stood at the bow, pointing excitedly at the strange structure ahead as he cheered.

"Ooh!!"

Seeing the spectacular sight before them, everyone aboard the Going Merry could not help letting out a collective gasp of amazement.

"Wow!! What a huge fish!!"

Luffy leaned over the railing, his eyes wide as saucers, practically drooling already.

Victor also looked curiously at the building ahead.

Floating atop the azure sea was a massive, multi-story structure shaped primarily like a fish.

Its design was exceedingly unusual, with rounded ends and an enormous fish head forming the bow.

Two huge fins stretched across the sea, while people bustled about on the spacious deck. This was the legendary sea restaurant—Baratie!

"Not bad. It looks pretty classy."

Standing beside Victor, Nami admired its luxurious exterior with a smile. "Eating somewhere like this would put anyone in a better mood."

"Caw caw! Boss! Boss! I can already smell the food! Let's go!"

Clay circled through the air, crying out impatiently.

Just as everyone was lost in fantasies of delicious food.

"Bwooo—!!"

A deep, thunderous warship horn suddenly sounded nearby.

Immediately afterward, a huge shadow swiftly covered the Merry's deck.

Everyone instinctively looked toward the source of the shadow and saw a massive Marine warship slowly pulling alongside them.

A striking seagull emblem was painted on its white sails, with rows of cannons beneath them.

"W-Why is there a Marine ship here?!"

Johnny and Joseph, once pirate hunters themselves, went pale with fright, their eyes wide.

"Tch, we ran into some troublesome people."

Zoro snorted unhappily, resting a hand on his sword hilt.

"When did they get so close...?"

Nami's eyes widened as her expression changed. "Hey, they're not going to attack us, are they...?"

"N-No! I have a disease where I die whenever I encounter Marines!" Usopp clutched his head and instantly hid behind the mast, trembling in fear.

Victor remained leaning against the railing, his expression calm.

He raised his head slightly, casting a sidelong glance at the warship above.

His gaze settled on a pink-haired man in a striped suit standing by the ship's railing.

"An unfamiliar pirate flag..."

The pink-haired man swirled a glass of red wine in his hand as he looked down at the Merry.

His face was filled with disdain as he arrogantly shouted at them.

"I am Marine Headquarters Captain Iron Fist—Fullbody! Which one of you is the captain of this shabby ship? State your name!"

"I'm Luffy!"

Luffy was completely unfazed by the other man's imposing manner. He picked his nose calmly as he spoke.

Seeing this, Usopp, who had been hiding behind the others, found some courage and poked his head out to shout.

"I'm Usopp!!"

Clay felt that he could not lose face either, so he flapped his wings and flew into the air.

"Caw caw! I'm Clay! The ruler of the skies!"

Looking over this strange assortment of people, Fullbody ignored Luffy and Usopp outright. But when his gaze fell on Clay, he was greatly startled.

"A... a talking crow?!"

"Hey! Don't ignore me! I'm Luffy! The man who'll become King of the Pirates!" Luffy waved his fists unhappily.

Fullbody quickly regained his composure. A trace of disgust flashed through his eyes as he glanced at them.

"What exactly is wrong with you people? Are you a circus?"

Then, his gaze shifted to Johnny and Joseph, who were hiding behind the cabin door, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Those two... I seem to remember them. They're pirate hunters who only go after small fry, right?"

"Heh heh, looks like they got captured by pirates. How embarrassing."

Hearing those contemptuous words, Johnny and Joseph's pride took a severe blow.

"Who are you calling hunters who only go after small fry?!"

Johnny roared, pulled out a large handful of wanted posters, and flung them into the air. The papers fluttered everywhere.

"Are these small fry too?! You bastard!!"

"Hmph, pointless shouting."

Fullbody did not even glance at the wanted posters. He turned to the scantily dressed beauty beside him.

"Enough. Don't let this trash ruin our appetite. Let's go eat."

Then he gave the Marine subordinate beside him a contemptuous glance and casually ordered, "Hey, sink this—"

"Whoosh!"

Before he could finish speaking.

A black shadow appeared before him in an instant, like a ghost.

"Bang!!"

Fullbody's vision blurred, and then an irresistible force slammed down onto his head.

Accompanied by a deep, thunderous impact.

The Marine Headquarters captain was smashed face-first into the deck, cracking the wooden planks instantly.

"Ahh!!"

The sexy woman linked arm-in-arm with him screamed at the sudden turn of events and collapsed onto the ground, completely at a loss.

The nearby Marine soldiers were equally horrified. Every one of them was stunned by the sight before them.

"C-Captain?!"

Fullbody struggled to raise his head, staring in terror at the black-haired youth crouching over him.

Especially those eyes...

Within those scarlet pupils, two black tomoe slowly rotated, radiating a suffocating chill.

His instincts told him...

This person... was incredibly strong...

He was finished. He had picked a fight with someone he could not afford to offend!

"You pink-haired bastard, you seem pretty arrogant."

Victor smiled at him, his tone gentle, though the force in his hand gradually increased.

"Perfect. I haven't run into any decent opponents lately, and I've got plenty of pent-up anger with nowhere to vent it."

"Creak..."

Fullbody felt as though his jawbone was about to be crushed. The pain made him unable to speak, and he could only let out a muffled wail.

"Ugh... ugh..."

"Hey! Pirate! Let go of our captain!!"

The surrounding Marines finally came to their senses and raised their muskets at Victor.

"How dare you! We're the elite of Marine Headquarters!"

"Gunners! Prepare to fire!!"

Some Marines even ran toward the cannons on deck.

"Caw caw! Take a hit from Lord Clay!!"

Seeing how cool his boss looked, how could Clay be willing to fall behind?

This was the stage of the ruler of the skies!

He suddenly opened his beak and unleashed a piercing high-frequency sonic wave at the Marines holding their guns on deck.

"Caw—!!!"

"Ahh!! My ears!!"

"Damn it! What is that sound?!"

The Marines on deck instantly dropped to their knees, clutching their ears in agony.

Two particularly frail Marines even rolled their eyes back and fainted on the spot.

"Boom!!"

Yet amid the chaos, one Marine still managed to pull the cannon's firing rope.

With a thunderous blast, a black cannonball screamed through the air, flying straight toward the Merry below.

"Hehehe!"

Luffy watched the incoming cannonball and, rather than dodging, held down his hat and laughed loudly.

"Leave it to me! Gum-Gum—Balloon!!"

Luffy took a deep breath, and his stomach instantly swelled into an enormous ball.

"Boing!"

The cannonball struck his soft belly and was immediately bounced back.

However...

The direction it flew seemed a little off.

"Ahh!!"

Luffy's eyes widened as he watched the cannonball arc through the air, pass over the warship, and unexpectedly land on the roof of the sea restaurant Baratie behind it.

"Boom!!"

An explosion rang out, and black smoke rose into the air.

"Oh no..." Luffy exhaled, shrinking back to normal with the expression of someone who had caused trouble.

On the warship.

Victor sighed in relief when he saw that the Merry was unharmed.

At that moment, a vicious glint flashed through Fullbody's eyes as he tried to pull out his right hand and launch a sneak attack.

"You still dare move?"

Victor's gaze turned cold.

He raised his foot and ruthlessly stomped down on the wrist of Fullbody's prized iron fist.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound of breaking bone rang out.

The so-called "Iron Fist" was as fragile as a dead branch beneath Victor's foot.

"Mmph!!!! Ahh!!!"

Fullbody's eyes instantly widened to their limit, bloodshot with pain.

But because Victor was gripping his jaw tightly, his scream was trapped in his throat. He could only let out terrified muffled groans as his entire body convulsed violently.

Victor leaned down, his scarlet Sharingan staring directly into Fullbody's terrified pupils as he said softly.

"Keep your eyes open in the future. Don't come provoking us again. Understand?"

Fullbody nodded frantically, tears and snot streaming down his face.

"Very good."

Victor released his hand.

[Ding! Defeated target: Marine Headquarters Captain Fullbody.]

[Battle Rating: S.]

[Reward obtained: 200 Ninja Way Points.]

He stood and glanced at the woman beside him, who had long since been frightened stiff and was trembling all over. Then his figure flashed.

The next second, he had already returned to the Merry's deck.

"Phew... Ah, I feel much better now."

Victor dusted off his hands. The red glow faded from his eyes, and he returned to that harmless, smiling appearance.

"You're way too reckless!"

Nami rushed over and complained helplessly. "That was a captain from Marine Headquarters! Attacking the Marines is a serious crime! We'll be wanted!"

"Come on, don't be so tense." Victor shrugged. "I didn't kill any of them. I just gave them a little lesson."

"S-So strong..."

Johnny and Joseph stared at Victor in shock, then dropped to their knees, their eyes full of worship.

Is this the strength of a big shot?!

He can even instantly defeat a Marine Headquarters captain!

"Caw caw!"

Clay circled once through the air before flying back smugly.

"Lord Clay is the ruler of the skies!"

"Get down here, you idiot bird!" Victor waved at him.

"Coming, boss!!"