Gaimon the Box Man

"Hey, there's an island!" Luffy had spent plenty of time using the telescope to survey their surroundings along the way, but not to avoid danger. He was looking for islands where they could have adventures.

"Huh? Forget it! It looks like a deserted island no matter how you look at it. Let's stick to our course." Nami gave Luffy no chance to suggest going ashore, but she had forgotten that Luffy was not the type to listen.

"What are you doing? Wait!" Sure enough, Nami saw Luffy raise the oars and start rowing toward the island, but she could no longer stop him.

"Maybe we can find new companions. It'd be even better if we found meat!" Luffy said with a grin.

"Luffy, why did you bring us to a deserted island?" William, who had just woken up, discovered that Luffy had rowed the boat to the shore of a barren island. Hadn't he told Nami to keep an eye on Luffy? How had Luffy started acting willfully again after he rested for just a little while?

"This island only has a forest. There's nothing here!" Luffy was somewhat disappointed after going ashore. Any normal person could tell this was a deserted island with nothing on it before even landing.

"Didn't I just say this was a deserted island? You actually wanted to come here looking for companions?" Nami slapped her forehead in speechless frustration. Even if they were only a temporary "alliance," how had she ended up with such an idiotic captain?

"Looking for companions? Are you an idiot?" William knocked Luffy on the head in annoyance. What normal person would look for companions on a deserted island?

"Let's get Zoro off the ship to adventure with us too!" As a rubber man, Luffy ignored William's blow and showed no sign of repentance as he tried to head deeper into the forest. Perhaps Luffy simply did not know what repentance was.

"Forget it. Let him guard the ship!" William glanced at Zoro, who was still snoring loudly, and said helplessly.

"Fine. Maybe we'll find companions in the forest."

"How could there be people? There might be monsters and wild beasts, though!" Nami gave the back of Luffy's head a fierce karate chop. For a girl, monsters and wild beasts were frightening things. No wonder she was so angry.

"What are those?" Nami was startled by several strange animals.

A dog with a chicken's head and tail? And a snake with a rabbit's head? What was going on with the animals here? Every one of them possessed traits from other animals. This bizarre phenomenon added a touch of mystery to the island.

"The animals here are so strange."

"There's something wrong with this forest." After seeing the strange animals, William had roughly guessed that this island was Rare Animal Island. If so, that strange old man was here too.

"Don't take another step forward!" A booming voice suddenly rang out through the forest.

"Hm? Who's talking?" Luffy tried to find the source of the voice, but the forest's echoes made it impossible to determine its direction.

"Me? I am the guardian of this forest!"

"The forest guardian?" William and the other two asked curiously.

"Humans, if you want to live, leave at once!" The self-proclaimed forest guardian spoke again.

"If you dare take one more step forward, the forest's punishment will descend upon you."

"Who do you think you are?" Luffy said disdainfully.

"I don't care who you are, get out here right now!" Nami shouted fearfully. Other than someone as carefree as Luffy, anyone would be wary of the unknown. Even William, who knew this island was not dangerous, remained alert.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three gunshots rang out. One bullet hit Luffy's body, but his rubber ability bounced it back. Another shot was fired at William, and he dodged it with Shave, while simultaneously carrying Nami away from the bullet aimed at her.

William had been using the Six Powers more often lately. If he wanted to recover his strength quickly, he had to use these techniques regularly so he would not become rusty. William believed that as long as he did not use them in front of Marines or encounter knowledgeable people from the Grand Line, no one would suspect his identity for the time being.

"Bullets? The other side is human!" William immediately shouted.

"Hey, what kind of monster are you?" The mysterious voice had clearly been frightened by Luffy bouncing back the bullet.

"The bullets seemed to have come from over there!" Nami immediately pointed in one direction. If William had not saved her just now, she would have been shot. Naturally, she wanted Luffy to teach that mysterious pretender a lesson.

"There's a gun on the ground? But what is this thing?" Luffy ran over but found no one. Instead, he found a pistol on the ground and a treasure chest with a strange plant growing from it.

"Huh? It moved?"

Shave! The prepared William suddenly appeared in front of the mysterious person and drove his sword into the ground. The mysterious person hurriedly stopped in fright, nearly crashing into the blade.

"This... is a person?" Although William had known this person existed, he and Nami still could not imagine how this "box man" lived.

"Oh? It's a box man! Awesome!" Luffy shouted excitedly, as though there was nothing strange about it.

The uncle trapped inside the box was named Gaimon, and he was also the guardian of Rare Animal Island.

"It's my first time seeing someone stuffed into a treasure chest. Are you some rich young master?"

"Hm? I was once well cared for... You brat, don't talk nonsense!" Gaimon briefly explained the bitterness of being stuck in a box for years. Years ago, Gaimon had also been a young pirate. By chance, he and his companions had arrived on this island, but an accident happened when they were leaving, and his companions forgot to come back for him. As a result, he had lived alone on this island for years.

"So you're an idiot."

"I'll kill you!" Though Luffy had angered Gaimon greatly, Gaimon was still happy inside. This was the first time in years that he had spoken with other people. The people who usually came to the island were either pirates or hunters, and Gaimon had scared them away shortly after they landed.

"You have no right to say that!" William and Nami said to Luffy in unison.

"What are you doing? Help!"

"Can't pull it out?"

"Don't mess around! My body has grown together with this treasure chest. It can't be pulled apart. If you damage the box, I'll probably be finished too." Gaimon was terrified that Luffy would try pulling him again. If that happened, he really would be done for.

"Luffy, forget it!" William had no choice but to stop Luffy. Gaimon might have been an unimportant person, but since they had met him, William could not let Luffy kill him.

"By the way, how did you get trapped in the box?" William knew Nami and Luffy had to be curious about why Gaimon was stuck in the treasure chest, so he simply asked himself.

Seeing that Luffy and the others were not vicious people, Gaimon told them why he had become trapped inside the treasure chest and also revealed the locations of the island's treasures.

"Alright, Uncle, we'll help you bring down the treasure!" The treasure-loving Nami immediately offered to help upon hearing there was treasure on the island.

"Really? I didn't tell you for nothing after all!" Gaimon was deeply moved, nearly shedding tears. The treasure he had dreamed of was so close, yet he could not reach it.

"But you're a thief, right?" When Luffy exposed Nami's identity as a thief, he forgot that he himself was a pirate.

"Shut up. I know how to appreciate kindness."

However, when Luffy climbed the cliff and found the five chests, he discovered that all five were empty.

"They're... empty, aren't they?" Seeing that Luffy had not brought the treasure chests down for a long time, Gaimon had roughly guessed the truth, though he still felt deeply disappointed.

"Haha, Uncle, don't be disappointed. Didn't you wait for us to arrive? If we had come a few years later, you might already have died!"

"Straw Hat!"

"You've waited here for so many years. Why not become a pirate with us again?" No one knew what Luffy's standards for recruiting companions were.

"Are you inviting me?" Though Gaimon was moved by Luffy's invitation, he still refused. "Thank you for inviting me. Even though the treasure is gone, I still have to continue my work as guardian!"

"Why?" Luffy was clearly disappointed.

"There are more hunters who come to this island for these rare animals than treasure-hunting pirates. After all these years, I've grown fond of these animals. I can't abandon them!"

"Uncle, aren't you a rare animal too?"

"I'll kill you!"

"The adventure's over. We should look for companions next, then enter the Grand Line." When William returned to the ship, he found Zoro still asleep. He truly had to admire Zoro.