Collision with Alvida!

"It's a ship! Great! There's food!"

Luffy spoke excitedly, his eyes turning into star shapes. The next moment, his arm stretched out, and with a whoosh, he vanished from Zero's sight.

"..."

Zero stared blankly as he watched Luffy extend his arm and swing himself onto the massive ship not far away.

"Wait, that pirate flag looks familiar!"

After thinking it over carefully, he remembered that this was the scene from the beginning of the anime where Luffy encountered Alvida.

Under the normal course of events, Luffy should have been fished up by Alvida's crew by accident while still inside a barrel. Because of Zero's interference, however, Luffy had not boarded the ship in the usual way.

But it looked like a conflict with Alvida was still unavoidable!

Zero shook his head and helplessly accepted the fact.

At the same time, the familiar voice rang out in his mind again.

"Ding! Side quest activated: Seize the hat of the great pirate Alvida. Reward upon success: 100 experience points, 10,000 Beli."

Looks like I have no choice but to join the fight...

There were no oars on the small boat, so Zero had no choice but to jump into the sea and swim over. Fortunately, the distance was not too far. By the time he climbed aboard, he saw Luffy being chased around in a sorry state by a group of pirates.

"Whew, good thing I wasn't late."

Zero took a few deep breaths, ignoring his soaked clothes. He leaped straight to Luffy's side and faced off against Alvida and her pirate crew alongside him.

"Zero! You came too! Hahahaha!"

Luffy greeted Zero with a grin, as though the chase just now had been nothing more than a bit of fun.

Zero nodded, but his gaze passed over the pirates before him and landed on Alvida.

Her enormous body and the massive spiked club in her hand, nearly as tall as a person, made it clear that she possessed formidable strength.

Before long, she would even eat a Devil Fruit and become one of the rare Devil Fruit users in the entire East Blue.

But then again, if I were facing Alvida after she ate the Devil Fruit, I might not have the heart to do this...

Zero sighed softly and decided to end the fight as quickly as possible.

Hum!

Conqueror's Haki, max level—activate!

The pirates opposite him felt a terrifying pressure erupt from the man before their eyes. Then, their vision went black, and they collapsed limply onto the deck.

Clatter! Clang!

That was the sound of their weapons falling along with them.

Alvida staggered a few steps, looking as though she was about to fall, but she still managed to brace herself against the deck with her spiked club and barely withstand the intimidation of the Conqueror's Haki.

"Hey, hey, hey! What is going on here? What did you do, you new brat?"

Still dazed, she loudly questioned Zero. Her eyes kept flicking toward the pirates sprawled before her, her face full of disbelief.

Even for someone like her, who had dominated the East Blue for so long, encountering an unknown power for the first time inevitably filled her with fear.

Luffy beside Zero had stars in his eyes. He clearly longed for Zero's incredible ability as well.

"Zero, you're amazing!"

Luffy laughed and praised him.

Zero did not respond. He was even somewhat disappointed.

He had thought one burst of Conqueror's Haki would be enough to take down every pirate on the other side, including Alvida. He had not expected Alvida to remain standing!

Now that he thought about it, his own level was probably too low, preventing the Conqueror's Haki from displaying its proper power. Otherwise, even Alvida, a pirate known only in the East Blue, would never have been able to resist it!

Zero sighed inwardly, but his feet were already moving. Before Alvida could react, he lowered his body and charged at her at incredible speed.

"Damn it, don't underestimate a great pirate, brat!"

Alvida's frightened expression instantly turned furious. As she spoke, she swung her enormous spiked club and smashed it straight down at Zero!

Watching the weapon that could have flattened a person come whistling toward him, Zero did not panic. He dodged to the right, using his level 4 martial arts to nimbly evade Alvida's spiked club.

Boom!

The spiked club slammed into the deck, blasting open a hole about half a person wide.

The next moment, Zero did not pause in the slightest. With a light jump, he landed on top of the spiked club.

Seeing this, Alvida's arm muscles bulged as she yanked the spiked club up with all her strength, naturally throwing Zero high into the air.

"Straw Hat brat, once I finish him off, I'll deal with you next!"

Thinking victory was already hers, Alvida shouted at Luffy. She did not notice the shadow suddenly descending from above her!

By the time she realized something was wrong, the light before her eyes had already grown scorching. Only then did she discover that Zero had snatched away her hat!

Her eyes bulged as though she could not bear such humiliation. She raised her spiked club high again, preparing to smash Zero down hard, only to see him wave at her as if he were—

Saying goodbye?

Before she could react, she heard a resounding—

"Gum-Gum Pistol!"

A sharp pain exploded in her back. Like the enemies she had sent flying before, she was blasted away by a stretched arm and fell into the sea, her fate unknown.

"Mm, looks like it's over."

Zero spun the hat in his hand, tossing it high and catching it again. After playing with it for a moment, he was about to submit the side quest when Luffy ran over and said something Zero had never expected:

"You're really strong! Be my partner!"

Zero froze for a moment, then immediately agreed.

"Of course!!"

"Great! My pirate crew is finally established!"

Luffy happily threw an arm around Zero's neck to celebrate the founding of their pirate crew, and Zero could not help feeling equally excited!

The pirate crew that would one day roam the seas and strike fear into countless Marines and pirates alike—he was actually able to witness its founding! As someone who had originally been a One Piece fan, it was simply too thrilling!

He had originally thought it would take quite a bit of effort to join Luffy's pirate crew. He had not expected things to go so smoothly!

Luckily, he had met Luffy right after he set sail, when he was short on manpower. If it had been later in their adventures, becoming a member of the Straw Hat Pirates would not have been nearly so easy!

Just then—

"What's that?"

It seemed he had noticed a familiar figure lying on the ground. That small body and pink hair immediately overlapped with someone in his mind, making the still-excited Zero suck in a sharp breath. Luffy followed Zero's gaze as well.

"Eh, eh, eh!!! That's... Koby! Are you okay???"