Pirates

"Ming, one fried rice and a beer over here!" a villager called from his table.

"Coming." Li Ziming poured him a beer, then went into the kitchen to make the fried rice.

"You can't handle all this by yourself. Why not find a few people to help?" one villager suggested.

"I tried." Li Ziming came out with the fried rice and smiled. "Most people are busy with things at home. It isn't the busy season anyway, so I'm managing on my own."

"Fair enough. If it weren't for my wife... Ha ha." Realizing he had said too much, the villager laughed it off.

Li Ziming smiled faintly. He had little interest in prying into anyone else's business. He topped up the man's glass. "This one's on me."

"Ha, thanks." The villager gave him a warm look.

"Trouble! There are pirates coming!" The sudden shout made Li Ziming's hand pause. "Pirates?"

"You'd better get ready. Be careful!" The villager ran out before he had even finished his drink.

"Get ready?" Li Ziming set the drinking vessels in order. "How am I supposed to do that now?"

A fierce-looking man stood on the dock. A scar ran from the corner of his left eye to the corner of his mouth, and he waved a sword through the air. "Listen up! I'm the great pirate Scar Bill, with a bounty of fifty thousand! Bring me everything valuable on this island!"

"Yeah!" Bill's underlings raised their swords behind him and waved them about to make a show of force.

"Sir, our village is very poor. We don't have much of value." Asher stepped shakily out of the crowd.

"Are you the village chief?" Bill narrowed his eyes at Asher, then brought his sword down without warning.

"Chief!" The villagers clenched their fists.

"Stay calm!" Asher fought through the pain in his chest. "Sir, this old man's life isn't worth much. Take it if you want, but please don't hurt my villagers."

"Ha ha! You're an interesting old man." Bill threw back his head and laughed. "Since you know your place, I won't slaughter everyone. Go get my money ready! And is there a decent tavern around here? My men and I want a good drink!"

The villagers looked toward Li Ziming without thinking.

"So you're the kid?" Bill walked up to Li Ziming.

Li Ziming nodded. "I do run a bar. I just don't know whether the drinks will suit your taste."

"That's fine." Bill laughed and pressed his sword against Li Ziming's neck. "If we're not satisfied, I'll kill you!"

"Ming!" Asher cried anxiously.

Li Ziming gestured behind him for Asher not to worry. "Don't worry, Chief. I'm pretty confident in my drinks."

"Interesting kid. Let's see how good your drinks are." Bill waved his hand. "Come on, boys! Let's go drinking!"

"Yeah!" Bill's men cheered.

Li Ziming led Bill and his men toward his bar.

Only after all the pirates had left did someone finally come forward.

"Chief, are you all right?" a villager asked nervously.

"How could you do that to Ming?" Asher demanded, anger in his voice.

"This has nothing to do with us. Li Ziming isn't even from our village. For all we know, he brought those pirates here," someone muttered.

"You... all of you!" Asher pressed a hand to his wound, visibly furious. But seeing the villagers like this, he could only sigh. "But Ming is still just a kid. That child... Ah..."

"Kid, bring out the drinks and food! Keep us waiting, and you can say goodbye to your head!" Bill slammed his sword into a table.

"Yes, right away..." Li Ziming served several of them beer, then got to work in the kitchen.

"Huh, this beer's not bad. We're taking every drop in this bar when we leave!" Bill declared smugly.

"You got it, boss!" his underlings answered in a chorus.

"But I'm bored. Hey, you—go find some girls in the village. Let's all have a little fun!" Bill laughed wildly.

Several underlings' eyes lit up. This was a plum assignment. If they found a pretty girl, they might get to take advantage of her. And if her family objected, perhaps they could squeeze some extra money out of them. So plenty of the men fought for the job.

Bill clearly knew what they were thinking. But as their boss, he had taken the lion's share, and it was only fair to let his men have a little something. He made no attempt to stop them. Instead, he let everyone who wanted to go head out—only five or six men in all.

"Sir..." Asher entered with bandages wrapped around him. Several villagers followed, carrying boxes.

"This is everything our village owns." Asher coughed twice. He was clearly unwell.

"Mm. Put it down." Bill spoke flatly, with no sign that he intended to leave.

"Sir, is there anything else you require?" Asher looked at him, desperately hoping he would go.

"What, do I have to report my plans to you?" Bill glared at Asher.

"No, no." Asher hurriedly forced a smile, not daring to say another word.

"Boss, we found the women!" one underling announced with a smug grin. His laughter was accompanied by women's cries.

"Sir, didn't you say you wouldn't hurt the other villagers if we gave you our money?" Agitated, Asher grabbed Bill's arm.

Slash! Bill cut Asher down and sneered. "Idiot. You believed a pirate's word? What are you, a little kid?"

"You bastards!" Alto suddenly appeared in the doorway, bits of rope still clinging to him. It looked as though he had broken free of his bonds and rushed over.

"You damned pirates!" Alto raised his sword and swung furiously at Bill.

"Oh, this is interesting." Bill grinned savagely. "Stay out of this, boys. I'll teach this brat a lesson myself!"

"No!" Though he lay on the floor, the village chief looked ready to burst with anguish.

Slash! Bill's sword struck Alto. Crimson blood spattered Bill, making him look even more vicious.

Alto fell to the floor and looked at Li Ziming with bitter eyes, as if asking why he had done nothing. He had the power of a Devil Fruit, so why hadn't he acted? Disappointment in Li Ziming slowly filled Alto's gaze.

Li Ziming sighed. To be honest, he hadn't felt much when the villagers pushed him forward. They hadn't treated him as one of their own, but he had never truly felt part of the village—or even this world—either. Yet facing the disappointment in Alto's eyes now, he could not bear it.

"What's wrong, kid? Want a taste of my sword too?" Bill paced in front of Li Ziming, seemingly considering where best to cut him.

"How stupid..." Li Ziming snapped his fingers. Every pirate clutched his stomach and collapsed, blood spilling from their mouths.

"You should have taken the treasure and left. At least you would have kept your lives. Why do anything more? Consider your lives the price of a lesson. Thank you for your patronage." As Li Ziming finished speaking, an explosion erupted in each pirate's stomach, and the smell of blood filled the room.

"Ah. This is going to take a long time to clean up." Li Ziming sounded resigned.

"What happened?" A villager finally worked up the nerve to come inside. At the sight of bodies strewn across the floor, he screamed.

"The pirates are all dead. The chief and Alto are hurt, though. Please help them..." Li Ziming said helplessly.

The villager took a step back and stared at Li Ziming in terror. Then the fear in his eyes turned to hatred.

After glaring at Li Ziming, the villager hurried out and brought back several people to carry Asher and Alto away. After that, no one came to help with Li Ziming's bar.

Li Ziming could only shrug. "Looks like there's even more distance between me and the villagers now..."