These Are All Berries Running on Two Legs
In his senses, a little girl came running from the distant beach.
He tore off the black cloth and stood at the bow, looking down at Violet.
"Big brother, don't you like catching pirates and selling them for money?" Violet happily ran aboard.
"What is it?" Wude's Observation Haki detected a list clenched in the little girl's hand behind her back, but he did not expose her.
At the same time, he sensed several guards hiding in the shadows.
With his Observation Haki awakened, everything was so clear to his senses.
"I have a list of pirates who came to the island, along with detailed information. I can give it to you, big brother." Violet raised the list before him.
"Violet, you're amazing." Wude ruffled her hair and took the list.
"But I have one condition~" Violet hid the hand holding the list behind her back again and smiled sweetly.
"Oh?" Wude looked at her as though teasing a child.
"Will you be Violet's friend, big brother?"
"Of course."
"That's wonderful!"
Violet happily grabbed Wude's hand and tried to pull him off the ship.
"What are we going to do, little Violet?" Wude asked with a wry smile.
"Catch bad guys! You're my big brother, so I'm coming with you too~!" As she spoke, Violet took a gun from a wooden barrel and shouted that she was going to shoot pirates.
"..."
Well then, he had thought he would get rich by catching a whole group of pirates alone.
Instead, he was accompanying the second princess in a game of catching bad guys?
"Little Violet, let me see that list. Let's pick someone tough to catch, okay?"
"Okay, big brother!"
The young and innocent Violet handed the list to Wude. It was intelligence gathered by the guards.
Wude took it, gave it a quick glance, then placed Violet on his shoulders.
"Hold on tight, we're going to catch bad guys!"
"Yeah! Big brother is the strongest!"
The guards in the shadows exchanged looks and hurried after them, preparing to call for more people as well.
Not long afterward, their worries proved clearly unnecessary.
King Riku's residence.
Little Violet sat in her sister's arms with a miserable expression, watching her father talk with big brother in the distance.
That big brother she admired so much had actually betrayed her!
"Big sister, Father isn't paying attention over here right now. Take me out again, please." Violet acted coquettishly in Scarlet's arms.
"Big sister?"
"Big sister~"
"Huh? What is it?" Scarlet hurriedly withdrew her gaze and looked down at her younger sister.
"What were you looking at?" Violet eyed her sister suspiciously.
"Nothing. What is it, little sister?" Scarlet rubbed Violet's head, thinking that the man who could negate her sister's ability was actually rather gentle.
"!" Violet let out a muffled groan, then wriggled free from her sister's arms and ran over to big brother with quick little steps.
She reached out and grabbed big brother's hand, then made a face at her sister.
"..." ×3
King Riku had a favorable impression of this young man who intended to join the Marines. According to Violet, his strength was mysterious.
Wude bid farewell to King Riku's family, took the list, and began his pirate-hunting plan.
There was still some time before Kyros reached 3,000 victories, so he would earn a little extra cash first.
If he happened to run into pirates who knew Haki, that would be even better.
Half a month later.
Inside a tavern.
Pirates filled the place, drinking. They slapped the tables as they traded dirty jokes, laughing and cheering wildly.
Every so often, a few bastards too drunk to think would start fighting each other while everyone else watched and cheered.
Even when tables were overturned and cups and dishes shattered, the tavern owner could only hide behind the counter with a bitter smile, not daring to make a sound.
Because...
Thunk!
A curved blade stabbed into the counter. Reeking of alcohol, the pirate captain grinned drunkenly at him. "We're in a good mood today, Boss. How about giving us ten barrels of wine?"
"No!"
The owner's daughter glared angrily at him. Her puffed-up appearance was quite adorable.
"Boss, tell me, before the guards get here, can we run off with your daughter in our arms?" The pirate captain licked his lips with an evil grin as he looked at the owner's daughter.
"Hahaha!"
The pirates all grinned nastily.
The owner fearfully shielded his daughter behind him. She wanted to speak, but he stopped her.
"Please have mercy, gentlemen. Let's both take a step back. The next time you come, drinks will be on me. This time, I'll give you ten barrels of liquor."
"I don't think that'll do~"
"Yeah, yeah. We want both the wine and the woman!"
"Hehehe!"
The pirates leered at the owner. There were more pirates coming to the island, and with them came more trouble. By the time the guards arrived, the owner would already be dead.
They rose to their feet one after another, surrounding the owner and his daughter threateningly.
"Have you lost your minds? You're openly kidnapping people on Dressrosa soil!"
A Dwarf wearing a tiny hat, with a body small enough to fit in one hand, suddenly appeared atop the counter. He drew a rapier matching his size and pointed it at the pirates.
The pirates looked at the Dwarf and burst into wild laughter.
"That girl seems to be the dancer who performed on the street yesterday. Let's snatch her back and make her the captain's wife. We can sell this Dwarf for money and throw a feast, how about it?"
The pirate navigator said with a nasty grin.
"I agree!" The pirate gunner raised the gun in his hand.
"Don't take another step. Get out of here now, or I'll beat you up!" The Dwarf glared angrily at them.
"Hahaha! I'd like to see who can kill me before the guards arrive. It won't be you!" The pirate captain laughed wildly.
"I..." The Dwarf gritted his teeth as he looked at them. He really could not handle them alone.
He was merely passing through and had stepped in to help.
He spotted someone silently slipping into the tavern, then saw shadows gathering outside as those people quietly drew their blades and raised their guns.
The Dwarf's eyes lit up.
Click, click, click!
Gun after gun aimed at the backs of the pirates' heads as a group silently surrounded the drunken men.
Wude made a gun with his fingers and scratched the pirate captain's forehead with it.
"What did you say?"
"!?"
The pirate captain's body stiffened. Half his drunkenness vanished as a chill ran through him.
His expression froze, and his weapon slipped from his hand onto the floor.
"Someone got behind you without you noticing, and you still made it to the New World? How did you manage that?" Wude patted the man's head.
The pirate captain slowly turned around and looked at him with a fawning smile.
"You're the impressive one. Whatever you need me to do, I, Kael, will do my utmost to accomplish it. Please take the gun away."
With that, Jia held a long gun to his forehead and poked him. "Who are you talking to? Kneel!"
"..."
Wude looked at the man's bounty and waved a hand. "Keep the captain to exchange for money. Bury the rest."
"Understood." Jia nodded and led the others away with the rookie pirate crew.
"Drinking really is deadly." The Dwarf standing on the counter let out a long sigh.
"You're the one from that day..."