Making money

His intake of meat, eggs, and milk affected the growth of Rubick's physique, so he refused to skimp on a single meal.

Nami had a small piece of toast between her teeth and held a small cup of milk, but she hadn't taken another bite or sip in ages. The way Rubick ate was simply too alarming.

"Come to think of it, it was so dark when I saw you two yesterday that I didn't notice how awful your table manners were."

Rubick polished off enough food for five people in just ten minutes. His powerful digestive system got to work, secreting stomach acid and slowly breaking down the food.

Rubick rubbed his belly to stimulate his digestive system, allowing him to absorb nutrients faster, get hungry sooner, and eat again earlier.

After letting out a satisfied belch, Rubick said, "That's a simple breakfast out of the way. Now, shouldn't you tell me where to find that Red the Blood Blade guy?"

Nami quickly took the toast out of her mouth, leaving tooth marks on it, and explained, "Red the Blood Blade has a bounty of six million Beli. He has over eighty pirates under him and three ships, all with shallow drafts."

"His pirate flag has a skull above two crossed red swords."

"As for where the Blood Blade name came from, he's skilled with a sword and has massacred three villages over the past year."

Disgust crossed Nami's face. "I just picked up some information these past few days. He'll soon be heading to Withered Leaf Village, two days north of Hammer Town. I've heard a few bounty hunters have already gone there to lie in wait, but I don't know whether they'll succeed."

She stressed, "Just how strong are you, old man? Don't go getting yourself killed. I'm not collecting your corpse."

Rubick said confidently, "I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm a Devil Fruit User."

He stood and walked to the door, then told Nami, "Just wait here. I'll bring back that Red guy's head."

Rubick knew he couldn't keep avoiding deadly fights forever. He couldn't assume that following the protagonist meant he shouldn't kill anyone. For that matter, the protagonist's crew had killed plenty of people over the course of their adventures.

Not to mention how Luffy had released so many pirates from Impel Down to save Ace. Once those pirates got out, they would inevitably return to their old ways and wreak havoc. Countless people would die at their hands.

So, in this dangerous era, people had to adapt. At most, Rubick could establish his own principles and hold to his bottom line.

Nami stared at the closed door and murmured, "A Devil Fruit User, huh? I wonder if he can deal with Fish-Men."

Rubick left the hotel and soon reached the docks, where he spotted a familiar face.

"Zoro!"

After collecting his bounty last night, Zoro had immediately gone to a weapons shop and bought two swords. Unfortunately, this was a small town, and neither sword was particularly good. Still, they would do. He couldn't keep using just one sword for his Three-Sword Style, could he?

"Oh, it's you, old man."

Seeing that Zoro still looked half-asleep, Rubick invited him along. "I'm going north to see if I can run into any pirates. Want to come?"

"Sure, why not?"

Zoro turned his waist so Rubick could see the three swords at his side. "I bought these swords yesterday. Might as well come along and try them out."

Apparently feeling that he and Rubick had grown closer, Zoro added, "You seem like a decent guy, old man. This is probably your first time hunting pirates, right? I suppose I can show you the ropes."

Then he added, "Of course, I'm not saying you have to repay me with information or anything. I'm just doing it out of kindness."

Rubick couldn't help laughing. "All right, let's go. We'll row there. But first, we need to buy some food."

Zoro said, "Don't worry, I already bought food. I was planning to head out to sea on my own, so you're getting a free ride now. Consider it repayment for letting me use your boat."

Zoro really was the stubborn sort who said one thing and meant another.

Rubick said nothing more. He hoisted a bag of food beside Zoro onto his shoulder and headed farther into the docks.

It was the same little boat, with two large bags of food still sitting at the stern. The only difference was that there were no Pirate corpses aboard this time.

"We're heading north, about three days away. Our target this time is Red the Blood Blade."

Zoro and Rubick each rowed on one side of the boat. A little surprised, Zoro asked, "Old man, don't tell me you accepted that Cat Burglar's suggestion and hired her as your agent?"

Rubick suddenly remembered his money being stolen last night and asked Zoro, "Speaking of which, did you see her steal my money yesterday?"

Looking a little embarrassed, Zoro worked his mouth. "Well, yeah, I saw it. Wait..."

Just as Rubick was about to blow up, Zoro continued, "It's not that I didn't want to warn you. It's just that woman is too much trouble, and I didn't want to get involved in your business."

That left Rubick at a loss for words. After a moment, he said, "All right. She's still just a child."

Zoro didn't care whether Nami was a child or a woman. It made no difference to him anyway.

Rubick added, "She stole my money, so now I'm penniless. Hunting pirates for their bounties is my only option."

"Yeah, that's pretty rough."

Zoro said, "It's almost noon. Let's stop on that island and take a break. I need to do today's training, too."

"You train every day?"

"That's right, rain or shine. Unless something unusual happens, like a few hundred Pirates chasing me and leaving me no time, I never skip training."

At a loss for words, Rubick said, "Sounds like your life as a bounty hunter is pretty exciting."

They rowed the boat ashore. The tiny deserted island was so small that no animals even lived and bred there.

Zoro went off to one side and did a few warm-up exercises, then cut down a tree whose trunk would take two people to encircle. After chopping off the branches, he picked up the bare trunk and began practicing sword swings with it.

Rubick couldn't help swallowing hard. This level of training was downright monstrous.

Seeing Rubick's dumbfounded expression, Zoro said without flushing or losing his breath, "This is all just basic training. By the way, how strong are you right now? Want me to cut one for you, too?"

Rubick pointed at a smaller tree nearby, one that a single person could wrap their arms around. "Uh, that one will do."

Zoro set down his trunk and quickly prepared another for Rubick.

"Actually, I usually train underwater, too. The pressure down there is pretty high. Of course, I also like training under big waterfalls when I can find one. But overall, trees and rocks are still the most convenient."

Rubick struggled to swing the trunk. It trained not just his arm strength, but his core and legs as well. He felt that his life before this had been a little too comfortable.