Captain Hopperdy

"No way, what a coincidence?"

"Moonlight, you..."

"Oh no, it's people! Save them!"

Hearing that, Usopp and the others looked at Moonlight speechlessly. Come on, that cut had been way too accurate.

In the vast sea, they had somehow crashed into people. What were they supposed to do now? "Hm?"

Moonlight looked at the two people drawing closer in the distance. One had passed out, while the other was dragging him as he swam toward them.

"You bastards, what do you mean by using sharks to kill people?"

Once Johnny got close, he pointed at Moonlight's group and shouted.

"Get up here."

Luffy stretched out his arm and grabbed both of them onto the deck in one go.

"It's you two?"

Zoro looked at them in surprise.

These two were the punks he had once saved. He had never expected to run into them here.

"Big Brother Zoro!"

The moment Johnny saw Zoro, his eyes lit up. He directly tossed Yosaku aside and cried out in delight.

"Big Brother Zoro, why are you here?"

"That's what I should be asking you. Why are you two here?"

Zoro pointed at them.

"Ah, Big Brother, ever since you saved us that time, we turned over a new leaf and repented for our past mistakes. We decided to go out to sea and become great bounty hunters! So we found a boat and traveled along the coast, but unfortunately, we lost our sense of direction. We drifted all the way here, and after that, you know what happened. Your friend used a shark to kill Yosaku! Boohoohoo..."

As he spoke, Johnny began to cry.

"This man wasn't killed by Moonlight, and he isn't dead either. He's just malnourished and has scurvy."

Just then, Nami stepped forward, checked him over, and spoke.

"Scurvy?"

Johnny froze.

"What's scurvy?"

Luffy could not help asking.

"He's not dead?"

Zoro let out a sigh of relief. These two could be considered his friends. If one of them had been so unfortunate as to be killed by Moonlight, he would have been very upset.

"Scurvy, huh? I've heard of that illness. It's caused by long-term nutritional imbalance, when the body can't get what it needs. Especially out on the vast sea, if it goes on for too long, it leads to scurvy. It's a very dangerous condition!"

Usopp muttered. He really did know about it.

"Is there a way to save him?"

Moonlight asked Nami. More than anything else, that was what concerned him most.

Though he hated pirates, he did not want to accidentally kill a good person.

Even if it had nothing to do with him at all.

"Yes. Usopp, go get some limes. He's only lacking nutrients. Once he gets them replenished, he'll be fine."

Nami said to Usopp.

Usopp nodded and quickly brought out some limes, squeezing their juice into Yosaku's mouth.

Half an hour later, Yosaku's complexion improved, and he woke up.

He first looked at Johnny with a puzzled expression. Then, when he saw Zoro, he was overjoyed and threw himself toward him!

"Big Brother Zoro! I never thought I'd meet you on the vast sea, this..."

But halfway through his leap, his body went limp, and he fainted again! He collapsed once more!

"I only just brought you back to life. If you want to fully recover from scurvy, you'll need several days of rest. What are you showing off for?"

Nami was speechless.

"That's great, brother. You're okay."

Johnny cried emotionally, overflowing with gratitude toward Nami.

"Alright, since he's fine, stay here and recuperate."

Zoro said.

"Looks like we need to find a cook to join the crew."

Luffy stroked his chin, deep in thought.

Yosaku and Johnny's predicament had thoroughly served as a warning. It was now an urgent matter.

"Whoosh..."

Just then, the sound of violent currents suddenly rose from the sea ahead. Everyone was startled and looked over, only to see a large warship, surrounded by several smaller vessels like guards, appearing in their sight.

That emblem was unmistakably the Marines! And they were moving extremely fast, already closing in on them as they spoke!

"It's the Marines! Run! It's a whole Marine fleet!"

As they drew closer, everyone saw clearly. Usopp was the first to cry out.

"Tch, Marines, huh?"

Zoro's expression remained cold and unchanged.

"I didn't expect to run into the Marines. What do we do now? There are too many of them!"

Nami's face was grave. Faced with a Marine force of this scale, even she could not help panicking.

"The Marines? Whoa, what a huge ship!"

Luffy, however, was thrilled, excitedly shouting as he looked at their ship.

"Captain Hopperdy, pirates have appeared ahead!"

At the same time, aboard the Marine warship, a Marine reported to a handsome man wearing an iron fist and a white suit.

They had discovered Luffy's ship.

This man was Captain Hopperdy. Beside him stood a beautiful, elegant lady. The two were chatting pleasantly, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious. Hopperdy was immensely satisfied. If nothing went wrong, this beautiful lady would be his tonight.

Hearing this, he asked casually.

"What pirates? How many are there?"

"It's a Pirate Flag we've never seen before, with a straw hat painted on it. There are seven of them."

The Marine reported truthfully.

"Pirates with only seven people? They're just small-time pirates. Since they've run into Captain Hopperdy, blast them to pieces."

Hopperdy smiled easily. Seeing the concern on the lady's face at the mention of pirates, he said indifferently.

"Don't worry about such things. They're only a few small-time pirates. How could they possibly be a match for the Marines? Let's go to the Sea Restaurant and enjoy some fine wine and food."

With that, Hopperdy extended an invitation to the lady.

"Hehehe, Captain Hopperdy is such a hero, so impressive. Those pirates are unlucky to have run into you. The Sea Restaurant? I've heard of it. It's an incredible restaurant, and the food there is absolutely delicious."

The lady immediately smiled, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Hopperdy.

"Please."

Hopperdy felt utterly delighted, as if his life had reached its peak.

"Fire!"

After Hopperdy left, the Marines immediately gave the order to open fire on Luffy's ship.

A cannonball instantly came roaring toward them! In their eyes, a ship like Luffy's could be blown apart with a single shot! And in accordance with Marine benevolence, they would fire one warning shot first!

"Oh no, they've made their move!"

"A cannon? Don't let it hit us, or our ship will be blasted away!"

"I'll cut it down!"

Seeing the cannonball flying toward them, Usopp and Nami cried out. Zoro drew his swords, ready to slash the cannonball apart.

Moonlight merely smiled. He had already seen Luffy make his move.

"Gum-Gum..."

Luffy took a long breath, and his body suddenly expanded, becoming huge and filled with incredible elasticity! The cannonball struck him as though it had sunk into cotton, doing nothing at all. Then Luffy's body sprang back and sent the cannonball flying!

"Whew, that scared me!"

Seeing this, Usopp let out a sigh of relief.