"Watch closely, you three. Today, I'll show you the world's highest level of power," Liu Qing told Luffy and the other two.
With that, Liu Qing used the Body Flicker Technique and stood proudly atop the sea. His figure flashed, and he was already several kilometers away, standing amid the waves with an imposing presence.
Luffy, Zoro, and Nami were about to search for him when they suddenly felt the sea to their right shaking more violently. Looking up, they were shocked to discover a thousand-meter-tall, thousand-armed wooden Buddha towering in the distance. Made entirely of wood, it was a magnificent sight.
Liu Qing's deep voice carried over from afar: "Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!" As he finished, the Buddha's thousand arms moved in unison, striking straight down at the sea below. An earth-shaking assault unfolded.
Before the aftermath of the attack had subsided, an enormous tsunami had quietly formed. With irresistible force, it rapidly approached Luffy's boat. Luffy's laughter rang out in the wind. "Hahahaha! That's amazing! I'll become that strong someday, too."
Zoro's blood was pumping as well. He gripped his sword hilt tightly. "Yeah, that's some incredible power, but I won't fall too far behind. It won't be long before I'm that strong, too."
Yet as Nami watched the towering wave that was about to swallow everything, she was frantic, almost on the verge of breaking down. "A tsunami! It's a tsunami! How are we supposed to dodge that? If we can't, we're dead!" Her voice was filled with despair and fear.
At that moment, as though stirred by Nami's fear, Luffy and Zoro abruptly snapped out of it. They exchanged a glance, struck their right fists into their left palms, and said, "Oh, right!"
Then fear and a sense of danger sent them shouting for help. "Aah! Help! We're done for! I haven't become the Pirate King (World's Greatest Swordsman) yet! We can't go down here! Row, quick!"
"It's fine. The original will handle this. You don't need to worry," the Wood Clone told Luffy and the others.
Sure enough, before the clone had even finished speaking, Liu Qing's familiar figure appeared before them. Facing the surging tsunami without fear, he lightly raised his right hand. A powerful surge of chakra gathered into a sword and slashed at the waves like a sharp blade, instantly splitting the tsunami in two and diverting it to either side.
The sight left Nami incredibly excited. Rubbing her hands, she approached Liu Qing with a slightly bashful look, unconsciously pressing closer to him. Her voice turned into a sweet, cutesy voice. "Oh, Qingy~ You're just incredible! I'm counting on you to save my village. As long as you help me drive off the enemy, I'll agree to any conditions." Nami's tone was full of coy sweetness.
Liu Qing, however, seemed rather unaccustomed to this sudden intimacy. Goosebumps rose all over him, and he gently pushed Nami away before saying seriously, "Nami, we aren't helping you defeat the Fish-Man Pirates because we want anything in return. Now that we know about your predicament, we'll lend a hand whether you join our pirate crew or not. Our crew focuses on adventure. We would never do those cruel things. We just hope you'll consider joining us."
Luffy nodded repeatedly in agreement. "Right, right! Nami, you just need to think about it. We'll do everything we can to help you deal with the Fish-Men."
Zoro was much more direct. Drawing his weapons and swinging them a few times, he declared boldly, "I, Liu, have had my blade thirsting for battle for ages. I've just been waiting for this fight!"
Hearing Luffy and Zoro's firm support, along with Hashirama's sincere invitation, Nami felt the weariness in her heart vanish instantly. After thinking seriously for a moment, she made her decision. "All right! As long as you defeat the Fish-Man Pirates, I'll join you. My dream is to draw a chart of the entire world. Since I'll be sailing out to sea someday anyway, I really like the atmosphere in your crew, too.
Half a day later... the four of them were having a wonderful time chatting out at sea.
Zoro looked at the sea still surrounding them, then turned to Nami and asked, "Where are we going next?"
Nami thought for a moment, then pointed in a direction. "What we need to think about now is a ship that can keep carrying us on our voyage. There's an island nearby. Let's go there first and see if we can get a better ship."
Luffy immediately made the decision. "All right! Let's check out the island Nami mentioned."
Elsewhere, a little earlier...
Not far from Liu Qing and the others was a huge black pirate ship with a black cat's head for a figurehead. It was the Black Cat Pirates' ship.
At that moment, Jango, the Black Cat Pirates' Vice Captain, was reading a letter in his hands. Their captain, Kuro, had sent someone to deliver it. In essence, it instructed Jango to gather all the Black Cat Pirates at Syrup Village, then cooperate with him to complete his takeover of his household's Miss Kaya's property.
Just as he finished reading and put the letter away, the pirates on deck began screaming in terror. When Jango came out of the cabin, he saw an enormous tsunami bearing down on their pirate ship.
"Holy shit! What are you all staring at? Turn around and get out of the tsunami's path! Are you standing here waiting to die?" Jango roared.
"Ah! Right, right! Hurry up and turn the ship! Quick, quick, quick! Get moving!" the Nyaban Brothers responded.
After a frantic scramble, they finally escaped the tsunami's range, frightened but unharmed. Everyone aboard was too exhausted to move and collapsed on the deck to rest, while the pirate ship came to a stop on the sea.
Meanwhile, with Nami navigating, Luffy's group was moving very quickly, heading straight toward where the Black Cat Pirates had stopped to rest.
After another half hour of sailing, the Black Cat Pirates' ship appeared in Luffy's group's view. At the same time, Jango of the Black Cat Pirates spotted their boat.
Looking at the towering pirate ship, Luffy said enviously, "What an impressive ship! We need to find one that impressive, too."
The Black Cat Pirates' lookout told Jango, "Vice Captain, there are two big bags of treasure on that boat. Should we make a move?"
When Jango heard that, he figured they were delivering money right to him. He decisively ordered, "Stop the ship and lower the lifeboats. We'll take the small boats over and rob them. Don't fire the cannons. If we blow that little boat to bits, we won't get the treasure either."
The pirates answered in unison, then boarded the small boats and began rowing toward Luffy's group.
On Luffy's side, Zoro watched coldly as more than a dozen small boats approached menacingly, carrying no fewer than fifty people. "Looks like they're not coming with good intentions."
Liu Qing understood the situation at a glance. "No need to guess. Their lookout must have spotted the two bags of treasure on our boat, and they're coming to rob us. Perfect. We're running a little short on ingredients. They've come at just the right time. Let's rob them of their food."
Luffy said, "Food! Meat! All right, let's rob them." Nami said, "They're after my treasure? We absolutely can't let them get away with it. While you're there, take their treasure, too."
Liu Qing couldn't be bothered to waste words. He clapped his hands together. "Luffy, Zoro, Nami, stand beside me. We'll fly straight over."
A few seconds later, Liu Qing looked at the three standing beside him. Chakra surged inside him as he said, "Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique."
The wooden boat beneath their feet transformed directly into a Wood Dragon, rising into the air and flying toward the Black Cat Pirates' ship, completely ignoring the people who had spent all that time rowing.
On the Black Cat Pirates' ship, the sight of the enormous dragon flying straight toward them sent Jango scurrying about in terror. With a boom, the Wood Dragon tore off the ship's entire deck.
The moment the four landed, Liu Qing shouted, "This is a robbery! Hand over your money and food, or imagine what'll happen to you!"
Without waiting for the Black Cat Pirates to speak, Liu Qing used Wood Release to bind every one of them so tightly they couldn't move. Even the pirates desperately rowing back were dragged over with vines and tied up together.
Liu Qing turned to Nami again. "Nami, you search them. The Treasure Room is yours, too. We'll see how much food is left. Let's split up."
Another half hour later.
The four of them came onto the deck.
Liu Qing said, "There isn't much food left, but we'll reach the next island soon. This is enough for us to eat our fill at every meal."
Nami brought out the treasure as well. "What a bunch of paupers. Their entire crew doesn't even have a tenth of Buggy's treasure.
"But I found a wanted poster on one of them, along with a letter. The contents of that letter are pretty explosive, too. The person on the wanted poster should be their captain. Hehehehe..." Nami once again wore a sly grin.
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