After a long while, he lowered his head to look at the two before him. With a system quest to consider, Lott made his calculations inwardly.
"By the way, you ate my roast meat. How are you planning to pay me in Beli?"
"We don't have any money." With meat dangling from his mouth and his hands on his hips, Luffy looked utterly unapologetic.
Before Lott could answer, Luffy continued, "We'll pay you back with treasure later."
"So you're planning to dine and dash?" Lott looked at Luffy with a rather unfriendly expression.
"Sorry, we really don't have any money on us right now, but we have treasure."
Lott's eyes lit up, and he put on a money-grubbing expression. "Treasure? Where?"
"I don't have it right now. I'll have some once I become a pirate. Oh, right, do you want to join my..."
Before Luffy could finish, Lott used Electromagnetic Ejection to flash before him, then slammed a fist onto his head.
"Aaah! That hurts! Why is it just like Grandpa's Fist of Love?" Luffy clutched the huge lump on his head and rolled around on the ground.
"Hey, hey, hey! What did you do to Luffy?" Ace grabbed the pipe beside him and stood up, looking ready for battle.
"Hmph! You dine and dash, and you still think you're in the right?" Lott tried hard to make his expression ferocious.
"Looks like you won't learn your place unless I teach you a lesson."
With another flash, Lott appeared beside Ace.
"Holy shit! So fast!!!"
Looking at Lott, who had suddenly appeared before him, Ace was utterly shocked.
"Electromagnetic Fist." A fist wreathed in rings of electrical arcs smashed toward Ace's face.
Clang!
Ace instinctively raised his pipe to block Lott's fist.
The corners of Lott's mouth curved upward. Ace's hand-to-hand skills were pretty good.
But that was all they were. After resisting for only a few seconds, Ace was sent flying.
"Gum-Gum Pistol."
Just as he finished dealing with Ace, Luffy's attack arrived too. Lott did not turn around.
He merely reached out, grabbed Luffy's arm, and pulled, sending Luffy flying toward him before seizing him by the neck.
"Cough, cough, cough. Let me go, damn it!" Luffy struggled like a trapped octopus, his limbs twisting constantly.
"Hey! Let Luffy go!" Ace wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his face furious as well.
"Hey, hey, hey! You're the ones who ate without paying, yet you're acting like I did something wrong. I wonder if your life is worth the price of this roast meat?"
As he spoke, Lott stroked the scar on Luffy's face.
After speaking, Lott looked at Ace with a teasing expression.
"Sorry. Please let Luffy go. We'll go back and get you the money."
Seeing this, Ace quickly put down his pipe and knelt before Lott.
"Well, it's not like I can't let him go, but how do I know you're not lying? What if I let you go and you bring reinforcements to deal with me?"
Lott reached out and stretched Luffy's cheek a long way.
He marveled inwardly: A Rubber Man feels pretty nice to the touch.
"Hey! Stop touching my face, you jerk!"
Luffy struggled again. Very few people touched his face.
"Your body's a little strange. Is it a Devil Fruit ability?" Lott rubbed his chin and asked a question he already knew the answer to.
"I'm a Rubber Man who ate the Gum-Gum Fruit. Hurry up and put me down." As Luffy struggled, the straw hat swung wildly behind him.
"I can let you go, but do you really have treasure?" Lott casually tossed Luffy in front of Ace.
"Cough, cough, cough." After Luffy rolled once on the ground, Ace helped him upright.
"Damn it! Come at me again! I wasn't being serious just now!" Luffy stood up, waving his fists and yelling at Lott.
Lott shook his head and beckoned to Luffy. "Looks like you won't learn your lesson unless I beat you flat."
With that, he flashed before Luffy, raised his foot, and kicked him flying.
Only when Luffy crashed into a large tree did Ace react, exclaiming inwardly, So fast. Much faster than before.
He looked at Lott with some anger.
Seeing this, Lott beckoned to Ace as well.
Ace tightened his grip on the pipe, gritted his teeth, and charged at Lott from the left, attacking his lower body.
Watching Ace's move, Lott somehow felt a chill down below.
Holy shit, you brat! Are you trying to end my bloodline?
He hurriedly reached out with one hand and slapped Ace's pipe aside, but Ace immediately spun around, his fist already closing in on Lott's face, the wind of his punch brushing his cheek.
"Gum-Gum Pistol."
At that moment, Luffy's attack also rapidly closed in.
Their combined attack raised Lott's opinion of them considerably. They really were brothers who often hunted together.
An ordinary person might really have fallen for it, but unfortunately, they had run into someone with outrageous cheats.
Lott spun around and slapped Ace across the face, sending him flying.
Then he leaned back to dodge Luffy's attack, grabbing Luffy's hand along the way and pulling him over.
He kicked Luffy in the stomach, sending him flying into a tree, his head sinking deep into the trunk.
Lott dusted off his clothes, though there was no dust on them.
"Haha, you're still too weak. I'm not even warmed up! I haven't even used one percent of my strength."
Lott sat on the ground, utterly at ease.
"You can't even use Haki. You're not qualified to be my opponents."
Ace shifted, but for a moment, he could not get up. Blood also seeped from the corner of his mouth; he was quite badly injured.
"Cough, cough, cough. Damn it. He's the same age as me, so why is he so strong? Seems like he knows some kind of Haki?"
"Mmph... mmph... Ace... help me." Luffy's head was now embedded in the tree trunk, and he was trying to pull it out.
It was no joke. Knowing that the brothers were constantly roughing it in the jungle, their ability to take a beating was nothing to scoff at.
So, to finish the two off quickly and complete the quest, Lott had used Armament Haki right from the start.
[Ding. Congratulations, host, on completing your choice. Rewards obtained: Mythical Zoan · Bird-Bird Fruit · Peng Form, ten million Beli, Senzu Beans ×10, Ordinary Brick ×1.]
Hearing the system notification in his mind, Lott knew the quest was complete and could not help feeling a little excited.
"All right, go home. I don't want your money or your treasure. Let's count that beating as payment for the roast meat." Lott waved at Ace.
"R-really? You're just letting us leave? Aren't you afraid we'll get help?"
Ace looked doubtful, unsure what to make of the unpredictable Lott before him.
Actually, he could sense that Lott had not held much hostility toward them from the start. Perhaps he had simply wanted to test their fighting ability or something.
Lott rubbed his chin and delivered a showy line. "The truly strong fear no enemy!"
At that instant, Lott's presence was unrivaled, like a giant standing in the light. Even Ace stared dumbfounded. Is this what a strong person is? Looks like I'm still a long way from being strong.
"Then thank you for the meal. We'll head back now." Ace still bowed to Lott.
Then he ran over to Luffy and helped pull his head out.
"Cough, cough, cough. Damn it..."
Lott nodded at Ace and said, "Oh, right. If you want roast meat next time, bring your own ingredients. Preferably some good liquor too."
Hearing this, Ace could only nod in response.
What else could he do? Fight back? That would just be asking for a beating.
"Hey, don't look down on us! We really have treasure. It's right..."
Before Luffy could say anything else, Ace dragged him away.
Thump!
"Ow! Ace, what are you doing? Aren't we... mmph, mmph, mmph..."
Watching the two leave, Lott smiled. What a happy pair of lads.
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