"We made it! The Marine base town—Shells Town!"
"Koby, you're amazing!!"
Luffy and I cried out, thrilled that we had made it to town.
"Huh?"
"You got us to our destination safe and sound!"
"Of course! It's the bare minimum skill a man of the sea needs!"
"I'm an adventurer, so I'm fine!"
"At least find yourself a navigator."
"It would've been nice if Koby were a kid whose dream wasn't to join the Marines."
Luffy seemed to have taken quite a liking to Koby.
"First, let's eat."
The food at the restaurant was pretty great.
"So this is where we part ways with Koby! Become a fine Marine!"
"Yes, thank you so much. Luffy, become a great pirate, and Jin, become a great adventurer."
"Yeah, thanks. But if we run into each other at sea, let's go easy on one another."
I answered Koby with a dashing smile.
"By the way, do you think he's at the base? That guy... Zoro."
The moment Luffy said Zoro's name, everyone around us shrank back against the walls to avoid us.
"I guess you're not supposed to say Zoro's name around here..."
Koby whispered to us in a very quiet voice.
"I saw it on a notice earlier. Apparently, there's someone named Colonel Morgan at this base..."
The mention of Colonel Morgan caused an even bigger reaction and more commotion than before.
"Heheheh. What a fun restaurant. We should come back sometime."
It seemed Luffy, who never thought much about anything, simply found it amusing.
"This is strange... For some reason, I'm getting nervous..."
"Why are they afraid just from hearing the name of a Marine colonel?"
"Who knows? Maybe he's an unbelievably awful Marine?"
I said, since I knew the truth.
In front of the Marine base.
"It's enormous up close."
Seeing the Marine base right in front of us, it was a pretty huge place.
Was it always this big?? I would've had to pay attention to whether Marine bases were big or small to remember that.
"Go on, Koby!"
"But I'm not mentally prepared yet... And I'm still worried about what happened earlier..."
Koby hesitated as he answered Luffy. But Luffy didn't even pretend to listen.
He peeked over the wall. And I joined him...
"Oh! Luffy! Isn't that Zoro?"
He was tied to a wooden post, exactly as I'd seen him in the manga.
"Ohh~"
"The black bandana and thick waist sash... It's Roronoa Zoro!!"
"So that's him... If we just untie those ropes, he could escape easily enough."
"Yeah, should we??"
Tempted by Luffy's words, I answered.
Honestly, I couldn't remember what happened next, so I just wanted to grab him quickly and go see Nami.
Since Nami remembered Arlong, I figured we could find her somehow.
Koby was flustered and saying something, but I had no idea what he was saying.
"Hey, you over there. Why don't you come untie these ropes?"
"I've been like this for nine days already. I feel like I'm about to die any second now."
"I'll reward you. I'll take down the first wanted criminal I find and hand the bounty over to you."
Just then, a ladder was propped up beside us, and a little girl gestured for us to be quiet before climbing over the wall toward Zoro.
"You got a death wish...? Get lost, brat."
Zoro spoke harshly to the child.
"Um, I made you some rice balls! You've been like this for so long, so you're hungry, right?"
"I'm not hungry at all!! Take that and get lost already!!"
"But..."
"I said I don't need it!! Go home!!"
Then the iron gate opened, and a guy with bizarre hair appeared, leading two Marines.
"Roronoa Zoro!! You shouldn't bully little kids. I'll tell my father."
Ah!!! Oh~!!! I remembered now. That pathetic son, and that rotten pirate of a colonel.
"Another weird guy came out."
Luffy said it. Though if we were judging weirdness, wouldn't a rubber man like you take first place?
Not me. Vampires are cool.
"Well, well, little miss. Did you bring those tasty-looking rice balls to cheer him up?"
The pathetic son took one of the little girl's rice balls and ate it.
"Ah!! No!!"
"Ptooey!! You've ruined my mouth! These are completely covered in sugar!! You're supposed to use salt!"
"I-I thought sweet ones might taste good..."
"Who could eat garbage like this, idiot!"
The bastard stomped on the rice balls the girl had made.
Hmm. Considering Zoro was going to eat sugar rice balls, maybe that worked out?? I'll bring him something proper later.
While I was lost in that thought, one of the Marines picked up the little girl and threw her toward us.
I immediately threw myself forward and caught her, checking to make sure she wasn't hurt.
Meanwhile, Luffy climbed over the wall and went up to Zoro.
Fortunately, the weird-haired guy and the Marines had already left.
Was that fortunate?? If we were going to cause a scene anyway, did it matter?
I left the little girl with Koby and climbed over the wall to join Luffy.
"I'm looking for crewmates to become pirates with."
"Pirates? You want to turn yourself into a villain?"
"It's my choice! What's wrong with wanting to become a pirate!!"
"Normally, it is bad, Luffy..."
"So what? You're going to offer to untie me if I join your crew?"
"I'm not thinking that yet. You've got a reputation for being a bad guy."
"A bad guy, huh. Let me tell you, if that's your condition, then I'm the one refusing.
I have something I want to do!"
"Even if you don't free me, I'll survive on my own! That idiot son promised he'd let me live if I stayed hanging here for a month.
"I'll definitely stay alive and accomplish what I want to do!!"
Mm-hmm, that's right. He wanted to become the world's greatest swordsman.
"Hey, wait. Could you... pick that up for me?"
Zoro was asking for the rice balls that the weird-haired guy had stomped on.
"You're going to eat this? They're not even rice balls anymore. They're lumps of mud."
"Yeah, but wait a little, and I'll bring you something else to eat. If you want, I'll go back to that girl and have her make some with salt this time!!"
"Just shut up and feed me. Every last bit that's on the ground!!"
And Luffy really did put them into Zoro's mouth, and Zoro really ate them.
Even though it sounded like he was chewing rocks instead of rice, he ate them all without a problem.
"T-Tell that little girl something for me..."
"What?"
"They were delicious. Tell her I enjoyed them very much."
"Heheheh."
Should I just untie him now?
But Luffy said we should go for now, so we left.
Right. He's Luffy's crewmate. Luffy should handle it himself.
"Really?"
"Yeah, he ate every single bit, crunching it all down."
"I see. Zoro must like rice balls with sugar in them."
No, Luffy. There's no way that's true...
"Yay!"
The girl was purely delighted.
"Do you think that man is really a villain, like the rumors say?"
"No. He hasn't done anything bad at all."
"He saved me when I was in danger from the wolf Colonel Morgan's son kept,
and he killed the wolf."
"Then the reason Zoro was captured..."
"The bad ones are Morgan and his son!"
"If anyone resists even a little, they're executed immediately. That's why everyone is so terrified."
Colonel Morgan's son appeared in the street.
"Everybody bow your heads! I'll tell my father!!"
"Do you want to be strung up like Roronoa Zoro?"
"As an example to everyone, Zoro will be publicly executed in three days!"
"What happened to the promise of a month!!"
"Obviously, a promise like that was a joke!! Anyone who took it seriously is the biggest idiot in the world."
Colonel Morgan's son answered Luffy's question.
Luffy punched Colonel Morgan's son and knocked him down.
"Hey, don't move."
I stepped in front of the Marines that Morgan's son had been dragging around.
"I've decided! Jin! I'm making Zoro my crewmate!"
"Good. You've thought it through—let's go!"
"I'm the only son of Colonel Morgan of the Marines!! I'm going to tell my daddy!!"
Morgan's son said as he got up, supported by two Marines after taking a single punch.
Luffy's grandpa is a Vice Admiral at Marine Headquarters, though...
Maybe that was why Luffy wasn't intimidated at all.
But the people around us were terrified and all avoided us.
A woman who appeared to be the girl's mother hurriedly took the girl away.
"Luffy, hurry up!"
We went back to Zoro.
"Yo."
"You're back? I already refused your pirate talk..."
Zoro answered Luffy's greeting.
"I'm Luffy! I'll untie you, so become my crewmate!!"
"I'm Origin! Call me Jin."
"Are you two deaf?"
"I told you I have something I want to do. Who'd become a villain like a pirate?"
You're the vice-captain of that pirate crew...
"What's wrong with that? You're rumored to be an evil bounty hunter too."
"I don't know what people in the world are saying, but I've never done anything that would taint my convictions! And I never will.
"So I'm not becoming a pirate either!!"
"Who cares! I've decided you're going to be my crewmate!!"
"Don't decide that on your own!!"
Hmm. Zoro's the type who's weak against people who bulldoze their way through.
"Where are your swords, Zoro?"
"That idiot son took them. They're the treasures I value most after my life."
"Treasures? Then that's a big problem..."
"All right!! I'll take your swords back from that idiot son.
"And if you want your swords back from me, become my crewmate."
"Oh! That was unusually well thought out for Luffy!"
"Heheheh."
"What a sneaky bastard."
"I'll be right back!!"
"Yeah, hurry back."
"Is he planning to storm the base? Is he an idiot..."
"Well, he is an idiot, but he's not doing something idiotic right now."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, storming in there alone is nothing to him."
While I was talking with Zoro, there was a crash,
and the upper half of Morgan's statue broke off and fell.
"Jin!! Are you okay?"
Koby poked his head over the wall and asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. This is nothing, Koby. Wait outside!"
"Zoro, I heard earlier that they're going to publicly execute you in three days...
"So the promise to let you live was a lie."
"Whether or not you become Luffy's crewmate, let's survive first and decide afterward."
I pulled out Griffon, the sword Shanks had given me, to cut Zoro's ropes.
Then my Observation Haki activated, and I sensed a bullet flying at my back.
I turned around and sliced the incoming bullet cleanly in half with Griffon.
"Oh!! I split it exactly in half!! Did you see that??"
It had split so perfectly that I couldn't help asking Zoro.
"..."
"Ah, sorry. It was my first time cutting a bullet in half."
"Stop!! I'll execute you both immediately for treason against Colonel Morgan."
"Lock down the base! Don't let that straw-hatted brat get away!!"
Morgan appeared, with a huge axe blade for a right arm and something like a strange prosthetic attached to his jaw.
"Roronoa Zoro, I've heard of your reputation... But before my power, you're nothing but dust!"
"Take aim!!"
"Luffy!!! If you don't do it, I'll take them all out!!"
"Fire!!"
Just as I activated my Observation Haki and was about to cut down the bullets, Luffy jumped down and took the shots for me.
"It's useless!!"
Just as expected, Luffy bounced the bullets that hit him right back.
As I watched, I wondered whether he could do the same with bullets from the world I used to live in.
"Just what the hell are you people!!"
"I'm the man who'll become King of the Pirates!"
"I'm the King of Adventurers."
"Now! Which one is your treasure? I didn't know, so I brought all three."
"All three are mine. I use [Three-Sword Style]."
"If you fight the Marines with us here, you'll be a villain rebelling against the Government.
"Otherwise, you die here. What'll it be?"
"Are you a devil's child...? Fine. Rather than die here, I'll give it a shot. Pirate."
Since he'd eaten a Devil Fruit, was he really a devil's child??
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