You can read ahead up to 90 chapters on my patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
"Admiral, we found a stranded Battleship over there, and…"
At the edge of Thunder God island, a Coast shrouded in chilling ice. The messenger took a deep breath and continued: "The Pirate Ship of the straw hat crew, Monkey·D·Luffy, [The Sunny]!"
Due to his recent high-profile actions, Monkey·D·Luffy's name was widely known among the Marines, as he had repeatedly broken through the G-10 and Fish-Man island Marine defenses, and now Luffy was a Pirate with a Bounty of 55,00,00,000.
"Monkey·D·Luffy… I see, the convergence of the plot, huh!"
At this, Rowen let out a sigh that the messenger couldn't understand, then turned to look at Koby: "So, that girl Nami is here too, right?"
"Whatever, Master!"
In response, Koby silently clenched his fist, a flame flaming and burning on his right arm, radiating scorching heat.
"Since Nami chose to become a pirate, she's our enemy!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Rowen glanced at him sideways: "You've got that resolve— your teacher is very pleased… really, I'm not lying."
Koby: "…"
'The more you say it like that, the less convincing it is!'
"Let's go— there's probably no clues to find out there anyway, so tell everyone to prepare some salt. We're going ghost-hunting!"
"Yes, Admiral!"
…
Thunder God Island was vast, but searching it wasn't particularly difficult.
On this island that seemed like Hell itself, there were only a few places where people could hide, and from a high vantage point, it was obvious where they could be… as long as you weren't afraid of being struck dead by lightning.
It didn't take long for soldiers to locate that valley and the very unnatural building within it.
Rowen followed the soldiers into the valley and looked at the structure before him.
"Really… I need to go back and give them a good talking-to."
"Even if it's Thunder God Island, failing to notice such an obvious change is just too negligent!"
Hearing this, Koby couldn't help but shed a tear of sympathy for the Assassination Force Information team members he'd never met— given Rowen's usual style, he absolutely meant what he said.
Standing beside two large stone lions at the entrance, Rowen was about to call the soldiers to enter when suddenly, with a "bang," the door was smashed open with brute force.
It was smashed open from the inside out.
"Gomu-Gomu… Rocket Cannon!"
That eerie arm that broke through the door was boneless and soft, stretching to its limit like rubber, and after tensing up, it snapped back the next second like a fully drawn bowstring, launching outward.
Bang…!!!
Inside the door, a large group of indistinct figures was instantly scattered by this powerful punch, and as the staircase was directly shattered, the zombie soldiers turned back with difficulty, letting out screams.
"Too… too strong! We're no match at all!"
"Ah! Don't come near me!"
However, the owner of the arm remained unmoved and charged forward quickly.
"Get out of the way— hand over Robin!"
"Gomu-Gomu No Machine Guns!"
"Gomu-Gomu no Whip!"
"Stop him! We can't let him disturb Moria Sama!"
The zombie legion rushed forward noisily, trying to halt Luffy's advance, however the gap in strength between them was simply too vast, and Luffy broke through their feeble resistance with a single punch or kick.
"Chī Chī Chī tch, you're too late, straw hat kid."
At that moment, a massive, inhuman figure appeared at the corner of the second floor, casually tossing the woman in his hand aside.
Luffy's eyes sharpened, and he leapt up to catch Robin.
"Hey, Robin! Wake up! Are you okay?"
This woman was none other than Nico·Robin, though judging by her condition, it was clear Moria had already taken her shadow.
"You… what did you do to Robin?!"
Seeing that Robin was still alive, Luffy propped her against the wall to sit, then looked up, glaring angrily at the figure.
"What did I do? Chī Chī Chīchī chī!"
"I merely gave her the fate a traitor deserves!"
Moria glared with reddened eyes, speaking with ferocity and hatred: "Maybe you don't know yet, straw hat, but this woman survives by constantly betraying others."
"If she hadn't betrayed me and brought Trafalgar in, I wouldn't have had to hide away on this desolate island!"
"She can betray anyone, no matter how important you think she is to you. This day will come…"
"Shut up, fire onion head!"
"…Asshole, what did you just call me?!"
Luffy looked at him irritably and said, "Sure, the Robin from before went through a lot to survive… even if she never mentioned it, we can imagine it."
"But now, whether she betrays me or not— what does that have to do with me?"
"She's my companion! And I absolutely won't let anyone who dares to hurt my companions off the hook!"
"Heh, such naive thinking— you are truly just a kid after all!" Moria looked at him and sneered.
But then he waved his hand disinterestedly and said to the beastman beside him, covered in stitches: "I'll leave it to you, Absalom… It's a critical time right now, and I don't have the patience to play pirate games with this naive kid."
"Don't worry, Moria Sama, I'll definitely… huh?!"
At that moment, Absalom's feline-like nose twitched, and he turned his gaze in confusion.
"This smell… It's living people! Could there be other intruders?"
Then he slowly looked over, and the next second, his expression froze.
It was only then that the zombie legion and Luffy noticed there was someone else behind them, and they followed Absalom's line of sight, the atmosphere suddenly freezing.
Everyone stared dumbfounded at the fully armed Marine force standing outside the tattered door.
At the front of the group, Rowen had somehow found a stool to sit on and was eating grapes.
Noticing their gazes, Rowen blinked.
"Keep going. Why are you all just standing there?! After all that buildup with the dialogue, isn't it time for the fight scene?"
'So you really are just here to watch the show, huh?!!'
Koby was left speechless.
"Thunderous Ji San, this is my fight— don't interfere!"
Just as everyone was at a loss for words, Luffy suddenly shouted loudly.
The others: "…"
This kid— should we call you brave or just plain crazy?
Maybe both.
However, while everyone else assumed Rowen would get angry at this, he instead nodded with an "I understand" expression.
"No problem, you do your thing —just pretend I'm not here."
His tone was as calm as if he were greeting an acquaintance while stepping out to buy a pack of smokes!
With that, he even spat out a grape skin.
Luffy, unsurprisingly, didn't find this odd at all and instead looked delighted.
"Thanks, Oji San! We'll chat about our stuff after I send these guys flying!"
With that, he turned around as if no one else were there and stomped his foot hard.
"Second Gear!"
Hiss, hiss…
His leg muscles compressed and squeezed like an air pump, and with a series of depressed thumping sounds, his skin turned bright red. The high-speed blood flow raised his body temperature, causing steam to rise from his skin with a "hiss hiss" sound.
He looked like a giant crab just pulled from a steamer—one glance was enough to tell he'd be a handful.
"Hey, straw hat, now's not the time for us to fight among ourselves!"
Absalom jolted in surprise and was about to say something, however, he was met with Luffy's furious fist.
"Gomu-Gomu… Jet Machine Guns!!!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Fists fell like a Rainstorm too fast for the naked eye to follow, engulfing Absalom and the zombie soldiers in a cloud of dust.
Listening to the constant explosions and screams in his ears, Koby scratched the back of his head.
"Is this really okay, Master?"
Bullying an idiot like this feels pretty wicked!
(End of Chapter)