"Forget it, Pag!" Higuma cut off his subordinate. "If we start doing that in nearby villages, we won't have anywhere to rest and drink ourselves."
"So, if I catch her outside the village..." Pag began with a sly smile, then looked questioningly at his boss.
"Only if no one notices! Otherwise, I'll gut you myself, and you'll be my fifty-seventh."
"Don't worry, boss!" the big guy grinned. "Is it my first time or something?"
"And what if she never leaves the village?" asked the thinnest of them.
"The bar owner? Are you kidding? You mean they deliver drinks right to her door, and she never steps outside?"
"And how long are you planning to wait for her?"
"She's worth waiting as long as it takes!"
"Pag, just leave me a little," one of those carrying the gift bags chimed in.
Then the rest joined in:
"Hey, by the way, I liked her too!"
"And me!"
"Me too!"
"And me!"
"What? Is she really that hot?" asked one of those who hadn't gone into the bar.
"Oh, she's a real treat!"
"Yeah? Then I wouldn't mind rolling around with her too."
"Calm down, have you even seen her?" Pag snorted. "Don't be fooled by her slim and petite appearance. I can tell a strong woman from a mile away. There's more than enough for all of us, and even for all those pirates."
"Poor kid, and he admires our boss so much!" one of the bandits laughed, drawing immediate attention from the others. "He begged the boss for a flyer and brought us gifts," the man explained, noticing the silent question in his comrades' eyes. "And here you are fighting over either his sister or his mother. At least, since she punished him…" the thug hesitated, recalling the boy's appearance after the punishment, but then, forcing himself, continued: "Since she punished him, she certainly wasn't a stranger to him."
At the word 'punishment,' Higuma, who was leading the group, and the other bandits who entered the bar with him, shuddered. They all recalled the gaping mouth of the little boy… a mouth that a human's mouth could not possibly open that wide! Higuma also realized that he still didn't know what the boy's punishment was… what could provoke such a reaction from such a kid? There were no visible marks on his body, and besides severe beatings and torture, nothing else came to mind… And it was never meant to be known.
While the group of idiots was enjoying their last moments of life, Luffy, having distanced himself from them, crouched behind a small boulder where he had previously left another package with a special holster, two revolvers, and a small pair of binoculars. The ordinary holster was too large for the boy. The revolvers themselves were too big for him, so even if he had altered the holster to fit his size and build, he still wouldn't be able to carry the revolvers the way an adult could. That's why he had his own custom-made holster that allowed him to carry the revolvers on his back. It was convenient to draw them and didn't get in the way. Besides, he couldn't shoot with both at once - he barely managed with one. The second was needed so that if necessary, he could just draw the second revolver instead of reloading the first one. Although he had never needed it, he still continued to carry both revolvers.
On the other hand, Luffy's real danger, as always, wasn't in his handguns. It was his brains and cunning, combined with hundreds of kilograms of high-quality explosives - that was the real threat. Hiding behind the boulder, putting on the holster with the revolvers, and inserting earplugs, he took out a small rectangular device with a retractable antenna and a single round button in the center, covered by a transparent plastic cap. Then, looking through the binoculars to ensure the location of his 'gifts,' he extended the antenna, removed the cap, and pressed the button.
It seemed like Higuma was incredibly lucky. Firstly, he was leading all his subordinates. Secondly, those subordinates were so engrossed in discussing Makino that they had fallen behind their leader. And thirdly, the bandits carrying Luffy's 'gifts' were at the very end. As a result, when the bombs in the packages exploded, Higuma was almost spared - he only experienced a mild scare. The bombs weren't very powerful - Luffy was afraid of losing the trophy head, which would have deprived him of his reward - but they were filled with small steel pellets. The explosion killed only the bandits directly carrying the packages, while the rest were scattered and peppered with steel pellets, though not all were killed. In fact, the explosion and steel pellets killed only seven people, eight more were injured to varying degrees, and Higuma only got his cloak dirty when he was knocked to the ground by the blast wave. Everyone was stunned, though. And despite this, Higuma recovered the quickest. From the outside, it seemed he was the luckiest of all. In reality, it was exactly the opposite.
"WHO THE FUCK DID THIS?!!" roared Higuma as he got to his feet.
However, as soon as the tough leader of the tough bandits turned around and saw the scene before him, it was as if all the air had been sucked out of him - his pretentious toughness vanished.
"H-help…"
" My legs, my legs!"
" B-boss… help, b-boss…"
" W-water… p-please… water…"
Higuma saw a cloud of smoke and dust, as well as his bloodied men writhing on the ground. Some were definitely dead, like Giro and Sali, each torn almost in half and missing an arm and a leg. Some were still alive but on the verge of death, like the one asking for water, Pag, who had bled a sea of blood in less than a minute. But there were also those trying to get up despite their injuries. Although there were only two such people, one of whom fell back down almost immediately, they were still there. However, this did not affect the final result. As soon as Higuma realized that one of the standing survivors was Rod, looking the least injured, a distant gunshot was heard. The next moment, a fountain of blood erupted from Rod's head, and he fell flat on the ground, showing no more signs of life.
If at that moment Higuma had gathered his wits and started running for his life, he might have had a decent chance of survival, but he was too slow. Even though he was 'luckier' in the explosion, he could not escape the consequences. That's why, instead of fleeing with all his might, Higuma futilely tried to understand what was happening around him. The cloud of dust and smoke, and the cries and moans of the dying, did not help the situation. However, with each new shot getting closer, the cries and moans became fewer and fewer. Eventually, only Higuma and one of his subordinates, curled up in fear, remained alive. It was only then that the bandit leader realized he needed to run… but it was already too late.
"You know, if I hadn't initially planned to kill all of you, in the end, I'd still have had to wipe you out for making a move on Makino," came an unfamiliar voice to Higuma, from the gradually dissipating cloud of smoke and dust. "And now, the main question: how did your gang of idiots survive so long? And with a bounty on your head of eight million belly? How did they even set such a bounty on you? I think someone so overconfident and weak isn't worth more than a hundred thousand… Don't get me wrong, I'm not against easy money, just a bit puzzled. However, I must admit that you're very good at hiding. I learned about your gang a year ago, but I hadn't been able to cross paths with you until today, when you decided to give me such a gift. My birthday was a long time ago, but thanks anyway."
While Higuma unsuccessfully squinted into the cloud of smoke and dust, someone emerged from it whom the man did not expect to see at all. He was so unprepared for this that he started rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. But no matter how much he rubbed, the vision before him didn't disappear. Only when the 'hallucination' shot him in the leg, causing him to collapse to the ground with a cry of pain, did Higuma realize that his eyes were not deceiving him.
"Y-you... you... you..." the man stuttered in shock.