"And who is that?" Conrad pointed to the only bandit left alive, who was now clutching his wounded arm and watching in fear as the strangers loaded the bodies of his former comrades into the carts. "Is that our new recruit?" the handsome man reasonably guessed.
"He'll lead you to their base, and from there, it's up to you," the boy explained. "If he agrees, fine; if not, then who cares. You can either kill him or let him go, I don't care."
Conrad involuntarily glanced at his companion. He had been working for Luffy for over a year, close to a year and a half, but he still couldn't get used to how the boy's age and appearance completely mismatched his intelligence, strength, character, and behavior. By his own feelings, Conrad was following the orders of a seasoned forty-year-old thug, but in reality, his boss was a small kid, barely a meter tall with his hat on - Luffy, for his age, was indeed much shorter than average - capable of gutting anyone he didn't like without blinking an eye. That's why Conrad was the only one talking to the boy right now - the rest were all scared to death of their little boss, largely because they, like the blonde, were the sole survivors of their previous gang or crew.
"I bet he'll definitely agree," the young man smirked slightly, looking at the openly terrified bandit.
Conrad knew what he was talking about: who wouldn't agree to an offer when they were absolutely sure that refusal would lead to death? Everyone agreed. Even he did, back in the day.
"So, you'll have a new addition."
Luffy really didn't care.
" By the way, I wanted to discuss something with you."
Konrad himself believed that the main reason why so many people were afraid of the boy was that he, possessing almost all the qualities of an adult, looked like a mere child. As a result, people's fear was not something conscious, but rather a consequence of the twists of human psyche and instincts. Almost no one is bothered by the death of an unfamiliar adult, but almost everyone feels uneasy upon hearing about the death of a small child. Also, in dangerous situations, women and children are instinctively and consciously saved first. Luffy, however, could save or kill anyone he wanted, which didn't fit into the usual picture of the world, and thus, fear arose. Such is the fate of everything unknown and unusual. Konrad himself was also initially very afraid of his little boss but eventually managed to overcome it. Perhaps it was because of the books? Becoming genuinely interested in how such a child could grow up, the guy read many books on psychology, although he had never finished reading a single book in his life before. In general, since he started following Luffy, he had to learn to do many things he had never done before. For example, he had become quite good at trading.
"And what did you want to talk about?" the boy looked at the standing man with interest.
"Some people have started to notice that not everything is as it seems with our group…"
"Who do we need to kill?" Luffy interrupted him. "Just give me all the information you have on them and you can forget about them."
Konrad hadn't expected anything else. Despite all his abnormalities, the boy was an extreme as owner, and when it came to threats to his property, he preferred to solve problems in the most radical way. One of the reasons they continued to follow Luffy was initially, of course, due to wild fear and a desire to live, but later - the complete confidence that as long as they remained loyal to him, no one could touch them, without blowing up in a cloud of fire and smoke. In fact, people blew up in that very cloud of fire and smoke even just from trying to 'touch' them.
"No one needs to be killed yet," Konrad shook his head, rejecting his little boss's suggestion. "We've started receiving requests to join and offers for cooperation."
"Ah, that's what you're talking about," Luffy said, and fell silent.
Trading came easily to Konrad, so lately, there had often been some greedy idiot wanting to stick their hand into his pocket. This was not unusual; all successful traders faced it, but the problem was that Konrad's pocket was equivalent to Luffy's pocket. You had to be a real idiot - or guaranteed immortal - to try to lay hands on money belonging to the boy. The fact was that there was another very important reason why, ultimately, everyone who had ever been left alive by Luffy continued to follow him. They continued to follow even after they had practically confirmed the ability to leave him at any time without risking a bullet in the head. After all, you had to be a real fool not to realize the incredible potential of their little boss. Even Konrad's imagination couldn't picture what the boy might become in the future. Rather, what he would be able to achieve. Who in their right mind would refuse such prospects? Of course, there were other reasons. For example, none of them ever wanted to be among their current boss's enemies again. And this desire, as the number of buried and burned bodies left by Luffy after each of his 'jobs' grew, became stronger and stronger.
"So, what?" when the boy's silence dragged on, Konrad clarified. "What should I answer to the offers?"
"Wait, I'm still thinking."
The man obediently fell silent, returning to observe his people, who had almost finished cleaning up the surrounding 'mess.' Then there was a short trip to Luffy's home, where Higuma's body was buried in the backyard - another reason why people were terrified of the boy - and his head was placed in a special jar with a special solution. Such jars and solutions were officially sold to bounty hunters in almost all marine stations. A severed head could be stored in such a jar for several months - the exact duration depended on temperature and light - without losing its original appearance. The jar was transferred to one of the carts with corpses - now Higuma's head was to be taken to the nearest marine base, which Konrad intended to do that day. He hated postponing such things.
" So," Luffy said when all the business was done and it was time for Konrad and his people to set off, "accept the requests only if you really need more people. And if you have an idea or ideas on where to use the new people. You can also respond positively to the cooperation offers, but only if they agree to let you be in charge, otherwise, let them go to hell. Otherwise, do as you wish."
Konrad expected something like this. Of course, he didn't think Luffy would actually give him a complete free hand in decision-making, but he wasn't surprised by the boy's conditions for cooperation. Tyranny was the only form of rule that the little Luffy accepted and understood.
"Understood, but I must warn you right away that some people might be very displeased with our refusal. And they have many more people than we do and are significantly stronger."
"Well, that's good!" Luffy rejoiced. "I'm going to train a bit more, after which I'll need strong opponents to continue improving. While I'm little, any adult is much stronger than me, and trained adults will even be serious opponents. So, feel free to send away anyone who tries to act tough in front of you, I'll deal with them myself later."
"I didn't quite understand," Konrad frowned slightly, "you will need strong opponents? As in, you'll fight them? Not shoot and blow up, but actually… fight with your fists or swords?" he couldn't believe what he was saying. "Did I get that right?"
"Forget it," the boy waved off casually, "just make sure to let me know about your problems in time, and I'll handle the rest myself."
Konrad was not at all reassured by this response, but he knew arguing was pointless.
"…Then, see you soon," the man said goodbye to Luffy after a brief pause. "I'll keep you updated."
"See you!" the boy nodded.
Konrad and his crew left, taking fourteen corpses and a severed head with them, while Luffy, as if nothing had happened, returned to the bar where Shanks' pirates continued drinking. Settling at the counter, the boy immediately asked for ice cream, only to receive a categorical refusal: his punishment had not been canceled yet. Then he resorted to tears, snot, and pleas for help - like, I'll die if I don't get ice cream right now! - solemn promises to change - the blatant lies almost made her ears curl! - flattery and compliments, and when none of that worked, he tried threats and attempts at blackmail. But seriously blackmailing Makino was futile, and she ignored all threats, so in the end, he still didn't get his ice cream.
At the same time, while Luffy tried to get his treat from Makino, the drunken pirates watched the boy and the girl with an unusual attentiveness and focus for drunken people. There was no change in Makino's behavior, nor in Luffy's. It was as if the former didn't even suspect that the latter had gone out of her bar and killed fifteen people at once. The boy behaved as if he had just gone home to change into clean clothes and nothing more. Meanwhile, all Shanks' pirates knew for sure that Luffy had gone and killed Higuma and all his subordinates except one. And although the pirates had heard about such things many times over the past year, it was only today that they encountered the boy's 'work' firsthand. And it slightly disoriented them. The little monster really didn't care about other people's deaths.
"What's that chest?" Luffy suddenly asked, surprising everyone.