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"Luffy, mind explaining what the hell's going on here?"
Bai Ye had just stepped out of Nami's room — only to find several people pointing guns at him.
Not that he was fazed at all. He even had the time to make small talk with Luffy.
"Yeah, we were attacked," Luffy replied with his usual goofy grin.
Bai Ye twitched. What the hell is going on inside this guy's head...
Just then, a big guy on deck spoke up:
"There's only a few of you on this ship?"
He was built like Alvida and wore something that looked like a hippo cape. This was Wapol, and he casually shoved a knife skewering a chunk of ham into his mouth and swallowed it whole.
Zoro was stunned.
Did he just eat the knife?
Without thinking, Zoro tightened his grip on his three swords.
Wapol wiped his mouth and spoke again:
"Doesn't matter how many of you there are. So, someone answer me—"
"Do you guys have a Log Pose or Eternal Pose that points to Drum Island?"
"Drum Island?!!" Nami and the others gasped — that was exactly where they were heading!
"I remember now!"
Suddenly, Vivi shouted:
"You're Wapol — the King of Drum Island!!!"
Everyone was floored.
"A king?!"
"No way! If he's a king, what the hell's he doing out here as a pirate?!"
Usopp looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"I'm sure of it," Vivi said seriously.
"I saw him once when I attended a World Council meeting with my father."
"I thought he looked familiar earlier, but it wasn't until he mentioned Drum Island that I was sure."
"Hahahahahaha!!!"
Wapol burst into laughter.
"That's right! I am the King of Drum Island!!!"
Then suddenly, he changed the subject:
"But hold that thought — I'm hungry."
Before anyone could react, he bit into the Merry and chomped off a whole section of the railing.
"MERRY!!!"
Usopp was the first to react. He whipped out his Desert Eagle: Elemental Edition and opened fire.
[Lightning! Fire! Explosion!]
Lightning and fire-element bullets struck Wapol head-on, triggering an overload explosion that sent him flying into the ocean.
At the same time, the rest of the Straw Hats sprang into action and took down the rest of the intruders in seconds.
"Took us long enough," Zoro muttered as he sheathed his swords.
Luffy, meanwhile, picked up another knife that had flown out when Wapol was blasted away.
Then... he bit it.
Next second—
"Blegh! Tastes awful!"
He spat it out with a disgusted look on his face.
"You idiot!" Usopp yelled, his teeth turning into fangs anime-style. "That guy's clearly a Devil Fruit user!"
"And what do you mean 'tastes awful'?! Shouldn't it be like... inedible or something?!"
Sanji nodded and added, "He probably ate the Munch-Munch Fruit."
He remembered it from a Devil Fruit encyclopedia he'd read as a kid.
"Let's just haul him up and ask him," Bai Ye said, standing by the part of the ship that had just been bitten off, looking a little pained.
In his mind, he made a silent decision:
From now on, I'm engraving long-lasting magic circles all over the ship. Top to bottom.
Then he formed a hand seal:
[Kan Trigram – Water Dragon's Chant!!!]
Moments later, Wapol — who was seconds away from drowning — was hauled back onto the deck by a massive water dragon...
...and promptly got beaten up again by Luffy and the others.
The reason, of course, was that he had damaged the Going Merry.
After that, when Nami used a Puppet Talisman, the crew finally found out what had happened back on Drum Island.
When Vivi heard that Wapol had just abandoned his country the moment he realized how strong Blackbeard's crew was, she couldn't hold back and scolded him, saying he didn't deserve to be king at all.
Luffy, on the other hand, lit up the moment he heard there was a witch on the island who knew medicine. He immediately declared that he wanted her to join the crew as their doctor.
But then he heard about the legend of a snow monster on the island... and instantly changed his mind.
He said he wanted to bring the snow monster onboard as their doctor instead—and was immediately smacked down by Nami's iron fist.
The whole sequence of events was so smooth and silly that even Bai Ye couldn't help but want to laugh.
Man, Luffy really doesn't learn from getting hit, does he?
After that, the Straw Hats got down to doing what pirates do best—
Looting.
First, Bai Ye tied up all the members of the Wapol Pirates and locked them in the hold of the Going Merry.
As for Wapol himself—
He got dunked into a giant barrel full of seawater.
Then, Nami and Vivi completely cleaned out all the treasure on the submarine.
Even though Wapol had fled in a panic, he still took a ton of loot with him.
So the Straw Hat crew got a nice cash boost.
To top it off, Bai Ye stored the whole submarine in his inner space.
Now that's what you call a proper heist—leave nothing behind.
And since they'd already run into Wapol, Bai Ye knew Drum Island wasn't far.
Sure enough, it didn't take long before Zoro spotted land from the lookout.
But when the Going Merry got close to the shore, something felt... off.
Just like back at Whisky Peak, the coastline was swarming with people.
But unlike back then, this time, nearly everyone was armed.
Then, the man who was clearly their leader stepped forward and asked:
"You guys... pirates?"
Luffy nodded without hesitation. "Yup, we're pirates."
Immediately, dozens of firearms were aimed at the crew on deck.
The man spoke again:
"Leave Drum Island immediately. This is our land. We will never allow pirates to come ashore."
"You must be Dalton," Bai Ye said calmly, stepping forward to face him.
"We're here for two reasons. First—"
He snapped his fingers, and four or five paper dolls walked onto the deck, carrying a huge wooden barrel.
"We brought you a present~"
Bai Ye pulled off the lid, revealing the man inside.
"WAPOL!!!"
Gasps echoed from everyone on the shore.
Dalton looked at Bai Ye, stunned. He had a thousand questions, but didn't even know where to begin.
"Oh, and he's not alone."
Bai Ye snapped his fingers again, and the rest of Wapol's crew—those who had escaped with him—were dragged up by more paper dolls.
"So... with all these lovely gifts, can we come ashore now?"
Bai Ye looked Dalton straight in the eye.
And seeing that clear gaze, Dalton finally nodded.
"Come with me. I'll take you into town."
"....."