"They're members of the Original Giant Soldier Pirates," Meiser explained. "From what I understand, they're guarding this gate to save their leaders, the two giant warriors Brogy and Dorry."
"The Navy gave them a hundred-year ultimatum—if they guard this gate for a century, they'll release the two giants from Impel Down."
"But that's a lie!!" Usopp suddenly shouted angrily, stepping forward. "Master Brogy and Dorry are on Little Garden, not in some Impel Down!"
Back on Little Garden, if it hadn't been for those two great Elbaf Warriors, they might not have escaped from that terrifying monster.
Damn the Navy for deceiving the proud giant warriors—utterly unforgivable!
"What's their deal?" Sanji lit a cigarette, glancing at the two giants. "They seem to think you're their boss?"
He had seen it clearly—these two giants were the ones who stopped the Rocketman.
Otherwise, stopping it wouldn't have been easy.
"Yeah, I used an Illusion Technique to make them think I was those two," Meiser shrugged. "Just a coincidence, really."
He had originally planned to use the Illusion Technique to turn these giants into allies, but now it seemed unnecessary.
Just telling them the truth would be enough to make them fight on their side.
"A Ninja can do something like that?!"
Zoro stared at Meiser in shock. Now he understood how the guy had gotten the front gates open.
By controlling them with an Illusion Technique, he could make them open the gates willingly!!
Thankfully, someone like this was their ally—otherwise, he'd be a terrifying opponent.
"So cool!" Chopper cheered excitedly.
This was the power of a Ninja? Incredible!
"For me, it's nothing special," Meiser said.
But before he could continue, Sanji suddenly rushed up to him, grabbing his shoulders. "Bro, if you ever go to the bathhouse, take me with—"
Duang~
Nami punched Sanji square in the head, knocking him flat on the ground.
"You pervert, what the hell are you thinking?!" Nami scolded.
"Tch, typical shitty cook," Zoro sneered.
Lying on the ground, Sanji had no retort. As someone who dreamed of obtaining the Invisibility Fruit, he really wanted to be good friends with Meiser.
"You wouldn't actually do that, right?" Nami tilted her head, smiling sweetly at Meiser.
"Don't worry, I'm nothing like him."
Meiser immediately drew the line, acting as if he didn't even know Sanji.
Nami nodded approvingly, then gave Sanji another kick for good measure.
The Franky Family and Paulie, who had followed them down, watched the scene with exasperation. How could they still be fooling around at a time like this?
"Meiser, please release your Illusion Technique," Usopp said seriously. "I'll tell them the truth."
Two proud giant warriors, deceived by the Navy into guarding a gate for a hundred years—what kind of humiliation was that?!
"Alright."
Seeing that Usopp had spoken up, Meiser wasted no more time and immediately dispelled the Illusion Technique.
The next moment, Oimo and Kashii shuddered as they realized that Dorry and Brogy, who had been standing before them just moments ago, had vanished.
"Strange, where did our two bosses go?!" Kashii asked in confusion.
"Oimo is also very curious."
"Hey, hello there!" Usopp shouted loudly.
"And who are you?" Oimo looked at Usopp in bewilderment, not understanding why this human was greeting him.
Meanwhile, Kashii noticed Meiser and frowned. "Was it you who was playing tricks just now?"
In his memory, the last thing he saw before encountering the two bosses was this strangely dressed human.
"He'll explain everything to you," Meiser said, pointing at Usopp.
With that, Meiser ignored the two giants and turned to his companions. "I'll go in and create a distraction, drawing as many people as possible to chase me."
"Where's Robin?" Sanji immediately stood up and asked.
"If I'm not mistaken, she should be in the central building," Meiser said, pointing toward the Courthouse. "Even if she's not there, we can still gather some information."
After a brief pause, he continued, "I'll go ahead first and see if I can sneak Robin out."
As a ninja, direct confrontation was to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
Infiltration and intelligence gathering were a ninja's specialties. If he could use his transformation techniques to extract Nico Robin, the rest would be easy.
"Got it. We'll head in that direction," Sanji nodded.
"Everyone, get on Sodom and Gomora now!" Zambai roared.
Running on foot was too slow, and they risked being ambushed by enemies along the way. Using the Emperor Bullfish to move was far more efficient—this was exactly why Sodom and Gomora had come here!
Seeing everyone spring into action, Meiser vanished from the spot with a Body Flicker Technique.
...
"That's quite the commotion."
Standing atop a building in the inner island, Meiser silently observed Luffy fighting the Marines below.
There was no denying it—Luffy's actions alone had drawn at least a third of the enemy forces to surround him.
A bounty of 100 million Berries was indeed a title worthy of respect.
"Let me give you all a little more trouble," Meiser chuckled, clapping his hands together. "Shadow Clone Technique!"
Poof!
Dozens of shadow clones appeared around Meiser, encircling him.
"Go. Draw as many as you can."
"Hey, can we kill them?" one of the clones asked.
"Do you even need to ask?" Meiser grinned. "There's no such thing as mercy when dealing with enemies!"
The clones smirked before scattering in all directions. Moments later, explosions and chaos erupted everywhere.
BOOM!!
"Enemies!"
"Damn it! Weren't we told it was just the Straw Hat Boy? Who's this guy smashing buildings with a single punch?!"
"No idea, never seen his bounty poster."
"Bastard, who the hell are you?!"
"Who am I?" The clone sneered. "I'm your worst nightmare!"
BOOM!!
"AHHH!!"
Facing the attacks from the clones, the marines had no choice but to futilely fire their flintlocks, only to be wiped out wave after wave.
Against such a monstrous opponent, ordinary people were utterly insignificant.
Meiser merely glanced at the scene calmly before turning his gaze away. With these clones drawing the island's attention, Zoro and the others would face much less pressure.
Then, Meiser fixed his eyes on the Courthouse not far away.
"Let's see if Robin is inside."
"Whoosh—"
With the Body Flicker Technique, Meiser vanished from the spot.