"I'm sorry, but we did approach you with ulterior motives," Stanson admitted. "There's a group of bounty hunters stationed nearby who specialize in hunting passing pirates and stealing their pirate flags."
"If you're lucky enough to survive, they destroy your sails and leave you adrift at sea to die."
"So that's why you were drifting here?"
"Yes," Stanson nodded. "Only because I acted submissive and begged for our lives—otherwise, we'd all be dead by now."
Perhaps the bounty hunters didn't bother killing them because they had no bounties, or maybe they were being used as bait to lure in other pirates.
Of course, if it were discovered that their captain, Puzzle, was still alive, they'd all be killed without hesitation.
After all... their captain's bounty was a staggering 100 million Berries!
"Damn it..."
Kair clenched his fists, his face twisted in humiliation.
To him, surviving by groveling was nothing short of disgraceful.
And worst of all—their pirate flag had been taken!
"So, what was your goal then...?"
"We were the bait to lure you in," Stanson said, pulling out a Den Den Mushi. "Once you got close, I contacted the bounty hunters."
"I imagine they'll be here soon."
He wasn't sure exactly where they were now, but given how much time had passed, they should be arriving any moment.
"So..." Zoro's expression darkened. "We're just bargaining chips for your survival... How despicable."
The others' gazes turned hostile. They had offered these people food in good faith, only to be repaid with betrayal.
"You're bad people!" Merry shouted angrily.
The little girl brandished her tiny hammer, glaring fiercely at Stanson—though the effect wasn't quite as intimidating as she might have hoped.
"How did you figure it out?" Nico Robin asked curiously.
"Blindly trusting strangers isn't a good habit," Meiser replied. "So when you took them aboard, I sent a Shadow Clone to check their ship. That's when I caught this guy communicating with another group."
Had he been less cautious, the trap might have succeeded.
"Heh, looks like we've got ourselves a target," Franky grinned menacingly.
Just after leaving the City of Seven Waters, someone was already after their heads.
Then again, with a combined bounty exceeding 1 billion Berries, what bounty hunter wouldn't be tempted?
"Well... this is unexpected..."
Sanji exhaled a stream of smoke, his eyes turning cold.
He was always happy when people enjoyed his cooking—but if these guys intended to harm them, they'd have to face his wrath after their meal.
"Everyone!!" Erl suddenly shouted. "That's not what really happened!!"
The crew turned to look at him, though their expressions remained skeptical.
They trusted Meiser's abilities more than the words of their enemies.
"Please let me finish speaking, I beg you."
Erl lowered his head in a submissive gesture, swallowing hard unconsciously—the pressure from their gazes was overwhelming.
"Speak!"
"Our intentions differ from Stanson's," Erl said. "His plan was to trade you to bounty hunters for a chance to survive, while we wanted to seize your ship and use it to challenge those bounty hunters again... We never intended to harm you. We only wanted the ship."
"Do you really think we'd believe that?"
"I'm telling the truth! Because those bastards stole our Pirate Flag!" Erl gritted his teeth.
From the start, their goals had been different from Stanson's. If even their symbolic pride had been taken, what was the point of clinging to life?
Better to fight those scoundrels and reclaim their Pirate Flag—at least then, there'd be a chance.
"Pirate Flag?"
Luffy, who had been furious moments ago, froze at those words before his expression twisted in disgust. "Those bastards actually stole someone else's Pirate Flag?"
In Luffy's eyes, stealing another crew's Pirate Flag was the ultimate insult—an unforgivable act!
"So please believe me. None of us ever planned to take your lives," Erl insisted.
"That's right," Dobby added, pulling out the anesthetic he had secretly retrieved earlier. "This is what we planned to use to knock you out."
"Anesthetic?"
"How do we know that's really what it is?"
Without another word, Doby uncorked the vial and drank it. His body stiffened, then he toppled backward.
"Zzz... Zzz..."
Almost the moment he hit the ground, his snores filled the air—he was out cold.
With that dosage, he probably wouldn't wake up today.
This sudden turn convinced Luffy and the others that, at the very least, the man was telling the truth about the drug.
"Really... naive," Zoro muttered, shaking his head. "Did you honestly think we'd survive if you just knocked us out?"
"You're underestimating bounty hunters."
Their combined Bounty now exceeded 1 billion. Did they really think such easy prey would be let go?
The hunters were probably already closing in.
Erl was stunned, at a loss for words—he truly hadn't considered that.
His plan had always been simple: take their ship without harming them, then use it to fight the bounty hunters.
Just then, the Den Den Mushi in Stanson's hand suddenly rang, drawing everyone's attention.
Meiser glanced at Stanson, who immediately explained, "It's Salchow."
"That guy's the son-in-law of the bounty hunter family—the ones who stole our Pirate Flag."
As the Den Den Mushi continued to ring, Meiser's mind raced. The fact that they'd been targeted was unavoidable now.
The question was how to profit from this. If they were dealing with a bounty hunter family, they must have plenty of money, right?
At that thought, Meiser's eyes gleamed.
"You..."
Before Meiser could finish his sentence, Luffy walked over and snatched the Den Den Mushi, shouting into it, "Hey! Are you the bastard who likes stealing people's Pirate Flags?!"
Meiser: ???
Others: !!!
Dude, you just answered it like that?
On the other end of the line, Salchow was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected the person answering to be so aggressive—was this kid not afraid of death?
Wait... something's off!
"Where's Stanson?" Salchow's expression darkened.
This clearly wasn't the voice of that coward Stanson but rather an unfamiliar man. Could it be the Straw Hat Pirates?
"Who's Stanson?"
"The guy with the pointy head."
"Oh, he's right here."
"I see... So he betrayed us..." Salchow sneered. "That fool really thought joining you would save him from our pursuit?"
In his life, nothing disgusted him more than traitors. And Stanson, who dared betray them, would face the most brutal punishment!
This time, he wouldn't be merciful enough to spare the guy's life. He could just go to hell along with this so-called Straw Hat Pirates!
"Kid, you're from the Straw Hat Pirates, aren't you?" Salchow said.
"I'm the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will become the Pirate King!" Luffy declared with absolute confidence before asking, "Why do you steal other people's Pirate Flags?"
"Because my father likes—" Salchow caught himself mid-sentence, his face twisting in anger. "Damn it, that's none of your business!"
"Straw Hat Pirates, huh? You've been marked by our Accino Family. Clean your necks and wait—neither your Pirate Flag nor any of you will escape our grasp!"
"And you, Stanson, you won't get away either!"
With a cold laugh, Salchow hung up without hesitation. Clearly, he had no intention of sharing any information with Luffy.
"That damned Stanson. We could've dealt with these pirates the easy way, but now he's made things complicated," Salchow grumbled in frustration.
If they could've just drugged them, there'd be no need for a direct confrontation.
A total Bounty exceeding 1 billion berries—these pirates were definitely no pushovers.
"Lord Salchow, what should we do now?" one of his subordinates asked.
Going head-to-head with such terrifying opponents would be suicide. They needed reinforcements from the family.
"Prepare the Seagull Trap," Salchow sneered. "First, we'll force them into a designated location."
The open sea was too vast—fighting them here would be unwise. Better to drive them into the Icy Sea Route first, then let the family handle the rest.
"Yes, sir!"
"Good. Get ready." Salchow waved them off.
Once his subordinates left, Salchow picked up the Den Den Mushi again and dialed the family's number.
Soon, the Den Den Mushi connected, morphing into the likeness of a man.
"What is it?" Don Accino's voice carried a certain magnetism, though Salchow didn't seem to notice.
"Brother..."
"I told you, don't call me big brother so casually."
Clearly, Kanbachino didn't approve of this useless brother-in-law. If it weren't for his sister's sake, he wouldn't even bother with the guy.
"Honestly, Big Brother Kanbachino, why do you keep bullying my man?" Don Arbell complained.
As she spoke, she casually picked up the Den Den Mushi and continued, "Darling, what's the situation on your end?"
"Ah~"
"Darling, I'm already preparing to use the Seagull Trap to force them into the Icy Sea Route," Salchow said, wriggling his body. "They're really strong, so I need the family's backup."
"Ah~"
"Understood. Looks like we'll be seeing each other soon."
Kanbachino couldn't take it anymore and snatched the Den Den Mushi. "Once you force them into the Icy Sea Route, don't make any reckless moves. Wait for us."
"These guys aren't simple..."
Kanbachino glanced at the Straw Hat Pirates' Wanted Posters on the table, his gaze lingering on Luffy and Meiser's bounties.
These two were definitely not opponents ordinary people could handle.
Especially that Ninja—if he was anything like the legends described in stories, killing him wouldn't be easy.
Such high bounties... the odds aren't small.
"Got it, I'll wait for you," Salchow said.
"Mhm."
Kanbachino hung up and turned to Don Arbell. "Dad, we're going hunting."
"This time, we'll bring you those pirates with a combined bounty of over a billion as your birthday present."
"Go ahead," Accino grinned. "I'm looking forward to this year's gift~"
A billion... what a tempting number.
"Yes, Dad. We'll take them down as soon as possible."