t's over, Bellemere... what should I do?
Nami sat dazed in place. She still didn't know that the man covered in bizarre stripes beside her was Tom. She fell into a state of infinite confusion, her whole person seeming dark and gloomy.
Normally, if several throwing knives flew over her head, nearly taking her life, Nami would have broken out in a cold sweat. But right now, what Nami most wanted to do in her heart was to beat the man lying beside her to death.
Where the hell did that idiot Tom go?
Nami genuinely couldn't tell that the strange man with one red and one golden pupil next to her was Tom. She was still wondering if this man had pulled a disappearing act.
In her panicked state, Nami completely failed to notice that the man beside her was wearing the same clothes as Tom. Even if she couldn't recognize his face, if she had noticed that detail, she wouldn't have thought so much about it.
Great, today Nami and I are even. It's true that being debt-free feels the best.
Tom thought happily. At this moment, the thoughts in Tom and Nami's hearts could be described as polar opposites.
Nami saw the lying Tom's lips curl into a very satisfied smile and thought this man was secretly delighted because he had taken advantage of her. Especially with the red and orange stripes intertwined at the corner of his mouth, his smile carried a strange, indescribable sense of weirdness. Angered further, she raised her fist, ready to unleash her fury.
But just then, Tom suddenly saw Buggy's upper body floating in mid-air, face ferocious, holding throwing knives as he charged over. He hurriedly pushed Nami, who was blocking his way and had just raised her fist, aside. "Watch out!"
Nami, who was about to deal with Tom, was suddenly pushed. This wouldn't have been a big deal, but in his haste to push her away, Tom's hand accidentally brushed against her.
It happened too fast for Tom to notice, but Nami, the person involved, was acutely aware.
Thus, Nami, already gloomy, now petrified completely. She maintained her high-raised fist pose, like a millennia-old stone sculpture, utterly lifeless.
Tom was puzzled why Nami had completely stopped moving, but he had no time to dwell on it now. He had to deal with the oncoming Buggy first.
"All the treasure is mine! You two don't even think about stealing a single coin!"
Buggy's eyes gleamed with killing intent, fixedly staring at Nami who coveted his treasure, flying over with great ferocity.
Damn it, this woman really isn't moving.
Although Tom had pushed Nami, she remained sitting on the ground. This hampered his movements. Just as he was about to force himself up, enduring his body's discomfort, Nami beside him suddenly sprang into action.
Nami grabbed the nearby sack full of treasure, her face dark, stood up abruptly, her aura suddenly intensifying. She tightly gripped the sack of treasure and swung it heavily toward the oncoming Buggy. "Don't joke with me! Don't even think about stealing my treasure!"
"AAAH!!!"
Caught off guard, Buggy was hit square in the nose by the sack in Nami's hands. His nose had already been punched hard by Tom, swollen several times larger than normal. Now, Nami's attack touched the wound on his nose, causing such pain that he immediately clutched his nose and screamed.
Buggy never expected that his statement—"all the treasure is mine"—would deeply provoke Nami, causing the previously petrified Nami to instantly revive at full strength.
The facts proved that in Nami's heart, treasure was truly very important.
Before Tom, behind Nami, could even make a move, Nami had already resolved the crisis. Feeling the threads of cold air emanating from Nami, he couldn't help but shiver.
This woman was just lost and dejected a moment ago. Mention treasure, and she's energized. I really shouldn't owe her money in the future, otherwise, I'll truly have no peaceful days.
Looking at Nami's graceful and moving back, this thought surfaced in Tom's mind.
"You did really well! Drop what's in your hand now and run! Otherwise, he'll keep chasing you."
Luffy saw that although Buggy had been hit on the nose by Nami, he wasn't fatally wounded. Tom's movements were clearly sluggish. If Buggy caught up, it would be bad. That's why he shouted this to Nami.
"You want me to drop it? Don't dream! Why should I have to give up my own treasure?!"
Nami tightly hugged the treasure in her arms, her face full of determination as she said this.
"Your treasure?"
A shadow fell over Buggy's face. He clearly took issue with Nami's words.
"Nonsense! I'm a thief who specializes in stealing pirate treasure. Since I've got it in my hands, of course this treasure is mine now!"
Nami said this with overwhelming momentum, her expression completely matter-of-fact. For the sake of treasure, she temporarily set aside the earlier incident where Tom had unintentionally taken liberties.
"Hmm, what you said isn't wrong."
Luffy, hearing Nami's words, immediately expressed agreement.
"Ridiculous! My treasure is obviously mine! You think stealing it makes it yours? Is there something wrong with your head?!"
Buggy, hearing Nami's words, immediately became angry.
"The bad guy dares to lecture others?"
Nami's words made Buggy pause. "What?"
"I haven't fallen to the point where I need to be lectured by a pirate."
Nami hugged the treasure and stuck her tongue out at Buggy quite cutely.
"You woman... I see you don't want to live anymore."
Buggy's face darkened as he spoke to Nami with murderous intent.
"Take this! Chop-Chop..."
Buggy's upper body, floating in mid-air, was about to attack when he saw a hand reach out from behind Nami, who looked slightly panicked. Immediately after, he felt an unbearable pain, his face instantly turning pale.
It turned out that just as Buggy was about to split his body, Luffy in the distance saw the situation turning bad and happened to see Buggy's body right beside him. Without a second thought, he unceremoniously delivered a fierce kick to Buggy's torso.
And just as Luffy kicked Buggy's body, Tom also happened to grab the part of Buggy flying toward Nami.
Thus, although Buggy's body split into two, the intense pain coming from his body at the same moment was unbearable. It made his face turn from pale to purple, his features twitching, cold sweat pouring out nonstop.
"Get lost!"
Tom used his strength to slam Buggy's upper body heavily onto the ground.
"You're really a good person, coming out to help us like that."
Luffy, seeing the man covered in two-colored stripes save Nami—which also helped him—said this.
"You two bastards..."
Buggy's upper body lay on the ground. The intense pain from his body nearly brought tears to his eyes. He looked at Tom and said angrily, "Although I don't know who you are, I've remembered your face! I will never let you go!"
"What nonsense are you two talking about? Don't you recognize me?"
Tom felt something was wrong. The way Luffy and Buggy were acting, it seemed they genuinely didn't recognize him. He was also very puzzled. I just grabbed Buggy and threw him. Why is this guy so angry?
He continued speaking to Buggy. "Have you forgotten? I'm the one who punched your red nose redder and rounder earlier."
"Shut up! So it's you! How did you turn into a monster like this?"
Buggy had been focused on Nami and hadn't looked closely at Tom behind her. He truly didn't know Tom's appearance had changed so much. The unstoppable pain made his body twitch continuously. Hearing Tom's words made him even more furious inside.
Although he didn't know why Tom had become this neither-human-nor-ghost appearance, Buggy still believed this person was Tom.
"What? You're Tom?"
Luffy held his head, looking at Tom's face with shock. He then noticed that the two-colored stripes on Tom's face would occasionally shift. Moreover, as the stripes changed position, the colors of his pupils would also change. His eyes immediately lit up. "How did you do that? So cool! I want to be like that too!"
Before Tom could figure out what Luffy was talking about, he heard Nami behind him muttering to herself. "Thank goodness it's him..."
"What are you saying? 'Thank goodness it's me'?"
Tom turned to ask Nami. The moment the words left his mouth, Nami exploded, punching him on the head. "You idiot! It's not good at all! How did you get so ugly? Change back right now!"
Now Tom was truly speechless. From Luffy's reaction, it seemed his appearance had changed, and Luffy was very interested. But Nami was different—she actually said he was ugly straight out. Absolutely unacceptable!
"What are you doing? My appearance is not something for you to judge."
Tom crouched, holding his head, and spoke to Nami.
Actually, when Nami saw Tom standing in front of her, she remembered him taking advantage of her, and her anger flared again. She wanted to seize the chance to deal with him, but she also felt the man's back looked somewhat familiar. While hesitating, she heard that this man was Tom.
Initially, upon learning this man was Tom, Nami felt relieved, as if a heavy stone had been lifted from her heart. She unconsciously muttered, "Thank goodness it's him." Then she immediately thought, Why am I happy? No matter what, I'm the one who suffered!
But just then, Tom, with his complete lack of self-preservation, came to ask Nami what she was saying, making her both embarrassed and furious. Naturally, she punched Tom.
"Looking at the changes in your body, it should be the power of a Devil Fruit. But you can't control this power, which is why you've become like this. How laughable. You can't even master your own Devil Fruit power, yet you want to go to the Grand Line with that straw-hatted brat. How is that different from going to your death?"
After saying this to Tom, Buggy laughed mockingly at him.
Tom's heart skipped a beat. What Buggy said wasn't without reason. If he couldn't even use his own Devil Fruit ability properly, did he truly have enough capability to protect himself in the Grand Line?
But this Devil Fruit power has appeared, and I was completely unaware. What kind of ability is this?
For a moment, Tom felt restless and irritable.
Just as Buggy lay on the ground letting out wild, arrogant laughter, a white dog suddenly appeared before his eyes.
"What? You little dog looking to die?"
Buggy's upper body lay on the ground. His lower body and chest had suffered heavy blows and hadn't recovered yet. He could only lie there, staring eye-to-eye with Shushu.
Shushu looked at the round, red thing before its eyes and opened its mouth to bite.
"You damn dog must want to die! How dare you bite my nose! Let go!"
Buggy's round, large red nose was tragically bitten by Shushu, the pain making tears stream down his face.
"Have I changed back?"
Tom tried calling out in his heart to return to normal. After a moment, he asked Nami.
"Haven't you gotten even uglier?"
Nami saw that the two-colored stripes on Tom's face had originally been mostly symmetrical. But now, most of his face was covered in red stripes, with orange stripes sandwiched in the middle, completely destroying the balance. It looked very unpleasant.
"Wow! That's so cool! Tom, keep changing! Your Devil Fruit ability is too interesting!"
Luffy's excited voice reached Tom's ears.
"You fool! What are you doing? Why aren't you dealing with that big red nose now?!"
Tom saw that Luffy had, at some point, stood next to him, watching his face change with great interest, while leaving Buggy, who had temporarily lost the ability to fight back, off to the side. He felt utterly speechless.
"Ah, I almost forgot about him."
Luffy said this heartlessly, shook his arm, and walked toward Buggy's upper body, which was currently entangled with Shushu.
"You're so weak. You can't even beat a dog."
Luffy, seeing that Buggy had been bitten several times by Shushu while Shushu remained standing just fine, spoke very honestly to Buggy.
"Shut up! If not for your despicable methods, attacking my vitals, I would have dealt with this dog long ago!"
Buggy was furious. Enduring the intense pain in his body, he roared at Luffy.
"Oh, so that's it. You can beat a dog."
Luffy suddenly understood. His words made Buggy feel physical pain again.
"You damn straw-hat brat! You dare mock me!"
Buggy's upper body flew into the air. Luffy's words had provoked him into a rage, and he launched a fierce assault on Luffy.
While Luffy and Buggy fought, Tom asked Nami again. "Well? Have I returned to normal?"
Nami saw that this time, the two-colored stripes on Tom's face were symmetrical, but his hair stood on end, as if struck by lightning. "You're getting uglier and uglier, idiot!"
"Oh! Tom! Your hair looks like a broom! Hahaha!"
After putting distance between himself and Buggy, Luffy glanced at Tom, saw his current appearance, held his stomach, and laughed happily.
While Luffy was laughing joyfully, he didn't notice Buggy's lower body quietly approaching from behind him.
Buggy's lower body reached behind Luffy. A dagger extended from the shoe on his foot, and he kicked fiercely at Luffy's back.
"That was close! Almost got stabbed."
Luffy reacted quickly, barely avoiding Buggy's sneak attack, but his skin was still cut, receiving a minor injury.
"You idiot! You brought this on yourself! Get serious!"
Tom, seeing that Luffy had the leisure to laugh at his hair being a broom during his fight with Buggy, felt his blood pressure rise in anger.
Then, with a hiss sound, two of the wounds on Tom's body spurted blood again. He had nearly burst a blood vessel from sheer anger...
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T/N :
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