Loguetown was situated near the entrance to the Grand Line. For a town that had once publicly executed the Pirate King, Gold Roger, Luffy absolutely had to see it.
And so, the Straw Hat Crew decided to head for Loguetown. At the same time, a coffin-shaped boat was slowly sailing toward a certain island.
"It's Hawkeyes! What are you doing here?!"
When the lookouts realized who the newcomer was, they each became flustered.
"Quiet. I'm not here for you. Where are the officers?"
Hawkeyes stepped ashore, sweeping a cold glance over the group. Just meeting his incredibly sharp gaze made them feel a chill run down their spines, silencing them completely.
"Holding a banquet on this island… What leisurely guys."
Saying this, Hawkeyes strode quickly into the island's interior.
The island had a mild climate, with gentle breezes blowing occasionally. Birds sang and flowers bloomed; it was a small island where one could easily relax.
"Hawkeyes. A rare guest. I'm feeling a bit under the weather. Are you here to settle things with me?"
A red-haired man with three scars over his left eye sat on a rock, speaking with a serious face to Hawkeyes, who stood before him. Several of his officers were resting nearby.
"I have no desire to settle anything with a man who's lost an arm."
Hawkeyes produced a bounty poster. "I came across some interesting pirates. It reminded me of something you told me before. About an interesting kid in a certain village."
Hearing Hawkeyes' words, the surrounding officers looked up, expressions interested.
"You finally made it, Luffy!"
Shanks' face broke into a relieved smile upon seeing the bounty poster in Hawkeyes' hand. He remembered the scene from ten years ago, placing his straw hat on the young Luffy's head.
"There's also this other one," Hawkeyes said, producing another poster. "He's quite an interesting fellow as well. He actually declared to my face that he would break my sword."
"What a cute sheep," Shanks said upon seeing Tom's bounty poster.
"He's with the straw-hat kid. It's not strange for them to be wanted simultaneously. But for his bounty to be the same as the captain's… Don't you find that somewhat unusual?" Hawkeyes said to the red-haired pirate.
"Now that you mention it, it does seem odd," Shanks said, stroking his chin with a thoughtful expression. But just as Hawkeyes was about to say more, Shanks burst out laughing and gestured for him to sit. "But these are matters for the younger generation. Let's not worry about them."
"You haven't been drinking all night, have you?" Hawkeyes sat down beside Shanks. Seeing the remnants of a drunken state on his face, he spoke up.
"What of it? How can you not drink on such a happy day?" Shanks took a cup for Hawkeyes and slowly poured for him, not forgetting to call out to those nearby. "Everyone, drink up! The banquet's starting again!"
"Didn't you just say you felt unwell from drinking too much?" Hawkeyes asked, seeing Shanks' drinking habit act up again.
"That's not the point! The important thing is that everyone's happy!" Shanks enthusiastically kept urging Hawkeyes to drink. "Come on, join us! Drink!"
And so, under Shanks' influence, Hawkeyes found himself drinking cup after cup. The previously somewhat deserted scene soon grew boisterous once more.
Back in the East Blue, two other parties were preparing to seek out the now-wanted Luffy and Tom.
On a small boat sailing with the wind was a man with a large red nose, wearing a pirate hat. He looked quite short. Holding two bounty posters, he looked left and right, his face full of resentment.
Yes, this was "the undying" Buggy. At Orange Town, he'd been finally sent flying by Luffy. Parts of his body, tightly bound together by Nami, hadn't followed, leaving him with just his head and a pair of hands and feet. Without a torso, he'd become a complete dwarf, but he had luckily survived.
Now, seeing the bounty posters of Luffy and Tom, Buggy remembered being beaten badly by these two in Orange Town. He truly wished he could chop them both into pieces right now. Burning vengeance raged in his heart.
On another ship covered in heart symbols, a great beauty stood at the bow. She wore a stylish top hat, had long, dark hair, a slender figure, and skin that seemed smoother than milk. Her alluring eyes were fixed on the two bounty posters in her hand. She stroked her flat, smooth abdomen a few times, ran her fragrant tongue over her red lips, and revealed a trace of cruel intent at the corner of her mouth.
Several days later, Luffy and the others smoothly arrived at Loguetown, setting foot on the town known as the Town of the Beginning and the End.
"Wow! This town is huge!" Luffy stood on Loguetown's main street, seeing the bustling crowds. He immediately grew excited. "Alright! I'm going to see the execution platform!"
"The Age of Pirates began here… Seems like you can get some good ingredients in this place, too," Sanji said, looking around the street. Seeing many beautiful women walking about, his heart was no longer with the group even though his body was.
"I need to resupply my equipment," Usopp declared, planning to buy in bulk at the town's shops to prepare for the Grand Line.
"Usopp, I want you to do me a favor," Tom whispered to Usopp while Nami wasn't looking. "If you see any equipment suitable for my fishing, buy some for me too."
"Why should I do that for you? Wouldn't it be better if you bought it yourself?" Usopp asked, confused.
"I have no money," Tom confessed honestly.
"Serves you right for always opposing Nami," Usopp said, giving Tom a sympathetic look. He estimated Tom probably couldn't take out ten Berries from his pockets now. Even if he could, Nami would have surely stolen them.
"Who told that woman to be so stingy? I said a few words to her and she stole all the money I had," Tom said rather unhappily. Coming to Loguetown, he'd originally wanted to buy some books on marine life. Who knew a lack of funds would stump a hero? A real tragedy.
The cause was this: a couple of days ago, during a practical spar with Zoro, Tom's belt was accidentally lightly grazed by Zoro's sword… and it snapped in two.
For this, both Tom and Zoro got beaten up by Nami. After all, she had specially made that belt for Tom. Who knew it would be destroyed before they even reached the Grand Line?
Because of this, before landing at Loguetown, when Nami distributed spending money to the crew, Tom and Zoro didn't get a single Berry. This pair of unfortunate brothers was now utterly miserable.
As Nami said, funds were limited, so these two had to be sacrificed this time. Initially, Tom thought Luffy, as captain, should uphold justice. Unfortunately, after Nami generously gave a small sum to Luffy for meat, Luffy declared that everything should be left to Nami.
Seeing Nami openly bribing the captain, and Luffy readily accepting the bribe, what could Tom say? Not getting so angry his teeth hurt was good enough.
"Fine. If I have any spare money, I'll help you out," Usopp said, understanding Tom's predicament, patting his shoulder in comfort.
Currently, Zoro was also troubled by his lack of funds. Two of his swords had broken in his duel with Hawkeyes. With only one sword, he couldn't fully bring out his strength. But to buy a sword, he had no money.
"I can lend you the money," Nami whispered to Zoro beside her, seeing Tom and Usopp acting suspiciously. "But with triple interest. Also, you can't use the money I give you to help Tom."
Thinking Tom should solve his own problems if he had them, Zoro immediately agreed to Nami's condition. It couldn't be helped; he really didn't want to enter the Grand Line with just one sword.
So Zoro borrowed 100,000 Berries from Nami, thinking he'd buy the cheapest sword he could find to manage.
Soon, Luffy and the others split up in Loguetown to pursue their respective goals.
"You were definitely trying to get Usopp to help you just now, right? But I think you'll be disappointed. He has a lot to buy and won't have extra money for you," Nami said with a smile to Tom beside her.
"Say what you will. I want to look around this town too, so let's split up here," Tom said. He'd rather die than bow his head to Nami. So what if he had no money? Life went on. What was there to fear?
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave," Nami said, seeing Tom about to walk off proudly. A playful smile appeared on her face. "If I'm happy later, I might lend you a little money too."
"Really?" Tom's face lit up with joy, looking at Nami with a slightly mischievous gaze.
"Of course. After I finish buying clothes," Nami said. After that, she and Tom began to leisurely stroll through shops in Loguetown.
After visiting nearly twenty clothing stores, Tom's face finally darkened. Had he known, he would have preferred to find some place to play by himself.
"When are you going to lend me the money?" Tom had asked Nami this no fewer than fifteen times. The most important thing was that with his current strength, accompanying Nami shopping actually made his thigh muscles ache. This made him deeply suspicious—was it because of his recent intense training with Zoro?
"Are you really that dissatisfied being with me?" Nami snorted softly. She felt that since they were about to head for the Grand Line, this rare chance to relax was precious, but Tom just wouldn't cooperate.
"Fine. This is the last shop. After this one, I'll lend you the money," Nami said, her eyes brightening as she walked into a nice-looking fashion boutique.
"How is it? Does it look good?" Nami emerged from the fitting room wearing a red qipao, paired with a warm-colored furry scarf. It seemed to change her entire aura, giving her a faintly breathtakingly beautiful charm that was very attractive.
Seeing Nami in the qipao, Tom truly froze. He remembered that in the country of his past life, wasn't the qipao the traditional dress for women?
"Hmm, it's pretty good," Tom nodded seriously, speaking to Nami in the qipao.
Hearing Tom's words, Nami's bright eyes became very luminous. A smile tinged with traces of delight gradually appeared on her pretty face.
"It's true! This dress suits you perfectly, making you look exceptionally noble," the shop owner said, his face piled with a professional smile.
"If you're bored waiting, you can try on some clothes here too," Nami said to Tom, seeing the clothes on him that she had patched up several times.
"Good idea," Tom agreed wholeheartedly. Better than standing here dumbly.
Afterward, Tom and Nami tried on every wearable piece of clothing in the shop. They even stood back-to-back together and asked the owner for his opinion, prompting a constant stream of flattery from him.
"You look stunning in this skirt."
"This outfit looks so handsome on you."
"Absolutely marvelous."
"The epitome of a gentleman."
"Graceful and dignified."
"Very manly."
"Extremely elegant."
"Handsome and dashing."
"You both look good in anything. What a perfect match."
After Tom and Nami tried on every suitable piece of clothing in the shop, the poor shop owner had flattered so much his mouth went dry. He'd used a huge pile of complimentary words, his brain nearly turning to mush. But the result nearly made him cry on the spot.
"I was just trying these on. You never said I couldn't. I don't have to buy them, right?" Tom said, looking at the small mountain of clothes piled together and feeling waves of headache. He had not a single Berry in his pocket—what was he supposed to buy? So he could only continue stiffening his resolve and say, "Besides, after trying so many, I still feel most comfortable in what I'm wearing now."
Hearing Tom's words, the shopkeeper's nose nearly twisted in anger. But with good professional conduct, he just shot Tom a slightly disdainful glance before rebuilding his smile to ask Nami, "Will you be taking all the clothes you tried on?"
"I'll just take that qipao," Nami said.
Her words nearly petrified the shopkeeper on the spot. You tried on every pretty, wearable piece of clothing in my shop, and now you tell me you're only buying one?!
Still, it was better than that stingy man. At least she bought something.
At this point, the owner had to comfort himself this way.
"Why buy a qipao? We might run into a lot of situations from now on. Wouldn't a qipao be inconvenient?" Tom reasoned. Though the qipao was beautiful, if a fight broke out, Nami wouldn't be able to move well. He told her so.
Nami thought it over carefully, and that was true. Adhering to the principle of saving whenever possible and never wasting, just as the shopkeeper was about to pack up the qipao, she said, "Actually, I don't want the qipao. I'd like to buy some easier-to-wear clothes."
Watching Tom and Nami, this man and woman, walk out of the shop side by side, empty-handed, the shopkeeper really cried. Looking at the utterly messy shop, upholding the spirit of customer-first, he still managed to say with a mournful face, "Please come again!"
Having Tom accompany her for a while, Nami let him go free, completely satisfied.
"Hmm, where should I go next?" Tom wondered, walking alone down a slightly secluded street after parting with Nami. He thought that before heading to the Grand Line, he should get himself a sturdier belt to hold his fishing rod attachments—one that wouldn't be so easily destroyed. Otherwise, it could cause problems during a fight.
"Did you hear? The underground fights have started again."
"Oh, that tournament run by pirates, right?"
"Those pirates have no fear. If the White Hunter finds out, they're done for."
"Captain Smoker is really something. Every pirate trying to pass through this island to the Grand Line gets caught by him."
"But I heard a rumor… Recently, two pirates with 30,000,000 Berry bounties showed up in the East Blue. That's the highest bounty in the East Blue right now. If they come to this island, I wonder if they could escape the White Hunter."
"I doubt it. But 30,000,000 Berry pirates… The East Blue hasn't seen famous pirates like that in years. I wonder what they look like."
"You think if they entered that underground fight, they'd win?"
"Definitely. I heard the winner this time gets some unusual belt as a prize."
Several passersby walked past Tom, their conversation heard by him word for word.
Crap. So there's such a formidable Marine stationed on this island. I hope Luffy and the others are okay…
Tom thought for a moment, then figured those guys could handle themselves even if something happened. Why should he worry unnecessarily?
I should go check out that underground fight instead. A special belt… might be just right for me.
With this idea, Tom began to ask around about the details of the underground fight.
When Tom arrived at the underground fight venue, he ran straight into someone. They were of petite build, looked valiant and sharp, and had short orange hair similar to Nami's. He thought this person looked rather androgynous and couldn't help but take a few extra glances.
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T/N :
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