Luffy's drooling expression almost made him slobber; he stared intently at Sabo.
Sabo felt uncomfortable under his gaze, coughed lightly, and said helplessly, "Luffy... it's me."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Luffy's eyes lit up instantly, and he shouted excitedly,
"Orochimaru! Orochimaru! This dragon can actually talk!"
Orochimaru's mouth twitched violently upon hearing this, and he secretly thought to himself, 'He really is an idiot.'
Since he's already an idiot, why does he have to be 'intermittently clever' around him?! Damn it!
To quickly divert Luffy's overly 'bizarre' attention, Orochimaru made a snap decision.
He shoved Sabo into Luffy's arms and then said, "This is Sabo, he just ate a Devil Fruit."
Luffy's shocked expression was evident; his eyes widened, staring at the equally astonished Sabo, and he kept shouting,
"Sabo?? Sabo!!!!!" as if he couldn't believe what was happening before his eyes.
However, the next moment, Luffy, who had come to his senses, suddenly spread his arms, tightly hugging the dragon that Sabo had become, rubbing his head against it repeatedly, and muttering,
"Sabo, I miss you so much... Let me tell you, Orochimaru isn't obedient at all now, he's become super unlikable."
Sabo listened to Luffy's childish complaints, first smiling helplessly, then extended his small paw and gently patted Luffy, his eyes full of the joy of reunion, and said,
"Alright, Luffy, I'm here now, so stop badmouthing Orochimaru. You're the elder brother. I came this time to see you all; you'll probably need my help for your future actions."
Orochimaru, listening nearby, was so angry he almost rolled his Byakugan, but he couldn't act out, so he could only hum to himself and mutter,
"Hmph, he said he loved me the most, liar."
Seeing that Luffy and Sabo's clingy behavior wouldn't stop anytime soon, Orochimaru simply ignored them.
He slowly walked over to Bartolomeo, crouched down, and his gaze fell upon Bartolomeo, who was curled up in a green ball: "Barto... long time no see... what are you playing at?"
Bartolomeo, who had been thrown on the ground by Luffy and was still in self-isolation, was instantly struck by a beautiful face and heard Orochimaru's question.
He was stunned for a moment, then slowly raised his head, a hint of embarrassment on his face, and stammered in reply, "Ah... no, I wasn't playing anything, I... I was just staying here."
But after thinking about it, he still felt a bit wronged, so he instantly teared up, looking at Orochimaru and sobbing,
"Senior Orochimaru! Senior Luffy doesn't like me! I don't want to live!"
(ꐦ ಠ ಠ) Luffy, who had just heard Bartolomeo complain about him to Orochimaru, reacted almost without thinking.
As if by reflex, he spun his head around with a 'whoosh', his face forming a fierce, shark-like expression, his eyes wide open, and he roared loudly at Bartolomeo,
"Shut up!! What nonsense are you talking about?!" His roar seemed to shake the surrounding air.
If it weren't for the remote location and the noisy arena, with just that roar from Luffy, Orochimaru and their position would have been exposed.
(⁍ ̥ ̥ ̥ ᷄ ж ⁍ ̥ ̥ ̥ ᷅) Startled by Luffy's roar, Bartolomeo instantly felt even more wronged and immediately shut his mouth obediently, though his tears continued to stream down, and he dared not make another sound.
He just looked at Orochimaru pitifully, silently shedding tears, but was deterred by Luffy's 'tyranny' and dared not make any other moves.
Orochimaru frowned slightly, his eyes full of doubt, and he looked back and forth between Luffy and Bartolomeo.
Finally, his gaze settled on Luffy, who was still being clingy with Sabo.
"Aren't you two on good terms? Never mind, it's not important. Luffy, why did you come to find me?"
Luffy frowned, cupped his chin with his hand, and began to recall carefully, his expression serious.
As he thought, his eyes suddenly widened, as if he had remembered something crucial, and he slapped his head, shouting,
"Ah... it's all that crested head's fault! I was going to cheer for Rebecca, but that crested head suddenly appeared and almost made me forget about it!"
As Luffy spoke, he glared in Bartolomeo's direction.
"Who exactly is this thing?! His attitude is too strange, and he keeps crying. I had no choice but to come and ask you, is this your thing?"
Orochimaru, unaware of what Bartolomeo had done, looked up at Luffy.
"No... this is your thing... This is Bartolomeo, he admires you greatly, helped me a lot in Loguetown before, and is very obedient.
I thought you'd like him. After he decided to go to sea, I told him to wait for you here.
After all, you are his idol, so there's no harm in letting him meet you."
Luffy looked at the so-called 'obedient' Bartolomeo with a look of disgust... What to do, although refusing isn't good... he really can't stand his so-called enthusiasm.
Luffy frowned, looking at Bartolomeo with extreme reluctance, his expression as if he were facing some troublesome matter that gave him a headache, and he said loudly with annoyance, "Can you stop crying?! Just be normal, alright?!"
Upon hearing Luffy's words, Bartolomeo quickly reached up and vigorously wiped the tears from his face, trying to make himself look tidier, a hint of guilt on his face, and stammered in response,
"I... I'm sorry, Senior Luffy... I... I was just too excited when I saw you."
Orochimaru completely ignored the commotion between Luffy and Bartolomeo; his gaze sharpened, fixed intently on Cavendish, who was currently dozing off.
Orochimaru recalled that Cavendish was supposed to have somnambulism, and he seemed to have a second personality, which was interesting... He mused while watching the arena, thinking that the battle in Block D should be ending soon, and he needed to hurry.
Thinking of this, Orochimaru stretched reluctantly, limbering up his slightly stiff body.
He didn't want to go to the garbage dump, it smelled bad. Kanjuro could wait. It would be better to mess with Sugar before she went offline.
Then, Orochimaru waved at Luffy, Bartolomeo, and Sabo, saying, "You three just stay here and watch the show... I have things to do."
Upon hearing this, Luffy immediately turned to look at Orochimaru, his face full of vigilance, and shouted loudly,
"Don't do anything unnecessary! Don't cause trouble! And don't scheme against us! If I find out you're messing around, hmph, you'll regret it!"
That serious and warning-filled look made Orochimaru feel slightly guilty (but not really!), and he looked at Luffy with an innocent expression.
However! Not causing trouble is absolutely impossible! If something goes wrong, Doffy can take the blame!
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