Vane shrugged. "I can't really argue with that. The vast majority of pirates are like this."
The riot came fast and ended fast. The losing side fled like a pack of beaten dogs with their tails between their legs, leaving several corpses behind.
There were people on Whiskey Peak who specifically handled these corpses. Of course, there were no volunteers here—they were all after whatever benefits were left on the bodies.
Everyone had their own channels, and someone could always get what they wanted from a corpse.
"An utter cesspit."
That was Strawberry's verdict after taking a brief look around.
This wasn't a conclusion born of prejudice against pirates; it was simply stating the facts. Vane also felt this place was a cesspit.
Just now, some pirates had seen the pretty Martha and Lena in their group and tried to rush up to snatch them. The result was that none of the named officers like Vane even had to move—Rocket Team grunts beat those small-time pirates up.
"There's really nothing worth seeing."
In his memories, Whiskey Peak had been quite bustling and beautiful. That had been a façade created after Baroque Works came here and ran the place. Now Baroque Works hadn't even shown up yet, so how could they have come here to operate Whiskey Peak?
"Let's go back. The air here doesn't even smell good."
Martha had already picked up Perona. She was too short—the air quality down below was worse, and she had already protested several times.
Judging from its abilities, the Hollow-Hollow Fruit might allow floating in the future, but right now Perona could only release a Negative Ghost. The advanced development of making her own body fly clearly wasn't achievable yet, so she could only let Martha carry her for now.
It was also because there were basically no good people here—pretty much all scumbags brawling—otherwise Strawberry would have acted long ago.
"Grab that little monster, quick!"
"What the hell is that thing! What did I just see?!"
"Why does this dog look so weird?"
The already chaotic crowd became even more chaotic. Vane's Observation Haki triggered instantly, and after pushing through a flow of people filled with fear, curiosity, and greed, he saw an extremely strange creature.
A gun with a dog's head—or rather, a dog with a gun's butt.
It looked exactly like something a prank-loving player in a gun-modifying game would make.
"Dog-Gun Lassoo?"
It originally belonged to a not-very-bright big fatty from Baroque Works—some companion of that old mole woman, whatever his name was; Vane had forgotten. He wielded a big iron club.
Because his brain was too simple, his attack methods were basically just two kinds. The old mole woman would burrow underground, drag someone right in front of him, and let him smash them.
The other way was for Dog-Gun Lassoo to fire baseball rounds; he would use the big iron club to change the trajectory of the baseball shots to attack enemies. You could say he had great physical talent but was a guy missing a screw.
Vane wasn't very interested in that screw-loose guy—he wasn't a Devil Fruit user.
Dog-Gun Lassoo was different: a Devil Fruit user, and it would be a very handy Devil Fruit weapon.
There weren't many weapons in the pirate world that had eaten Devil Fruits.
Dog-Gun Lassoo, the Elephant Sword, the Alpaca Cannon, the Cerberus Sword…
Among them, the Cerberus was the odd one out. The first three were ordinary Zoans and carried a lot of comedic elements, while the Cerberus, in later pirate versions, was an extremely domineering Mythical Zoan and quite handsome.
"This is a weapon that ate a Devil Fruit, right?!"
"Quick, grab it!"
"Out of the way! Out of the way! We're the Cactus Gang—this weapon is ours!"
A group of people holding various spiked weapons rushed out, clearly determined to get Dog-Gun Lassoo.
"The Cactus Gang?"
Strawberry spoke calmly. "The Cactus Pirates. A year ago they were encircled and wiped out by the Navy with heavy casualties. The captain, Cactus Pirate Doushi, and the vice-captain escaped. Didn't expect them to be hiding here."
Strawberry had taken part in the siege against the Cactus Pirates a year ago and recognized the captain and vice-captain.
And among the people crowding in, there was the vice-captain of the Cactus Pirates.
"Who are you?!"
Strawberry's voice wasn't quiet, and the Cactus vice-captain heard it clearly!
"Your nemesis! The Cactus Pirates are extremely brutal. Since going to sea, you've destroyed at least six towns, and over a thousand people have died at your hands! Today, you'll face justice!"
When they had been walking around just now, the surrounding pirates were all nobodies. Strawberry could let such low-level pirates wear each other down.
But the Cactus Pirates not only committed countless crimes, they had also escaped under Navy pursuit.
When they appeared just now, the people around instantly didn't dare to make a move, clearly showing they had strong prestige on Whiskey Peak. Given time, if they went back to sea, they would definitely become scum that harmed the seas again.
Whether to make up for the regret of not capturing them before, or to strangle a future menace in the cradle, Strawberry made his move.
Without his twin swords, he still had formidable martial arts. He used Soru to rush forward and landed a spinning kick squarely on the Cactus vice-captain.
The Cactus vice-captain was a big, round fatty, somewhat like a cactus ball. He was kicked and flew out like a rubber ball, crashing through a crowd.
"Cough, cough, cough—so it's the Navy!"
The vice-captain also remembered who had attacked him. He couldn't recall the name, but that tall skull left a deep impression.
He remembered this guy seemed to be a Captain or a Rear Admiral or something?
"Call for backup!"
A lackey, receiving the order, immediately pulled out a signal firework.
Whoosh! Bang!
A plump green cactus firework bloomed in the night sky.
"Everyone, listen up! They're Navy who snuck onto the island! Hurry and take them down, or all of us will be dragged into prison by the Navy!"
Because of his thick fat, the vice-captain hadn't taken much damage from the kick. He bounced on the ground and sprang back up like a rubber ball.
"Former bounty 45 million, the Bouncing Ball Pirate! Today I'm arresting you."
If he had his twin swords, taking down a 45-million-bounty pirate would be effortless for Strawberry. Empty-handed, he'd have to spend a bit more effort.
And there were also members of the Cactus Gang ready to support at any time, while the surrounding pirates were also itching to move.
"The Cactus Pirates… how did they come up with such a name?"
As Vane spoke, he shifted his step and went straight to Dog-Gun Lassoo's side. Lassoo, playing dead on the ground, suddenly felt his body leave the ground—he'd been grabbed.
"Good dog. I'll take you back to chew bones."
The Dog-Dog Fruit—this was a brand-new Zoan type. Judging by how that cheat usually works, there should be another Pokémon added… What Pokémon would it be?
Vane slightly released his Conqueror's Haki to intimidate Dog-Gun Lassoo.
Lassoo very cooperatively rolled his eyes back and turned into that somewhat old-fashioned-looking gun.
Gun form, beast form, gun-beast form—weapons that had eaten Devil Fruits also followed the Zoan three-form setting.