Chapter 20: Absolutely Impossible!
The meaningful smile on Ralph's face sent an inexplicable chill through Buggy's head as it floated mid-air.
This ruthless and meticulous kid was nothing like his foolish female captain! How could he possibly forget my Devil Fruit ability? He must have a trick up his sleeve!
Buggy's premonition instantly came true.
Ralph leaped into the air, his right leg whipping out like a lash!
A precise and powerful kick landed squarely on Buggy's still-floating head!
"Waaaahhh—!!!"
Buggy only had time to let out a terrified scream before his head was sent flying, bouncing between the town's buildings until he was left dizzy, bruised, and... red-faced, with no idea where he'd landed.
Without the vision and commands provided by his head, Buggy's formidable Bara Bara no Mi-powered body became completely disoriented, flailing its arms instinctively. It could barely stand steady, let alone fight.
"Now, Lufia!" Ralph shouted.
Luffy understood immediately. She stretched her arms far back, the rubber's elasticity storing up terrifying power.
"Gomu Gomu no Rocket!!"
With her palms pressed together like a launched rocket, she struck Buggy's uncontrollable body with unstoppable force!
"BOOM—!!"
An even more exaggerated force than Ralph's kick erupted. Buggy's headless body shot toward the opposite side of the sky like a boulder launched from a catapult, so fast it left afterimages in the air before eventually vanishing into a blurry "star" on the horizon.
"Shishishi, done!" Luffy retracted her fists, clapped her hands, and looked quite pleased with her masterpiece.
She turned her head and noticed Ralph gazing in the direction where Buggy's body had disappeared, his face bearing an expression of hesitation mixed with regret and helplessness.
"Ralph, what's wrong?" Luffy tilted her head and asked.
Ralph opened his mouth but swallowed his words, letting out a helpless sigh instead: "It's nothing..."
He had originally planned to tie up the clown Buggy's body and test whether he could really obtain the Bara Bara no Mi ability as the system suggested.
But Lufia had sent it flying!
Damn it...!
Ralph could only console himself internally, thinking that he wasn't particularly fond of the Bara Bara ability anyway.
Selling it would only fetch a mere 100 million Berry!
Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Buggy Pirates on the rooftop were first stunned by the lightning-fast reversal, then plunged into sheer panic.
The captain... the captain was decapitated?! How could they possibly fight now?!
"Yikes! Run for it!!"
Someone shouted first, and the surviving Buggy Pirates instantly scattered like frightened birds.
One bold and greedy pirate tried to grab the bag of treasure but was stopped when Ralph raised his gun and fired a shot "BANG!" right at his feet. Terrified out of his wits, the pirate scrambled away, abandoning any thought of treasure.
Nami, who was tied up, stared in disbelief, as did the town mayor who had just arrived on the rooftop to check the situation.
The notorious Buggy Pirates, who had terrorized Orange Town for so long... had they just crumbled and fled like that?
The elderly mayor looked at Ralph and Luffy with disbelief, hesitantly asking, "You two... who are you?"
Luffy adjusted her straw hat and replied matter-of-factly, "We're pirates!"
"Pi... pirates?" The mayor grew even more confused, pointing at the fleeing figures. "But pirates... why would pirates help us drive away other pirates?"
Ralph shrugged, his tone carrying a detached understanding of the world: "People are different from one another, and pirates are no exception."
He glanced at Luffy, who was rummaging through the treasure, a gentle smile unconsciously forming at the corner of his mouth. "We should be grateful for captains like ours. They make this world... more complicated, but also more interesting."
After hearing this, the mayor seemed thoughtful, his aged face eventually relaxing into a warm, understanding smile. He bowed solemnly to the two: "Regardless, on behalf of all the townspeople of Orange Town, I sincerely thank you!"
Nami also seemed moved by the scene, watching Luffy and Ralph with complex emotions.
But when Ralph approached to untie her, she immediately turned her head away, giving him a big eye-roll and a disdainful snort.
As soon as the ropes loosened, Nami's first action was to quickly repack the heavy treasure bundle, clutching it tightly to her chest as if it were her most precious possession.
Seeing her miserly behavior, Ralph reminded her: "Hey, Cat Burglar, don't forget—this treasure, including you yourself, now belongs to our captain. Don't even think about running off with that bundle."
Nami made a face at him and argued, "Who's running! I'm... I'm carrying this for our captain! Right, Captain Lufia?" She said this while moving closer to Luffy.
From witnessing Luffy's confrontation with Buggy earlier, she had sensed that despite both being pirates, this rubber girl seemed slightly more 'righteous' than that scheming Ralph.
How strange... Nami found it absurd herself that she would associate the word 'righteous' with pirates...
The mayor personally escorted the three of them out of town.
Along the way, they could see everywhere the wreckage of houses destroyed by the Buggy Pirates, the broken walls silently telling of the suffering this place had endured. When passing by a pet food store with a crooked sign and broken doors and windows, Luffy stopped.
At the store entrance, a small white dog sat quietly, its eyes alert yet tinged with sorrow.
"This must be Chouchou?" Luffy asked.
The mayor nodded, his voice full of emotion: "Yes, that's him. His owner passed away, but he's been guarding this place ever since—we can't even chase him away... It was him who gave this old man the courage to stand up against Buggy."
He looked at Chouchou, then at the surrounding ruins, and sighed deeply. "Ah, everyone has something precious they want to protect with their life..."
Nami watched Chouchou's lonely yet determined figure and repeated her long-held belief, though this time with less sharpness and more complexity in her tone: "Only... only those shameless pirates would recklessly take away what others cherish most!"
Her words made the mayor, who already knew Luffy and Ralph were extraordinary, unable to help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.
Hearing the phrase "cherished treasure," Luffy instinctively took off the straw hat on her head, carefully cradling it in both hands.
The rough texture of the straw hat carried the promise she made with Shanks and embodied the very meaning of her journey to sea. Recalling the clown Buggy's belittling of Shanks and his dismissal of their dreams, she felt a stifling discomfort in her heart.
She suddenly looked up and said to Nami, who was tightly clutching the treasure bundle, "Nami, we're pirates."
Nami was taken aback. "Huh? Yeah..."
Luffy pointed outside the town, her expression serious. "We're escaping right now! Carrying such heavy treasure is too cumbersome. Leave it behind!"
Nami thought she was hallucinating and instinctively hugged the bundle even tighter, shrieking, "...Leave it behind?! Are you kidding me? I'm the only one carrying this treasure, and I don't think it's heavy at all!"
Besides, with their leisurely, stroll-like pace, how could this possibly be called "escaping"?
Ralph, standing nearby, immediately understood Luffy's intention.
Looking at the bundle of treasure, his heart bled, but this was the captain's order—and the wish of the girl he adored.
"Didn't you hear the captain's command?" Ralph said, flipping his wrist as a cold gleam flashed from his dagger!
Sshhrrrrip—!
A flash of light.
The straps of the bundle on Nami's back were severed in an instant! The heavy treasure clattered to the ground, gold and jewels glittering temptingly yet harshly in the setting sun.
"My treasure!!" Nami let out a heart-wrenching scream and lunged forward to gather it up.
But Ralph was faster! He scooped up Nami, who was still trying to grab a few gold coins, and effortlessly slung her over his shoulder like a sack.
"Didn't Lufia say we need to escape?" Ralph grinned at Luffy. "Then let's run faster!"
Luffy's face instantly broke into a smile brighter than the sun. She adjusted her straw hat and shouted in response, "Okay!"
The next moment, she stretched out her long rubber legs, completely disregarding the path, and dashed joyfully toward the outskirts of town.
"Wait for me!" Ralph laughed heartily, hoisting Nami on his shoulder as he activated Soru, transforming into a blur as he swiftly followed.
"My money—!!!" Nami's mournful cries and heartbroken tears scattered together in the wind.
The mayor, left behind, stared at the glittering treasure scattered across the ground and then at the three rapidly disappearing figures. In that instant, he understood the true intentions of these "strange" pirates.
They had clearly found an excuse to leave behind the ill-gotten gains seized from Buggy, so the town could rebuild!
The old mayor, moved to tears, shouted with all his might toward the direction they had vanished, "Thank you! Children! Orange Town will never forget you—!!"
However, before his grateful farewell had fully faded, he saw the three figures who had just disappeared come rushing back at an even faster speed, stopping anxiously in front of him.
Ralph tried his best to put on a fierce pirate demeanor and growled menacingly:
"Old man! We're pirates! We're here to rob you! Hand over all your food!"
The mayor was momentarily stunned by this sudden turn of events, then pointed toward the east end of the town. "F-food... all the supplies are in the warehouse in that direction..."
Ralph nodded "ferociously," though his tone carried a strange solemnity. "Good! Thank you for your cooperation!"
Then, under the mayor's bemused gaze, the three "ruthless" pirates swiftly rushed toward the food warehouse and began their "plundering."
When Luffy, Ralph, and Nami—who, though reluctant, ended up carrying a large bundle of supplies—returned triumphantly to the cove where they had hidden their ship with enough provisions to last ten days to half a month, they all froze in place as if struck by a paralysis spell, staring in disbelief.
The cove, which had previously held the pink-hued ship they seized from Alvida, was now completely empty. Only the waves gently lapped against the shore rocks.
Ralph rubbed his eyes and muttered in disbelief, "My... my ship? Where's our huge ship that we parked right here?!"
Luffy also anxiously scanned the surroundings. "And my swordsman?! Where's Zoro, the Three Sword Style Swordsman I just recruited?!"
Nami watched these two who were clearly missing the point, held her forehead in exasperation, and retorted, "Isn't it the same thing?! That green-haired swordsman must have stolen our ship!"
"Absolutely impossible!!" X2
Ralph and Luffy exclaimed in unison.