"Welcome!!"
The crowd parted automatically as a burly, comical-looking man stepped forward.
He wore a strange suit, his hair rolled into six enormous cylindrical curls.
"I am Igaram, the mayor of Whiskey Peak."
Igaram's face was plastered with enthusiasm as he spread his arms wide.
"To have such esteemed pirate lords visit us from afar truly brings honor to our humble town!"
"Ah! I'm Luffy! Nice to meet you!"
Luffy shook Igaram's hand, then immediately pointed at his hair and burst into rude laughter.
"Shishishi! Mister, your hair's way too curly! It looks like plumbing pipes!"
Igaram's mouth twitched slightly—but he masked it instantly.
"Hahaha, what a humorous young man. This is Whiskey Peak, a land famous for fine liquor and music! When welcoming guests from afar, we naturally use what we're most proud of!"
With a wave of his hand, the townspeople behind him carried out mountains of roasted meat and barrel after barrel of richly fragrant strong liquor.
"Let your thrilling adventure stories be the appetizers—enjoy this grand feast to the fullest!!"
The banquet began.
Bonfires were lit. Music filled the air.
Luffy buried himself in piles of meat.
Usopp stood on a table, boasting loudly about his "legendary exploits" in the East Blue, stunning a group of bounty hunters into wide-eyed disbelief.
Ronan sat in the shadows, a cup of wine in his hand—barely drinking.
He coldly observed everything.
Within his Observation Haki, the townspeople's heartbeats were steady, not at all chaotic like drunkards. Their eyes kept drifting, again and again, toward the crew's weapons and packs.
"Good acting… but the killing intent still leaks."
Late at night, beneath the cactus-shaped rock formations.
The noise of the banquet faded away, and the town fell into dead silence.
Only the wind whistling through cactus spines remained—sharp and shrill, like ghostly wails.
In front of a stone house, several dark figures gathered quietly.
"What about them?"
Vivi asked in a low voice while straightening her slightly disheveled collar.
"Hmph. They fell for it."
Igaram had completely dropped his friendly façade now, cold light flickering in his eyes.
"They're all asleep. That liquor was mixed with a special sedative—even an elephant would sleep for three days and nights."
"Phew…"
Mr. 9 let out a long breath, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"That's a relief… I thought they were some kind of monsters."
"Back on the ship, they scared me half to death. Who would've thought they'd go down this easily?"
At that moment, the stone door creaked open.
A powerfully built, bear-like woman with dark skin and bulging muscles stepped out.
It was Miss Monday. She rubbed her aching temples, clearly irritated.
"That orange-haired woman… was seriously troublesome."
She glanced at Igaram, impatience clear in her tone.
"But was all this acting really necessary? We could've just taken them out at the port."
"We're already short on food, and we had to waste it entertaining these pirates. Totally not worth it."
She turned toward Vivi and Mr. 9, her gaze filled with disdain.
"And you two. We thought you'd at least bring back whale meat—yet you came back empty-handed and left us to clean up your mess."
"T-that's not fair!" Mr. 9 flushed red.
"We really tried! Those guys are insanely strong!"
"Enough. Calm down."
Igaram pulled a wanted poster from his coat and unfolded it under the moonlight.
"This is no losing deal. Take a look—I investigated them beforehand."
Everyone leaned in—and instantly sucked in a sharp breath.
"F… fifty million Beli?!"
Vivi and Mr. 9 nearly bit their tongues in shock.
In the Four Seas, a twenty-million bounty already made someone a tyrant—yet that goofy-looking kid was worth fifty million?!
"That's right. A real big catch."
Igaram rolled up the poster.
"This is great news to report to the boss. With the treasure on their ship included, we'll make a fortune. Go—start unloading their ship!"
"What about the pirates themselves?" Vivi asked, a complicated look flashing through her eyes.
"If we kill them, the price drops by thirty percent."
Igaram shook his head.
"The government wants them publicly executed as a warning. Go get ropes… capture them alive."
Just as the bounty hunters indulged in dreams of sudden wealth—
"Hey… sorry to interrupt."
A lazy voice, carrying bone-chilling coldness, suddenly drifted down from above.
"Who's there?!"
Igaram and the others jumped in shock, snapping their heads up toward the rooftop.
At that moment, the full moon emerged from behind the clouds.
Cold moonlight poured down, illuminating three figures standing atop the roof.
In the center: short green hair, three swords at his waist. He sat cross-legged, holding a bottle of liquor, eyes full of amusement.
On the left: dressed in a black suit, cigarette in his mouth, hands in his pockets—elegant and relaxed.
On the right: carrying a pitch-black long staff, standing tall as a pine, gazing down with the eyes of someone looking at the dead.
Zoro.
Sanji.
Ronan.
"Y-you… you…!"
Igaram stumbled back two steps, his pointing finger trembling.
"You… shouldn't you be unconscious?! That dosage was enough to knock out a Sea King!"
"Unconscious?"
Zoro took a sip of liquor and slowly stood up, his thumb pushing open the sheath of Yubashiri.
"A swordsman would never be foolish enough to lose consciousness from carelessness."
"And besides," Sanji said with a cold laugh, exhaling a ring of smoke,
"your cheap sedatives are no different from plain water to us after hellish training."
After the internal organ strengthening of the Thirteen Guardians Body Tempering, mere drugs were neutralized long before entering full circulation.
Zoro drew Wado Ichimonji, the blade pointing toward the crowd below—hundreds of bounty hunters now gathering tightly together.
"So… this is a bounty hunter's nest, huh?"
"Pirates arrive at the Grand Line full of excitement, thinking they've reached paradise—only to fall into your trap."
"You really like ruining people's first impression, don't you?"
"If we're playing, then let's play big."
Ronan leapt down from the rooftop, landing lightly in the center of the open ground.
Thud.
The heavy ebony staff struck the earth, kicking up a ring of dust.
Ronan swept his gaze across the surroundings. In his dark eyes was no fear—only the thrill of a hunter eyeing prey.
"Looks like around three hundred bounty hunters here. And four at the officer level."
He turned his head toward Zoro and Sanji on the roof.
"Zoro. Sanji. Loosen up a bit."
"This is a rare chance for some proper live combat training."
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