Chapter 53: Half-Body Samurai? Warlord Law
Luffy, naturally, had immediately jumped onto the dragon's corpse, already mentally preparing a menu.
"How should we cook this?! Grilled dragon steak? Dragon tail soup?!"
His explorations were interrupted when he noticed something strange on the dragon's back.
A human torso. Just the torso—no legs, no lower body—attached to the creature's spine.
Luffy grabbed it and pulled.
It came free, and he found himself holding half a person. The torso had legs—huge, hairy ones—but they were attached where arms should be, and arms where legs should be, and the entire arrangement was deeply, fundamentally wrong.
"Who?! Who's attacking me?!" The half-body shouted, flailing its misplaced limbs.
Luffy, utterly delighted, began tickling the hairy legs.
"Ahaha! This is so weird!"
"So that's what he meant on the phone." Robin's expression shifted to one of understanding, then confusion. "But... how can a severed torso speak?"
"It's a monster!" Usopp crept closer, morbid curiosity overcoming fear. "Definitely a monster!"
The half-body twisted, trying to see its tormentors.
"Who ARE you people?! Where's that Warlord?!"
Itachi's eyebrow rose. "Warlord?"
Robin smoothly provided context.
"The Seven Warlords of the Sea—pirates recruited by the World Government. In exchange for recognition and certain privileges, they work for the Marines when called upon."
Itachi considered this. "That seems... counterproductive. Inviting pirates into your organization?"
"The Navy has no choice. Pirates outnumber them enormously." Robin's voice carried the weight of someone who'd studied the world's power structures extensively.
The half-body suddenly began to move—running, or attempting to, on its misplaced limbs.
"That Warlord! Where is he?! I'll fight him!"
"AH! THE BUTT IS RUNNING AWAY!" Luffy gave chase immediately.
Zoro, meanwhile, had carved a massive slab from the dragon's carcass and tossed it onto the flames.
"Hey Luffy! Didn't you want barbecue?!"
Itachi was thinking.
"That half-body mentioned a Warlord. Is this one of their territories?"
He studied their surroundings—fire, ruin, heat shimmering off every surface.
"Did a Warlord cut him like that?"
Zoro shook his head, sheathing his swords.
"Doubtful. The Warlords I know either have their own ships or their own islands. Who'd pick a hellhole like this?"
"Yeah," Usopp agreed, still panting from heat. "Even ghosts wouldn't haunt this place!"
Robin's expression grew thoughtful.
"Not necessarily. Itachi's question makes sense—there IS a Warlord who could inflict that kind of damage and leave someone alive."
Usopp's eyes went wide. "There is?"
Robin nodded.
"Trafalgar Law."
Zoro's brow furrowed. "Law? Don't recognize the name."
"I remember!" Usopp's hand shot up. "We saw him two years ago! In the Sabaody Archipelago!"
Recognition flickered across Zoro's face. That chaotic day—the Celestial Dragons, the slave collar, the desperate escape—Law had been there, part of the worst generation that scattered before Kizaru's assault.
Robin continued.
"A year ago, Law delivered one hundred pirate hearts to the Marines. Bounty hearts, from dangerous pirates. In exchange, he was made a Warlord."
Her voice grew thoughtful.
"As for his ability—cutting someone in half while leaving them alive? That's the power of the Ope Ope no Mi. The Surgery-Surgery Fruit."
Zoro's hand drifted to his swords.
"So that bastard might be here."
Usopp immediately positioned himself behind Itachi.
"TERRIFYING! A Warlord is on this island?!"
At that moment, Luffy returned—dragging the half-body behind him. The half-body, unfortunately, had become attached to Luffy's posterior in transit.
"Luffy..." Zoro stared.
"What..." Usopp's eye twitched.
"Are you doing?" Robin finished.
Luffy beamed. "Hey Usopp! What's this called?!"
Usopp's face contorted. "That's... a centaur? An incredibly wrong centaur?"
The half-body finally wrenched itself free, sending Luffy tumbling.
"CAN'T YOU RESTRAIN HIM?!" it bellowed.
Robin observed the scene with her chin in her hand.
"He reminds me of Franky, somehow."
Usopp's mind immediately supplied images of Franky in similar configurations, and he shuddered.
"Hey, everyone."
Zoro had moved to Itachi's side. The shinobi had been staring into the distance for some time.
Following his gaze, the others saw it.
Beyond the flames. Beyond the heat. Past the boundary where the island's climate shifted.
A mountain of snow.
Usopp's jaw dropped.
"That... that's what the phone call meant! Cold! There IS a cold place!"
Itachi's Sharingan traced the boundary between biomes—fire on one side, ice on the other. Nothing moved in the frozen wasteland, but that didn't mean nothing was there.
Then his head snapped around.
"Someone's coming."
Everyone tensed.
From behind them, a figure emerged.
Another impossible creature.
Leopard-print lower body. Human upper body. Four legs. Two arms.
Another centaur.
Robin tilted her head. "Are there many people in this world who share Franky's aesthetic?"
Usopp's brain struggled to process. "Leopard... print... centaur...?"
Luffy's eyes went supernova.
"WHOA!!!"
He launched himself at the creature, arms wide.
The leopard-print centaur barely had time to register surprise before Luffy was upon him, wrapping him in a crushing hug.
"So you have taste, old man! Great taste!"
The centaur blinked, then smiled.
"Oh! So the intruders have companions here!"
"SODA SODA! Uncle, you really understand!"
They danced together, arm in (wrongly placed) arm.
Itachi watched this display for a long moment.
Then he turned to Zoro.
"Is he always like this?"
Zoro sighed—the sigh of a man who had long ago accepted his fate.
"He once hugged a giant zombie tree and called it brother."
Robin nodded confirmation at Itachi's questioning look.
"You'll get used to it."
Itachi absorbed this information, then sighed alongside Zoro.
"Should we investigate the frozen area?" He gestured toward the distant snow.
Zoro nodded, already moving.
Robin fell into step beside them.
Usopp remained frozen, torn between terror of the fire zone, terror of the ice zone, and the incomprehensible sight of Luffy dancing with a centaur.
"Why does everywhere we go have to be so DANGEROUS?!"
He finally forced himself to move, scrambling down from their vantage point.
Then he saw it.
In the sky. A shape. Wings. A figure—
"AHHH! BIRD! BIRD MAN!"
He launched himself off the rock, flailing.
Zoro caught him, irritated.
"What bird? Where?"
He scanned the sky. Nothing.
"You're seeing things. Too much stress."
"I SAW IT!" Usopp's nose ran, tears streaming. "IT WAS REAL!"
"There's nothing there." Zoro's voice was flat.
Itachi's voice cut through.
"No. Something did fly over just now."
His Sharingan didn't lie.
High above, in the frozen sector of Punk Hazard, Monet folded her wings and landed gracefully on a snow-covered outcrop. Her green hair stood out against the white like a warning flag.
She raised a Transponder Snail.
"Intruders. Five of them."
A voice crackled back.
"Understood. We'll deal with them immediately."
Monet smiled—a predator's smile.
"Be careful. Some of them look... interesting."
The snail clicked off.
Somewhere in the frozen wastes of Punk Hazard, preparations began.
(End of Chapter)
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