Chapter 48 Luffy and his crew storm Little Garden, displaying their might."You'll fight just because I tell you to? Why don't you just die when I tell you to die?!"
"Tch, do you think I'm as brain-dead as you?"
Sanji: 凸(艹皿艹)
Zoro: 凸(艹皿艹)
Thump! Thump!
Two muffled thuds. Nami, her face dark, stood behind the two, her smoking fist raised: "If you want to fight, go fight on the island! If you dare damage a single plank of the ship, I'll castrate you both!"
Zoro and Sanji instantly bowed deeply: "Red bean mud, sir, masai..."
"Tsk tsk, on this ship, Nami, that tigress, is definitely at the top of the food chain." Usopp shook his head, letting out a heartfelt sigh.
Run Fast nodded frantically beside them: "Quack quack!"
Thump! Thump!
The man and the duck followed closely behind, falling to the ground with huge bumps on their heads.
Just then, Luffy, who had flown off, turned back and grabbed Nami's slender waist.
Amid Nami's panicked screams, the two soared into the sky.
"Come on! I'll show you how to fly! Let you experience the wonders of nature up close! We'll do a high-altitude shockwave another day!"
Using the gravity manipulation ability of his Rinnegan, Luffy soared through the air like a free bird, performing various acrobatic maneuvers.
Nami's initial fear gradually turned to ecstasy, and she screamed with excitement. After all, in any world, the ability to fly freely is the ultimate romance for humanity.
Just as Luffy and Nami arrived above the Little Garden,
not far away on a resort island, Mr. 3 of Baroque Works and his partner, Miss Goldenweek, were enjoying a leisurely afternoon tea.
Little Golden Week, clutching a document, complained to Mr. 3 while eating a rice cracker, "Mr. 3, I'm so bored. I want to go home and draw."
Mr. 3 elegantly raised his delicate teacup, sniffed it, and let out a satisfied sigh. "As expected, black tea should be this Earl Grey. You're always complaining about being bored, but when I give you a mission, you hate work. You're so hard to please."
Golden Week nodded expressionlessly. "Hmm."
"Then enjoy your leisure time before the mission, won't you? This is a privilege only high-ranking agents like us have."
Mr. 3 took another sip of tea, his gaze casually sweeping over the document in Golden Week's hand. "By the way, what's that piece of scrap paper you're holding? I've seen you clutching it for days."
Golden Week: "Oh, it's an urgent order from the boss a few days ago."
Mr. 3: Pfft!!!
He spat out a mouthful of red tea: "Why didn't you say something so important sooner?!"
Mr. 3 frantically snatched the order, his eyes wide: "What? Mr. 5 and those two good-for-nothings were defeated? Hmph, too bad it wasn't that freak, Mr. 2."
"If Mr. 2 had been defeated, your ranking would have gone up a bit."
"All the billion-strong elders we sent out were inexplicably attacked by pirates and returned empty-handed? Just to deal with these small fry, do we really need to use a high-ranking agent like me?"
Mr. 3's face darkened. He pushed up his glasses. "Since that's the case, let me, a master strategist, show them just how foolish it is to go against Baroque Crime Company!"
Goldenweek calmly added, "If we don't set off soon, we probably won't even see their sternlight."
Mr. 3: "..."
"Then you should at least show me the orders already!"
...
Little Garden, landing point.
Luffy and the others stood on the shore, looking at the ridiculously huge plants on the island with great curiosity.
This was the first time they had officially landed on a wild island since entering the Grand Line.
"This is the legendary Little Garden?" Sanji looked up at the towering trees, his neck almost snapping. "Isn't the name backwards?"
"This is anything but small! These trees are practically sentient!"
Zoro was also filled with amazement.
Nami nodded, still shaken. "This place is definitely not as cute and harmless as its name sounds."
Usopp's legs trembled as he stared at the dark, menacing depths of the forest, his teeth chattering. "Y-yes, this is practically a monster's lair. I've suddenly developed a 'I'll die as soon as I get to this island' disease. I think it's more important for me to stay on the Going Merry and watch the ship."
Suddenly, a piercing, ear-piercing scream echoed through the sky.
Nami and Usopp jumped in fright, covering their ears tightly.
Sanji, however, stared at Nami's frightened expression with a lovesick look, his eyes turning into hearts. "Nami-san looks so cute when she's scared~"
Upon hearing this, Usopp shamelessly winked at Sanji. "Are you complimenting me?"
Sanji: *Get lost!*
"What was that scream?!"
Nami pointed in terror towards the direction of the scream, her voice trembling.
"Ah, I thought you guys saw that earlier,"
Luffy walked forward with a grin. "Wasn't that one of those 'little birds' we saw before?"
"Little bird?" Nami looked at Luffy with an expression of utter disbelief. "You call that monster with a wingspan of tens of meters a little bird?"
"It's alright, Nami-san. It's just a slightly larger bird, and it's just a normal primeval forest. Don't worry, I'm here."
Sanji chuckled and fawned over Nami, completely unaware that a gigantic green-feathered duck-billed bird, comparable in size to a small airplane, had silently glided up behind him.
Zoro and Luffy exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously. "Indeed, it's just a slightly larger 'little bird.'"
"Hmm? Why do you two look so smug?"
Sanji looked at Luffy and Zoro with a puzzled expression.
The next second, the strange bird suddenly extended its enormous claws and, like grabbing a chick, lifted Sanji into the air.
"Hahaha! That idiot chef got captured by a bird and made a bandit's wife!"
The two below pointed at the sky and laughed heartily.
Luffy slowly raised his right hand, palm facing the giant bird in the sky. His Rinnegan flashed purple light: "Universal Pull!"
A terrifying suction force instantly erupted, forcefully pulling the strange bird, which was trying to fly away, back along with Sanji.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Then, the repulsive force exploded!
The giant bird, along with Sanji, was blasted away like a cannonball, crashing heavily into a towering tree on the riverbank with a deafening roar, sending splinters flying.
Sanji, ragged and disheveled, crawled out of the dust and roared at Luffy, "You bastard Luffy! Do you want to kill me?"
Usopp, watching from the side, stared wide-eyed, his mouth agape: "Wow! Luffy, what kind of new technique is that? Hitting a cow from a distance?"
Luffy struck a pose brimming with chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur), coldly uttering Pain's classic line: "I am God!"
Instantly, he earned a unanimous eye-roll from Zoro and the others.
Because Luffy had displayed so many flashy abilities since their first meeting, everyone's nerves had long been hardened to an extreme degree.
"God? I think you're insane!"
They all chorused in unison.
Sanji swore and strode over, kicking the unconscious giant bird twice: "Tonight I'll turn you into New Orleans chicken wings!"
Just then, a deafening roar echoed from the depths of the forest, and a gigantic saber-toothed tiger, a third the size of the Going Merry, pounced out.
"What the hell?! This is a tiger?! This is a monster!"
Nami's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she stared at the giant tiger, its jaws agape, lunging at Sanji.
Sanji calmly lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and without even taking his hand out of his pocket, launched a flying kick, slamming it into the tiger's jaw, sending the behemoth tumbling through the air.
"Nami-san! Wasn't that kick cool? Weren't you mesmerized by my heroic posture?"
Sanji's coolness lasted only three seconds; immediately after defeating the monster, he sprawled out in a noodle-like pose, swooning over Nami.
Usopp, drenched in cold sweat, raised his hand and shouted, "Yoshi! After careful consideration, I've decided I absolutely will not land on this island!"
Nami nodded frantically in agreement: "Yeah, yeah, yeah! We'll just stay on the ship and wait for the data to fill up!"
Usopp: "That's right!"
"Then, without lingering for even a second longer, we'll leave this hellish island immediately!"
Usopp: "That's right!"
"After all, after all, we need to get to Alabasta as quickly as possible to save the country!"
Usopp: "That's right!"
Zoro stared speechlessly at the two of them: "...Are you two doing a comedy routine?"
Splash!
The loud sound of the anchor hitting the water startled Nami and Usopp, making them jump on the spot.
The two turned around in horror to see Luffy perched on the ship's railing, pointing triumphantly into the dense forest and shouting, "Yosh! Expedition crew, let's go!"
Nami and Usopp cried out in despair, "Go?! Don't drag us down with you if you're going to your death!"
Luffy chuckled, dropping his trump card: "I think I sensed two pirates worth a hundred million bounty hiding in this little garden. If we catch them, how much money will we get?"
"One...one hundred million?!"
Nami's terrified expression froze instantly, her eyes widening into beri symbols: "Go! Zoro! Sanji! Bite them to death!"
"Yes, sir! Nami-san's orders are law! I'll go and twist those two valuable heads off right now!" Sanji responded loudly, as if injected with adrenaline.
Zoro, looking annoyed, retorted, "Huh? Why should I take your orders?"
Nami grinned wickedly, "You borrowed 300,000 Berries from me when you bought the sword in Loguetown!"
"Huh? Didn't I pay you back with interest that day?"
Zoro stared at Nami in disbelief, as if looking at a demon.
"That's the principal, nine out of thirteen, understand? You've paid far too little!"
Nami, hands on her hips, smugly declared, "Including the interest and late fees, you still owe me 300,000 Berries!"
Zoro's forehead veins bulged, and he glared at Nami through gritted teeth: "A woman like you is definitely going to hell!"
Nami nonchalantly tossed her hair and gave Zoro a sweet smile: "Thanks for the compliment, I'll be happily counting money even in hell."
Vivi, listening nearby, was utterly speechless, her mind filled with utter rage. She turned to Luffy and asked, "Are there really two pirates here with bounties of 100 million? Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
Luffy nodded with a smile: "Of course, and they were 100 million Berries bounties from a hundred years ago."
"A hundred years ago?!"
Vivi was so shocked she couldn't close her mouth.
Nami looked at Vivi strangely: "What's wrong? Did the bounty from a hundred years ago expire?"
"Don't you guys even understand the seriousness of this?!"
Vivi was getting a little frantic, grabbing her hair and shouting, "Even someone like Crocodile, before becoming a Shichibukai, only had 81 million Berries! And that was a hundred years ago before inflation! A hundred million back then has a completely different value than it does now!"
"Relax, relax," Luffy waved his hand with a smile, looking nonchalant, "Think about it, a hundred years have passed. Normal people would have died of old age long ago."
Vivi was taken aback. Right, a hundred years. Those two pirates would probably be ashes by now, wouldn't they? It seemed Luffy was just trying to pique Nami's interest with the bounty.
However, what she didn't know was that these two great pirates were both giants with incredibly long lifespans, living for over three hundred years was nothing to them.
Vivi breathed a sigh of relief. Anyway, it would take at least several days for the Log Pose to recharge its magnetic field. Staying on the ship would only increase her anxiety. She might as well go with them and see for herself.
Vivi then said to Luffy, "I'll come too."
"Eh? Are you crazy too? Luffy and the others are monsters, fine, but this place is too dangerous for you!"
Nami, holding Vivi's hand, earnestly advised, "You should just stay on the ship with me. There are doors and windows here, it's much safer."
"It's okay, don't worry, I'm fast, even the wind can't catch me when I run."
Vivi smiled and pointed to the duck playing dead beside her.
Fast Runner: !!
Huh? What does this have to do with me! I want to go home!
Luffy took the lovingly prepared bento from Sanji and regretfully confirmed with the two on the ship again, "You guys really aren't going? This is a rare picnic opportunity, a Jurassic Park-like primitive ecology, once it's gone, it's gone forever."
Nami and Usopp shook their heads in unison, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Nobody's going to get off the ship!"
Luffy sighed, "In that case, to prevent you from being carried off by wild beasts... Summoning Jutsu!"
With a bang, white smoke rose!
Six figures, dressed in red and black trench coats, covered in black sticks, and sporting orange hair, appeared stylishly before the group.
The group stared blankly at these six expressionless oddballs: "Who are these? Your illegitimate children?"
"These are your bodyguards."
As soon as Luffy finished speaking, the little girl Pain rapidly formed hand seals and slammed them onto the deck: "Summoning Jutsu!"
A giant, brightly colored chameleon appeared out of thin air.
"Mommy! Another monster!"
Usopp screamed in terror, covering his head and running away.
With a wave of her hand, the chameleon's tongue curled up, swallowing Pain whole. Then, its form twisted and vanished completely into thin air.
"Ahhh! Luffy! They've been eaten by a monster!"
Usopp exclaimed, pointing to the spot where the chameleon had disappeared.
Zoro and Sanji frowned, staring in that direction. Using their Observation Haki, they could vaguely sense something there.
"Don't worry, it's just invisibility to protect you. It's comprehensive security."
Luffy smiled, withdrawing his vision from the Six Paths of Pain. This feeling of multiple perspectives was quite strange, like playing a game with both first-person and God's-eye view.
All the Pains were connected to the main body, and Luffy didn't feel dizzy at all due to the split perspective.
"Next, let's clear the way."
Luffy looked at the impenetrable black forest ahead, took a deep breath, and puffed out his chest.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A deafening boom!
To everyone's astonishment, Luffy unleashed a terrifying wind blade, like a high-pressure air cannon, instantly tearing through the air!
Where the gale swept through, giant trees were uprooted, rocks crumbled, and a straight, clear path was carved through the dense primeval forest!
This attack pierced directly through the entire island's forest!
Usopp's eyes lit up, filled with utter adoration: "Ninja, ninja, ninjutsu! Was that Wind Release? That was so cool!"
Since leaving Cocoyasi Village, Luffy had rarely displayed such amazing ninjutsu; seeing it again was still breathtaking.
"This power... it's a bit excessive,"
Zoro stared at the wide chasm before him, his lips twitching.
Orochimaru's Great Breakthrough only plowed a furrow; now, Luffy, with his Pain-like chakra reserves, had blasted right through this small garden, almost the size of the Forest of Death!
Looking at the smooth dirt road before him, Luffy nodded in satisfaction, standing with his hands behind his back: "There was no road to begin with, but when enough people blow about it, it naturally becomes a road."
Everyone: "I don't believe you! You clearly blew this up!"
Luffy, leading Zoro and Sanji, swaggered along the newly constructed "Luffy Avenue."
Along the way, countless dinosaurs overturned by the hurricane lay on the roadside, howling in agony; the scene was quite gruesome.
"Tsk tsk, just one of these giant lizards is enough to feed our entire crew for a week."
Sanji took a drag of his cigarette, scrutinizing the unfortunate dinosaurs like he was selecting vegetables.
"Luffy, is there really a wanted criminal here? This looks like a desolate, primitive zoo."
Zoro frowned, his hand never leaving his sword hilt.
Vivi was filled with regret. She never imagined the island's ecosystem was exactly like that of ancient times.
She couldn't help but ask, "These are living dinosaurs! Aren't you even a little curious?"
"Huh? What's so strange about them? Just slightly larger pieces of food."
Zoro looked indifferent, even yawning.
Just then, a foul gust of wind swept overhead, and a gigantic Brachiosaurus head swooped down from the treetops, its jaws snapping open.
Vivi screamed in terror.
"Summoning Jutsu! Cerberus!"
Luffy formed a hand seal, and a gigantic three-headed dog with wings and black clubs protruding from its body burst from the ground.
Zoro, standing nearby, complained, "The dog you summoned is no good! It's way smaller than this dinosaur. Is it even big enough to fill its teeth?"
"What's the rush? Good things come in small packages."
Luffy rolled his eyes at Zoro.
The three heads of the Cerberus roared simultaneously, lunging forward and biting down hard on the Brachiosaurus's neck, blood gushing out instantly.
The Brachiosaurus screamed in agony.
Suddenly, the earth shook, and a dozen more, even larger Brachiosaurus heads appeared in the sky!
"Holy crap! That giant was just a cub that hadn't been weaned?"
Zorro stared in astonishment at the colossal figures that blotted out the sky, feeling his worldview being shattered.
The one that attacked them earlier was at least twenty meters tall, yet it was nothing compared to these adults.
The Cerberus, already five or six meters tall, was like a toy in front of the adult Brachiosaurus, torn off in a single bite and flung to the ground like a rag doll.
Sanji, watching the hellhound torn in two, gloated, "Damn it, your dog's done for before it even got started."
Luffy calmly crossed his arms: "Not so fast. You underestimate my husky. It can split!"
Suddenly, the two halves of the hellhound wriggled and instantly transformed into two intact hellhounds!
"What?! It can split? What kind of creature is this?"
Sanji stared in astonishment as the two hellhounds flapped their wings again, recklessly charging towards the Brachiosaurus horde.
Then, everyone witnessed what true human wave tactics looked like.
Hellhounds were torn apart by the Brachiosaurus' attacks, only to split and regenerate repeatedly, their numbers increasing exponentially.
In just a few minutes, dozens of hellhounds, like a horde of crazed zombies, overwhelmed the massive Brachiosaurus, tearing them apart in a frenzy.
Sanji, watching the flying dog heads, swallowed hard. "What kind of ninjutsu is that? That's so unfair!"
Luffy grinned smugly. This was the most monstrous summoning technique of the Animal Path.
It would infinitely split and multiply whenever attacked.
It was an endless nightmare loop!