77: Chapter 77 The Beast Tamer! The Brave XiuxiuXiu Xiu just lazily yawned, squatted down in a more comfortable position, and remained motionless.
It was as if the collapse of the sky outside had nothing to do with it; its mission was simply to guard the door behind it.
Just then, accompanied by heavy footsteps and a deep roar, an extremely large, muscular, and mane-ridden lion appeared before Luffy and Zoro, passing through the ruined streets.
Two people were also carrying on the lion's back.
One of them, dressed in a comical animal costume with a tuft of hair on his head resembling lion ears, complained with an arrogant and impatient expression:
"Honestly.They're just two brats, yet they sent two of us, their officers, to deal with them.What a waste of time!"
"Tch!" Another pirate, with his nostrils flared to the sky and a more pretentious air, glanced at Zoro with a scrutinizing look."Hey!You're that somewhat famous bounty hunter.Roronoa Zoro, right?"
He drew his sword and pointed it at Zoro, "By Captain Buggy's orders, I'm bringing your head back!"
"If you have the guts, come and have a real swordsman's duel with me—the swordsman Kabaji!"
Without waiting for Zoro's response, he jumped off the lion's back and quickly rode a unicycle that he had pulled out from somewhere.
With an extremely comical yet swift speed, it "whooshed" to the open space in the distance and assumed a fighting stance.
Zoro, seeing this bizarre entrance and challenge, grinned arrogantly: "Swordsman?Hmph.then bring it on!"
He seemed to have some obsession with the title of "swordsman," and immediately drew his sword and chased after them, leaving Luffy and the lion behind.
Luffy's attention, however, was completely drawn to the enormous lion.His eyes lit up, and he shouted excitedly, "Wow!What a huge cat—!"
The other person riding on the lion's back, upon hearing Luffy's words, angrily corrected him:
"Damn it!Liki is a mighty lion!What cat?Straw Hat Boy, you have no sense of propriety!"
He cleared his throat and proudly announced, "Listen up!I am Mochi, the Beast Tamer, a senior member of the Buggy Pirates!"
Luffy completely ignored his name, instead widening his eyes and pointing at Mochi's exaggeratedly fluffy hairstyle, asking curiously:
"But.why are you wearing that strange fur?"
Mochi was so angry he almost fell off the lion's back, roaring, "How rude!That's my hair!My hair!"
Looking at the two tufts of hair on Mochi's head that resembled lion ears, Luffy said with even more confusion, "That's even stranger."
"Fufufu…"
Mochi grinned maliciously, trying to regain his temper, "You straw hat kid, it seems you have no idea how terrifying I, the beast tamer Mochi, am!In this world.there is no animal I cannot tame!"
As if to prove himself, he glanced at Xiuxiu, who was still yawning beside him.
He jumped down from the lion's back, walked confidently to Xiuxiu, extended his hand, and commanded in what he thought was the gentlest tone, "Come on!Shake hands!"
His response was a lightning-fast bite!
"Awooo—!"
Mochi's hand was instantly bitten hard by Xiuxiu, causing him to jump around in pain and scream repeatedly, "Let go!Let go now!You stupid dog!"
Having finally shaken off Xiuxiu, Moqi looked at the clear teeth marks on his hand, forced a straight face, and said casually, "Hmph!Anyway.you're just an unknown petty thief!"
He tried to shift his attention to Luffy, pointing at him and ordering the lion, "Hurry up and finish this!Riki!Crush him!"
The lion named Leakey let out a low growl and leaped up—
But its target wasn't Luffy, but the pet food store next to him that smelled delicious!
Mochi nearly choked on his breath, yelling angrily, "Hey!Liki!What are you doing?This isn't mealtime—!"
Then, he and Luffy saw Riki's giant claw stop in mid-air—
Because that little white dog, Xiuxiu, had somehow ended up blocking the entrance to the food store.
Despite the stark size difference, like an ant trying to stop a chariot, it still bristled and let out a brave but weak bark at the enormous lion: "Woof!Woof woof!"
Mochi, seeing this scene, was on the verge of collapse and shouted frantically:
"You should eat now!There's a fight going on over here!Why don't you just swat this stupid dog away with one paw?"
Liki seemed to understand its master's complaint, and with a low growl, its huge claws swept towards Shoo Shoo with a whooshing sound!
If that claw strikes, Xiu Xiu will definitely die!
Seeing this, Mochi cleared his throat, steeled himself, and shouted in Luffy's direction, his voice filled with bravado but his heart was filled with fear:
"Hey!Straw Hat Kid!If you're so tough.wait until we finish eating before you continue fighting!"
Luffy's playful expression vanished instantly.
He raised his hand to adjust the straw hat on his head, the brim casting a shadow on his face, his voice deep yet carrying an undeniable firmness:
"Normally, we'd probably eat together before playing, but this time."
His gaze fell on the small figure facing the enormous creature, trembling with fear yet stubbornly guarding the shop, refusing to retreat even a single step.
"But not this time."
A smile spread across his face from the shadows—a sign that he was about to make his move!
"Rubber—the Giant's Hammer—!"
Luffy's arm rapidly swelled and grew larger, like a balloon!
The enormous rubber fist, with unparalleled power and speed, sliced through the air like a cannonball, striking precisely in the face of the lion Leigh, who was about to commit his attack!
"Bang—!" A muffled sound!
Before Leakey could even scream, his massive body was directly struck by that terrifying punch.He was blasted away!
It traced a graceful arc in the air before crashing heavily into the distant ruins, kicking up a cloud of dust, and causing the person to faint with dizziness.
Seeing his partner Liki instantly killed with a single punch, Mochi's jaw nearly dropped to the ground, and he screamed in utter despair:
"Niche.niche—!"
He turned to Luffy in disbelief, his voice trembling: "Who.who are you?"
Luffy retracted his arm, which had returned to its original state, and announced with a grin, "I'm a rubber man who ate the Gum-Gum Fruit!"
Mochi was stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant and exclaimed in horror, "Could it be.that you are a Devil Fruit user like Captain Buggy?"
Realizing the vast difference in strength between them, the fear on his face instantly turned into obsequiousness.He rubbed his hands together in front of his chest, plastered a fawning smile on his face, and cautiously asked:
"Hey.is it possible to reconcile?"
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