“Seriously, how did those idiots get lost again?” Zoro muttered helplessly.
He had only looked away for a moment, and everyone had vanished.
Now he had to go find them himself.
He glanced at the door in front of him and reached out to open it.
The moment his hand touched the handle, voices drifted out from inside.
“You really want to do this?” someone asked nervously.
“What other choice do we have?” the older Marine snapped.
“If what we did with Captain Nezumi gets exposed, do you think Marine Headquarters will let us off?!”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
If things went bad, none of them would survive.
At best, they would be thrown into Impel Down and spend the rest of their lives rotting in misery.
And if that was the future waiting for him, he would rather die.
“As soon as those pirates leave, we’ll pin everything on them and the dead officers.”
“Then we’ll be in the clear.”
He paused before lowering his voice.
“But honestly, I suggest all of you resign from the Marines after this.
If anyone digs too deep, we’re dead anyway.”
The older Marine’s face was tense with caution.
His life was already ruined beyond repair.
Leaving the Marines didn’t matter anymore.
He could always disappear somewhere and live in hiding.
Click.
The door behind them suddenly opened, startling everyone inside.
“Sounds like I just overheard something pretty interesting.”
Zoro stood at the doorway with a cold grin.
“So you’re planning to dump all the blame on us?”
“Roronoa Zoro?!”
“Trying to use us as scapegoats comes with consequences.” Zoro slowly drew the Wado Ichimonji from his waist.
“Ready to deal with my anger?”
“Get him!
Fight back!”
The Marines charged forward with their standard-issue swords raised high.
Unfortunately for them, they were nowhere near Zoro’s level.
Within moments, screams echoed through the room.
After dealing with them, Zoro casually walked back outside.
“I should find the others and tell them what happened.”
At that moment, he found himself completely agreeing with Kai’s idea.
This place deserved to be blown sky-high.
Looking at it now, there really wasn’t a single decent person left in the entire base.
As he turned the corner, Zoro froze.
“Luffy?”
The guy stuffing his face inside that room was obviously Luffy.
And judging by the way he was hanging halfway into the refrigerator, he had already made himself at home.
“Oh, Zoro.” Luffy glanced back while chewing.
“Want something to eat?”
“I’ll pass.” Zoro walked over and shook his head.
“Got any alcohol?”
“Yep.” Luffy pointed toward several barrels nearby.
“Those are full of booze.”
Zoro poured himself a cup and took a sip.
His eyes immediately lit up.
“These Marines have pretty good taste.”
He looked around the kitchen thoughtfully, then grabbed a small cart nearby and loaded all the barrels onto it.
“Come on, Luffy.”
“Okay.”
After shoving the last bite of food into his mouth, Luffy jumped down from the refrigerator and stared curiously at the barrels.
“What are you taking those for?”
“To bring back to the ship, obviously.” Zoro grinned.
“Can’t waste good alcohol like this.”
Might as well let the others enjoy it too.
“Why aren’t they back yet?” Usopp sat near the side of the ship, staring into the distance with boredom.
“Should I go look for them?”
“You’re not afraid the Marines might chop you up?” Kai suddenly made a terrifying expression.
“Without us around, who knows what kind of ideas they might get~”
“I-Is that so…?”
Usopp shivered instantly, horrifying images filling his mind.
Several Marines chasing him with swords.
Him getting hacked to pieces.
A tragic death.
“Actually, never mind.” Usopp forced out an awkward laugh.
“I suddenly caught a disease where I can’t enter this Marine base.”
“If I go in, I’ll die.”
Kai rolled his eyes.
That excuse was unbelievably weak.
Nami walked out after storing the treasure and shot Kai an annoyed look.
“You really love scaring him.”
“What? This story is hosted at novelping.com.
I was bored, so I thought teasing Usopp would be fun.
Hahaha!”
“What did you say?!” Usopp immediately exploded.
He jumped up and pressed his forehead against Kai’s.
“You wanna fight, bastard?!”
“Captain Usopp isn’t scared of some Marines!”
“I’ve got eight thousand subordinates under me!”
There was no way he would fear a bunch of weaklings.
Absolutely not!
“Right, right.
Captain Usopp is the greatest~” Kai laughed.
“Hahahaha!
Exactly!” Usopp puffed up proudly, his nose practically pointing at the sky.
Standing dramatically on the edge of the ship, he crossed his arms with smug confidence.
“At least you’ve got good taste!”
He was the great Captain Usopp, after all!
Then, in the middle of basking in his own glory, he lost his footing and fell straight off the side of the ship.
Bang!
His head slammed hard against the dock, instantly swelling into a giant bump.
Tears streamed down his face from the pain.
“Hm?”
Usopp looked up just in time to spot Zoro approaching with a small cart full of barrels.
“Wait…
did you find more treasure?”
“Where the hell did you all run off to?!” Zoro complained irritably.
“You should’ve stayed close to me!”
“Honestly, getting lost and making me search for you guys…”
Everyone: ???
“Hey, Zoro, you’re the one who got lo…” Luffy started.
Before he could finish, Zoro instantly grabbed him by the neck.
“Shut up.”
“Hahahahaha!”
“Kai, your nose for alcohol is impressive,” Kai said as he jumped down to inspect the barrels.
“You actually managed to sniff out booze in this place?”
“Hmph.
Of course.”
Seeing Zoro’s smug expression, Kai twitched helplessly.
…I wasn’t complimenting you.