"Justice?" Coby, whose body had been tense earlier with his legs trembling in fear, suddenly found courage from somewhere deep within himself. "You call this justice? Oppressing, imprisoning, and killing innocent civilians, you call that justice?"
"This isn't justice. This is an abuse of power and corruption. You're not a Marine, you're a tyrant!" Coby stared directly into Morgan's eyes, then shifted his gaze toward the group of soldiers standing stiffly behind the captain.
"And you guys too! You just stood there silently while all of this happened right in front of your eyes! Aren't the Marines supposed to uphold justice? But here, you turn your faces away every time civilians are oppressed. Do you still deserve to call yourselves Marines?!"
"That was a good speech, Coby," Luffy said with a smile as he watched Coby finally speak up. The figure standing before him now was completely different from the cowardly boy he had first met aboard Alvida's ship.
The soldiers lowered their heads in shame. Morgan snorted coldly.
"Are you done talking, criminal?"
He continued in an enraged tone. "Criminals like you deserve to be imprisoned and executed. I am the most powerful and strongest person here. Therefore, whatever I say is absolute, and that is justice."
Right at that moment, Luffy swung his arm like a sword. A blade of wind shot forward, striking Morgan. The next second, a long slash suddenly appeared across the captain's body, blood gushing heavily from the wound. Morgan's vision blurred.
"W-what?"
"You're really noisy," Luffy said casually while picking at his ear.
"I-I'm the strongest..." Morgan collapsed backward. His soldiers were stunned as they watched their captain fall just like that, a slash wound having suddenly appeared across his body. They turned toward Luffy. Although they had not seen exactly what had happened, they were certain that it had to be the work of the straw-hatted young man.
"What's wrong? You guys want to try fighting too?" Luffy grinned. Beside him, Zoro slightly drew one of his sword blades from its sheath, ready in case a real fight broke out.
But the battle they had expected never happened. Instead, the soldiers threw their hats into the air and cheered loudly.
"HOORAY!"
"We're finally free!"
"Morgan has been defeated!"
...
At Rika's family's restaurant, Luffy, Zoro, and Coby sat around a table, busy eating. Outside, a crowd of people had begun gathering. News of Morgan's defeat spread quickly throughout the town, and the residents came out, curious to see the person who had managed to bring down the tyrant.
"Ahh, I'm full," Zoro patted his stomach after finishing two full plates and a glass of water, the hunger he had endured for 21 days finally repaid.
"That's good, then," Luffy replied while continuing to eat. This was already his eighth plate.
Zoro glanced at him in surprise. "You sure eat a lot. Now I'm actually wondering who was the one who was just imprisoned without food."
Luffy ignored the remark, continuing to devour his food before turning toward Rika's mother. "Auntie, can I have some more?"
"Alright," Rika's mother replied with a smile as she took another serving. Rika, who was sitting not far away, asked curiously, "Big brother, is the food good?"
"Yeah, this is the best food I've ever eaten," Luffy said as he scooped another full serving into his mouth.
"I'm glad, then." Rika giggled.
"Hey, Luffy," Zoro asked while cleaning between his teeth, "are the two of us the only members of your pirate crew?"
"No, with you, that makes three."
"Oh, so that woman is also one of our members, huh?" Zoro remembered the orange-haired woman who had been walking behind Luffy earlier. "Then where is she now?"
"Ah, she must be at the pier."
Zoro stood up from his chair and looked out the window, and sure enough, the orange-haired figure could be seen standing at the pier. "Ah, there she is. So, which one is our ship?"
"You see that little boat over there? That's my ship."
"Pfft, hahaha!" Zoro immediately burst out laughing when he saw the boat in question, its size no bigger than a fisherman's dinghy. After a while, he stopped laughing and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "But is that enough for the three of us?"
"Don't worry, I've already asked someone to find us a bigger ship," Luffy explained with a reassuring smile.
...
Meanwhile, Nami stood at the pier waiting for Luffy to arrive, her arms crossed in front of her chest, one foot tapping impatiently against the ground. Ever since separating from Luffy earlier, she had immediately hurried here.
Her plan was simple: retrieve her treasure, then escape using Luffy's boat. But she was extremely surprised when she arrived and found that her treasure sack was no longer where she had seen it earlier. She searched the entire boat, but still couldn't find it.
Anxiously, she then searched for the man Luffy had spoken to earlier at the pier. After finding him, Nami asked whether he had found anything on the boat.
His answer only made Nami even more confused.
There was nothing at all on the boat. The man had even already found a buyer for the boat, as well as a larger ship according to Luffy's request.
Hearing this, Nami finally realized the most likely possibility.
Her treasure sack might be with Luffy.
However, she could not understand how that man could have carried it. During the journey, Luffy had not appeared to be carrying anything. There was no bag, chest, or even pouch that could have been used to store that much treasure.
Now Nami could only wait.
She had also just heard the news that Morgan had been defeated by someone. Nami immediately thought that the culprit had to be Luffy. If that was true, Luffy would certainly return to the pier.
Not long afterward, Luffy appeared from behind her together with Zoro.
Luffy raised one hand and waved.
"Hey, Nami! Have you been waiting long?"
Nami showed a smile that looked extremely forced. A small vein even appeared on her forehead.
"Not really."
She turned toward Luffy.
"Hey, Luffy. I want to ask you something."
"Hmm? What is it?"
Luffy looked at her innocently.
Zoro, seeing Nami's expression, immediately realized that something was wrong. He slowly stepped backward, choosing to distance himself from whatever trouble was about to happen.
Nami immediately pounced on Luffy, choking him around the neck and shaking his body angrily.
"Where is my treasure sack?!"
Nami might be timid about many things, but when it came to money, her courage could appear from who knew where.
"Ah, if that's what you mean... isn't it behind your ear?"
Nami immediately stopped shaking Luffy.
She stared at him as if she were looking at an idiot.
"Do you think I'm stupid? There's no way it could be there!"
Even though she said that, her hand secretly moved to check behind her ear.
Luffy grinned.
"So who's the idiot now?"
Nami immediately punched him on the head out of embarrassment.
"Ouch! That hurts!"
"Give me my treasure sack back, now!"
"Alright, alright."
Luffy reached behind Nami's ear amid her mocking and disbelieving gaze. Secretly, he took Nami's treasure sack out of his Inventory, then pulled his hand back.
The treasure sack was now in his hand.
Nami's eyes widened. Her mouth opened slightly in shock.
"That... that's impossible, isn't it?"
She immediately took the sack from Luffy's hand and examined it.
There was no mistake.
It was truly her treasure sack.
"I still can't believe it. Just look at Zoro, he probably can't believe what he just saw either."
Nami pointed at Zoro.
Zoro usually wore a serious and expressionless face. But this time, his eyes were wide open and his mouth was slightly agape. Even the swordsman seemed to have no idea what to say after seeing the sack appear out of nowhere.
Luffy merely gave a brief explanation with a mysterious smile.
"It's magic."
He chuckled mischievously.
Deep down, Luffy decided to hide this ability a little longer.
Nami was still staring at him in disbelief. However, as if she had just remembered something, her expression changed.
"Oh, that's right. The ship you were looking for is supposedly ready, right?"
"Oh, really?"
Luffy immediately searched for the man he had asked for help earlier. After finding him, he gave him the money for the price of the ship as well as his fee. Everything totaled three million Berries.
Luffy then boarded the ship and took out all the food supplies they needed from his Inventory.
Nami and Zoro followed him aboard.
The sails were unfurled, and they began sailing away from the pier, leaving Coby behind as he waved after exchanging farewell greetings with them.