Dikara looked at the money the two held out, then took in their utterly earnest expressions, and suddenly let out a burst of laughter.
He pinched the crumpled 500-berry note between his rough fingers and flicked the damp 100-berry coin in Lucian’s palm, deliberately putting on a stern face.
“You think this measly amount can buy a boat?
Do you kids have any idea how much a decent little boat costs?”
Luffy’s face fell at once.
“But this is really all we have…”
Lucian pressed his lips tight, clutching the coin in a bit of a loss.
He truly had no idea how many berries a boat was actually worth.
Seeing their dead-serious expressions, Dikara could not hold it in any longer and burst into a hearty laugh, clapping Luffy on the shoulder.
“I’m just messing with you!
I’ll give you a boat—no way I’m taking money from kids.”
He turned to Brue and instructed, “Go haul out that spare skiff from the storage hold, and pack them some provisions and water too.”
“Really?!” Luffy’s eyes instantly lit up like twin stars, and he sprang into the air with a shout.
“Thank you, Mister!
You’re such a good guy!”
Lucian paused for a moment too, then lowered his head and said in a soft voice, “Thank you, Captain.”
“Now that I think about it,” Dikara stroked his beard, sizing the two of them up, “where are you two kids headed?
The seas aren’t exactly peaceful these days.”
“We’re going to the nearest island!” Luffy puffed out his chest.
“I’m gonna recruit crewmates there and then become the King of the Pirates!”
“King of the Pirates?
Just you two little brats?” Dikara raised an eyebrow and waved it off as nothing more than childish banter.
“Alright, we’ll get going.
We’ll call you when the boat’s ready—get some more rest in the meantime.” With that, he and Brue pushed open the door and stepped out.
Watching the two leave, Luffy immediately scooted up to Lucian and shook his arm excitedly.
“This is awesome, Lucian!
We’ve got a boat again!”
Lucian nodded, the corner of his mouth curving up almost imperceptibly.
“That Mister is really kind,” Luffy added with feeling.
“Yeah,” Lucian agreed, nodding firmly.
Just as the two were talking, a sudden deafening boom rocked the ship from outside, making the wooden planks of the cabin shudder.
Right after, a chaotic clamor erupted from the deck.
“Pirates!
Lucian and Luffy exchanged a glance, then hurried to the door and pulled open the cabin hatch.
The merchant ship was far larger than they had imagined.
Their cabin at the stern was still some distance from the main deck, and the shouts and sounds of battle were coming from up ahead.
“Let’s go take a look!” Luffy said, already breaking into a run toward the deck.
Lucian followed right behind, and the two of them charged up to the merchant ship’s deck in no time.
A pirate ship flying a red heart flag was rammed hard against the side of the merchant vessel, planks laid across the bulwarks as a swarm of pirates, brandishing blades and guns, came howling and charging across.
The sailors on the merchant ship were fighting back with their weapons, but they were clearly outmatched, and the deck quickly descended into chaos.
“Protect the cargo!
Don’t let them take anything!” Captain Dikara, at the very front, swung his great blade and hacked down a pirate who had leaped aboard, shouting orders at his crew.
But the pirates were simply too many, and soon several sailors had been struck to the ground.
Luffy narrowed his eyes at the enormous red heart painted on the enemy ship’s sail, then looked at the deck thrown into complete disarray.
A grin spread across his face as he clenched his fists.
“Pirates, huh?
Perfect—now we can repay Mister Captain for saving our lives!”
Standing beside him, Lucian’s eyes were locked on the chaotic melee.
There were already casualties over there, and the scent of blood drifting over stirred that long-suppressed urge inside him once again.
But he dug his nails fiercely into his palms and forced himself to focus on the disorder before him.
This was not the time for that.
“Lucian, let’s go!” Luffy shouted at him.
“Yeah!” Lucian nodded, and the two charged in, one from the left and one from the right.
The men of the Alvida Pirates clearly did not take these two youths seriously.
A pirate with a face full of brutish muscle swung his great blade straight at Luffy.
“Get lost, you little brat!”
But Luffy nimbly ducked low, dodging it, and countered with a punch right into the pirate’s gut.
“You get lost!”
The pirate let out a pained howl, his blade clattering to the deck as he doubled over groaning.
Luffy dusted off his hands and turned to Lucian, who had just chopped down another pirate with a knife-hand strike on the other side, and laughed.
“These guys don’t seem all that tough!”
The fighting on the deck came to an abrupt halt.
Both sides stared blankly at Luffy and Lucian, who had suddenly burst onto the scene.
The sailors on the merchant ship were full of astonished delight, while the pirates looked on with startled uncertainty.
“You useless rats!
You can’t even deal with two little brats?!”
Everyone looked up and saw a grossly overweight woman standing at the bow of the pirate ship, her face caked with thick makeup.
She was hefting a spiked iron club as she lumbered toward them.
This was none other than Alvida, captain of the Alvida Pirates.
The pirates on the deck fell silent at once, their eyes full of fear.
“Koby, who is the most beautiful woman in this world?” Alvida asked as she walked, her gaze sweeping toward a pink-haired boy standing off to the side, his legs quivering like sieves.
“Th-Th-The most admired Miss Alvida, of course,” Koby stammered out.
“Then since you know that, hurry up and slaughter them all, you idiots!” Alvida came to a sudden halt and slammed her spiked club onto the deck with a heavy thud.
She turned and roared at the pirates on the deck, the ferocity in her voice sending chills down every spine.
“Who’s this old hag?” Luffy scratched his head and asked, genuinely curious.
The moment those words left his mouth, the entire atmosphere on the scene froze solid.
“She’s Alvida, captain of the Alvida Pirates,” Captain Dikara hastily stepped up beside him and whispered into his ear.
“Brat, you’re asking for it!” Alvida’s face twisted livid with rage, and she raised her spiked club, swinging it straight at Luffy.
Seeing their captain fly into a fury, the pirates on the deck also launched into a frenzied assault.
The sailors were caught off guard, and several more were cut down and collapsed to the deck in an instant.
A bearded pirate raised his long blade and hacked straight at Lucian, the blood-tinged wind of the strike grazing his cheek.
Lucian did not dodge—instead, he moved directly into it.
Just as the blade’s edge was about to touch his neck, his body twisted with an eerie contortion, and the blade scraped past his shoulder, biting into the deck and sending a spray of splinters flying.
Before the pirate could react, Lucian had already grabbed the man’s sword wrist and wrenched it.
A crisp crack rang out, accompanied by the pirate’s agonized scream as he rolled on the ground, clutching his deformed wrist.
“Lucian, nice one!” Luffy called out from the other side, where he was nimbly ducking and weaving around Alvida, still finding a moment to shout over.
“Don’t get too cocky, you little punk!” Alvida suddenly surged forward, bringing her spiked club crashing down hard on Luffy’s head.
“Straw Hat kid!” Captain Dikara cried out in alarm.
“Not gonna work!” But beneath that spiked club, Luffy suddenly bounced back up, his arms shooting high, and in the same motion, he shoved Alvida staggering several steps backward.
“Now it’s my turn!”
“Gomu Gomu no…
Pistol!” He cocked his arm stretching far back, clenched his fist, and before Alvida could even react, he drove a single devastating punch straight into her face.
With a sickening thud, Alvida flew off the pirate ship like a discarded sack of rags and plunged into the sea, vanishing from sight.
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