“Oh, there’s four brats on that boat,” the dark-skinned, heavyset pirate grunted.
“And a woman too,” the pirate in the hat said, narrowing his eyes as he sized up Nami.
“I’d wager that bundle he’s holding is stuffed with treasure,” the pirate with the yellow afro added, pointing at the bundle in Lucian’s arms, his voice dripping with greed.
“Easy pickings!” The three exchanged glances and shouted in harmony.
“What are those guys up to?” Luffy pointed at the pirates across the water, tilting his head in curiosity.
“Looking at the flag on their ship, they seem to be with the Buggy Pirates,” Nami said gravely, her eyes fixed on the enemy flag.
“Oh?
Perfect,” Zoro said with a grin, his hand already resting on the hilt of his sword, his knuckles tightening ever so slightly.
“Treasure!” Lucian’s gaze, however, had landed on the small wooden chest sitting on the enemy’s deck.
“Where?
Where?” Nami’s eyes lit up the instant she heard the word “treasure.” Following Lucian’s line of sight, she spotted the chest as well and immediately began rubbing her hands together in excitement.
“Hey, brats!
Hand over the treasure!”
“And you, woman—get over here and give us a shoulder rub!” The three pirates on the other ship were utterly oblivious to the danger they were in, still barking out their arrogant demands.
“They dare set their sights on my treasure…” At these words, wisps of gray mist instantly began seeping from all around Lucian.
His expressionless face and hollow eyes, like two bottomless pools, locked dead onto the three men.
“Cut the crap!
Hand over the treasure and maybe we’ll let you off easy!” The dark-skinned, heavyset pirate thrust out his neck, his bluster only swelling further.
Aboard the boat, Nami, Luffy, and Zoro stepped aside in perfect, silent coordination.
In the next second, Lucian had already flashed right in front of the three pirates.
His hand rose, and with three heavy thuds, the trio’s heads snapped sideways as they collapsed unconscious to the deck.
Gray mist coiled over their bodies like creeping vines, threads of it drawing back and being absorbed into Lucian.
“A little stronger again,” Lucian murmured, feeling the power surging within him, the corner of his mouth curving up into a rare hint of a smile.
On the other side, Nami had already pounced on the treasure chest and flung open the lid—dazzling, glittering gold instantly blinded her eyes.
Lucian, who had been concentrating on the sensation of his new strength, was jabbed by the golden gleam.
In a flicker of motion, he appeared at Nami’s side and reached straight for the gold.
Nami, with lightning reflexes, hastily stuffed it into her shirt.
She knew all too well Lucian’s obsession with treasure—there was no way she was yielding!
What was in her hands was hers!
Lucian was not about to back down either.
His hands moved like flashes of lightning, and in the blink of an eye, he had already swept away the greater part of the loot.
Nami glared grudgingly at the treasure now bundled in his arms, then turned and ducked into the pirate ship’s cabin, planning to search around and see if there was anything else good to be found.
The moment she stepped inside, however, she found Luffy hugging a barrel and wolfing down its contents.
“When did you get in here?” Nami asked, her face full of bewilderment.
“While you guys were fighting over the treasure,” Luffy replied indistinctly, his mouth crammed full of food.
“Sure!
There’s so much food in here!” Luffy answered, his voice muffled, his cheeks bulging.
Out on the deck, Lucian was stuffing the gold into his original bundle.
The pack was now nearly the size of his entire upper body, the straps straining and on the verge of bursting.
“Want me to help you carry some of that?” Nami came out, saw the scene, and sidled up rubbing her hands together, her smile as sly as a fox.
“No.” Lucian refused flatly, without even lifting his head.
“What do we do with these three?” Zoro nudged the unconscious pirates with his foot.
“Kick them overboard, of course!” Nami stepped forward and, raising her foot, sent the three of them tumbling one after another into the smaller boat alongside.
With that settled, the group set off on the newly commandeered vessel, slowly making their way toward Orange Town.
On the deck, Nami carefully stowed away her share of the treasure, then slipped into the cabin to take stock of the supplies.
“This food should last us a day—enough to make it to Orange Town, the Buggy Pirates’ base, no problem,” she said, dusting off her hands with a measure of satisfaction.
“Awesome!
Those three really were good guys!” Luffy declared, promptly grabbing more food from the barrel and shoving it into his mouth.
Bang!
Nami’s fist hammered down on Luffy’s head.
“You jerk—how are you still eating?
At this rate, it’ll barely last half a day!”
“But I’m so bored…” Luffy grumbled, still chewing, his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk’s.
“Bored?
Then go fishing!” Nami rolled her eyes and fished a rod out of the cabin, thrusting it at him.
“Fine,” Luffy said reluctantly, taking the rod and plopping himself down at the edge of the boat.
Lucian, feeling just as restless, grabbed a fishing rod as well and came over to sit beside him, casting his line too.
But an hour passed, and neither rod so much as twitched—not even a ripple stirred the water.
“Say, did you two maybe forget the bait?” Zoro, who had been silent the entire time, finally couldn’t hold back, his tone carrying a note of exasperation.
“Bait?” Lucian tilted his head and looked at Zoro, utterly perplexed.
“Ah!
So that’s what was missing!” Luffy smacked his thigh as the realization hit him.
“Wait—you need bait to fish?” Lucian watched as Luffy rummaged through the cabin and pulled out a small bucket of bait, pinching a piece and hooking it on.
He followed suit, picking up a piece and doing the same.
“I really can’t with you two…” Nami pressed a hand to her forehead, completely speechless.
Seeing that he wasn’t needed, Zoro leaned back against the gunwale, closed his eyes, and dozed off.
Nami sat guarding her treasure, counting it over and over, occasionally sneaking a glance at the bulging bundle in Lucian’s arms.
For a while, peace and quiet reigned aboard the boat.
The whole morning drifted lazily by, and neither Luffy nor Lucian had so much as glimpsed a single fish, let alone caught one.
“Aaagh—no fish, this is so boring!” Luffy tossed his rod aside and sprawled out flat on the deck, letting out a mournful wail.
Luffy pillowed his head on his hands and stared blankly up at the white clouds drifting by.
Suddenly, a huge bird flapped its wings and soared past overhead.
“What a giant bird…
it looks so delicious…” he murmured, his eyes tracking its silhouette.
“Don’t we already have enough food?” Nami said, catching his words without bothering to look up.
“But I’m really, really bored!” Luffy rolled back and forth across the deck.
“Ah!
I’ve got a great idea!” He abruptly stopped, his eyes lighting up.
He wrapped both arms around the mast and, like a stone launched from a slingshot, went shooting straight toward the giant bird with a whoosh.
“Luffy!” Nami shrieked, the treasure nearly slipping from her hands.
Lucian jerked his head up and watched Luffy hurtle through the sky like a cannonball.
A rare ripple of emotion flickered through his hollow eyes, and the fishing rod in his hand clattered onto the deck.
Zoro’s eyes snapped open, his brow furrowing deeply, his hand already on the hilt of his sword.
That bird was huge and flying awfully high—if Luffy fell from that…
But in the very next instant, they all saw Luffy spread his arms wide mid-air and make a perfect lunge for the bird, which was still circling.
The bird opened its beak, ready to snatch Luffy up, but down below, Lucian hurled his fishing rod with all his might, knocking the bird’s head aside.
“Hahaha, gotcha!” Luffy wrapped his arms around the bird’s head and swung himself onto its back, his laughter cutting through the wind and drifting down to them.
The giant bird let out a piercing screech at the sudden impact, its wings flapping in a wild frenzy, carrying Luffy in a wobbly, lopsided spiral through the sky.
Man and bird engaged in a bizarre tug-of-war high above—Luffy clinging to the bird’s neck for dear life, the bird desperately trying to shake off this nuisance, swooping down and shooting back up without warning.
The three aboard the boat watched with their hearts in their throats.
“That guy…” Zoro released his grip on his sword, the corner of his mouth twitching.
“Can’t he just sit still for once?”
Nami stamped her foot.
“If the bird just flies off scared, that’s one thing—but what if he falls into the sea?!
We wont’t have time to fish him out!” Even as she said it, her eyes remained locked unwaveringly on the aerial commotion, not daring to glance away for a second.
Lucian said nothing.
He simply gazed upward, a faint wisp of gray mist coiling restlessly around his fingertips.
He was calculating—if Luffy really did fall, could he flash over and catch him in that split second?
Suddenly, the giant bird let out a mournful cry, as though Luffy’s grip had squeezed the breath right out of it.
Its wings went limp, and it began plummeting straight toward the sea!
“Luffy!” Nami gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
Just when it seemed they would smash into the waves, Luffy yanked hard on the bird’s feathers and pressed himself flush against it, laughing wildly.
“This is so fun—fly me around a little longer!”
Worn down and utterly defeated, the bird had no choice but to obediently flap its wings and circle above the little boat with Luffy still clinging to its back.