The group pressed on, and just then, an aged voice came from beside them.
“Who are you?
Don’t go any further—up ahead is Buggy the Clown’s stronghold.”
Everyone turned toward the sound and saw a little old man poking his head out from the doorway of what looked like a pet shop.
He first darted a quick, furtive glance around in both directions before beckoning Luffy’s group over with a small wave.
“It’s an old man!” Luffy called out with a cheerful wave of his own, his voice bright and loud.
“Keep your voice down!” The white-haired old man hastily gestured for silence, his brow knitting tightly.
“Since we’ve run into someone, let’s ask him about the situation,” Nami said quietly to Luffy and the others, her eyes on the anxious old man.
“Let’s go!” Luffy was the first to dash over, with Lucian and the other two following close behind.
The moment they stepped inside, the old man urgently blurted out, “How dare you four kids come to Orange Town?
This is Buggy the Clown’s territory—you need to leave, now!”
“But we need to find this Buggy to get the nautical chart,” Luffy retorted, his brow furrowed, his tone stubborn.
“Aren’t you afraid of dying?” The old man waved his hands in agitation.
“Buggy the Clown is a big-time pirate with a bounty of fifteen million berries!
Just look at this town—he’s driven everyone away.
I was the mayor here, and now it’s his personal property…” He was about to keep urging them to leave.
“No way.
I have to find this Buggy and get that chart back—otherwise how are we supposed to get to the Grand Line?” Luffy adjusted his straw hat and refused flatly.
Hearing the old mayor lay out Buggy’s background, Nami couldn’t help but feel her heart waver.
She wasn’t sure whether Luffy and the others could actually win, and if they lost here, it would be a disaster.
She hastily suggested, “Why don’t we come up with a plan to just steal that nautical chart?”
“I’m not stealing it,” Luffy refused without a second thought.
“Mm.
No stealing,” Lucian nodded in agreement, his expression dead serious.
Zoro said nothing, but the grin that spread across his face made it clear he was of the exact same mind.
“You three…” Nami pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed in exasperation.
Still, she wasn’t overly panicked.
She had witnessed what Lucian was capable of before—even if they couldn’t win, they ought to at least be able to run.
“You kids—why won’t you listen to reason?” The old mayor looked at them with a deep expression of “I’m disappointed in you.”
Just then, a soft “woof woof” sounded, and a little white dog came trotting over with a bag of dog food in its mouth.
“Oh!
A puppy!” Luffy’s eyes lit up, and he immediately dashed over, reaching out to play with it.
Seeing this, Lucian instinctively moved to step in, but Zoro noticed and quickly reached out to stop him.
“It’s fine—they’re just playing.”
“Playing?” Lucian watched Luffy and the little dog rolling around on the floor together, tilting his head with a hint of confusion in his eyes.
“Hey there, Chouchou’s back,” the old mayor said, a kind, warm smile spreading across his face.
He took the bag of dog food from the little dog’s mouth, tore it open, and poured it into the dog bowl.
Chouchou immediately let go of Luffy’s hand, scampered over to the bowl, and began crunching away with his head buried in it.
Luffy rubbed the spot on his hand where faint tooth marks remained, blew on it a couple of times, then crouched down beside the little dog, grinning as he watched him eat.
The old mayor, Lucian, and the others stood quietly to the side as well, their eyes resting on Chouchou.
The old mayor took the opportunity to tell the story of Chouchou and the pet shop owner, and everyone listened, utterly absorbed.
Suddenly, a series of heavy thuds sounded from outside—boom, boom, boom—like something massive stomping across the ground, making the window frames tremble faintly.
Nami reacted the fastest, darting over to the window in a few quick steps and peering outside before letting out a low gasp.
The others hurriedly crowded around as well.
There, lumbering slowly toward the pet shop with its tail swishing, was a brawny lion, and riding on its back was a bizarre-looking man.
“Whoa!
A lion!” Luffy’s eyes lit up, and he immediately made to charge outside and mess with it.
“Don’t go out there!” The old mayor grabbed Luffy by the collar and hauled him back.
“That’s Mohji, the first mate of the Buggy Pirates!”
“What’s the big deal, old man?” Luffy stumbled from the yank and rubbed his neck, looking at the old mayor with displeasure.
“Luffy, don’t be reckless,” Nami urged hastily from the side.
Lucian stood at the back, his seemingly hollow eyes full of incomprehension.
The lion and the man on its back both gave off a very weak aura—why were the old mayor and Nami so afraid of them?
“They might just be passing through.
Let’s keep quiet,” Nami said, lowering her voice, her eyes fixed on the window.
“They’re already at the door,” Zoro, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly spoke, pointing at the shop entrance.
No sooner had he said it than a thunderous crash rang out.
The wooden door was violently smashed open, splinters flying everywhere.
Chouchou erupted into frantic barking, charging at the lion at the door like a bristling ball of fury.
“Chouchou, come back!” The old mayor’s face went pale with panic as he dashed over, trying to scoop Chouchou up.
“Oh?
So there are still people hiding here,” Mohji, who appeared to have a comical animal headpiece perched on his head as he sat atop the lion, said, sweeping his gaze down over the people inside, his tone dripping with disdain.
“Don’t you know this town is now the territory of the Buggy Pirates?
And you still haven’t cleared out?” His eyes then flicked to Chouchou, who was still barking wildly at the lion, and his expression darkened. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“And this mangy mutt—you dare bark at me?
You’ve got a death wish!
Richie, take it out!”
At Mohji’s command, the great lion, Richie, raised a thick, heavy forepaw and, with a rush of wind, swiped straight at the old mayor, who was clutching Chouchou in his arms.
The old mayor instinctively hugged Chouchou tight and squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the pain to come.
Bang!
The impact he had braced for never landed on him.
Instead, a heavy thud rang out—the lion Richie’s paw had been caught mid-air by a single hand.
It was Luffy.
“Huh?” Mohji, seeing the paw blocked, raised an eyebrow from Richie’s back.
“Where’d this brat come from?”
Luffy gripped the lion’s thick paw and twisted his wrist.
Richie yelped in pain, letting out a whimper and pulling back, its enormous body swaying.
Luffy looked up at Mohji and said with a furrowed brow, “You can’t bully the old man and the puppy.”
“You wanna die?!” Mohji, now thoroughly provoked, slapped Richie’s back.
“Richie, smash him flat!”
Richie let out a low growl and swung its other forepaw violently at Luffy, its tail lashing across like an iron whip.
“Gomu Gomu no Pistol!” Luffy’s body recoiled slightly, dodging the attack, and in the same instant, his arm shot out and slammed a single punch straight into Richie’s head.
Boom!
Richie’s massive body crashed straight to the ground with a heavy thud.
Mohji tumbled right off its back, hitting the ground hard, his face twisted in a pained grimace.
“Damn you!” Mohji scrambled to his feet, his legs trembling as he pointed at Luffy and shouted, looking at Richie lying on the ground.
“Do you even know who I am?!
I’m Captain Buggy’s first mate!”
“No idea,” Luffy said, letting go and scratching his head.
“All I know is you were trying to bully Chouchou.”
Lucian’s hollow eyes remained fixed on Mohji, his fingers curling faintly.
After watching that last exchange, seeing Luffy only take down the lion without laying a hand on the man, he found himself weighing whether he should step in himself and beat this loudmouth into the ground.
Zoro, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded, glanced at Richie groaning on the ground, then at Mohji, whose legs were still shaking.
The corner of his mouth tugged downward.
“That’s all the first mate’s got?”