Oliver had just arrived, hitting the Buggy and leaving every Buggy Pirate shocked.
"I think I dislocated my arm."
He fixed his arm to see Zoro injured and Luffy trapped in the cage.
"Me hurt and you guys having fun. Don't you think that's unfair?"
"Do you think I'm fine?!" Zoro shouted at him.
"Something like that."
Even though Oliver was teasing Zoro, he was quite injured, his clothes torn to shreds.
"I don't think I can win like this," Oliver said, feeling a bit dizzy.
"Oliver! Get Zoro out of here!"
Buggy tried to get up, but was still stuck to the ground.
"Calm down, first things first."
Oliver went to where the cannon was, grabbed it, and aimed it at the pirates.
"WAaaahhh!! The cannon is aiming this way!!"
The pirates started running to escape that place and tried to free their captain.
"Zoro, go with Luffy and try to take the cage with you. You, light the fuse."
Zoro went to try to get Luffy out while Nami lit the fuse.
"Who was the one who hit me?!!"
The pirates managed to free their Captain, and the first thing he saw was the cannon pointing at him.
"Get down!!" Buggy shouted.
The cannon fired the Buggy Ball, destroying a large part of the upper section of the bar and creating a curtain of smoke.
"We have to get out of here. By the way, who are you?" Zoro said.
"Me? A thief," Nami said.
"She'll be our navigator," Luffy said with a smile.
"What are you saying?! I told you no! Instead of saying nonsense, think of a way to get out of there!" Nami yelled.
"Let me handle this," Oliver said.
He grabbed the cage and tried to store it in his inventory, but couldn't do it.
"Damn. Zoro, help me."
Oliver and Zoro lifted the cage, both starting to lose blood.
"Let's go already!"
The smoke curtain still covered the area, so they ran and jumped across rooftops, getting as far away from the bar as they could.
While they ran, they heard the pirates shouting that they had escaped.
They set the cage down on a rooftop to rest a bit.
"Damn it!! If only I could get out of here," Luffy said, trying to free himself.
"That Buggy's dangerous. If we meet again, I'll finish him," Zoro said, holding his wound.
"Next time, we'll hit him with our fists, not swords," Oliver said, bleeding from his head. "Was the cut deep?"
"Yeah. It won't stop bleeding," Zoro replied. "And what happened to you? You got lost and showed up like that?"
"Me? Lost?!" Oliver shouted, a bit annoyed.
Oliver was bleeding from his head, his clothes destroyed, and with several burns.
"That bastard Buggy shot one of his cannonballs, and I was right in its path," Oliver said.
He remembered the explosion and the rubble that fell on him, but thanks to the Gacha Machine, he survived.
'I was really lucky that the Gacha Machine worked like some kind of shield. Could it be indestructible?' Oliver thought.
"We have to move farther away," Zoro said.
"Yeah. They might find us here," Oliver said, putting the cage back into his inventory.
"This isn't working. I thought I could store the cage, but I couldn't."
Once again, they grabbed Luffy's cage and carried it off.
They walked for several minutes until they were far enough from the bar.
"Hope they don't find us here," Zoro said.
"I agree," Oliver said.
Both were dragging the cage, exhausted, while Luffy kept trying to break it with his teeth.
"We have to get you out of there," Zoro said.
"Yeah. If I don't get out, I can't do anything if they find us," Luffy said.
Then, Zoro collapsed to the ground.
"I can't keep going. And this won't stop bleeding," Zoro said, lying down.
"Let me see if I can do something," Oliver said.
As Oliver was trying to stop the bleeding with an improvised bandage, they noticed some kind of dog statue.
'Shushu. That's a pretty nice dog,' Oliver thought.
"What's up with this dog?" Zoro asked, dragging himself to lean against a house.
"Are you sure it's a dog?" Luffy asked. "It doesn't look real. Look, it doesn't even move."
"How should I know? Leave the dog alone and find a way out of there," Zoro said.
Oliver began bandaging Zoro's stomach until Luffy poked the dog in the eyes, making it bite him.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Zoro yelled, his wound bleeding more.
"Stay still!" Oliver shouted.
Luffy started fighting with the dog, which kept biting him.
"Are you even aware of your situation?! This isn't the time to fight a dog!!" Zoro shouted, furious.
After seeing, he couldn't stop Zoro's bleeding and watching Luffy exhausted from fighting Shushu, Oliver just left them be.
"Do whatever you want," he said, leaning against a house.
Then Nami arrived, seeing them resting in the middle of the street.
"Having fun? If you fall asleep here, they'll catch you in no time," Nami said.
"What's up, Navigator?" Luffy and Zoro said.
"Again with that! I only came to return the favor," Nami said, throwing a key.
"Look! The key! Did you steal it for me?" Luffy asked happily.
"It was stupid. Because of this key, I couldn't get anything else," Nami said, a bit frustrated.
"Great! I thought I'd never get out of here!" Luffy said, smiling.
"Good. Now get out," Zoro said.
And in a moment of carelessness, Shushu grabbed the key in his mouth and swallowed it, leaving everyone except Oliver shocked.
"Damn dog!! Spit it out!! That's not food!!" Luffy yelled, grabbing it by the neck.
"Hahaha!!!" Oliver burst out laughing at the situation.
"Stop laughing!!" the three of them shouted.
"It's just too funny—"
In an instant, Oliver went silent.
"Hey, are you okay?!"
Nami went to check on Oliver and saw that he had fallen asleep.
"How can you fall asleep like that?!" Nami shouted.
"You lot!! Leave Shushu alone!!" shouted an old man.
"Shushu?" Luffy asked.
"Who are you?" Zoro asked.
"Me? I'm the mayor of this town. That's who I am."
--
--
--
The man said his name was Boodle, and he was the Mayor of Orange Town.
With Nami's help, he took Zoro and Oliver to his house to rest.
The mayor bandaged Oliver's head because it was injured while he slept, and Zoro asked to just be left to rest.
"The dog's name is Shushu?" Luffy asked.
"Yes," Boodle replied.
"And why is he there all the time?" Luffy asked again.
"He's guarding the shop. I'm just the one who feeds him," Boodle said, giving him a plate of food.
"Is this a pet food store?" Nami asked.
"The shop belongs to my best friend. Ten years ago, he and Shushu opened it. It's full of memories for both him and me."
He remembered the moments with his friend when he used to feed Shushu.
"Shushu's quite hurt, and that's because of the pirates. He hasn't let them into the store," Boodle said.
"The store must be important if Shushu's risking his life to protect it. Why doesn't his owner take him out of town?" Nami asked.
"He can't. My friend died of an illness," Boodle said. "Three months ago, he went to the hospital and never came back."
"So this dog's been waiting here for three months?" Nami asked.
"That's what everyone says, but I don't believe it. Shushu's a very smart dog. I'm sure he knows his owner's not coming back," Boodle said.
Luffy just listened to their conversation.
"So why does he stay here?" Nami asked.
"I guess it's because this shop is his treasure, as it reminds him of his beloved owner. That's what I think," Boodle said. "I've tried leaving town many times, but I can't abandon him here alone. It seems he wants to stay there until his death."
Nami smiled at the story, but they couldn't relax for long because they heard a loud roar, making both Nami and Boodle run outside.
"They've found us. Spit out the key already," Luffy said, but only got a bark from Shushu.
"There's one here!"
The man who had just arrived looked half-bear and half-human, riding a huge lion.
"I'm Mohji, the tamer, one of Buggy's pirates," Mohji introduced himself. "Hahaha! Left behind here, huh? Sorry for you, but Captain Buggy's furious. You've gotten yourself into a big mess."
"Are you wearing a bear suit? Or are you like Oliver?" Luffy asked.
"How rude! This is my own fur!" Mohji shouted angrily.
"Well, it's ugly fur," Luffy said.
"Shut up!! You think you're safe in that cage? You clearly don't know how strong I am!"
Nami and Boodle were worried about Luffy, who seemed to be annoying Mohji.
Mohji started bragging that he could control any animal, so he tried it with Shushu—but Shushu bit his hand.
"Didn't you say you could control any animal?" Luffy asked.
"I don't care about that. I just want to know where Zoro and the one who hit my captain are," Mohji said.
"I won't tell you!" Luffy shouted.
"Get him, Richie!!"
The lion charged at the cage, smashing it and freeing Luffy in the process—but he didn't get to enjoy it, as Richie hit him, sending him crashing through a house.
"Anyone who stands against me will end up like him. Richie, let's go find Roronoa Zoro and the other one."
The lion started smelling food from the shop, preparing to eat everything, but Shushu stood in his way.
Luffy got up as if nothing had happened and fixed his hat.
"That was scary. He sent me flying across the street, but I'm finally free. Now I'll give them what they deserve—and then I'll convince Nami to be our Navigator," Luffy said with a smile, ready for a fight.