Among the crowd, the Bellamy Pirates froze as Luffy stepped forward, his expression cold and determined.
"This must be luck!" one of them shouted nervously. "Bellamy was careless, that's why he got taken out!"
Vice Captain Sarquiss raised his greatsword, trying to rally himself while glaring at Luffy.
"Come on! Fight me again!"
"Sarquiss, don't!" several crew members yanked at his arm, panicked. "Don't provoke him any further!"
A few, unable to withstand the pressure of Luffy's fury, dropped to their knees and begged.
"Straw Hat San! We—we didn't know that egg was your companion!"
"It vanished on its own, it wasn't our fault!"
Bang!
A heavy bag wrapped in gold nuggets landed at Luffy's feet. Two women, trembling inside a nearby building, peeked out in terror.
"Here's all the gold!" one cried. "We don't want it anymore!"
Luffy tied the bag of gold to his side, his voice steady as he glared at the pirates.
"Where is my companion?"
"W-We really don't know!" the pirates wailed, tears in their eyes.
Sarquiss stood trembling, clutching his blade.
"I-I'm not afraid of you! Come on!"
Luffy's eyes darkened further. The thought of a companion being sold was unbearable.
"Hehe, Luffy, I'm here."
A familiar laugh rang out, breaking the tension.
"Huh?"
The fury vanished from Luffy's face, replaced by pure joy.
"Shirogai!"
The crowd erupted in panic as Shirogai Yamikuro appeared.
"It's him! The Plunderer with a bounty of two hundred million Berries!"
"Run! If he's here, this place is doomed!"
"Ahhh! Two monsters in one town!"
Pirates scrambled in every direction, terrified.
"Shirogai!" Luffy ran to him, leaping into his arms with relief.
"We thought we lost you!"
"Heh, I almost got lost. First time being abducted." Shirogai smiled calmly, looking down at him.
"You got the old man's gold back, right? Then let's move. We've still got work to do tonight."
But Luffy pouted, pointing angrily at the collapsed Bellamy Pirates.
"The Going Merry was destroyed by them!"
Shirogai's eyes swept over the crew, his tone still casual.
"Oh? Is that so?"
The pirates shrank back, trembling.
"W-We were wrong! Please, spare us!"
Shirogai smiled faintly.
"Luffy, let's go bring the Going Merry back to life."
"Mm!" Luffy grinned, gold slung over his back.
The two turned toward the docks.
"You dare injure members of the Donquixote Family?!" Sarquiss shouted after them, trying to mask his fear. "Our Young Master will never forgive this insult!"
Shirogai didn't even turn his head.
"Next time, I'll tell him myself."
"You—cowards! Where do you think you're going?!" Sarquiss roared.
Luffy stopped, turned, and pointed boldly at the sky.
"Sky Island!"
The pirates blinked, stunned. Then Sarquiss burst into angry laughter.
"Ridiculous! Another foolish dream!"
"Indeed foolish." Shirogai snapped his fingers, a thin smile on his lips.
"But don't forget who I am."
At once, visions of earlier that day flooded the Bellamy Pirates' minds. The memory of kneeling helplessly under Shirogai's overwhelming presence returned, suffocating them.
Sarquiss went pale. I even dared to threaten him…
He collapsed to his knees, slamming his forehead against the ground.
"Forgive me, Shirogai San! I was wrong!"
Shirogai's smile turned sharper.
"My mission is to send you to hell. Forgiveness… that's for devils."
He snapped his fingers again.
The world twisted. A blood moon rose above Mock Town, casting everything in a crimson glow.
"Hehehe…"
The moon blinked like a great eye, watching them. Whispers and clawing sounds echoed all around.
"Welcome back, my dearest scumbags…"
The pirates screamed. They were dragged into a nightmarish version of Mock Town—Freddy's Town. Tombstones split apart as rotting arms clawed up from the earth.
"No! Not this again!"
From the ground, zombie doubles of the Bellamy Pirates emerged, snarling.
"Ahhh!" Bellamy, newly awake, was pinned beneath his own rotting duplicate, screaming in terror.
…
"Huh? They all just collapsed?"
Luffy glanced back at the Bellamy crew, unconscious and twitching on the ground.
"If they're tired, they should just go home and sleep."
Shirogai chuckled.
"Maybe fools don't need such luxuries."
…
"We're back!"
The two figures returned to their companions. Relief spread across the Straw Hats' faces.
"These guys…" Zoro smirked. "Shirogai, I didn't think you'd actually let yourself be abducted."
Sanji flicked his cigarette.
"Tch, when we thought that egg worth a hundred million Berries was gone, I almost laughed myself sick."
Shirogai rubbed his nose, grinning self-deprecatingly.
"No choice. I was just a foolish egg back then."
Everyone burst out laughing.
"Old man!" Luffy handed Cricket the bag of gold. "Here's your treasure back!"
Cricket took it, smiling faintly as smoke curled from his lips.
"Thanks, Straw Hat. Now let's hurry—before morning, we need to reinforce the ship."
Through the night, everyone worked on the Going Merry. With the Wax-Wax Fruit's reinforcement, she became sturdier than ever, a ship ready to take to the sky.
…
By dawn, the Going Merry was transformed. A mighty figurehead shaped like a rooster stood proudly at her bow.
"Wow! Amazing!" Luffy shouted, eyes shining.
"The Going Merry is gonna take us straight to the sky!"
Usopp puffed out his chest.
"Going Merry—Flight Mode!"
"Little ones!"
Luffy hopped onto the figurehead, pointing grandly to the heavens.
"Target: Sky Island! Set sail!"
____
Updates might come a bit slower for a while.School resumed, My final year has started, and I'm currently focused on my project work and defense preparations. I'll still be posting whenever I can, just at a steadier pace for now (ㆁωㆁ)