Chapter 16 Saving Orange Town"I am Monkey D.Luffy, and this is my girlfriend Uta.You just said you can read sea charts, so are you perhaps a navigator?How about joining our pirate crew?"
When Nami learned that the boy before her was a pirate, her eyes immediately revealed obvious disgust.Her brows furrowed slightly, and her lips tightened, showing her determination and resolve.She unconsciously shrank back, keeping a certain distance from Luffy, as if he were a foul-smelling presence.
"I will never have anything to do with pirates," Nami said firmly, her voice carrying an undeniable strength.Her eyes were cold and resolute, without the slightest hesitation or wavering.
Luffy shrugged; he'd only said it casually and didn't expect it to work.He grabbed Uta and headed off to find more food.Nami, watching them leave, remembered her sea chart was still in their hands.Gritting her teeth, she chased after them.Seeing the devastated town along the way, she became even more convinced that Luffy was a pirate like Buggy.When she caught up with Luffy, she saw his hand reaching towards a small dog.Mistaking it for a threat, Nami immediately rushed to protect the dog, causing Uta to mistakenly believe the dog was a close relative."Who are you people?Why are you here?"
Just then, an old man wielding a rocket launcher and wearing armor appeared before them.Luffy gently pushed aside Nami, who was baring her teeth and brandishing her claws, and stepped forward to introduce himself.After some pleasantries, the group learned that the old man was the town's mayor.Uta curiously asked the old man why the town was in such a terrible state.The old man sighed and slowly approached, "This town is called Orange Town.It used to be a prosperous town, but everything changed two years ago when a pirate named Buggy arrived.This despicable pirate seized the mountain and became king.Whenever he felt like it, he would bombard the town with his Buggy bombs.His men were also burning, killing, and looting, committing all sorts of atrocities.Today, I'm going to fight them to the death and stop them from running rampant."
Hearing the mayor's words, Nami felt even more disgusted with the pirates.Just then, a man riding a lion arrived.The puppy that Nami had been protecting broke free from her arms and ran to the lion, barking wildly.The man on the lion didn't even glance at the puppy and commanded his mount to slap it away.
"Whoosh!"
The mayor shouted anxiously.If Luffy hadn't held him back, the old man would probably have rushed up and fought the lion to the death.After the man on the lion finished doing all this, he directed the lion to a shop.Just as it was about to break down the door, the dog named Xiuxiu got up again and rushed towards the lion, seemingly trying to protect the shop.But no matter how hard it tried, it was only slapped away by the lion.Even though its body was covered in wounds, it still refused to give up.
Soon, the lion-man grew impatient and ordered his lion to devour the foolish little dog.At the critical moment, Luffy unleashed his "Storm Kick: Gale Blade."
The lion, which had been swaggering just a moment ago, suddenly felt a sharp pain in its neck and found itself upside down.The man on the lion, before he could even retaliate, was swept into the air by the wind blades, then plummeted rapidly.With a loud crash, the man controlling the lion slammed to the ground, lifeless.Luffy, meanwhile, went to the battered and bruised Shushu, gently patted its head, and used his wood elemental power to summon countless vines to wrap around Shushu.The gentle wood energy healed the little dog, and after a while, Shushu regained its energy, nuzzling Luffy's hand before running to the shop entrance to continue guarding it, seemingly waiting for someone to return.Nami, who had previously been prejudiced against Luffy, fell into deep thought, and her opinion of him began to change slightly.
"Thank you, Straw Hat Boy.If it weren't for you, you might have been killed by that bastard Mochi," the mayor said sincerely as he approached Luffy.Luffy waved his hand, indicating that he simply couldn't stand bullying the weak.As the mayor was about to leave to find Buggy for a final showdown, Luffy stopped him, saying that he would defeat Buggy, but he needed the mayor to provide payment.The mayor readily agreed.At this moment, Nami came up to Luffy and suggested, "Although I won't join your ship as your navigator, we can cooperate.As long as you give me the sea chart, I can temporarily act as your navigator until we reach my hometown, how about that?"
Luffy didn't speak, but pulled out a nautical chart and handed it to Nami.Then he got up and headed in the direction the mayor pointed.His silhouette against the sunlight created a wonderful atmosphere, but Uta's comment, "You're going the wrong way," completely ruined it.The man who had just displayed his might now acted like a child, letting Uta lead him around.However, they seemed to have forgotten something.On the beach, two figures lay there, looking utterly lifeless, until Zoro struggled to his feet, grabbed his sword, and ran towards the town.Kuina, worried he might get lost, also got up and chased after him.Soon, the three arrived at Buggy's base.After Luffy politely greeted the henchmen with his rubber machine gun, Buggy finally appeared.Seeing his underlings groaning on the ground, and then noticing the straw hat on Luffy's head, Buggy's anger was completely ignited.He roared at Luffy, "Hey, who are you?And who gave you that straw hat?"
"Want to know?Guess!Big red nose (￣y▽,￣)╭"
The underlings, who had been groaning, immediately fell silent, cold sweat pouring down their faces.They knew that their Captain Bucky was most sensitive about people talking about his nose; the last one who did was now buried with grass two meters tall.
"Kabaji, get him!Kill this brat!"
A man riding a bicycleWielding a sharp blade, the acrobat charged towards Luffy.Luffy didn't even have the will to fight back.Just when the acrobat thought he was about to succeed, a cold glint flashed, and Kabachi rolled his eyes and fainted.The attacker was none other than Zoro, who had somehow wandered over there in search of food and happened to witness the scene.He then stepped in and defeated the guy.Luffy grinned at the isolated and helpless Buggy, "Hey, red-nosed uncle, now it's just you left.Don't worry, I'll go easy on you."
Luffy clenched his fists, making Buggy swallow hard, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart.