The people were shocked to see that they had hit Helmeppo.
"Please, stop! They represent the Marines!" said Koby, trying to stop them.
"I know! Even so, he's still trash!" said Luffy angrily.
"Th-they hit me! How dare they! Not even my father has ever hit me!" said Helmeppo, touching his face. "I'm His Lordship, the son of Captain Morgan! I'll tell my father!"
The townspeople were terrified when they heard that.
"That's if you make it back to the base."
Oliver went up and gave him another punch to make sure he stayed quiet.
"Man, that felt good," said Oliver, feeling less angry.
Once again, the people were stunned.
"Do you guys want me to hit you too?"
Oliver threatened the Marines, who looked at each other before grabbing Helmeppo and quickly leaving the place.
"What have you done?! This is terrible! The Captain is going to mobilize the Marines!"
Koby was panicking, unlike Luffy and Oliver.
"Why did you hit him?" Luffy asked.
"I just wanted to hit him," Oliver replied.
"Oh, okay," said Luffy.
"Rika! Come here!"
The mother of the little girl, named Rika, came to get her so she could go inside after what happened with Captain Morgan's son.
"But Mom, they're good people! Just like Zoro!" said Rika.
"Don't say such nonsense! Did you go to that place again?" her mother asked, taking her back inside their home.
"Just as I imagined! This isn't over yet! It's only a matter of time before Captain Morgan mobilizes the Marines!" shouted Koby, frightened.
"We'll be waiting. Let's go see Zoro!" said Luffy.
"Let's go then," said Oliver, following Luffy.
"Don't you understand what just happened?!" said Koby, terrified—but seeing how calm they were, he had no choice but to follow them.
--
--
When they arrived at the Marine base plaza, Luffy went straight to Zoro.
"Here again? I already rejected your invitation!" said Zoro.
"I'm Luffy! I came to untie you because I want you to be my nakama!" said Luffy.
"Didn't you hear a word I said?!" Zoro asked again. "I already told you there are still things I want to do. Who would be stupid enough to become a pirate for fun?"
"Yeah, whatever. But what about you? Everyone says you're an evil bounty hunter," said Luffy.
"I don't care what people say about me! I have my own convictions! I've never done anything I'd regret! And it'll stay that way... That's why I won't become a pirate!" said Zoro.
Luffy listened, but didn't really care about his opinion.
"Who cares about that! I've already decided you're going to be my nakama!" said Luffy firmly.
"Don't be selfish!" shouted Zoro.
"I don't think you'll change his mind. That's why I accepted right away," said Oliver, knowing Luffy wouldn't give up.
"They say you use a katana, right?" Luffy ignored what had just been said.
"That's right, you'll have to untie me so I can prove it to you," said Zoro.
"And your katana?" asked Luffy.
"That stupid kid took it. After my life, that katana is the most important thing to me. It's my treasure!" said Zoro.
"Your treasure? Wow, it must be important! Alright! I'll go to that stupid kid and take your katana back," said Luffy. "And if you want me to return it, you'll have to be my nakama."
"That's unfair!" shouted Zoro.
Luffy ran off toward the Marine base.
"That's how he is. You'll get used to it once you're his nakama," said Oliver with a smile.
"Sounds like you've known him for a long time," said Zoro.
"Not at all. I met him recently, but he has that presence—like someone very stubborn," said Oliver, remembering what Luffy was like. "Well, time for me to go too."
"You're as crazy as your Captain. Do you think it's easy to enter a Marine base?" asked Zoro.
"I don't think so, but Luffy will handle that, and I'll take care of the distraction."
Oliver looked up and saw the upper half of Captain Morgan's statue falling.
"There's my Captain."
He went over there, leaving Zoro alone.
"How egocentric can you be, wanting a statue of yourself when you didn't even capture Kuro?"
He saw that the statue's head was still intact on the ground, so he picked it up and tested his strength by throwing it upward.
At the top of the Marine tower stood Captain Morgan, furious about the destruction of his statue.
"Captain! There's someone in the execution yard!" said a Marine.
"What?! Those traitors will fall one by one! Kill them all!"
Captain Morgan was a tall man with a metal jaw, blonde hair, and an axe where his right hand should've been.
"Yes, Captain!"
The Marine aimed his weapon at the yard when something flew past him and smashed on top—Morgan looked and realized it was part of his own head.
"WHO DID THAT?!!" he roared furiously.
"Sir, someone down below," said a frightened Marine.
Morgan looked down and saw Oliver waving at him.
"Get down there and kill that bastard!" shouted Morgan, slamming his axe.
Oliver heard Morgan's shout, so he went to the yard to wait for the Marines to arrive.
As he made his way there, he heard through the base loudspeakers that all Marines were ordered to capture and kill the intruders.
He hurried to reach the arena and saw several Marines arriving, so he pulled one of his two axes from his inventory.
"Hope I don't hurt them… too much."
He threw the axe at the Marines, sending them flying from the impact.
"Sorry I'm late," said Oliver, picking up the axe and resting it on his shoulder. "You guys okay?"
"Y-Yeah," said Koby.
"Where is he?" Zoro asked about Luffy.
"He must still be inside the base. I ticked off metal-chin a bit so they'd focus out here," said Oliver, watching more Marines approach.
Then Morgan shouted an order to surround the whole base, not letting anyone escape.
"What an interesting situation, don't you think? Are you trying to start a coup?" asked Morgan. "Roronoa Zoro, I know your reputation, but don't underestimate me."
As Morgan spoke, Marine soldiers arrived with weapons ready.
"Before my power, you and your strength... are nothing but scum! Aim!"
All the Marines prepared to fire, and so did Oliver, since he couldn't remember how fast Luffy would show up.
"Fire!"
All the Marines shot just as Luffy arrived, blocking the bullets with his body.
'He made it,' Oliver sighed in relief.
"Bullets don't work on me!"
All the bullets that hit Luffy bounced off his body, striking everyone around and even knocking Koby unconscious from fear.
"Tell me! What the hell are you?!" asked Zoro.
"I'm... the man who's going to be King of the Pirates!" said Luffy with a grin.
"By the way, which one's your treasure? Since I didn't know which it was, I brought all three," said Luffy, showing him the three katanas.
"All three belong to me because my style is Santoryu (Three Sword Style)," Zoro replied.
"If we fight together against the Marines, we'll be enemies of the government—or we might die here. What do you prefer?" asked Luffy, holding Zoro's swords.
"Are you a demon or something? If I'm going to die here, then I'd rather do it as a pirate!" said Zoro.
"Great! Then you'll be my nakama!" shouted Luffy happily.
"Well, you know what to do. Hurry up and untie me!" said Zoro.
"I'm glad Zoro accepted, but..." said Oliver, seeing that the Marines were still in shock. "...I don't think we should waste time."
The Marines kept wondering how the bullets hadn't affected Luffy.
"That kid's not normal. I've heard rumors about Devil Fruits. He must've eaten one," said Morgan.
"Are you talking about one of those sea treasures?!"
"Then he possesses a power from the devil himself!"
The Marines were stunned upon hearing that, until they saw Luffy freeing Zoro—Morgan then ordered them to attack with swords.
"This knot's really tight," said Luffy, struggling to free him.
"Come on, you're taking too long!" shouted Zoro.
"Luffy, allow me."
Oliver used his claws to easily cut the ropes.
Zoro grabbed his katanas and blocked every Marine attack with just his three swords.
"Wow! Incredible!" shouted Luffy, impressed by his skill.
"Impressive. It's a huge advantage having Zoro with us," said Oliver. 'I'll have to try to surpass him in the future.'
"Nobody move or you'll all die," Zoro warned the Marines.
The Marines froze at his words while Zoro focused on Luffy.
"I'll become a member of your crew," Zoro began.
"I told you I'd join you. After this, I'll be a criminal, but even so, I still have my own goal! I'll be the World's Strongest Swordsman!!"
"I don't care if my name is clean or not, good or bad, it doesn't matter! As long as it's known all over the world! But if you ever get in the way of my goal, I'll kill you myself!"
Luffy just smiled when he heard that.
"Good! The world's greatest swordsman! Since you're part of the crew of the future King of the Pirates, if you don't become that, I'll be really disappointed!" said Luffy.
"Heh, well said!" said Zoro.
Oliver looked at them, seeing how both had dreams to fulfill.
'It's amazing they have such incredible dreams, while I…'
Morgan yelled at the Marines to stop making fools of themselves and finish them off.
"Zoro, get down. Gomu Gomu no... Muchi (Rubber Rubber Whip)!"
Zoro ducked, and Luffy stretched his leg, then swung it around, hitting every Marine and sending them flying.
"What did you just do?" asked Zoro.
"I'm a rubber man," said Luffy.
The Marines were injured from the attack and realized they couldn't win, which enraged Captain Morgan.
"I order every coward to commit suicide right now," said Morgan. "I don't need trash like you. That's an order!"
The Marines were terrified, but they all raised their weapons, ready to take their own lives.
"That bastard!"
But before they could do it, Oliver tightly gripped his axe and threw it at Morgan. When Morgan tried to block it, it was charged with Electro, paralyzing him momentarily and knocking him to the ground.
"Luffy, leave him to me. I want to practice something by fighting him."
"Alright," said Luffy.
Oliver ran to grab the first axe he had thrown while Morgan struggled to stand.
He reached him and struck with his axe, barely blocked, forcing Morgan to retreat.
'Doesn't feel right,' thought Oliver as he felt the axe in his hand.
He put the axe away and attacked barehanded while Morgan tried to stand.
He punched him in the face, not letting him get up, then followed with a blow to the stomach.
'These hits are too weak,' thought Oliver.
"Don't get cocky! I'm a Marine Captain!"
Oliver let Morgan get up, then immediately used Electro to punch him in the face, sending him flying.
"That was too much," said Oliver, looking at his hand. "I need to control my strength better."
[Mission complete]
[Reward: Talent Gacha Token]