Back at a restaurant in Shields Town, after dealing with Morgan, Lynn and the others were invited by the little girl to have dinner.
"Ah, I'm so full. I haven't eaten properly for days!" Zoro rubbed his bloated belly with satisfaction.
But noticing the piles of empty bowls in front of Lynn and Luffy, he frowned and asked, "Why are you guys eating more than me?"
Luffy grinned, "Because it's delicious!"
Lynn chuckled, "Luffy was actually kicked out of his village for eating too much. So he had no choice but to become a pirate!"
Puff! Coby nearly sprayed his orange drink out his nose. "Wait, seriously? So all that talk about risking his life was just a lie?"
Lynn nodded with a smile. "Yep, you got tricked by Luffy."
Zoro laughed dryly and nodded. "Lynn's right. The village drove him out. By the way, what about you, Lynn?"
Lynn pointed at himself and said, "Me? Well… as handsome as I am, I didn't want to show my face in public. But Luffy was too shameless and dragged me on board to be the 'face' of the pirate crew."
Luffy was about to retort, but Lynn quickly stuffed a chicken leg into his mouth, cutting him off.
Zoro shot Lynn a dark glare and quickly changed the subject. "Luffy, you said you want to be Pirate King, so you must have recruited more people. Where are they?"
Luffy swallowed a mouthful of chicken without chewing and said with a smirk, "Just the three of us."
"Three?" Zoro frowned. "What kind of pirate crew is that?"
Luffy shrugged, "Who cares? The three of us are all strong!"
Zoro reluctantly accepted that excuse but pressed on, "Where's the ship? Where's our pirate ship?"
Lynn pointed out the window, knife and fork in hand, at a small boat docked on the coast. At that moment, a puppy raised its leg and peed right in the direction of the boat.
Noticing Zoro's twitching eyebrows, Lynn followed his gaze and suddenly shouted, "How dare you! Pee on my boat? Get out of here, now!!"
Luffy waved dismissively, "Relax, it's just a puppy peeing. No need to get worked up."
Lynn grabbed Luffy by the collar. "The ship's the face of the crew. If someone peed on your head, would you be okay with that?"
Luffy gasped, "Wait, you stinky dog! I'm gonna beat you up!"
Zoro slapped his forehead. For some reason, he felt like he was on the wrong ship.
After packing up, Coby joined the navy and parted ways with Luffy and the others.
Once aboard the boat, Lynn asked, "Hey Luffy, why haven't we seen Nami? Does anyone here actually know how to navigate to the next island?"
Luffy shook his head. "No idea, but if we just keep floating, we'll eventually get there, right?"
Zoro was speechless. "Will that really work?"
"Hahaha," Lynn grumbled, "Last time we almost drowned just floating around!"
Luffy patted Lynn on the shoulder. "Hey, we're not dead yet, right? Hahaha…"
Zoro muttered, "Leave my fate to God? No way. I want off this boat. Pull us to shore…"
Soon, the boat sailed out into the vast ocean.
Luffy said, "Lynn, besides a navigator and a cook, we need a musician!"
"A musician?" Zoro blinked. "Luffy, what do you think this is—a concert?"
Lynn explained, "We want to be pirates with style. A musician would be perfect to boost morale, especially during battles with some inspiring background music!"
"Yeah!" Luffy's eyes sparkled. "Background music, background music…"
Zoro growled, "You two idiots, stop joking or the boat's gonna capsize!"
Lynn patted Zoro on the shoulder, pulling a cup of tea from his space backpack. "Zoro, don't worry about the outcome. The process is what matters. Especially when we meet beautiful women—remember, they're all mine!"
Luffy ignored Lynn and drooled, "Lynn, give me a cup too!"
Zoro frowned. "Where did that tea come from? And when you disappeared at the naval base, could it be that you're also a Devil Fruit user?"
Lynn handed out two cups and said, "I ate the Space Fruit. I have incredible powers, but I can't survive seawater. If I fall in, no one saves me, I'm done for. For example…"
He set his cup down and jumped into the sea.
"Hey, hey! You don't have to—"
Before Zoro finished, he saw Lynn happily swimming.
He turned to Luffy, dumbfounded. "Is he really a Devil Fruit user?"
Luffy nodded. "Yeah."
Zoro grabbed Luffy's head and pointed at Lynn. "Then explain—how the hell can he swim freely in the sea?"
When Lynn climbed back aboard and explained, Zoro roughly understood the Devil Fruit weakness but was still baffled by Lynn's special case.
"I think Luffy's right. Why didn't you cramp just now?"
Lynn gave a disdainful look and said, "Jealousy, envy, hatred? Yeah, I'm too outstanding. Even God favors me. Drown? Are you kidding? Pah!"
Zoro had enough. "Luffy, let me go! I'm gonna chop him up!"
Luffy shook his head. "Zoro, calm down. We're partners!"
Lynn laughed, "I'm right here! Come and chop me up! If you're really my friend, then chop me up!!"
-End Chapter-
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