After a while of messing around, Zoro was already asleep on the side while Sandy and Luffy grabbed Usopp.
Sandy asked curiously, "Hey, Luffy, look—Usopp's nose is so long. How did it even grow like that? I'm really curious—what if his nostrils got blocked by snot one day and he suffocated?"
Usopp shouted, "Don't scare me like that! How could anyone suffocate from their own snot?!"
Luffy scratched his head, looked up at the ceiling for a moment, and then turned to Nami. "Hey, Nami, do you think Usopp could?"
Nami was already furious. Pirates were going to invade the village tomorrow morning, and these idiots were still chatting about snot!
And Luffy, their so-called captain, was casually asking her this nonsense?
Unable to stand it anymore, Nami smacked all three of them on the head!
But it still didn't feel enough—wasn't Zoro sleeping too? So, she walked over and bonked him as well!
Zoro woke up groggily. "Huh? Is it time to eat?"
Nami's eye twitched. "Every single one of you… every single one…"
Just then, Sandy stepped forward and said with a grin, "Nami, your temper's been explosive lately. Is 'that' time now?"
"'That'? What's time?" the three asked in unison.
Zoro thought Sandy meant the Pirate invasion. He cracked his knuckles and said confidently, "What's there to be afraid of? However, many Pirates come, I'll cut them all down!"
Nami slapped her forehead, glaring at Sandy. "I'm telling you guys—the Pirates are coming tomorrow! Aren't you even worried? They're real Pirates. People are going to die!"
Luffy crossed his arms. "What's there to be afraid of? We'll beat them up."
Zoro: "Cut them down."
Sandy: "Take them down."
Usopp: "Ahaha… I'm flexible. If you guys want, you can have them. I'll just watch."
"Alright, alright," Nami sighed. "Do you at least know where they're coming from? Before a big fight, shouldn't we, I don't know—make some kind of plan?"
Luffy smiled confidently. "Don't worry, Nami. If they dare to come tomorrow, I'll beat them all—"
"Duang!"
Nami whacked him again. "Honestly, I can't deal with you idiots!"
Even though she said that Nami still couldn't bring herself to leave them. And Sandy and the others stopped joking around soon after.
Later that night, Usopp led everyone to the coast. "Let's wait for the Pirates here. I'll set up a few traps first."
Sandy waved lazily. "You guys do that. I'm gonna nap. Wake me up when the action starts…"
Listening to the sound of the waves, he quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.
When Sandy woke up again, the sky was bright. He blinked in confusion.
"Where am I? Who am I?"
He sat up and realized—everyone was gone!
From afar, he faintly heard shouting.
"Damn it, Usopp! That unreliable guy must've picked the wrong coast! And they didn't even wake me up?"
Without hesitation, Sandy activated his ability and dashed toward the sounds of battle.
"Hope the fight's not over yet—I haven't even shown off my cool moves!"
At the invasion site—
The battle was still raging when Sandy arrived. Luffy was already injured, and Kuro's lightning-fast slash nearly cut him again.
Sandy sighed. "Seriously?"
"Space Field!"
He appeared right beside Kuro in an instant and smashed his fist into him—sending the Pirate Captain flying.
BOOM!
The ground shook, and the surrounding Pirates froze in disbelief.
When the smoke cleared, Kuro was sprawled on the ground, unconscious.
"This can't be real, right? That guy just sent Captain Kuro flying?"
"No way! Nobody can even see Captain Kuro's speed, let alone hit him!"
"Who the hell is that kid?!"
From the Pirate ship, Nami stared wide-eyed at Sandy. The screams she heard earlier… were Kuro's?
Impossible! She rubbed her eyes, thinking she must be hallucinating.
But when she looked again, Sandy was standing there, calm as ever.
After landing the hit, Sandy turned to Luffy and smirked. "Hey, Luffy, you've been training all this time, and you still can't keep up with that kind of speed?"
Before Luffy could answer, Kuro slowly got back up, trembling. "Who are you? My speed is so fast even I can barely control it. You just got lucky! Don't get cocky!"
He fixed his slicked-back hair arrogantly.
Sandy didn't even respond. He just drew his sword—High Wind—from his spatial field.
"Space Field."
"One-Sword Style—Cake Cutting!"
Clang!
A piercing sword cry echoed through the air. A flash of white light swept past everyone's eyes—and then silence.
The massive cliff beside them… had been cleanly sliced in half.
Kuro turned around in horror. "W–what… what was that? That mountain—was that cut… by a sword?"
The Pirates stood frozen, their minds blank.
"This isn't real… right?"
"I must be dreaming! Someone tell me I'm dreaming!"
"Holy shit! Is he even human?!"
On the ship, Nami almost fainted. The cliff—like a small mountain—had been cut open from that far away… by Sandy?
Was he even human?
If he was that strong… could he actually help her defeat Arlong and save her village?
For the first time in ages, a spark of hope flickered in Nami's heart.
Sandy turned to face the trembling Kuro. His voice was calm, almost mocking.
"So, Captain Kuro… what was it you just said?"
Kelo froze in terror. He didn't even dare to breathe.
This wasn't a fight anymore—it was total domination.