Inside the luxurious compound.
Looking at Gato, Goku remembered hearing the thugs call him Boss Gato when he had helped get the money back on the street earlier.
So he asked sternly, "Are you that Boss Gato guy?"
Gato stared expressionlessly at the kid who had recently helped him. He took the cigar from his mouth, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and said flatly, "I am Gato. Don't you know me, kid?"
Goku stared back intently. "I don't. If I had known you were such a bad person, I would have taken you down long ago!"
"Take me down?" Gato let out a faint, mocking chuckle.
"Why are you stealing money from the uncles and aunties!" Goku demanded.
"Stealing? No, no, no. That's not stealing. That's earning."
Gato answered while puffing away on his cigar.
"They earn money from others, and we earn money from them. Isn't that perfectly reasonable?"
"Without the money we earn, how could we live in a house this nice and enjoy the best life?"
"Right, boys?"
Gato gave a mocking smile.
"The boss is right! Hahaha!"
"If you ask me, their money is our money. We're being generous enough by not taking every cent they have!"
The men in suits laughed shamelessly.
"That's just twisted logic!" Goku said through gritted teeth.
"You don't just steal their money; you even kill innocent people. You're all just a bunch of rotten villains!"
Gato's face turned cold, his eyes darkening. "Kid, since you helped me get my money back before, I'll let you go once if you leave right now."
"But if you keep causing trouble here, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Goku drew his Power Pole and pointed it at him. "I'm not leaving! I came here to take you all down!"
"What a suicidal brat."
Gato's expression turned vicious.
"Break all his limbs. Then hang him at the town entrance so the others can remember exactly what happens when they cross Gato!"
With that, he turned and walked toward the house, passing his subordinates who were rushing at Goku with weapons.
Soon, the sounds of a fierce struggle erupted behind him.
Gato's lips curled into a slight smirk as he walked unhurriedly toward the front door.
'Crossing me, Gato, always ends like this.'
'You should count yourself lucky that I'm in a good mood. Otherwise, it wouldn't just be your limbs that are broken, kid.'
*Whoosh—Boom!!*
Just as he reached the door and was about to step over the threshold, a figure crashed beside him with a thunderous bang, shattering the wall into pieces.
His expression froze. He turned his head and saw his most capable subordinate lying in the rubble, weakly raising a hand. "B-Boss... we..."
Before he could finish, the man's eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
At the same time, it grew quiet behind him.
Gato slowly reached into his coat, his gaze turning icy.
The moment he turned around, he whipped out a pistol and aimed it forward.
Then his pupils shrank as he saw a scene that left him utterly shocked.
His powerful subordinates—each capable of taking on seven or eight people alone—were all down.
They were either sprawled across the floor or piled on top of one another like a human pyramid.
Looking further, several others were even more pathetic, draped limply over the perimeter wall like hanging meat.
"H-How... how did you do that?!"
Gato looked back at the only person still standing—the child he had never taken seriously—his expression filled with disbelief.
Goku put the Power Pole back on his back and shook his head. "They're too weak. They were no match for me at all."
Gato's expression stiffened instantly.
Goku continued, "Now you know you can't beat me. I suggest you surrender and return everyone's money."
Gato snapped back to reality and burst into laughter as if he had heard the funniest joke. "Hahaha! Me? Surrender? I, Gato, have never surrendered to anyone in my entire life!"
He stopped laughing and gestured menacingly with the pistol in his hand.
"You are strong, but you're nothing against a gun. What you should be doing right now is kneeling and begging for mercy, praying that I don't kill you, not telling me to surrender!"
Goku looked at him without a hint of fear and replied, "You're wrong. That thing can't hit me. Go ahead and try it if you want."
Gato's eye twitched, and he fired without hesitation.
*Bang!!*
After the loud crack of the gunshot, Goku was still standing there, completely unharmed.
Stunned, he fired several more shots out of sheer disbelief, only to find every bullet embedded in the wall behind Goku.
"I told you, that thing can't hit me."
Goku's lips curled up. In a flash, he appeared right in front of Gato and snatched the pistol away.
With a few quick squeezes of his hands, a lump of scrap metal that no longer resembled a gun fell to the floor.
Gato's eyes went blank as he stared dully at the 'gun' on the ground.
In the next second,
He slammed his knees onto the ground and began kowtowing like he was pounding garlic.
"I surrender! I surrender!!"
...
When Goku walked out of the gates to find Zeff and the others, he found Zeff already standing not far from the courtyard.
Strangely, the street was empty. Aside from Zeff, no one else was in sight.
Zeff was currently staring at the gate with a tense expression, not daring to get closer to see what was happening inside.
When he saw Goku walk out, he froze. Then, a faint glimmer of excitement and hope flashed in his eyes.
"Yo! You're just in time. Go call everyone over. I've already beaten Gato and his men."
Goku gave a peace sign and a smile.
"Gato and his men... you... you beat them?" Zeff asked, his voice trembling as he sought confirmation.
"Yeah. There's too much money inside for me to take alone, so you guys should go and get it back yourselves," Goku said with a grin, his hands behind his head.
"He's beaten... Gato's actually been beaten..."
Zeff murmured to himself in a daze.
A few seconds later, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Everyone! Gato has been defeated! That despicable Gato has been taken down by this child!!"
*Boom!!!*
Two seconds later, a massive crowd of residents poured out from the alleys and houses, cheering and waving their hands in excitement.
"Gato's been defeated! We're free!"
"Gato's been defeated! We're free!"
...
That night, under the enthusiastic hospitality of every household in Lotus Town, Goku filled his stomach until it was round and bulging, rivaling his eating contest with Luffy.
He stayed on the island for the night and bid everyone farewell the next day.
"Old man, this is your money. Keep it safe."
Before leaving, Goku remembered something and handed the coin he had taken from Gato to Zeff.
He then waved to Zeff and the others before diving into the sea and swimming toward the distance.
Looking at the coin in his palm, Zeff didn't know what to say. He could only sigh over and over, "What a good kid... he really is a good kid."
Nearly a day later, the Marines finally arrived belatedly to take Gato and his notorious gang away for trial.
The people of Lotus Town finally welcomed the happy life they had long awaited.
As for Goku, who had made it all possible, he had currently lost his way to the next island and was drifting in the ocean.
The reason was simple: he had encountered a violent storm at sea!
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]