Chapter 26 First Encounter with Tashigi in LoguetownThe surrounding air currents, the crashing waves, the movement of schools of fish—all these sensory information exploded into Luffy's brain in an instant. Countless scenarios that might happen in the next second flashed through his mind like a slideshow.
"Is this the so-called 'god's' perspective?"
Luffy, his eyes vacant, casually scooped up a piece of the surface. With a loud splash, a giant deep-sea fish was thrown onto the deck before it could even react, still thrashing about.
Immediately afterward, a deep, bone-draining exhaustion swept over him.
"Holy crap, this thing is a gas guzzler! My body's completely drained!"
Luffy shook his throbbing head, shocked to find his energy reserves emptied like a dam bursting. No wonder Katakuri usually didn't dare use this kind of overpowered ability casually; the sheer frequency of his mental processing was an absurd strain on his body.
"Luffy! Stop daydreaming! Look ahead, Loguetown is already in sight!"
Usopp's booming voice forcibly pulled Luffy from his reverie of studying the new template.
Following the direction of his finger, the outline of a bustling town was already faintly visible in the morning mist on the horizon.
"That huge, dark expanse, is that the legendary island where Loguetown is located?"
"It certainly looks quite large, densely packed with houses."
"I've heard of this place; it must be a lively area."
"Since it's so big, there must be a market selling top-quality, fresh ingredients. My chef's spirit is already burning!"
"I need to find a decent weapons shop too. It's embarrassing for a three-sword style samurai to always walk around with only one sword at his waist."
"In that case, I'll also browse the equipment shops and see if they have any rare parts."
Luffy suddenly interjected, "Um... I mean, do you guys have any coins?"
The air froze instantly, everyone's expressions stiffened, as if a flock of crows had flown overhead.
Everyone: "..."
(╯︵┻━┻!
Damn it, this is a truly sad story, everyone's penniless!
This time, Nami, that little money-grubber, didn't manage to empty the wallets of the Cocoyasi Village villagers!
Everyone looked at each other, then their necks clicked like gears, all turning their heads to focus their green eyes on Luffy.
"What are you all staring at me for? I'm not a money-printing machine, I can't conjure money up!"
Luffy felt uneasy under their gaze, and his voice involuntarily rose eight octaves.
"We don't care, you're our captain, and soon you'll be a Navy Commodore with a government salary. You can't let your crew starve, can you?"
Nami smiled like a cunning little fox, leaning close to Luffy and giving him a flirtatious wink, her voice saccharine: "Who told you not to report us as officially part of the organization? That's your fault."
To legitimately and legally obtain… cough cough, to fleece the World Government, Luffy had his crew wear the guise of bounty hunters, exchanging captured pirates for stacks of bounty Berries.
After all, once they actually donned the Navy uniform, pirate heads would only be exchanged for dry medals. For these skilled and daring individuals, the cash rewards from bounty hunters were far more lucrative.
Unfortunately, the East Blue is known as the "weakest sea."
The entire East Blue has been thoroughly scrutinized by Garp, resulting in an abysmal average pirate bounty, less than three million.
Bounties like Krieg's seventeen million and Arlong's twenty million are practically lottery jackpots—rare and highly sought-after resources.
Luffy stared bitterly at the approaching Loguetown docks, secretly vowing: Once we reach the Grand Line, no matter the means, I'll plunder Enel's golden land on Skypiea until nothing is left!
No wonder the Navy holds the top spot in the pirate world; they're truly rolling in money!
While this money, essentially squeezed from the common people by the Celestial Dragons like vampires, undeniably provides enough wealth to easily support the entire Navy and its bounty hunters.
Why are pirates considered evil? Simply put, these penniless individuals are forced to rob and engage in "self-sufficiency" to survive.
The World Government, though corrupt, at least leaves food for the villagers and doesn't exterminate them.
But these pirates are truly ruthless when they rob; they steal the people's life-saving money and winter food.
"If you could be like your perverted grandfather, casually catching a super criminal of Pirate King caliber, you could live a life of luxury, sleeping surrounded by money every day."
Sanji took a deep drag of his cigarette, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and teased slowly.
"The Pirate King?"
Luffy subconsciously touched his chin, a bright red nose suddenly popping into his mind. "The Pirate King... Buggy!"
Luffy suddenly remembered Buggy the Clown, the guy who used to be an apprentice on Gol D. Roger's ship.
According to the original script, this guy should have appeared in Loguetown.
But because of the butterfly effect of Luffy being a time traveler, the group didn't go to Orange Town to cause trouble for Buggy, so Luffy was now unsure whether the guy had even come here to join the fun.
Without a word, Luffy went back to the cabin and frantically rummaged through the pile of documents sent by Marine Headquarters, finally pulling out Buggy the Clown's bounty poster from a corner and slamming it in front of everyone.
"Keep your eyes peeled! Our procurement budget depends on this guy's reimbursement. As soon as the ship docks, everyone scatter and turn the town upside down to find him!"
The crowd stared at the string of zeros below the bounty poster, at the conspicuous "16 million Berries," their eyes instantly turning into the shape of coins, even glowing green.
"Are you sure this guy is really hiding here?"
Zoro frowned, staring at Luffy with suspicion.
"Ahem...maybe, perhaps, possibly."
The excitement on everyone's faces instantly vanished, replaced by disgust: "So you're just sending us to try our luck?"
Luffy rolled his eyes at the group of snobs, annoyed. "Take it or leave it! Let me warn you, the town's garrison commander is Smoker, a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, sent down from Marine Headquarters. If you dawdle and someone steals your kill, don't cry later."
"Tch, you're blatantly exploiting our labor."
Zoro complained, but his mind was still on his new sword. He turned to Nami, his voice a little hesitant, "Um… do you have any spare cash? Could you lend me some to tide me over?"
Nami instantly flashed a sly, landlord-like smile, her eyes narrowing into slits: "Hehe, you know the rules, right? Nine out, thirteen back! Interest is settled daily!"
Zoro, grabbing his hair, roared in despair: "Are you a reincarnated devil? Who calculates interest like that?!"
"Stop talking nonsense, just say whether you'll lend it or not!"
"Lend! I'll lend it, okay?!"
Not long after, the Going Merry docked smoothly in a legitimate port. With their Marine status protecting them, they didn't need to hide the ship in the middle of nowhere like thieves.
As soon as they disembarked, they were greeted by the bustling atmosphere of a lively city, with crowds jostling shoulder to shoulder everywhere.
"Huh? You know what, I've never seen an island this prosperous and lively before."
Having traveled to countless deserted islands, the group was quite taken aback by the sudden city atmosphere.
"After all, this is where One Piece was born and ended, a famous tourist hotspot, so it's normal for it to be crowded."
"This is the first time I've ever felt like I'm in a big city. The roads are so smooth."
"Alright, everyone, let's split up. Our main target is Buggy, but keep an eye out for the other small fry too. Every little bit helps, don't be picky."
Everyone nodded and then dispersed into the bustling crowd.
Just as Zoro was about to turn and leave...
Luffy suddenly called out to him from behind, "Hey, Zoro, wanna try out a couple of real swords?"
Zoro turned around in surprise, looking at Luffy warily. "Huh? Let me make this clear, I don't want that spiky monster you're carrying. That thing looks disgusting."
Luffy rolled his eyes. "How many times have I told you? That's a ninja sword, it's really awesome, okay? You don't know what you're talking about."
"Besides, I'm not talking about Samehada."
"Then what are you talking about?" Zoro's curiosity was instantly piqued.
"Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri!"
Hearing those two names, Zoro's eyes lit up like two light bulbs.
The scene shifts, and Zoro and Sanji walk side-by-side out of the Marine base gate.
They each have a thick wad of Berries in their hands.
Luffy glanced disdainfully into the bag, then scoffed, "Pah! What a load of rubbish 'Mikazuki Power Up,' a mere two million bounty! What a show-off! He made me all excited for nothing."
It turned out that Luffy and his companion only realized this when they brought the pirate to the base to exchange his bounty: the guy had been bragging about being worth five million bounty all along, purely to show off and inflate his own value.
In this East Blue fishing ground where the average bounty is less than three million Berries, a bounty of five million or more seems to be the lifelong dream and bragging right for many pirates.
Zoro, standing nearby, wasn't too disappointed. After all, compared to the pitiful thirty thousand Berries Nami lent him, two million was a fortune.
"Finally, we have money to buy swords, right?"
Zoro clutched his Berries, his hand trembling with excitement.
"We still have to wait a bit. We need to find a key person."
Luffy stroked his chin, muttering to himself.
Huh?
Zoro stared blankly at Luffy, completely baffled by his captain's intentions.
Just then, an inconspicuous knife shop by the roadside caught Zoro's attention.
"Wow, a knife shop!" Zoro rushed to the display case like a dog seeing a bone, only to have his mood plummet to rock bottom when he saw the prices. "Damn it, that's outrageous! A million Berries for this junk? That's highway robbery!"
If Luffy hadn't pulled this quick buck, the few coins he borrowed from Nami wouldn't have even bought the sheaths for these swords, let alone let him look at them.
"Huh? Found it, target spotted."
Luffy, who had been scanning the entire map with his Observation Haki, suddenly opened his eyes, a smile playing on his lips.
"Huh? What did you find?"
"Don't ask, let's go, your new sword has found its owner."
Luffy said, excitedly squeezing into a crowd gathered to watch the spectacle.
"Calling him a monster is so rude! This is justice being served!"
A clear, yet somewhat stubborn, female voice rang out from within the crowd.
"Stop your nonsense, you bitch! Our boss was arrested and imprisoned by that guy!"
"Haven't you learned your lesson yet? Daring to cause trouble in Loguetown?"
"Enough talk, we won't let this go! We'll see blood today!"
"We're going to chop you to pieces and throw your corpse in front of that smoker as a show of force!"
The heated argument clearly reached Zoro and Luffy's ears.
The two pushed through the crowd and saw Tashigi, a girl in a plain floral shirt, gripping a knife tightly, tensely confronting two pirates wielding weapons.
The two pirates had clearly lost their patience, yelling as they raised their machetes and swung them fiercely at the seemingly frail Tashigi.
Zorro, watching from the sidelines, narrowed his eyes and instinctively reached for the hilt of his Wado Ichimonji sword at his waist.
Tashigi, though tense, showed no sign of backing down. She had just untied the cloth binding her scabbard, revealing the famous sword Hanashu, and was preparing to draw it and instantly kill the assailant.
However, one figure reacted faster than anyone else present, faster than the naked eye could perceive.
Zoro felt the air around him explode; Luffy's figure vanished instantly, leaving only a blur.
The next second, Luffy appeared out of thin air in front of Tashigi, as if by teleportation.
Under Tashigi's astonished gaze, Luffy grabbed her slender waist, his Samehada sword seemingly coming alive as it shed its skin.
With a deafening crash, the two pirates were slammed into the ground before they could even scream, instantly creating a large crater.
At the same time, Luffy felt the star points on his katana increase by two, his speed cap seemingly raised slightly.
"Damn, this thing stacks buffs by killing people, huh? No wonder that Blitz King is so ridiculously strong, it's all from feeding him kills," Luffy muttered under his breath.
Then, Luffy immediately adopted a deep, melancholic expression, speaking in his deep, magnetic voice to Tashigi in his arms:
"These damned pirates, daring to lay a hand on such a lovely lady, are as disgusting as ever."
He then deliberately struck a handsome profile, turning to Tashigi with a warm, fatherly smile: "Beautiful lady, you weren't too frightened, were you?"
Tashigi was wearing a khaki floral shirt and shapeless blue trousers, thick-rimmed glasses obscuring most of her face. To onlookers, she looked like a completely unfashionable country bumpkin.
No one had ever so openly complimented her beauty before.
Luffy's sudden, affectionate onslaught made Tashigi's pretty face turn a deep, ripe tomato red.
"N-nothing... I'm fine..."
Tashigi's voice was barely audible, her eyes darting around nervously. "Um... could you please put me down?"
Luffy, seeing Tashigi's almost effusive embarrassment, was secretly delighted.
Sure enough, teasing these naturally ditzy girls is the ultimate source of joy!
Luffy chuckled, reluctantly withdrawing his hand from Tashigi's waist.
But Tashigi, having been too tense, now felt weak in the knees as she relaxed, let out a scream, and uncontrollably threw herself into Luffy's arms again.
"Ah! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Tashigi, her face flushed, frantically scrambled out of Luffy's arms, bowing repeatedly to him like a pounding machine.
Luffy waved his hand with a smile, appearing very generous: "It's no trouble at all, just a small favor. My friend here is looking to buy a couple of handy swords. If you feel bad about it, why don't you take us to a more reliable shop?"