Chapter 78 Accidentally Bombing the Port Leads to a Beating by NamiDreams may never end, but your ambition, Marshall D. Teach, will be put to a halt by my own hand today.
However, the most urgent task is to continue honing our skills and strengthening the crew's core capabilities.
Right now, a self-important "god" is waiting to be recruited from above.
Luffy, in high spirits, led Zoro back to the port with an arrogant, overbearing gait.
However, the scene that greeted them left them instantly dumbfounded.
The once bustling port now looked as if it had just been ravaged by a meteorite, a scene of utter devastation.
A group of pirates were surrounding their wrecked ship, jumping up and down, cursing and spitting as they went.
"Which damn bastard did this?! He's wrecked my ship like this!"
"Damn it! I think I just saw a bright orange beam of light flash in the east, and then our ships were blasted with huge holes!"
Zoro stared at the charred remains of the pirate ships, his eyelids twitching involuntarily.
"Hey, Luffy, that thing looks a lot like your... what's it called again?"
Luffy's lips twitched, selectively deaf: "..."
Zoro suddenly realized, his eyes widening: "Holy crap! Where's our Going Merry?!"
Thump!
A muffled sound rang out.
On the deck of the surviving Going Merry.
Nami, transformed into an enraged Tyrannosaurus Rex, slammed her fist into Luffy's head, sending a wisp of smoke rising.
She was on the verge of a rampage, a demonic backdrop materializing behind her, as she roared at Luffy:
"So that terrifying attack that almost pierced the Going Merry was your doing, you idiot!?"
Luffy awkwardly scratched his nose, his eyes darting around: "Ahaha, an accident, purely a technical blunder."
He hadn't expected his casually fired Railgun to be so powerful, accidentally piercing through the entire town of Mock Town.
It even gave the ships in the harbor a brutal "skewering" service.
Fortunately, the Going Merry was just a civilian-class light sailing ship with a shallow draft; Luffy's attack barely grazed the hull.
Even so, Nami was terrified, and she quickly ordered Sanji and the others to steer the ship away from the scene.
This is why Luffy and Zoro couldn't find the ship at first.
"You two only went out for such a short time, did you get into trouble again?"
Nami stared suspiciously at the two troublemakers, her tone full of distrust.
"You just ran into a few clueless nobody who kept begging to spar with Zoro, and we couldn't stop them, right?"
Luffy frantically winked at Zoro, his eyelids practically twitching.
Zorro nodded knowingly, saying calmly, "Just a few small fry worth tens of millions of Berries, I've already taken care of them."
"I see?" Nami's tense nerves immediately relaxed upon hearing this.
With her horizons broadening, pirates with bounties of tens of millions of Berries no longer made this little thief's heart race.
"But that guy seemed to be shouting before he died that he was a subordinate of Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."
Zoro stroked the stubble on his chin and casually added a comment.
"puff--!"
The juice Nami had just drunk instantly transformed into a high-pressure water jet, spraying Chopper's face.
"A Shichibukai?! We just defeated one of the Shichibukai!"
Nami, clutching her hair, screamed in despair, her expression contorting.
"Weren't the Seven Warlords supposed to be half-one of us? Why are you always causing trouble for your own comrades?"
Before Luffy could even come up with a lie, a huge, strange ship sailed towards them from the sea.
Most bizarrely, the ship was covered in lush, green trees.
"Oh! My good brother has arrived!"
Suddenly, the ape held hostage began waving his arms excitedly and shouting.
Everyone turned to look at him as if he were a fool.
The ape trembled with excitement, pointing at the strange ship: "That's my big brother gorilla's ship!"
Before he finished speaking, a strange man with green hair, looking exactly like a gorilla, appeared at the bow of the pirate ship.
Clutching a microphone, he unleashed a barrage of sonic attacks on Luffy and the others:
"Who do you guys think you are? Don't you know this area is under the protection of the Saruyama Association?"
"You've got some nerve, daring to trespass into my territory. Are you here to search for the sunken gold too?"
Then, the gorilla's face darkened, and he menacingly threatened Luffy and the others:
"Judging by your attire, you're in the same line of work, right? Then you must be well-informed, knowing about Crocodile's capture, right?"
"In terms of actual fighting strength, I'm no less than that Crocodile! Who knows, maybe one day I'll take his place."
"To be honest, I've been so nervous I haven't been able to sleep for days. How about that, scared the crap out of you?"
Everyone stared strangely at this self-satisfied gorilla.
Of all people to brag about, why bring up Crocodile in front of the main character?
One of the gorilla's underlings, already sweating profusely, tremblingly poked his boss's lower back.
"What? Why are you poking me?"
The gorilla turned his head away impatiently.
Can't you see I'm showing off in front of everyone? No sense at all.
The underling pointed at Luffy standing at the bow of the ship, sweat dripping down his face: "Boss... that one leading the group looks like Straw Hat Luffy, the recently promoted Vice Admiral!"
Gorilla: "..."
"Huh?"
The air froze instantly.
Everyone: "..."
Ten minutes later.
The gorilla, bruised and battered, sporting two black eyes, followed in his brother, the ape.
The two huddled in a corner of the deck, exchanging a miserable glance, practically on the verge of tears.
Then, the group circled around to the back of Jaya Island.
A small, dilapidated wooden hut, like a jigsaw puzzle pieced together with half a massive castle's planks tied to it, suddenly appeared in their view.
Everyone stared at Luffy, completely bewildered as to why he'd brought them to this godforsaken place.
Looking at the two trembling monkeys in the corner, Luffy grinned.
"Stop trembling, you two. We don't eat monkey brains. We're here to see your leader about something important."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the two immediately became wary, saying in unison, "You'd better give up on that idea. We'd rather die than reveal the secret of gold on this island!"
Nami, who had been bored, suddenly had her eyes transformed into the shape of Beli, radiating golden light.
"Gold on this island?! Chopper, quick! Transform into an excavator and dig!"
"Awooo!" Chopper was instantly infected by the power of money, transforming into his antler-enhanced form, and began digging a hole in the spot.