Chapter 7 : Raoh vs Mountain Bandits 1

I walked into the bar noticing the tension. Everyone was on nerves and had grim expressions.

Shanks had grabbed Luffy upside down trying to make him spit the fruit.

“Baka! You just ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi! You won’t be able to swim now.” Shanks was mad. He was thinking how the fruit was his whole reason for coming here. He had heard about a fruit appearing somewhere here and came to get it.

Yesterday he’d just gotten hold of it thanks to one of his scouts. But this gluttonous kid had to eat it today. If only he had never left his guard down…

It was too late for introspection now. Plus those bandits had already made him into a bad mood. Just because he did not want to cause trouble did not mean that they could step on his head. If it were at sea he’d dispose of them on a whim.

The funny thing is that when he tried to stop Luffy from acting reckless, the kid ate his fruit in a fit of anger and frustration. Now he only had eyes to cry.

The next time he met those bandits he’d just kill them…

That’s how much grief they caused him right now. Selling devil fruits was one of his main incomes. Most people in his crew were Haki masters after all…

Devil fruits abilities were cool and stuff, but how could you call yourself a pirate when seawater becomes your natural enemy? Marines also had developed all sorts of means against devil fruit users.

I saw him thinking about some stuff and asked Luffy what happened. When I realized it my first action was to make sure if my idiotic brother could still use his Hokuto. I was surprised to find out that not only everything was fine but the nature of his “Ken” has changed. Due to the elasticity of his body, the “Renkitoza” had become supple. He was more fitted for a defensive style now. I did not really care as long as he could still practice. If his specialty was not crushing people he could still go Toki’s style and fight battles of attrition with frightening counters.

“Aniki you acted really recklessly today! I won’t be able to help you train anymore. You will have to perfect your own style.”

“...The fruit was disgusting but I can stretch now. Haha,” he laughed. He still had his Haki abilities when all was said.

He laughed foolishly and people around looked at us funnily, not understanding the content of our conversation at all. “What’s that Hokuto thing they are talking about?” Lucky Roo asked Beckmann who shrugged cluelessly. He had never heard about anything with such a weird name in all his piracy career.

“Luffy I’ll have to see if you develop any other interesting abilities. My trip was made in vain but you can help me and identify the rareness of the fruit. From the way, your body stretches it indeed is a Paramecia...At least that’s what the records say about it. Maybe It is a mythical one or even a legendary one. You’ll have to develop some skills and I’ll examine.” Shanks said seriously to him.

“Paramecia? The heck is that? Some kind of disease?” Luffy scratched his head.

I looked at Shanks and shook my head. “This is how he usually acts…” I apologized.

Shanks laughed and gave up on his inquiry. He realized he could not make experiments with this happy-go-lucky little man.

He ordered some more beer, clearly planning to drink his worries away today. The pirates made very big noise and praised their generous captain.

I did not plan to stay anymore after having realized Shanks’ objective. I was reassured now knowing nothing bad would happen on this Island. A pirate seeking a devil fruit was nothing unusual and it was indeed worth leaving Grand Line to come and take it. If by any chance the fruit turned out to be a legendary one, they could enhance the strength of their crew. If not they could just sell it for a very big sum.

I left the pirates, Luffy and Makino at their own device and re-entered the village, heading for the mountain. I passed in front of the office of the mayor Woop Slap and was suddenly taken by the whim to troll him a bit. He was a quirky old man who very easily succumbed to maddening anger. Seeing him get a short fuse was amusing for me...I know I’m a sadistic person.

Changing my way, I noticed people with swords laughing boisterously near me on the street. They were near a well and seemed to brag about something. I got closer and identified them as bandits according to the content of their conversation. Passersby were doing their best to avoid their gaze and they acted like the town boss.

“Haha, Pirates are not much, they were so pathetic not even fighting back after being done in like that!..”

“Of course, no one can oppose our leader in these parts. He is the overlord of this place.”

“Still that bartender was very beautiful, next time we should…”

I listened to what they were saying and my expression became somber. Today I would kill people for the first time in this life…

“Don’t worry, this woman lives in this village. She won’t go away, we’ll come back for her once we’re over with our important business.” A man with a rat’s face said. He looked to be the bandit leader. They had all surrounded him and acted servilely with him.

“Are you guys talking about Makino-san by any chance?” I came in and asked with a dark tone.

“Yes, that babe from the bar. She has such a nice booty. Haha…”

“I can’t wait to tap that ass, Boss I think we should just go now...huh?”

The bandits did not turn before...Now they had seen who asked the previous question and were taken aback.

“Who’s this kid?” One of them said with a bit of lust remaining on his face

“Kid, this is not a place to play around. Just get going while we’re still in a good mood!Haha…” The leader scanned me and said.