"Thank you!"
After eating and drinking his fill, Zoro said solemnly to Bai Luo.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it."
Bai Luo didn't take it to heart.
"Hey, since you're so strong, why were you caught by these Marines??"
Luffy, who was beside them, asked, puzzled.
Originally, Bai Luo had intended to explain to Luffy.
But since Luffy had spoken first.
Then there was no need for him to say anything.
Sure enough.
As soon as Luffy's question came out, Rika's face beside them became a little downcast.
"It's all because of me, Big Brother Zoro ended up like this."
As soon as her voice fell, everyone's eyes turned to her in unison.
Rika took a deep breath and recounted the entire story.
It turned out that dozens of days ago, Morgan's good-for-nothing son, Helmeppo, accompanied by his two pet wolves, barged into Rika's small restaurant without a word.
Not only did he waste food, but he also tried to defile Rika. Zoro, in a fit of anger, taught Helmeppo a lesson.
This, in turn, provoked Helmeppo's furious rage.
In a moment of desperation, he instantly came up with a cunning scheme.
Although he was no match for Zoro, he threatened that if Zoro dared to leave, he would take his anger out on the people in the small restaurant, thereby forcing Zoro to be imprisoned there for a month.
If Zoro could endure being tied to a cross for a month without food or water, Helmeppo promised to forgive his past actions.
And so, to prevent the others in the small restaurant from suffering, Zoro had no choice but to agree to Helmeppo's terms.
By today, he had been imprisoned there for over twenty days.
The one-month deadline was fast approaching.
Unfortunately, what he didn't know was that while he was willing to uphold a gentleman's agreement, Helmeppo never intended to let him go from the very beginning.
He planned to keep Zoro imprisoned there until he died.
Everyone listened quietly until Rika finished speaking.
"Big Brother Zoro, it's all because I implicated you; otherwise, you wouldn't have..."
As she spoke, Rika began to sob.
"Alright, little girl, don't blame yourself anymore."
Bai Luo gently stroked Rika's forehead.
It was not surprising for a scumbag like Helmeppo to do such a thing.
Meanwhile, hearing about Zoro's plight,
Luffy's eyes instantly lit up.
He stared intently at the bound Zoro, and with an extremely serious expression, he said,
"Zoro, join my Pirate Crew!"
"I'm the man who's going to be the Pirate King!"
"Hehehe."
"You guy!"
Looking at Luffy's somewhat idiotic demeanor, Zoro frowned slightly.
Didn't he know that he was a Pirate Hunter?
More importantly, did Luffy, looking like this, really want to be the Pirate King??
That was too absurd!
"Hey, I'm a Pirate Hunter, specializing in dealing with you Pirates."
Seemingly afraid that Luffy was an idiot, Zoro specifically emphasized it again.
Seeing this scene, Bai Luo let out a helpless bitter laugh.
Such a direct invitation, no one would agree to it.
Let alone a guy like Zoro.
It still had to be him!
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.