After the meal, Allen and his crew followed the owner to the backyard.
Steam filled the air. In the center of the spacious courtyard grew a Dream Mushroom as tall as a two-story building.
On the grass below, a circular hot spring channel had been dug around the mushroom's stalk. The outer edge of the channel connected to seven hot spring pools, each separated by folding screens.
Each pool could accommodate fifteen to twenty people. The senior officers used one, the crew squeezed into the remaining five, and the last one was monopolized by Nami.
After storing their weapons, showering, and changing in the locker room, everyone began their wonderful hot spring time.
Hazy mist permeated the courtyard. Allen spread his arms, leaned back against the edge of the pool, and closed his eyes to rest.
While everyone was comfortably enjoying themselves, inside several surrounding rooms...
A large number of Baroque Works bounty hunters were already lying in ambush. Through a narrow crack in the door, Miss Father's Day quietly observed the movements in the courtyard.
Looking at the pirates who were completely oblivious to the danger they were in, the corners of her mouth curled up in a smug smile.
The toxins of the Dream Mushroom had paralyzing and hallucinogenic effects. Although merely soaking the skin in it wouldn't cause outright poisoning, it made people much more susceptible to hot spring dizziness.
This process was very difficult to detect. Even if they felt dizzy, they would just assume they had been soaking for too long. By the time everyone realized what was happening, it would be far too late.
Pirates with severely drained stamina and no weapons in hand were no different from lambs waiting to be slaughtered in the face of their sudden attack.
"Ohohoho, there's still half an hour left. Enjoy yourselves while you can, your brief and wonderful final moments..."
Mr. 7, disguised as the inn owner, wore a cheerful smile, but a dangerous, cold glint flashed in his eyes.
...
In the courtyard, time ticked by minute by minute.
Less than twenty minutes later, some people in the hot spring pools were already starting to feel groggy.
At first, no one paid much attention to it, simply preparing to get out and rest for a bit.
That was until more and more people developed hot spring dizziness, and some even fainted outright.
"Hey! What's going on?"
"Someone fainted!"
"There's something wrong with this hot spring!"
"Everyone, get up quickly!"
When they climbed out of the pools only to find they couldn't even walk steadily, some pirates finally realized what was happening and hurriedly shouted.
It was at this moment.
*Bang!!*
*Bang!!*
The doors of the rooms surrounding the courtyard were violently kicked open, revealing a large number of bounty hunters who had been lying in wait for a long time, brandishing swords and guns!
Seeing this, the pirates' faces instantly filled with shock.
Looking around, they found that the courtyard exit was already completely blocked by bounty hunters. Breaking through to retrieve their weapons was practically impossible.
"We've been ambushed!"
"Damn it!"
"Quick, notify the captain!"
The voices in the courtyard instantly erupted into a panic.
At the same time, in the innermost hot spring pool cubicle.
Allen leaned against the edge of the pool, slowly opened his eyes, and said in a lazy tone,
"Getting this careless on their first day in the Grand Line. Failing to notice the anomaly is one thing, but leaving their weapons outside... what a bunch of idiots."
"Stop making sarcastic remarks. If we don't make a move soon, it'll be troublesome if there are casualties,"
Sanji said calmly, stepping out of the pool with a cigarette dangling from his lips.
Allen remained unmoved and scoffed,
"Protecting them too well will only harm them. I think it's good to let them suffer a bit, lest they end up dead one day without even knowing how."
"Give me a break. There are over a hundred people on the ship waiting to eat. I don't want to be the only one left working in the kitchen tomorrow,"
Sanji retorted. He wrapped himself in a bathrobe, walked up to the folding screen, and raised a foot to kick it.
*Crash!!*
The screen collapsed with a loud crash. A group of bounty hunters glaring like tigers with drawn swords entered his line of sight. Not far away were a few panicked pirates who were just about to run over and report the situation.
Sanji swept his gaze around, taking in the entire situation.
"Ohohoho, to think you still have the strength to move after soaking in the hot spring for so long. That's a bit unexpected."
Mr. 7 walked out from the crowd holding a white pistol. With a cunning and sleazy smile on his face, he looked at Sanji and the others.
"How was your hot spring experience at our inn, dear guests?"
"Well, the hot spring is pretty good, but your service..."
Sanji gave a mocking smile, tapped the ground with his toes, and with a darkened gaze, suddenly lunged forward!
"...leaves a lot to be desired!"
*Bang!*
Sanji viciously kicked the fallen screen on the ground, but his target wasn't Mr. 7 in front of him.
Under everyone's astonished gazes, the screen shot toward the courtyard entrance, spinning at high speed!
*Smash!!*
"—Agh!"
"—Uwaah!"
The screen crashed down with tremendous force! Wood splinters exploded and flew everywhere. A portion of the bounty hunters blocking the passageway were instantly knocked off their feet, crying out in pain.
Sanji immediately roared at the pirates,
"Hurry up and get out to grab your weapons!!"
"G-Got it!"
"Charge!!"
"Don't waste this chance!"
The pirates, snapping back to their senses, surged forward in a fierce charge, roaring ferociously as they rushed ahead!
"Oh no!"
Seeing this, the frog-costumed Miss Father's Day looked alarmed and immediately waved her hand, shouting,
"Stop them!"
"Kill them!!"
The bounty hunters rioted en masse, instantly clashing with the pirates in a bloody brawl!
Despite the opportunity Sanji created, the unarmed and severely exhausted pirates still found it difficult to break through the encirclement.
Seeing that they were about to be pushed back again, Sanji immediately dashed forward to support them, shouting behind him,
"Buchi! Sham, I'm leaving this place to you!"
"Don't worry, Big Bro Sanji!"
*Splash!*
The Nyaban Brothers roughly broke the surface of the water, leaping out of the hot spring and landing bare-armed on the ground.
*Schwing.*
The ten blades in their hands gleamed with a cold light. The two stared coldly at the bounty hunters in front of them, their mouths twisting into sinister grins.
"Just a bunch of small fry. Let's slaughter them all, Buchi."
"Sounds good to me, Sham."
"Let's go!"
Sham's smile was terrifyingly brutal. Tapping his toes rapidly against the ground, he dashed in front of the group of bounty hunters in the blink of an eye.
*Slash! Slash!*
With a flash of cold light, Sham's sharp claws tore through the flesh of several men, drawing blood.
"Cat Kill Leap!!"
A loud roar came from above. Buchi leaped high into the air, raising his foot to smash down with immense, heavy force!
*Boom!!*
The wooden floor cracked under Buchi's fierce stomp. Several fissures rapidly spread out to the feet of the bounty hunters before collapsing with a loud crash!
Accompanied by a feeling of weightlessness, several bounty hunters fell into the pit in a panic.
The rest of the bounty hunters all revealed expressions of shock.
"So strong!"
"How is this possible! They've been soaking in the Dream Mushroom hot spring for so long."
"Damn it! Do these two guys really only have a bounty of 7 million Berries?"
Mr. 7 gritted his teeth, staring at the two with a wary gaze.
Sham wore a mocking expression as he licked his bloodstained claws.
"You mean that? That was just our bounty from when we first set sail three years ago. You didn't actually think this was the extent of our strength, did you?"
With that said, Sham spread his fingers, flashing his blades as he charged forward once again!
For a time, the entire courtyard rang with the clash of swords, filled with the sounds of gunfire and wailing.
Allen remained soaking in the hot spring, seemingly completely undisturbed by his surroundings.
Although the bounties of East Blue pirates were low, their actual combat prowess far exceeded those numbers.
This was related to the relatively peaceful environment of the East Blue. Without fierce competition, it was difficult to build up enough influence to warrant a high bounty.
Besides, bounties were only for reference anyway; they could never be used as an absolute standard for measuring combat power.
Bellamy's subordinate, Big Knife Sarkies, had a bounty of 38 million Berries. In the East Blue, that number would make him reign supreme, but his actual strength was nothing more than street trash.
Against Gin, the odds would be a three-to-seven split—Gin would beat seven pounds of crap out of him in three hammer strikes, and if he couldn't, it just meant Sarkies had already emptied his bowels.
Yet Gin's bounty was only 12 million Berries. One could easily imagine just how massive the disparity in true value really was.
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