The group hurried out of the mansion and immediately sprung into action. Nami followed closely behind Viktor, her voice a continuous stream of grumbling as they ran.
"Hey, Viktor! You should've asked for more treasure just now! It's such a dangerous deal... wait!" Nami's footsteps screeched to a halt. Her face turned deathly pale as if she'd just remembered something horrific.
"The treasure... MY TREASURE!!"
Realizing the situation, Nami transformed into a human siren, screaming at the group, "Our ship is parked at the North Coast! That's exactly where those pirates are!!"
"Go save my—I mean, go save our treasure!! There are tens of millions of Berries on that boat!!" With money-shaped flames practically burning in her eyes, Nami's legs turned into a blur as she sprinted toward the coast like a woman possessed.
"Hahaha! This is great! Nami's so fast!" Luffy laughed, holding his hat as he gave chase.
"Hey! Too fast! Wait for me!" Zoro glanced at the direction Luffy took and bolted after them.
Viktor was the only one walking at a leisurely pace in the back.
"Huff... puff..."
Usopp, who had been lagging behind, finally caught up and called out to Viktor. "Hey, your name is Viktor, right?" He leaned over, hands on his knees, gasping for air.
Viktor stopped and looked at him blankly. "No. I'm Luffy, the man who will become the Pirate King."
"..." The air was silent for a second.
"YOU BASTARD!! Do you think I'm deaf?!" Usopp exploded, pointing at the straw-hatted figure disappearing in the distance. "That idiot over there is Luffy! I've been hearing it all night!"
After venting, Usopp took a deep breath. Though his eyes still darted around nervously, his voice was firm. "Anyway... let me help you. I'm scared, but... I want to protect this village too." To mask his fear, he gave a thumbs-up to himself in his classic posture. "After all! I am the great pirate with eighty million followers—Captain Usopp!"
Viktor looked at the long-nosed youth whose legs were still visibly shaking. A faint, amused smirk played on his lips. "Nobody said you couldn't come. If you're coming, then move, Pirate Usopp."
Without another word, Viktor followed the trail left by the others. He took two steps before a frantic voice called from behind.
"HEY!! That's the road to the village!!" Usopp yelled, gesturing wildly. "The North Coast is in the opposite direction! What is wrong with you people?!"
Viktor paused. He slowly turned his head toward the direction the other three had vanished into and facepalmed. "Those localized idiots."
Meanwhile, at the North Coast.
The night was heavy, waves crashing against the jagged rocks. The Bezan Black, with its distinctive giant cat-head prow, had made landfall.
"CHARGE!!" "KILL THEM ALL!!"
A tide of leering pirates, clutching scimitars and torches, poured off the ship like a black flood. "Avenge Captain Kuro!" "Wash this village in blood!!"
Jango adjusted his heart-shaped glasses and jumped onto the sand with his lieutenants. Just then, a sharp-eyed pirate pointed toward the shore. "Lord Jango! There's a ship parked over there!"
Jango looked over. By the flickering torchlight, he saw a medium-sized brig with a Jolly Roger—the Going Merry.
"Ah, that must be the ship of the brats who hurt the Captain." Jango's eyes turned cold. He pointed casually. "A few of you, go burn it to the ground! Cut off their escape!"
"Hehehe! Understood!" "Burn 'em up!" Several pirates broke off from the main group, cackling as they ran toward the ship with torches held high.
Jango then turned to the mass of pirates on the beach. "Listen up! Our Captain Kuro was ambushed and heavily wounded! This is a disgrace to the Black Cat Pirates! What do we do?!"
"KILL THEM!!" "BURN THE VILLAGE!!"
The fervor was reaching a breaking point. Jango opened his mouth to give more of a speech when a cold, weak voice rang out from the ship's deck. It was Kuro, leaning heavily against the railing.
"Jango! Stop the nonsense! Attack immediately! Slaughter them all!!"
Kuro clutched his stump, his face pale, but the hatred in his eyes made even his own men shiver.
"Yes! Captain!" Jango barked. "KILL THEM!!"
Dozens of pirates roared, brandishing blades as they charged toward the only slope leading up to the village. The slope was narrow and steep—a natural chokepoint. As the lead pirate reached the middle of the incline, he looked up and saw a shadow standing silently at the top.
Before the pirate could even process who it was, the figure's hands moved in a blur of seals.
Snake – Ram – Monkey – Boar – Horse – Tiger.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu."
A voice, calm as still water, cut through the night.
Viktor's chest expanded significantly before he exhaled sharply.
"HUUUU—!!!"
A blast of superheated chakra erupted, expanding instantly into a massive orb of flame several meters wide. It roared down the narrow slope with a wave of destructive heat, an inescapable wall of fire rolling toward the crowded pirates.
To the men below, it looked like a sun had just fallen from the heavens. The lead pirate's eyes reflected nothing but the encroaching red glow. "What... what IS this?!"
He never got an answer.
BOOM!!!!
The massive fireball swallowed the front row of pirates instantly. Constrained by the narrow canyon walls, the blast didn't dissipate; it acted like a bowling ball, throwing the back rows into the air with immense kinetic force. Flames shattered against the sand, and the screams were momentarily drowned out by the roar of the explosion.
Silence fell. A heavy, suffocating silence.
The bloodlust of the pirate crew was replaced by the "crackle" of burning torches. They scrambled back, looking at the charred remains of the slope and the black-haired boy standing at the top.
"Who... who is he?" "Why can a human spit fire?!" "Is he a monster?!"
On the ship, Kuro stared up, his hatred now laced with a heavy dose of wariness. Seeing those red eyes glowing in the reflection of the fire, he grit his teeth. "It's him!!"
At the top of the slope, a gasping Usopp stared at Viktor in pure shock. "So... so strong..." This is what a real pirate is like?
Thinking quickly to hide his shock, Usopp threw an arm over Viktor's shoulder and shouted down at the beach with fake bravado. "Hey! You pirates! See that?! This is the territory of the Great Captain Usopp!"
"If you don't want to die, get lost! I have eighty million men just like him!!"
The pirates below hesitated, looking at one another before turning to Jango. "Lord Jango, what do we do?"
Jango looked horrified. "Eighty million? That's too many!" He actually believed it.
The pirates stared at him blankly. "Lord Jango, he's obviously lying. Eighty million is impossible!"
"What? I was tricked?" Jango's face darkened, and he pulled a razor-sharp pendulum from his coat. "Don't let him scare you! He's just a Devil Fruit user! Just avoid the fire—"
Just then, the pirates sent to burn the ship came running back, shouting with excitement and dragging heavy bags. "Captain Kuro! Lord Jango! We're rich!!"
"There's a mountain of treasure on that ship!!"
They threw several bulging sacks onto the sand. The bags fell open, and the glint of gold and jewels nearly blinded everyone under the torchlight.
"Huh?" The pirates' eyes locked onto the treasure. Fear was instantly replaced by overwhelming greed. "That's... tens of millions of Berries!!"
At the top of the slope, Usopp's eyes darted around. He hit upon a "brilliant" idea. He cleared his throat and shouted down:
"Hey! Pirates! If you leave right now, that treasure is yours! Consider it a travel gift from this great Captain!!"
Viktor's face went black. "You... you're planning to use our money to bribe the enemy?"
Viktor reached out to slap Usopp's arm off his shoulder, ready to teach the long-nosed brat a lesson.
Whish—
A sharp whistling sound tore through the air from behind Viktor. A long wooden staff flew past his head with the force of a thunderbolt and cracked directly against the back of Usopp's skull.
THWACK!!!
The sound alone was enough to make one's own head ache.
"AAAAAGH!!" Usopp shrieked as he was sent spinning like a top, face-planting into the dirt.
"WHO... WHO SAID YOU COULD TOUCH MY TREASURE?!!!"
A voice filled with pure killing intent rang out. Nami stood there like a vengeful demon, her staff gripped tightly in both hands. She radiated a black aura even more terrifying than the Fireball Jutsu.
She glared down at the pirates who dared touch her treasure and grit her teeth. "THAT IS MY MONEY!!! YOU BASTARDS!! ALL OF YOU, GO TO HELL!!"
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