"You two are too loud, shut up!"
Luffy scolded them firmly, and the two overseers immediately covered their mouths. The entire mine finally fell completely silent.
Seeing this incredible scene, the strong young laborers stopped working one after another. They looked at Luffy with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. None of them could have guessed that a random boy wearing a straw hat would turn out to be such an incredible big shot.
Luffy smiled warmly at the young village men and asked, "I want to go to the castle on top of the mountain. Does anyone here know the correct way to get there?"
The two overseers were overjoyed when they heard his words, but they did not dare to speak a single word without permission. They could only stare intently at Luffy, hoping he would ask them, but Luffy did not even give them a glance.
The village laborers looked at each other in silence. After a brief moment, they elected a broad-shouldered, well-built man to speak for them as their representative. The man stepped forward and bowed respectfully to Luffy.
"My lord, I know the path that leads up to the castle," the man said in a low, polite voice. "However, we are nothing more than simple miners. We are absolutely forbidden from approaching the castle without permission. If the authorities catch us there, we will receive a severe punishment."
Luffy tilted his head, looking confused. "Forbidden? Who said you are not allowed to go there?"
"My lord, Lord Thor does not allow anyone near it!"
Luffy pressed his index finger between his eyebrows in pure annoyance, clearly displeased with what he was hearing. "Why is this Thor guy popping up again?"
Whenever Luffy sailed across the open sea, his only goal was to do exactly what he wanted and enjoy absolute freedom. He absolutely hated restrictive rules and artificial boundaries that stopped people from moving forward. In this case, it was not even Luffy himself who was being restricted, but these innocent people. Because these villagers were held back by fear, they could not even guide him up the mountain, which meant he could not get to where he wanted to go.
To Luffy, the ultimate root of this entire problem was the tyrant who called himself Thor. Luffy believed that there was no such thing as a real god ruling over the blue sea, so he felt absolutely no fear or awe toward anyone claiming that title. In fact, he had already beaten up several arrogant men who claimed to be gods during his past adventures.
Luffy looked back at the large worker and asked, "So, who exactly is this Thor?"
The man choked on his words, his face twisting in extreme struggle. He wanted to answer, but the sheer terror of the pirate captain kept him completely silent for a long time.
Luffy did not force the poor worker to speak. Instead, he spun around and pointed a finger at the two terrified overseers. "You two tell me then. Who is this Thor guy?"
The two overseers immediately bowed their heads until they nearly touched the cavern floor. "Replying to Lord Yonko, the magnificent God of Thunder is actually Captain Sander! He is the fearsome leader of our Kui Niu Pirates!"
Luffy blinked, completely blank. "The Kui Niu Pirates? I have never heard of a name like that before."
The first overseer let out a nervous, flattering laugh. "Hehehe, Lord Yonko is a legendary figure who commands the entire New World, so it is only natural that you have never heard of a small, insignificant pirate crew like ours."
Luffy rubbed the back of his neck and asked, "Then what is actually going on with this island? There are massive lightning bolts raining down outside, and you are forcing these people to dig deep holes in the dark. Do you all want to live underground like bugs?"
"Uh, well, the situation is actually like this..."
The two overseers immediately began chattering, desperately trying to explain their version of the story. The basic facts matched what the old lady selling umbrellas had said earlier, but they twisted the truth to make the Kui Niu Pirates look like heroes. They claimed that their crew had occupied the island solely to save the helpless native inhabitants from the deadly environment. They insisted that the mining operation was just a helpful program they set up to organize the community, and that forcing the elderly to make umbrellas was just a nice way to provide stable jobs for the local people.
This shameless lie made the young village laborers incredibly angry. Their faces turned red with rage, and they tightly gripped their iron pickaxes, looking as though they wanted to rush forward and strike the two lying overseers dead on the spot.
However, even though Luffy acted quite foolish and simple-minded on normal days, he possessed an incredible instinct for reading people. He could easily distinguish between good and evil when it mattered most. Even if he did not fully understand the complicated details of the overseers' explanation, he could instantly tell that these two men were wicked.
Luffy stared at them, his voice becoming serious. "You guys are just big villains because you force these people to dig holes against their will!"
The two overseers went completely stiff, unable to find a single word to argue. They felt a wave of despair wash over them. They thought to themselves, 'Lord Yonko, do you really not feel a single bit of guilt saying that to us? As an Emperor of the Sea, you are technically one of the greatest and most terrifying outlaws in the world! How can a massive villain like you be so intolerant of a small group of minor villains like us?'
Of course, neither of them dared to say those thoughts out loud. They knew that if they uttered a single word of complaint, this monstrously strong boy would beat them to death within seconds.
Luffy crossed his arms and commanded, "All right, these guys do not need to dig any more holes today. Everyone can just pack up and go home right now! As for you two, you are going to walk ahead of me and show me the path to the castle!"
The overseers trembled, instantly giving up all resistance. "Yes! We obey your orders, Lord Yonko!"
The two men did not dare to object to his demands. They turned to the gathered workers and dismissed the group immediately, telling everyone to leave the mine. As for falling behind on their daily mining quota, they knew their superiors would not punish them once they explained the situation. After all, compared to collecting regular stones, serving a member of the Yonko was the most important matter in the world. If they accidentally angered an Emperor of the Sea, their entire pirate crew could be wiped out before sunset.
The two overseers quickly opened their special protective umbrellas and stepped out into the stormy weather to lead the way. Luffy let out a long sigh of relief, glad to finally have a path, and followed closely behind them.
As they began their march up the steep trail, Luffy quickly noticed that the large man who had acted as the workers' representative was following them. The man was holding a protective umbrella in one hand and tightly gripping an iron shovel in the other, his expression incredibly determined.
Luffy stopped and turned his head. "Why didn't you go back to the village with the others?"
The man lowered his voice, speaking in a fierce whisper. "I want to go with you, my lord! My young son was captured and taken up to that castle by the Kui Niu Pirates a while ago. I am going to find him, confirm that he is safe, and bring him back home where he belongs!"
Luffy smiled, approving of his bravery. "Oh, I see! In that case, you can definitely come along with us."
The man looked ahead at the backs of the two overseers, then leaned closer to Luffy to offer a warning. "My lord, you must be careful of them. The members of the Kui Niu Pirates are incredibly vicious, cunning, and untrustworthy!"
Seeing that Luffy was actually very easy to talk to and treated him kindly, the man wanted to make sure his savior was safe.
Luffy simply let out a bright, heartless laugh, completely unbothered by the warning. "Do not worry about it at all! I am incredibly strong! See how terrified they are of me?"
The man found himself completely speechless. After all, Luffy was stating a plain fact. The two brutal overseers were currently shivering in fear just walking in front of him. Still, the worker remained highly vigilant. He knew from years of suffering that the occupying pirates did not possess a single ounce of goodness, so he resolved to stay on his guard.
As they continued up the mountain, Luffy and the man chatted casually to pass the time. The man introduced himself as Hans and began to describe the history of the island in detail. His account covered the same events the overseers had mentioned, but the reality was completely different. It was an undeniable truth that the cruel Kui Niu Pirates had brutally enslaved the native inhabitants of Thunder God Island, forcing them to work until they collapsed.
Hearing the true depth of their suffering made a quiet anger stir deep within Luffy's chest. He stopped laughing and fell silent, his expression turning serious as a storm of his own began to brew.
Hans eventually asked about Luffy's background. Luffy immediately cheered up again, grinning widely as he introduced himself and told stories about his companions, the Straw Hat Pirates. He briefly explained their various adventures across the Grand Line. Although his way of telling stories was a bit disorganized and confusing, Hans was a sharp individual. He managed to piece the details together and understand a great deal, leaving him deeply moved by the scale of the world outside.
Because of the unique and hazardous weather conditions surrounding Thunder God Island, news birds never arrived with newspapers. The only outsiders who ever set foot on their shores were violent outlaws. As a result, the local inhabitants were completely cut off from civilization and had no way of knowing what was happening across the vast oceans.
Hans had never expected that the balance of power on the sea had shifted to a system ruled by powerful forces. In the isolated eyes of the villagers, the Kui Niu Pirates were an unstoppable, god-like force. But compared to the true monsters of the New World, their oppressors were absolutely nothing. It was no wonder the two overseers had turned into groveling cowards the moment they recognized the straw hat.
Hans did not doubt Luffy's incredible claims for a single second. His intuition told him that every word this strange boy spoke was the absolute truth. A spark of genuine hope flared up inside his heart, and he found himself praying that Luffy would completely crush the Kui Niu Pirates and drive them away from his home forever.
Meanwhile, on a completely different path across the rugged terrain, another group was making their way through the storm.
Trafalgar Law and Vinsmoke Reiju were walking side by side at a slow, measured pace, each holding a protective umbrella to shield themselves from the continuous lightning strikes. The two of them had separated from Luffy's main group immediately after landing on the shore, choosing to explore a completely different direction. Although Law's crew was currently allied with the Straw Hat Pirates, they were still a free and independent crew. Under normal circumstances, Law felt absolutely no obligation to follow Luffy's reckless commands.
In Law's logical opinion, having nine people traveling together in a single exploration party was far too inefficient and chaotic. Therefore, he and Reiju had taken the initiative to split off into a separate, smaller team so they could cover more ground.
Right now, the two of them were strolling calmly beneath the flashing sky. If they were sharing a single umbrella between them, the scene would have looked incredibly romantic. Furthermore, the age difference between the two of them was very small, their heights complemented each other perfectly, and they were both exceptionally striking individuals. Walking together through the rain, they looked perfectly natural, resembling a handsome young couple.
Reiju glanced over at him, a curious smile playing on her lips. "Captain, you were so determined to split up from the others. Did your senses help you discover something interesting over here?"
Law looked straight ahead, answering with his usual blunt honesty. "No, I did not find anything. It is simply that the Straw Hats are completely unreliable. If you are not careful, they will carelessly drag you straight into a ditch with them. It is always much better to operate separately from them."