Hearing Law's answer, Reiju was stunned for a moment. She probably did not expect Law to say this, and it made her feel quite strange. Since Monkey D. Luffy was so unreliable, why did the Heart Pirates ally with them in the first place?
Perhaps seeing Reiju's doubts, Law took the initiative to briefly describe the history between his crew and the Straw Hat Pirates. For Law, since Reiju had joined his group, she was his partner and had the right to know the specific situation of the alliance. Furthermore, although Law was relatively cold on the outside, he still liked to talk when he was alone with his crew. In order to maintain a good relationship with his crew members, Law knew he could not act too distant.
After listening to Law's explanation, Reiju had a very colorful look on her face. She never expected that the Heart Pirates had become subordinates of the Straw Hats by pure accident. It was quite interesting to think about. However, she estimated that such a fortunate mistake was something many pirate groups across the New World would beg for right now.
In today's sea, the Straw Hat crew was undoubtedly the most popular group. Most of the Straw Hat crew members were remarkably young. The two strongest among them were not even 18 years old, meaning they were expected to continue to dominate the ocean for the next few decades. Many regular pirates had absolutely no chance to seek refuge under their banner. She had to admit that the Heart Pirates were incredibly lucky.
Law also felt fortunate about the arrangement. Although he did not like being placed under the authority of others, there was nothing wrong with the current situation. His great revenge for Corazon had already been avenged, and Law had no remaining regrets in his life. Now he wanted to repay the Straw Hats for their help, and he also wanted to use their immense political power to protect his partners in the Heart Pirates. Becoming a subordinate of the future Pirate King was a very good path to take.
The two of them walked forward for a long distance, but they could not find anything of note on the barren path. To make matters worse, they could not tell if they had taken a wrong turn, but the lightning strikes grew increasingly dense. Several thunderbolts even started to hit their protective umbrellas directly instead of flashing past. Although the initial damage caused to them was not obvious, Law and Reiju could feel faint signs of structural failure after the umbrellas were struck repeatedly.
While the umbrella material was completely insulating, it was not heat-resistant. The incredibly high temperature generated by the continuous lightning was destroying the umbrellas from the top down.
Seeing that their only protection was on the verge of collapsing entirely, Law and Reiju could not help but become nervous. It was definitely too late to turn back toward the shore now, so they had to find a way to obtain a new umbrella or find a dry place to hide from the storm.
"Captain, there is a small cave over there!" Reiju hurriedly pointed toward the foot of the nearby mountain.
"Let's go! Go and have a look first!" Law did not hesitate for a single second. He immediately activated his Devil Fruit ability, generating a spherical space to teleport himself and Reiju directly to the entrance of the cave.
The moment they arrived in front of the mountain cave, the protective umbrellas started to smoke violently, and the fabric was about to snap. Law simply ignored the remaining danger, grabbed Reiju by the arm, and pulled her into the narrow cave. As for the umbrellas, they caught fire directly from the heat and were rendered completely useless.
"Whew! It is a good thing we ran fast, otherwise we would be completely finished," Law said, a look of lingering fear visible on his face.
"The quality of those umbrellas does not seem to be very good after all. The lightning protection that the shopkeeper promised did not work here, and we lost 20,000,000 Berries for nothing," Reiju expressed her displeasure as she looked at the ashes outside.
"It cannot be helped. The lightning strikes in this specific area are far too dense, so we must have gone the wrong way."
"Captain, move a little over there."
At this time, the atmosphere between the two of them became a bit awkward. The cave was simply too small, and when the two of them entered the space at the same time, they were immediately squeezed together. They were almost completely stuck against one another. The only good news about their predicament was that they would not be struck by lightning inside the stone walls.
Law blushed slightly and turned his head aside to avoid her gaze. "Sorry, the situation was urgent just now. I am going to move closer to the entrance of the cave now."
Reiju looked at Law's reddened face. Seeing that he had lost his usual aloof demeanor and had become a bit cute for no apparent reason, she could not help but smile. She quickly reached out to stop him from moving.
"Captain, if you stand at the entrance to the cave, you will be struck by lightning."
"But the way we are positioned right now..."
"I do not mind it at all. Although you are the captain of the crew, you are about the same age as Sanji, so you are just a little brother to me."
"If you do not mind, then fine."
Law was still a little uncomfortable with the proximity. He kept turning his head toward the dark hole, refusing to look at Reiju at all. However, Reiju's breath was right next to his ears, and the woman's fragrance permeated the small cave. As a young man, how could he remain completely unmoved by the situation?
At this moment, Reiju put her lips close to Law's ear with a teasing smile. "Captain, your body seems to have a reaction. Are you thinking about something beautiful right now?"
Law suddenly blushed furiously, and he stared back at her fiercely. "Reiju! I am a normal man! Also, the most important thing for us right now is to find a way to get out of this place. Otherwise, we will lose a massive amount of face when the Straw Hats find us stuck like this!"
Reiju simply laughed but said nothing more. It did not matter to her if it was embarrassing or not, because she now found her serious captain to be genuinely amusing.
Looking at the other group, Nami and her party of six had just arrived near the borders of the local village. Before they even had time to enter the settlement to search for Luffy, they encountered a large group of armed pirates marching through the storm. Perhaps it was because the lightning strikes were so dense and blinding, the opposing pirates could not see the faces of Nami and the others clearly through the rain. As a result, a fight broke out between the two sides instantly.
The number of opponents was quite large. Roughly counting their ranks, there were about thirty people, which was five times the size of Nami's small group. However, this was the world of pirates. Battles were never decided based on the sheer number of people, but rather on who possessed the stronger combat skills. Obviously, this random group of young outlaws was actively looking for a way to die.
"Dancing Hypnosis!"
Jango quickly performed his signature umbrella dance, unleashing a wave of hypnosis upon ten of the attackers in an instant. The ten affected pirates turned their protective umbrellas away from their bodies, and then they were struck directly by the blunt edges of the weapons, fainting magnificently on the spot. Fortunately for them, the other pirates quickly grabbed the dropped umbrellas to help support them, otherwise those ten unconscious men would have been struck to death by the natural lightning.
"Fish-Man Karate: Arabesque Tile Punch!"
Jinbe threw a powerful right punch forward. The strike immediately formed a massive shockwave that radiated in all directions. It instantly knocked out all thirty of the remaining opponents, sending their bodies flying through the air toward the entrance of the village. Some of the flying pirates were even singed by random lightning bolts during their flight.
Sanji, Mr. 3, and Usopp simply shrugged their shoulders. Jinbe had moved far too fast, leaving absolutely no time for any of them to make a move.
Jango also opened his mouth wide, completely unsure of what to say. He felt that his hypnotic display just now was a bit redundant. Why didn't he just leave the entire battle to Jinbe from the start?
Nami praised him happily, "Jinbe, you are amazing!"
Jinbe smiled heartily and rubbed his head. "Haha, since I have officially joined the Straw Hat Pirates, how could I face the crew if I did not possess any real skills?"
The rest of the group looked at him in silence. They wondered if Jinbe was subtly mocking the strength of the weaker members of the team.
The six of them soon entered the village, finally relieved to be out of the open area where the thunder fell all over the sky. Then, the group walked toward the groaning pirates on the ground, carrying a strong sense of structural oppression.
When the local villagers heard the loud commotion outside, they picked up their iron tools and rushed out of their houses to defend themselves. However, when they saw the thirty pirates defeated on the ground, they all stopped dead in their tracks. Since the current situation was completely unknown to them, they decided to stand back and watch the events unfold first.
Of the thirty pirates who had attacked, only three remained conscious. At this time, the blinding light cleared, and they could finally see the distinct appearances of Nami and her companions. The sight immediately scared them out of their wits.
"The Straw Hat Pirates? Why did the forces of a Yonko come to a remote place like this?" The three conscious pirates were so frightened that they almost peed their pants on the spot.
Seeing their extreme terror, Usopp, Mr. 3, and Jango immediately struck a dramatic pose to show off their status. As the crew members of an Emperor of the Sea, maintaining a powerful image was extremely important to them.
Nami stepped forward, staring down at the shivering men. "Now, tell me exactly what is going on on this island. Do not even try to lie to us, or you will not face a very pleasant result!"