Swish.
Another chakra arm extended from Ron's body and punched Prometheus and Napoleon once each. The two Homies let out muffled groans at the same time.
"Where's my fish?" Ron asked irritably.
"Sumimasen, Ron-sama..." Prometheus said pitifully. "It got burnt... and I threw it into the sea..."
It was telling the truth. If you asked it to destroy things, it was indeed good at that. But ask it to grill fish? How was it supposed to control the fire?
One burst of flame, and the fish turned directly into charcoal.
Napoleon shrank at the side, feeling even more wronged.
Grilling the fish was clearly Prometheus' job. Prometheus burned it. Why was Napoleon beaten too?
Its job had only been to act as the cutting tool! It had not done anything!
Bang. The chakra arm landed on Prometheus again.
"You're just as punchable as that black cloud!" Ron said through gritted teeth.
This trip was truly terrible.
After this, he would definitely make Linlin compensate him with another Devil Fruit. No, two.
"Sumimasen, Ron-sama," Napoleon said tentatively. "Since you hit Prometheus... you can't hit me again, right?"
Bang. The moment it finished speaking, the chakra arm punched it.
"Did I let you talk?" Ron said. Then he controlled another chakra arm and swung it onto Linlin's head. The force was not heavy, but it was not light either.
There was no deeper meaning. He was simply annoyed. Right now, even a passing dog would get kicked if Ron saw it.
Linlin's eyes were closed. She had not fully awakened after being soaked in seawater. After taking that punch, she only hummed twice.
Half a day later, on a certain island.
In an inconspicuous corner of the coast, a worn little boat rested quietly by a stony beach.
There were three people on the boat.
Two men wore plain clothes, their faces roughened by years of wind and sun.
The third was a young woman dressed in bright robes that did not match the boat or the coast at all. A faint touch of rouge colored her face.
She stood by the side of the boat, looking at the gray outline of a town in the distance. She seemed to be looking at an approaching boundary, or perhaps the door she was about to step through.
One of the men had already gone ashore. He turned back, his gaze falling on the woman aboard the boat. His voice was low. "Lulu, before you meet him, you still have a chance to regret this."
The woman named Lulu lowered her head and carefully stepped off the boat. When her foot landed on the gravel beach, her body swayed slightly. She steadied herself, lifted her head, and forced a small smile toward her brother.
"If I can really be exchanged for a flag that will protect everyone, then no matter what ending waits for me, I'll accept it."
"Think carefully." The man's voice sank, and his expression looked lonely. "That man is the murderous 'Cold-Blooded Butcher.' He's said to be an extremely lecherous scumbag."
Lulu did not answer immediately.
Standing by the shore, what flashed through her mind were the houses burned down, the food stolen away, and the corpses left behind.
Because of its location, her village was often visited by pirates. Pirates with some morals were still manageable. They only freeloaded and robbed some treasure. But the truly vicious ones not only stole treasure, they killed people and burned houses too.
If everything went smoothly and they could obtain the protection of the Ron Pirates, then no other pirates would dare cause trouble in those waters again. All their suffering would end.
She had calculated this deal for a long time. She had calculated it very clearly.
"Brother," Lulu lifted her head and tried to make her voice sound steady, "it's still too early to say anything. From what we know, Ron has already married thirteen wives these past few days. Whether he even takes a liking to me is another matter."
The man stood on the shore, looked at her, and moved his lips. In the end, he said nothing else.
He turned, stepped onto the gravel beach, and walked heavily forward, as if taking one step after another toward a path he did not want to follow.
Boom!
Suddenly, a gust of wild wind swept by, rolling up gravel and dust that stung their faces.
The man walking at the front staggered and nearly lost his balance.
He whipped his head around. Lulu had collapsed onto the ground, and above her floated an enormous black cloud.
Two figures stood on top of the cloud, one man and one woman.
The woman was beautiful but unfamiliar. The man was handsome, and... somewhat familiar.
"Mamamama." Linlin spoke first. "Sorry to bother you. Is this Ilrus Island?"
No one answered.
All three people looked up with different expressions: fear, shock, and confusion.
The man at the front slowly took a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and carefully unfolded it. A face was printed on it.
He looked at the portrait on the wanted poster, then at the man standing on the black cloud, and he already had his answer in his heart.
This man was the Cold-Blooded Butcher, Ron.
"Hello, great Ron-sama. My name is Carlisle Marly, and that is my younger sister, Carlisle Lulu," Marly said quickly.
Linlin glanced out of the corner of her eye at Ron, who had been sulking for some unknown reason the whole way, then spoke again. "I didn't ask your names. I only asked whether this is Ilrus Island."
"Oh." Marly immediately nodded, his tone certain. "Yes, Ron-sama."
"..." Linlin glanced sideways at Ron again, and a mysterious smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. "Looks like he's your little fanboy. Every other sentence is Ron-sama."
"Ron?" Lulu's cautious gaze secretly studied Ron on the black cloud. If she looked closely, he was not as terrifying as the rumors said.
That face was younger than she had imagined, and his gaze... it was not exactly vicious. It was more like fatigue, the look of someone who had seen everything and could no longer be bothered with anything.
Ron swept his gaze over them and spoke calmly. "Are you underlings recruited by that imposter?"
"Imposter?" Marly froze, not understanding what that meant for a moment. But he quickly came back to himself and hurriedly added, "I think... probably not."
He paused, then added urgently, "But we are also willing to go through fire and water, Ron-sama!"