It took Tom less than six minutes to deal with the thirty or so Marines on the warship.
When the man tied to the mast—Gin—saw Tom send over a dozen Marines flying into the sea with a single sweep of his rod, he glanced up in slight surprise, then lowered his head again, remaining silent.
On the Going Merry, Usopp, seeing Tom handle the Marines so easily, took out a megaphone and shouted across, "Listen up, Marines! I have only sent one man to deal with you. If you value your lives, stay away from us! And no more cannon fire! Otherwise, I, the cold-blooded and overwhelmingly powerful Captain Usopp, will personally lead my force of eight thousand elite troops to teach you a lesson!"
Tom, in the middle of using his extended rod to beat people up, immediately sweatdropped upon hearing Usopp's words, even his striking force unconsciously lightening.
After sending all the Marines on the warship into the sea, Tom strolled leisurely around the vessel. He figured since he'd rarely gotten the chance to come aboard a Marine ship, he should do something. After all, he hadn't come specifically to beat up Marines.
"Wait!" Gin, tied to the mast, called out to Tom as he passed by.
"If you want me to save you, forget it," Tom said, looking at the man wearing a light-gray headscarf with blue stripes. Not adding insult to injury was already more than enough kindness.
"You're not weak, and you're a pirate. You shouldn't be a nobody in the East Blue. Who are you?" Gin's eyes were dim from days without food, but his gaze fixed on Tom was sharp.
"Who knows? Maybe the Marines have all been on vacation lately, so I haven't been issued a bounty," Tom shrugged, putting the shortened rod back into his arm sheath. He thought about how even a small-time lieutenant commander like Fullbody could bring Marines and sail a warship while on vacation, just to flirt with women. Life seemed pretty comfortable. If all Marines were like Fullbody, the World Government would truly be finished.
Ignoring Gin, Tom casually wandered the ship, then returned to the Going Merry carrying a bag.
"You idiot! Why did you proactively provoke the Marines?!" Nami said to Tom as soon as he returned.
"They wouldn't let me leave and said they'd arrest me. Of course I fought back," Tom said, taking the bag off his shoulder. Nami asked curiously, "What's that?"
"Treasure I looted from the Marine ship."
As soon as Tom said this, Nami's eyes turned into Berries. She snatched the bag from Tom's hands and said, extremely delighted, "Treasure! Wonderful!"
"Go back to that Marine ship and take another good look. Maybe you can find more treasure," Nami said, her pretty face rubbing back and forth against the shiny gold treasure she pulled from the bag. "So Marine ships carry treasure too. Next time you encounter other Marine ships, do the same as today. Beat up the Marines, take their treasure, and give it to me!"
"Get lost! Are you trying to get me killed?!" Tom shouted at Nami. If he followed her advice and robbed every Marine ship he encountered, with his current skills, running into a few capable Marine captains would probably be disastrous. He wouldn't have enough lives to pay for it.
In fact, Tom was lucky to find treasure on this warship. It was loot Fullbody and his men had taken from some small pirates they encountered while pursuing the retreating Krieg Pirates from the Grand Line.
"As a pirate, is it really okay for you to steal treasure from the Marines?" Usopp whispered to Tom.
"No helping it. Coming back empty-handed isn't my style," Tom said, making Usopp's jaw nearly hit the deck. For the sake of his principles, this guy dares to rob even the Marines? What won't he do in the future? Sailing with someone like this made Usopp feel very dangerous. Beside him, Johnny and Yosaku also looked at Tom like he was a monster. As bounty hunters who had dealt with the Marines often, they had truly never heard of a pirate in the East Blue targeting Marine ships.
"Where's Luffy?" Tom asked, scanning the area and not seeing the usually loudest guy. He directed the question at Zoro, who was resting against the railing.
Zoro roughly told Tom that Luffy had been taken by people from the sea restaurant.
"What? He's really an idiot. If he had just honestly explained what happened, apologized sincerely, and earnestly asked for forgiveness, wouldn't that be enough? Why did he have to make it turn out like this?" Tom said, dissatisfied, after hearing Luffy went obediently with the restaurant people.
"He did exactly what you said. Then he didn't come back here," Zoro said, his forehead full of black lines as he looked at Tom.
"Uh..." Tom sweatdropped completely. Feeling the strange gazes of Usopp and the others, he coughed awkwardly a few times and didn't speak further.
Fortunately, Nami's attention was captured by the treasure, so she didn't clearly hear what someone had just said, otherwise someone might have been in trouble.
A few minutes later, Tom and the others decided not to wait for Luffy any longer and went into the sea restaurant to look around and grab a bite to eat. Nami had no objections, since she had just gotten a batch of treasure from Tom. Treating everyone to a good meal was nothing.
When they reached the entrance of the sea restaurant, they heard a commotion and a man's voice.
"Don't you dare waste food!"
"Picking a fight with a chef on the sea is like asking for death! Remember that well!"
Pushing open the restaurant door, Tom and the others saw a man in a black suit, his left eye covered by blond hair, his right eyebrow severely curled. He wore a hint of anger, holding Fullbody—whose head was covered in blood—by the skull with one hand, lifting him off the ground. Blood dripped from Fullbody's brass-knuckled hand onto the floor. It was clear he had been beaten badly.
"Sanji! It's you again! What did you do to the guest? Don't you know he's a Marine lieutenant commander?" a man dressed like a head cook, with a large face, rushed out and yelled at Sanji.
"Oh, it's you. Stinky cook Patty. What gives you the right to casually call my name?" Sanji said, casually tossing Fullbody aside and turning to face Patty.
"Listen here! This is a restaurant where the customer comes first! You injured an important guest! What are you trying to do?" the slightly chubby Patty said, walking up to Sanji and shouting angrily.
"So what if he's a guest? He disrespected food, insulted the chef, and was rude and vulgar to a lady. So I gave him a little lesson," Sanji stated truthfully. Earlier, Fullbody had pretended to know a lot about wine in front of everyone. Unbeknownst to him, Sanji had served him a different kind, making him look foolish.
Thus, Fullbody had deliberately thrown a bug into a soup that had taken days to prepare, trying to get revenge on Sanji and ruin the restaurant's reputation. Sanji humorously resolved the situation, making Fullbody lose face again. Humiliated and angry, Fullbody punched a dining table to pieces, rudely pushing aside his female companion who tried to calm him, and even stepped on Sanji's hand as the chef knelt to inspect the spilled soup. That was what finally angered Sanji.
That's why Tom and the others saw Sanji beating Fullbody when they entered.
Having been roughly treated, Fullbody threatened to contact government officials to tear down the sea restaurant. This immediately enraged Sanji, and he wanted to rush up and beat Fullbody again, but was restrained by the other restaurant chefs.
"The more I hear, the angrier I get! Seeing an arrogant bastard like you fills me with fire!" Sanji, held back by many chefs, glared angrily at Fullbody slumped on the ground. "What do you have to be so proud about? You think money can truly fill your stomach? Only real food can eliminate hunger!"
Fullbody was so frightened that cold sweat poured down his face, thinking Sanji was a madman.
Just as Tom and the others were looking for a table to sit at, two people fell through a hole in the ceiling. One was Luffy. The other, wearing a tall chef's hat with a wooden peg leg, was the restaurant's owner, Chef Zeff.
"Luffy, what are you doing here?" Tom said, walking toward them. The purpose of coming here was to find a cook to join them. He hoped Luffy hadn't caused more trouble.
"Oh, it's you guys," Luffy said, seeing Tom and the others. He patted the dust off himself and stood up. "Listen, I have to work here for a week to pay for damaging the restaurant's roof."
"Stay here for a whole week?" Tom said to Nami. "Take out some of your money to pay them. Then we won't have to waste so much time."
"Don't talk nonsense. That's my money. Besides, Luffy caused the mess. He should take responsibility for it. Right?" Nami said, turning to Luffy at the end.
"Right. I have to take responsibility for my actions. Don't interfere," Luffy nodded firmly at Tom.
Seeing Luffy's decision was made, Tom didn't say more. He glanced at Fullbody sitting on the floor and said to Nami, "About the treasure I got from his ship... you should at least give me a little, right?"
"Yeah, that's why I'm treating everyone to a meal here," Nami said, blinking her bright, beautiful eyes at Tom, smiling.
Damn. That treasure isn't a huge amount, but it's enough to eat here for decades without running out. And you say treating us to one meal settles it? Such shameless words, and you still say them aloud.
Tom rolled up his sleeves, preparing to properly argue with Nami.
"He's so stupid. Why pick a fight with Nami over money?" Usopp behind them said to Zoro beside him. He felt if Tom argued with Nami, the tragic one would definitely be Tom.
"That's his principle. He has his own bottom line he refuses to yield. Perhaps it's precisely because of this obsession ordinary people can't understand that he keeps growing stronger," Zoro said suddenly, staring at Tom's back as he argued with Nami. This made Usopp pause, falling into thought: My own principles and bottom lines, huh?
"What's going on? Aren't you the guy who fired at us earlier? Why are you covered in blood?" Luffy ignored the shouting Tom and Nami, seeing Fullbody covered in blood on the floor, confused.
"You! Get out of here right now!" Zeff, who had just kicked the loudly quarreling Sanji, heard Luffy's words and, learning Fullbody was the culprit behind his restaurant being bombed, mercilessly kicked Fullbody away.
Sanji, kicked by Zeff, fell and landed right by Tom's feet. As he tried to stand, he saw Nami angrily arguing with Tom, and his eyes instantly turned into hearts.
"Don't forget, we're on the same crew! When someone desperately needs money, would it kill you to lend a little?"
"You big idiot! If it's truly necessary, I'll lend you money. But you heard Luffy. He wants to take responsibility himself—he doesn't need our help. Let me tell you: your money belongs to me, and my money also belongs to me!"
"You stupid woman! What kind of twisted logic is that?! If you had taken out money to pay them when Luffy went with the restaurant staff, maybe we wouldn't be wasting a whole week here! Don't you know I really want to enter the Grand Line quickly?!"
Tom and Nami stood in the middle of the restaurant, arguing furiously under the startled gazes of those around them, yelling so loudly the whole place shook, spraying each other with spit.
Usopp wanted to step forward to break up the fight but was given a fierce glare by Nami. His legs turned weak, and he abandoned the idea.
Zoro yawned boredly, completely unconcerned. He was still thinking about how much longer he had to wait before he could have a good drink here.
Luffy was even worse. Smelling the strong aroma of the restaurant's dishes, his stomach grumbled loudly. How could he bother with Tom and Nami's affair?
Just then, Sanji sprang up from the floor and stood between Tom and Nami.
"Oh, ocean! Thank you for today's fateful encounter! Oh, love! Mock me all you want for being unable to endure the pain!" Sanji said, standing with his back to Tom, gazing at Nami with a face full of intoxicated passion. "For you, even if I must become a pirate or a demon, it doesn't matter! What a tragedy! The obstacles between us are far too many!"
"Right now, the obstacle between you two… is me, isn't it?"
"And who are you? Can't you see we have things to discuss?"
Hearing Sanji shamelessly flirt with Nami, Tom felt his stomach churn and nearly vomited on the spot. He continued, "You're even flattering this woman? Is your brain broken?"
"You bastard! How dare you speak so loudly in front of a lady!" Sanji said upon hearing Tom, turning around and taking a drag from his cigarette. "And you called this beautiful, lovely, pure, and kind lady names, didn't you? I must teach you what proper manners toward a lady are!"
What the…?
Is this guy an idiot? Meeting Nami for the first time and calling her pure and kind? And he wants to teach me manners?
Tom looked at Sanji standing protectively in front of Nami, genuinely thinking this man was an airhead. Didn't he hear Nami calling him a big idiot earlier? Tom had just responded in kind, calling her a stupid woman. That counted as disrespecting Nami?
"What kind of lunatic are you? Go play somewhere else. I don't have spare time to deal with you," Tom said. Having just argued with Nami, honestly, his mood was terrible. Sanji suddenly jumping in only annoyed him further.
Initially, seeing Sanji pick up Fullbody with one hand, Tom had thought he was manly. But after seeing his reaction upon meeting Nami, he no longer thought so. The way this guy looked at Nami gave Tom an inexplicable urge to punch someone.
And so, at the drop of a hat, Tom and Sanji got into a fight.
Tom used his arm to block one of Sanji's powerful kicks, feeling his entire arm go numb. He frowned and immediately drew the fishing rod from the sheath on his right arm.
"Stop! Please don't fight over me, okay?" Nami, seeing Tom draw his rod and knowing things would escalate, made a pleading expression and even cutely blinked toward Tom's side, speaking to the two who seemed ready to tear each other apart.
"Who's fighting over you, woman?!" Tom yelled at Nami and was about to continue fighting Sanji when Sanji, hearing Nami's words, immediately had hearts in his eyes again. Ignoring Tom's attack entirely, he said to Nami, "Alright! I won't fight!"
Damn it!
Tom had to urgently withdraw his strike. His rod almost smashed into Sanji's head. Unexpectedly, this guy completely dropped his guard and just decided not to fight. The switch was so fast, with absolutely no principles, that Tom was stunned on the spot.
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T/N :
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