Chapter 163 - 2

Chapter 2 Roronoa ZoroMeruem's stomach full of words were stuck in his throat.He and Koby's expressions were surprisingly identical, looking at Luffy, who was feasting, and exchanged glances, not knowing how to vent the complaints bubbling inside them.Meruem: "All those lines I prepared, and you only let me say one? Do you know who I am? You just... well, is it because I gave you too much? Can't you eat slower? How long have you been hungry?"Koby: "Who am I? Where am I? Who is this person? Weren't we just discussing finding a navigator for Luffy? How did someone suddenly jump out and say he wanted to be his partner... and he agreed."Meruem and Koby both felt that this world was a bit magical, and they started to doubt themselves."Ah~ I'm full, I'm alive again. Koby, let's go to the Marine Base. You go join the Marines, you'll definitely become an excellent sailor," Luffy said, patting his bulging stomach.Koby, who was still in a daze, immediately had red eyes. Shielding his glasses with his arm [Yes, you didn't misread, it was indeed glasses], he said, "Yes, thank you so much. Luffy, you must also become an excellent pirate. Although we'll eventually have a day when we meet on the battlefield..."Luffy didn't mind, just smiled, and said to Meruem, "Hey, what's your name? You just said you wanted to go on an adventure with me as a pirate, so you're my partner now, right? I finally have my first partner. I wonder if Zoro is still at this Marine Base."∑(O_O;)A commotion broke out. Passersby who were just walking by all leaned against the wall, looking at the three with horrified expressions. Two men even hugged each other.Meruem's eye twitched incessantly. If complaining could gather energy, he could definitely solo Kaidoright now. He took a deep breath and said, "My name is Meruem. I used to be a bounty hunter. Why don't you ask a few more questions? Are you really going to accept me as your partner so easily? And from the current situation, the name 'Zoro' seems to be taboo here, doesn't it?"Luffy didn't care, casually replying, "Oh, I feel like you're a good guy. Anyway, I'm looking for partners now, so if you're willing, let's go together."Koby's emotions had finally stabilized, but he couldn't understand Luffy's logic. He smiled and said, "I heard there's a Colonel at this Marine Base, known as 'Axe-Hand' Captain Moca. They say he's a Marine hero who captured Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates. Kuro was a notorious pirate with a 16 million Berries bounty."(]゜ロ゜)]Even louder noises erupted. The pedestrians looked at the three with even more terrified eyes. The two men who had just separated hugged even tighter, making one seriously suspect they were taking advantage of the situation to grope each other... The three walked towards the Marine Base.Luffy covered his stomach, tears of laughter in his eyes: "Hahaha, that was so funny just now! I definitely have to try it again later."Meruem followed behind, a bit speechless. After all, getting onto Luffy's Pirate Crew so easily felt a bit unreal. He kept wondering if something was wrong... Koby, however, looked worried: "It's too strange... I feel more and more uneasy. I can understand being scared when hearing the name of Zoro, who could escape at any moment.But why did they react that way when they heard the name of Marine hero Colonel Moca?"Meruem didn't think about it further, casually interjecting, "He must have done something bad."Koby said, a little angrily, "How is that possible? Don't talk nonsense. How could a righteous Marinehero do anything bad!"Meruem spread his hands, exchanged a glance with Luffy, and didn't provoke Koby further.The three continued walking and soon arrived at the entrance of the Marine Base. The two looked at Koby, and Luffy encouraged him, "Go enlist, Koby. We're going to find Zoro."Koby was still hesitating.Luffy waved his hand and left with Meruem... The two hadn't gone far.Luffy, with a quick stride, hung himself on the wall and said, "Meruem, look, that must be Zoro."Meruem climbed the wall and saw a young man wrapped in a black bandana, with murderous eyes and a sash around his waist. He replied, "That should be him. Should we go untie him now?"Luffy thought for a moment and said, "But I don't know if he's a good guy..."[Then how did you decide I was a good guy... because I gave you food?] Meruem's urge to complain stirred, but he still said helplessly, "If he's not a good person, we'll just tie him back up."Luffy gave a thumbs-up: "Meruem, I think you make a lot of sense!""Shh!" Just as the two were about to move, a voice came.Luffy and Meruem both turned their heads to look. A little girl was holding a finger to her lips, telling them to be quiet.Seeing the two quiet down, the little girl laboriously climbed over the wall and ran towards Zoro.[This plot seems a bit familiar...]Meruem hung on the wall without speaking, watching Helmeppo, that ugly fellow, stomp the rice ball the little girl had painstakingly made into the ground, and then order the Marine beside him to throw the little girl out.Meruem jumped off the wall, adjusted his position, and held the little girl in his arms. He said, "Are you okay? Go home quickly, we'll take care of this."Luffy's expression looked a bit serious. He quietly climbed over the wall and walked in front of Zoro."Who are you?" Zoro asked."I am Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will become the Pirate King. I'm currently looking for partners to sail with me. I already have one, he's a good guy.""You want to release me and have me follow you as a pirate?""Not really, because I heard you're a bad guy."...The two fell silent. After a long while, Zoro spoke, "Can you pick that up from the ground for me?"Luffy picked it up from the ground and said, "This rice ball is already muddy. Do you really want to eat it?""Less talk, give it to me."Luffy stuffed the unidentified object into Zoro's mouth. He chewed it with difficulty, just about to speak.Meruem walked over, pulled out a large piece of roasted meat from the satchel on his back, and said, "Are you full? I have more..."Zoro's words were stuck in his throat. He stared at Meruem with wide, disbelieving eyes.It took him a while to recover, then he calmly said, "Please tell that little girl that the rice ball was delicious. Thank you for the meal.""Alright, alright, I know." Meruem said, putting the meat to Zoro's mouth, and pulled Luffy away.Zoro slowly chewed the meat, feeling like the mud just now had been a bit gritty...