Chapter 44 Luffy Controls Enemies with His Middle Finger"Stop!"
"Yamete!"
Zoro, Mr. 5, and Valentine shouted in unison.
"These two don't need your help! I'll handle them! Let me handle them! Even if he pulls out his guts and throws them like bombs, I'll shred them!"
Zoro roared as he charged forward to stop Luffy. If another shot came, they'd all be done for.
That laser cannon was even more terrifying than Kizaru's; it was like blowing up a fishpond!
Luffy regretfully retracted the cannon: "How boring. I was thinking of trying out the single-target hadron cannon."
"Shut up!!"
Zoro and Nami roared in unison.
Everyone then turned to look at Mr. 5 and Nami: "Did you two just talk?"
The two high-ranking agents, who had been so arrogant just moments before, were now kneeling on the ground, trembling with fear.
"We were wrong! We surrender! Please spare us!"
Everyone: "..."
"Give up already? I wanted to test the limits of their defense."
Luffy jumped out of his mech, looking at the two terrified men with a look of undisguised satisfaction.
The two MR.5s shuddered again. Was this even humanly capable of such power?
One shot destroyed an entire town. What was the difference between this power and the legendary Pluto battleship? Fighting this monster was suicide.
The two surrendered with surprising decisiveness.
"Boring," Luffy shook his head. "Look up at me."
The two instinctively looked up. Compared to being blown to smithereens, being looked at was a blessing.
Luffy's eyes flashed red again.
"In the name of Monkey D. Luffy, I command that when I make this gesture, you will consider me MR.0 and obey me without question!"
With that, Luffy extended his middle finger, making an extremely arrogant international friendship gesture.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The two responded mechanically, their eyes glazed over.
Then Luffy deactivated his Geass, and their eyes instantly cleared, but they had no memory of what had just happened. They only felt that Luffy's figure had become incredibly tall and familiar.
"Alright, get lost." Luffy waved his hand casually.
"Huh?"
Mr. 5 and Valentine were completely bewildered. "You're not going to arrest us? Not torture us?"
"No need. I believe in winning people over with virtue. Forced relationships are never sweet." Luffy radiated saintly brilliance.
Zoro and Nami, standing nearby, twitched their lips, wanting to kick him. Was that "virtue"? That was nuclear deterrence!
Mr. 5 and Valentine, feeling like they'd been granted a pardon, scrambled off the island. They didn't want to stay in this godforsaken place for another second.
"You're just letting them go like that?"
Nami asked, puzzled. "Didn't you say you were going to take control of that organization?"
"Don't you understand the concept of playing the long game? Since no one has seen Mr. 0, when I appear at the high-level meeting wearing a mask, as long as these two lead the way in calling him 'boss,' won't everyone else be bowing down obediently? Hehehe..."
Nami felt a chill run down her spine. This guy's heart was too ruthless.
"Speaking of which, do you guys really know how terrifying that mastermind is?"
Vivi looked worried. "Even though you're strong, that's Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
Nami froze, completely stunned: "N-Nani?! A Shichibukai?!"
The next second, Nami burst into tears, clutching her face and screaming, "Are you kidding me! I just entered the Grand Line and I'm already going to fight a Shichibukai?! This is unbearable! Waaaaah!"
Zoro leaned against the ruins, wiping his sword, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit: "Meeting a Shichibukai so soon? Not bad luck. I wonder how tough that guy is."
"I heard he used to be a girl, but someone turned him into a man."
Luffy chuckled, dropping a bombshell.
Nami: (╬￣皿￣)
"You two shut up! Gossiping all the time!"
"Even though we didn't spend much time together, thank you for saving me. Before that Crocodile can react, let's run for our lives!"
Nami angrily dragged Luffy towards the Going Merry, terrified that if she lingered even a second longer, she'd be eaten by the crocodile.
However, in the shadows of the ruins not far away, a vulture wearing sunglasses and a sea otter painting a picture were pointing a camera at the sulking Nami.
"Click."
Nami's eyes widened as she examined the drawing. It was Luffy, Zoro, and herself!
"Wow! This artist is really skilled; it looks pretty realistic!"
Before she could finish speaking, the sea otter, which had been standing still, instantly mounted the vulture and soared into the sky, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Nami instantly bristled, so angry she flipped the table: (╯‵□)╯︵┻━┻!
"Doesn't this mean we've completely blocked our escape route?!"
Seeing Nami's furious outburst, Zoro chimed in, puzzled.
"So, where does that guy even think he's going? We're all definitely on Baroque Works' kill list now."
Vivi, equally embarrassed, moved closer to Nami, who was fuming and drawing circles in the corner.
"Um... if we're talking about money, I have 500,000 Berries in my own savings. If we can manage..."
"Don't panic!"
Ikarum's booming voice suddenly burst from the side, "I already have a plan!"
Everyone instinctively turned around and nearly popped their eyes out.
Ikarum had somehow managed to squeeze himself into Vivi's oversized dress, and was even holding three poorly made straw figures in his arms.
"Icarum? So you have this peculiar dressing habit in private?"
Vivi was completely dumbfounded, staring speechlessly at the eye-watering "cross-dressing master" before her.
Icarum's face darkened: "..."
"What I mean is, I'll disguise myself as Your Highness and go out to sea first as bait to draw away the enemy's fire."
Luffy, looking at Icarum's outrageous attire, couldn't help but rub his throbbing temples.
Does this guy think the enemy is an idiot?
With such a kindergarten-level illusion, even the shrewd Robin, let alone the dim-witted Buggy, probably wouldn't fall for it.
"That's enough, none of these people are easy to fool..."
Nami, her face filled with despair, slumped to the side, weakly muttering to herself.
"You probably have no idea how terrifying Baroque Works really is!"
Ikaram's expression instantly turned utterly serious.
"Once you're locked onto by the boss's intelligence network, assassins will swarm in like a relentless tide. You know that better than anyone, don't you, Princess Vivi?"
Vivi bit her lip, nodding gravely. "It seems there are at least a thousand men chasing after us this time."
Upon hearing this, Nami, standing behind her, burst into tears.
"Ikaram…"
Vivi looked at her retainer, who had risked his life to protect her, her eyes filled with tears of gratitude.
"I'll use the permanent compass to sail directly to Alabasta. Princess, you can just follow these marine friends and slowly circle back, island by island!"
Icarum didn't give anyone a chance to object. He leaped onto a small boat and sped off into the open sea without looking back.
Zoro, watching from the side, was completely bewildered. He couldn't help but scratch his moss-like hair. "Why is the atmosphere so heavy, like a farewell to life?"
Vivi shouted emotionally, "You guys have no idea how terrifying Crocodile is!"
Zoro nodded indifferently. "I don't really know much about him, but I always felt Luffy was scarier... Wait, where's Luffy?"
Everyone suddenly realized that Luffy, who had been standing there just moments before, had vanished into thin air.
In the distance, on the sea, Icarum looked back at Princess Vivi on the shore with reluctance.
He knew perfectly well that his mission as bait was a near-certain death.
However, before he could finish expressing his feelings, he suddenly felt a dizzying sensation, and was violently pulled away by an irresistible force.
In that instant, the small boat he was on exploded into a massive fireball.
On the shore.
Vivi's eyes widened, staring intently at the small boat disappearing into the flames on the sea, frozen as if her soul had been ripped from her body.
Nami, who had been complaining about being dragged into trouble, immediately pulled Vivi into a tight embrace.
"Don't be afraid! We will definitely get you back safely!"
Nami's eyes were filled with unwavering determination.
"These guys might seem carefree and unreliable at first glance, but they're still heroes who saved the entire East Blue!"
"Baroque Works? What's that? Crocodile? We don't even consider the so-called Seven Warlords of the Sea a threat!"
Nami held Vivi tightly, her lip bleeding from biting it. At that moment, she radiated a reassuring power.
Meanwhile, on the turbulent sea...
Behind the thick smoke from the explosion, an enormous sea turtle floated silently.
Robin sat elegantly on a luxurious sofa, one hand supporting her chin, legs crossed.
"How adorably stupid. Someone actually dared to be bait."
Robin's lips curled into a mocking smile as she looked at Ikaram, slumped on the turtle's back, still shaken.
"You...you are..."
Icarus was terrified, stammering as he looked at the woman before him, "Miss. All Sunday! Why did you save me, your enemy?"
Robin completely ignored him, her deep eyes thoughtfully fixed on Zoro and the others in the harbor's direction: "Who knows?"
"Because she doesn't want you to die, of course."
Just then, a sudden voice rang out from behind Robin.
Robin's previously composed expression instantly changed: "Who?!"
However, as soon as she turned her head, she was met with a strange, scarlet eye.
A red light, like a seagull spreading its wings, directly and domineeringly entered the depths of Robin's pupils.
Robin's eyes instantly turned red, and she fell into a dazed state.
"This ability is incredibly convenient to use."
Luffy looked at Robin, who had been instantly controlled, and clicked his tongue in admiration.
"That Lelouch guy didn't even use that ability for something weird, what a waste!"
"L…Luffy-sama?"
Icarum's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she stared at Luffy, who had suddenly appeared behind Robin. "What are you doing here?"
Luffy waved casually. "Oh, I was just passing by, and thought I'd see you off."
Then, Luffy leaned close to Robin's ear and whispered the absolute command: "Live!"
The red light in Robin's eyes flashed briefly, then quickly returned to its normal state.
"Who?!"
The moment Robin regained her senses, she looked around warily, but the area was empty; there wasn't a soul in sight.
She frowned and looked at Icarum, asking, "Was someone here just now?"
Icarum remembered Luffy's shushing gesture before he left, and quickly shook her head vigorously.
"Am I hallucinating?"
Robin frowned, then turned to Icarum and said, "I can't let you go back yet. After that Miss Wednesday... oh wait, I mean Princess Vivi leaves with those Marines, I'll naturally let you return to town."
Icarum frowned upon hearing this: "What exactly do you mean?"
Robin shrugged, looking nonchalant: "Nothing, just thought it was fun."
Icarum's eyes blazed with anger, but he wisely kept quiet, offering no rebuttal.
Robin gave him an approving look: "A smart choice."
Meanwhile, on the other side, Zoro and the others had reunited with Usopp and Sanji, who had been awakened by Luffy's commotion.
"How did this town become like this?"
"Did aliens invade Earth?"
The two looked at the ruined town with bewildered expressions, completely confused.
"Well, it's a long story."
Zoro didn't want to waste any more breath on these two sleepy idiots. "Anyway, it's all Luffy's doing."
"What?! They treated us to good food and drinks, and Luffy just ripped up their town?"
"So these people are here to settle scores with us?"
Sanji pointed to the row of bounty hunters, now under Geass's control, his face grave.
"It's not entirely like that..."
Icaram's "death" left Zoro in a state of turmoil. "Why are you all talking so much nonsense? Did you see Luffy?"
Usopp and Sanji shook their heads in unison. When they woke up, the surroundings were already ruins, but thankfully, they didn't see any dead bodies.
They only met Zoro when they reached the port.
"Yo!"
Luffy walked over with a grin, waving at everyone.
"Damn it! Where were you just now?"
Nami angrily waved her fist at Luffy, "Icaram, he..."
But then, thinking of Vivi who was grieving, Nami stopped herself from speaking.
However, Vivi couldn't control her emotions, and tears streamed down her face.
Luffy sighed helplessly, "Please accept my condolences. I just went to the ship to rescue him."
Everyone fell silent upon hearing the words "please accept my condolences," and Vivi broke down in tears even more.
"So they went to rescue him...rescue him...rescue him, you bastard!"
After realizing what had happened, everyone roared at Luffy in a frenzy.
Vivi looked at Luffy with mixed feelings of surprise and joy: "Icarum isn't dead?"
Luffy nodded.
The reason he hadn't objected to Icarum's bait plan was because he had calculated that Robin would intervene.
He knew Robin would save Icarum in the explosion.
That woman's goal was to study the Poneglyphs, and she would definitely be happy to cause Crocodile some trouble while she was at it.
"What about Icarum?" Vivi hurriedly asked anxiously.
"I threw him in a safe place, so that the old man wouldn't get carried away and try to go out to sea as bait again."
Luffy stroked his chin as he spoke.
If he wasn't mistaken, by the time this guy reappeared, Crocodile would probably already be dealt with.
However, Zoro and the others wore expressions of complete trust, as if to say, "As expected of our captain!"
Vivi, having once again experienced a rollercoaster of emotions, wiped away her tears with forced composure, saying, "Really? That's good, that's good."
Nami stepped forward and whispered in Luffy's ear, "I didn't realize you had such high emotional intelligence. You knew how to make up a lie to lessen Vivi's sadness... But your excuse was so lame, Vivi clearly understood."
Luffy was completely bewildered: "???"
Nami continued, indignantly pumping her fist, "That damned Crocodile! So cruel! This time we must get justice for Vivi!"
Vivi, moved to tears, burst into more sobs.
"It's definitely not for that 1 billion Berries commission!"
Vivi: "..."
Usopp and Sanji felt as if they had just woken up from a nap; the world war outside was already over. Completely bewildered, they boarded the ship.
Luffy waved to the dazed bounty hunters below: "Keep doing what you were doing before. From now on, I'll send a red-nosed guy named Buggy to find you. You'll be under his command."
The bounty hunters below immediately knelt down, their movements perfectly synchronized, and shouted in unison:
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Meanwhile, Luffy's Lelouch replica increased by a staggering 30 percentage points, reaching an astonishing 87%!
Just then, C.C. was resting her chin on her hand, staring blankly at Luffy, seemingly lost in thought.
"We don't have time to look for it now,"
"But we can't just leave it here like this."
"But..."
Zoro, watching Nami and Vivi arguing below, asked curiously, "What are you looking for?"
"He said the duck called 'Fast Runner' is missing."
Nami shouted to Zoro.
Zoro: "Huh?"
Vivi said worriedly, "It usually comes back when I whistle, but today it hasn't responded at all."
Zoro turned expressionlessly to the large duck standing beside him: "You mean this one?"