One Piece: Legend of the Star Sea

"No, don't do it!!"

As Buggy let out a howl, Luffy launched a fierce attack.

"Take this—Gum-Gum Rocket Launcher!"

"WAAAAAHHHHH!"

Buggy screamed as he took the full force of Luffy's attack, launched diagonally into the sky like a firework, and vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

"He really flew far."

Alex sat on the ground, looking up at the sky where Buggy had disappeared, murmuring to himself.

"Woof woof!"

Chouchou barked joyfully next to him, as if agreeing with Alex.

"Well, now that we've sent Big Nose flying, I feel a lot better. Good thing this straw hat is still wearable."

Luffy picked up his damaged straw hat from the ground. He looked at the torn hole in it and fell silent.

"If that hat really means that much to you, I can stitch it up for you."

Nami noticed how much Luffy cared and offered.

"Really?"

Luffy's face lit up instantly.

"Sure—for 100,000 Berries."

Nami smiled slyly. "I'm not obligated to do it for free, am I?"

"You're not wrong… but I don't have that kind of money!"

Luffy panicked—fixing the hat was clearly important to him.

"Don't worry, I won't make it hard for you. I charged Alex 100,000 Berries for patching him up earlier. I'll just add yours to his tab—he'll pay it."

Nami's words calmed Luffy. He turned to Alex, who was lying on the ground completely unaware of the conversation, and waved.

"Alex, you're such a great friend—thanks a lot!"

Alex was confused. Already light-headed from blood loss, he now felt even more dizzy as he tried to figure out what Luffy had just thanked him for.

"All right, time to check on that mayor."

Luffy noticed Chouchou standing guard over Mayor Boodle's unconscious body. As he approached, a crowd of townspeople came rushing toward them.

"You're not from this town, are you? What are you doing here? Where's the Buggy Pirates? Did they have a falling out?"

The townspeople surrounded them with suspicion. Then someone noticed Boodle, bleeding from the head and passed out.

"Mayor! What happened to you?"

Seeing the townsfolk holding weapons, Nami grew worried. If they found out how the mayor really got hurt, things could get ugly.

Just then, Alex asked Luffy, "Did you knock the mayor out?"

"Yeah. He was just getting in the way, so I took him down."

Luffy replied honestly.

"WHAT?!"

The villagers were immediately on edge.

"Why would you just admit to that?!"

Nami was on the verge of tears. This guy was way too honest. She turned and yelled at Alex:

"Stop asking stupid questions!"

But Alex's head was too foggy to think clearly. Badly injured and losing blood, he had only asked on instinct.

"I mean, they saw it anyway."

Luffy didn't understand why Nami was upset.

"They saw the result, not the reason behind it!"

Nami snapped.

"You beat the mayor like this, and you expect us to believe it was justified?!"

"You guys are pirates, aren't you?"

The townsfolk raised their weapons, slowly advancing.

This is bad, Nami thought. If they found out I'm a thief, and these guys are pirates...

"We're pirates!"

Luffy declared with pride.

"And there's a thief too, don't forget."

Alex muttered from the ground.

"Oh yeah, Nami's a thief right now—but she'll be a pirate soon!"

Luffy grinned.

Nami was absolutely losing it now. She wanted to beat the both of them senseless.

"Bwahaha!"

Zoro couldn't stop laughing at their ridiculous exchange.

"You're all scum! Let's get 'em!"

With no more doubt, the villagers surged forward.

"You two idiots!"

Nami screamed at Luffy and Alex.

"I didn't say anything wrong," Luffy replied solemnly.

"Exactly," Alex murmured in agreement.

Nami was too furious for words.

"RUN! Zoro, carry Alex!"

Luffy jammed the hat on his head and bolted.

Zoro threw the half-conscious Alex over his shoulder and took off too.

Nami, burdened by two sacks of treasure, tossed one to Luffy so she could run faster.

"These townspeople are great. Just because the mayor's hurt, they're all so riled up. I really like this place."

Luffy said with a smile as he ran.

Nami glanced back at the furious mob chasing them. Despite herself, she found a small smile forming on her lips.

"Woof woof!"

Chouchou stood in the mob's path, barking nonstop, blocking their pursuit.

The villagers were confused. Why was the dog helping pirates? But with Chouchou in the way, they couldn't catch up. Luffy's crew had already escaped.

Later...

Having made it to the ship and set sail:

"Hey, wait up!!"

Mayor Boodle had regained consciousness and learned what happened. He ran all the way to the harbor, but by the time he arrived, Luffy's ship was already sailing away.

"Thank you! I'll never forget what you did for us!"

Tears rolled down the old man's face. At 60 years old, he was deeply grateful. Without them, he would be dead, and Orange Town would have been destroyed.

He had approached Buggy prepared to die, full of despair—but the outcome had been the best he could've hoped for.

He had so much he wanted to say, but in the end, all his thoughts condensed into one simple, heartfelt thank you.

Luffy beamed and called back from the ship,

"Don't worry about it—it's all in the past!"

"I don't even know what to say..."

Boodle's heart shook. As their ship faded into the distance, he cried openly. He understood: what mattered now was rebuilding Orange Town.

Is that what you were trying to show me, Alex? That not all pirates are the same?

Nami glanced at the sleeping Alex on the ship's deck, remembering how he had fought Buggy even while gravely wounded—just to show her he was a different kind of pirate.

Her heart softened. She could hear the gratitude in Boodle's voice.

For the first time in her life, Nami realized: not all pirates were treasure-hungry killers. What Alex had said was true—pirates really weren't all the same.

Sometime later...

"What?! You left the treasure behind?!"

Nami's scream echoed across the ship.

"I gave you one of the sacks worth five million Berries!"

"That's right—but the town needs money to rebuild,"

Luffy replied from another boat nearby.

"But it was MY money!"

Nami was about to lose her mind.

"If you want it, go take it back. Anyway, Alex and I wrecked half the town—leaving some compensation was only fair, right, Alex?"

Alex, just waking up, rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Yep. Break stuff, pay for it. Just common sense."

The moment he said that, he saw Nami's face turn pitch black. Sensing danger, he quickly asked,

"Wait—what were you guys talking about just now?"

"Doesn't matter. You both need to be punished!"

Nami grabbed Alex by the head with one hand and reached over to drag Luffy's head from the other boat with the other. She slammed both their heads into the sea.

"Stop! I can't swim—I'll drown!"

"I'm injured! You'll kill me, you maniac!"

Luffy and Alex thrashed helplessly.

"That's exactly why I'm doing this! You two need to DIE!"

Nami shouted. "Next time you pull this crap, I won't go easy on you!"

Zoro watched from the side, laughing his head off.

That night...

As everyone slept, no one noticed a small, seahorse-like creature leap from the sea and latch onto Alex's forehead.

Hours later, in a dark lab at a secret Marine research base in the New World...

A figure cloaked in shadow spoke with excitement:

"I never expected to find something so interesting in the weakest of the four seas—East Blue. I couldn't extract all of his memories, but what I got is more than enough. If this intel is real, then this is truly fascinating. Hmph... HAHAHAHA!"

Outside the lab, some Marines whispered to each other:

"Look, the doctor's gone mad again."

"Don't say that. He may act crazy, but his mind is five hundred years ahead of our time. Even if he is a lunatic, he's a lunatic capable of toppling the world."

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