"Ah~"
"We finally got away from those guys."
Usopp, standing on the deck, let out a huge sigh of relief. The feeling of being surrounded by a large fleet of military warships was truly awful.
Fortunately, the enemy didn't open fire all at once, otherwise their pirate ship might not have survived.
"Sothing feels off to ," Nico Robin said, looking back. "Would the Navy really go to such lengths to surround us here?"
"And if Aokiji were present, he wouldn't just let us leave like that."
If that man had truly acted, the entire sea would have frozen over, just like before we reached the City of Seven Waters.
But the sea hadn't frozen, which made Nico Robin suspicious.
"Could it be those guys' trick?" iser raised an eyebrow.
If it wasn't the Navy, then it could only be those bounty hunters who had their eyes on them.
"Bounty hunters? No way."
"Yeah, those were clearly a bunch of warships just now."
"Whether they are or not, why don't we just ask those guys?" iser glanced at the pirate ship being carried by the Water Dragon behind the rry Go. "Might as well bring Chopper back too."
Although using the Water Release Technique on the open sea didn't consu much Chakra, prolonged use still took its toll.
Besides, they weren't obligated to keep carrying these guys around, were they?
"Yeah, yeah, bring Chopper back quickly," Usopp said.
As he spoke, he ran to the higher part of the stern and shouted at the pirate ship behind them, "Hey, you guys! Give our ship's doctor back right now!"
Stanson: ???
"What?"
Stanson, who had just gotten up from the ground, glared at Usopp in confusion, not understanding what he ant.
What did he an by giving their ship's doctor back? He hadn't seen any ship's doctor.
"You bastards, are you trying to kidnap Chopper too?!" Usopp widened his eyes.
"Whoosh~"
"Thud!!"
With a dull thud, Luffy landed on their pirate ship with such force that he left two holes in the deck.
"Ah, sorry, sorry."
"N-no... it's fine..."
Cold sweat broke out on Stanson's forehead. What kind of terrifying strength was this? Just jumping over had already damaged the deck.
Luffy didn't pay it any mind and looked around, but there was no sign of Chopper.
"Hey, Chopper, where are you?"
"We're here to pick you up!"
"You've already beaten us up once. Are you really going to attack us again?" Kair, lying on the ground, struggled to stand up as he spoke. "If that's the case, then I'll—"
"Relax, we're not interested in you," iser said calmly, holding rry as he jumped over. "Otherwise, you'd already be dead."
He had no intention of bullying people in distress, and besides, Luffy had already let them go.
Kair opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing, rely lowering his head with a quiet sigh.
In the end, it was because they were too weak—not even strong enough to pique the other party's interest.
Just then, Chopper ca trotting out from the cabin, calling out, "Hey, Luffy, I'm here!"
"Ah, Chopper!"
"Why is everyone here?" Chopper asked, looking at his crewmates in confusion.
"You little rascal, how can you even say that?" Zoro said irritably. "Running off without a word—what if there was danger?"
"Yeah, Chopper, even if you wanted to treat soone, you should've let us know what was going on."
"Right, what if sothing happened?"
"Chopper."
rry jumped down from iser's arms and looked at Chopper seriously. "Don't run off without telling us next ti, okay~?"
"We'd worry about you!"
"rry... everyone..."
"Sorry, I won't do it again."
Chopper realized his mistake. If there had been an enemy lying in wait on that ship, he might not even have had the chance to call for help before being taken out.
"Anyway, as long as you're safe," Luffy said with a grin. "Let's head back."
"W-wait a minute!"
Gino suddenly stepped in front of Chopper, spreading his arms. "You can't take Dr. Chopper away yet."
"Kid, what do you an by that?" rry glared. "Are you trying to steal our crewmate?"
"K-kid?" Gino was dumbfounded. "You look younger than —why are you calling a kid?"
"Hmph! I'm a spirit, not a human!" rry declared proudly, hands on her hips. "So I'm already a big kid!"
Gino: "..."
What kind of nonsense is this?
Stanson gave rry a strange look but dismissed it as childish talk.
"I'm not trying to steal your crewmate. I just hope Dr. Chopper can stay a little longer," Gino said earnestly. "Captain Puzzle isn't out of danger yet—we still need Dr. Chopper's help."
"You... you..." Chopper suddenly squird bashfully. "Even if you call a great doctor, I won't be happy, you jerk~!"
"You look plenty happy to ," iser deadpanned.
"Chopper, what do you think?"
"I'd like to stay a bit longer," Chopper said. "I just finished operating on their captain, and he's still in critical condition."
"Got it." Luffy nodded.
"Hey, Luffy!"
"It's fine, I'll stick around," Luffy said cheerfully. "Chopper, do what you need to do."
"Okay!"
Chopper imdiately brightened, overjoyed at being understood. It felt really good!
"Then please co with ," Gino said, pulling Chopper along. "Dr. Chopper, let's go."
"You... even if you praise , I won't..."
"Ahahaha, Chopper's so funny!"
Watching Luffy laugh and follow the two into the cabin, iser turned his gaze to Stanson.
That single glance instantly made Stanson tense up.
In that instant, Stanson recalled the terrifying scene he had witnessed earlier—an enormous blood-red eye suspended in the sky, blotting out the sun, utterly horrifying!
And that eye belonged to this fearso man!
"I'll ask you a few questions."
"Yes!"
"Do you know what was going on with those Navy warships earlier?" iser inquired.
"This..."
"What, can't you say?" iser raised an eyebrow.
"It's not that I can't say... it's just that I don't know either..." Stanson replied awkwardly. "When we passed through here before, we encountered a similar situation."
"Those warships appeared around us, gradually forming an encirclent, leaving only one gap for us to escape through."
"Exactly like what just happened," Franky pushed up his sunglasses and said. "Seems they weren't real Navy ships."
The Navy wouldn't just waste ti surrounding a bunch of nobodies with no bounties. Were they really worth mobilizing so many troops?
If they were here to hunt down the Straw Hat Pirates, that would've been more believable.
"Then it must be the work of a bounty hunter family," Nico Robin nodded.
That made sense. No wonder there was such a sense of dissonance earlier—that explained it.
"But how did they do it?" Usopp wondered. "The Navy sails we saw earlier didn't look fake..."
"Not sure."
"Not sure?!"
"It's true, we really don't know," Stanson raised his hands in a placating gesture. "They never explained it to us."
"Seems our enemies aren't the type to explain their abilities," iser remarked.
Fair enough. Judging from Luffy's earlier conversation with them, they weren't the muscle-brained idiots he'd assud.
"Go on. What happened next?"
"After escaping the encirclent, you gradually enter the Icy Sea Route. That's when..."
As he spoke, Stanson's expression changed—he realized their two ships had already entered the Icy Sea Route!
"Icy Sea Route..." iser glanced at the icebergs appearing on either side. "You an this?"
"How is this so fast?!"
"That's impossible! Last ti, it took us hours to reach this point!"
"Did those guys move the icebergs or sothing?"
Erl and the others wore expressions of disbelief. They could hardly trust their eyes.
This was an entire field of icebergs, not just a few scattered blocks.
"Stare~"
The entire Straw Hat Pirates crew fixed their gazes on iser, silently accusing the culprit.
"iser, seems your Water Dragon was just too fast~" rry teased.
"iser, why were you going so fast?!"
iser: ???
"Now, Nami, you shouldn't be saying that," iser shot her a look and retorted. "When you grabbed earlier, you were yelling 'Don't stop, keep charging forward!' terrified the Navy would catch up."
"So why are you blaming now?"
If she hadn't been screaming things like 'Keep going! We have to escape the Navy's pursuit as fast as possible!' he wouldn't have rushed ahead at such speed.
When iser said that, Nami actually felt a bit embarrassed—she had indeed said those words at the ti.
But that was only to escape from the Marines.
"Since we're already here, there's no point talking about it now," Zoro glanced at Iceberg before shifting his gaze to Stanson's face and asked, "So, what happens after we enter the Icy Sea Route?"
"The icebergs will be moved by the Ferocious Penguins, forming an encirclent to trap the Pirate Ship. Eventually, we'll have to face those bounty hunters," Stanson answered honestly. "That's how they took our Pirate Flag and sails."
Recalling the ordeal, Stanson couldn't help but shudder. That group of bounty hunters was far too powerful—they stood no chance against them!
"Ferocious Penguins?"
"They're carnivorous creatures raised by the bounty hunters. Absolutely terrifying."
"I see," Franky nodded. "Gotta give them credit for coming up with this thod."
This way, they could indeed block the Pirate Ship—after all... not every ship could fly!
"Looks like we're gonna clash after all," iser grinned.
"So it cos down to a fight in the end," Zoro rested his hand on his sword hilt and said, "But... taking our heads won't be that easy!"
"Hey, hey, hey, fighting bounty hunters...?" Usopp's legs trembled. Anyone bold enough to target them definitely wouldn't be weak.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just... I have this disease where I'll die if I fight bounty hunters..." Usopp stubbornly insisted.
"Huh?!"
rry imdiately panicked, her face full of worry as she said, "Quick, Usopp, I'll take you to Chopper. You can't die!"
Usopp: "..."
"HAHAHAHA!"
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