"Robin~!"
From a distance, Luffy spotted Robin and the others waiting in the open area and immediately called out loudly.
"Luffy~!"
Hearing his voice, Robin quickly ran toward him. But as she got closer, she noticed that Luffy was carrying someone over his shoulder.
She hesitated for a moment, took two steps forward, and asked with a puzzled expression,
"Luffy… is that…?"
"Ah, right," Luffy saw Robin pointing at the person slung over his shoulder, Hancock, and finally set her down.
He said casually, "Robin, could you lend her some of your clothes? You two are about the same size.
Also… I remember Moria has a pair of Seastone handcuffs. Lock her in the storage room for now, I'll need her tonight."
With that, Luffy shoved the unconscious Hancock into Robin's arms and stretched his body with a yawn, not bothering to explain anything further.
Robin blankly accepted the unconscious empress. But as she stared at the stunning beauty in her arms, she felt no joy at all.
While carrying her back toward her own room, she couldn't help replaying Luffy's words in her mind.
"I'll need her… tonight?"
The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt. Sitting in a chair in her bedroom, she picked out the most outdated dress she owned, one she didn't like, and tried to ignore the temptation of the Empress's flawless figure as she changed into it.
"She's… so beautiful."
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Back outside, Moria clutched his still-sore belly and hobbled over to Luffy, laughing loudly:
"Gyahahahaha! Luffy-san, you're really something!"
Perona had already told him the full story of how Luffy healed him.
Though Moria had seen Luffy's strength before, he couldn't help but reflect again:
Power, strategy, capable allies… this man is destined for greatness. Maybe…"
Brook, however, stepped forward hesitantly and said,
"Luffy… the Kuja Pirates haven't gone far. That woman is still a newly appointed Warlord. If they report this to the Marines, who knows what could happen..."
As a ninety-year-old skeleton, Brook's thinking was quite thorough. He had already considered how Hancock's status might trigger a response from the Marine.
After all, Hancock wasn't alone, her crew was still waiting offshore.
"Gyahahaha, should we go catch up to them now?" Moria took a step forward eagerly, volunteering.
He had no corpses left in his collection and desperately needed new ones. Besides…
He glanced sneakily at Luffy, this guy was a "corpse-making machine," which made things difficult.
"No need. Leave them be," Luffy waved dismissively. He didn't actually want to make enemies of the Kuja Pirates, Hancock had simply pushed things too far.
If it had been anyone else, they'd probably all be drinking and feasting together by now.
He glanced at Moria again, puzzled.
"Why hasn't anyone come to recruit Moria as a Warlord yet? Did something go wrong?"
Well, whatever. That could wait.
Originally, Luffy had planned to use Moria's future status as a Warlord to get access to a Marine ship so they could cross the Calm Belt and return to the East Blue. But now… things were more complicated.
"Oh, right, Moria, have Hogback whip up a new batch of zombies as soon as possible. We need to speed things up."
"Got it, Luffy-san!"
─────────🏴☠️────────
Time flew by. When Luffy defeated Hancock, the sun had yet to reach its peak. Now, night has fallen.
Along the coast of Thriller Bark, the aftermath of Luffy and Hancock's clash had left the land shattered and torn. One part of the island was nearly broken off completely.
On a relatively flat section of land, the corpse of a black gorilla lay bound tightly to the ground.
"Gyahahaha…"
Moria cackled wickedly as he summoned a shadow and infused it into the gorilla's body. The shadow slipped into the corpse like ink into water.
Seconds later, the gorilla's finger twitched. Then its whole arm moved.
Clank clank clank!
The iron chains restraining it rattled loudly.
Suddenly, the black gorilla stood up. It glanced at the chains binding it and shouted, in a human voice:
"How dare you treat me, your queen, like this!?"
Its eyes locked onto Luffy, who stood nearby.
The arrogant glare in its eyes was identical to Hancock's, only now, it was on a gorilla's face.
It growled,
"Filthy man… this is your doing, isn't it!?"
Then, to everyone's astonishment, the gorilla flicked its non-existent hair and formed a heart shape with both hands, shouting:
"Mero Mero Sweet Wind!!"
PFFT!!
Luffy couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Hahahahahahaha!!!"
Laughter erupted across the entire coastline. Even Moria chuckled awkwardly.
Watching a gorilla mimic Hancock's iconic moves was beyond absurd, it was downright ridiculous.
The gorilla glared furiously at the laughing Luffy, bellowing:
"How dare you laugh at your queen!"
But its outburst only made things worse, everyone laughed even harder.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Gyahahahahaha!"
Even Moria couldn't help but burst into loud laughter this time.
"Damn you, men!!!"
The gorilla roared again and lashed out with a powerful kick toward Luffy.
The chains snapped like twigs. Its massive black leg ripped through the air, sending shockwaves toward Luffy.
Luffy didn't dare take it lightly.
With a burst of his Sky Flame, he shot high into the air.
In midair, he extended one arm and aimed his palm toward the airborne gorilla-empress below. Vast energy began to gather in his hand.
Meanwhile, the gorilla slammed its leg down.
BOOM!!
Its kick cratered the earth, leaving a giant pit a hundred meters wide.
"Insolent ant!"
Seeing Luffy escape skyward, the gorilla jumped after him, surprisingly agile for its bulky size.
But sadly, the moment it reached Luffy's altitude… its brief new life came to an end.
Luffy's attack was ready.
He pointed his palm at the oncoming gorilla's head and unleashed his full power:
"X BURNER!!"
A blazing torrent of flame erupted, slamming straight into the gorilla's face.
"AAAHHH!!!"
The gorilla screamed in pain, but was quickly consumed by the fiery shockwave. It felt lifeless.
A dark shadow flew from its mouth, caught swiftly by Moria's shadow powers.
"Whew~"
Back on the ground, Luffy looked down at the crater left by the gorilla's attack and sighed in relief:
"Good thing zombies are weak to fire…"
─────────🏴☠️────────
[DING! Congratulations, Host, for killing Zombie General – EXP +75,800, Gold +154,000]
[DING! EXP full, leveling up…]
[DING! Congratulations, Host, now Level 28!]