Being targeted by a hundred guns wasn't the most terrifying thing. No, the real terror was being targeted by a hundred guns that were about to fire in the next second.
"Could it be… this guy's really that sorcerer? The big-time pirate with a seventy-million-belly bounty?" one of the pirate grunts shouted, his face pale with fear.
Not bad. In the final moments of his life, his brain finally sparked with a bit of clarity. Unfortunately, it was far too late.
With a flicker of thought, Sherlock clenched his right hand. In an instant, the hundred muskets floating in midair fired simultaneously. The deafening gunfire shattered the tranquil dusk of Tresis, the sound carrying far and wide, so much so that a group of cowardly pirates trembled in fear, mistaking it for a Marine raid.
Tongues of flame spat from the barrels, and gunpowder smoke filled the air. Countless bullets rained down on the hapless grunts—cannon fodder in all but name—like they cost nothing. Well, to be fair, these bullets were mirror constructs. They really didn't cost a thing.
Thor, the "great pirate" with a bounty of three million berries, lived up to his reputation. Unlike his terrified underlings, he reacted swiftly, grabbing the nearest grunt and using him as a human shield.
"Captain…!" the grunt started to say, only for his head to explode as a bullet struck.
The sound of bullets tearing through the air, the splatter of blood, and the dying screams of the pirates blended into a grim symphony of death, painted in crimson.
The weakling pirates fell like harvested wheat. Just as Sherlock prepared to dismiss his ability, he noticed a corpse—dead beyond dead—charging toward him at alarming speed.
Reaching a blind spot in the gunfire, Thor tossed aside his meat shield. With a wild yell, he drew the long blade at his waist and lunged, aiming straight for Sherlock's chest.
If escape was impossible, he'd go down fighting!
Sherlock didn't dodge or flinch. Instead, he obligingly puffed out his chest.
Mirror Reversal!
The familiar sensation of a blade piercing flesh never came. Instead, Thor's finely crafted steel sword shattered from the inside out, breaking into fragments. Before he could process what happened, a tremendous force surged through the hilt in his hand. With the sickening crack of breaking bones, Thor was sent flying backward, soaring through the air like a ragdoll.
Dozens of muskets swiveled, their barrels locking onto Thor mid-flight. They fired in unison.
Bang! The sound was crisp and uniform. Thud. A grotesque corpse hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The Vicious Pirate Crew was completely wiped out!
The air reeked of blood and gunpowder, but Tresis regained its quiet serenity.
"Disgusting," Sherlock muttered, surveying the bullet-riddled corpses. He calmly adjusted his glasses. "The annoying idiots are gone. So, are you coming out on your own, or…"
With a wave of his hand, the hundred muskets swiveled in unison, their barrels now aimed at a patch of bushes by the roadside.
"…do I need to invite you out?" Sherlock's eyes narrowed slightly.
"No, no, no, please, spare us! We're coming out!"
Two young men, each with a curved sword at their waist, scrambled out of the bushes. One wore sunglasses, the other a red headband. What stood out was their tattoos—one had "Sea" inked on his right cheek, the other "Thief" on his left.
It was Johnny and Yosaku, Roronoa Zoro's bounty hunter sidekicks.
A little while later…
"So, you're saying you were hiding here not to capture me, but to go after a member of the Vicious Pirate Crew?" Sherlock asked casually, flipping through the stack of wanted posters he'd confiscated from Johnny.
"Exactly, it's all a misunderstanding!" Yosaku nodded frantically, his head bobbing like a chicken pecking at rice. He and his partner had just witnessed this killing machine wipe out an entire pirate crew in seconds. One wrong move, and those corpses littering the ground would be their example.
Here's how it went down: After the Straw Hat Pirates crushed Arlong's domain, Johnny and Yosaku left Cocoyasi Village and arrived in Tresis, hoping to bag a few pirates they could handle for bounties. They'd set their sights on a member of the Vicious Pirate Crew.
Learning that the crew was heading to a tavern to cause trouble, the duo set up an ambush nearby, planning to fish in troubled waters. What they didn't expect was to hook a deep-sea Sea King instead!
The Sorcerer! The man who dismantled a Marine base single-handedly, with a seventy-million-belly bounty. The average bounty in the East Blue was a mere three million! While a bounty didn't fully reflect strength, this killing machine was undeniably beyond their league.
If it weren't for the hundred guns pointed at them, the bounty hunter duo would've collapsed in tears, cursing whatever sins they'd committed in their past lives.
Sherlock flipped through the posters quickly, his slender eyebrows raising slightly when he reached the last one.
The wanted poster showed a cheerful teenager, about seventeen or eighteen, with a scar near his eye. He wore a yellow straw hat with a red band, grinning widely with squinted eyes and holding up five fingers, radiating carefree joy.
Below, it read:
Monkey D. Luffy
Bounty: 30,000,000 Berries
"Straw Hat Luffy? The one who took down that idiot Krieg?" Sherlock adjusted his glasses, waving the poster at Johnny and Yosaku. "You two, what do you know about what Straw Hat Luffy's been up to?" He gave a faint smile. "Answer well, and I might consider letting you go."
Half an hour later…
Under Sherlock's subtle probing, the straightforward bounty hunters spilled everything about their time with the Straw Hat Pirates. They even detailed the feast in Cocoyasi Village after Arlong's defeat, down to the exact dishes served.
Seeing no further information worth digging for, Sherlock nodded and dismissed his mirror constructs. Johnny and Yosaku let out long sighs of relief, grateful to have survived.
Pulling his hood back up, Sherlock addressed the two, who were slumped on the ground. "I'll let you off this time. Pretend you never saw me. And with your skills, you'd be better off fishing than playing bounty hunter."
With that, Sherlock strode off into the distance, his shadow stretching long under the setting sun.
"His dream is to become the Pirate King? That's quite like her," he mused. "His goal is the Grand Line? That means heading to Loguetown." He paused. "Fine. I'll settle my last business in Loguetown and then see what the Grand Line has in store."
Time passed…
Somewhere in the East Blue…
The weather was clear, the sky cloudless, and the sun shone brightly. A few seagulls soared through the azure sky, their cries echoing. On the calm, vast sea, a ship sailed slowly.
It was an old-fashioned small sailboat, its mast flying a black skull flag that marked its owner's identity. Oddly, the skull wore a yellow straw hat, giving it a comical touch.
The ship's figurehead was a slightly goofy-looking goat, and atop it sat a person.
He wore a red vest, blue shorts, and sandals, sitting cross-legged on the goat's head. One hand shaded his eyes as he gazed into the distance, his bright eyes sparkling with excitement under his straw hat.
"Hey, Nami! Where's our next stop?" he called out.
A beautiful orange-haired girl looked up, pulling out a sea chart and glancing at the compass on her wrist. "Next stop is Loguetown," she replied.
"Loguetown, huh?" said a blond man in a black suit, carrying a tray with several drinks that looked as delicious as they likely tasted. "I heard from the old man that Loguetown's the closest town to the Grand Line. Nami-san, this is a special love-fruit smoothie I made just for you…"
"Arigato, Sanji," Nami said, taking the drink and ignoring the chef's lovesick expression. She turned back to Luffy. "Loguetown, also known as the Town of the Beginning and the End."
"The Town of the Beginning and the End?" Luffy tilted his head, puzzled.
Nami sipped her smoothie and nodded. "That's right. It's where the Pirate King, Gold Roger, was born and executed. So, wanna check it out?"
"Of course!" Luffy flashed a huge grin.
Nami and Sanji exchanged a knowing smile. Of course. This guy's dream was to become the Pirate King—how could he pass up a place with such significance?
"Hey, everyone!" A long-nosed man ran up, flustered, shouting to the trio. "Big news! I saw a red dolphin at the stern!"
"What?! That's awesome!" Luffy's eyes lit up with stars. "Usopp, where's that red dolphin? I'm gonna make it my crewmate!"
The chef and the navigator exchanged a helpless glance.
With a captain this ridiculous, they were in for quite a ride.
The two rushed to the stern, their commotion loud enough to wake a green-haired swordsman napping on the deck nearby.
Roronoa Zoro cracked one eye open, glancing irritably toward the back of the ship before closing it to resume his nap.
(Gotta find those other two swords soon. If push comes to shove, I'll just borrow money from Nami.)
Zoro tightened his grip on Wado Ichimonji as he drifted back to sleep.