As the words fell, the atmosphere instantly turned cold.
Himan was once again reminded of his own pathetic state when he was being chased by those damned bounty hunters, fleeing in disarray.
He felt particularly irritated by this idiot subordinate who had to bring up such an unpleasant topic right in front of him.
Immediately, he threw the glass in his hand at the young man, hitting him square on the bridge of the nose. The force was so great that the young man let out a cry, fell backward with a bloody nose, and passed out, his clothes soaked with alcohol.
"Bastard, you have to say such unlucky things when I'm at my happiest."
"Damn bounty hunters, self-proclaimed messengers of justice, but they're no better than pirates behind the scenes."
"I was even ready to pay them off to settle things, yet they still wouldn't let us go."
"After I use this stolen money to get a better warship, I will definitely find them and pull out every single one of their bones, one by one!"
The captain's furious rage terrified his underlings, making them all tremble with fear. Even the crew members who had been celebrating and dancing stopped their movements, each one too afraid to make a sound.
Feeling frustrated and angry, Himan was just thinking about picking a few unlucky fellows to vent his anger on when he heard bursts of gunfire from the outskirts of the ruins.
Himan's face changed dramatically, and he turned to look in the direction of the gunfire. That was where he had posted his lookouts. Unless something unexpected had happened, this meant enemies were attacking.
He didn't have time to wonder why there would be enemies in this godforsaken place. He quickly shouted orders to his lackeys:
"Hurry, hurry, all of you, pick up your guns."
"Rod, take a few men and go check it out. If it's those bounty hunters, send the signal immediately."
Rod was the vice-captain of this pirate crew, always loyal to Himan and fairly capable.
Upon hearing the order, he immediately called out a few names and was about to head out.
But before he could set off, two black shadows were thrown in from outside.
Himan and the others focused their eyes and saw that they were the corpses of two comrades who had long since lost their lives.
In an instant, everyone raised their guns warily, feeling terrified.
Under their gaze, a figure walked in from outside the ruins.
"Dammit, I didn't even say a word, and they just started shooting."
"You pirates are really vicious."
Bitz walked into the view of the pirates, disdainfully flicking the blood off his right index finger, looking displeased.
Seeing a stranger, Himan immediately waved his hand and ordered his subordinates:
"Open fire, kill him!!"
"Dammit, no honor among thieves!"
Bitz cursed angrily. 'Normally at a time like this, shouldn't the villain shout something, ask 'Who are you?!''
'Then after a lot of back and forth, because they can't agree with the protagonist, they finally take action?'
'How could this bastard just tell his subordinates to shoot immediately!'
In his panic, Bitz could only cross his arms in front of his chest while quickly charging towards the pirates opposite him.
But even so, he still inevitably took a few hits.
"This hurts, you bastards!"
Under the gazes of the pirates who looked at him like he was a monster, Bitz rushed into the crowd, knocking them out one by one with single punches.
Even the vice captain, Rod was sent flying by a whip kick from Bitz, crashing into several ruins before falling completely silent.
In the blink of an eye, 20-30 pirates were wiped out. The only one left standing was Himan, who had just given the order.
Himan's mouth hung open, his body trembling as he looked at his fallen underlings.
When Bitz's gaze fell upon him, he didn't hesitate for a second, immediately falling to his knees and bowing several times.
"Spare me, spare me, please spare me, sir~"
Bitz walked up, kicked him over, placed his right foot on his chest, and looked down at him interrogatingly.
"I ask you, which sea is this? What year of the Sea Circle calendar is it? And who are you?"
"Wh...which sea? This is the Grand Line."
Himan was confused by this strange question and said it instinctively.
Hearing this, Bitz increased the pressure under his foot a little. "Continue, keep talking!"
"Ah~", Himan cried out in pain, then, not daring to hesitate any longer, quickly spilled everything he knew.
"Please be gentle, sir. This year is Sea Circle Calendar 1520. I am the captain of the Roving Hunt Pirates, Himan, with a bounty of 14,000,000 Belly."
He blurted out everything Bitz wanted to know in one go, even reporting his own bounty, afraid that the other party might stomp him to death.
'Sea Circle Calendar 1520? Isn't this the year Monkey D. Luffy sets out to sea?'
'And I'm in the Grand Line. This is getting interesting.'
Moving his foot from Himan's chest, Bitz took two steps back, allowing him to catch his breath slightly, before continuing to ask:
"Let me ask you again, have you ever heard of Straw Hat Luffy? Has the Warlord Crocodile been defeated?"
"Eh, this, this, I haven't heard that name, sir. And there don't seem to be any rumors about Sir Crocodile being defeated either."
Himan sat up, answering quietly, feeling uneasy.
As he spoke, he cautiously looked up at the other's expression. Seeing Bitz lowering his head as if deep in thought, he immediately started racking his brains for a way to survive the current situation.
"Sir."
"Hmm?"
Bitz, having his train of thought interrupted, looked up somewhat displeased.
Meeting his fierce gaze, for a moment, Himan seemed to see a violent giant ape roaring at him.
"W-wait, sir, I am willing to exchange the treasure I've plundered for my life. I beg you, please spare me this once."
"Idiot, if I kill you, your treasure will be mine anyway."
Listening to Himan's plea for mercy, Bitz mercilessly raised his hand. A beam of light shot from his fingertip, piercing through Himan's heart.
"Phew~", blowing on his finger, Bitz looked satisfied at the falling Himan, whose vitality was fading.
"My bootleg Dodonpa doesn't look too bad."
"Alright, time to get to work. I'll take your treasure; it just so happens to be the start-up capital for my endeavors."
After dealing with these pirates, Bitz happily began cleaning up the battlefield.
He packed up all the gold, silver, and jewels that Himan and his crew had worked so hard to plunder, preparing to take it all away.
Just as Bitz was taking stock of his gains, another uninvited guest arrived outside the ruins.
"Hiding out here, what a coincidence. I hope you haven't damaged these precious ancient ruins."
Looking at the familiar flag hanging at the entrance of the ruins, fluttering in the wind, Robin pressed down on her cowboy hat, her expression turning slightly unpleasant.
After saying that, she adjusted the backpack on her shoulder and carefully stepped into the ruins.