[Location: Shells Town]
After Luffy and Zoro defeated Axe-Hand Morgan and the corrupt Marines, the town did their best to give them a feast and celebrate their freedom.
"Shishishishi… buuuuUurp—
Ah, I'm full," said Luffy, still patting his expanded stomach.
Zoro was drinking some sake. Then he asked, "Oy. Luffy, you said you created your own crew. So how many people have you already gathered?"
"Oh—" Luffy paused and counted on his fingers. "Well, I'm the captain, so one. And you, two. And another one, three. So we're three."
"W-what, only three?" Zoro was shocked and neutered. "Is it too late now to back out?"
Then Zoro asked, "So where is the third guy?" he asked curiously.
"BuuuUuuurp…
You mean the bandage man. Well, he's on our ship—he's guarding it!" said Luffy casually.
"B-bandage man?" said Zoro.
"Yes, bandage man," replied Luffy. He wanted to explain more, but he was cut off by the Marines who stormed into the restaurant where they were eating. They demanded for them to leave immediately, which caused the other citizens—and even some Marines—to feel ashamed and against it. But Luffy and Zoro just stood up, planning to leave.
One of the Marines said, "Isn't this pink kid guy with you?"
Koby couldn't say anything.
And Luffy, knowing Koby's lifelong dream, did his part. He irritated and taunted Koby, saying he used to be a pirate. But before Luffy could continue, Koby punched him—and of course, Luffy answered with another punch. This caused the two to escalate the scene, which then made the Marines certain that Koby wasn't one of them.
When Luffy did his part, he got up and walked side by side with Zoro toward their ship.
Koby and the Marines gave them a salute of recognition and a thankful gesture.
"Marines thanking pirates—that's new," said Zoro.
Luffy just laughed…
♤
Then Luffy and Zoro arrived at their own ship.
It wasn't a small boat, but a medium merchant ship. Its exterior was patched together from brown wood, and several cracks could be seen along the ship's surface.
"H-hey, Luffy, is this your ship? It looks like it's going to sink soon," said Zoro.
"We'll find a ship just for us later. We're just using this for now," Luffy replied.
Suddenly, the two heard a scream from their ship. It was the scream of a woman.
"H-heeeeEeeelp—!"
Zoro and Luffy jumped onto the ship's deck. There, they saw the orange-haired girl they had met earlier at the Marine base. She was lifted off the ground, one hand wrapped tightly around her neck as she was being strangled. They saw her struggling desperately to break free from the grip of the man who was suffocating her. Tears flowed from her eyes. She couldn't breathe, and she would surely pass out if this continued.
Luffy saw the bandage man.
"H-hey, bandage man, stop… that's our, navigator!" Luffy shouted.
It seemed the bandage man heard Luffy's voice, and he instantly let go of his hand from the orange-haired girl's neck.
Then she fell onto the ship's deck.
BaaAAaang—
"Cough… cough… cough…"
The woman took heavy breaths, trying to stabilize her breathing. She had almost died from suffocation.
"Huuu—" Luffy wiped imaginary sweat from his head. "Made it in time. You're lucky he let go, or he would've—" Luffy made a slicing gesture across his neck toward the woman.
Zoro just stared at the two new people.
When Zoro heard the scream, he rushed to the deck. There, he saw a tall figure wearing a plain black kimono and wooden sandals. Just like Luffy said, bandages covered his entire face, leaving only his mouth exposed. From his eyes down to his neck, everything was wrapped in bandages.
When Zoro looked at the hand that had been gripping the woman's neck, he noticed it was pale, and the fingernails were colored black.
Then he saw a sword tucked at the man's waist.
This made him raise an eyebrow—a swordsman—and Zoro smirked. He had heard Luffy shouting, and the bandage man had obeyed.
Just as Zoro was about to step forward and ask for a fight, he saw the bandage man suddenly kneel in front of the woman. He kowtowed deeply while apologizing.
"Ah—I-I'm s-sorry. Y-you s-suddenly c-came i-into m-my r-room. I-I g-got s-scared. A-and I-I t-thought I-I w-was being a-attacked. I-I'm s-sorry…"
The bandage man kept kneeling, his head pressed against the deck, his hands outstretched as if worshipping the woman while apologizing.
The woman saw the man kneeling and apologizing to her, and she could hear his voice. It was shaky and truly scared.
She was Nami, also known as the Cat Burglar.
Nami had chin-length orange hair with a distinctive curled lock on the left side of her face. Her clothes were a white-and-blue striped shirt paired with a simple orange mini-skirt and brown high-heeled boots.
Nami had seen the dilapidated merchant ship and planned to do some sneaky work on it. She landed smoothly on the deck and dug deeper into the rooms. She saw some scattered food on the floor, but she didn't care why—she only needed to steal. There were vegetables, meat, and alcohol. When she saw no gold, she decided to go deeper.
Then she noticed a closed room. This made her assume there might be gold inside. She slowly opened the door. The door wasn't locked.
Creeeak—
The door opened. It was dark. No light. She stumbled over something and fell to the floor. She expected to slam into hard wooden boards, but instead she fell onto something soft, like a person's body.
She tried to get up, but her hands brushed against something like clothing, and she could feel warmth beneath it.
Then it happened.
A large hand suddenly grabbed her neck, tightening its grip. She didn't notice it at first, but in an instant she was near the entrance, as if the man had moved both her and himself at a speed her eyes couldn't follow—or maybe the man wanted her to die in the light.
When the light came, Nami noticed the bandages covering the man's face, leaving only his mouth uncovered.
Then she saw him open his mouth.
Fangs.
A long tongue.
That was when she screamed.
For help.
But now, seeing how scared and shaken he truly was, and understanding how everything had happened in the first place, she knew she was at fault for barging in.