Chapter 135: All-Purpose Ralph!
Miss Wednesday blinked, her head still feeling somewhat groggy.
The next second, memories flooded back—the whale's stomach, the old lighthouse keeper, and...
"Pirates!"
"You're awake?"
Miss Wednesday turned to see a blond man approaching with a tray, on which rested a freshly prepared juice drink.
The man wore a black suit, held a cigarette between his lips, and wore an elegant smile at the corner of his mouth.
"..."
Miss Wednesday froze.
"Beautiful lady, allow me to introduce you to the Going Merry, the ship of the Straw Hat Pirates."
Sanji placed the tray in front of Miss Wednesday and gestured with his chin toward the other side.
"Your companion is awake too."
Just then, Mr. 9's voice sounded from nearby.
"Weren't we just inside the whale's stomach a moment ago?"
Mr. 9 murmured.
"Those damn pirates ambushed us..."
Mr. 9 gritted his teeth, but then realized he was currently on a pirate ship and unconsciously lowered his voice.
Sanji seemed not to notice his odd behavior, enthusiastically handing the drink to Miss Wednesday:
"Beautiful lady, please enjoy. This is a specially made juice that helps relieve headaches."
Miss Wednesday numbly took the cup, too afraid to drink.
She looked up at Sanji, then at the surrounding sea, when a terrifying thought suddenly struck her:
"Where... where are you taking us?"
"Whiskey Peak."
Another voice came from the doorway.
Nami walked in, wearing the Log Pose she had taken from the two of them.
She shook it at them and smiled:
"Thank you for providing the Log Pose. We're now heading toward the island where your town is located."
"Whiskey Peak..."
Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.
Had they been saved by pirates?
No, captured?
But that wasn't right either... These pirates seemed genuinely intent on sending them home?
The overwhelming amount of information left the two momentarily unable to process it.
They sat dazedly on the deck, their minds a jumbled mess.
But soon, a more urgent thought overshadowed everything else—
The whale-hunting mission had failed.
As agents of Baroque Works, they knew all too well what mission failure meant.
If they didn't quickly explain to the company that the mission failed because of these pirates, punishment would soon follow.
At this thought, cold sweat broke out on both their foreheads.
Mr. 9 instinctively looked up at the sky—
And then his movements froze.
On the horizon, a small black dot was diving toward the Going Merry.
The black dot grew larger, gradually revealing the outline of a vulture.
Even more bizarrely, there was something riding on the vulture's back... a sea otter?
"No... the Unluckies..."
Miss Wednesday's voice trembled.
Mr. 9's face instantly turned as pale as paper.
That was the company's specialized agent duo responsible for dealing with mission failures.
The vulture handled flying, the sea otter handled detonating bombs.
Their appearance had only one meaning: to punish failures.
"..."
Mr. 9's legs went weak, nearly collapsing to the ground.
Just then—
"Look! There's a vulture over there!"
A voice filled with excitement rang out.
Lufia sat on the little sheep's head at the bow of the ship, pointing excitedly at the sky and shouting.
The rest of the Straw Hat crew gathered on the deck at the sound of her voice.
"It's true!"
Usopp saw it too, "There's an otter riding on the vulture's back!"
Sanji squinted as he observed:
"The vulture is wearing a pilot's cap and goggles. It doesn't seem to be a wild breed."
Usopp noticed something more detailed:
Sparks!
"That otter... it's striking shells together. There's a rope next to it. The other end of the rope is tied to a square package... Wait, the shells colliding are producing—"
Before he could finish, the sparks ignited the rope.
That wasn't an ordinary rope.
It was a fuse.
"It's a bomb!"
Usopp cried out in alarm, "Enemy attack! Is the Grand Line really this dangerous? Even random flying animals know how to use bombs?!"
Instinctively, he ducked and covered his head—a conditioned reflex formed over years of Usopp's habits.
But the next second, he sprang back up, frantically loading ammunition into his slingshot.
"No, no! I'm a warrior who can protect my comrades now!"
He encouraged himself while aiming at the sky, "Take this—"
Just then, a gunshot cut through the sea breeze.
Bang!
Precise and decisive.
The package bomb about to be dropped exploded into a ball of flames mid-air.
The shockwave from the explosion reached the Going Merry, leaving only a gust of wind smelling of gunpowder that tousled everyone's hair.
The two animals tumbled away in the blast wave, quickly disappearing into the clouds.
The deck fell silent for a moment.
Everyone looked in the direction the gunshot had come from.
Ralph stood by the ship's railing, holding a gold-inlaid Pistol in his hand.
He slowly lowered his arm and blew away the faint smoke drifting from the barrel.
"What a shame."
He thought to himself.
Those two animals were quite interesting.
If he could tame them with his beast-taming skills, they might make excellent reconnaissance units.
But animals in the world of One Piece were tenacious—they probably weren't that easy to kill. He might meet them again someday.
"Ralph!"
Nami was the first to react, "You're still as reliable as ever."
Usopp's mouth hung open for a long moment before he stammered:
"Th-that distance... the swaying deck... and the sea breeze... you hit it with one shot?! Ralph, has your marksmanship improved again?"
He suddenly felt a sense of crisis.
Back when they first set sail, he had even thought about competing for the captain's position.
Now, forget being captain—he might not even be able to keep his position as the crew's sniper!
Zoro wore an expression of exasperation:
"You have such great talent in swordsmanship, but instead of focusing on it, you're practicing with guns again?"
Sanji started with a calm, teasing tone:
"The Navy really should update your wanted poster. Instead of 'Nameless Swordsman Ralph,' call it 'All-Purpose Ralph.'"
He blew a smoke ring, a half-smile on his face, "Are you planning to take over every position on the ship except captain, then explore the Grand Line with Miss Lufia alone?"
At this point, his expression suddenly changed, and he gritted his teeth:
"Dammit... I'm so jealous!"
Hearing this, Ralph actually considered it for a moment.
If conditions allowed, that would indeed be an excellent idea to boost Lufia's favorability.
Two people, one ship, living together day and night, facing the challenges of the Grand Line side by side...
But that was just a fleeting thought.
Ralph certainly had the capability now.
After leaving Twin Cape, the system notified him that he and Crocus had barely reached a "friend" relationship, which directly elevated his initially basic medical skills to an intermediate level.
Coupled with his already intermediate-level swordsmanship, navigation, and culinary skills, as well as his shooting proficiency, which had improved to intermediate through daily practice...
In theory, he truly could handle all roles on the ship except for the captain.