As the Going Merry navigated the canal flowing down from Reverse Mountain, the legendary island of bounty hunters—Whiskey Peak—finally emerged on the horizon.
It was a bizarre sight: massive, cactus-shaped peaks loomed over the sea, with a bustling town nestled at their base.
Ordinarily, the arrival of a pirate ship flying a Jolly Roger would send civilians fleeing in terror. But here...
"Welcome! Welcome, Pirates!!" "Long live the pirates! The heroes have arrived!!"
Dense crowds of townspeople gathered at the docks, waving welcome banners and wearing bright, enthusiastic smiles. They cheered and even played a lively melody as the Merry docked.
"Whoa!! This is amazing! They're having a welcoming ceremony!" Luffy leaned over the railing, his eyes sparkling. "The people here are so hospitable!"
"Has my fame already reached the Grand Line? Am I a hero now?" Usopp began to float on air, basking in the imaginary glory.
However, Viktor stood at the bow, watching the scene with his characteristic smirk. His dark eyes shifted instantly into the crimson of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Hum—
Under the insight of the Sharingan, the world shed its disguise. The "townspeople" with welcoming smiles, the seemingly harmless old men and women—in Viktor's vision, every single one of them was shrouded in a faint aura of bloodlust.
Beneath their clothes and hidden within their bouquets were the cold, metallic glints of swords and firearms.
"A town full of actors..." Viktor's lips curled into a playful, cold smirk as the red light in his eyes faded. "Looks like we've walked right into a wolf's den."
Nami walked up beside him. As a former "cat burglar" who had survived years on the streets, her intuition was screaming. "Viktor, this isn't right," she whispered, eyeing the shore warily. "Ordinary people don't welcome pirates like this. What do we do?"
"Don't worry, Miss Navigator." Viktor patted her shoulder gently. "Since they've gone to the trouble of being so 'hospitable,' why don't we cooperate and put on a show?"
After docking, the mayor, Igaram—a man with golden curls who spoke as if he were singing—warmly greeted them alongside Vivi and the others.
"Welcome to Whiskey Peak! The sanctuary of fine wine and music!" Igaram waved a grand hand. "To celebrate your arrival, we are hosting a magnificent banquet tonight! The meat and wine are on us!"
This struck every one of the Straw Hat crew's weaknesses perfectly.
"MEAT!! I want meat!!" Luffy drooled and was the first to charge in.
"BEAUTIES! So many beauties!!" Sanji's eyes turned into hearts as his body twisted into a noodle.
"I am the brave warrior of the sea, Captain Usopp!" Under the praise of several women, Usopp's nose practically touched the sky.
Inside the banquet hall, lights blazed, and the atmosphere reached a fever pitch.
"Come on! Drink up!!"
Nami, at this moment, showed a side that shocked everyone. "You're saying if I win the drinking contest, I get 100,000 Berries?" She slammed a foot onto a barrel, hoisting a massive beer mug. A pile of burly men who had tried to drink her under the table already lay sprawled before her.
"Send ten more!! I'm just getting started!!" For the sake of the prize money, Nami's combat power was off the charts, literally drinking a dozen giants into oblivion.
"Caw-caw-gah! Big Sister Nami is the best!!" Klay stood on a table, caught up in the frenetic energy. He flapped his wings and boasted, "Of course! My Big Sister is the woman who can drink the ocean dry! Caw!"
"Heavens! That crow is talking?!" "Incredible!!"
Klay's speech stunned the surrounding townspeople and bounty hunters. "Come, come! Let the Divine Bird have a drink too!"
Lured by the "flattery" and cheers of the ill-intentioned crowd, Klay got a bit carried away. He struggled to hold a cup with both wings, tilting his head back to pour it into his beak like a human.
Gulp... cough-cough-cough!!
Clearly, a bird's beak was not designed for cups. Most of the liquor flowed down his feathers, with only a drop reaching his throat. Instantly, the majestic black crow became a bedraggled "drowned chicken," his wet feathers matted against his body.
"Pwahaha! This bird is stupid!" "It's a drowned chicken now!"
The onlookers burst into merciless laughter.
"CAW—!! Stupid humans! What are you laughing at?!" Enraged and embarrassed, Klay shook his body violently like a centrifuge. Splash! The wine and saliva on his feathers sprayed out, hitting the laughing hunters square in the face.
"Pah! This damn bird!"
In a dim corner of the banquet hall, Viktor leaned back on a sofa with a glass of red wine. His eyes looked hazy, suggesting he was seventy percent drunk, but beneath his lids, his pupils were razor-sharp, silently observing everything.
He yawned, debating whether to take this chance to rest. Suddenly, a fragrant breeze drifted over.
"Viktor"
A tipsy Nami, her face flushed red, wobbled over. Perhaps it was the alcohol or her subconscious reliance on him, but Nami ignored everyone's gaze. She took advantage of her drunkenness and sat directly on Viktor's lap.
"Mmph..." Viktor's body stiffened slightly for a second.
Nami, oblivious, reached out her soft arms and draped them around Viktor's neck. She pressed her burning cheek against his chest, muttering drunkenly, "Hic... money... so much money... I want a drink too..."
Viktor sighed helplessly. He adjusted his posture to keep her from sliding off, then wrapped an arm around her slender waist. "Honestly, if you can't handle it, don't drink so much. Why did you go that far?"
"Mmm... because... I'm happy..." Nami mumbles incoherently. Like a kitten seeking warmth, she nuzzled into Viktor's chest, found a comfortable spot, and closed her eyes.
This scene caught the eye of Zoro, who was sitting not far away. Although Zoro was drinking heavily, his hand never strayed far from the hilt of his sword. He glanced at the couple in the corner and his lip twitched.
Sensing the gaze, Viktor looked up, meeting Zoro's eyes across the rowdy crowd. Viktor blinked and offered a smile that only the two of them understood.
Zoro caught the hint and gave a nearly imperceptible nod. A synchronized, cold smirk played on both their lips.
The line between hunter and prey is often crossed in a single heartbeat.
Late at night. The boisterous banquet finally subsided. The hall was littered with bodies. Luffy had eaten himself into a giant ball of meat, snoring on a table with a snot bubble expanding and contracting. Usopp and Sanji were out cold. Nami had eventually moved to a chair, clutching Klay as she slept soundly.
Moonlight filtered through the windows, casting long shadows.
"Hehehe... are they finally all asleep?" The once-kind mayor Igaram now wore a sinister grin. He stood up, and behind him, Vivi, Mr. 9, and a large group of "townspeople" drew swords, guns, and bazookas from the shadows, revealing their hideous true faces.
They were the bounty hunters of Baroque Works.
"Is it confirmed?" Vivi asked, her dazed expression gone, replaced by an icy tone.
"Confirmed!" Igaram pulled out a stack of bounties, licking his lips greedily as he looked at the numbers. "Straw Hat Luffy, 30 million; Crimson Lotus Viktor, 28 million; and the Pirate Hunter Zoro..."
"This is a massive harvest! If we take them down, our rankings will soar!"
One bounty hunter raised a massive blade, grinning as he walked toward the snoring Luffy. "While they're sleeping, let's just take their heads! It's the easiest way!"
The blade glinted in the moonlight, poised to fall. Just then...
"While your wine was average and the food wasn't exactly top-tier..."
A voice drifted from above, eerily clear in the silent night.
"Who?!" Igaram and the others gasped, snapping their heads upward.
On a rafter near the ceiling, Viktor sat comfortably, looking down at the clowns below. His red eyes glowed in the dark like the gaze of a demon.
"As a thank you for the hospitality, I won't kill you..." Viktor said playfully. "However, my swordsman isn't quite as easy to talk to."
Ching—!!
In the corner of the hall, a sharp glint of steel flashed. Zoro, who had supposedly been "fast asleep," snapped his eyes open. The drunkenness vanished instantly, replaced by a murderous aura as cold as Shura.
He slowly drew his blade, a grin spreading across his face as he looked at the panicked bounty hunters. "Perfect. I ate too much... I could use some post-dinner exercise."
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