"Hah, this brat is sleeping soundly!"
Luffy was tied to a tree, sleeping so soundly that kicks and punches couldn't wake him.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a basin of cold water was poured over him from head to toe. The sudden chill completely jolted the unconscious Luffy awake.
"Eh!? Why am I tied up?"
Luffy looked around and found that he had been stripped naked, and two people were scrubbing his body, scaring him into wailing:
"Ah! Are you those bandits?! Why are you bathing me? Let me go!!!"
"Stinky brat! Urusai!"
A burly man with a scar on his chest punched Luffy in the stomach and then grimly pinched his face:
"How else are we going to eat you if we don't clean you first?"
"Eat, eat me!?" Luffy's face instantly turned pale.
"That's right, the boss said you're a Devil Fruit user."
The burly man licked his blade: "We want to try eating you and see if we can also become Devil Fruit users."
(O口O?)＝?))←Luffy
His eyes widened, and he was utterly dumbfounded.
He had lived for eight years and had never seen such a perverted person!
They actually wanted to eat human flesh? Grandpa and Shanks weren't even that scary!
"I, I don't taste good!"
"Who cares if you taste good? Just add more seasoning."
"But I'm rubber, eating me will poison you!"
"Your body is rubber, but are your internal organs too? At worst, I'll just drink your blood!"
The burly man picked up his blade and held it to Luffy's neck, ignoring his wide eyes, "Once the boss gets back, I'll chop you up, you human meat ingredient, Jie jie jie."
"Hey, are all you bandits this perverted?"
A faint voice suddenly came from the hillside above: "You seem even more outlandish than the Celestial Dragons."
"Who are you, kid?"
The burly man's expression changed abruptly, and he looked up at the source of the voice.
On the hillside sat a silver-haired boy, tilting his head, looking at them with a disgusted expression.
"I'm just out for a stroll. I saw this little guy was quite pathetic, so I came to save him."
Jon glanced at Luffy, then kicked a pebble that hit him on the head: "Aren't you a rubber ability user? Why are you so weak?"
"…I'm not weak, it's just that they poisoned my food."
Luffy pouted indignantly, then his eyes suddenly lit up: "Hey, you just said you came to save me, does that mean I don't have to be eaten?"
His reaction time was terribly slow; what little intelligence he had was all used for fighting.
Whoosh—
"Hey, what 'hey'!" Jon Soru-ed next to Luffy, kicked the burly man away, and then smacked Luffy hard on the head: "I'm your benefactor, show some respect, you idiot!"
"Ouch, that hurts…" Luffy shook his head, wincing in pain.
Jon glared at him exasperatedly. You're rubber, you damn idiot! What hurts? I don't even have Haki.
Sure enough, the Pirate King's pain is just an illusion.
"Stay tied up for a bit, I'll take care of them first."
Jon had been ignoring the bandits' shouts, but these flies were truly annoying.
Slash—
Silver sword light flashed, and Jon suddenly vanished from his spot. Screams followed wherever he went.
"Sugoi!!"
Luffy's mouth hung wide open, staring at Jon in astonishment.
When Jon returned after clearing the field, little stars were sparkling in his eyes.
Jon wasn't surprised to see him looking so unworldly.
After all, Shanks and Garp hadn't shown their true strength in front of him, and this little guy's greatest admiration was still for his freckled older brother.
"You're so amazing!" Luffy excitedly stretched his neck: "You cut them all down in just a few moves, you feel even stronger than Ace! Oh, right, can you untie me first? It's hard to talk when I'm naked."
Jon silently glanced at the little "golden treasure," then with a swish-swish of his Muwang blade.
The sword light flashed, and the ropes binding Luffy were instantly cut.
"Such fast swordsmanship!"
Luffy swallowed hard in shock. Just as he was about to pick up his clothes, blood suddenly spurted from his abdomen, scaring him into shrieking: "Huh!? Why did you cut my stomach and make it bleed!?"
"…"
Jon's mouth twitched. He withdrew an awkward glance and turned his head, saying:
"My apologies, I didn't expect you to be so fragile. You bled from just one cut."
Luffy: Huh!?
"My name is Jon." Jon very awkwardly changed the subject: "Kid, tell me your name."
"Ah, me? My name is Monkey D. Luffy."
The other party seemed to have forgotten his injury and was completely led by the nose. He grinned with his straw hat on his head.
"Monkey D. Luffy… Oh, you're the kid Makino always talks about."
Jon began to put on a show.
Within the few minutes of meeting Luffy, he had already devised countless plans in his mind.
In the end, he chose the safest one—
Steal his damn thing!
Although it wouldn't be difficult to kill him after plundering Luffy's "word tags," his hero grandpa, leader father, and pirate emperor uncle… Jon's head ached just thinking about it.
Fortunately, he didn't dislike Luffy either.
We're all bros, why go at it with real swords and guns?
Wouldn't it be better if I just stole your word tags?