Helmeppo lay on the ground, yelling at the two Marine soldiers, "Quickly take me to my dad! I want him to avenge me!"
Watching Helmeppo being carried away, Luffy walked up to Zoro and said, "Hey, I heard you did something bad to get caught and tied up here. You're amazing, you can go without food for over twenty days. If it were me, I'd probably starve to death in two days."
Zoro chuckled at Luffy's words. "I'm not like you guys. I have my own beliefs, and I'll keep living. Besides, I have a reason to live. Could you please pick up the rice ball on the ground and feed it to me? I can't let this little girl's kindness go to waste."
Shin'ya walked over, picked up the badly trampled rice ball, and said to Zoro, "Zoro, this rice ball is full of sand."
Zoro replied, "Give it to me. Feed it to me." Crunch, crunch.
After eating, Zoro looked at the little girl and said, "Thank you for the rice ball. It was delicious, truly exquisite."
Zoro then looked at the remaining people and said, "You guys leave first. I will definitely last a month. During this time, I won't die so easily."
Shin'ya looked at Luffy and asked, "Luffy, what do you say?"
"Then let's leave first. There are still ten days left, right? Zoro, if you can hold on, how about becoming my nakama?" Luffy said as he turned and walked away.
Zoro replied, "Ah, we'll see. We can talk about it then."
The group arrived in the alley next to the "Foodfoo" tavern.
Coby snapped out of his thoughts and asked Luffy, "Is Roronoa Zoro really a bad person?"
The little girl loudly retorted, "No! Brother Zoro isn't a bad person! He was tied up because he took the blame for me and my mom. Twenty days ago, Captain Morgan's son, Helmeppo, brought his big dogs to our hotel entrance. Then, several big dogs rushed into the store, frantically snatching food from the customers. Two big dogs directly pounced on me, and then Brother Zoro killed the dogs and also hit Helmeppo."
"Then, Helmeppo threatened Brother Zoro with my and my mom's lives. As long as Brother Zoro could last a month without eating or drinking, they would let us go. If Brother Zoro dared to resist, Helmeppo would order Captain Morgan to kill us directly. So, to protect us, Brother Zoro was captured by the Marines like this. And the worst part is, Helmeppo beats and kicks Brother Zoro every day," the little girl said sadly.
Just then, the sound of smashing tables and bowls came from the "Foodfoo" tavern. Shin'ya heard a voice he disliked speaking.
"Why are your chairs so hard? Ow! My butt! You guys, ow! I'm super annoyed today, so, ow! I'm not going to wait for that Zoro guy to last a month. I'm going to have him executed tomorrow! Ow!" Helmeppo said, grumbling and complaining.
Shin'ya, who had just walked into the "Foodfoo" tavern, suddenly said, "Aha, it seems beating you at the parade ground wasn't enough to scare you. You're still acting tough even after being beaten to this state. It seems I went easy on you. Wood Release…"
Just as Shin'ya was about to unleash another "Wood Release: Fatherly Education Technique," he was stopped by Luffy.
Luffy's face was contorted in rage as he glared at Shin'ya and said, "I'm really angry, Shin'ya! Let me handle this! I'm going to beat that guy to a pulp!"
Before he finished speaking, Luffy, like a furious lion, charged straight at Helmeppo. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Helmeppo.
Then, Luffy put all his strength into a powerful punch that struck Helmeppo like a cannonball. The punch was incredibly powerful, sending Helmeppo spinning rapidly in the air like a kite with a broken string.
Helmeppo spun a full 360 degrees in the air before crashing heavily to the ground, instantly passing out.
Luffy looked at the unconscious Helmeppo lying on the ground, his anger slightly subsiding. He turned to Shin'ya and said, "I've decided, Shin'ya! I'm going to make Zoro my nakama. Let's go save him together!"
With that, Luffy turned without hesitation and headed towards the parade ground where Zoro was being held.
Shin'ya watched Luffy's receding figure and burst into laughter. "Hahaha, to make you so angry, Luffy, it seems like we're really going to cause a ruckus this time!"
At the Marine base, on the parade ground.
Zoro, seeing the group return shortly after they had left, couldn't help but say, "Why are you back again? Didn't you just leave?"
"Oh, you wouldn't believe it, Zoro. When my captain heard that Helmeppo was going to execute you tomorrow, he became furious and directly punched Captain Morgan's son away. He said he absolutely had to make you our nakama," Shin'ya said.
Luffy added, "That's right, Zoro, be our nakama. There's no point in waiting here. Helmeppo never intended to let you go. He plans to kill you directly when you're too weak to resist him."
Zoro didn't answer but fell into thought.
Meanwhile, at the Marine base.
"Someone!" Helmeppo shrieked, "Quickly carry me to my dad's office! I'm going to ask him to avenge me!"
Several soldiers rushed over and carefully carried Helmeppo to Captain Morgan's office.
As soon as he entered the office, Helmeppo cried like a child, "Dad, a group of pirates came to the island, and they're too horrible! They actually dared to hit me! Dad, you must help me get revenge!"
Captain Morgan looked at his disheveled son, and his anger flared up. He glared at Helmeppo and roared, "You useless piece of trash! As the son of the great Captain Morgan, all you do is walk dogs and tease cats! You have no ambition whatsoever! You can't even handle a few small pirates, and you have the nerve to ask me to help you get revenge?"
Back to Zoro's side.
After thinking for a moment, Zoro looked up at Luffy and Shin'ya and said, "Alright, I agree. I agree to join your pirate crew, but I have one condition. I have the ambition to become the world's greatest swordsman. If your ambition is ever not great enough to accommodate mine, I will kill you and continue towards my goal alone until my ambition is fulfilled."
Luffy laughed heartily, "Don't worry, Zoro, I won't give you a chance to kill me. My dream is to become the King of the Pirates! I won't give up on my dream unless I become the Pirate King or die trying to become the Pirate King. Other than that, I won't stop moving forward."
"As for me, I'm just a traveler who wants to travel the world. Before I achieve that goal, I won't be defeated. I'm very strong~" Shin'ya said with a profound tone. He possessed combat power infinitely close to that of the Six Paths, which was no laughing matter.
"In that case, Luffy, help me get my weapons back. My swords were taken by that despicable Helmeppo! As long as you can help me get my weapons back, I'll officially join you!" Zoro said with a serious expression.
Upon hearing that Zoro's weapons had been taken by Helmeppo, Luffy immediately became indignant. He unhesitatingly slapped his chest and loudly declared, "No problem! Leave it to me! I'll go get your weapons back right now!"
Just then, Shin'ya suddenly spoke, "Don't rush, I'll help you untie the ropes first." As soon as he finished speaking, a wooden short sword suddenly appeared in his hand as if by magic. Then, with three crisp "swish, swish, swish" sounds, all the ropes binding Zoro fell to the ground.
Shin'ya then casually took out some food and water from behind him and handed them to Zoro, smiling. "Eat something first and regain your strength. There might be an intense battle later, and you can't fight without enough stamina."
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