"Wahhh!"
Luffy, who had sprinted back from outside the village, charged towards Sakura's residence.
Inside the house, Robin had many introductory books spread out before her, while Ace and Sabo were bent over the wooden table practicing their writing.
Crash!
The small house door was burst open. A terrified Luffy rolled into the room, knocking over Ace and Sabo's table, spilling ink and papers everywhere.
"Hey Luffy, what are you doing!"
Seeing the calligraphy he had worked hard on ruined, Ace stood up angrily, grabbing Luffy by the collar.
"Robin, Ace, Sabo, the village... the village has two strange uncles, they're so dangerous!"
Shaken back and forth, Luffy shouted incoherently.
Just then, Sea Snake and Unga followed Luffy's trail all the way to the front of the house.
An invisible net spread within the room. A barely perceptible illusory light flashed in the pupils of the three people present, and they all raised their hands to rub their eyes simultaneously.
"Look, it's them!" Luffy pursed his lips, hiding behind Robin.
"Luffy, are you sleepwalking? This is Unga-san and Sea Snake-san, how are they strangers?"
Ace walked forward, raised his fist, and knocked Luffy on the head.
As his gaze locked on Robin, Unga made a subtle signal to Sea Snake, asking whether to take action.
After receiving Sea Snake's reply not to complicate matters, he put a smile back on his face.
"Ahahaha, it's been so long since Luffy saw us, it's normal he forgot us."
With Unga stepping in to smooth things over, the atmosphere became harmonious, with only Luffy still glaring warily at the two.
"Hey, Luffy, apologize to them quickly."
Ace took the straw hat from behind Luffy and placed it on his head, shaking it along with his head.
"I don't want to! Ace, you're all big idiots!"
Luffy pushed them away, stretched his rubbery cheeks to make a face at them, and ran out angrily.
In the forest outside the village, the black Night Sparrow beat its wings and landed, spitting out two figures with one mouthful.
Dragon patted the dust off his clothes, and a light wind began to swirl around him.
Seeing his actions, Sakura asked: "Leaving already? Don't plan to go see your son?"
"You, trying to kill me?"
Dragon raised his hands, grabbed the hood behind him, and pulled it over his head.
A storm swept up. Before the figure disappeared, his softened heart still left a sentence behind.
"Tell him for me, to do what he wants to do, and not listen to the old man's foolish words."
Sakura looked at Dragon with a mocking expression until his figure disappeared into the sky before withdrawing her gaze.
She took out a candy, removed the wrapper, fed it to Leviathan on her shoulder, and walked towards Windmill Village.
Familiar with the way, she entered Makino's tavern. There weren't many customers inside, so Sakura simply ordered some food and a few beers from her.
"Idiots, Ace and Sabo are all idiots!"
The straw-hatted, teary-eyed Luffy pushed open the tavern door and ran in angrily looking for Makino.
"Huh, Luffy?"
Sakura turned and saw the boy looking around and called his name.
Luffy, who had intended to rush into the kitchen to find someone, saw Sakura and poured out his troubles to her: "Sakura-nee, Ace and Sabo, they've all been turned stupid!"
"What do you mean?"
Sakura frowned, about to ask, when the tavern door behind her was pushed open again.
Two villagers walked in from outside, and upon seeing Sakura's appearance, they paused for a moment.
"It's them!"
Luffy hid behind Sakura, sticking his tongue out at the two with a fierce face.
"Who are you two? Why haven't I seen you in the village before?"
Raising the gold-inlaid pistol obtained from the Celestial Dragon's ship, Sakura warily stared at the two villagers before her.
"Don't shoot, we're on the same side!"
Unga, targeted by the gun, immediately spread his hands and raised them high.
"It's me, Unga! We drank together just a few days ago!"
The man exuding an aura of friendliness and harmlessness pressed a hand to his chest.
Countless nets operating in the void enveloped Sakura, beginning to outline a blurry figure in the corners of her memory.
"Did we..."
Sakura was somewhat confused, trying to recall but her memory was hazy.
But her body acted on instinct, her arm pulling back, causing Unga's outstretched hand to miss.
"Ahahaha, right here, I drank with you. You didn't forget, did you?"
Seeing this, Unga wasn't anxious. He walked behind the bar by himself, took down a can of beer, and tossed it to Sakura.
This sense of familiarity, something only a regular at Makino's tavern would have, lowered Sakura's hostility somewhat.
"Wah, no! Sakura-nee is going to turn stupid too!"
Luffy, seeing the hostility between the two dissipate, shouted anxiously.
"What exactly is going on? Explain clearly!"
Then she put the gun on the table, pinched Luffy's cheek, and lifted him up.
Luffy kicked and punched, struggling in the air. "Stu... stupid!"
"Brat!"
Sakura changed her grip, using both hands to press against Luffy's head and spin him around.
"Now, now, it's not really Luffy's fault. He just got confused from his nap this afternoon."
Unga, walking over with a glass, took down a mug and handed it to Sakura.
When Sakura reached out to take the glass, he lightly touched her hand.
Immediately, he gave a barely perceptible nod to Sea Snake in front of him, who revealed a knowing smile.
"Come, come, Sakura, tonight we drink until we drop!"
Sea Snake also opened a bottle, filled a wooden mug, clinked it with Sakura's, and downed it in one go.
"Drink!"
The bold girl released Luffy, raised the drink in her glass, and chugged it fiercely.
After several rounds of drinks, Sea Snake, sitting at the bar, amiably chatted with Sakura about all sorts of things.
"Sakura-san, I personally greatly admire your adventures. A toast to you!"
Picking up an opened bottle, Sea Snake poured Sakura another drink.
Just then, a drop of liquid from a blind spot in her vision slid down a loose thread on Sea Snake's clothes and into Sakura's glass.
Unga, seeing the look his superior gave him, also joined in the clamor.
"Drink! Drink! Drink!"
Amidst the enthusiastic atmosphere, Sakura picked up a two-pint beer.
Glug, glug, glug!
After finishing, the girl collapsed onto the bar in front of her, the mug in her hand still held up in mid-air.
Unga and Sea Snake exchanged a glance and quickly stepped forward to check the girl's condition.
"She's out cold!"
After feeling her pulse, Unga concluded.
"This monster... even a neurotoxin dose enough to kill a medium-sized Sea King only knocks her out cold?"
Sea Snake raised his hand, elegantly took out a white cloth, and wiped the spot on his clothes that had just been splashed with alcohol.
"Let's take her back. Those five probably anticipated this situation, which is why they ordered us to bring her back after completing the mission."
Sea Snake pushed his chair back and stood up, directing Unga to pack her up.
"Oh, right, boss, what about this brat and the woman inside?"
After finding rope in the kitchen and tying Sakura up, Unga turned to look at Luffy, who was trembling continuously on the floor.
"Kill them too. By the way, what was it you wanted to tell me earlier?"
Sea Snake took another bottle from the counter, opened it, and filled the mug before him.
"Oh, right. This kid is the grandson of the Marine Hero, Monkey D. Garp. And one of the brats with that Ohara scholar earlier is Roger's son."
"Pfft-!"
The beer in Sea Snake's mouth sprayed out entirely as he coughed incessantly. "Cough... Whose son did you say?"
"Roger's son. That Pirate King, Gol D. Roger!"
A crisp female voice answered their question, but it made them feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar!