To be fair, if you asked Ron and the other three to debate someone, their chances of winning might not be great.
But if you were talking about robbing people, then, brother, you had chosen the right men. This was their old profession.
The still-sobbing child wiped his tears, sniffled, and pointed straight at Kaido, who was sitting there looking depressed.
The meaning was obvious. There was an enemy: the big guy right in front of them. He stole my cow.
Kaido tilted his head. His gaze went blank for a few seconds, then he turned his head left and right as if looking for something. "Damn it, where's my kanabo?"
Before he could even stand, the child who had gone back to report had already returned from afar with a crowd of people rushing over in a grand formation.
Some carried sickles. Some carried hoes. Some held kitchen knives. Others raised iron shovels.
"Who?! Which thing with a death wish dared steal a cow?!"
"Kill him!"
Before long, a group of villagers had stormed up to Ron and the others, surrounding the campfire aggressively.
"Dad, it's that bad guy sitting there!" The child pointed at Kaido and shouted, his voice full of tears and anger. "The other three are his accomplices!"
Ron sighed lightly. He had originally wanted to compensate them and be done with it. But now it seemed they could only solve this with fists.
"Hey, all of you, listen to me," Whitebeard spoke up at that moment.
"No need!" the man who had lost the cow shouted. Then he did something no one expected.
He raised his hand and slapped his own son across the face.
With a crisp smack, he angrily scolded, "What are you shouting for?! Big brothers passing by were hungry and ate a cow. So what?! Didn't I teach you since you were little that a person must be generous with food? How can one cow compare to four human lives?!"
The slapped child widened his eyes, covered his face, and looked at his own father in disbelief.
Ron: "..."
Kaido: "..."
Rocks: "..."
Whitebeard: "..."
Villagers: "..."
"Hehe." The cow owner's anger instantly vanished, replaced by a smile so warm it was almost excessive. He said to Ron and the others, "Are you full? If not, my family still has more cows!"
Ron was stunned.
Something was wrong. Very wrong. Wrong in twelve out of ten ways.
The cow owner was panicking inside too.
He did not understand Haki or anything like that, but just from the posture, demeanor, and the aura these four men unconsciously gave off, he could tell they were terrifyingly strong.
They absolutely, absolutely could not be provoked into a massacre over such a small matter.
"Wahahahaha!" Rocks was amused by the scene and burst into laughter. "What an interesting guy!"
Whitebeard sighed lightly. He had thought there would be no talking this out, only for the matter to suddenly turn a sharp corner.
Kaido still had not eaten his fill. Hearing that the man's family had more cows, he immediately looked eager.
Ron rubbed his chin at the side, feeling that when something was abnormal, there had to be a demon behind it.
Was this guy pretending to be dumb, waiting to stab them in the back later?
The final result was that the cow owner not only did not pursue the matter, he even treated Ron and the others to another round of good wine and meat.
The villagers were left completely confused. The cow was stolen, yet he invited the thieves to eat?
In a certain courtyard in town, a child ran in hurriedly, footsteps quick and breath uneven. "Uncle Nick!"
Nick, who was feeding fish in his yard, slowly turned his head. When he saw the visitor, a faint smile appeared on his face. "Little Mo, you're here."
Nick was in his forties. He had once been a pirate with a bounty of thirty-eight million berries, enough to be considered someone in the first half of the Grand Line.
Half a year ago, he had led his pirate crew into the New World, but reality was cruel.
Before long, they encountered another pirate crew. After a bloody battle, he was the only survivor.
The price was permanently losing one arm.
After that, Nick figured things out. He washed his hands of piracy and settled on this unremarkable little island, raising fish, basking in the sun, and occasionally telling the town's children stories of the sea.
Little Mo was a child he had met a few months ago. Every few days, the boy would run over, squat beside the fish pond, and listen to Nick tell those thrilling stories, eyes shining like two stars.
"Uncle Nick," Little Mo said, voice full of grievance. "Lend me your gun!"
Nick paused slightly. A faint smile remained on his face, and his tone was unhurried. "Oh? Does Little Mo want to kill someone?"
"That's right!" Little Mo put his hands on his hips, eyes firm. "Four bastards came to the mountain and stole my family's cow! My dad is weak and useless. To avoid trouble, he even invited them into our house to apologize! I can't stand it anymore. I'm going to shoot them!"
"Heh." Nick chuckled, a trace of approval in his eyes. "You've got backbone, kid."
"Will you lend it or not? If not, we're breaking off our friendship!" Little Mo raised his head with the posture of someone ready to cut ties if Nick refused.
Nick put down the fish feed and clapped his hands. "If what you said is true, Uncle Nick will get justice for you. How's that?"
Little Mo's eyes lit up. Moved to tears, he nodded. "Okay! Uncle Nick, from today on, you're my dad!"
"Get lost, get lost." Nick waved in disgust. "What nonsense are you saying?"
Little Mo stubbornly wiped his tears. "My useless dad only knows how to hit me! You're the only one willing to stand on my side!"
"Enough with that useless talk." Nick walked toward the door with steady steps. "Let's go."
"Aren't you bringing a gun?" Little Mo jogged after him, looking up. "There are f-four of them!"
"No need." Nick pushed the door open without stopping. "Back then, your Uncle Nick fought one against a hundred. Easy."
"Really?"
"Of course."
At Little Mo's house, Little Mo stood at the gate with his hands on his hips and shouted toward the courtyard, "Cow thieves! Get out here! Lord Mo has come to collect you!"
Before that shout even landed, Little Mo's father had already rushed out, raising his hand to slap his son again.
However, Nick's hand was faster. He pulled Little Mo behind him, his lean figure blocking the child.
"Please calm down first," Nick said calmly and composedly. "Little Mo said someone stole your family's cow. I came to take a look."
"Just a misunderstanding." Little Mo's father waved repeatedly. "Children talk nonsense!"
"Bullshit!" Little Mo poked his head out from behind Nick, his voice full of pent-up anger. "You coward! You're not my dad!"
Tap, tap, tap.
At the same time, Ron and the others, full from eating and drinking, slowly walked out of the courtyard.
Four figures lined up side by side.
"Uncle Nick." Little Mo pointed at those four, his voice carrying a bit of triumphant accusation. "It's them! Those four bad guys!"
Before he could finish, Nick had already covered Little Mo's mouth.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
Little Mo suddenly turned his head, eyes wide in disbelief as he looked at Nick. The face he saw had turned pale. The hand covering his mouth was trembling. Not just the hand. His whole body was trembling.
"Hey." Whitebeard frowned slightly and asked, "Are you really all right? Why don't we compensate you with some money?"
"No need, no need!" Little Mo's father hurriedly waved both hands.
"Wahahahaha!" Rocks laughed. "All right. I'll remember this meal. If you need help in the future, come to Hachinosu and report my name, Rocks."
"Hahaha, it's only a meal. No need for that."
"Then we're leaving. Until next time."
"Take care. Take care!"
The four backs gradually receded and finally disappeared at the end of the small road.
Only after their figures could no longer be seen did Nick slowly let go of Little Mo's mouth.
"Bastard!" Little Mo cursed, turning around and punching Nick's leg. His eyes were red. "One against a hundred, huh?! You're a coward too!"
Nick ignored him. He slowly turned toward Little Mo's father, his voice lower than before. "Did you... know who they were?"
"Who?" Little Mo's father froze and scratched his head. He was an island villager who paid no attention to the outside world. How could he recognize people like that?
He had only felt that the four were not ordinary. That aura, that posture, the way they stood there, made them seem like four volcanoes ready to erupt at any moment.
Nick took a deep breath, his tone filled with relief at surviving a disaster. "You made the most correct decision of your life. You exchanged one meal for that man's favor."
"Standing in front of you just now was the infamous captain of the Rocks Pirates, Rocks D. Xebec. Alongside him were Edward Newgate, the intern Kaido, and the recently famous Cold-Blooded Butcher, Ron."
Little Mo's father froze. Although he had guessed they were not simple, he had never imagined they were such terrifying existences.
"Nick, I want to give my son an education full of fatherly love. You won't stop me, right?"
"Wait a moment. I'll go to the pharmacy and buy medicine. Disinfect while you hit him. That way he'll remember."
Hachinosu, Saber of Xebec.
Sunlight slanted across the deck, stretching the ship's shadow into a long dark strip.
By the time Ron and the others returned to the ship, it was already afternoon.
Seeing Ron return, the one even happier than Annika was Golden Lion.
"Ron!"
A furious roar exploded around them. Shiki's figure shot out of the cabin door, veins bulging on his face as he rapidly approached Ron, gritting his teeth. "You bastard, shouldn't we have a proper talk about what happened at Saint Sebastian?!"
Ron turned around calmly, spread his hands, and said plainly, "Really? No need to be so polite, Shiki. After all, we're comrades. Helping each other is only natural."
Shiki choked on Ron's matter-of-fact attitude, his face darkening further. "Huh?" A furious sound squeezed from his nose before he cursed, "Who wants to thank you? Bastard, you nearly got me killed!"
Standing nearby, Kaido tilted his head and thought seriously. Then he inserted a perfectly earnest line. "Really? Weren't you the one who wanted to go out?"
Shiki froze. His mouth opened and closed. After a moment, he finally found his logic again and raised his voice. "But... but have you ever thought about why I was inside in the first place?!"
Kaido still looked innocent as he casually asked, "Why?"
Shiki hesitated, then suddenly cursed, "No, Kaido, what does this have to do with you?! Go cool off somewhere!"
Kaido shrugged as if to say, 'If it's none of my business, then fine.' He did not speak again and simply leaned against the railing, ready to watch the show.
"Maa maa maa..."
Suddenly, a laugh drifted from the cabin entrance.
Linlin slowly walked out, arms crossed as she leaned against the doorframe. Her gaze fell on Kaido. "Kaido, did you find the legendary Devil Fruit?"
Kaido's face instantly collapsed. "Don't talk about it, Linlin. Just mentioning it makes me angry! I was tricked by that bastard Sengoku! That turtle bastard used a plastic fake fruit to fool me!"
"Being tricked is good," Linlin said leisurely, the smile at the corner of her mouth impossible to hide. "Who told you to be such an idiot and run over so eagerly?"
"Tch." Kaido was blocked speechless for a long time.
"Hey, Rocks, perfect timing. There's something I need to tell you." Linlin's gaze slowly moved away from Kaido's depressed face and landed on Rocks, who was sitting on the ship's railing with one leg crossed, watching the commotion.
Rocks had not spoken earlier. He had simply sat there watching the people on deck make trouble. But when Linlin called him, his gaze drifted over.
"That guy from Elbaf called," Linlin said slowly.
At the word "Elbaf," the smile on Rocks's face deepened. He straightened slightly. "Harald?"
"Mm." Linlin nodded lightly. "He told you to come over. He said that after careful consideration, he has made a decision."
"Is that so?"
Rocks jumped down from the railing. His expression changed from curiosity to excited expectation, the corner of his mouth rising unconsciously.
"Have you finally made up your mind? Will you join hands with me, Harald?"
After muttering that, Rocks shouted excitedly, "Everyone, replenish supplies quickly. We're heading to the land of giants, Elbaf!"