Several days later, the sun shone bright over the blue sea, while the cry of seagulls could be heard from the horizon.
On the Going Merry.
Luffy was lying on his back on top of the sheep figurehead at the ship's bow. He closed his eyes, letting the sea breeze hit his face.
After finishing his training with Zoro this morning, he decided to rest briefly before continuing training again. After several days of training, Zoro had finally managed to kick the ground three consecutive times. At the moment, the swordsman was still lying on the ship's deck with labored breathing.
Suddenly the sound of hurried footsteps was heard.
"Luffy!"
No sooner had Luffy opened his eyes...
Bam!
A punch landed squarely on his head.
"Ow!"
His body fell to the floor. His head throbbed intensely while small stars danced before his eyes. When his consciousness returned, he immediately sat up while holding his head.
"What was that for, Nami?!"
Nami snapped back while pulling both of Luffy's cheeks until they stretched. Her teeth even sharpened like a shark's.
"That should be my question! Luffy, you were the one who ate the last dessert in my fridge, weren't you?! For the past several days you've almost single-handedly finished our food supplies, and now you couldn't even leave my last dessert alone!"
Hearing that, Luffy's eyes immediately darted sideways. He began whistling softly.
"That wasn't me... Usopp ate it."
"Ahaha, did someone call me?"
Not far away, Usopp appeared while rubbing his eyes and yawning.
"I accidentally fell asleep after moving the cannon and cannonballs I found in the storage room."
Nami slowly turned toward him while giving a friendly smile.
Luffy swallowed.
Could this fool not realize he was like an open book?
Realizing his lie had been exposed, Luffy could only resign himself to waiting for the next punch.
But the punch never came.
Nami released his cheeks and issued a warning instead.
"Listen, from now on you are forbidden from going near the fridge and the food storage. If I catch you there..."
She didn't finish her sentence, only raising her fist in front of Luffy's face.
Luffy immediately nodded quickly, understanding the meaning of the threat.
Nami went back to sitting in her chair and continued reading the map.
Luffy went over to Usopp.
"You said earlier you found a cannon?"
Usopp, still confused about what had just happened, had his eyes immediately light up.
"Come with me."
"Ta-da!"
He pointed at a cannon he had found in the storage room.
Luffy's eyes immediately lit up.
"Wow, great!"
Usopp immediately struck a proud pose.
"Pretty great, right? Just wait until you see me fire it."
"This reminds me of when I was three years old. Back then I was thrown by a cannonball and flew halfway across the world..."
Usopp started boasting, but nobody was listening.
Luffy scratched his head.
"How do you use this thing?"
Usopp immediately shouted.
"Listen to me first!"
Without looking up from her map, Nami said,
"If you want to try it, there's a fairly large rock formation to the south. It can be used as a target."
"Really? Yosh! Let's go there!" Luffy called out enthusiastically.
"Oi, oi! Are you really going to fire a cannon without the expert?! People call me the Cannon Master!"
Seeing nobody paying attention to him, Usopp shouted again.
"Listen to me!"
A short while later, they arrived at the place Nami had indicated.
Boom!
The sound of the cannon echoed.
But Luffy's shot missed the target by a wide margin. The cannonball struck the sea surface and sent water shooting high into the air.
"Ah, damn! I missed!"
Luffy scratched his head while staring at the rock formation in the distance.
The sound of the explosion woke Zoro who had been resting. He walked over to them while yawning.
"Oi, what are you doing?"
"Cannon practice!"
Luffy was still looking toward the target.
"Turns out it's harder than I thought."
"That's why you should leave it to me."
Usopp pointed at himself with his thumb.
"Usopp, the Cannon Master."
He immediately adjusted the cannon's position while mumbling to himself.
"Based on the direction of that last shot..."
He shifted the barrel slightly, then drew a long breath.
"Fire!"
Boom!
The cannonball shot straight and true.
Crack!
The top of the rock formation immediately crumbled and fell into the sea.
"Wow! Amazing!"
Luffy stared at the broken rock formation with shining eyes.
"With just one shot you hit it directly."
Seeing the result of his own shot, Usopp's mouth fell open.
"I really hit it...?"
A moment later he quickly puffed his chest while pointing at himself.
"What do you think? When it comes to aiming, I really am the best! Surprised, aren't you?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Luffy laughed while slapping Usopp on the back.
"It's decided! You're our crew's sharpshooter!"
Usopp blinked.
"So... I'm not going to be captain?"
Luffy immediately pointed at himself.
"Captain is still me!"
After the cannon practice, the whole crew gathered in the kitchen to rest.
"Hey, do you think there are still any positions we need to fill before sailing to the Grand Line?" Luffy asked while looking at his three crewmates.
Nami looked away from the book she was reading and turned toward Luffy.
"That's true. We even have a good kitchen. If you pay me, I could cook."
"We do need additional crew for such a long journey," Zoro added while leaning his back against his chair.
"Right!" Luffy nodded with satisfaction. He paused briefly, then smiled wide. "Just as I thought, a pirate crew has to have..." He clenched his fist with full conviction. "...a musician!"
The kitchen went immediately silent.
Zoro blinked several times before snapping at him.
"You're really stupid, you know that?!"
"What do you think sailing at sea is?" Nami chimed in.
Usopp let out a long sigh.
"And here I was thinking you were about to say something smart."
"But pirates have to sing, don't they?" Luffy answered as though that was the most natural thing in the world.
Before anyone could respond, the peaceful atmosphere on the ship suddenly shattered.
Thud!
Heavy footsteps sounded striking the deck, followed by the sound of something being dragged across it roughly.
All conversation immediately stopped.
Crack!
A wooden barrel rolled across the deck, slamming into the ship's railing until it shattered to pieces. Wood splinters flew in every direction.
"Come out, you pirates!"
That shout echoed across the entire ship.
Luffy and the others immediately stood from their seats.
"What's going on? What's going on?" Usopp asked in confusion.
Luffy opened the kitchen door and stepped outside. The sea breeze immediately hit his face. Standing in the middle of the deck was a man with short black hair and dark glasses. His breathing sounded heavy while his gaze was full of anger.
Luffy tilted his head.
"What's the matter? Who are you?"
The man gripped the hilt of his sword tighter.
"Silence! Who I am is none of your business!"
Without giving them a chance to speak, he immediately leaped toward Luffy.
Whoosh!
His sword slashed straight forward.
Luffy jumped into the air.
Swipe!
The slash only caught the ship's railing. The wood split open, its splinters flying before falling to the floor.
Seeing the Going Merry's railing damaged just like that, the smile on Luffy's face immediately disappeared.
"I don't know who you are..." he said quietly.
"...but stop destroying our ship!"
Luffy vanished.
In an instant he had already appeared behind the man using Geppo. His hand seized the opponent's shoulder before throwing him effortlessly.
Bang!
The man's body slammed hard into the cabin wall. His back hit first before his body slid slowly down until he was sitting on the floor.
He stared at Luffy with wide eyes.
"Impossible..."
"With just... one attack...?"
It was at that moment that Nami, Zoro, and Usopp came out of the kitchen.
Zoro, having just seen the man's face, immediately raised an eyebrow.
"Hey... you."
The man looked up in irritation.
"Who's calling my name as though they know me?"
"Johnny...?"
Zoro looked at him for several moments before the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Just as I thought. So it really is you, Johnny."
Johnny froze.
His eyes blinked several times, as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"...Bro..."
He quickly stood even though his body was still unsteady.
"...Big Bro Zoro?!"
The tone of his voice that had just been full of anger immediately changed to a mix of surprise and relief.
On the other side, Nami moved closer to Luffy's side and whispered quietly.
"Who is he?"
Luffy only shrugged.
"I don't know either."
Johnny paid no attention to them at all. His gaze was only fixed on Zoro.
"Why... why is Big Bro Zoro on a pirate ship like this?"
"I've become a pirate."
Zoro answered briefly, then glanced behind Johnny.
"But... where's Yosaku? Isn't he always with you?"
Immediately Johnny's face changed.
The energy that had appeared a moment ago vanished entirely.
His lips trembled slightly.
He lowered his head, clenching both fists until the knuckles went white.
"Big Bro Zoro..."
His voice was hoarse.
"Could you... could you look at how Yosaku is doing?"
He raised his face. Behind his dark glasses, tears had started to flow.
"He's... he's dying right now."
Zoro's expression immediately changed.
"What?!"
Without waiting for an explanation, Johnny ran toward the side of the ship. His steps were so hurried he almost tripped. Zoro immediately followed, with Luffy, Nami, and Usopp coming after them, all beginning to sense that the situation was far more serious than they had realized.
They stopped at the edge of the deck.
Below, a small boat rocked gently with the waves.
A man wearing a red headband and a green coat was lying unconscious inside it. His breathing was weak, while the bandages wrapped around his stomach had turned red from blood seeping out.
Johnny gripped the ship's railing tightly.
"Yosaku..."
The words were barely above a whisper.
Zoro looked at his old companion for several moments, then slowly placed his hand on Johnny's shoulder.
"What actually happened?" he asked in a tone far calmer.
Johnny drew a long breath, trying to hold back his tears before starting to tell them everything.
***
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End of Chapter 24