Halfway through the banquet, Hajrudin of the Giant Race strode over. He was tall, and when he stood there, he was like a small mountain.
Hajrudin looked at Luffy with firm eyes and said, "Straw Hat, I have four giant mercenary companions, and I plan to unite all of the Giant Race with them to revive the Giant Warrior Pirates, which once shook the entire world!"
Luffy looked confused, tilting his head slightly, his eyes full of doubt, apparently not quite understanding Hajrudin's meaning.
Usopp, however, was incredibly excited. He slapped Luffy's back hard, his eyes sparkling, and shouted:
"That was the glorious time of Dorry and Brogy, Luffy! I really want to go... to Elbaf!" His tone was full of longing.
Admiral Olumbus crossed his arms, his gaze shifting from Robin to Nami, who was drinking, and said,
"Our Yonta Maria Grand Fleet is a large fleet of 56 ships in total, and it should be useful."
"Useful??" Nami and Robin exchanged glances, expressions of confusion on their faces. They looked at the overly clean man with braided hair, not quite understanding his meaning.
Leo sat nearby, happily eating dessert, and casually pushed away Manshelly, who had been clinging to him, then loudly declared,
"Luffy! The chief of the Tontatta Tribe has approved! Please let us join too!"
"Join??" Luffy again tilted his head in confusion, completely clueless about the situation.
Idio of the Longarm Tribe and Brusque of the Longleg Tribe stood together, and the criminals Jett and Abudra also came over, stating that they had formed a team and planned to set sail together.
Suleiman the Executioner stated that he would join Cavendish's Beautiful Pirate Crew.
Cavendish looked displeased. He slightly raised his chin, a hint of haughtiness in his eyes, and said,
"Although I've decided to support you! But remember! I am the senior! And Orochimaru! I will definitely get my revenge!"
Luffy and the others looked at the group with blank expressions. Luffy couldn't help but say,
"What are you all talking about? Just do whatever you want."
Clearly, he still hadn't figured out what this group of people, suddenly gathered and expressing various ideas, was trying to do.
Jett scratched his head, a simple, honest smile on his face, and explained, "Ah... when we were watching you fight Heavenly Yaksha before, we found that we inexplicably got along well."
"Huh?" Luffy was still bewildered, completely misunderstanding Jett's words, his eyes full of confusion.
Admiral Olumbus looked at Luffy with a serious expression, cleared his throat, and said,
"Let me explain. By the way, the order was decided by drawing lots.
First is the Beautiful Pirate Crew, with 75 members, represented by their Captain Cavendish.
Next is the Barto Club, with 56 members, whose Captain is Bartolomeo, known as the Cannibal.
Then there's the Happo Navy, numbering about 1000 people, led by the Thirteenth Head Old Cai.
There's also the XXX Gym Combat Alliance, with 4 members, represented by Destruction Cannon Idio.
The Tontatta Corps has 200 members, and their Warrior Captain is Leo.
The future Giant Warrior Pirates, currently with only 5 members, whose Captain is Hajrudin.
And me, Olumbus, Admiral of the 4300-strong Yonta Maria Grand Fleet, pioneer adventurer, and ruler of slaughter."
As Olumbus finished speaking, Bartolomeo quickly walked to the front, knelt down, sitting on the ground, his eyes full of reverence and anticipation.
He loudly declared, "A grand force of 5600 people, Luffy-senpai, please drink a toast of acceptance with us 7 representatives!"
"Acceptance??" Luffy stupidly looked up, as if several large question marks were floating above his head.
"Yes! You are the boss! We are your subordinates! Please take us under the wing of the Straw Hat!" Bartolomeo was excited, his hands clenched into fists against his chest, as if waiting for Luffy's important decision.
Kin'emon and the others widened their eyes, faces full of shock, staring intently at Bartolomeo and the others, as if everything before them was hard to believe.
Even the well-traveled members of the Donquixote Family showed a hint of surprise, but it was only surprise; in their eyes, a force of merely five thousand people was not worth taking to heart.
Zoro and the others, however, unconsciously curved their lips into a smile. They could perfectly understand this feeling, because that was Luffy.
At this moment, Orochimaru was comfortably nestled in Sabo's arms, happily sipping Sanji's special juice, seemingly unconcerned about the events unfolding around him.
Luffy was a bit slow to react, staring blankly at Bartolomeo, who was pouring the drinks, his face full of confusion.
Bartolomeo and the others raised their glasses, looking solemnly at Luffy, and loudly declared, "From now on, Luffy-senpai is our boss, and we 7 are his subordinates. Let's drink this oath-swearing wine... Huh?"
Bartolomeo looked at Luffy's grim and resentful face opposite him, an expression of doubt appearing on his own face.
Luffy frowned and picked up his glass.
"This wine, I won't drink."
Then he turned to look at Orochimaru and loudly said,
"Hey! Orochimaru, are you messing with me again? You know I don't like to drink!"
Orochimaru unhurriedly took a sip of juice, then casually tossed Luffy a can of strawberry milk and said,
"I hate it too."
"Soga!" Luffy nodded, took a sip of the milk, thinking that it wasn't Orochimaru playing tricks after all.
Doflamingo looked at the bottle of milk, his mouth twitching uncontrollably. Could that bottle of milk be from the batch he had prepared? Bartolomeo was extremely anxious, his eyes fixed on Luffy, who was drinking milk, and loudly exclaimed,
"No, no, no... It's not about the taste!! Luffy-senpai!"
He was so anxious! It wasn't easy to gather so many people who wanted to follow Luffy, and it couldn't fall through because of this one drink.
Zoro watched the group from the side, a mischievous smile on his face, and said,
"Give up, Luffy can't handle this kind of thing. Anyway, pour the wine back, I'll take care of it."
He crossed his arms, looking confident, and eyed the wine with longing.
Orochimaru and Luffy almost simultaneously looked at Zoro with disgusted expressions, and said in unison,
"Wine-stinky Zoro." Their expressions seemed to say that Zoro reeked of alcohol, making them somewhat repulsed.
Bartolomeo's mind was in a whirl. He looked at one, then at the other, and helplessly said,
"No... I already said, this isn't a wine tasting! Orochimaru-senpai! Please say something!" He placed his last hope on Orochimaru.
Orochimaru merely gave him a faint glance and refused without hesitation,
"No, Luffy will hit me, and I don't want to be hit by an idiot." After saying that, he continued to drink his juice as if the matter had nothing to do with him.
He didn't want to face a combined beating from Luffy and Garp.
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