Chapter 24: Circus Act

"I want to find Nico Robin."

Mod blinked in shock at what Rosan just said. "Y-You want to find Robin-chan?" She repeated quietly and when he nodded without hesitation, an immense amount of warmth flooded her body and she stifled a happy sob.

Rosan had long since stopped hating the girl who he thought betrayed him and when he figured out about the virus, it had turned into... not quite guilt, considering he had no emotions, but certainly a familiar self loathing for allowing himself to fall victim to it.

Even when he had his emotions, the hate he carried had gone away after his talk with Meiko. She had helped him see reason and the redhead had reluctantly agreed that it was not her fault at all that they were separated. More and more, the logical redhead had begun to see how irrational his anger had been and it tore at him nonstop.

But the damage had long been done. Rosan had lost his hatred for her but over the years, he realized more and more, how much he wronged his best friend.

His irrational anger for Robin was one of the few things Mod was disappointed in Rosan about but... but it had been her fault in the first place for never informing him of the virus and that had given the Devil Fruit crushing guilt of her own.

If she had just trusted him and told him about her other side... he'd have known something was amiss and could have prepared for it accordingly but she didn't.

Rosan didn't make it clear, but Mod knew some part of him doubted her capabilities now and he adjusted accordingly, putting up his guard even more.

It hurt. It hurt so much that she had caused this but the Devil Fruit was too afraid to have a confrontation about it because it was her fault in the first place. At the end of the day, she didn't trust Rosan enough to divulge this information and it had turned him against his closest ally that wasn't Mod herself.

Rosan loved Robin dearly and because of her...

It was why she wasn't privy to his thoughts about Nico Robin... Rosan chose to keep it to himself and that really hurt but she understood that he needed some privacy and that... and that the virus was still her.

But even with the knowledge that he was keeping it to himself, it had still been many years... so why now? She was elated that he made the decision on his own but why did he make the decision?

"What brought this on?" Mod asked gently.

She watched her wielder close his eyes and let out a quiet sigh, which made her own gaze soften.

"I've actually wanted to do it since I was 18 since you said I'm not allowed to go to the Grand Line until I'm an adult," Rosan admitted.

Mod bit her lip at hearing that.

S-She had said that hadn't she…?

"Since I became Reaper, I haven't heard news about Robin in the Blue Seas for years. I'm very sure that she's in the Grand Line and since I already agreed to join Luffy's crew, I decided to wait until he set sail," he explained to her, causing her to nod.

Rosan raked a hand through a bun and shook his head. "I... I've wronged Robin more than I'd ever like to admit," the man told the purple haired woman. "She's thought I've been dead for 16 years and I never made a move to correct it."

Mod's eyes went soft as he spoke but she remained silent.

"She's probably been in a lot of pain for a long time and yet I never reached out to her, even once. Even if the virus played a part in it... I still allowed myself to actually think she betrayed me," the redhead sighed and Mod put a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"Rosan... it's impossible to prepare for a threat you had no idea about. What the virus did to you... please understand, that it's not your fault!" Mod pleaded, guilt welling up.

"Robin's going to be upset but Robin is also an incredibly intelligent and kind girl. She loved — loves you and that is not something that will change so easily with time. If you explain to her what happened I know she'll forgive you because no one understands better than she does about how self critical you can be."

Rosan pondered her words for a second. "I'm going to answer any question she asks of me, no matter what. She deserves to know about everything," he resolved.

"Even… Meiko?" Mod asked hesitantly for some reason.

"Even Meiko," the redhead replied without hesitation.

The Devil Fruit sighed fondly at her user. Leave it to Rosan to go above and beyond when trying to make things right for a person.

"The Grand Line is a big place. How will you find her?"

Rosan actually smirked a small smirk. "If I don't find her quickly, I'll just have to advertise it in the best way possible. I wonder if there is there a person alive with two separate bounties?"

Mod laughed beautifully at that. It had been a long time since Rosan let out a genuine smirk and she relished in it. "I wonder if they will combine your bounties if they find out you're Reaper," she mused.

500 million was already a hefty sum... if the World Government found out that not only was he the Reaper who killed Saint Jeremiah, but he had (and could control) Modification... Well, he might reach an unprecedented bounty that you'd normally see in the New World.

"Only time will tell. Reaper's identity coming out wouldn't be the end of the world unless it was too early," he replied with a shrug, idly rubbing a spot on the sleeping Ram's hair.

Done with their conversation, Rosan stood up, with Ram in his hands, and grabbed Mod, who yelped in surprise at the sudden action.

"Let's go to sleep. I'm tired after stealing all those resources," Rosan hummed.

"No you aren't! A-And stop dragging me! I can walk you know!" Mod complained to the pushy redhead.

The purple haired woman squealed as Rosan effortlessly hoisted her up instead and flung her over his shoulder. Ram grumbled a bit at being adjusted again but she didn't bother waking up, too comfortable to do so.

"Better?" Rosan hummed to the flailing woman over his shoulder, that was beating a tune on his back to no effect.

"I hate you. You're so lucky that I love you," Mod whined in defeat.

"Rosan, I'm hungry!" Luffy complained to his scout.

His scout in question, was deeply contemplating throwing him overboard, at the fact he asked after causing such a mess.

"I was asleep for a couple of hours and you guys managed to mess things up this bad?" Rosan asked the two idiots with a blank stare. "Luffy, I stole so much food... How did you finish it already? Who was steering the ship while I slept? How did we get so off course from our original course? I'm not even a navigator and I wanna vomit."

"Zoro steered while I ate!" Luffy exclaimed.

Rosan paused for a second. "Did you... cook?"

"Yep! It's a little messy in there," his captain exclaimed without hesitation.

Messy was an understatement. Luffy had somehow managed to get food on the ceiling.

Rosan closed his eyes and ignored that issue for a moment. "Zoro, haven't you been sailing alone? How did you get us so off-track?" He asked patiently.

"I'm sailing because I followed a pirate I was after out to sea and I couldn't find my way back to my village. I was following that one cloud right there," the green haired man explained, pointing towards the sky to emphasize his point.

"Oh so your sailing because you just got lost," Luffy said bluntly and Rosan sighed.

"Looks like we're gonna need a navigator as soon as possible because if we let Zoro or Luffy steer, we're gonna die and I don't wanna do it myself," the redhead muttered to himself but they heard him loud and clear.

Zoro felt a vein forming at their words. "YOU DON'T HAVE TO PUT IT LIKE THAT!" He roared in embarrassment at the bluntness of the two.

Luffy simply laughed and Rosan kicked them both out of the kitchen.

"Get out, I'm gonna clean now. Don't do anything stupid," the redhead instructed, looking at the catastrophe that was his kitchen.

Angel would absolutely flip if she saw this. Luffy would have been put on punishment for the entire day, if the tidy girl had seen the mess he managed to cause.

The two nodded in unison and left the room, leaving the adult to deal with his captain's mess. He could have used Modification, but the redhead felt like doing some physical labor.

Using his Devil Fruit to solve everything, while convenient, would make him lazy and over reliant on it. Besides, cleaning was rather peaceful and he enjoyed doing it. Sometimes (whenever he was on the ship), he would assist his middle triplet in tidying up the ship and they'd spend bonding time while Demon studied.

Angel desperately needed someone to bond with. In hindsight, it was no wonder her and Maro managed to fall in love. Rosan wouldn't be surprised if his little sister ended up unknowingly liking his student first.

"I wanna heeelp," Ram suddenly said and his ring instantly transformed into the silver haired woman. She immediately jumped him and Rosan was too busy washing the dishes to stop her, causing yet another disaster to happen to his shirt this time.

"Oops," Ram said sheepishly at the sight of the water spraying everywhere. "Sorry Father! I didn't mean to get you all wet like that but at least uh... some people would really enjoy the sight of you in a drenched shirt?"

Rosan stared at her neutrally and merely pointed at a chair, causing the woman to sit down with a salute.

Helping woulda sucked anyways... she'd probably make things worse.

The man muttered and his hand glowed for a moment with his draconic flames. After a few seconds, there was no sign that he had been splashed and he continued to wash the dishes, without a dumb rubber boy or idiotic ring to disturb him.

"Problematic," Mod teased.

Ram scowled at her tone and ignored her with a, "Hmph."

Honestly, if not for the fact that she could be around her Father or Maro like this, Ram would almost never turn into a human. It offered her no inherent benefit over her weaponized forms and Rosan couldn't utilize her like this. Something about only using his enemies as human weapons.

It was solely a form for convenience, not fighting...

Ram hated that.

Still, she did love hanging out with her family in person so that didn't make this form the worst (that honor belonged to defensive weapons!) and causing chaos with Maro, Luffy, and Ace, was one of her favorite pastimes (even though Angel and Mod dished out punishment swiftly and harshly...).

It was still always a blast.

She just couldn't stay in it for very long because she got tired of being human really fast. They had so much useless things about their bodies that she had to deal with outside of Father's mindscape!

Speaking of which...

"Father, is all the food actually finished?"

"No, I knew Luffy would try something like this so I stored a majority of the food elsewhere. We should still have enough and I'll cook some of it soon or else my dear little brother will do something dumb —"

The door to the kitchen banged open and a panicked Zoro entered the room, cutting off what Rosan was about to say. He was about to speak but he took one look at Ram, and his jaw dropped in confusion.

Who... Who the hell was this? Had she been hiding on the ship the whole time? Did they have a fourth crewmate? No, Luffy never mentioned her… but Rosan wasn't even remotely wary about the tall woman staring at him idly.

Maybe she had been in Rosan's room? That was the one part of the nice ship he hadn't explored yet so maybe...

"I'll introduce you two later, I have some things I've been meaning to tell you anyways," Rosan said. "You seem like you're in a rush, what did Luffy do?"

Only his brother would cause a person they just met, to panic to such a degree... It was apart of his charm.

Zoro took a deep breath and said, "He tried to capture a bird and got taken away by it in the process."

The redhead paused his dishwashing as Zoro explained exactly what happened. Luffy, out of hunger, tried to get a bird so that they could eat it and had gotten his head stuck in its beak in the process when he grabbed onto it.

Ram burst out laughing and clutched her stomach from the hilarity of it all, causing their swordsman to look over in confusion. Wasn't Luffy their captain?! W-Why were they so lax about the situation?

"Why didn't he just ask me to capture it?" Rosan sighed. Honestly, if his brother thought for even two extra seconds, his life would be so much easier.

Zoro raised a brow.

"How would you have captured that bird if Luffy couldn't?"

"I can fly," he replied simply and his draconic wings burst from his back as proof. The scaly appendages flapped idly and curled up so as to not take up space.

Zoro's eyes bugged at the sight of the obsidian wings. "Wait, you're a Devil Fruit user too?!"

Rosan nodded and made his way out of the kitchen, Ram and Zoro in tow. "I was actually gonna tell you about it later today but now's as good as time as any. Please keep it a secret until I reveal it myself."

He pinpointed the Save Point located on Luffy and steered the White Rose in that direction while telling Zoro about the Mod Mod no mi.

Mod-chan was right, he needed to be able to trust his crew and what better place to start then their first crewmate.

Zoro listened with a clearly interested expression but he seemed even more interested in Ram than his Devil Fruit.

"So she's your weapon?" The green haired man asked curiously, pointing a finger at the smirking silver haired woman. She nodded eagerly and jumped on Rosan before morphing into a ring that he placed neatly on his finger.

Zoro's eyes widened in recognition at the amethyst ring and he whistled as it transformed into a hammer, sword, gloves, etc.

"You're a swordsman?" His eyes gleamed in interest.

"Not really, the sword is one of my least favorite weapons to use," Rosan admitted truthfully and Ram transformed back into a glove. "It's not stylish enough for me and too many swordsman exist so that makes it boring. But, I am fairly good at it."

The swordsman grunted in understanding and the two's conversation was interrupted at the sound of screaming in the water. They both glanced over and saw 3 men struggling to stay afloat. It seemed like they had been there for a while because the trio looked visibly tired and would probably go under soon enough if no one helped them.

It was just their luck that Luffy had gotten snatched away then because that meant they could help. They noticed the approaching ship and they're eyes lit up.

With the prospect of help right there, the trio began immediately begging for help.

Zoro sweatdropped at the sight of Rosan glancing at them momentarily before looking away as if they weren't there and keeping the momentum of his ship going.

"WE KNOW YOU SEE US!" They roared in indignation.

The redhead sighed. "I guess we can help them," he muttered, stopping the ship and allowing them to board. The three looked utterly pathetic right now so he'd throw them a bone despite their intentions.

"Were you actually planning on ignoring them?" Zoro asked with a deeper sweatdrop. The redhead before him was like a stone and always spoke politely but he was actually pretty rude, wasn't he?

"They're gonna attack us once they board so yes," Rosan replied simply, not even remotely bothered by the prospect and the swordsman raised a brow at his nonchalance.

"Really?" He asked curiously.

This would be funny.

"You were actually planning on ignoring us!" One of the thugs yelled angrily after boarding the ship.

"...Sorry, I thought you guys were particularly ugly fish," Rosan replied gently, as if he were trying to not hurt their feelings.

"CUT THE BULLSHIT!" They roared, before pulling out their blades.

"Stop the ship!" They threatened. "We're members of the Buggy the Clown-sama's crew so this boat is ours now."

"Buggy the... Clown...?" Zoro muttered.

"Your... ship?" Rosan asked.

This was his ship. He wouldn't even give it up to even Luffy and his captain knew that. Who did these thugs think they were to try and claim his property?

It was clear that these three needed to be taught a lesson.

"We're very sorry, sir! We won't make such a mistake again, sir!"

"Good, make sure you clean every inch of my ship. You missed a spot right there."

Zoro watched with a sweatdrop as the three thugs, who were very clearly in pain, rushed to follow Rosan's orders.

He thought his redheaded crewmate was not a fighter, but the ease at which he had brutalized and cowed these three, dashed many of his doubts.

After the redhead had nearly broken all their backs with brutal stomps, he had given them an alternative. Get thrown overboard with those injuries or follow every single one of his orders until he was bored with them.

It was obvious which one they picked.

"#1, go get me a cup of lemonade," Rosan requested calmly, lounging on a chair while reading a book about various weapon ideas.

"M-my name's —"

"Your name is #1 right now. Is there a problem with that?"

"No sir! I'll get your drink right away sir!" He saluted and dashed off.

"GET ME SOME SAKE TOO!" Zoro yelled to his retreating back and was satisfied at his backwards salute.

"You're pretty relaxed," the swordsman said to the scout.

He hummed as he flipped another page. "We're heading right to Luffy right now and he's strong so I'm not worried about him," he replied.

His brother's Save Point was loud and clear so he wasn't drowning right now and if he wasn't drowning, he was fine.

His servant came back in record time (Rosan praised him for finding the kitchen so quickly) and handed the both of them their drinks.

"Thank you," Rosan said and then he gestured for the goon to sit down. "Sit, I have some questions for you, #1."

The bruised man was thankful that he was being allowed to rest and he gleefully took the offer.

He took a sip of his drink and nodded at the taste, pleased that the man was not dumb enough to poison him. "How did you three end up in the sea?" Rosan started off calmly.

"We got our boat and treasure stolen by a girl…" the grunt answered, frowning at the memory.

"Girl? Did this girl happen to have orange hair?" Rosan questioned and #1's eyes widened in recognition.

"Y-Yea! Do you know her? Where she could have went? We need to get that treasure for Buggy-sama or else we'll die!"

The world worked in funny ways. Rosan didn't deign to answer the man and simply took another sip of his drink.

"Who's Buggy?" Zoro asked instead,

Rosan gestured for the man to answer but the other ones cleaning had stopped in surprise.

"You two don't know Buggy?!" #2 gaped in disbelief

Zoro shrugged and replied, "Nope."

Rosan did due to his bounty poster but that was about it so more info would be nice.

"He's the captain of our crew and he's eaten one of the Devil Fruits too! He's a terrifying person and you don't wanna get on his bad side or else he'll kill you!"

"A Devil Fruit user," Rosan thought to himself. That was interesting but he wasn't too fascinated in a user who still resided in the Blue Seas.

Actually, he wasn't too interested in a lot of things.

"Buggy the Clown… Is he at the island we're about to arrive at?" Rosan asked.

The three hesitated to answer, causing him to stare blankly at them for a moment.

"Do not think he will protect you three from me. Your lives belong to me until I decide otherwise. Now, stop trying to withhold information from me or I'll begin teaching you guys how to hold your breath underwater," the redhead informed them softly.

"And I didn't tell you to stop cleaning."

They squeaked at his threat and began telling him everything he wanted to know.

"S-Scary," the three thought in terror. He was terrifying in a different way than Buggy. He didn't have to show it... just his words and the low volume were threatening enough.

Zoro shot the redhead an impressed look. Rosan was pretty effective and did a great job at getting information for them.

He quite liked his methods.

No matter what he did, he just couldn't escape the mouth of this giant bird! Luffy's head was firmly stuck in between its jaws and it was content to leave the struggling boy there.

Did it even notice him? Well, that didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was that he was completely trapped…

Well, he was completely trapped, but a friendly cannonball crashed into the bird and he was freed as a result of it!

The rubber boy was sent plummeting to the floor headfirst and it was a good thing he ate the Gomu Gomu no mi because he'd probably be dead otherwise!

Still though… "Who just shoots cannonballs in the sky for fun…?" He wondered in confusion. "At least I'm safe now… That was actually pretty fun!"

He wouldn't mind doing that again!

The rubber boy dusted himself off and made sure his straw hat was secured on his head, patting it just in case. Now how was he gonna find Rosan and Zoro…?

Actually, his brother would just find him so he had nothing to worry about! He could just explore the area until he did show up!

The sound of someone saying, "He's not injured?!" Made him aware that he was not currently alone. There were a couple of guys and one orange haired girl looking at him in shock.

Nami's shock turned into a sneaky gleam as she looked at him and a smirk appeared on her face, idea formulating instantly.

"B-Boss! You came to save me!" She exclaimed in joy, rushing up to the straw hat stranger.

"Huh?" Luffy replied in confusion. He was pretty sure he had never seen this person before in his life… was Rosan disguised as this person right here…?

He didn't think Rosan ever called him boss before (he was sure the redhead never would). His brother also didn't like changing his appearance.

So this was probably not Rosan... he thinks.

"Who're you?" The rubber boy asked the stranger but she was already running away from them all.

"I'll let you deal with those guys!" She exclaimed, vanishing from their view.

"She's getting away!" One of the pirates yelled.

"It's fine, we got her boss right here and that's even better!" Another pointed out.

Luffy scratched his head in confusion and looked at the remaining people there. "You guys know someplace to eat?" He asked. While waiting for Rosan, he may as well get that long awaited meal and these guys probably knew a place so he'd ask them!

Their response was to rudely hit him and send his hat flying.

The captain's eyes darkened at that and he immediately put the offender to rest, with a fist to the skull. He glared at them all and simply told them, "Don't touch the hat."

The remaining two began to sweat nervously at the strength he displayed but didn't let that affect them. With a roar, they gripped their sabers and tried to swing at Luffy.

It only took the captain two more punches, one for each, to silence them as well and he checked to make sure his hat was fine.

"Wow! So strong!" A voice called from the roof and he looked at the source, only to find the same girl who had ran away from before. "You managed to beat those guys barehanded!" She grinned at him.

"You're… who are you?!" Luffy repeated in genuine confusion.

"The name's Nami! I'm a thief who specializes in robbing pirates!" She introduced before continuing. "Wanna team up with me?!"

"Nah, I don't feel like teaming up with you," he replied bluntly and he began to walk away from her.

Nami blinked in confusion before it morphed into surprise and she hastily moved to follow after the strange boy. "W-wait, hold on a minute!" She called to his back.

Luffy suddenly remembered a key detail and collapsed onto the floor. "I'm starving…" he whined pitifully and the orange haired girl took the chance to seize the opportunity.

"I can treat you to some food!" Nami beamed.

The rubber boy rebounded instantly.

"Really?!" He exclaimed excitedly and she flinched slightly at his sudden energy, not expecting him to suddenly be so friendly.

"Y-Yeah!" She replied hesitantly.

"Well, let's go!" He rushed her impatiently.

Nami smiled in victory.

"They still haven't caught the thief?!"

Someone gasped in fear at the grave tone and hastily sought to appease him. He stepped up to the clown and said, "They should be pursuing her as we speak, Captain Buggy!"

Buggy held his cheek with a fist and glanced at the man with visible annoyance. "How did the map get stolen so easily in the first place?!" He barked out and was satisfied to see them flinch.

He sucked his teeth. "Just when we were about to enter the Grand Line and raise some hell too…"

The man laughed nervously and said "The key to the map room got left in the lock and only the robber knows —"

"What did you just say?!" Buggy cut him off and his subordinate blinked in slight confusion.

"I-I said only the robber knows —"

"WHO HAS A RUBBER NOSE?!" Buggy roared in fury, mishearing what his poor subordinate said and immediately closing the distance between the two.

"Does my nose look funny to you?" The clown asked lowly, grinning with no amusement in his eyes.

"N-No I never said that cap'n! I said it was a mistake!" The man pleaded with bugged eyes. How had his words gotten completely misinterpreted?! He had been speaking about the thief! He would never insult his captain's nose!

Clearly, Buggy wasn't aware of that.

"NOW IT'S A STEAK?!" Their captain screeched in disbelief, eyes bugged with rage. "UNACCEPTABLE! NOW YOU FLASHILY DIE!"

The man tried to plead that it was a misunderstanding but his words were caught in his throat rather forcefully, due to the fact that his neck was being gripped with tremendous force.

"He's using the Devil Fruit power…" The crew muttered in fear. There was nothing they could do to save the poor guy and they could only send looks of pity at his unfortunate soul.

"Ready the cannon," Buggy ordered, taking a seat in his throne like chair in boredom. He rested a fist against his cheek, as he said, "Blast him to pieces!"

"I-I… I NEVER SAI — PLEASE SPARE ME!" The man begged, still being choked violently. He watched with tears in his eyes, as his crewmates began hesitantly setting up the cannon and his pleas increased tenfold.

Eventually, all he could do was scream in terror and the cannonball fired.

The following explosion, was utterly deafening and they could only thank the stars that it wasn't them at the receiving end of that.

"Go get me my map," Buggy ordered with a grin. "And make sure you take everything of value from this town!"

His crew shook in utter fear, with sweat pouring down their features and said, "Aye aye, Cap'n!"

"Seems like we're here," Rosan hummed, glancing at the deserted island with half lidded eyes. It wasn't impressive by any means which is probably why the clown had decided to take it over.

"Luffy's on this island right?" Zoro asked curiously and the redhead nodded without hesitation.

He pointed a finger in a direction and said, "He's that way. I can feel him."

Out of the corner of his eye, Rosan saw his 3 servants flinch and immediately turned his attention towards them. "What? Is your captain over there?" He asked them and was satisfied to see them answer without hesitation this time.

"Yes sir! That's the location that Buggy-sama chose as his base!"

Good, at the moment, they feared him more than Buggy. How that would change when they actually met him? He didn't know nor did he care. They had fulfilled their purpose.

"So Luffy has already encountered him huh?" Rosan mused.

Both he and Zoro paused, at the sound of an explosion taking place exactly where he pointed at.

"Oh cool!" Ram gushed at the sight of an entire row of buildings being taken out in one blow.

"We should go get him," the redhead muttered and his crewmate agreed immediately.

Hopefully Luffy wasn't messing around too much, his little brother had a tendency to do that and it made things much more difficult then it had to be.

Nami had not expected her plan to go so haywire. She just wanted a map to the Grand Line so that she could get more money!

After learning that the mysterious boy she wanted to team up with was a pirate, Nami had been justifiably turned off at the idea of them teaming up and immediately rescinded her offer. She couldn't stand pirates at all and the idea of becoming allies with one, made her sick to the core.

So, she decided to sacrifice the weaker pirate to the stronger one in order to get in the stronger ones good graces! It was a natural course of action that ensured her chances at survival, while giving her an opportunity to get even more treasure.

It had worked out wonderfully. Buggy had accepted her into his crew (what an idiot) and they didn't suspect her due to her turning in her "boss". Now, they were throwing a party and getting blackout drunk in the process while the straw hat kid was tied up in a cage.

Soon, they'd be too intoxicated to process anything and she'd rob them for everything they had!

...Or that was supposed to be the plan. Nami had never intended to get the straw hat wearing boy killed! Worst, she was supposed to be the one to do it! With the Buggy Balls! The power of the cannon balls left her white in fear and knowing she had to use it on the prisoner, made her skin crawl.

She would be no better than the pirates if she killed him so she wouldn't. The orange haired girl would not stoop to their level and so, when one of the pirates in Buggy's crew snatched the match out of her hand, to light up the cannon himself, Nami grabbed her staff and knocked him clean on his head.

She wasn't even sure why she did it. There was no way she could handle this entire crew of pirates but to go along with what they said… that would make her even worse then them!

Now the thief was desperately trying to fend off the oncoming pirates while the cannon got closer and closer to obliterating the imprisoned pirate.

Thinking quick, Nami ducked under a swing and sprinted over to the cannon. Reaching it in record time, she did the only thing she could think of and put her hands over the fuse.

"AGHHHHH!" She couldn't contain the scream of agony at the searing pain and the caged Luffy looked at her in clear surprise before his eyes widened.

"Look out!" Luffy yelled.

She looked back to see a group of pirates leaping at her with their own respective weapons and Nami tried to whirl, but it was far too late. There was no time to react the swords swinging down towards her—

"How many people do you need to take on one girl?" Zoro called out, stopping all the charging offenders with the flat end of his blades.

"Zoro!" Luffy called in joy at seeing his crewmate.

"Zoro…?" Nami whispered to herself. This was one of his other crewmates? The pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro? But how did he convince him to become a pirate?!

"Wow, this must be fate," A familiar deep voice called and Nami's eyes widened in dread at the sound of it.

She knew that voice but she really wish she didn't.

"Three meetings so soon, Orange? Perhaps it's destiny having us see each other so often," Rosan waved at the orange haired girl and she nearly groaned at the sight of the redhead sitting on top of Luffy's cage.

"Just kidding, I don't believe in fate. It would make me a lot more angrier if I did and that wouldn't be good for anyone."

"How on earth did he manage to get himself tied up and put in a cage?" Mod asked warily. Luffy was strong enough that sneak attacks wouldn't really work on him and she didn't think anyone here could successfully tie up the teen who didn't even look injured.

"How did you get tied up?" Rosan asked his captain. It was probably because of his easy going nature... It wasn't bad to be easy going but you probably didn't want to do that with enemies.

He idly eyed everyone there, checking for any potential threats and not finding any. The most notable person there, was the actual clown with a big red nose.

"Where do you think he bought that nose? It looks like it's perfectly glued on his face," Ram prodded curiously.

"I can ask him later," Rosan assured.

Luffy beamed at the question. "Our new navigator did it!" His captain explained.

The scout hummed at that. So they had a new navigator now huh? Judging by Orange's expression, she had not even remotely agreed to joining the group.

"I look forward to working with you," Rosan told her anyways and she roared, "I'm not your navigator!" in response.

"So you're Roronoa Zoro," Buggy called out to the green haired man and the swordsman turned his attention from them to the clown. "Here to collect my bounty?"

"Nah, I gave up on pirate hunting," Zoro said in disinterest, much to their surprise. "Rosan, can you open that cage?" He called to the redhead.

The man nodded in response.

"I can but I think it's funny to see Luffy trapped in here so I'll hold off on freeing him for now. Maybe I'll even eat in front of him for being so dumb and lax..." the redhead replied, causing his captain to begin complaining about how mean he was.

"DON'T IGNORE ME!" Buggy howled in fury before composing himself. "You're not interested, but I am. Killing you here will help spread my name even faster," the clown cockily said.

"I wouldn't try it, you'll die," Zoro said coldly, glaring at the captain while gripping his sword just a bit tighter. It was clear that words weren't going to work on him so he'd have to teach him the hard way.

"GET 'IM CAPTAIN BUGGY!" The surrounding pirates began chanting.

"CUT EM TO PIECES!"

Rosan watched the two square off with a neutral gaze. He was content to just sit here and see how the battle unfolded. The redhead had no interest in fighting anyone here so it would be good training for his crewmates.

If Buggy had an interesting Devil Fruit though…

The clown licked his knife eagerly and with a bounding leap he said, "DIE FLASHILY!"

Zoro's only response was to tense up and the swordsman instantly cut through Buggy like he were made of paper.

Nami gasped in horror at the gruesome sight and looked away immediately.

"Wow, he's so weak!" Luffy whistled.

"That was disappointingly easy," Zoro said. It wasn't even worth using two swords for, much less 3. Why was this guy so eager to die? He couldn't make sense of it.

"There's no blood," Rosan thought. The battle was not over but they were treating it as if it were.

That was not good.

"They let their guards down," Mod frowned in disappointment. She had taught Rosan since he was 4, to always be thorough until he was sure the battle was over. It was even more important that the redhead pay attention to it due to his diminutive size at the time.

The scout would have thought that the sudden laughter of the pirate crew would have raised their alertness, but it appeared only his brother realized something was amiss.

True to his thinking process, Zoro wasn't able to react in time to Luffy's warning call and was stabbed from behind as a result.

"ZORO!" The captain yelled in shock.

"!" The green haired man grunted in surprise and looked down unsteadily at the knife stabbing him through his back. What…? What was going on? How had he gotten…

The swordsman saw a floating hand holding the knife and his eyes widened in dread.

Fuck. He knew Buggy had a Devil Fruit but still didn't prepare for it. What was he thinking?!

"The Bara Bara no mi!" Buggy cackled, not looking dead or injured at all and those who weren't aware, watched in disbelief as his body reattached itself. "You can slice and dice me, but you can't kill me! I'm a chop-chop man!"

Not an interesting fruit then. All interest Rosan may have had, vanished at hearing about his Devil Fruit.

"Chop-chop man? That guy's a freak!" Exclaimed Luffy, the rubber man.

"Oh Luffy, never change," Mod sighed fondly at the rubber boy.

Rosan hummed and began moving in a way that didn't attract anyone's attention.

"I didn't hit any vital spot, but that wound is pretty serious! You never stood a chance, Roronoa Zoro! It's my win!" Buggy cackled in victory.

"BUGGY! BUGGY! BUGGY!" The pirate crowd chanted.

This was pathetic. Zoro had come to save Luffy but now he was the one who needed help. All because he had disregarded the fact that the man before him had a Devil Fruit.

"STABBING SOMEONE IN THE BACK IS FIGHTING DIRTY YOU BIG NOSE!" Luffy roared in fury. Who did this fat nosed clown think he was, fighting like this?!

Everyone froze simultaneously at hearing that.

Nami looked at the idiot in disbelief. Why?! Why would he say that out loud?!

The pirates were thinking the same thing because all the chanting had stopped and they began sweating nervously.

Buggy felt a vein throb in sheer rage at the audacity of the prisoner before him. "Who's… GOT A BIG NOSE?!" He roared. Without hesitation, the man gripped his knife tightly and sent his arm flying towards the straw hat prisoner.

"LUFFY!" Zoro yelled as the knife seemingly connected to his captain.

Buggy's eyes widened slightly in surprise, at seeing the kid effortlessly grab the knife between his teeth and crush it into pieces.

Oh? Quite the strong idiot they had.

Luffy grinned at the clown and said, "I swear I'm gonna kick your ass, Buggy!"

The chop-chop man threw his head back and roared in laughter. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha! You? Kick my ass? Don't make me laugh! You three are about... to… die... here?" he tapered off in confusion.

Wait. Three? Wasn't there... wasn't there a fourth person here?

No, he was sure of it. There was almost certainly another person here. It had been the one sitting on the cage.

The redhead. Where was he?!

"Wait, that's your real nose? You didn't buy it at a store?" A voice called out blandly.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the mostly silent redhead, who was inspecting the lit cannon pointed at the pirate crew.

The lit cannon pointed at the pirate crew.

The lit cannon pointed at the pirate crew.

"I'm so sorry that you were born with that on your face," Rosan apologized as the fuse reached the end. "At least it's red. Red is a fantastic color. Imagine if it were blue or yellow? That would be even more embarrassing."

No one had noticed his slits turn back into his tiny pupils… or that he had even made it to the cannon in the first place.

Buggy couldn't even howl in rage at the insult to his nose again, as terror crept into him. That cannon was loaded with one of his Buggy Balls! If that fired…

Luffy cackled in joy at Rosan's verbal assault. "Ha ha ha ha ha! I refuse to die! Good job Rosan!"

"Naturally," his older brother replied, moving towards the cage and hoisting it with no issue. He wasn't even paying attention to the cannon anymore and instead looked towards the green haired man who let his guard down.

Nami gaped at his casual show of strength. She had totally forgotten he was here until he had spoken again by the cannon. He had taken complete advantage of the chaos around him and they were gonna make it out alive because of it!

"Zoro, can you move?" He asked and his crewmate nodded after testing the extent of his injuries. It was bad but he'd survive after eating and getting some rest.

"Good, be prepared to move soon. Also, you should all cover your ears. That cannon is about to fire."

"Wait wait wait!" Buggy called in disbelief. "You can't fire that at us! I can't believe it's already lit! Wait I said! WAIT!"

The cannon fired and Ram whistled at the destruction.

"Germa's technology is more destructive but you gotta appreciate all forms of demolition," his unhinged weapon replied.

"You aren't wrong about that," Rosan replied softly, eyeing the debris for a moment. "We should go now, I have to eat a meal in front of Luffy before I break him out this cage."

"H-Hey!" His younger brother protested.

Nami looked at the crew of pirates in disbelief. They were all insane, this was why she hated pirates! She could never tell what went through their heads and it wasn't worth the trouble tying to.

"Are you coming, Orange?"

A vein of annoyance made its way onto her head. "MY NAME IS NAMI!"

"How is your injury?" Rosan asked Zoro, nibbling on a piece of bread that Luffy was desperately reaching for. Whenever he got close, Rosan would poke him with his sharp nails so that his rubbery hands would hastily retreat.

"I lost a lot of blood so I need some rest," the swordsman panted, falling due to his shaky legs. It was good that the scout was strong enough to carry that cage, it would have been troubling otherwise if he had been forced to do so.

"You let your guard down," Rosan reprimanded and the green haired man held his head slightly at that. "You should have taken into account that Buggy wasn't bleeding and you paid the price because you didn't. I even had his minions tell us about his Devil Fruit but you never showed a hint of wariness."

"So you noticed that Buggy wasn't dead…" Zoro mused. "You're right, it's my fault for being too lax and I lost because of it."

Rosan and Luffy had both noticed something was amiss but he had failed to do so. It was a mistake that could have potentially been fatal if the redhead hadn't intervened.

Losing to that sham of a pirate... How sloppy of him…

"Rosan, free meeee," Luffy whined pleadingly. This was too cruel!

His brother hummed for a moment at the caged teen, tilting his head in contemplation.

"Hey look, there's a dog right there," Rosan pointed and it was comical, how easily he diverted Luffy's attention to the animal.

If he released the rubber boy right now, Luffy would absolutely go do something stupid and the redhead wanted to finish his food first.

His captain's eyes glittered in excitement and he easily dragged the heavy cage over to the dog. It was a small white dog with thin ears, beady black eyes, and a short, brush-like tail. The little thing was riddled with injuries and Rosan idly wondered what happened to it.

It stared at them in a stationary position and it didn't move a single inch at all. It almost looked as if it were guarding the pet store behind it.

"Rosan, Zoro, it's not moving at all!" Luffy exclaimed after trying to make it laugh and failing to even make it move.

"The hell if I care. It can do whatever it want," Zoro groaned tiredly. He just wanted to get some rest right about now.

Rosan didn't respond, content to eat his meal.

"Maybe it's dead?" The rubber boy mused and he reached out to poke the dog. A moment after making contact, the dog gained an annoyed expression and immediately pounced onto Luffy.

Ram burst out laughing at the sight of Luffy's face being bitten.

Mod shook her head in amusement. Honestly, the rubber boy was too much sometimes. It was surreal how much he could enjoy every situation.

"Ow! Let me go you dumb dog!" The caged boy began brawling with the violent dog that was now chewing his arms. "Take that! And this!" The rubber boy flailed, swinging his fists to little success.

"BE SERIOUS, LUFFY!" Zoro roared in disbelief but his blood loss was making itself apparent right now.

"Is the middle of the street really the best hiding place you three could come up with?" Nami asked in worried confusion. She had separated momentarily from the pirates for unknown reasons but it appeared that she had come back.

"Hey! It's our navigator!" Luffy beamed and Nami felt a tick forming on her head. Now that she knew he was crew with the stupid redhead, it made sense why the rubber boy was so annoying.

It must have definitely run in the crew.

She took a deep breath and said, "I just wanted to thank you for saving me and I don't like owing debts."

Nami tossed the key to the cage and it landed on the floor with a tiny clang. Luffy beamed in excitement at seeing the key.

Now Rosan couldn't keep him in here any more! He was free to grab the food from his selfish older broth—

The dog took one look at the key and promptly consumed it in one gulp.

Everyone stared at the dog with a mixture of reactions.

Rosan almost smiled at how hard Ram was currently laughing and even Mod-chan couldn't hide her giggles at what just transpired.

"F-Father, I like this dog!" She cackled in glee. Since she had seen it, the dog had done nothing but entertain her so it was good in her books!

"It is a pretty funny dog," Rosan agreed with her sentiment.

Luffy's eyes bugged out of his head in fury and he began to choke the dog with all his life. "GIMME BACK THAT KEY YOU STUPID DOG!" He roared and the poor dog's eyes bugged from the pressure.

The two's brawling renewed in earnest and Rosan, at Ram's behest, decided to finally free his captain so that the dog would be spared.

That was put on hold though, as a presence approached and Rosan's gaze snapped to the person, trying to gauge if he was a threat and immediately dismissing him as one.

It was an elderly, bespectacled man, with curling gray hair distinctly bunched atop his head and down both sides of his neck.

"Stop bullying poor ol Chouchou you young'uns!" The old man yelled at the four there.

He introduced himself as the mayor of the village, Boodle, and after taking a look at Zoro's wound, had the swordsman put to rest in his home.

He then explained to them, why the dog chose to stand guard in front of the pet shop. Due to his owner dying and him valuing it as if it were his own personal treasure, the dog had taken it upon himself to keep it safe.

To someone like Luffy, those words would strike a chord inside of because he also had a material treasure that he cherished.

Rosan could agree to some extent too. His own treasures, were the accessories he wore day in and day out. The ones he would never take off unless he was robbed in death. To honor what he had lost... and to remind himself of what he could lose.

Hm. Seems even an animal like this dog had things that it valued as well. The world was an interesting place.

The conversation that they were having about the fate of this town, at the hands of Buggy, was cut short at the sound of a loud roar grabbing their attention.

"W-What was that?" Nami asked in fear and the mayor's eyes widened in recognition. He hastily grabbed their navigator and the two promptly ran off after he said one thing —

"That must be Beast Tamer Mohji! We gotta get outta here!"

Rosan watched them go with a blank look on his face. "They were just gonna leave you here, Luffy. It's a good thing you're strong or else you'd die."

"Does that mean you'll free me?!" His brother asked excitedly. Would he finally get out of this cursed cage?!

"Let's see what we're dealing with first, then I'll consider it," Rosan replied, glancing at the dog for a moment. If it didn't leave now, it was probably going to die.

The redhead didn't really feel like protecting it. He didn't care at all about its story, his heart didn't resonate with it whatsoever.

He shrugged at it's steadfast demeanor and turned away from the animal... only to be greeted by... two(?) more.

A shadow loomed over the two and Rosan knew that Ram was gawking at the site of the person before him.

Honestly, Angel had been a horrible influence on his weapon the moment Ram had unlocked her human form. The two hung out almost nonstop after the discovering and now she was frequently wondering what was wrong with people and their getups despite wearing the same style outfit for 12 years.

Beast Tamer Mohji was a man with muscular torso and thick lips. He wore a white fur vest that covered the area of his chest, blue pants held up by a yellow sash, and shoes in the shape of animal white fur feet.

The animal tamer was on top of a menacing large lion with green fur and a purple mane which was probably where he got his epithet from.

"Quite the exotic appearance," Rosan commented idly, nodding his head in greeting to the odd individual.

"Why does he have on such a weird animal suit?" Luffy asked in curiosity.

"I'm not sure but maybe it's to make his Captain feel like he belongs. I know if I was born with a nose like that, fellow circus freaks would make me feel better about myself," the redhead replied seriously.

The lion rider felt his head throb in annoyance. "DON'T BE SO DAMN RUDE!" He roared before catching himself and coughing lightly.

These two were some of the rudest people he met. They actually kinda hurt his feelings with their toxic words and this was the first time they ever met!

"I am Beast Tamer Mohji, and this is my hair."

"That's your hair?" Rosan asked curiously. Why? How? What? What was he thinking?

"That makes it even weirder," Luffy said bluntly. Buggy's crew sure did have a bunch of weirdos in them.

Mohji desperately tried to stifle his rage and surprisingly, the pirate turned towards the nonchalant redhead. "I have no interest in taking that caged boy's life. You're the one I'm here for. Buggy-sama wants you for what you've done."

Rosan blinked at that and tilted his head. "He wants me? Tell him I'm not interested in my enemies when it comes to that but I appreciate the offer."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT AND YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE!" Mohji roared in fury, fed up with their antics.

Richie charged and swung a massive paw at him that Rosan deftly dodged, landing on top of Luffy's cage in the process and shooting a raised brow at the charging lion. Unfortunately that had the effect of leaving the pet store in its path behind him and the Lion effortlessly smashed into it with the attack meant for him, destroying it in the process.

"Oh," The 24 year old said.

He glanced impassively at the sight of the dog barking in fury and doing a suicidal charge towards the lion. Chouchou howled futilely and jumped up to bite Richie.

With one brutal swipe of his massive claws, Chouchou was sent flying in a spray of blood and landed in a heap, struggling to pull itself up and dragging its broken body towards the ruthless lion.

"Rosan," Luffy said in anger at his brothers actions, or lack thereof. "You could have stopped that!"

His brother had a tendency to treat things like this... as if people's lives were just a game and it had been prevalent even when they were kids. He could have stopped the building from being destroyed and the dog from being attacked but he did neither, content to passively watch despite being the target!

"It's stupid of me to stop an attack without knowing what it could do. So I dodged it instead," he replied ruthlessly, utterly unbothered by what just took place.

Rosan didn't care about the treasure of someone else. He had no empathy for people he didn't love and that meant he wouldn't go out of his way to help them unless he somehow resonated with them, which had a near 0% chance of happening.

"I don't understand... isn't it his fault for being weak?" The redhead replied simply, getting up with a small shrug.

Whatever, he didn't feel like dealing with an upset Luffy when it came to things like this. There was not a soul alive that was more stubborn then his youngest brother and Rosan knew Ace and himself.

Though the two were naturally more stubborn then their youngest brother, when Luffy actually did want to be stubborn, it was impossible to change his mind.

Besides, despite being weak, the dog really looked like he was about to die fighting for what he cared for.

Rosan could respect that. He'd also drag his broken body to a fight he couldn't win just to keep his treasured items intact.

The Mod Mod no mi user effortlessly picked up Luffy's cage, much to the surprise and trepidation of Mohji, and slammed it right on top of the lion's head, immediately embedding it into the ground.

"Woah!" Luffy yelled dizzily at being taken for a trip by his scout.

Blood sprayed from Richie's head, as he was bludgeoned by a heavy cage and the lion roared in pain. It reared its body back up and was about to swing wildly at Rosan, but he suddenly stopped as they made eye contact.

"Richie?! What's wrong?" Mohji asked in confusion. Had the hit to his head been stronger than he anticipated? Was he going to be alright? That damn... red...head?

Red and purple slits stared back at the lion, daring it to make another move. It was a warning that only an animals instincts could feel.

The warning of messing with an apex predator.

"I'm something of a beast tamer myself," Rosan said idly. Mohji didn't notice that his eyes had changed into those of his dragon's and that was why the lion had stopped whatever it was doing.

An animal's first instincts were to survive after all. Dealing with a stronger creature went against that natural impulse like a blaring sign.

"Sit."

Richie obeyed despite Mohji's orders and when Rosan began approaching the two, the lion made no effort to stop him… Almost as if he feared the consequences of doing so. It stared at the redhead with a bead of sweat rolling down it's features and submissively held its head.

"Paw."

The lion held out a massive paw and the redhead idly palmed it with his own big, though much smaller in comparison, palm. "Good boy," he praised softly, idly heating up his hand to uncomfortable levels and staring at the increasingly nervous lion.

"So Buggy sent you to deal with me?" Rosan asked calmly, finally directing his attention towards the owner and removing his hand. "I planned on just having Luffy deal with everything... but I guess I can entertain you specifically since you were polite enough to meet me face to face."

The Beast Tamer stepped back in fear at the declaration made by the redhead. "Wait! I'm sorry! I'll give you anything you want so please spare me!"

"But you're the one who attacked me? If you didn't want me to hurt you, you shouldn't have tried to strike me. I would have left you alone, if you had left me alone," Rosan said matter-of-factly.

The redhead paused and raised a brow, as the lion fought against its instincts to protect his master.

Richie growled timidly but eventually let out a roar and stood tall, facing down certain doom with a look of bravery.

"Richie!" Mohji said in awe, touched that his lion was moving despite the overwhelming terror it felt.

"How admirable," Rosan said apathetically, watching the suicidal charge with a neutral gaze.

Before Richie could even think to reach out a claw, a black sneaker planted itself on the lion's nose with a sickening crunch and it sent him and Mohji, who he collided with, soaring a great distance from the original battlefield.

The lion had been knocked unconscious instantly from the power of the blow and, as Mohji struggled to get from underneath him, a terrifying shadow loomed over him that made his heart squeeze. Those merciless dual eyes of his predator bore into him without a hint of expression and it sent tremors through his entire body.

"Please—"

A stomp to the ribs, cut off his plea abruptly and Mohji spat out a river of blood, letting out a strangled screech at the sensation of his ribs being crushed beneath that cruel heel.

Rosan removed his black sneakers from the man's chest after cleaning them with his broken body and tutted. "No one has good survival instincts these days. I left you alive so make sure you tell your captain to not throw his life away."

The redhead took his time walking back towards Luffy's cage, inspecting the barren town all the while. He palmed the cool steel and glanced at his silent brother. Eyes glowing, he easily modified the steel and forced it open, making a hole big enough for his captain to walk through.

The rubber boy stared at the computer man. They continued to stare at each other silently, until Rosan conceded with a sigh.

"You're lucky you're my brother."

Everyone was lucky that he didn't have his emotions, actually. Maybe if he ever got them back, he'd show them how insufferable he could be.

Yeah, that sounded like a great idea. Robin and Mod-chan didn't deserve to be the only ones who dealt with the full terror of Portgas D. Rosan.

"I'm so touched," Mod said flatly, no hint of amusement in her tone.

Nami and Boodle left their hiding spot, shocked at what they had witnessed and they looked at the redhead with a bit of fear in their eyes.

Well, anger in Nami's case.

"All you pirates are the same!" She shouted angrily. "You take and take and you never stop. No matter what it is, even a person's treasure means nothing to you! I oughta kill you two right here and right now before you can go pillage some innocent town."

"As if you could ever kill me," Luffy said, sticking his tongue out.

"You're just on a long list of many who've made that claim and failed," Rosan uttered, disinterested in her anger.

"LETS GO RIGHT NOW!" Nami roared in fury. She didn't think she could take the redhead but she could definitely take the straw hat wearing boy on.

As Reaper, Rosan had never pillaged a town (he had permanently borrowed many things as a child though). He was a bounty hunter and townsfolk didn't have bounties. Besides, he had a steady source of income that more than made up for all his needs. If he ever pillaged, it would be solely for fun but he had more fun things to do.

He didn't think he was anything like pirates, but clearly this girl had been scarred by them so he wouldn't try and change her mind. It's not like he cared enough to do so anyways, crewmate or not.

"You aren't. Comparing you to the standard pirate is an insult I can't allow you to take," Mod frowned. She would never have aligned herself with Rosan if he were like Buggy or any other of those pirates. The Devil Fruit had raised him better than that.

"Yeah! You're way better than them!" Ram beamed.

He approached the broken dog that was crying and barking in front of the destroyed building slowly, making sure not to set it off. "Fighting an opponent you know you can't beat just for the sake of protecting what you love… I've been there before," Rosan said simply and he approached the wreckage.

Placing one palm on the building, Rosan thought, "Modification: Repair."

Wrapping his ability around the pet shop, he began the process of fixing it into the state that it was at before. He hadn't taken a look at the exterior but it shouldn't be a problem.

It was a good thing he helped Maro with her island's buildings all the time. That made this alot easier to do.

They all watched in shocked awe, as Rosan restored the building to its previous state with... Magic?!

D-Did he have one of the Devil Fruits too?

"Revealing some of my fruit for a dog," Rosan muttered quietly to himself, stepping back and assessing the building. It looked fine to his eyes and so, he would stop here.

"How noble of you," Mod teased. She was sure that Rosan would have attacked Luffy first before agreeing to restore the building but maybe part of him did sympathize with the cute little dog.

"Quiet," Rosan replied before glancing at Chouchou. "There, you have your treasure again. Keep protecting it but make sure you don't neglect yourself in the process. Your friend wouldn't like that, would he?"

The dog rubbed it's head affectionately on Rosan's pants and barked in affirmation glancing up at him with a gaze of acknowledgment.

Seems it really was as intelligent as the mayor said because it began walking away from the building it was guarding forever, presumably to get its injuries tended to.

"Satisfied?" He asked his captain and the rubber boy nodded cheerfully, all anger forgotten.

Rosan sighed.

He should have really become his own captain… or stayed with Maro. Maro wouldn't make him do stupid things like fix a building because of a dog...

Actually, yes she would. His family was full of idiots.

Mohji managed to miraculously drag his broken body back to where Buggy was stationed. He needed to urgently tell him about the monster with red hair and not to underestimate him.

"Mohji! I sent you after the redhead and you lost to Zoro?!" Buggy screamed in disbelief. Zoro could wait, the redhead had personally offended the clown with his insults and had gotten one up on him and he needed to pay.

Redheads… Buggy hated how annoying they were. All of them were a pain in the ass.

"Not Zoro… it was… the redhead," Mohji gasped out, his ribs were broken right now and it was a miracle that he could muster up the energy to do anything.

"THE REDHEAD DID THIS TO YOU?!" Buggy roared. That damned redhead really wanted to make his life difficult...

Of course he would, he was a fucking redhead.

"Spared me to... warn you. Don't underestimate the… monster…" the beast tamer tried to say but the pain proved to be too much and he collapsed .

Buggy stared at the unconscious body with a fury in his eyes. "If it gets out that my first mate was beaten by a nobody… OUR REPUTATION WILL BE RUINED!" He howled.

Beaten to the point where he was forced to call some random redhead a monster? There's no way this was getting out if Buggy had anything to say about it.

"MEN, LOAD THE BUGGY BALLS! WE'VE GOT A TOWN TO DESTROY!"

"AYE, AYE, CAP'N," They chanted.

Buggy couldn't kill one of the redheads he hated but this one would kind of make up for it.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you two!" Nami apologized with a smile and the two waved her off.

"No need to apologize to someone who wasn't offended," Rosan replied simply.

"Yeah! It's obvious you lost someone dear to you because of pirates," Luffy nodded. "I don't wanna hear about it though."

The redhead nodded in agreement. He couldn't care less about her past.

"I CAN'T STAND IT NO MORE!" The Mayor suddenly yelled, grabbing all their attention. "Those darn bullies! Chouchou and these young'uns fought so bravely but I, the Mayor, am just standing here and letting my town be destroyed!"

"Mayor, please calm down!" Nami said. He was going to get himself killed with his current train of thought!

"Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!" He replied gravely. "Isn't that right, you two?!" The old man asked the two brothers.

Luffy grinned excitedly. "That's right! You said it old man!"

"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!" Nami roared in disbelief.

"There's no way your making it out alive, but at least you can die with what little honor you have left," Rosan nodded in agreement.

"BE MORE ENCOURAGING!" She roared again. What was wrong with these two?! They were completely insane!

Boodle explained to them about hey they had spent 40 years building up this town into what it currently was and how it was all the citizens treasure. He then hoisted up a makeshift weapon ("Wow he works pretty quick, Father!) and prepared himself for an already lost battle —

"FIRE THE BUGGY BALL!" Buggy roared.