Chapter 198: Laotour Bandits

"Nojiko, where are BM & HQ?" Ben asked.

"They are on the Bridge of the ship," Nojiko replied. 

"I will ask them if they want to come along," Ben said.

"Okay," Nojiko replied.

Ben walked up to the Bridge via the stairs. He saw BM at the helm and HQ outside. 

"Hi Both," Ben said.

"Good Morning Master," HQ greeted back.

"Good Morning my lord," BM also greeted back.

 "We will dock at the village and walk off. Do you want to come with us?" Ben asked.

"Master, we would like to protect the Miss Love Duck," HQ replied.

"Sure," Ben said. 

"BM yourself?" Ben asked.

"I would also like to be here helping HQ, my lord," BM replied. 

"Sure, sounds good," Ben replied. He walked up and saw the island approaching. They were a few minutes away.

"I will head off and join the other girls," Ben said.

HQ and BM nodded. Ben thought they both were loyal and a crucial part of his crew. "BM, HQ thank you," Ben said. 

Ben went down the stairs and back to the deck. 

"My lord is a good caring person," BM said.

"Master is, we will do everything to protect his harem," HQ said. BM nodded.

Ben got back to the deck. "Everything good my love?" Alvida asked. 

"Yes it is," Ben replied.

"Are we going to split up?" Mikita asked. 

"I want to be with Ben," Marianne said, putting her hand up.

"I want to as well," Saphir added. She jumped on the spot. Saphir was a bit too excited. 

"Sis," Rubis said. She sighed at her sister's childish behaviour. 

"I think we can stay together initially," Ben said.

"It is a small village," Zala said. 

"The orb may be elsewhere," Robin said. 

"It might be but let's explore this village together first. There may be something interesting we find," Ben replied. 

The girls nodded. The ship pulled near a dock. It was a bit far away from the main village. They docked. The Miss Love Duck bridge lowered down on the side. 

"The Miss Love Duck has all sorts of tricks," Zala said.

"She has a lot, perfect for the Pirate King," Ben said. He looked smugged. 

"Yes, perfect for the Pirate Harem King," Vivi said.

"Pirate Harem King sounds good for my love," Alvida agreed.

"I like that as well, my Pirate Harem King," Marianne said.

"Pervert," Kaya said. Ben thought he did not say that. He sighed.

"I said," Ben tried to correct them.

However Robin interpreted him and said, "Pirate Harem King." She smiled. 

The other girls nodded. Even Emeraude and Rubis agreed. Ben thought there is no point in correcting them. 

"Okay, let's go and explore the island," Ben said. Alvida grabbed one of his arms. Honey grabbed his other arm. 

"Let's go, my love," Alvida said. 

They all exited the Miss Love Duck and saw a path heading to the village. 

"Rubis, Emeraude, Saphir, have you been here before?" Zala asked. 

"No, but we were told about each island," Emeraude replied. 

They walked down the dirt path until they saw a group of men standing on the path. 

"I told you already Simon Pirates are not welcome here," a man shouted. He was a tall, bald man with reddish skin, a large, pointed nose. He had large lips, thin eyes, and an X shaped scar on the right side of his head. He had a black goatee. He wore a red leather, sleeveless shirt, red leather gloves, a pair of red goggles around his neck, black pants and black shoes. 

"Brother Hei, is right you caused trouble before and we are not going to let you do that again," a man said. He was shorter than Hei. He sat in a wheelchair. He had round eyes, a large, pointed nose, brown beard, and a large mouth. He wore a black, horned hat, a blue and black jacket, and black pants. 

"Tei you should be resting," said an old man with white hair and a grey, pointed goatee. He had a diamond-shaped face with a pointed chin, squinted eyes, and a downward-pointing nose. He wore a black jacket over a red shirt. He also wore black pants and black shoes. 

"You should be resting old man Otsu," Tei said.

"Who are you calling old?" Otsu yelled.

Ben cleared his throat. "We are not part of the Simon Pirates. I am Ben, Captain of the Love Pirates and this is my crew," Ben introduced himself.

"Love Pirates?" Otsu questioned.

"Interesting name," Tei laughed.

"You are lying," Hei said.

"No we are not," Mikita said.

"We fought against them," Vivi added.

"We even had a scuffle with him," Zala said. 

Hei looked at the crew. There were 12 girls in his crew which he could see. 

"Hei, Tei, those three fishwomen with blue, green and red eyes are part of Simon`s crew," a random pirate said.

"I knew they were lying," Tei said. 

"We are not part of this crew," Saphir shouted.

"They are lying," the random pirate said. 

Hei took his sword out, "Tell us the truth," Hei demanded.

"We are not part of the Simon Pirates," Ben stated.

Hei looked at Ben. Ben looked back. They glared at each other.

"We are looking for the orbs," Ben said. Hei eyes widened.

Hei ran towards Ben. He raised his sword and was about to strike Ben when Alvida took her Jitte out and blocked the attack. 

"I will not let you hurt my love," Alvida said. 

Hei gritted his teeth. He jumped back. "Do you have any idea what those Six Eyes mean?" Hei asked.

"They are shiny," Marianne said.

"They look pretty," Honey added.

"They are nice to collect," Vivi said.

The other girls seem to be nodding. Ben looked at Robin. She did not have a smile on face. "You seem to know about them," Robin said.

"They will bring great destruction," Hei replied. 

Otsu ran up towards them. He had two small swords in his hands. He jumped in the air and tried to slash Ben. Zala saw this and turned her fingers into long spikes. "Stinger Finger," Zala said as she blocked Otsu.

"A devil fruit user," Otsu said as he jumped back. 

"I will warn you that those Six Eyes must never be brought together," Hei said.

"Why?" Ben asked.

Hei ran up again with his sword towards Ben. Alvida ran up and blocked the attack with the Jitte. She then quickly swung her Jitte and hit Hei. His neck was hit and he stumbled back. Alvida followed up with a kick to his stomach.

Zala ran up. She turned her hands into spike balls. "Stinger Balls," Zala said as she punched Otsu in the chest. Otsu took the attack and fell over. He was in a bit of pain. 

"Otsu, Hei," the pirates said. They then charged towards the Love Pirates. 

Honey raised her hand and fired a torrent of purple liquid towards the group of men. "Liquid Air Blast," she said. The liquid hit them at rapid speed and they went flying in the air. At the same time Mikita ran up towards them and punched a pirate in the face. She followed up with a kick which sent the pirate flying towards his friend. They hit each other and collapsed. 

"That was quick," Kaya said. 

"A little too violent," Vivi added.

"They started it," Saphir pointed out.

"We should leave," Ben said. He thought they may have friends and it would be better to assess the situation and take another approach. He thought back to what Hei said. He knew there was something more to the orbs but what was it. 

"Okay, my love," Alvida said. At the moment a tall, tanned old man with a large nose, and short white hair, white beard and moustache. He wore a blue, fur-lined sleeveless shirt, brown boots, a neckerchief, and a blue bandana with a jolly roger on it. He was running towards Zala with an axe. 

Ben saw this and tried to kick the man. However he dodged. Ben followed up with another kick which connected. The tanned old man stumbled back.

"Who are you?" the old man said.

"I am Ben of the Love Pirates," Ben answered.

"I am, Ko Captain of the Laotour Bandits," Ko replied and added, "Why are you with those Simon Pirates?"

"We are not, we were just looking for the orbs," Ben replied.

Ko, looked at the group. They did not seem evil. "You have no idea what you are getting into," Ko said.