Chapter 46: Guardian of the Forest

Kaito Sakamoto carefully examined the small white snake coiled around his wrist, its smooth scales shimmering under the sunlight. As it wrapped around him, he felt a chill at his wrist—it was quite refreshing. The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. His fascination was certainly different from most people; anyone else with a snake on their wrist would likely be dancing frantically.

Just as Kaito was admiring the little white snake, a voice suddenly echoed out, clear and resonant, adding a touch of mystery.

"Don't come any closer."

He approached Luffy and the others, but the mysterious figure warned him to keep his distance. Naturally, Kaito couldn't resist getting closer; it was human nature.

"Who are you?" Luffy blurted out, genuinely puzzled.

"I... me! I am the guardian of the forest!" The ethereal voice replied again.

"What?" Nami and Luffy exchanged confused glances, questioning what a forest guardian even was.

But Kaito raised his hand to respond, "I know, he said he's the guardian of the forest."

Nami was silent, seemingly speechless.

"Oh, I see."

Luffy agreed, as absurd as it sounded—given his thought process, this wasn't surprising at all.

"You believe that?!" Nami was infuriated by these two "crazy" guys.

Meanwhile, the hidden figure was equally frustrated. What was that about "my mother"? Was that the main point?!

"Damn it!"

"Didn't you hear what I said?" the voice boomed again.

"Don't come any closer!"

"If you come closer, I'll unleash the forest's punishment."

"What are you, anyway?" Luffy challenged, never one to back down, especially when provoked.

"Is this person really that strange?"

"What did you say, you straw hat punk?" The hidden figure clearly disliked being called "strange."

Nami, however, wasn't buying into any supernatural nonsense, though she had a fear of ghosts.

"I know you're nearby! Show yourself!" Kaito insisted, nodding in agreement.

"It must be close by," he said, turning around to meet destiny.

In Kaito's line of sight appeared a box topped with... an enormous, messy hairdo. An arm stretched out from the box, holding a pistol, meeting Kaito's gaze. It seemed like he could see beads of sweat trickling down that wild hair. Would that gun even fire?

With the gun pointed at him, Kaito maintained a calm smile as he moved closer to the box.

"No, no! Don't come any closer!" the voice shouted, echoing around, its urgency fading as it reached the box.

Kaito pressed on, unfazed. In a panic, the figure inside the box fired his gun.

"Bang!"

The bullet struck Kaito's right side, but it merely dented his flesh and ricocheted back.

Now, Kaito possessed the abilities of both Zoro and Luffy, primarily Luffy's rubber fruit powers. Zoro's robust physique also contributed—after all, Zoro was as tough as nails with 108 blood bags in his body.

The bullet bounced back and pierced through the box figure's wild hair, leaving a hole in his thick mane.

"Oh my gosh!"

The fact that the bullet bounced back caught the box figure completely off guard, causing him to trip and fall backward.

Finally, his face emerged, revealing skin surrounded by a bushy beard. He had a thick mustache and a row of large teeth, one of which was missing.

.....

"What was that noise?" Luffy and Nami were drawn back to the commotion, watching the box figure struggling like a turtle turned upside down.

Nami exclaimed, "What? It's a person!"

Luffy laughed, "Haha, this is interesting! It's a broomstick person!"

Kaito suggested, "I think calling him 'box man' is more appropriate."

Feeling self-conscious under their scrutiny, the box man yelled, "Hey! Help me up!!" His tone was tough, but his words were cowardly.

.....

"So, you really are a rubber fruit user."

"That's a devil fruit, right? I heard about them a long time ago." After helping the box man up, the four of them gathered at the cliff's edge to chat.

"Yeah, I ate the rubber fruit and became a rubber man," Luffy announced proudly.

The box man looked bewildered. "You? Isn't that long-haired kid over there?"

"I want to ask, Kaito, how do you have Luffy's abilities?" Nami chimed in with her curiosity.

"Hahaha, that's because Kaito has the power to mimic others' abilities. I call him... Mirror Man."

"I've always said he's impressive," Luffy added, puffing up with pride, "that's my brother, my partner."

"The ability to mimic others' powers?!" Both the box man and Nami were taken aback.

"Can you even mimic navigation skills?"

Kaito nodded in affirmation, causing Nami to swallow hard, feeling a bit threatened.

"That's incredible."

"This is the first time I've met someone like you," the box man remarked.

"And this is the first time I've met someone living in a box. Are you a rich kid?" Luffy asked, his thought process absurdly linear. Why would someone live in a box if not to store treasure? So, if he lived in a box, he must be wealthy—what's wrong with that?

"Uh, I was pampered from a young age... No! What are you saying, you brat?!"

The box man almost fell for Luffy's nonsense. Wealthy? Have you ever seen such a worn-out rich kid?

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Note: For those interested, you can catch up to chapter 100+ at patreon.com/Esei01.