"Might as well go take a look—it is an iconic scene, after all."
Kuro grabbed his saber, straightened his clothes, and stepped out the door with a cigar in his mouth.
"Kuro, Kuro, let's go eat!"
As soon as he stepped out, Lida ran up to him, eyes sparkling.
"Shoo, shoo! You little gremlin."
Kuro roughly ruffled Lida's white hair and shot her a side glance. "Where's Klahadore?"
Lida stuck her tongue out at Kuro, tidied her hair, and said shamelessly, "Who knows who upset him again. After putting out some snacks, he said he needed to calm down and disappeared. If you're not coming to eat, I'll go by myself—my treat!"
"You do realize whose money you're using, right?"
Kuro rolled his eyes.
She had recently captured two pirates with bounties, and Smoker gave her the full reward. So now she had a bit of cash.
Plus, with the capture of Krieg, Marine HQ took 30%, but sent the rest in full. After splitting it with Cass and the others, Kuro still had ten million Berries left. He kept a little for himself and gave the rest to Lida.
Now she was feeling flush with cash, eating and drinking her way through Loguetown every day. Every restaurant owner knew her; their faces lit up the moment they saw her.
"Try to spend a bit less. Go eat by yourself."
Kuro messed up her hair again and made a quick getaway.
"Kuro! I'm going to drain you dry one day!!"
Lida's indignant shout echoed behind him.
(***)
"Miss Lida, you're here! Please, this way!"
Inside a restaurant, the owner greeted Lida with a flattering smile and led her to a seat.
Soon, the table was covered in food.
"It's Miss Lida."
"Miss? Is she a noble?"
"No, I think she's a Marine. People in the Marines call her that. She's a huge eater—lots of chefs want to prove themselves by filling her up, but none have managed it yet."
"Wow… how does she do it?"
The other diners whispered among themselves.
Lately, Lida had become well-known around Loguetown for her appetite and spending.
"Oooh, meat! Meat!"
Two people burst in through the door. The one in the straw hat shielded his eyes with his hand and looked around like a monkey. Then his eyes lit up and drool ran down his chin.
"Wow, so much meat!"
He was staring straight at Lida's table—hers was clearly the most lavishly spread.
"Hm?"
Lida, chewing away, suddenly stiffened and instinctively guarded her food. Then she blinked in confusion.
She hadn't seen Luffy's wanted poster and didn't know he had a 30 million bounty. But she remembered him—this was the guy who unconsciously used Haki during the fight with Krieg.
"Boss! Give me the same thing she's having!"
Luffy wiped his mouth and pointed at Lida's table, shouting.
"Coming right up!"
The boss called out.
Luffy and Zoro sat at a nearby table. Luffy stared at Lida's table, drooling.
"What are you doing? Stop drooling!"
Zoro smacked him on the head.
"Well, it looks really good. I'm starving."
Lida's eating style was mouthwatering. Luffy had only been a little hungry, but watching her eat set his appetite ablaze.
When his food arrived, he began devouring it.
"Hm?"
Lida looked up and watched Luffy eat.
This Straw Hat was keeping up with her pace!
Impossible. When it came to eating speed, she was second to none!
Lida began eating faster.
Luffy seemed to notice, glanced at her—and sped up too.
For a moment, the restaurant was filled only with the sounds of rapid eating and clattering plates.
"Another!"
They shouted at the same time.
"Two more!" Lida glanced at him.
"Three!" Luffy shouted.
"Then I'll take four!"
"Five for me!"
"Ten!"
"Twenty!"
Luffy slammed the table, yelling.
Lida locked eyes with Luffy—a spark seemed to pass between them.
In that moment, they both knew.
The other was a glutton.
This was a glutton's duel.
She couldn't lose!
"Twenty! Bring it on!" Lida said, puffing her cheeks.
"You got it!"
The happiest person there was the restaurant owner.
"What are you doing?! We still have to leave soon. Do you even have money to pay for all this?"
Zoro rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"Money?"
Luffy tilted his head. "Don't you have any?"
"Why would I have money?!" Zoro snapped, a vein popping.
"True, hahaha!"
Luffy scratched his head and laughed, then held a hand out toward Lida. "Sorry, let's call it off. I don't have any money."
A vein popped on Lida's forehead as she yelled, "Then why were you smiling so happily?!"
Talk about wasted emotions—she had thought it was going to be a true foodie duel!
"Ah, but if I have no money, will the boss go easy on me?"
Luffy smiled at Zoro.
"Don't ignore me!"
Lida roared again, glaring fiercely at Luffy.
.
..
...
Elsewhere, two people wearing hooded cloaks were eating. One of them kept pounding the table.
"Damn it, damn it! That Straw Hat! He's unforgivable!"
His coin pouch flew from his hand and landed right on Luffy's straw hat.
"Oh? Treating me? How generous."
Luffy grinned, tucked the pouch away, took out a gold coin, and handed it to the boss.
"Thanks for the food."
Zoro patted the angry man's shoulder, and the two walked out together.
"That voice just now…"
One of the cloaked men froze, turning his head.
"Oh, it's the Straw Hat."
The other kept chewing, unbothered.
"Mohji?"
The first man glared at him and roared, "You idiot! Go after them, now!"
He tore off his cloak, revealing a bright red nose. "Straw Hat, I won't let you get away with this!"
It was none other than Buggy the Clown, captain of the Buggy Pirates!
"Huh? Red nose?"
"Who's calling me red nose!?"
Buggy's eyes bulged as he glared in the direction of the voice.
Still present, Mohji looked terrified. That was the captain's taboo! Who would dare say that?!
But when Buggy saw who had spoken, his expression suddenly changed. He pointed at Lida with a trembling finger. "Y-You?! What are you doing here?!"
"So it was you, Red Nose."
Lida swallowed a piece of meat. "What a coincidence, you're in Loguetown too? Planning to head to the Grand Line?"
"Captain! It's that demon!" Mohji cried out in fear.
"Idiot! I can see that myself!"
Buggy's face darkened. "Damn it… how did I end up running into you here?!"
Buggy had been sailing smoothly through the East Blue with hardly any real defeats—except for one painful disaster. And that was when he ran into this little girl.
Florida's treasure.
Being a treasure fanatic, Buggy of course went after it. But on one island, he encountered this demon of a girl.
The result? His entire crew wiped out, all their treasure confiscated. If there'd been anyone else on that island, they probably would've been handed over to the Marines too.
Buggy remembered this little girl very well.
"Captain, what should we do?" Mohji was sweating bullets.
Buggy's face fell—then suddenly, he gasped in panic and pointed in another direction like he'd just seen a dragon or a demon. "Ahhh!"
"Hm?"
Lida instinctively turned to look.
"There's nothing there…"
She turned back—only to find that both of them had vanished.
Lida blinked, then realized what had happened. Clutching her fork tightly, she laughed angrily. "You tricked me?! Red Nose, you're dead!"
(***)
The weather gradually turned gloomy.
Dark clouds gathered and rolled in overhead.
"Mr. Klahadore."
"Hello, Mr. Klahadore."
"Looks like it's going to rain. Take care, Mr. Klahadore."
Klahadore walked down the street with a smile, returning the greetings of passersby.
Alongside the gluttonous Lida, Klahadore was also famously known as "Mr. Nice Guy."
During his time in Loguetown, his gentle demeanor and Marine identity quickly won over the locals.
As Klahadore himself would say:
"If there's nothing to do, I carry water for widows. If there is something to do, I donate money to widows. I'm destined to be tied to widows in this life."
"You too—if you don't have an umbrella, you'd better head home quick."
Klahadore smiled and greeted everyone he passed.
Only here did he feel like he truly existed.
As for the Marine base—he was either suffering or utterly lost.
Just look at what he'd been through lately!
If he wasn't taking the blame for something, he was on the way to taking it.
This was nothing like what Klahadore had signed up for!
And then there was Lida—that damn fake child. She did nothing but use him as free labor.
Smoker, that muscle-headed idiot, took out his bad moods by using him for sparring!
Only the townsfolk here were kind and spoke to him nicely. He genuinely liked it here.
Only now did he feel the peace he once had in Syrup Village.
Thinking of Syrup Village brought up the memory of that damn Straw Hat—the bastard who ruined his plans.
"If it weren't for him, my plan would've succeeded. I wouldn't have ended up crossing paths with that maniac, Kuro..."
Klahadore grew more irritated the more he thought about it, muttering,
"I'll run into that bastard again eventually. Just wait—now that I'm a Marine, I will get my revenge."
"Pirates! Pirates have appeared at the execution platform in the plaza!"
"It's 'Buggy the Clown' and 'Iron Mace' Alvida! Looks like they're trying to execute someone!"
A commotion broke out nearby.
"Execution platform? Buggy?"
Klahadore frowned. Of course he knew that name—a pirate from the East Blue.
He turned his gaze toward the platform. A man stood high above. Though he was too far to make out clearly, that outfit was burned into Klahadore's memory.
"Straw Hat!"
Klahadore's eyes narrowed sharply, and he ran in that direction.
(***)
At a Marine building closest to the execution platform,
Kuro stood on a balcony, clearly watching the scene below.
"Hey Kuro, did you see a guy with a red nose?"
Lida popped up behind him, cheeks puffed in anger.
"Red nose?"
Kuro pointed down.
"If you mean that, he's right there."
"That's him! He lied to me earlier!"
Lida stared at the square and asked curiously,
"So many pirates... shouldn't we be arresting them? And why is Straw Hat up there?"
"He's here to see where the Pirate King died."
Smoker's voice came from behind.
He and Tashigi had just come up the stairs. Smoker handed Lida a wanted poster.
"You haven't seen this yet, right? Monkey D. Luffy—the Straw Hat."
"Thirty million?!"
Lida took the bounty poster, shocked.
"First bounty? In the East Blue?"
"He took down the fishman Arlong. Thirty million isn't an exaggeration."
Smoker looked to Kuro.
"Didn't you say you weren't getting involved?"
Kuro stared at the farce unfolding on the platform—Luffy was restrained in shackles.
He chuckled and said with deeper meaning,
"Smoker, the times are calling."
"What does that mean?"
Just as Smoker was about to ask, a voice thundered across the plaza:
"I'm the man who will become the King of the Pirates!!!"
The voice shook the heavens.
Smoker's pupils contracted. He stared at the platform in disbelief.
"He's way too bold,"
Lida was stunned.
"He said that here of all places?"
Buggy raised his blade, ready to strike—but just then, the Straw Hat kid beneath his foot smiled.
"He's smiling..."
Smoker was shaken.
"He's smiling..."
Lida couldn't believe it.
"He's smiling..."
Kuro, who had just arrived, froze in place when he saw Luffy's smile—overcome with mixed emotions.
To laugh in the face of death—that is the mark of a true warrior.
Kuro also smiled, but his grin was twisted and menacing. From between clenched teeth, he growled:
"Pirates..."
"Why?!"
Smoker clenched his fists, veins bulging.
"Why would he smile?! How dare he smile?!"
BOOM!
The storm clouds burst open. A bolt of lightning struck the execution platform, setting it ablaze with blue fire. With a crash, it collapsed.
"Ahahaha! I'm alive!"
Luffy grabbed his hat and laughed wildly.
Smoker raised his hand, then swung it down hard.
Marines burst out from all directions, surrounding the pirates.
"You're not leaving Loguetown!"
Smoker turned and walked away.
"Kuro, aren't you going?"
Lida swallowed nervously. That scene just now had completely stunned her.
Kuro shook his head and looked up at the torrential rain.
"A dangerous man just arrived. Better lay low—he might drag you off and turn you into a revolutionary."
No way he was going out there. Even without knowing the full story, his Observation Haki told him something dangerous was approaching.
Get involved with the Revolutionary Army? No thanks.
"Let's just watch the show. With that guy around, we can't do anything anyway. Besides, isn't Klahadore already out there? Let him test the waters."
Kuro looked down at the black suit standing out in the crowd.
"Roronoa Zoro..."
.
...
....
On the plaza, Klahadore slowly slid on his claw blades, smirking at Zoro.
"Long time no see. You won't get away this time."
"Hey, who's that?"
Sanji looked toward Zoro.
Zoro gritted his teeth, eyes wary.
"A pirate from Usopp's village. This is trouble. Hey, aren't you a pirate too? Shouldn't you be running?"
"Run?"
Kuro let out a short laugh, then his expression turned cold.
"Soru."
Whoosh!
Zoro's hair stood on end. In an instant, he raised his three swords in defense.
Clang!
Just as he lifted them, five claw blades scraped across the steel. Kuro's other hand came slashing in a flash.
"Crap!"
Zoro tried to leap back but was a second too slow. He was slashed and sent flying several meters.
"Damn mosshead!"
Sanji shouted, rushing in with a kick like a blade.
"Useless."
Klahadore didn't even look. With a flash, he raised his claw and drew blood.
Sanji cried out and collapsed, clutching his side.
Kuro adjusted his glasses and smirked.
"I'm a Marine. Why would I run?"
"Marine?!"
Zoro stood back up, shocked.
"You joined the Marines? How?!"
That made Klahadore even angrier. His claws dragged against the ground.
"Because of you people! Today, none of you are leaving!"
"Not bad at all."
Lida suddenly appeared with a bag of chips, munching as she watched.
"Still lacking a bit."
Kuro commented:
"He's only just started learning Soru. His use of it isn't good yet. They only got caught off guard because it was their first time seeing it."
(*****)
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