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"It turns out that story actually happened to him!"
Under Red's explanation, everyone quickly learned about Laboon's past.
Including the vanished Rumbar Pirates and Skeleton Brook who lost himself in the Florian Triangle.
Luffy and Usopp hugged each other tightly, both moved to tears by the story of Laboon and the Rumbar Pirates.
The other Straw Hat crew members also showed emotional expressions.
After a moment, Luffy suddenly clenched his fists and declared firmly:
"Okay! I've decided! I don't want to eat him anymore!"
"I want Laboon to be our partner, and we'll take him to find his friends!!!"
"Yeah!!!"
The Straw Hats responded with immediate enthusiasm.
But Smoker, the only outsider, made an inappropriate comment at this moment.
"I think you should save your energy!"
He bit down on a cigar that had been soaked in seawater and gone stale, turning his back to the Straw Hats as he said: "That's an Island Whale. You two don't even understand each other's language. How could you possibly form a partnership?"
"And..."
Suck
Smoker took a deep breath from his cigar, exhaled a thick stream of smoke, and sneered: "Placing your emotions on an animal... you pirates are truly pathetic!"
"Why is this guy like this!?"
After hearing Smoker's words, Usopp immediately shouted in dissatisfaction.
The rest of the Straw Hats quickly joined in.
"That's right!"
Nami glanced at him angrily: "It would be really terrible if all Marines were like you!"
"Cold-blooded man!"
Sanji followed Nami's lead and echoed: "Heartless man!"
Zoro: "Ship-riding man!"
Luffy: "Marine Man!"
"Hey, Luffy, 'Marine' isn't a curse word!" Usopp quickly reminded him.
Luffy was silent for a moment, then said: "Pirate Man!"
"Hey! Aren't you insulting us now?!"
Unfortunately for Smoker, he was neither stupid nor immune to their mockery.
Listening to the Straw Hats' taunts, two angry veins popped up on Smoker's forehead.
"Enough! I've had it!"
He suddenly shouted.
Smoker, who couldn't stand the Straw Hats' atmosphere, said: "If you're not going to do anything to me, just give me a boat and let me leave this ship!"
"Don't worry! I will never tell anyone what happened today!"
"Um... that doesn't seem possible, Captain Smoker."
Red, who hadn't had time to join the taunting team, laughed and refused: "You don't seem to know much about navigation, do you?"
"This is the Grand Line with its unpredictable weather. Letting you, a Devil Fruit user, leave alone is basically the same as killing you, right?"
"I think you should stay on the Merry obediently. We'll wait until we find a city with a Marine base and let you leave then!"
"Damn it!" Smoker was furious but helpless when his weakness was pointed out. "When we find a Marine base, I'll definitely have them arrest all of you!"
"Haha..." Red grinned, "We'll see about that!"
"Wait a minute! There seem to be people over there!"
At this moment, Usopp appeared to have discovered something and shouted.
Everyone immediately looked in the direction he was pointing.
There, they saw two flashy figures on Laboon's back.
At this time, they were climbing on Laboon's back with grappling hooks.
"What are they doing?"
Luffy asked curiously, but no one could answer his question.
Red frowned slightly at this moment.
He instantly recalled the storyline.
If he guessed correctly, those two should be Miss Wednesday – actually Princess Vivi in disguise as a Baroque Works member – and Mr. 9, a real member of Baroque Works.
And sneaking onto Laboon's body was to complete a Baroque Works mission...
To kill Laboon and sell his meat to the bounty hunters of Whiskey Peak!
"Princess Vivi..."
Red murmured to himself.
Although in Red's knowledge, she would soon become an ally of the Straw Hats.
But now their target was Luffy's newly declared partner, Laboon!
After a quick thought, Red immediately said to Luffy: "Luffy! Stop them! They seem to be planning to hurt Laboon!"
"What?!"
Luffy was startled at first, but then a flash of anger suddenly appeared in his eyes, as he had no reason to doubt Red.
"How dare you attack my chosen partner? I won't allow it!"
Whoosh!!!
As soon as he finished speaking, Luffy's arm suddenly stretched out.
Because Laboon often rammed his head against the Red Line trying to see his friends, his forehead was already covered in scars.
These scars now became the perfect anchor points for Luffy to grab onto.
"Hey! What are you two planning to do to my new partner?!"
With the elasticity of rubber, Luffy's body shot out like a rocket, and he quickly arrived in front of Vivi and Mr. 9, blocking their path.
"Huh?! Why is someone else here?!"
When the two of them saw Luffy, they looked surprised.
But then, Mr. 9's eyes lit up with recognition.
"Wait... I think I've seen his face before!"
He suddenly pulled out a stack of Marine wanted posters from his waist.
As a self-proclaimed bounty hunter, Mr. 9 was surprisingly sensitive to the appearance of criminals with bounties. Soon, he found what he was looking for.
Mr. 9 raised his head and announced loudly to Luffy:
"You're the notorious pirate with a bounty of 50 million Berries, Monkey D. Luffy, the Straw Hat boy!"
"What?! 50 million Berries?! Are you sure?!" Vivi, maintaining her disguise, screamed.
"I'm positive!"
Mr. 9 put away the wanted poster and focused his eyes firmly on Luffy:
"According to intelligence, they were indeed about to enter the Grand Line!"
"I just didn't expect it to be so soon!"
"Miss Wednesday, we're about to get promoted and rich!!!"
Mr. 9 suddenly adjusted the rope around his body, then took out two baseball bats from his back, and greedily licked the corner of his mouth.
Obviously, he regarded Luffy from the "weakest sea" as premium prey.
Capturing him would be much easier than killing an Island Whale!
At least, that's what Mr. 9 thought.
The next moment, he used Laboon's back as footing, swung the baseball bat in his hand, and rushed forward.
However...
Thud!
A dull sound rang out.
Mr. 9's eyes rolled back and he passed out.
The two metal baseball bats fell freely from the high altitude into the sea below.
"What was that? You're so weak!"
Luffy, who had just thrown a simple punch without even using his Devil Fruit powers or Haki, made an unhappy sound.
He had thought that the Grand Line he had longed for would allow him to meet strong opponents as soon as he entered.
Then, he turned his gaze toward Vivi.
"Mr. 9!!!"
Vivi shouted in shock, but received no response.
"Damn it! I have no choice but to use that technique!"
She immediately gritted her teeth and removed her coat in front of Luffy, revealing her graceful figure.
"What is she doing?! Come at me if you dare!"
When Sanji on the Going Merry saw this scene, he couldn't control himself and jumped to the bow of the ship, ready to "help" Luffy.
However, Usopp, who had better eyesight, noticed something unusual.
"Something's wrong! There's something strange about her clothes!"
"What?!" Nami and Zoro were momentarily stunned as they held Sanji back.
The next second, they saw Vivi dancing rhythmically.
The numerous black and white circles on her clothes emitted strange visual patterns.
Charming Peacock Dance!!!
Using special dance moves and specially designed clothes to hypnotize enemies.
It was with this technique that Vivi had managed to infiltrate the senior ranks of Baroque Works!
Although ordinary enemies could avoid the effect by simply turning away or closing their eyes.
But as it happened, most people in the pirate world weren't so cautious.
Among them, Luffy ranked at the very top of this list!
"Strange, why do I suddenly feel so sleepy?"
Luffy suddenly yawned while standing on Laboon's back.
His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and he slowly fell asleep.
The arm that was originally holding onto Laboon's skin weakened and let go, causing him to fall straight toward the sea below.
"Oh no!" Usopp shouted quickly: "Luffy was successfully hypnotized by her!"
"Are you all idiots?!"
"This kind of cheap hypnosis actually works?!"
Seeing this scene, Smoker on the deck finally couldn't contain himself anymore.
He roared suddenly, and a large amount of smoke instantly erupted from his feet, propelling his body high into the sky.
Seeing that these pirates who had so easily captured him were now about to lose their captain to such a ridiculous trick...
Smoker suddenly felt that the insult he had received was doubled.
As he flew through the air, his arms immediately transformed into large clouds of smoke.
One reached out to catch Luffy who was falling toward the sea, and the other firmly grabbed Vivi and Mr. 9 on the whale's back, bringing the situation under control in an instant.
But precisely because of this quick intervention, he felt even more confused and frustrated.
"What on earth am I doing?!"
Smoker, who felt his sense of duty becoming increasingly warped under the influence of the Straw Hats, looked up at the sky in exasperation.