Chapter 8.4
What happened next was, to be honest, very beautiful. In a few seconds, Usopp lowered his glasses, raised his slingshot, loaded it, took aim and fired.
A moment later, Unlucky twitched in the sky and fell, a faint cry managed to reach us.
I sighed with relief and patted the sniper on the shoulder. -Well done.
Usopp blinked at the sea for a second and then looked at me in confusion. -Hmm... thanks, I guess? What just happened.
"You just saved us from the consequences!" Nami squealed with delight. -Usopp, if you were anyone else, I would kiss you!
-... I'll accept it.
"Um, Nami?" I couldn't resist speaking timidly. -It is not that simple. We already screwed up Baroque Works by beating this town, so unless you're planning on killing all the locals...
Nami got an awkward expression on her face. -Well...
- And second... - I pointed at Soundbite with a grimace. -You are swimming with the loudest snail in the world, who now knows one of the most dangerous secrets.
"CROK-O-DILE, CROK-O-DILE, Mr. ZERO - this is CROK-O-DILE!" Soundbyte said helpfully. Helpfully, in his understanding.
Nami's face immediately took on a gloomy expression. -I want to eat you like never before...
"It's no use, Nami," Zoro grinned, patting her on the shoulder. -The thing is, one way or another? We've been blacklisted by Baroque Works.
"Sounds like fun!" Luffy grinned happily.
"We're all going to die..." Nami moaned, falling onto the deck and pressing her knees to her chest.
"I'm really sorry..." Vivi hopelessly tried to console her, patting her on the back.
"Um, excuse me?" Igaram spoke hesitantly. -I understand that we have caused you a huge amount of trouble, but if at all possible, I would like to make one last request to you. To save our people, Princess Vivi must be returned to Alabasta immediately. Therefore, I ask you to bring her home on your ship. You are all quite strong, so I believe that you will be able to handle the agents who will be sent after us without too much trouble.
"Please!" Igaram shocked us by falling on all fours and bowing low. -You will be generously rewarded, just bring our beloved princess home, I beg you!
"Igaram..." Vivi said quietly.
"No need to worry!" Luffy said, grinning and waving his hand in front of his face. -We will deliver her home, no problem!
The rest of the team, including me, seriously tensed up, casting panicked glances at Nami.
The red-haired girl sniffled and sobbed for another moment before standing up with a sigh and slapping her hand to her forehead. -Well, I think if this is the captain's wish, then we have no choice. Okay, we'll do it.
I stared at Nami in obvious shock. "Wait, aren't you going to scold Luffy for missing the chance to put a price on the royal?!"
Nami blinked and thought for a moment before shrugging indifferently. -Well, not quite like that. In the end..." She suddenly bared her teeth and hugged me by the shoulders. -You helped me make good money today, brother! Seventy million bellies in one night? That's pretty unheard of money outside of bounty hunting! So... - Nami took on a thoughtful look for a moment. -...Yes, I'm feeling quite generous at the moment.
"Sacrilege..." Zoro and Usopp whispered in surprise.
- SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!
- Aaaand, she's back.
"B-but Igaram!" Vivi protested. -You keep talking about bringing me to Alabasta, ensuring my safety, but what about you?! I won't leave you here, I refuse!
Igaram smiled affectionately and put his hand on her shoulder. -Don't be afraid, my princess, we will meet again in Alabasta. You see, I have a plan.
-o-
"This is one of the most terrible sights I have ever seen..." Sanji clenched his teeth, puffing on two cigarettes at once as we watched Igaram set sail.
"For sure, but still, you have to agree, it takes real courage to do something like that," Usopp noted.
"Mmm... yes, perhaps you're right..." the cook conceded.
As our decoy disappeared into the night, I took the opportunity to tap Vivi on the shoulder to get her attention. "Listen..." I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment while I spoke. -About what I told you earlier? I'm really sorry about all of this. I was coming out of an adrenaline rush and everything just went wrong, so...
"No, no, everything is fine." Vivi raised her hands placatingly. -You weren't in the mood, it's okay. Honestly, I am very grateful to you. If you hadn't made me break my game back then, I probably wouldn't have done it until it was too late. You can say... - She smiled at me gratefully. - Without you, neither Igaram nor I would have survived.
I tried to answer...
BOOM! BA-BANG!
I was interrupted by explosions that painted the horizon fiery colors.
I felt a strangled sound leave my throat as I stared at the almost devilish fire that lit up the night. I have two pressing questions: first, how the hell did Igaram survive this?! And secondly, what the hell did Robin do? Detonated a metric ton of waterproof explosives on top of an underwater volcano or something!?
"THEY HAVE GOT HIM ALREADY!?" Usopp screamed in panic.
"What kind of monsters are these people?" Sanji gasped as the cigarettes slipped out of his mouth in shock.
"Oh crap," Soundbite hissed in agreement.
Luffy puffed murderously as he looked at the flames. -Damn...I LIKED THIS GUY!
"Nami, like Log Pos?" Zoro demanded.
"It... it's tuned in," Nami muttered, checking the device.
"Okay, then we'll set sail immediately," he grumbled, turned on his heels and ran towards the city. - Move! The ship will not float on its own!
And so we all ran to Merry... all except one person.
"Vivi, come on!" Nami desperately shook the princess, trying to bring her out of her stupor. -We need to get out of here if they find us...!
"Nami," I hastily interrupted her, pointing to a strip of blood that began to flow down Vivi's too tightly compressed lips.
Nami looked at Vivi in shock for a second, and then quickly hugged her and rubbed her back soothingly. -Everything is fine! We will definitely take you to Alabasta, I promise! - she promised. -I understand that the guys don't seem trustworthy... but they managed to save the East Blue on their own! Shichibukai?" She grinned mockingly. -It's nothing!
Noticing that she was still looking at the fire with dead eyes, I hastily stepped into her line of sight. -Don't look at it, Vivi, don't even think about it. Think about Alabasta, think about your friends, think about your family. Think of every reason why you should stay alive. Think about how you can make those bastards pay!
This managed to bring Vivi out of her stupor; she took a convulsive breath, forcing herself to close her eyes and turn away. -K... Karu... we can't leave without Karu!
I assumed a desperate expression. -Please tell me you don't mean that 9th guy, if I have to travel with him on a ship again, I'll just...
"N-no, no!" Vivi shook her head decisively. -Karoo is a duck, a supersonic duck. I lost sight of him during the battle! I've known him all my life, I can't leave without him!
"Soundbite?" I looked at my snail.
Soundbite listened for a moment, and then blinked in surprise. -Hiding on Merry!
- What?! But why did he... Oh, exactly! - Vivi slapped herself on the forehead, realizing this. - Of course, he thought that this was the last place you would look.
"It's time to run!" Nami turned Vivi around and pushed her. - Stop wasting time, it's time for us to go!
Vivi stumbled forward, taking one last look at the raging inferno before running at full speed.
Nami sighed heavily as we followed the princess. -She's a strong girl...
"It's not just about keeping your word now, is it?" I asked quietly. -It... it just got personal.
Nami nodded in agreement, a dark grimace crossing her face. -Crocodile and Baroque Works... do something like that to her after everything they did to her Kingdom? With her people? ...Yes, it got personal.
I snorted darkly and looked ahead, trying to ignore the slight burning sensation in my chest as I quickened my pace a little. -Then let's do it!
Another minute of running and we were back on board Merry, the rest of the guys were rushing to set the sails, and Vivi was happily hugging her huge duck.
"I'm so happy you're safe, Karu!" she muttered into his feathers. -I... I can't imagine what I would do if I lost you too!
Opening his beak, Karoo soothingly stroked his childhood friend's back with one of his wings. -Kwa-kya I will never leave you, I promise!
Vivi sniffled and rubbed his neck gratefully. -Thank you, Karu, you have no idea how much this means to...
She, along with everyone else on board, quickly froze as they realized what the hell had just happened.
In the end, almost everyone just jumped back in shock, staring at Kara. -YOU CAN SPEAK!?
"I CAN COOK!?" Kara grunted in agreement.
- Pfft...
The reason I noted that almost everyone jumped back in shock was because I didn't. Why? The answer is simple.
- PHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I was too busy laughing, rolling around on the deck, tears streaming from my eyes and my stomach heaving as I laughed and laughed and laughed, and Soundbite totally shared the feeling.
- WHAT THE HELL IS MAKING YOU SO LAUGHED!? - Everyone else yelled at me, including Kara.
This only made me laugh even harder and I tried to raise my hand and point at Kara. -U-Duck! Duck! PWHAHAHAHA!
"WHAT HAPPENED IF I'M A DUCK!?" Karu screamed indignantly.
"N-N-NO!" I managed to say despite laughing. -D-D-DONALD! DUCK DONALD DUCK! Y-YOU'RE SAYING DONALD DUCK'S GOO-LOSS, HA-HA-HA-HA!
"Who the hell is this Donald Duck duck!?" Nami demanded.
"Uh... a comedian from my homeland!" I wheezed helplessly. -He played a fictional guy with a Dak-Zoan devil fruit! His performances became a classic! K-karu speaking in his voice, it's like that... Hahaha! Oh my God, it's like my childhood is talking to me!
"B-but how is this possible!?" Vivi blinked in confusion.
"I think I have an idea..." Nami thought, looking at Soundbite, who continued to giggle.
It took the snail transponder a moment to get his laughter under control before he nodded vigorously. -I AM TRANSLATING! CREATIVE! I'm helping!
"Cool... great job, Soundbite!" I wheezed when I managed to get to my feet. -That's exactly what I was talking about!
"Well, thanks for letting me grunt and all that," Karu said before frowning and flapping his wings vigorously. -But is there really a need for this voice!?
"YES!" Soundbite and I roared at the same time, to the sound of Luffy's laughter.
"Your duck is great, Vivi!" Luffy laughed.
"Say "the strongest strongman" PHAHAHAHAHA!" I roared.
Karou quickly launched into a disgruntled and very familiar sounding grumble that only made me burst out laughing again.
- OH, SHUT UP!
I blinked in surprise when Karu suddenly switched to a traditional quack. -What the...? Soundbyte, why are you... SOUNDBITE!? - I screamed in shock, staring at my completely empty shoulder.
- What the... ? Where the hell did that little pest go!?" Usopp demanded.
- Damn, damn, damn... - I cursed furiously, looking around myself. -Where could he have gone?!
- Maybe he fell out while he was laughing?
"No, you don't know Soundbite," I objected, continuing to look around. "He's damn good at multi-tasking, he won't let me go without a damn good one...!" I fell silent in a muffled gurgle when a familiar voice came from behind me for the second time that night.
Moving very slowly, carefully and ready to flinch at the slightest sign of extra weight on my body, I slowly rose to my feet and turned around.
And here she is sitting on the railing of the upper deck, dressed in a cowboy uniform, showing off a very generous appearance.
She had many names and titles. Devil's Child, sole survivor of Ohara Island, archaeologist, assassin, pirate, and most likely much more.
With a bounty of a hefty 79 million, her bounty was a sure sign of a dangerous, if not the deadliest, individual on our ship at the moment.
One day, she will become a member of the team. One day, I will call her my friend, and we will most likely smile, laugh and cry together.
But right here, right now?
At this moment, this girl was my enemy, our enemy... and she did something to Soundbite.
And I couldn't do anything about it.
"Hello everyone," Nico Robin said in a friendly tone. -I'm Miss All Sunday. Nice to meet you.