Chapter 167: The Straw Hat Crew's Good Little Sister
Sabaody Archipelago outskirts, Grove '49'.
On a bustling commercial street, specialty stalls set up in tents lined both sides. Colorful bubbles continuously rose from the ground and slowly floated into the sky.
On the street, the Straw Hat crew rode on several bubble bikes, floating about a meter above the ground.
This was a local specialty mode of transport. A wooden board device was attached to a bubble. As one pedaled, wind would spray from the back of the board, pushing the bubble forward.
"How is it? It's very light to ride, isn't it?"
Hachi rode a large bubble vehicle carrying several people, giving off the feeling of pulling them in a tricycle to sell piglets.
Several single-person bubble bikes surrounded them. The ever-unique Luffy had his entire body inside a bubble, lying down and pedaling rapidly, sighing:
"Sigh~, I really want to buy one, but it's a pity they can only be used on this island."
"Honestly, you just got your allowance and you already want to buy everything you see," Nami rolled her eyes.
She was riding a single-person bubble bike, with a Chopper in the basket at the front.
Reiner sat in the back of the bubble vehicle pulled by Hachi. Brook, beside him, seemed to have discovered something and pointed to a stall, chuckling.
"Yohohohoho~~, I see free samples again, everyone."
"Alright! On my command, charge!"
Luffy exclaimed excitedly, immediately changing direction and rushing towards the small stall.
"Another unlucky shop," Reiner shook his head, pitying the shop owner in his heart.
After landing on Sabaody Archipelago, they first found a currency exchange under Hachi's guidance, exchanged a large amount of cash, and distributed a lot of pocket money to everyone.
Now everyone's wallets were bulging. However, how could buying things compare to getting them for free?!
Except for Luffy, who was truly poor. He had only received a pitiful two hundred thousand Berries. The reasons were...
One: "It's not safe for you to have money. Reiner and I will help you save it. When you need to use it in the future, we'll naturally give it to you."
Two: "Behave yourself if you don't want a beating! Hand over the money, old lady!"
Using both hard and soft tactics, with this one-two punch, Nami easily got Luffy's money.
But to be fair, she really was saving it for Luffy. Reiner found it incredible.
Luffy, Chopper, and Brook sat in front of the food stall, heads down, devouring the freshly opened free samples. In no time, the three of them had licked even the plates clean.
Lifting his head, Brook asked very politely, "Boss, can we try another box?"
"Try my foot, you bastards! You've already tried four or five packs! Are you going to buy anything or not!" the boss roared at Brook.
Having run a shop here for so many years, he had never seen such shameless people!
"I want to buy! Ten orders... twenty orders of Grand Line Buns!" Chopper raised his small hand and shouted.
Taking off the small blue backpack from his back, he took out a few Berri notes and handed them to the boss. Chopper looked up at the person beside him. "My treat, Luffy."
"Hee hee hee, thanks then, Chopper," Luffy grinned.
The boss packed several boxes of 'Great Buns' into a floating bubble, tied it with a string, and gave it to them to hold like a balloon.
"How magical. Doesn't this mean you can shop like crazy and not have to carry anything yourself?"
Nami's eyes lit up. She immediately made plans with Robin and Perona to go on a shopping spree in the shopping district tonight.
Along the way, they bought various 'Great Chocolates' and 'Great Colas', holding a cluster of balloons filled with specialty products.
Until they left the commercial district and arrived at Grove '11'. At this point, Hachi suddenly spoke with a grave expression, "Everyone, from now on, we need to be careful at all times."
"What's wrong, Hachi?"
Seeing his expression, the group couldn't help but focus their attention on him.
Reiner took out a map from his pocket and looked at it, instantly understanding his concern. "This is the lawless area, right? Groves 1 to 29."
"That's right. Pirates and other illegal elements must come here for coating to enter the New World, so this island has a large number of criminals."
Hachi nodded and explained, "Although the Sabaody Archipelago has a Marine base, with over seventy groves, they can't cover them all. That's why this lawless area exists."
"In other words, we're going to run into a lot of fellow professionals," Usopp said with a frown.
"It's not just pirates. There are also a large number of bounty hunters and kidnappers on the island who target us."
Reiner rested his elbow on his knee, his palm supporting his somber face, and said, "For example, right now, too many eyes are staring at us."
As soon as his voice fell, a cold light flashed. Two figures who had been ambushing in the trees for a long time suddenly shot out.
The two were burly, with brown hair draped over their shoulders, looking rugged. They each held a giant axe and descended from the sky.
"Two heads worth five hundred million Berries!"
"We brothers will gladly take them!"
The two figures arrived in the blink of an eye, revealing large white teeth in a sinister grin, their black giant axes chopping fiercely towards Reiner and Luffy!
The sudden attack made Camie's face turn pale with fright. She subconsciously cried out, "Luffy-bro! Reiner-bro!"
Before her terrified eyes, the two men merely raised one arm casually.
Bang! Bang!
The next moment, the two giant axes abruptly stopped. Five fingers curled and gripped the axe blades tightly. The sharp blades, crashing down with immense force, were stopped steadily above their heads.
"I-I can't pull it back!" The two tall bounty hunters panicked, discovering that no matter how hard they used their hands, they couldn't move their weapons an inch.
Reiner and Luffy exerted force at the same time. The opponents stumbled, their bodies pulled forward uncontrollably.
Reaching out with open hands, they gripped their faces tightly in their palms, took a step forward, and slammed their heads hard onto the ground!
Bang! Bang!
The ground was instantly smashed into two deep pits, kicking up thick dust. Reiner clapped his hands and sat back down on the bubble vehicle.
"All settled. Let's keep moving," Luffy said faintly, and the group left the area and got back on the road.
After the dust settled, it revealed the two bounty hunters lying in the cracked pits, bleeding from all seven orifices, their eyes rolled back.
"The Tiger-man brothers were taken out in one move."
"As expected, there's no hope at all."
"It's five hundred million, after all. It was too much to ask."
In the surrounding shadows, all the hidden bounty hunters who had been watching covetously showed expressions of apprehension and quietly retreated.
"Luffy-bro! Reiner-bro! You guys are just..."
Camie's eyes sparkled as she looked at them with adoration, raising her hands and shouting, "Too strong!!"
"But of course!"
"Those four are invincible!"
"The strongest! The strongest! The strongest!"
Camie, Chopper, and Usopp cheered continuously.
"Speaking of which, besides bounty hunters, you also mentioned kidnappers just now. And when we landed, Reiner also mentioned kidnappers. Is human trafficking popular here?" Robin suddenly asked.
Thinking back to before they landed, Hachi's attitude about Camie coming ashore, and their disguises, some information began to connect in her mind.
"..."
At the mention of this topic, both Hachi and Camie lowered their heads, silent for a while.
"...That's right. Hachi-bro didn't dare let me come ashore because he was protecting me. Because young female mermaids are the most valuable commodity in the slave trade."
Camie lowered her head, her green hair falling to cover her face.
"So it's true," Robin's voice was low.
From her explanation, the group learned that merfolk and fish-men were once classified as fish and were persecuted all over the world.
Even though the World Government announced diplomatic relations with Fish-Man Island two hundred years ago, this phenomenon only disappeared on the surface.
Disappearing on the surface meant it hadn't disappeared at all. In fact, in many places, people still openly showed their discrimination against them.
Racial segregation, huh. Reiner knew. Marley and Eldia... cough cough, wrong one.
Watching her tightly clenched hands, everyone fell silent, not knowing how to comfort her.
Nami's heart was filled with mixed feelings. She had never thought that the suffering she had once endured had also been happening to others for hundreds of years.
At this moment, Luffy suddenly spoke, grinning, "Camie, do you want to go to the amusement park? You can come with us later."
"Is that really okay, Luffy-bro?!" Camie suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with both anticipation and fear.
Hachi's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, "Wait, Camie! The amusement park is a gathering place for kidnappers—"
"It's alright, Hachi. I will serve as Miss Camie's knight," Sanji spoke up, interrupting him.
"You can rest assured. If it were only Luffy, we might worry that he'd be careless."
Usopp patted his shoulder and said with a confident smile, "But with Reiner, Zoro, and Sanji around, it's a different story."
"That's right, that's right! No one can snatch Camie from those three," Chopper immediately raised his small hand in agreement.
"We will also do our best to protect Camie," Robin smiled.
"Robin-sis, everyone... Waaah!!" Camie suddenly burst into tears, snot and tears streaming down her face, her cute girl image instantly gone.
Looking at Camie crying her eyes out, Reiner gave a helpless smile. "In that case, let's all go to the amusement park together later. You've been calling us 'big brother' and 'big sister' all day, you've melted our hearts."
"That's right. Let's take our good little sister out to play later," Nami said, ruffling Camie's head.
"Let's go to the amusement park!"
"Charge!!"
Luffy shouted, turning to head in the direction of the amusement park.
Nami immediately reached out, grabbed the back of his vehicle, and pulled him back, a vein popping on her forehead as she said, exasperated, "Let's finish our proper business first, you idiot."
(End of chapter)
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