Chapter 22: The Grave-Covered Cactus
Arms slung around each other's shoulders, the group walked laughingly into the small town.
"Let's throw a banquet for these brave warriors of the sea, everyone!"
Igaram yelled with a smile, clapping Luffy on the shoulder. "Today, we absolutely must give you all a proper welcome!"
"Woahahaha! You guys are awesome, mister!" Luffy was incredibly excited.
Reiner only had vague memories of the original plot, especially the early parts he'd watched when he was younger.
He dimly recalled this place being a front for Crocodile's assassination organization, staffed by bounty hunters disguised as villagers, specializing in deceiving naive pirates new to the Grand Line and assassinating them.
"Just a bunch of small fry," Reiner thought, his expression unchanged.
"This mayor guy should be Vivi's... uh... what was it? Uncle? Bodyguard? Ah, whatever. Besides him and Vivi, there's no one else worth noting here."
In fact, Reiner wasn't particularly obsessed with Crocodile. His undead couldn't inherit Devil Fruit abilities, and in terms of physical stats, Crocodile was far inferior to the two giants from Little Garden.
Blue Ogre Dorry, Red Ogre Broggy.
Leaders of the Giant Warrior Pirates from Elbaf in the New World. The giant Sea Kings they once hunted were larger than several volcanoes combined, occupying half of the entire island of Little Garden.
The image of their attack, Spear of Elbaf: Hakoku, instantly piercing the Island Eater goldfish... Reiner recalled it as if it were yesterday.
He couldn't imagine anyone in the first half of the Grand Line who could withstand a single blast of that attack head-on.
You say Logia types can handle it?
Okay, never mind then.
"Sisters, look! There are two handsome blond guys here!" A shout interrupted Reiner's thoughts.
A group of curvy, voluptuous beauties rushed out from the crowd, dressed in revealingly cool attire. Each had a slender figure and approached Sanji and Reiner with beaming smiles.
Sanji couldn't handle such a scene at all, instantly devolving into a lovesick daze as he rushed towards them.
"What's your name, little brother?"
Several girls sidled up to Reiner, their delicate hands immediately making contact, either wrapping around his waist or caressing his chest.
Even through his clothes, Reiner could feel the warm, soft pressure against him.
Testing cadres with this kind of stuff?!
Who could possibly withstand such a test?!
"So straightforward~" A smirk played on Reiner's lips as he chuckled inwardly. The Grand Line is good, the Grand Line is marvelous!
Laughing heartily, Reiner opened his arms wide, slinging one arm around a girl's fragrant shoulder and wrapping the other around another's slender waist, embracing one on each side.
"Oh, stop it~"
"Sir, your arms are so strong! I can barely breathe!"
He wasn't some stuffy traditionalist. Honey traps like this? The more, the merrier! Bring them on!
"Tonight, I'm taking on ten!"
"Stop it~ Sir, can you even handle it~"
The girls giggled, completely unfazed by Reiner and Sanji's wandering hands.
Nami and Zoro, trailing behind, couldn't help but shake their heads, looking exasperatedly at the crew members who were easily swayed by a few words.
"Honestly! These guys are completely unreliable!" Nami gritted her teeth. "Anyone with half a brain knows there's no such thing as a town that welcomes pirates!"
"Well, whatever. Let's just see how it plays out," Zoro said nonchalantly.
"You're the reliable one, Zoro."
"As long as there's booze, nothing else matters."
"Damn it! I just complimented you, and you say that!" Nami roared furiously.
And so, the group followed the villagers' enthusiastic reception into the town.
Soon, night fell.
In the town of Whisky Peak, every house closed its doors and extinguished its lights. The silent and deserted Cactus Island seemed desolate, save for one building still glowing with dim yellow light.
Because of their arrival, this place had become incredibly lively, filled with sounds of laughter and merriment spilling from within.
"Another cook is down!"
"That's the third one already! Just how much can he eat!?"
A crowd stared dumbfounded, surrounding Luffy who was wolfing down food. Just then, cries of surprise erupted from another side.
"Heavens! This swordsman fellow actually drank 13 people under the table!"
"And the beautiful lady next to him still looks full of fight! She's currently competing against her fifteenth opponent!"
Inside the room, Zoro and Nami were engaged in a drinking contest. Determined to win the generous cash prize, Nami was mustering all her strength to take down opponent after opponent.
Reiner leaned back on a sofa, embraced on both sides by beauties feeding him morsels, enjoying himself immensely.
In the lively room, everyone was caught up in the revelry. However, while the villagers wore smiles, inwardly they were cursing up a storm.
In a dark room on the second floor, a woman with long, sky-blue hair tied in a high ponytail watched the scene on the first floor through a crack in the door, gritting her teeth.
"Where did these damn starving ghosts come from!? If they keep eating and drinking like this, we're going to lose our shirts on this job!"
A man with curly yellow hair and wearing a crown responded, "Exactly! Is this really necessary, Mr. 8? They're just a few pirates from the East Blue."
"Your intelligence work is pathetic. Look at this."
A deep voice spoke up. Igaram, known as Mr. 8, pulled out several bounty posters from his coat.
He slapped the posters onto the table, spreading them out. Displayed prominently were the faces of Luffy, Zoro, and the Knife-Saw Devils.
"Thirty million!? For that simple-minded looking kid?"
"And that green-haired swordsman is worth sixteen million too!"
"And what the hell are these two things?" the yellow-haired, crowned man (Mr. 9) exclaimed. "A twenty-five million combination? I don't think I saw those two around?"
"Probably guarding the ship. The men we sent out reported seeing several figures left on their boat," Igaram said nonchalantly.
"Total bounty over seventy million!"
"If we fight a pirate crew like this head-on, we probably don't stand a chance."
Creak~
Just then, the room door opened.
"Relax, they're all down."
A tall, dark-skinned woman with sturdy limbs (Miss Monday) walked in and addressed the others in the room.
"These people's appetites are truly outrageous. Our food supplies were already low, and they nearly ate everything! Good thing their bounties are high enough."
"Is everyone taken care of? Then notify everyone to start working. Let's go," Igaram said, adjusting his collar. He led the others out through the window.
Cactus Island was famous for its several large green mountains. Covered everywhere with cross-shaped gravestones, from afar they resembled the spines on a cactus ball.
Back in the hall where the feast had ended, Reiner, lying on the sofa, opened his eyes. He extracted himself from the pile of women sleeping haphazardly around him.
"It's already midnight, huh? They sure know how to party." Looking at the messy state of the hall, Reiner couldn't help but scratch his golden hair.
Click!
A lighter flicked, and Sanji's voice came from nearby. "You can say that again. This schedule is terrible."
"Here."
"Thanks," Reiner casually caught the cigarette tossed to him, then turned to look at Zoro sitting at the bar counter. "Where's Nami?"
"Said she was going to look for their treasure. Left already," Zoro replied coolly. He had woken up earlier and was sitting at the bar, pouring himself a drink.
Reiner chuckled softly. "Then she's on a wasted trip. My undead already confirmed this place is completely broke."
"ZZZ~~"
A loud snore suddenly erupted.
"Sleeping this soundly in the enemy's den... That's Luffy for you," Usopp mumbled, climbing up from the floor and shaking his head.
Bodies lay scattered around the room. In the dim yellow light, the few awake figures smoked or drank, completely unconcerned about their situation.
Everyone's face was calm, unperturbed by the impending crisis.
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