[Chapter Size: 1285 Words]
Third Person POV
Orange Town, East Blue.
...
...
While the crew was organizing everything at the port related to the captured pirates, Luffy, Shirahoshi, and Megalo were walking through the empty town at the moment.
"So this is how a human town works? It's different, but it reminds me a lot of the houses on Fish-Man Island!" The 1.70-meter-tall mermaid spoke, admiring the surroundings.
"I don't see much difference between humans and fish-men, to be honest. Apart from the respiratory system for breathing underwater, you seem to have the same physiological conditions as humans..." Luffy said as he walked with the princess.
"Although I have no idea how mermaids reproduce..." Luffy couldn't help but murmur as he curiously examined her tail.
"Sharky Sharky!" Megalo exclaimed while munching on some plants in a house's garden.
"That's not seaweed, Megalo. It's better to wait and eat it when we get back and have a big feast," Luffy warned him, as Megalo didn't seem to like the plants he had tried and promptly spat them out.
"Shishishishishi," Shirahoshi laughed alongside, amused by her finned friend's antics.
"Why is the town so empty? Did the bad men drive away the other humans?" She innocently asked.
"Yes, unfortunately, that's how things work everywhere in the world. The strong prey on the weak..." Luffy spoke calmly.
"Hm? What's that up ahead, Luffy-Sama?" Shirahoshi said, looking a few dozen meters ahead, where there was a destroyed house. In front of it lay an injured dog with blood matted in its fur, lying on the ground amid the wreckage.
"Did this happen before I got here?" Luffy commented to himself, a bit surprised, as he knew that in the original story, Mohji's giant lion, Richie, destroyed the pet shop, and Chouchou fought back bravely. However, it seemed that this event occurred while he was on his way to the Marine ship.
It appears that with my presence in this world as the new Luffy, many things are changing, including characters with different genders and ages, as well as some events unfolding differently.
"It seems I can't rely on my previous knowledge anymore, or trust it too firmly," Luffy mumbled internally.
"What's wrong, Luffy-Sama?" Shirahoshi couldn't help but ask when she heard Luffy speak softly.
"Nothing, Princess. Let's go; that animal needs help if it's still alive..." Luffy said as he hurried forward.
"Yes, Luffy-Sama!" The mermaid followed him closely.
Upon reaching the scene, the first thing Luffy did was remove some debris from on top of the dog. Shirahoshi stood in shock, her hand over her mouth, seeing the animal in such a wretched state.
"Well, he's still alive, but he needs treatment quickly," Luffy said, speaking to no one in particular.
He opened the system store and retrieved some healing fluids to prevent infection of the wounds at this moment. Luffy had no medical expertise, but he figured it was the basic step before having Lami, who would take care of fully healing the dog.
"WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT... HMM? WHAT IS THAT WOMAN WITH A TAIL????" A new voice appeared nearby—a shocked elderly man who had observed Luffy tending to Chouchou and had dropped a bottle near the injured animal.
But he was even more astonished by the beauty of Shirahoshi, who had a pink tail instead of legs. He had no idea what a mermaid was in this world.
"Who are you, old man?" Luffy asked, looking at the elderly man seriously.
While he might know who this man was, Luffy knew he couldn't trust his canonical knowledge too much.
The elderly man before him matched the anime's description, but he looked quite wretched now, injured, with a broken arm, and hanging onto a spear he was using as a makeshift crutch. This indicated that he had a tough fight before Luffy and the others arrived.
"I'm the mayor. I was fighting against Mohji and his lion with this dog at my side, but we lost miserably. I woke up recently from the sound of a loud explosion. Are you responsible for that? What happened to Buggy the Pirate?" the mayor asked.
"That's terrible!" Shirahoshi couldn't help but comment with a sad expression before Luffy spoke.
"We defeated them and intend to claim the bounty on their heads," Luffy said.
"So, you're bounty hunters?" the mayor asked, somewhat relieved.
"No, we're pirates," Luffy said simply as he picked up Chouchou.
"Hm? What will you do with Chouchou?" The mayor couldn't help but ask.
Luffy turned to him and said, "I'm going to recruit him into my crew, of course!" Luffy smiled confidently after those words.
"What????"
"Luffy-Sama?"
"Sharky?"
"Quiet down, Megalo; you're not much different!" Luffy couldn't help but grumble in response to the shark, who was breathing outside the water.
"A SHARK THAT CAN FLY AND BREATHE OXYGEN!?" The man had huge eyes, much like Shirahoshi, after hearing about Megalo.
'This old man is quite clueless!' Luffy exclaimed internally.
"What's the use of those glasses, old man, if you can't even see a shark flying next to us since the moment you saw us..." Luffy mumbled.
"You say that as if it's normal!" the mayor exclaimed indignantly.
In any case, Luffy returned from his stroll with the mermaid to the pirate camp that Buggy's crew had set up, half of which had been destroyed. At the same time, an old man followed Luffy, wanting answers about why he was taking his friend's dog.
"Old man, I'm not going to force him, but I'm confident he'll come with us," Luffy said simply before meeting the others.
"You finally came back," Kuina said, watching him arrive with the others.
"I see you've finished everything here," Luffy commented, surveying the area.
There were tied-up bandits in one corner, still unconscious, a giant lion with the man who tamed it, and the swordsman from Buggy's crew in another. Meanwhile, a chest was constantly bouncing beside Zoro.
"Release me! You have felt the wrath of Buggy!" They could hear the muffled voice of the clown inside the object.
"Hahahaha. Good job," Luffy praised them with a small laugh.
"There were quite a few treasures on their ships as well..." Lami said, raising two bags filled with them, while a woman with orange hair stared at the bags with dollar signs in her eyes and drool dripping from her mouth.
"Good job."
"Hm."
"THANK YOU, CAPTAIN. I'm sorry..."
Ignoring the bear's apology, Luffy brought Chouchou to Lami.
"Can you take care of him?"
Lami looked at the dog's condition and nodded.
"Of course."
Leaving Chouchou with Lami, Luffy walked over to the treasures. A girl was still gazing greed
ily at the bags, her eyes shimmering with the thought of all the money.
Zoro looked at her with disbelief, wondering if she had any idea what she was doing in front of everyone.
Before the girl could react, Luffy moved next to her and touched the bags; the treasures vanished instantly.
[You've added 10,000,000 Berries to the system store!]
"WHAT??? WHERE'S THE TREASURE? WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?" Nami cried out in shock, as if someone had taken a child from its mother right in front of her.
"The treasure has been stored in the crew's funds," he simply said.
The others who witnessed it simply thought that Luffy had shrunk the valuable items, as he hadn't explained the system yet.
Sighing and ignoring a very desperate Nami by his side, questioning what he had done, Luffy turned to the rest of his crew, who were now paying attention to their captain.
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