"This… this is…!!!"
"Stop joking around! Doesn't this guy's ability only activate by touching someone? Don't tell me he's touched that man before…"
Vivi, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji all looked utterly horrified. They never imagined that this freak in front of them had actually touched that man?!!!
Only Chopper, Nami, and Usopp were sitting there with huge, confused expressions.
"Nani nani? Why aren't any of you talking? Hey, Zoro? Sanji?"
Chopper's tiny body kept looking left and right, equally shocked—but only because everyone else was reacting that way.
Even Nami and Usopp, who had never seen the man's true appearance, merely felt a vague sense of dread.
That man had been gone from the seas for far too long, and most of his activity had been in the New World.
So besides a few old-timers who had witnessed great events, many people no longer spoke of that man's name. His bounty poster, due to sensitive identity issues, rarely circulated. News of him in Paradise had long since faded.
"Who is this guy? Just from looks alone he's terrifying."
Usopp muttered, but nobody responded.
At last, Vivi's pupils trembled as she explained to the others:
"The person he transformed into… was once the absolute ruler of this sea…"
"Black Gun—Orin!!!"
"What? So the form he turned into was Ori—"
Nami and Usopp both let out a breath of relief, but halfway through speaking, they froze.
Then their mouths dropped wide open, eyes almost popping out of their skulls.
"EH!!!!!!!"
The two of them shook like seaweed in a storm, as if they had just suffered a massive shock.
Only Chopper still looked clueless, stupidly cute as he looked around.
"Orin? Who's that?"
Seeing everyone's reaction, Bon Kurei revealed a perfect Orin smile. His calm gaze swept over the group—every expression and motion was exactly like the original.
"Exactly~ this is the reaction! Looks like all of you have heard of Orin-sama's name. He's the world's most admired, perfect man!!!"
Watching this imitation—down to the tone and even the eyes—the Straw Hat trio most familiar with Orin were completely stunned.
"Bon-chan… he looks!!! He looks exactly like Orin-san!!!"
Luffy's eyes sparkled like a kid seeing something amazing.
Zoro and Sanji, however, were far more serious. Although they were shaken, their focus was different from Luffy's.
"You've realized the problem too, haven't you, ero-cook?"
Zoro said seriously.
"Like I'd need you to tell me that, moss-head."
Sanji silently lit a cigarette.
Then, both of them turned to stare at that okama who only didn't dance ballet when he was transformed into "Orin."
"Hey!!! Since you can turn into him… doesn't that mean you've touched…?!!!"
Bon Kurei himself had just explained it: to perfectly transform into someone, he must have touched them.
Which meant he had touched Orin?
And Orin actually allowed such an eye-scarring person to touch him?
The two couldn't believe it.
"Of course!!! Yo!!!"
Bon Kurei wiped his face and instantly returned to his own appearance, striking a ballet pose.
"I am a man acknowledged by Orin-sama himself—the true man of the sea!!!"
"…"
Watching the flamboyant pose, neither Zoro nor Sanji could find words.
Not long after, Bon Kurei boarded the ship that came to collect him. As he left, he waved goodbye to everyone.
Only after he was gone did Vivi reveal that she had identified him as one of Crocodile's subordinates.
"He was Crocodile's subordinate? Then it makes sense that he's connected to Orin-san~"
"But that's exactly why it's troublesome! He's memorized all our faces!!!"
The group discussed nervously, while Nami and Usopp were still shaken from earlier.
The man who had tormented their families for more than ten years… was actually someone that impossibly perfect?
In their imagination, Orin should have been like Buggy—sly and wicked.
And for Usopp, this was his first time seeing the world's No.1 sniper—the man who defeated his father.
He was also Usopp's own goal.
After all, that was every sniper's dream figure.
"It seems Crocodile really was close to Orin. Otherwise his subordinates wouldn't have had the chance to touch someone like that…"
Thinking this, Vivi felt a little discouraged.
But soon, they lifted their spirits and landed in Alabasta.
…
Meanwhile, in a small restaurant in Alabasta—
"Hey, boss, have you seen this pirate wearing a straw hat?"
The shirtless man smiled as he asked.
But before the boss could respond, a Marine figure appeared at the door.
"Portgas D. Ace. Second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Why would someone like you show up in a small place like this?"
Smoker growled, two cigars clenched between his teeth.
"Me? I'm here looking for someone."
"And what exactly are you planning to do?"
"Just stay still and let me arrest you."
"Can't do that…" Ace smiled, lifting the brim of his hat with one finger.
"I'll play with you for a bit."
Both men braced themselves, flames and smoke building within their bodies—
"Gum Gum—!!!"
A sharp gust of wind cut in, and then a headbutt—one nobody could have predicted—smashed into Smoker's back, sending both him and Ace flying forward.
Shock widened both of their eyes.
Gasps erupted throughout the restaurant—along with the faint, nearly inaudible click of a transponder-snail camera somewhere in the crowd.
"What a huge hole… is that your hobby, old man?"
While shoving food into his mouth, King Luffy asked curiously.
"It was YOU?!!!"
Everyone snapped at him in unison.
Among the two who were sent flying, Smoker recovered first. Recognizing his nemesis, he immediately slammed Ace into the ground.
"Hey!!! Straw Hat Luffy! I knew you'd come to Alabasta! But… Don't think you can escape just because you ran into the territory ruled by one of the Black Gun's subordinates!!!"
A chase erupted instantly—Smoker and Ace both running after Luffy.
"What are you talking about? I'm here to beat Crocodile!!!"
"Nani???"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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