"You want to sign up? Sure, you can."
Ignoring a certain long-nosed fellow's death glare, Shuraiya answered, "You can register anytime before the race officially begins."
"However, even though I know you all are very strong, I still advise you to think it over carefully before making a decision. After all, the name 'Dead End Race' isn't just for show."
Shuraiya's expression grew serious. Back when he was a bounty hunter, he had heard that the mortality rate of the Dead End Race was extraordinarily high. Even powerful pirates with bounties exceeding one hundred million Berries couldn't guarantee they would make it out in one piece.
"Huh? Big Brother Usopp, you guys want to enter the race too?"
Clenching his small fists, Napo cheered for a certain long-nosed guy, "I believe you will definitely win! Do your best! I'll have Mom place a bet on you guys."
In this little boy's mind, if this crew—which had completely crushed the white bear Ursa—couldn't take the championship, it would simply defy all logic.
"Hehehe... Well, thank you very much, Napo."
Usopp and Chopper exchanged a glance, both looking utterly devoid of hope.
"Oh, right. To prevent too many pirate crews from trying to fish in troubled waters, the entry fee is very expensive. It requires 10 million Berries."
Shuraiya smiled faintly. "But this small amount of money surely shouldn't be anything to you guys, right?"
"Huh? 10 million Berries?!"
Hearing that registration actually cost that much money, Luffy's face immediately fell. Although he had a bit of pocket money in his possession distributed by Nami, it was nowhere near 10 million Berries.
The Straw Hat Pirates were indeed extremely wealthy, but the vast majority of their funds was kept safely by Sherlock, while Nami controlled the financial power and was responsible for handing out small sums of allowance.
Even though Luffy was the captain of the ship, this single-minded idiot also knew very well how incredibly difficult it would be to pry 10 million Berries out of the hands of that money-grubbing navigator!
(Phew... Thank goodness, thank goodness. With this, Luffy should know when to back down.)
Usopp secretly breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling quite reassured by the greed of his own ship's navigator.
"Then is there a registration method that doesn't require an entry fee?" Luffy refused to give up.
Shuraiya pondered for a moment, and then, under a certain long-nosed fellow's terrified gaze, he gave a slight nod.
"There is. There's only one way to sign up without paying the entry fee..."
Staring into Luffy's eyes, the youth wearing the fedora said every word with deliberate emphasis: "And that is the cruel game, the DBF—the Davy Back Fight."
"The Oswald Family seems to really like this kind of pirate game where crews battle for companions. Therefore, they have a regulation stating that if two pirate crews use the Dead End Race as an event for a Davy Back Fight, then they can be exempted from paying that 10 million entry fee."
The dense captain's eyes instantly lit up, and he asked hurriedly, "So that means as if I find a pirate crew to play that game with us, we can save 10 million Berries, right?"
"Luffy..." Usopp brought a hand to his forehead in utter helplessness. He suddenly realized that things were starting to develop in an even worse direction.
Usopp was well aware of what the so-called Davy Back Fight was. If they were to use the Dead End Race as an event for the Davy Back Fight, then the Straw Hat Pirates would absolutely have to win in order to avoid losing their companions!
(But I guess no other pirate crew would fool around like this...) The long-nosed fellow swallowed hard.
However, while people's imaginations are always full, reality is always harsh. It had to be said that this was indeed a very tragic reality.
"Feffeffeffe! I've finally found you! Straw Hat!"
Just a second after Usopp had finished comforting himself in his mind, a highly arrogant voice sounded from behind the group.
Luffy and the others turned around, only to find to their astonishment a large group of bizarre characters standing behind them. This crowd arrived with aggressive momentum, and every single one of them wore a signature black eye mask.
Leading them was a wretched-looking man wearing a purple fur coat. He had an exaggeratedly long red nose, and two tufts of highly erect hair split down the sides, making him look just like a fox's ears. Under his heavy, inverted V-shaped eyebrows, a pair of triangular eyes flashed with cunning.
Seeing that the newcomers meant trouble, Shuraiya immediately shielded Napo behind himself, while Usopp and Chopper jumped up from their bench in nervousness.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Luffy stood up, pressed down on his straw hat, and asked with a perfectly calm expression.
"You're asking... who I am?"
The man who looked exactly like a fox let out a soft chuckle and raised his head proudly. "Have none of you ever heard of the grand name of Captain Foxy?"
"Nope, never heard of it." the four answered simultaneously.
Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and Napo chorused in unison without a second thought.
Thud! Orz
"You've really never heard of it..."
Foxy immediately collapsed into a textbook posture of absolute despair, looking profoundly depressed, which startled a girl beside him into rushing over to comfort him.
"Oh! Boss, don't be so disheartened! They must be saying that on purpose!"
"Puh-puh-puh! Porche, the Boss's psychological endurance is still as terrible as ever, puh-puh-puh!" A tall man who looked like a gorilla covered his mouth and let out a string of bizarre laughter.
"Don't sneakily laugh, Hamburg!"
(Are these guys all idiots?) A line of black sweat drops appeared on Usopp's forehead as he stared at the chaotic Foxy Pirates, letting his guard down slightly.
At that moment, Chopper suddenly twitched his nose.
(Huh? This scent is so familiar. I feel like I've smelled it on someone before.)
The blue-nosed reindeer carefully identified the scent for a moment. Driven by curiosity, he looked toward the direction where the odor was coming from. Then, amidst the crowd of the Foxy Pirates, he spotted a black-haired woman wearing a ladies' suit and an eye mask. The two tufts of hair on top of her head were incredibly fluffy, making her look like she had cat ears.
Curled up right by the feet of this black-haired woman was a massive husky. Hilariously, a black eye mask was also strapped across the derpy, adorable head of this husky.
(I feel like I've seen this cat-ear hairstyle somewhere before. Strange, where was it?)
Much like Luffy, Chopper, who suffered from face blindness, didn't have a very good memory for human faces. After trying hard to recall for a while without gaining any inkling, he could only give up.
"Foxy..." Shuraiya seemed to recall something and asked tentatively, "Are you perhaps 'Silver Fox' Foxy, the one with the 24 million Berry bounty?"
As a former bounty hunter, Shuraiya still possessed a fair understanding of the pirates wanted by the Marines.
"Yes, yes, yes! It is this great master!"
Shuraiya's words were no different from a shot of adrenaline, instantly reviving the split-headed man from his state of extreme depression back to full health on the spot. His smug, petty attitude left Luffy and the others completely speechless.
"Straw Hat Luffy, with a bounty of 124.5 million Berries. Feffeffeffe, what an outrageous bounty."
Foxy marveled for a moment, and without waiting for Luffy to ask, he preemptively demanded, "Since you've come to Hannabal, could it be that you also want to participate in that 'Dead End Race'?"
"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Luffy reached out a hand to stop the long-nosed fellow who was trying to cover his mouth, staring straight into the eyes of the split-headed man opposite him.
"Since you plan to participate too, that couldn't be better."
Having received an affirmative answer, Silver Fox Foxy looked left and right, exchanging glances with his two capable subordinates. Then, while grinning maliciously, he pulled a coin out from his coat.
Following the movement of this split-headed man, the expressions of Usopp and Shuraiya changed drastically as they realized exactly what he intended to do.
"DAVY BACK FIGHT!"
Aiming the coin in his hand right at Luffy, Foxy's voice suddenly shot up to a screeching halt: "In accordance with tradition, we, the Foxy Pirates, hereby issue a challenge to the Straw Hat Pirates!"
"Straw Hat, do you dare to have a duel with me? A duel where you wager all your companions?!"
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