Chapter 32: Let's Bounce!
On the Going Merry, everyone watched Bon Clay's ship get surrounded by Marines. They couldn't help feeling down.
"Hey! Luo Lin! You're super strong! There's gotta be something you can do, right? Save him, please!"
"Yeah, yeah! Just this once! Please help him!"
Luo Lin could ignore anyone else, but when Luffy and Nami begged together—with those big, teary, sparkling eyes—he crumbled instantly.
Luffy was one thing. Nami was still ridiculously cute when she cried!
He had originally planned to stay hands-off after boarding unless it was life-or-death. But helping someone else? That was different. Still, he had to set ground rules—he wasn't going to become their personal bodyguard. He joined to slack off while hunting Poneglyphs. Let Luffy do the heavy lifting while he and Robin vacationed!
"Fine, fine! Just this once! From now on, I'm not lifting a finger in your fights!"
"Of course! We don't need your help anyway! Just save Bon-chan!"
"That's more like it!"
Whoosh!
Luo Lin vanished from the Merry and reappeared on Bon Clay's ship.
He raised a hand toward Hina.
"Listen, I really don't want to fight. Can we make a deal? Pretend you didn't see them and let them go?"
Hina's face darkened.
"Portgas D. Luo Lin… Why are you here?!"
As a Marine Headquarters Colonel, she had heard rumors—he was supposedly stronger than most Vice Admirals, but she didn't know the details. Now that he was in front of her, she couldn't let him walk.
"As you can see—I'm officially a pirate now!"
"I see. Then you're on Hina's capture list too."
"Can't we just… not do this?"
"Hina refuses."
Luo Lin: …
As the Marines' top beauty, every man on Hina's ship was a certified simp.
Perfect.
Shave!
In a blink, his sword was resting against Hina's throat.
"Don't move♪"
"Colonel Hina!!"
The entire ship of simps screamed.
Even Hina froze—she was one of the strongest Colonels, and he'd restrained her in an instant.
"Hina is humiliated! Ignore Hina—capture him now!"
"Colonel Hina!!"
"Didn't you hear Hina?!"
"Quit yelling. As long as I've got her, none of you dare move. Touching, really, but I'm not here for the drama. Hehehe!"
"Hina…"
Hina gritted her teeth, burning with shame. She never thought she'd become a hostage.
Rare opportunity—time to play the big bad villain!
On the swan ship, Bon Clay and his crew were dumbfounded. This guy boarded and instantly took the scariest Marine hostage. Too strong!
"Hey! Why are you still here? Run!"
Bon Clay snapped out of it and steered away frantically.
"Luo Lin-chwan~~ What about you?!"
Tears streaming, makeup running—Luo Lin nearly puked.
"I'll be fine! They're not my match!"
"UWAAA So moving! Luo Lin-chwan~"
"GET LOST ALREADY!"
Watching Bon Clay sail away, the vein on Luo Lin's forehead slowly receded. Any longer and he'd have chopped the ballerina himself.
"It's useless! Even if he escapes, the Straw Hats haven't left yet! You have to go back to them! Unless you kill Hina, Hina will hunt you all down!"
"Oh? Thanks for the reminder!"
"COLONEL HINA!!"
The Marines panicked.
He had planned to just knock her out and leave, but now she'd made it personal.
Conqueror's Haki—BOOM!
Every Marine on the surrounding warships dropped unconscious.
The few still standing (plus Hina) wouldn't even make a full mahjong table.
"Conqueror's Haki…? Hina doesn't understand!"
"There's a lot you don't understand."
Luo Lin casually chopped the back of her neck with his hand, knocking her out cold, then flashed back to the Merry.
"That was insane, Luo Lin! You solved it in seconds! The Marines didn't even dare breathe!"
Usopp, who'd watched through his scope, was hyped.
"Piece of cake. Capture the king first."
"But… aren't we the pirates?"
Luffy tilted his head in genuine confusion.
Everyone: This idiot…
Ignoring him, Usopp kept asking:
"How did all those Marines just collapse?"
"Yeah!"
Everyone saw it and was dying to know.
Luo Lin: (乛 ✓ 乛)
"Actually, I secrete a deadly poison through the air. I can control it. They're all dead now."
Robin rolled her eyes—liar.
But Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper bought it 100%.
"SUUGOOIII! You're a monster!"
"Yep♪ I once almost poisoned an entire country!"
"EEEEEK! That's terrifying! Wait—we're right next to you! Are we poisoned?!"
"Maybe already♪"
"NANI?! CHOPPER, ANTIDOTE! I'M DYING!"
"BE QUIET! We're heading to the east port!"
The two clowns ran around screaming until Nami punched them into the deck.
The rest of the crew didn't buy it for a second—only those three idiots would fall for it.
…
Noon – 12:00
"This is Tamrisk, right? Where's Vivi?"
Luffy lay bored on the railing.
"She's a princess. It's normal if she doesn't come. You heard her on the broadcast, didn't you?"
"I don't believe it! It just sounded like her!"
"Let's go. It's past 12. If she was coming, she'd be here. We still have to find Luo Lin's ship!"
Usopp came running down from the crow's nest.
"Marines incoming! That woman's back! Luo Lin, didn't you finish her off?!"
"Why would I kill a pretty lady…? I mean, killing Marines is too much paperwork!"
He glanced nervously at Robin—better not let those ears suffer again.
But the Marines were closing in. Time to leave.
Luffy's mood dropped—he took nakama very seriously.
Just as the ship turned, Vivi's voice rang from the shore.
"Hey, everyone!!"
"WAHAHA! IT'S VIVI! TURN AROUND!"
"Marines are right behind us—grab Vivi and run!"
Sanji was already at the helm.
"I came to say goodbye!"
Her words froze everyone.
"I really wanted to adventure with you all… but I love this country too much. I can't leave with you!"
"I see!"
Luffy smiled sadly.
"But… if one day we meet again… can I still be your nakama?"
Tears rolled down Vivi's face as she stared at the distant Going Merry.
Luffy opened his mouth—"Of course!"—but Nami slapped a hand over it.
"Idiot! The Marines already spotted her! You want the princess of a nation publicly tied to pirates?!"
"Just say goodbye like this."
No answer came from the ship.
On shore, Vivi's expression crumbled.
Then—she saw it.
Every Straw Hat raised their left arm, revealing the "✘" mark—the symbol of their bond.
Her face lit up again. She raised her own left arm. Karoo raised a wing.
Luo Lin: World-famous scene! Gotta screenshot this!
Memories attacked—he suddenly recalled another tearful goodbye.
Luffy: "Luo Lin, come on! Raise your arm too!"
Luo Lin: "Busy! Also, I don't have an X on my arm! You guys do your thing!"
Sanji cracked his knuckles.
"You saying something, bastard? Want a fight?"
Chopper panicked—Marines were almost here!
"Sanji, calm down! Helm, now!"
Under cannon fire, the Going Merry slowly left Tamrisk port.
The Marines kept chasing.
The crew scrambled—Luffy eventually grabbed an iron spear the Marines fired, hurled it back, and pierced a warship, allowing their escape.
Meanwhile, Bon Clay had also escaped… but in the chaos went the wrong way and ran straight into Smoker's ship.
If it had been the Straw Hats, Smoker might've let them go this time.
But Baroque Works? The poor guy got arrested anyway.
After shaking the Marines, the Straw Hats headed for where Luo Lin's ship was anchored.
Everyone except Zoro, Luo Lin, and Robin lay exhausted against the railing.
"What's wrong with you guys? You were fine a minute ago."
Zoro was confused.
They exchanged looks, then wailed in perfect sync:
"We're so lonelyyyyyy~~"
Zoro: …
Luo Lin barely held in his laughter.
"Stop making that face! If you missed her that much, you should've kidnapped her!"
Chopper: "Barbarian!"
Nami: "Cringe!"
Sanji: "Moss-head!"
Luffy: "Three-sword-style idiot!"
Usopp: "Wait, Luffy, that's not an insult!"
Luffy grinned.
"Four-sword-style!"
"Adding more swords doesn't make it an insult! Just call him stinky natto!"
Luffy turned with a huge smile.
"No need to worry! It's sad Vivi didn't come, but we got new nakama—Luo Lin and Robin! And this guy's super strong!"
All eyes turned to Luo Lin, currently using Robin's lap as a pillow, enjoying the afternoon sun.
Robin was reading. Sanji looked ready to murder.
"Hm? Why are you staring? Yeah, I'm strong, but I already told you—I'm not bailing you out of your fights. We're only here for the Poneglyphs!"
Robin closed her book and smiled gently.
"Luo Lin's always like this—don't mind him. Since we'll be sailing together from now on, let me introduce myself properly.
I'm Nico Robin, archaeologist. Luo Lin will be my husband someday. We grew up together. All these years he's been protecting me—without him, the Marines would've caught and executed me long ago.
We've had bounties since we were children, so we hid in the East Blue. That's where we met Nami and the others. That's about it!"
She gently stroked Luo Lin's face, eyes practically heart-shaped.
Luo Lin: (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)❤
Danger! Heart rate critical! (Though it's been critical for years!)
…
Evening—they finally reached the coast where the Devil was anchored.
Luo Lin scooped Robin up and leaped aboard.
"Hurry, hurry! We're still in Alabasta waters! Marines could show up any second! Pack up and let's go!"
"Huh? Why pack? Just sail!"
"Aren't you coming aboard the Merry with us?"
"Nope♪ Our stuff won't fit on the Merry. And I told you yesterday—we're not boarding the Merry."
"Did you? I forgot… I still think—"
"There's tons of meat on board!"
"No problem! Let's go!"
BONK
Nami's fist gave Luffy a huge lump.
"That's true, but I'm the only navigator! Handling two ships would exhaust me! And I'd be the only girl—my room wouldn't be crowded! Uncle Luo Lin, ignore the idiot! One ship is better!"
"We also have tons of treasure! A supreme-grade sword, photos of mermaid sisters…"
Luo Lin counted on his fingers.
Nami, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Chopper:
"(ง ⁰̷̴꒨⁰̷̴)ง Take us with you! We're definitely coming!"
Mission success! Entire crew bought!
The Straw Hat fleet officially became two ships.
Luo Lin chained the ships together with a massive iron chain, then flopped into a beach chair and put on sunglasses.
Someone else pulls the ship ✓ Someone else fights the danger ✓ Someone else steers ✓ He and Robin just lie back until the next island ✓
Life = perfect.
Robin looked at his lazy ass and sighed helplessly.
"So when you said 'find companions,' you meant turn them into tools to pull your ship so you can slack off?"
(She learned the word "tool" from him.)
Luo Lin shot up and covered her mouth in panic.
"Robin baby, don't say that! Do I look like that kind of guy?!"
Robin: You don't look like it—you are it.
Seeing her skeptical stare, Luo Lin launched into sweet-talk mode.
"Think about it! When it was just us two, one of us always had to steer—we never got to enjoy the sea view together. And the Devil is full of our memories—you can't bear to abandon her, right?"
"Mhm!"
"Plus, the Merry only has men's and women's quarters. If we sleep there, we'd be separated. You don't want to sleep away from me, do you?"
"Mmm~ Don't want that either!"
"See? Everything else is secondary. The main thing is—I never want to be apart from you!"
"Oh! Then I understand!"
Robin was too smart for anyone else to fool.
Only Luo Lin could ever sweet-talk her.
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