As Luffy's words fell, Nami instantly flashed behind Luffy, slapping him on the back of his head. Sure enough, she had spoken too soon!
"Is this the time to be happy about that?! Idiot!"
Sanji exhaled a smoke ring, his face full of disdain.
"This is clearly him looking for trouble with us."
Jinbe, however, was unhurried, patiently answering Luffy's questions.
"In that great battle at Marineford, you really stole the show. One could say you became famous overnight.
Generally, once a bounty exceeds 300 million, it's not so easy for it to increase further.
However..."
At this point, Jinbe's gaze suddenly shifted to Orochimaru, who was idly pulling at coral. Everyone else followed suit.
"As the mastermind, his worth is 250 million higher than yours. His current bounty is 650 million, which makes him a great pirate even in the New World."
Luffy wasn't annoyed that his bounty had been surpassed. Instead, he excitedly pounced onto Orochimaru's back, wrapping his arms tightly around Orochimaru's neck, hanging there like a koala.
"So amazing~ Orochimaru's bounty is higher than mine now! As expected of my younger brother!"
Orochimaru, who was collecting various types of coral, felt a sudden weight on his back. He turned his head, looking at Luffy with a helpless expression.
"Are you a child? And your bounty will surpass mine very soon."
Nami's sensitive nerves twitched. Soon??? Surpass??
Orochimaru must have arranged something else for Luffy!
So she leaned in front of him with a 'kind' smile.
"Orochimaru~ are you~ hiding something from us again~?"
Orochimaru's eyes darted to the coral beside him. He suddenly pulled, and the huge coral "swish" stood upright in front of him, perfectly blocking Nami's view.
Orochimaru lowered his head, continuing to pull at an unknown creature, pretending not to hear.
Shirahoshi, completely uninterested in continuing the conversation, trembled slightly as she mounted Mekaro, rushing towards the plaza in a panic.
Luffy also rolled up his sleeves, ready to punch Hody Jones.
Jinbe, quick-witted, immediately shouted to stop them: "Stop! Mekaro! Wait a moment!"
Shirahoshi hung her head, tears falling steadily, and said with a sob: "Master Jinbe, but..."
Jinbe quickly walked to their side, looking at the group. "Luffy and Princess Shirahoshi, please both wait."
Hachi also lay on the ground, looking up at Shirahoshi. "Princess, I also think it's best you don't go. What Hody fears most in Ryugu Kingdom right now is Princess Shirahoshi's power. No matter what ideal Fish-Man Island he wants to establish in the future,
as long as you control the Sea Kings to attack, everything will be over. The King will surely be taken hostage as a shield."
Shirahoshi, sitting on Mekaro's back, hesitated, but still descended from the sky.
"But... although I've heard about my power, I haven't spoken to a Sea Kings yet. I don't even know if I truly possess this ability."
Luffy, however, stepped forward with a serious expression.
"It's alright, coward. Leave the rest to me. I'll send him flying. Sanji! You're in charge of protecting the coward!"
Sanji, with hearts in his eyes, swayed. "I'd be delighted to serve!"
Jinbe sighed and reached out to stop Luffy.
"Mr. Luffy! I said wait. You can't fight Hody either!"
"Why?!" Luffy frowned, looking at Jinbe with dissatisfaction.
Chopper and Franky also said in unison: "Is it because we are humans?"
Sanji, with a shark-like expression, roared at a robot and a Reindeer: "Why does that sound so strange coming from your mouths!"
Orochimaru, who was pulling coral, seemed to have a nerve touched. (Mermaids, Fishman, so many, many Fishman)
Thinking of this, Orochimaru suddenly straightened up, his eyes sparkling like two shining stars, and his tail unconsciously wagged gently. He looked at the group excitedly.
"Luffy and them can't, but I have no problem! I'm a marine creature after all!"
"Rejected!!!!!" Everyone protested in unison, their voices deafening.
Jinbe was even more on high alert, staring at Orochimaru with a wary expression, and loudly questioned: "What do you want to do!"
Shirahoshi looked at everyone who was collectively objecting, her eyes full of confusion.
"Master Jinbe, why are you all objecting? Is Master Orochimaru very weak?"
Jinbe opened his mouth, wanting to speak but hesitating. His gaze swept over Luffy and the others' faces several times, but in the end, he couldn't hold it in.
"Mr. Luffy... although this might be a bit blunt, your younger brother... seems... not to be... a kind person..."
Jinbe tried to choose his words carefully, uttering this sentence with difficulty.
The Straw Hat crew, upon hearing this, all frowned, looking at Jinbe with an indescribable expression.
Seeing this reaction, Jinbe's heart fluttered. He quickly waved his hands to explain.
"I didn't mean to slander him, but he... really..."
At this moment, Nami slowly walked over, gently patted Jinbe's shoulder, and let out a long sigh.
Her expression was full of sympathy, clearly already seeing Jinbe as a fellow 'victim' of Orochimaru. Then she looked at Jinbe and said:
"Don't say anymore... We all understand..."
Jinbe looked bewildered. "Understand what...?"
Sanji, a cigarette in his mouth, looked up at the sky, took a deep drag, and exhaled a smoke ring:
"Cunning."
Nami covered her mouth, whimpering, thinking of the battles she was forced into and her unattainable private stash.
"Devious."
Franky remembered being hung up and hosed down when he first joined the crew, and wiped away tears.
"Petty."
Chopper didn't react much, just cutely raised his little hoof to join in the fun.
"Snake-like."
Luffy also looked up at the sky, not saying a word, not knowing what he was thinking. If you looked closely, you could even see something sparkling in the corner of his eye.
Jinbe was completely silent now, falling into a hush, his mind roaring wildly.
"So you all knew... Then why did you spoil him so much and let him run wild!"
After a while, Jinbe let out a heavy sigh.
"You're just going to indulge him like this? This isn't a wise move."
Nami looked at Orochimaru, who was curled up in a ball, dispirited, only knowing how to listlessly pull at coral. She suddenly chuckled softly, saying with a hint of fondness:
"No... Jinbe, you're wrong. It's not us indulging him; quite the opposite, in fact. It's always been him indulging us.
Even if, by the world's standards, he isn't a purely good person,
what does that matter?
If you think about it, in the eyes of ordinary people, aren't we also seen as 'evil' beings?
And Orochimaru is merely a thousand percent more 'evil' than us on that so-called 'evil' scale.
But... we are companions, aren't we?"
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