Chapter 13: The Collapse of the Dadan Family
The moment Axel and the others were safely back in the forest, he finally explained what had happened during his clash with Bluejam.
"That move at the end only worked because he didn't fully understand my ability yet," Axel said honestly. "When I dropped low like that, I wasn't just crouching. I changed the direction of the force acting on my body and compressed it into a single point. That let me lower myself far faster than normal, dodge his attack, and create an opening."
He paused, then added in a quieter voice, "And even then, it was only possible because my brain had already calculated the path of his sword."
If even one part of that calculation had been wrong, he would have lost an arm, if not his life.
The air around them grew a little heavier.
Ace and Sabo both understood what that meant.
Axel looked at his hand for a moment before clenching it lightly.
"And even after I touched him, I only managed to injure him a little. Most of the force I sent into his body got resisted by his flesh and muscles." He let out a breath. "He's strong. Much stronger than I expected. I used almost everything I had and only managed to do minor damage."
He did not want to discourage them.
But he also refused to lie.
If they were going to keep fighting monsters like Bluejam in the future, then they needed to understand what kind of wall stood in front of them.
Ace lowered his head.
Sabo did the same.
Both of them had fought Axel before. Both of them knew exactly how troublesome his ability was. And if Bluejam was stronger than Axel, then the gap between them and that pirate tyrant was even more brutal than they had wanted to admit.
For a short while, no one spoke.
Then Luffy suddenly puffed up and shouted, "So what?! Even if he's strong, if we keep getting stronger too, then one day we'll beat him!"
The words were simple.
Blunt.
Absolutely Luffy.
And yet, somehow, they hit harder than anything else.
Ace glanced at Sabo.
Sabo looked back at him.
Then both of them smiled.
"Seriously," Ace muttered, snorting softly, "getting lectured by Luffy feels weird."
But the fire in his eyes returned.
"I'll get stronger," he said. "Stronger than anyone."
Sabo grinned. "Then I won't lose to you."
"Me neither!" Luffy shouted, slapping his chest. "I won't lose to you guys either!"
Axel watched them and felt the heaviness in his chest ease a little.
"Then let's all become stronger together."
That settled the mood.
After finding a safe spot in the forest, Sabo sat down on a flat stone and began going over everything that had happened that day.
His expression grew serious again almost immediately.
"After today, Bluejam won't treat this like some minor irritation anymore." He folded his arms. "We really crossed the line this time. He's definitely going to hunt us down."
"A manhunt won't be easy for him," Axel said.
Ace nodded. "Mount Colubo isn't some open plain. The terrain alone is enough to make outsiders miserable."
That confidence did not come from arrogance. Ace had grown up around these mountains. He knew how deceptive the terrain could be. Hidden paths, uneven slopes, blind turns, thick trees, and sudden drops were everywhere. To people unfamiliar with the area, exploring it would be slow and dangerous.
Unless they had a brain like Axel's.
Or Sabo's.
Otherwise, they would need to crawl through the mountain step by step.
Luffy threw his hands behind his head and grinned as if none of this mattered.
"If they come, we'll just beat them up again."
Sabo looked at him, then at Ace and Axel, and could not help smiling a little.
He did not know whether to admire them or worry more.
Last time, when Ace and the others robbed Bluejam's treasure, the pirate had only issued a wanted order inside Gray Terminal. That had been trouble, yes, but still a limited kind of trouble.
This time was different.
This time they had stormed his territory, wrecked several strongholds, humiliated his men, and injured Bluejam himself.
This was not a grudge anymore.
This was a personal humiliation.
Bluejam would not let that go lightly.
Even so, Sabo also knew there was no point drowning in worry. Fear alone did not make anyone stronger. Since the thing had already been done, the only real option left was to keep moving forward and keep growing.
So after resting a little longer, the four boys began making their way back through the jungle toward Dadan's hideout.
Not long after, Luffy's voice rang through the forest before the house even came into view.
"I'm hungry!"
The moment they approached, Dadan burst out of the house, her face dark with anxiety and anger.
"You brats! Where were you all morning?!"
Normally, even if the boys disappeared into the mountains, someone would at least say something first. But today had been different. They had all slept unusually well the night before, and Dadan had foolishly thought that maybe, just maybe, they were finally learning to behave.
She had even prepared a feast as a reward.
Then she found the house empty.
And now these little disasters had finally come back.
Axel, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy all looked exhausted enough to fall over. Not one of them had the energy to answer properly. Instead, they shuffled right past Dadan and began circling around the side of the house.
They had absolutely no desire to stop and listen to a lecture right now.
Especially not after raiding Bluejam's stronghold.
Explaining that at the front door would probably get them killed before dinner.
Dadan stared at them, stunned by the sheer audacity of being ignored inside her own hideout.
Still, she did not stop them.
Perhaps it was because all four looked so drained that even she could tell something serious had happened.
Sabo, probably out of guilt, slowed slightly and scratched his cheek.
"We just... carried out a plan today," he said awkwardly. "A plan."
Then he immediately sped up and slipped inside after the others.
Dadan stood there, frowning.
"A plan?"
She rolled the word around in her head, clearly not liking it.
But after thinking for a while and getting nowhere, she gave up. At least the children had come back alive. That was enough for now.
So she turned back to the kitchen and finished preparing dinner.
A while later, her voice thundered through the house.
"You brats! Food's ready!"
The effect was immediate.
Axel and the others, who had been lying around like corpses moments earlier, sprang back to life and charged out of the room with astonishing speed.
Unfortunately, they were not the only ones.
The rest of the Dadan Family had been waiting too, and they were already starving. Dinner had come later than usual, and most of them had been working all day on top of that.
Then came the disaster.
Because Axel and the others had it even worse.
They had eaten breakfast in the middle of the night, burned through everything during the raid, skipped lunch entirely while being chased through Gray Terminal, and only just made it back alive.
They were ravenous.
Absolutely ravenous.
Any notion of manners died instantly.
The moment they reached the food, the four boys turned into wild beasts.
Bandits were kicked aside.
Hands were slapped away.
Bodies were shoved.
In the blink of an eye, Axel, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had seized the best portions and begun devouring them like a pack of wolves that had not eaten in days.
The bandits were stunned.
Then outraged.
Then helpless.
Even when they managed to grab a bit of food, one of the boys would immediately knock it away or snatch it right back.
In the end, the bandits could only turn to Dadan with wounded expressions.
Help us, Boss.
Dadan herself was standing there in complete disbelief, watching the children tear through the meal like a natural disaster.
"What in the world was your plan today?" she asked at last, her voice shaking.
Axel felt like she probably deserved to know the truth.
Or at least enough of it to prepare for the future.
He picked up a chunk of meat, stuffed it into his mouth, and began speaking while chewing.
"We already met with..."
"Swallow first!" Dadan roared.
Axel calmly finished chewing.
Then, with all the composure of someone discussing the weather, he said, "We went to Gray Terminal today. Nothing major, really. We just accidentally entered Bluejam's territory, accidentally beat up some of his men, and accidentally injured Bluejam himself."
With every "accident," the faces of Dadan and the bandits grew more and more lifeless.
By the time Axel finished, the entire Dadan Family looked as if their souls had left their bodies.
Meanwhile, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy kept eating and laughing like none of this was strange.
Dadan finally exploded.
"This is not 'nothing major'!"
Her scream nearly shook the roof.
The last time these boys robbed Bluejam's treasure, she had already spent days terrified that disaster would come crashing down on them. And now they had gone and raided his base and injured the man personally?
And Axel had the nerve to say it casually like they had knocked over a fruit stall?
Axel reached for another piece of meat.
"Well, what's done is done. It's not like apologizing would fix it now..."
Then he froze.
Luffy had just reached into his bowl and stolen a piece of meat.
Axel's eyes narrowed.
Luffy swallowed it in one bite and immediately looked at the remaining piece with open desire.
"I'm still hungry," he said. "Axel, give me the other one too."
Axel instantly covered his food with both hands like a dragon guarding treasure.
Unlike Luffy, his appetite was not bottomless, so he had only taken a few pieces. Every single one of them had been carefully calculated for personal survival.
There was absolutely no chance he was letting Luffy steal another.
Seeing the look in Axel's eyes, Luffy wisely gave up on that target and shifted his attention elsewhere.
His gaze landed on Ace's bowl.
It had the most meat.
Naturally.
Ace noticed too late.
Luffy had already lunged.
"Luffy!" Ace shouted, slapping his hand away. "What are you doing?!"
"You're so stingy!" Luffy complained. "It's just one piece!"
Ace snorted. "Then take more from the bandits next time. Why are you always coming after ours?"
"I know!"
He said that, but the moment Ace's guard relaxed, Luffy snatched a piece anyway and stuffed it into his mouth.
Ace's face twisted instantly.
"You bastard!"
At that point, the Dadan Family was no longer merely shocked.
They were collapsing.
Completely collapsing.
Their little devils had just openly admitted to attacking Bluejam's base, injuring Bluejam, and bringing disaster to the mountain.
And now they were fighting over meat like nothing had happened.
Dogra finally looked toward Dadan and asked in a dry voice, "Boss... what do we do?"
Dadan's expression was grave.
She knew this could not continue.
The Dadan Family was already well known around Mount Colubo. If Bluejam started digging, there was a very real chance trouble would reach them here.
Before, Bluejam had mostly followed an unspoken rule of staying in his own territory and not bothering with theirs unless necessary.
After today?
That rule might mean nothing.
Dadan slammed a hand down dramatically.
"Men!"
Every bandit straightened.
"Starting tomorrow," Dadan declared, "we begin special training!"
The room went silent.
Then she roared, "Training on how to lie! For the sake of our lives, every one of you idiots is going to learn how to lie properly!"
The bandits stared.
Then shouted in shaky unison, "Yes, Boss!"
Magra looked sideways at Dogra and whispered, "Can people really learn that?"
Dogra did not answer.
His face had become very tense.
Judging by his silence, he probably wanted to say no, but did not dare destroy morale.
Dadan immediately began the first practice round.
She pointed at the bandits and asked, "Do you know those brats?"
The bandits froze.
Then, one by one, they gave terrible answers.
"N no..."
"No, not at all..."
Their heads tilted in awkward directions. Their eyes darted everywhere except at Dadan. Their bodies were so stiff they looked like badly made wooden dolls.
They were not lying.
They were practically confessing.
Dadan dropped to her knees.
"No good..." she muttered in despair. "It's exactly like last time. None of you can lie at all!"
Dogra awkwardly tried to comfort her.
"Boss, don't panic. We can still train them."
Dadan slowly raised her head.
Then she stood, turned, and pointed at him with total seriousness.
"Good. Then I'm leaving it to you."
Dogra froze.
Completely froze.
He stared blankly at Dadan, his short body going rigid with horror.
Teach these idiots how to lie?
That sounded harder than fighting.
Magra glanced at him, then quietly stepped a little farther away, clearly not wanting any part of the responsibility.
Dogra could only sigh deeply and shuffle off to one side, looking like a man marching toward execution.
Compared to this, he thought, taking a punch from Bluejam might actually be easier.
.....
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