Luffy’s departure was not difficult; in fact, some things were even missing. For example, the Lord of the Coast did not appear.
As a small Sea King, it had been able to avoid Garp’s cleaning operation in the East Blue, only to encounter a Gyarados living here. Usually even large Sea Kings are nothing much against Gyarados, let alone this little guy.
However, their voyage was not smooth. In terms of size, Luffy’s boat at this moment was about the same as Hawk Eyes’ coffin boat. But at least Hawk Eyes’ boat had a sail, and with his own sailing skills, traveling in windy conditions wasn’t difficult.
However, Luffy’s boat was different—it didn’t even have a sail, only oars, making it 100% hand-powered.
“Hercules, you should row a little too.”
“Heraaacross~ Heraaacross~.”
Heracross sat like a lord on the wooden barrel at the bow of the boat, completely ignoring Luffy’s request.
“What the heck, why are you saving your stamina?”
After spending a long time together, Luffy could understand what Heracross’ cries meant. However, the other people in Foosha Village still couldn’t understand; only Luffy could fully comprehend Heracross’ words.
Heracross didn’t say anything. It simply pulled out a slightly yellowed newspaper from under itself, pointed at an image on the paper, and looked at Luffy with an expression that carried a hint of disappointment.
“Ah, isn’t this Uta? You still kept this? Come to think of it, she seems to have become really impressive now.”
“Heraaacross!”
Heracross extended a finger, specifically pointing at another Heracross on the newspaper.
Back in the day, they were just ordinary beetles in Wano Country. Later, they were randomly assigned to different seas, searching for the things that might exist out there.
It and Uta’s Kabu had started from the same starting line, but looking at the Kabu in the newspaper, it was clear that life had been treating it well—even sparking a Heracross craze. Meanwhile, it had stayed in a small village, loafing around with this foolish kid every day.
Loafing around was one thing, but this foolish kid also has an even more unreliable grandfather. If not for it, it felt that Luffy would have drowned in a lake years ago.
To prevent him from drowning in a shipwreck, it had to conserve its stamina as this boat didn’t look very reliable.
Heracross could fly, but it wasn’t particularly good at flying. Carrying someone in a dangerous sea environment required a lot of stamina, which was why it refused to help with rowing.
As it turned out, its foresight was justified. Luffy’s boat didn’t last long in the Four Seas before encountering a terrifying giant whirlpool.
Even among the great pirates of the New World, those who could rely on human strength to counter the power of nature were few and far between, so without any surprise, Luffy’s boat was swallowed into the vortex.
Looking at the sinking boat, Heracross stretched its body, preparing to carry Luffy away from here by flying. At this moment, it felt proud of its own foresight. However, Luffy’s sudden burst of “cleverness” kicked in.
“I’ve got an idea!”
“Heraaacross?”
Without giving Heracross a chance to react, Luffy grabbed it and hid inside the wooden barrel that was on the boat, beginning the true journey of drifting with the waves.
……
“Ow! Hercules, let go! Why are you biting me? I clearly saved you!”
“!”
At that moment, on a completely ordinary passenger ship, Hercules was clinging to Luffy, fiercely biting his face while repeatedly pounding his head. However, due to the effects of his Devil Fruit ability, its punches had no effect.
“Heraaacross! Heraaacross!”
There was too much content in its speech. After omitting most of the censored words, it could be summarized as:
【I CAN FLY! DO YOU EVEN KNOW THAT I CAN FLY?! WE COULD HAVE JUST FLOWN AWAY! DID YOU WANT ME TO DIE WITH YOU?! YOU CALL THAT SAVING?! IS YOUR HEAD EMPTY?!】
Looking back now, it shouldn’t have been so greedy for that mouthful of food back then, which led it to get involved with this guy. And thinking about its own kin beside Uta… the difference between them was getting bigger and bigger.
Since Luffy wasn’t afraid of blunt attacks thanks to his Devil Fruit ability, Heracross resorted to biting him instead. The two of them, a boy and a beetle, ran all around across the deck, leaving the pirates currently raiding the ship completely dumbfounded.
“What the hell are you ba*tards doing?!”
Luffy and Heracross’ blatant disregard for their surroundings enraged a nearby pirate—”Iron Mace” Alvida, a pirate from the East Blue with a bounty of five million Berry.
In Wano Country, any random pirate or samurai could probably take care of her without much trouble. But in the East Blue, she can still act like a tyrant.
Her favorite hobby was threatening others to acknowledge her beauty, using lies to deceive even herself.
“Wait a minute, Captain Alvida, that big beetle… looks pretty valuable.”
“What did you say?”
“I think I heard somewhere that this thing sells for two million Berries on the pet market!”
Beetles had always had a place in the pet market. Back then, Uta had sparked a Heracross craze, making Heracross the rarest species among beetles. There were indeed people willing to purchase them.
Two million Berry was no small amount. Upon hearing that a single beetle could sell for that much, a greedy look appeared in Alvida’s eyes.
“Hey, brat! Leave that pet beetle of yours behind, and we can consider letting you go.”
“What did you say?”
As soon as the words left their mouth, Luffy suddenly stopped, his expression turning serious.
“Did you not hear? Captain Alvida said to hand over your beetle!”
Seeing that Luffy didn’t respond, a few pirates surrounded him, wanting to forcibly take Heracross away. However, all they saw was Luffy’s extended leg.
“Gum-Gum Whip!”
With a kick from his right leg, he sent all the nearby pirates flying.
“It’s not a pet. It’s my companion! Since you want to take my companion away, that makes you my enemy! You’d better be prepared for that!”
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting, brat? Who in their right mind would consider a beetle a friend?!”
A kanabo struck Luffy’s head. But despite also being a kanabo, the outcome was vastly different. Thanks to the rubber’s rebound, Luffy remained completely unaffected.
“Gum-Gum Pistol!”
The extended arm snapped back, delivering a punch that sent Alvida flying.
Watching Luffy’s reaction, Heracross nodded approvingly, wearing an expression that seemed to say, “This kid is teachable.”
This was precisely why it had stayed by Luffy’s side all this time. Otherwise, it would have left this fool long ago. Food alone wasn’t enough to keep it tied down.
Afterward, Luffy, Heracross, and Koby left on one of the ship’s lifeboats. However, Nami didn’t appear on Alvida’s ship to steal treasures. At this moment, she was still in Cocoyasi Village, busy with other matters alongside the villagers.
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