"No way, how could this be so coincidental?"
"Moonlight, you…"
"Oh no, it's a person, quick, save them!"
Hearing this, Usopp and the others looked at Moonlight with speechless expressions. Dude, your swing was a bit too accurate. In the vast sea, you managed to hit someone. What now?
"Hmm?"
Moonlight watched as two figures swam closer, one unconscious while the other was dragging him toward their ship.
"You idiots, what do you mean by using a shark to kill someone?"
Johnny, having approached, pointed at Moonlight and the others, shouting angrily.
"Get on board."
Luffy stretched out his arm, grabbing the two and pulling them onto the deck.
"It's you guys?"
Zoro looked at the two, visibly surprised. These two were thugs he had saved before; he never expected to see them here.
"Big Bro Zoro!"
Johnny's eyes lit up when he saw Zoro, and he immediately dropped Joseph in excitement.
"Big Bro Zoro, what are you doing here?"
"That's what I should be asking you two. What are you doing here?"
Zoro pointed at the two.
"Ah, Big Bro, ever since you saved us, we decided to turn over a new leaf and become great bounty hunters. So we got ourselves a boat and sailed along the coast, but we lost our way and ended up drifting here. After that, you know the rest. Your friend killed Joseph with a shark… boohoo…"
Johnny began to cry as he spoke.
"This guy didn't kill him, and he's not dead either. He's just suffering from malnutrition and scurvy."
At that moment, Nami walked over, examining Joseph.
"Scurvy?"
Johnny was stunned.
"What's scurvy?"
Luffy asked, puzzled.
"He's not dead yet?"
Zoro sighed in relief. These two could be considered his friends, and he would have felt terrible if Moonlight had accidentally killed one of them.
"Scurvy… I've heard of it. It's caused by a long-term imbalance in nutrition, not meeting the body's needs. Especially in the open sea, this can eventually lead to scurvy, a very dangerous condition."
Usopp mumbled, clearly aware of the condition.
"Is there any way to save him?"
Moonlight asked Nami, more concerned with this than anything else. Although he despised pirates, he didn't want to kill an innocent person, even if it had nothing to do with him.
"There is. Usopp, get some limes. He's just malnourished; once he gets some nutrients, he'll be fine."
Nami instructed Usopp, who nodded and quickly fetched some limes, squeezing the juice into Joseph's mouth.
Half an hour later, Joseph's complexion improved, and he woke up. He glanced at Johnny, puzzled, then saw Zoro and was overjoyed, rushing toward him.
"Big Bro Zoro! I can't believe we met on the open sea like this…"
However, halfway there, his body weakened, and he passed out again!
He collapsed once more!
"I just barely saved you, and it'll take days of rest to fully recover from scurvy. Why are you showing off?"
Nami said, exasperated.
"Thank goodness, you're okay, brother."
Johnny cried tears of joy, deeply grateful to Nami.
"Alright, since you're okay, just rest here for a while."
Zoro said.
"Looks like we need a cook on board."
Luffy scratched his chin thoughtfully. The experiences of Joseph and Johnny had given him a stark reminder that they urgently needed a ship's cook.
"Wow…"
Just then, they heard a loud rushing sound from the sea ahead, startling everyone. They looked up to see a large warship surrounded by several smaller ships guarding it, appearing on the horizon.
The flag on the ships was unmistakably that of the Marines!
And they were closing in fast, rapidly approaching.
"It's the Marines! Run, it's a Marine fleet!"
As they got closer, everyone got a clear view, and Usopp was the first to shout.
"Tch, we've run into the Marines, huh?"
Zoro's face remained cold, showing no change in his expression.
"Didn't expect to run into Marines. What do we do now? There are too many of them!"
Nami looked serious, her face filled with worry. Even she was anxious at the sight of such a large-scale Marine force.
"Marines? Wow, look at that huge ship!"
Luffy looked at the opposing ship, shouting excitedly.
"Captain Morgan, pirates spotted ahead!"
Meanwhile, on the Marine warship, a Marine reported to a handsome man in a white suit with an iron fist, who was standing nearby.
This man was Captain Morgan. Beside him stood a beautiful, elegant lady, and the two were chatting harmoniously, Morgan feeling quite pleased. If nothing went wrong, this beautiful lady would be his tonight.
Hearing the report, he asked indifferently.
"What kind of pirates? How many of them?"
"It's a pirate flag we've never seen before, featuring a straw hat. There are seven of them."
The Marine reported truthfully.
"A crew of just seven pirates? That's just a small-time crew. Since they ran into Captain Morgan, let's just blow them away."
Morgan laughed lightly, glancing at the lady, who appeared worried upon hearing about pirates.
"Don't worry about it, they're just a few small-time pirates. There's no way they could stand up to us Marines. Let's head to the Baratie and enjoy some good food and wine."
Morgan then invited the lady.
"Hehehe, Captain Morgan, you're such a hero. Those pirates are unlucky to have run into you. The Baratie, huh? I've heard of that place, it's a great restaurant with delicious food."
The lady laughed, her eyes lighting up as she looked at Morgan.
"Please, after you!"
Morgan felt on top of the world, as if he had reached the peak of life.
"Fire!"
After Morgan left, the Marines gave the order to open fire on Luffy's ship.
A cannonball was fired straight toward them!
In the Marines' eyes, a ship like Luffy's could be sunk with a single shot.
It was also a warning shot, in line with Marine protocol.
"Oh no, they've opened fire!"
"It's a cannon! Don't let it hit us, or our ship will be blown apart!"
"I'll cut it down!"
Seeing the cannonball coming, Usopp and Nami shouted in panic. Zoro drew his sword, ready to slash the cannonball in half.
Moonlight simply smiled, as he saw Luffy take action.
"Gum-Gum…"
Luffy inhaled deeply, his body expanding rapidly and becoming extremely elastic!
The cannonball hit his body, sinking in as if into cotton, doing no damage. Then, with a bounce, Luffy launched the cannonball right back!
"Phew, that was close!"
Usopp sighed in relief.