【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"Great! Then use my treasure to keep accounts," Luffy replied with a smile.

"You are lying, kid. Where did the treasure come from?" Shanks laughed at Luffy.

"Nonsense!! I will definitely find a lot of treasures after I become a pirate. Then I will use the money to pay the bill!" Luffy said while knocking on the table with his fork and spoon in his hands.

"Haha, I'm looking forward to it," Makino said happily.

"Hehehe!" Luffy waited for the food expectantly.

"Shanks" Luffy shouted to Shanks while pulling a piece of meat.

"What's the matter?" Shanks looked at Luffy in confusion while eating.

"How long do you plan to stay in this town?" Luffy asked Shanks while eating.

"Well... I've been traveling with this town as my base for more than a year. I want to leave here and go further north after two or three more voyages," Shanks replied with a smile.

"Oh, after two or three more outings to sea..." Luffy thought as he chewed the large amount of food in his mouth.

"I will definitely learn how to swim before you leave!" Luffy shouted happily.

"Not bad! Keep up the good work!" Shanks encouraged.

"boom!"

"Excuse me," a man came in arrogantly with his men, and the pirates looked at the man in silence.

"Hehehe, so this is a pirate... This is the first time I've seen one, and he looks really stupid!"

"We are bandits. We are not here to rob today. Sell us 10 barrels of bartender!" said the bandit.

"Hello, I'm very sorry, the wine is sold out today," Makino replied awkwardly.

"What? What do these pirates drink? Water?" the bandit shouted angrily.

"I mean, all the drinks in the bar are here, that's all we have," said Makino.

"Oh! I'm so sorry that we drank all the wine in the bar. Here's an unopened bottle. If you don't mind, this is for you," Shanks said with a smile, holding up the wine in his hand.

"boom!"

The bandit smashed the wine in Shanks' hand, and Shanks' straw hat blocked most of the wine. Luffy was startled behind him and jumped off the chair with a half-eaten fruit. The atmosphere was solemn for a few seconds.

"Hey! Who do you think I am, kid? Don't underestimate me! Such a small bottle of wine is not even enough to moisten your throat!" said the bandit angrily.

"Oh my, the floor is wet." Shanks looked at the floor worriedly.

"Look carefully," the bandit said while holding a bounty, "My head is worth 800 million Baileys. I'm a most wanted criminal! I have killed 56 self-righteous guys like you. If you know what's good for you, be careful from now on," the bandit smiled sinisterly.

Shanks ignored the bandit in front of him and squatted down to pick up the broken bottle. "I'm so sorry, do you have a rag, Ms. Makino?"

"Ah... no need, I can do these things," Makino said in panic.

Seeing that Shanks didn't respond to him, the bandit continued to pick up the broken bottles on the ground and angrily swept the things on the bar to the ground. Shanks sat on the ground, his hat covering his expression.

"You seem to like cleaning! It's worth it for you to clean up after it becomes like this! Goodbye, cowards!" The bandits pushed the door open and went out.

"There's not even any wine, how can this be possible! Let's go to another town to have a look," the bandits said and left.

"Captain, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Makino asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." Shanks waved his hand to stop Makino from coming to help him.

"Hey!!" Shanks sighed with a smile.

"Hahahaha, boss, why are you so embarrassed?" Lachi laughed loudly, holding his stomach.

"Boss, you're being bullied so badly!!" Jesus Bu and the pirates laughed together.

"Hahahaha!!" Shanks sat on the ground, took off his hat and laughed with the crew.

Luffy clenched his fists angrily and shouted, "You are such a disgrace!! Why don't you beat him up!! Even if they are more numerous and powerful, you can't be bullied like this and still laugh! You are not a man or a pirate at all!"

Shanks looked at Luffy and said, "I understand how you feel, but it's unnecessary to get angry just because some wine was spilled on you." Shanks said to Luffy with a smile as he put his hat on his head.

"Never mind you, I don't want to see you, a coward!" Luffy turned and walked away angrily.

"Hey, wait a minute, Luffy." Shanks grabbed Luffy's arm and tried to ask Luffy to stay.

Luffy didn't hear it and continued walking towards the door. Shanks was still holding Luffy's arm. Everyone stared in amazement as Luffy's arm grew longer.

"This...hand...is stretched!!" Shanks looked at it in horror.

"Could it be that you..." The pirates looked at Luffy's arm in shock.

"What's going on?!" Luffy also noticed something was wrong and shouted in horror.

"It's gone! The 'Rubber Fruit' that we took from the enemy ship is gone!!" Lachi shouted in shock, holding a treasure chest and pointing inside.

"What?" the pirates shouted in horror.

"Luffy, did you eat a fruit that looks like this?!" Laci quickly drew a fruit in a sketchbook and showed it to Luffy.

"Well... I ate it as dessert... It was really disgusting." Luffy realized that he seemed to be in trouble, and stood straight in sweat to answer Laci's question.

"Rubber Fruit! He is the secret treasure of the sea known as the [Devil Fruit]!! Anyone who eats him will turn into a rubber man!!! He will never be able to swim in his life!!!" Shanks held Luffy's cheek and shouted at him in horror.

"What? No way!!" Luffy looked at Shanks in horror.

"You idiot!!" Shanks shouted at Luffy in horror.

Luffy pushed Shanks away in panic and ran outside.

"Damn it! If I can't swim, I'll never be a pirate in my life." Luffy thought while crying. He sat down on the dock and looked at the blue sea in front of him. He felt even sadder.

Shanks watched Luffy run away crying and followed him worriedly. When he saw Luffy sitting on the dock, he walked over, sat next to him and touched his hair.

"Luffy, I was wrong just now. I shouldn't have yelled at you. Did I scare you?" Shanks said to Luffy with a smile.

"Shanks, will I ever be able to become a pirate?" Luffy threw himself into Shanks' arms and burst into tears.

"How could that be? The sea is free and embraces everyone. Even if you can't swim, you can still be a pirate as long as you don't fall into the water." Shanks patted Luffy's back and comforted him softly.

"Really?" Luffy asked in a crying voice.

"Of course. Besides, after becoming a rubber man, you don't have to be afraid of blunt injuries like fists. You only have to worry about slashes and the like. It's fun, right? It's very powerful," Shanks said to Luffy with a smile.

"Really? Thank you Shanks" Luffy smiled happily.

Shanks smiled and rubbed Luffy's head and said "You're still a brat."

……

Waste Terminal

Ace, Lucci and Sabo hid behind a rock and watched the gang of thugs in front of them, ready to rob their treasures when they passed by.