The ship stopped next to the Going Merry as it drew near, and a man who was probably the captain of the ship said.
Luffy raised his eyebrows as the man yelled, "Hand over all your treasure or you will feel the Hell Hound Pirates' wrath!" When Luffy turned to gaze around the ship, he discovered that every person was wearing a dog-head-shaped head scarf.
"And who exactly are you?" Luffy inquired, his voice bored.
"You don't know who I am?" the man questioned, shocked since Luffy didn't know who he was. "I am Jiro Kurosawa, the devil's bloodhound!" Jiro exclaimed proudly.
Jiro appears to be in his late forties; he is shorter than Luffy, at only 5.2 feet tall, and has brown hair and blue eyes.
He is well-built, with some muscle and a tattoo of his Jolly Roger, a dog skull with two crossbones, on his left arm. Bottom line, Luffy was unimpressed.
"Never heard of you," Luffy said, making the pirate captain upset.
"You... I was going to let you live at first, but now I want you all to die! Jiro said it in a threatening tone. Luffy simply shook his head, turned his back on the pirates, and jumped back off the ship's side onto the deck.
"You're not worth my time," Luffy remarked as he began walking away to the upper deck. "They're all yours, guys; just make sure you don't kill them all," Luffy instructed his team.
"Aye aye, Captain!" exclaimed the entire crew before leaping from the Going Merry aboard the Hell Hound Pirate's ship. Usopp is still aboard the ship, killing people with his slingshot from atop the watchtower.
Before focusing on his enemy ship to observe how his crew was handling the issue, Luffy sat on his throne and poured himself a glass of whiskey. Looking across at the ship, Luffy observed Zoro engaged in combat with the pirate ship's captain as the others engaged the remaining crew.
Jiro transformed into a fairly large dog as Zoro pulled out his three swords. Given his physical characteristics, Luffy surmises that the man consumed a fruit similar to the Zoan type devil fruit, specifically the Hito Hito No Mi Model Bloodhound.
Although Luffy thinks it's a very good devil fruit, it probably won't be very effective in battle. Luffy decides to watch zoro's fight.
[Jiro vs Zoro]
Zoro stared at Jiro, who had transformed into a big half dog half man like creature, as drool flowed from the side of Jiro's lips.
"When I'm finished with you, I'm going to see your idiot captain and show him what happenes to those who mess with the Bloodhound Pirate's!" Jiro yelled as he ran forward towards Zoro.
He ran quicker than the average person could follow with their eyes, but Zoro was no ordinary person. Jiro appears to Zoro's right side and attempts to strike him with his claws, but is blocked by Zoro, who effortlessly uses his kitetsu.
"Is that it? Zoro asked Jiro, clutching the man's claws. "Because, if this is all you're capable of, you honestly don't stand a chance against my captain," Zoro said before pushing the man aside.
"How could you!?" Jiro grumbled in frustration before charging forward again, this time attempting to bite Zoro. However, the Straw Hat Crew's First Mate had already guessed his next attack and sighed.
"It's no use; I'll just end this," Zoro said before he made a serious face and got into a fighting position.
"Oni Giri!" Zoro shouted as he stepped forward, slashing with his three swords while easily dodging the giant bloodhound's bite.
Jiro looked out into the open ocean with his eyes wide open, shocked at what had just happened.He blinked for a few moments when he heard the sound of a sword scraping into the scabbard.
It wasn't until three 'clicks' sounds of the sword tightly closing in its scabbard that, upon hearing that sound, pain appeared in his body and blood spurted from the three slash wounds on his body, which caused him to fall face down onto the deck of his ship.
As he fell, he noticed that a few things felt off. First, he is alive—a little bit, but still alive in the end. And secondly, he didn't hear any cries of shock or anger from his crew, as their captain had just been defeated.
Jiro used as much strength as he could muster to turn his head to the side so he could check on his crew, and what he saw shocked him greatly.
The entire crew was taken care of by the Straw Hat crew. The majority of his men lay unconscious on deck, and those who were able to stand were in poor condition.
"Wait, what happened here?!? He asked in a loud voice, but no one answered. All of the straw-hat crew didn't look at him, even though they heard him.
The next thing Jiro heard was laughter behind him, which caused him to move his eyes to the side to try and see who it was.
He couldn't see the person clearly, but from his reflection and the posture he was looking at, Jiro guessed it was the person who had just beaten him.
"A bunch of idiots think that just because they have a boat with a flag, they consider themselves pirates," said Zoro with a laugh.
"And even more so, the Grand Line Pirates!" said Zoro before starting to laugh, causing Jiro to growl. Zoro then looked back and saw his captain still sitting on his throne, watching his crew's actions.
[With Luffy]
Luffy was quite happy with the way Zoro handled his fight. In fact, he was quite pleased with the way his entire crew had behaved in this situation.
One thing that surprised Luffy was how easily this pirate crew was defeated. Luffy expected this pirate to provide more challenges to his crew, thus giving him the opportunity to really see the fighting abilities of each member of his crew, but the reality was not like that.
Each member of his crew easily takes out multiple enemies, with Usopp protecting them from the lookout.
'I'm not even sure if these pirates can survive in East Blue, let alone the Grand Line,' thought Luffy as he watched Nojiko beat up the remaining pirates.
As he watched Nojiko skillfully use her three-piece staff, Luffy's eyes flashed as Nojiko's staff turned black for a few seconds before disappearing.
Luffy narrowed his eyes as he watched Nojiko slam her staff on the last enemy, and Luffy then started to think to himself.
'Nojiko seems to be the only one who managed to awaken the observation and armament haki, while the others only managed to awaken observation," thought Luffy before he sighed and took a sip of his drink.
'I think they need a tougher opponent,' said Luffy in his mind, sighing and turning his attention away from the crew and looking at the blue sky.
"Hey, Captain!" Zoro shouted to get Luffy's attention. "What should we do with these idiot's?said Zoro.
"Bring their captain here," said Luffy, looking at Zoro. "...and also bring Chopper here," he added, causing the little deer to jump back on the Going Merry and walk towards Luffy.
Johnny and Yosaku walked up to the slumped pirate captain and lifted his upper body, then dragged him towards Luffy.
When they arrived on the upper deck of the Merry, they threw Jiro under Luffy's feet, while the rest of Luffy's crew also made their way towards Luffy, wanting to see what their captain was intending to do.
Luffy stared at the fallen man with an even expression on his face before he turned to Chopper and spoke. "Treat him, Chopper," said Luffy, shocking everyone and causing Jiro to growl.
"I don't need your pity! Jiro said to Luffy while scaring Chopper at the same time. Luffy just looked at the bloodied man with the same deadpan expression on his face before he kicked Jiro right in the face, which made his body spin to lie on his back.
"I'm not someone known for letting my enemies live, but I will let you live, under some conditions." said Luffy before he took a sip of his drink.
"So you're either going to take whatever mercy I give you or I'm just going to throw you into the sea for you to die a slow and painful death," Luffy added in a threatening tone, much to Jiro's fear.
'That's the captain we all know and love,' Zoro thought in his head as he walked over and stood beside Luffy.
In the past few days since the crew left the Drum Kingdom, the entire crew has noticed that their captain seemed to have softened up a bit and was smiling a lot more than usual.
They all knew it was just Luffy trying to coax Chopper into the life of a pirate, but Zoro honestly preferred Luffy more seriously; in his mind, that's how a pirate captain should act.
"Treat him, Chopper," said Luffy in a commanding voice, causing the little deer to nod his head. He carefully approached Jiro with his small medical kit and began to treat his wound.
After Chopper finished treating Jiro's wounds, Jiro was now sitting in front of Luffy's throne, looking at Thunder Demon with a confused and angry look on his face.
"Jiro, you and your crew are so weak," Luffy said, causing Jiro to growl and grind his teeth. "So, I'll give you an offer," added Luffy, surprising everyone.
What kind of offer? Jiro asked in a surprised and slightly frightened voice.
"Join my fleet and sail under my flag," Luffy said, surprising everyone once again but no more than Jiro.
"You may be weak, but you may be of use to me and my organization," said Luffy, making his crew understand why Luffy did what he did.
"What organization?" Jiro asked with a confused look on his face.
"Underworld crime syndicate" Luffy said, causing Jiro's eyes to widen and his jaw to open slightly. "All you have to do is work for me in the black market, and I can make you famous and rich beyond your wildest imagination," said Luffy, sweetening his offer for the man.
"I don't know, what you're saying." Jiro said, sounding a little worried at the idea.
"I know you're still stupid," said Zoro from his position next to Luffy.
"What did you say!? Jiro asked angrily while looking at the green-haired swordsman.
"You are thinking about this offer as if you have a choice whether you want to accept it or not," Zoro said, causing Luffy to smile while Jiro looked confused.
What do you mean?" he asked, sounding scared.
"You idiot," added Sanji while lighting a new cigarette.
"Your options are only to accept and join the fleet, or we will rob you of all your food and money, then we will destroy your ship and leave you here in the Grand Line drifting, only to pray at the mercy of nature," Sanji said in a bored tone, causing Jiro's eyes to widen before he turned his head back to Luffy.
"Is that true?" he asked while looking at Luffy, which caused him to laugh.
"More or less," Luffy replied nonchalantly. Jiro thought long and hard about the invitation, and five minutes later he gave Luffy an answer.
"Fine, I'll join your fleet," Jiro said, causing Luffy to grin.
"Smart choice," replied Luffy before he got up from his throne, walked to the side of the ship, and looked towards the Hell Hound Pirates' ship.
"Get your crew ready and get ready to set sail for Alabasta," Luffy said in a commanding tone before he turned and looked at the three former Baroque Works agents and spoke.
"You three go with him; you know what to do once you get to Alabasta," Luffy said before he walked back to his throne and stuck his hand into the cloud.
Luffy then took out a transponder slug and handed it to Gem before he spoke again. "Call me when everything's settled," he said as he handed the Den Den Mushi to the Gem.
"Aye, Captain!" Gem answered before he jumped on Jiro's ship. Luffy looked at Jiro, who was still trying to process everything that was happening around him, and spoke.
"Jiro, you are still in command of your ship; however, you will be taking orders from them for now," Luffy said, causing the man to nod his head slowly, still trying to process everything.
Marianne and Mikita walked up to Jiro and helped him to get onto his ship. When they all boarded his ship, Luffy spoke once more.
"Those three will tell you what my plans are once you reach Alabasta. After you are done, you will wait for my orders to receive further orders," Luffy said, causing the four of them to nod their heads.
"Oh, and Jiro," Luffy said, getting his attention. "Add a straw hat jollyroger to the flag," said Luffy, pointing at his jollyroger.
Jiro looked slightly confused before he turned around and looked at Luffy's flag. He stared at it for a few seconds before his eyes widened in fear and he started sweating.
"Y-you... you are Thunder Demon: Straw Hat Luffy!" Jiro yelled in terror and shock, causing his crew members to leap to their feet with dinner plate-sized eyes.