When Kai arrived at the treasure stash, he told the pirate to leave and stayed alone. With a wave of his hand, the treasure vanished from sight.
The Black Cat Pirates were a bit strapped for cash. The treasure amounted to only a few million berries—less than ten million.
But as they say, even a mosquito's leg is still meat. Treasure is accumulated bit by bit, after all.
After collecting the treasure, Kai was about to leave when a faint light caught his eye. Curiosity piqued, he approached the source of the light and discovered it was coming from a long yellow object.
Kai picked it up and took a closer look.
"Ahem..."
He coughed a few times as he uncovered a thick layer of dust. The dust accumulation was impressive, indicating it had been there for years.
Covering his nose, Kai shook the object to get rid of the dust.
Finally, its original form appeared before his eyes, and Kai Vane's face lit up with a grin.
"I didn't expect to find something so valuable!"
In his hand was a two-meter-long iron rod, completely black and surprisingly heavy. The material was top-notch. Comparing it to Zoro's swords, this rod seemed to have a similar quality.
In other words, the hardness of this rod should be on par with Zoro's sword—essentially a weapon equal to a sharp blade.
Kai was thrilled by this unexpected find. The Black Cat Pirates had truly surprised him!
The Great Sage's memories included extensive combat techniques with a rod, but since he had no such weapon, those techniques were mostly useless.
He had planned to visit Rogue Town soon to look for a weapon like this, but now...
He'd found one effortlessly, and it was high quality. He couldn't be happier!
After storing the rod in his system space, Kai Vane whistled and walked out.
It was a good day!
On the deck, he glanced at the pirates on the ship before vanishing into the sky in a few blinks.
The Black Cat Pirates stared in shock, their eyes nearly popping out.
After a while, one of them stammered, "Why... why are there people who can fly!!!"
...
Some time later~
"Hey, Zoro, where's Luffy?" Kai suddenly appeared behind Zoro, giving him a fright.
Zoro jumped, then shouted, "Can you please stop showing up out of nowhere like that?"
"Huh? What's the problem?" Kai shrugged casually.
"So, where is Luffy?"
"He went to check on Usopp," Nami said from the side.
Just as Kai was about to ask more, a frightened shout came from the distance.
"Pirates are coming, pirates are coming!"
Everyone turned their attention to Usopp, who was running toward them with a serious expression. As he passed by, Nami ignored his call and ran straight into the village.
"He just said... pirates are coming?" Nami asked uncertainly.
"Yes, that's what he said!" Kai confirmed.
"Could he be lying? Didn't you say he often makes jokes?" Zoro asked the kids with him.
But the three kids looked very serious. After a moment, Onion Tou said:
"This seems different. The captain looked very serious. We've never seen him like this before!"
"So... it's possible Usopp wasn't lying, and pirates might really be coming!" Kai said. "Let's go see where Usopp went."
"Ah???" The kids shrank back a few meters, clutching each other, and asked tremblingly, "If there really are pirates, won't we all be in danger?"
"Alright, alright!" Kai waved his hand and pointed to Zoro. "You see this green-haired guy? He's very strong and will protect you!"
(•́へ•́ ╬)!
Zoro's forehead twitched visibly. He had an urge to take it out on Kai , but reason won over impulse. He reluctantly sheathed his knife.
A gentleman's revenge is never too late.
...
When the group arrived at the coast, they found no pirates. The three kids were puzzled.
"Did the captain lie again?"
"Looks like the captain's trickery has improved, and even we were fooled!"
Sanxiao thought they had figured something out, a gleam of wisdom in their eyes.
Suddenly, Nami spotted something and pointed to a radish stuck upside down at the foot of the mountain.
"Could that be Luffy?"
A few minutes later, they gathered around Luffy, who was hanging upside down.
"This big brother... can't be..." one of the kids said with fear. Then they heard a faint snoring sound.
Kai walked up to Luffy, grabbed his ankle, and gently pulled him out.
The carrots are out!
But what happened next shocked everyone.
Even though Luffy was hanging upside down, he continued to sleep soundly, showing no signs of waking.
Seeing this, Kai's mouth twitched.
"The Monkey family's sleep gene is so powerful they won't wake up even in this position. In that case..."
Kai Vane narrowed his eyes, grabbed Luffy's hand, and threw him against the rock wall.
!!(•'╻'• )꒳o꒳ᵎᵎᵎ
Everyone, including Zoro and Nami, watched in shock, instinctively taking a few steps back.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?"
"Luffy's a rubber man. Ordinary blows won't affect him. You guys are making me feel like I've done something wrong."
Seeing the reaction, Kai grew a bit annoyed. If he was unhappy, then...
"Bang bang!"
"Kai, I'm going to chop you into pieces!!!"