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  --xLOVEx--

  Luffy and the big ma bad forth, arguing over who had better taste. The dispute escated, with them almost ing face to face, ready to throw punches.

  Coby and Nami watched from the side, both amused and slightly exasperated. "They’re about to fight over food," Nami muttered, shaking her head.

  The man eyed Luffy curiously and asked, "Are you a pirate?"

  Luffy aking another bite of the cherry pie despite his earlier pints. "Yep."

  The man leaned closer, his voice low and challenging. "What’s your bounty?"

  Luffy answered without hesitation, "35 million!"

  The man scoffed, leaning ba his chair. "You’re a liar," he said, his tone dripping with disbelief. "There’s no way you have a bounty of that amount."

  Luffy blinked in fusion, not uanding the implication. Before he could respond, the door to the bar creaked open, drawing everyone’s attention. A tall, blonde man wearing a blue captain’s cloak ehe room, his twisted grin revealing the depravity lurkih the surface. "Is there a pirate fight?" His eyes locked on Luffy and the big man.

  Coby gnced over and clicked his tongue when he saw Belmy swaggering into the bar. This was the situation he was avoiding. He had purposely avoided going to the resort earlier to prevent this exater as he didn't want Sarquiss to alert Belmy about Luffy—Belmy was a walking SP bag that Coby could easily kill, and the temptation to do so was strong. After all, Belmy was the main antagonist of the Jaya ard a side antagonist in Dressrosa. Killing him now would yield a nice reward. But then again, Luffy eventually turning Belmy into an ally was good character development. Coby was stuck, unsure of what to do. So, he stayed quiet, watg the situation unfold.

  Belmy, wearing his signature mog grin, strutted over to Luffy and Coby's side, his eyes glinting with arrogance. "Did I just heard someone in here has a 35 million bounty," he sneered, looking down at Luffy. "Must be a joke, right? Who the hell are you?"

  Luffy, mung on the cherry pie he still didn't like, looked up at Belmy with a bnk expression. "I’m Luffy, and I’m gonna be King of the Pirates."

  Belmy burst into ughter, loud and grating. "King of the Pirates? You? Don’t make me ugh!" His hand smmed down oable, causing the ptes and gsses to rattle. "There’s no such thing as the One Piece, you idiot! Only fools believe in that fairy tale."

  The entire bar erupted in ughter, joining Belmy in mog Luffy. But Luffy remained unfazed, his expression calm despite the jeers. He simply tinued eating his pie, not paying Belmy any mind.

  Belmy took the previous big man’s pce at the bar, grinning as he watched the guy leave with his pies. He turo the bartender and tossed a on the ter. "Give me your most expetle, and whatever this guy wants," he said, jerking his thumb toward Luffy.

  Luffy, still focused on his food, looked up and smiled. "I’ll take that drink from earlier. It was good! Thanks, man."

  Belmy smirked, clearly enjoying himself. He waved his hand dismissively, pretending to be generous. "Sure, whatever. Enjoy it while you , King of the Pirates."

  As the bartender prepared their drinks, the door to the bar creaked open again. Sarquiss swaggered in, fnked by a couple of bimbos hanging off his arms. His eyes sed the room until they nded on Nami. With a cocky grin, he sauntered over, his gaze fixed on her. "Hey there, not bad. How about you e with me?" he offered, his voice dripping with arrogance.

  Nami didn’t even bother to look at him. "Not ied," she replied ftly.

  Sarquiss wasn’t disced. He leaned in closer, his tone sleazy. "How much are these idiots worth? I’m rich, so name your price."

  Nami g him, unimpressed. "You ’t afford me," she said simply, turnitention back to her drink. Sarquiss’ grin faltered, but he didn’t push further, knowing Belmy was about to kill two pirates, and she would be all alone.

  Coby sat nearby, watg the iion with a quiet smirk. His hands twitched slightly as he restrained himself from getting involved.

  Just then, the bartender pced their drinks on the ter. Luffy reached for his cup, ready to take a sip, but before he could bring it to his lips, Belmy’s hand shot out, aiming to sm Luffy’s head into the bar. But before Belmy’s hand could make tact, a knife fshed through the air, grazing Belmy’s wrist and f him to stop.

  Belmy froze, his eyes widening in shock as he locked gazes with Coby. The air around them grew tense as Belmy’s initial shock turned into murdere. "You’re dead, brat," he hissed, his voice dripping with venom.

  Nami, sensing the situation was about to escate, quickly intervened. "Stop it, Coby. We said we wouldn't cause any trouble in here," she warned. She then turo the bartender, ign the tensioween Coby and Belmy. "We’re looking for information about Sky Isnd. Where we find it?"

  Before the bartender could ahe entire bar erupted in ughter. The loudest of them all were Sarquiss and Belmy, their mog ughter eg through the room.

  Belmy sneered, wiping a drop of blood from his hand. "Sky Isnd? You’re just as stupid as this guy if you believe in that crap!" His words dripped with pt as he gred at Luffy and Nami.

  Sarquiss, still smirking, chimed in. "Yeah, you think there’s some magical isnd floating in the sky? What kind of idiots are you?"

  Belmy leaned back, a mog grin on his face as he started his rant. "Log Poses malfun. You know why ships fall from the sky? It’s not some fairy tale like Sky Isnd. It’s because of the Knock Up Stream! That freak of nature sends ships flying, and when gravity catches up, they fall right back down. Simple as that."

  He shook his head in disbelief. "People still think they live in the age of dreams. When I see idiots like you, dreaming of One Piece, Sky Isnd, and Laugh Tale, I just ’t help myself." His grin widened, his voice dripping with pt. "One must be an idiot to believe in that crap."

  Luffy’s expression shifted. The lively spark in his eyes faded as he looked at Belmy with aion far more powerful than anger—pity. Luffy valued dreams. He cherished dreams more than anything, his own as well as those of others. To him, dreams were life itself. Belmy, a man without a dream, was a tragic figure. Luffy saw the emptiness in Belmy’s words a sorry for him, someone who had nothio believe in.

  As Belmy took a step forward, raising his hand as if to strike Luffy again, Coby intervened. He moved swiftly, pg himself between Luffy and Belmy. Grabbing Belmy’s hand mid-swing, Coby squeezed his fiightly. The pressure was immediate, and Belmy’s fident grin faltered.

  Luffy looked at Coby and shook his head. "Don’t fight them," he said quietly. To Luffy, fighting someohout a dream ointless, like fighting a corpse. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

  ut Coby shook his head, tightening his grip on Belmy’s hand until the pain became visible on his face.

  "I respect your views, Luffy," Coby said, his tone even. "You don’t respond to their jeers, and you don’t care about people who’ve lost their dreams and mock others for theirs. I respect that. But it doesn’t mean we’ll just stand here ahem attack us."

  Luffy thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. He wouldn’t respond to Belmy’s provocations, just as he had learned from Shanks, but Coby was not bound by that same code.

  Belmy, snapping out of his stupritted his teeth and snarled, "You’re a dead man."

  Coby grinned, his eyes narrowing. "I’ll take you to Sky Isnd with us, then I’ll drop you from 10,000 feet. If you survive, e bad tell everyone how it was."

  Belmy’s eyes widened in rage, but before he could retaliate, Sarquiss lu Coby from behind, aiming to catch him off guard. Coby, however, simply dodged and spun around, delivering a powerful kick to Sarquiss’ gut. The force of the kick sent him crashing into a nearby table, splintering it on impact.

  The entire bar fell silent as the onlookers watched in shoo one had ever dared to stand up to Belmy’s crew like that. Belmy, seething with aried to wrench his hand free from Coby’s grip, but Coby’s hold was unyielding.

  "Let go, you bastard!" Belmy shouted, his voice strained with pain and frustration.

  Coby released Belmy's hand, but not befiving it one final, bone-crushing squeeze that made Belmy win pain. "You’re not worth my time," Coby said dismissively and then punched him hard i. Belmy folded instantly, gasping for air. Without missing a beat, Coby grabbed Belmy and Sarquiss by their colrs and began dragging them out of the bar.

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