The Marine lieutenant commander blinked upon hearing this, then grinned and said, "How reliable."
Although this little girl was a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, he found her exceptionally dependable.
Then, as if realizing something, he leaned closer to Merry and said, "Little one, were you kidnapped by the Straw Hat Pirates?"
"If so, just come with us..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he felt several terrifying gazes upon him. Cold sweat instantly broke out, and his words caught in his throat.
"Gulp..."
After instinctively swallowing, the Marine lieutenant commander glanced behind him and saw the Straw Hat Pirates staring at him with intensely intimidating eyes.
"These eyes... Do they intend to kill him?"
But the thought that this adorable little girl might have been kidnapped by the Straw Hat Pirates forced him to suppress his fear.
"You evil pirates!" The Marine lieutenant commander drew the weapon at his waist and declared, "I won't allow you to kidnap children!"
With that, he shifted his stance, positioning himself between Merry and the pirates.
To his surprise, however, the oppressive feeling vanished as soon as he spoke.
Marine Lieutenant Commander: ??
What does this mean?
Watching as the Straw Hat Pirates ignored him, the Marine lieutenant commander was utterly confused.
"Mr. Mustache," Merry gently patted the Marine lieutenant commander's arm and said, "I wasn't kidnapped by them. I've been a member of the Straw Hat Pirates from the very beginning."
"You can also think of me as the Straw Hat Pirates' apprentice—Merry~"
Upon hearing Merry's words, the Marine lieutenant commander instinctively touched his beard, then turned to her with a puzzled expression and asked, "Really?"
"Yes."
Seeing that Merry wasn't being threatened or lying, the Marine lieutenant commander walked aside, feeling somewhat defeated. "Now even children this young are becoming pirates... Sigh."
What has this world come to?
Why are there so many pirates on these seas?
For a moment, the Marine lieutenant commander felt disheartened.
Seeing this, Meiser chuckled from behind and turned to his companions. "His words actually confirmed some of my thoughts."
"What thoughts?"
"If they're trustworthy, it wouldn't be a bad idea to leave the children with them," Meiser said.
Delivering the children one by one themselves wouldn't be a problem, but if there was a better way, there was no need for the Straw Hat Pirates to handle it personally.
"Can they really do it?" Nami frowned.
Having experienced certain events, Nami instinctively distrusted the Marines.
"As much as I hate to admit it, the Marines are indeed more trusted by the public than us pirates," Sanji said. "So leaving the children with them is the most suitable option."
After a pause, Sanji continued, "Of course, that's only if they're trustworthy."
Just as Meiser had said, if the other party wasn't trustworthy, he wouldn't agree to hand the children over to the Marines either.
Nami fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then said, "Let's find the children first."
This time, the others simply nodded without saying anything more.
The surrounding Marines watched Nami and the others with puzzled expressions, clearly unable to grasp the meaning behind their words.
Just then, a rumbling sound echoed from outside the research facility, as if something terrifying was charging toward them.
"It's the poison gas!" a Marine shouted in panic.
"Can the gate hold?"
"It must, it definitely can!"
The next moment...
"Boom!!"
A terrifying impact struck the gate, causing the recently secured door to tremble slightly, as if it might collapse from the breach.
Seeing this, Merry's expression immediately changed.
"Hold it steady!"
As she spoke, she raised both hands, using even more careful control to stabilize the gate in front of her, fearing that the poison gas outside would seep in and kill her companions.
"You can do it, little one!"
"Keep it up!"
The surrounding Marines watched Merry nervously, worried that the little one might buckle under the pressure and let the poison gas in.
After all... that would mean death for all of them!
"Creak~"
"Creak~"
"Creak!"
"Gulp..."
The Marine lieutenant commander instinctively swallowed, his legs feeling weak.
It had to hold—otherwise, the poison gas would kill them all!
As time passed, the force shaking the gate gradually weakened until it finally subsided.
"It's done."
Merry wiped away a few beads of sweat and said, "Everything's fine now."
The feeling of needing to use wind for such delicate work was truly exhausting.
Upon hearing this, the Marines exchanged glances before erupting in excited cheers: "That's great!"
"Little one, you're amazing!"
"Hooray!!"
These people, who had just faced a life-or-death crisis, were overwhelmed with the feeling of having narrowly escaped disaster.
Tears streamed freely from their eyes.
Some were so overjoyed that they lifted Little Merry up and tossed her into the air.
"Merry!"
"Merry!"
"Merry!"
"Hahaha~"
Merry, flying back and forth in their hands, wore a bright, happy smile, clearly enjoying the moment.
Watching all of this, Usopp shook his head and chuckled, "I never thought Merry could have so much fun with these Marines."
It seemed this little one's charm was truly infectious.
Meanwhile, Meiser stroked his chin and remarked, "No wonder Garp wanted to capture Merry and bring her into the Marines back then."
This little one really was endearing.
Usopp: ??
Usopp looked at Meiser with a face full of confusion and asked, "That happened?"
How did he not know about it?
"Oh, that was back in the City of Seven Waters," Nami explained.
Hearing this, Usopp immediately understood.
At that time, he was still at odds with Luffy and wasn't with the group, so it was natural he hadn't known about it.
Then, Usopp turned to Brook and said, "Brook, use your ability to check the situation outside."
"Understood."
Knowing what Usopp meant, Brook approached the gate, activated his ability, and released his soul outside.
After observing the area, Brook returned and said, "How terrifying~"
"What do you mean?"
"It's completely lifeless out there now." Brook said, "It's like a world of death!"
"If we hadn't blocked the cave entrance earlier, we'd be dead for sure!"
"Just thinking about it makes me shiver all over...
"
"Yohohohoho~"
"You're way scarier, you know!"
Looking at Brook who had released his soul, the Marines were momentarily at a loss for words.
This guy doesn't even look alive, you bastard!
"Hara hara hara~"
"You guys are really reckless, aren't you~"
"Perona!"
Seeing Perona floating down from mid-air, Nami immediately showed a delighted expression, saying, "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Not only am I fine, but Luffy and the others are fine too."
Perona, who had come to Nami's side, raised her hand and pointed upward, saying, "Look, they're right there."
Following Perona's finger, they indeed spotted the figures of Luffy and the others.
"Hey, everyone~"
Luffy grinned, showing his teeth as he looked down at the people below, saying, "Looks like you're all okay."
"That's good."
Sanji breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to look at Law standing beside Luffy, saying, "Hey, Law, hurry up and switch our bodies back!"
He'd had enough of this perverted steel body!
Now, he wanted his own body back!
"Hey hey hey, do you have some problem with this great man's steel body?" Franky snorted and said, "This great man's body is super awesome!"
As he spoke, Franky even struck his signature pose using Sanji's body.
Sanji: !!
"Don't use my body to do that kind of pose, you bastard!" Sanji roared, opening his shark mouth.
That's too embarrassing!
So embarrassing that he wanted to dig a crack in the ground with his toes and crawl into it right now.
Watching the interaction between the two, Law's eyelids twitched.
But he didn't say anything, just raised his hand and switched their souls back.
"Great!"
Sanji, having regained his own body, immediately used Moonwalk to jump down from the air, saying excitedly, "It feels so good to have my own body again!"
He was really fed up with feeling like a pervert!
"Moonwalk?"
Seeing Sanji's movements, a trace of surprise immediately appeared in Law's eyes, clearly not expecting the other to have mastered the Marines' unique physical Technique.
"This is an ability Sanji gained after training for two years." Luffy laughed.
"I see." Law nodded.
It seemed a lot had happened during the two years the Straw Hat Pirates were gone.
"Hey, Torao!"
Franky looked up at Law and said, "Can you use your ability to send me out?"
"What do you want to do?" Law said.
"Of course, to go check on the Pirate Ship." Franky said without hesitation, "If we don't move the Pirate Ship, it might get contaminated by the poison gas."
Although it could be cleaned up later, that would be troublesome.
So it's better to move the Pirate Ship somewhere else now.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Law frowned.
The outside is filled with poison gas now; going out basically means certain death.
He didn't want the other's choice to affect their alliance.
"That's right, Franky," Usopp chimed in. "There's poison gas everywhere outside right now. We can't go out."
Even if Franky had a body of steel, he still needed to breathe, right?
Hearing this, Franky looked troubled. It really was a problem.
But... if they did nothing, would their pirate ship be okay?
"Leave it to me," Merry said.
"What do you mean?"
Usopp glanced at Merry, clearly not understanding her meaning.
Franky, however, seemed to have thought of something, his eyes lighting up. "Are you planning to go out with me?"
If Merry went out with him, they might actually be able to solve the poison gas problem.
After all... she could use her ability to blow the poison gas away!
Not only that, she could also use her ability to lift both of them into the air!
That way, they wouldn't need to fear the poison gas.
Meiser also thought of this and said, "Are you planning to go to the pirate ship with Franky?"
"Not exactly."
Merry shook her head. "The space here is so big, why go outside?"
If they could use the Summoning Technique to bring the pirate ship inside, why go out looking for it?
Hearing this, Meiser was taken aback for a moment, then his eyes lit up as if he had realized something. "You're planning to..."
"Yes~" Merry said with a smile curling at the corner of her mouth. "I plan to bring the ship here."
If she could summon the pirate ship, why go outside?
Hearing this, Meiser showed an expression that said 'just as I thought.' With the Summoning Technique, this little girl really didn't need to go out.
Brownbeard, however, was stunned. What did she mean by 'bring the pirate ship here'?
How would she do that?
The others also looked at Merry with puzzled expressions, clearly not understanding her meaning.
Merry didn't waste words explaining to them. Instead, she flew to a large open area not far away and said, "Everyone, stay away from here!"
"Merry, what are you planning to do?" Usopp asked, confused.
"Of course, I'm going to use the Summoning Technique to summon the pirate ship here!"
"Summoning Technique?"
Usopp was stunned for a moment, then his face lit up with excitement. "You mean that thing that can summon the pirate ship here!"
"Exactly!" Merry nodded without hesitation.
Usopp immediately felt relieved and walked off to the side with a chuckle.
Although he hadn't seen Merry use the Summoning Technique before, if Meiser said that move could summon the pirate ship, then it was fine.
So he didn't need to worry about it.
The Marines, however, looked at Merry full of question marks. What was she talking about?
Law was the same, but unlike the Marines, he had thought of something.
"Could this little girl have inherited the ninjutsu of the Blood-Eyed Ninja?" Law said incredulously.
If that were the case, then he would need to reassess the strength of the Straw Hat Pirates.
After all... that man's ninjutsu was truly powerful!
"Not exactly," Luffy said casually. "Merry just learned some special ninjutsu from Meiser."
As for what specific ninjutsu, he didn't know. Meiser hadn't explained it to him in detail, so he wasn't sure.
"Some special ninjutsu, huh..."
Law first glanced at Luffy, then turned his gaze to Merry, intending to see what this little girl was about to do.
He was very curious about just how much the other party had learned from the Blood-Eyed Ninja.
And also... do they even teach this kind of thing at school?
He was really curious.
The next moment...
"Summoning Jutsu!"
"Poof~"
A puff of white smoke drifted by, and then an enormous pirate ship appeared!
That ship was none other than the Straw Hat Pirates' Thousand Sunny!!
"A... a pirate ship?!"
Seeing the pirate ship that had suddenly appeared, all the Marines wore expressions of shock.
What in the world just happened?
Why did a pirate ship suddenly pop up here?
"Was it done by that little girl Merry?" The Marine lieutenant commander stared in astonishment at Merry floating in the air above the Thousand Sunny and said, "She can actually summon a pirate ship?"
What kind of power is this?
"That's right, I did it."
Merry, who had floated down from the Thousand Sunny, curled the corner of her mouth and said, "I'm amazing, aren't I~"
"How in the world did you do it?" the Marine lieutenant commander asked, unable to believe it.
"Of course, with the Summoning Jutsu, I just said it!"
Merry proudly lifted her head, looking at the Marines with an expression that said "I'm awesome," her eyes filled with immense pride.
This was the ninjutsu Meiser had taught her, and she had learned it extremely well!
Seeing this, Meiser, who was standing to the side, revealed a faint smile.
"This little rascal..."
--Enjoying the story? Want more chapters? Check out my Patreon and support me for 40+ advance chapters.
Just search for "LegendaryTL" on Patreon!"
Thanks!