Luffy blinked a few times, completely ignoring Jinbe, then turned and picked up a huge rice ball, immersing himself in his world of "om nom nom" eating.
Sanji, who had just woken up, saw Jinbe's fists clench instinctively and couldn't help but laugh.
"It's fine, Jinbe, as long as we heard it."
Ψ(◉ཅ◉)Ψ Chopper looked at Jinbe in surprise: "Huh? Doesn't Captain just mean those guys who don't listen to orders?"
Jinbe's expression was grave as he stared intently at Luffy: "As a Captain, shouldn't you be responsible for the lives of your crew members! Luffy!"
Luffy chewed his meat with puffed cheeks, turning to Jinbe with a bright smile.
"Well... Jinbe, don't be so nervous. I like to fight spontaneously anyway, and for other things, there's Zoro and the others, right?"
Jinbe immediately deflated like a punctured ball, shrinking into a dejected heap. He glanced at the calculating first mate in the corner and couldn't help but sigh.
"You all... really work so hard."
"Exactly..." Everyone sighed in unison, nodding in agreement.
Luffy, who was still eating meat heartily, suddenly grew serious. He looked up, his gaze fixed on the distance.
"Hey, Zoro, Sanji, are there any beasts in this castle?"
Zoro opened his eyes.
"Indeed, it seems there's something."
Orochimaru, who was picking and choosing his food, suddenly thought of someone and rushed out. Seeing this, everyone was puzzled, not understanding why Orochimaru was so excited.
Nami, on the other hand, grabbed her staff and whacked Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji on the head.
"Go! Go! The only things that get Orochimaru this excited are either test subjects or treasure! We absolutely can't let him succeed! Especially the treasure!
Pocket money, oh pocket money! Don't you think Orochimaru has been getting stingier lately?!"
Hearing this, the three of them's eyes lit up, and they immediately sprinted after him.
By the time everyone hurried over, they saw the mud man beaten black and blue, hanging upside down from a coral by Orochimaru. Orochimaru held a stick, and with each poke, some treasure fell from the mud man's body.
Everyone's mouths twitched... They then remembered that Orochimaru always hated dirt, so this mud man couldn't possibly be his test subject. Thus, only treasure could hold such an attraction for him.
Queen Otohime looked on with a pained expression, muttering something beside Orochimaru, but Orochimaru seemed not to hear, continuing to poke with the stick.
Nami looked at Neptune, who stood beside her with a helpless expression, and stepped forward to ask, "What's going on?"
Neptune sighed and said, "This person stole all of Ryugu Kingdom's treasures and just tried to ambush Shirahoshi. But as soon as he appeared, Orochimaru knocked him away. As for him being like this now... it's because I said that treasure isn't important and could all be given to our benefactors, so..."
Nami instantly understood, her eyes shining as she walked over and snatched the stick from Orochimaru's hand.
"Good boy, he's so dirty. This job isn't for you. Can you let me do it?" Nami coaxed.
Orochimaru looked at Nami warily.
Nami chuckled: "How about a fifty-fifty split?"
Orochimaru pondered for a moment, then glanced at the mud man, wrinkling his nose in disgust, and held up one finger.
Nami hugged Orochimaru's arm and whined: "Thirty percent! Is thirty percent okay...? After all, he's so dirty, you might not even get everything out if you poke him for two days yourself."
Orochimaru frowned, casting a look of disgust at the mud-covered person. After some thought, he finally nodded in agreement... reluctantly handing the stick to Nami.
Nami took the stick, her face beaming. But in an instant, she saw Zoro and Luffy tiptoeing, trying to leave.
Nami didn't hesitate, swinging the stick directly at them, while shouting, "Get to work!"
Luffy had a large bump on his head, his face full of grievances, mumbling as he reluctantly rummaged through the pile of mud.
"It's slimy, so disgusting..."
Luffy complained tearfully as he dug. ꒦ິᯅ꒦ີ
Luffy struggled to dig out treasure from the mud.
Zoro waited nearby, reaching out to take items as Luffy pulled them out.
Sanji had already prepared cleaning tools and immediately began cleaning once Zoro handed the items over.
Meanwhile, the Left Minister and Right Minister were fully focused on the inventory.
Brook and Franky, who arrived later, were also forced to join Sanji's cleaning work, and Jinbe was among them. After all, a group should be together, and most importantly, one person couldn't finish all the cleaning... Robin held Chopper, happily drinking tea and watching the show. (✿ฺ-ω-)
After half a day of busy work, Luffy had rummaged through the mud and truly couldn't find anything else. The Left Minister and Right Minister also carefully checked and confirmed that this was all there was. Luffy then breathed a sigh of relief, ending the dirty work.
Once everyone worked together to clean the treasures and saw them laid out, sparkling with gold, everyone couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
"He really stole a lot!" Sanji couldn't help but exclaim.
Luffy, who was already clean, suddenly perked up, excitedly pacing around the treasures, his eyes full of anticipation, shouting,
"Oh oh oh! Curly-haired Uncle! Are these all for us?!"
King Neptune nodded slightly, as such treasures were not truly scarce in the vast ocean, and these were only a portion of them anyway.
Just then, the Right Minister seemed to suddenly remember something, his expression flustered, his words becoming stuttered as he quickly approached King Neptune.
"Your Majesty, could... could the Straw Hat return the Jade Treasure Chest to us?" the Right Minister cautiously asked.
Upon hearing this, King Neptune's face instantly turned ugly. He glared at Minister Hippocampus and scolded,
"What are you saying! How can we ask for something back after giving it to someone else... I wouldn't say such a thing even if it killed me!"
The Straw Hat heard this and all turned around, their gazes falling on King Neptune.
King Neptune immediately felt a bit awkward, his eyes darting around, unsure of what to do.
Luffy looked at King Neptune, blinked a few times, and said,
"Curly-haired Uncle, is there something you can't give us? It's okay. If that thing is very important,
we can return it to you, Uncle."
Nami's face instantly turned into a shark's, and she swung her fist, hitting Luffy hard, shouting, "Don't talk nonsense!"
After saying that, she seemed to remember something, her face full of reluctance. She slowly clutched her chest, looked at King Neptune, gritted her teeth, and continued,
"But... if it's truly something of great sentimental value, then... then we can return it to you."
As she spoke, Nami's eyes were teary, her heartbroken expression as if she was already bidding a reluctant farewell to the treasures she was about to receive.
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