Big brother, I want to become the strongest pirate in the world!

Your grandfather would be overjoyed to hear that.

Kazan was stunned for a moment when he heard what Luffy said, and then he made a speechless remark.

Chapter 090 Adventurers

Early in the morning.

"Hey! Hey! Kazan! Are you really a pirate?!"

"Hahaha, of course! You've asked me so many times already! Look! This is my bounty poster!"

"Wow!! So many zeros!!! That's amazing!"

"Hahaha! Of course! Let me tell you, I'm second strongest in the world! Nobody dares to say they're number one! Even your grandfather would be afraid of me."

"Hey! Next time Grandpa hits me, I'll say your name, and he'll definitely be scared."

"Uh... No way, Luffy. I don't get along with your grandfather. If you mention my name, you'll only get beaten up worse."

"Ah... never mind then."

It was still the same little bar that Makino ran. Behind the bar, Makino watched with a smile as two boys, one big and one small, chatted and joked. This was one of her extra pleasures every day.

Kazan, Robin, Perona, and Sugar have been in Windmill Village for a week now. Although they did cause quite a stir in the first two or three days, and some villagers even planned to go to the Goa Kingdom to ask for help... After all, although Windmill Village has been forgotten, it is indeed part of the Goa Kingdom.

However, Windmill Village Chief Slap stopped them. Not only would their entire village be wiped out before reinforcements arrived if they were exposed, but he also genuinely liked Perona and Sugar, those two mischievous little girls.

And then there's Robin, that big girl, who's very knowledgeable and often teaches the children of Windmill Village. The children of Windmill Village all love this gentle and wise older sister.

Although Kazan is the most terrifying person and the only one who can be called a pirate, based on the current situation, he is a patient who, apart from his appearance, is not associated with cruelty at all. Moreover, Luffy and Slava feel that it is quite good to have him by their side.

As for Akin... aside from making a brief appearance in Windmill Village at the beginning, he disappeared. Only Kazan and the others knew that Akin had been sent by Kazan to Gorber Mountain for training. For Akin in his current state, the difficulty level there was just right, making it a perfect place for him to become stronger.

In short, the people of Windmill Village have now accepted this group of 'pirates,' they're just not familiar with them yet.

In the past, when pirates came to Windmill Village, they either happened to run into Garp being captured and taken to the Marine base for "love education," or the village chief, Slap, would step in and provide them with certain supplies in exchange for the safety of Windmill Village.

When the fearsome pirates become familiar and friendly fellow villagers, the sense of security they give the people of Windmill Village is exceptionally high. Some villagers who didn't have any ill will towards pirates even hung the bounty posters of the monster pirate crew on their doorsteps to intimidate outsiders. Makino is a prime example of this.

Kazan was pointing to the bounty poster that Makino had hung on the tavern wall.

To be honest, Kazan is really worried about this... It's like dancing on Garp's grave...

However, Kazan quickly stopped caring. First, he didn't think it would be so easy to run into Garp. Second, he wouldn't stay in Windmill Village forever, and even if Garp came back, they might not bump into each other. Third... with the villagers of Windmill Village speaking up, Garp would definitely give him face, provided that Luffy didn't reveal that he wanted to become a pirate.

As a high-ranking member of the Navy, Garp couldn't possibly be unaware that the so-called "Monster Pirates" were just an adventure group disguised as "pirates." When he returned to the East Blue for vacation under the guise of "patrol," he might have shown mercy to such a pirate crew.

"Kazan, what are pirates like?"

"Pirates... well... they're just a bunch of scoundrels who run rampant on the seas in the name of 'freedom'."

"Hey... but Kazan, you guys don't seem like bad guys."

"Of course, not all pirates are bad guys. There are indeed one or two rather abnormal pirate crews, like our Monster Pirates. Although the word 'pirate' is in our name, we are actually more like adventurers on the sea. Moreover, we have another name above the Monster Pirates: the Monster Family."

"This is so troublesome... I don't understand what you're saying."

While savoring the sake that Makino had prepared, Kazan gently patted Luffy's head.

"Haha, you're still young. You'll understand when you've seen more of the world at sea."

"Then I'll go out to sea and become a pirate someday!"

"...You can go to sea if you join the navy."

"I don't want to! The Navy is always training and working! Grandpa doesn't even have time to come back anymore, and he's not happy at all! I want to be a pirate!"

"You can be whatever you want, just don't tell your grandpa that you became a pirate because of me, or he'll definitely beat you up and won't let you eat any meat!"

"Hey hey hey! I absolutely won't tell Grandpa."

Kazan frowned, his face contorted in a grimace. He would never forget Garp's attitude towards Shanks in the original story—he would beat him up every time he saw him, causing the Red-Haired Pirates to run rampant all over the sea.

Kazan didn't want to take away the trials that Shanks should endure, lest he hinder Shanks' growth.

Kazan is the only one in the tavern now. Perona and Sugar have gone to play with the kids from Windmill Village. They've found playmates their own age for the first time and are having a great time.

As for Robin, she went to the small library in Windmill Village. Although Garp himself doesn't like reading, he cares a lot about the growth of the children in Windmill Village, so he secretly borrowed some books from the Marine Headquarters library and put them there.

These books are not something you can get from just any place. They are perfect for Robin to broaden his horizons. Many of them are not found in the Tree of Knowledge, which makes them very attractive to Robin.

Although the Tree of Omniscience boasts the world's largest library with the most scholars and books, how could a barren island in the Western Sea possess such incredible collecting power? How did they manage to acquire books from Paradise and the New World? Moreover, they possess vast floating islands and underwater worlds, yet their only remarkable ability is to decipher ancient scripts.

At least half of this reputation was created by the World Government, simply to attract scholars from all over the world, wait for them to come to them, and then wipe them out in one fell swoop, minimizing the possibility of exposing the 'Void History'.

Of course, there may be other reasons, and these reasons...

Those who know, know? ╮（─▽─）╭

"Hey Luffy, you've never seen a pirate ship before, have you? Want to check out our pirate ship? It's really awesome!"

"I want to see! I want to see!"

"Haha, alright, I'll take you there. Let's go see Ah Jin's cultivation first, and we can call him along the way."

Kazan patted Luffy's head happily; he could finally show off his precious Caroso again.

"Ah... Makino, village chief, you should come too. No one usually comes this early in the morning anyway."

"Hmph! I don't want to see pirate ships!"

"Is it okay? Will it be a bother?"

"Of course it's fine. There's no one up there right now. I was worried my precious boat would be lonely by itself."

Kazan was even happier. The more people there were, the more he could show off. He had great confidence in Carroso and was sure he could surprise them. He led them directly toward Mount Gorber, where Carroso docked in a strait overlooking the sea.

"Hey village chief, didn't you say you weren't going to look?"

"You think you can just decide not to watch it?! Who do you think you are?"

"?"

Chapter 091 Going to see the pirate ship

On a large tree in the Gorbel Mountains, two little boys holding iron rods stood whispering to each other.

"Damn it! You have less than me again today. Where did you get so much, Ace?"

"I robbed a few thugs at the non-determined destination station today; I lured them into a corner and stole their loot."

"Hey, Ace, it's better not to steal other people's things, or you'll get into trouble."

"Hmph, the law of the jungle is survival of the fittest, and if they didn't want to take what I had, they wouldn't have been lured here in the first place."

The two little boys pulled out two burlap sacks from behind them, showing off the spoils they had collected that day. The black-haired boy named Ace had obviously collected far more money than the blond, curly-haired boy named Sabo, who was wearing a top hat and a tuxedo.

These two boys are notorious troublemakers at the waste disposal site. They've been hanging around the area for three years, starting from picking up trash when they were five and now stealing and robbing directly from others.

They were just two nine-year-old boys, yet they possessed strength far exceeding that of an average adult man, easily capable of taking on three or four adult men by themselves.

"Let's not talk about that, Sabo. I've found a ship in the Gorbel Mountains!"

"A ship?! Is it a pirate ship?"

"I don't know. There was a sheet covering the boat, and I was afraid someone might be there, so I only glanced at it from a distance and didn't lift it. But after observing it for the past few days, I can tell there's no one on the boat. They've probably all gone somewhere else. This is a good opportunity. Let's go take a look together."

"...Okay, let's go check it out. If there's anyone there, we'll run immediately."

The blond, curly-haired boy thought about it for a moment, but ultimately couldn't resist the temptation and nodded.

Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't too late, the two decided to set off immediately for the strait that Ace had mentioned, to see what the ship was all about.

The two little boys kept traversing through the Gorbel Mountains. They were very familiar with the terrain of the Gorbel Mountains, so they were able to move towards the strait at a relatively fast speed.

In contrast to the smooth and easy journey of Ace and Sabo, Kazan and his group of four were having a much harder time.

"Holy crap, what kind of animal poop is this? It's so sticky."

"Ah, this is wild boar droppings. I used to use this to ambush my grandfather when I was a kid."

"Your grandfather must feel incredibly proud and happy to have such a filial grandson like you."

Kazan was thoroughly disgusted walking along the muddy and rugged mountain path, especially with a woman, an old woman, and a child in tow. Slap complained just as much as Kazan, her little mouth chattering away like it was coated in honey. Many of her words made Kazan feel a sense of novelty and love for the world.

As for Makino, although she looked somewhat disheveled at this moment, this gentle girl didn't complain at all, showing an unexpectedly strong side.

Although Luffy was covered in mud and looked messy, he was still full of energy. He was walking around and hacking away with a wooden stick he had picked up from somewhere. Kazan was so envious that he snatched Slap's cane and started swinging it in the air like a sword.

"You're really something, aren't you? Are those two things hanging around your waist fake? When you die, I'll scatter your ashes everywhere..."

Slap stood there, leaning against a nearby tree, cursing and swearing at Kazan.

"Haha, I don't know why, but the wooden ones feel better."

Seeing that Slapp wasn't leaving, Kazan had no choice but to return the cane to Slapp and then went to find another stick.

"Roar!!!"

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

Suddenly, a tiger leaped out of the nearby jungle and pounced on Kazan and his group. Luffy was startled by the sudden situation and started howling. Makino, who was right next to Luffy, immediately crouched down and hugged him tightly.

Although Slap was panicked, he glanced at the calm man beside him, swallowed hard, and did not make any rash moves.

Kazan was also startled by the tiger. Because he had been in a comfortable environment for the past few days, he had not used his Observation Haki, so he did not sense the tiger's arrival in advance.

He was just about to make a move when Ah Jin suddenly appeared out of the corner of his eye, making him too lazy to act.

Akin leaped out of the bushes on the other side, swung the 'Yaksha' sword with both hands, and swung it hard at the tiger's head.

Bang.

"Awoo..."

The tiger was hit directly by Ajin's attack, its body flew to the side, struggled for a moment on the ground, and then died.

"Wow, that's amazing!!!"

Luffy stared at Gin's imposing back with shining eyes; that scene had really impressed him.

Makino and Slap breathed a sigh of relief, but the latter seemed more surprised, partly because of Akin's sudden appearance and partly because Akin's strength exceeded expectations.

Although Slap himself was just an ordinary person, he had lived a long time and his eyesight was naturally better. He couldn't tell what level Akin was on this sea, but at least he could tell that he was better than those lousy fish and shrimps who came to Windmill Village before.