No food, no water, and after walking for a while, their energy was completely drained. The blazing sun made their hearts uneasy.
No need to rush. Let them walk for a bit longer.
Once everyone reaches their limit, that’s when he’ll bring it out. Not many people would be able to hold back, right?
At the very least, Ace definitely wouldn’t!
When the group arrived at the pile of rocks, they only saw Luffy standing there with a bewildered expression.
His face seemed to be saying: “Huh?”
Everyone looked at Luffy, puzzled, but before they could speak, a flock of large birds suddenly appeared behind them.
On their backs were large bundles of luggage.
And those bags… looked very familiar.
Nami’s face immediately darkened.
Word by word, she asked, “Luffy, can you explain what’s going on with those bags?”
Luffy still looked confused.
“Huh? I don’t know? But those birds are carrying our luggage! Wait, yeah! Where’s our stuff?!”
It finally clicked for him. He searched around frantically but found nothing. He was now certain that the luggage the birds carried was what he had just been holding.
Without hesitation, he took off running.
“You damn birds! Give us back our stuff!”
Meanwhile, Vivi looked at the retreating figure of Luffy with guilt all over her face.
“It’s all my fault. I forgot to tell him. Those are Trickster Birds—they specialize in stealing luggage. What do we do now? Without our supplies, how are we supposed to cross the desert?”
Seeing Vivi’s distress, Nami quickly comforted her. “It’s okay, it’s okay. We all have some water with us. If we ration it, we should be able to hold out.”
Sanji chimed in as well, making Vivi feel slightly better.
Honestly, it wasn’t her fault. It was just that Luffy was too stupid.
Even birds could play him.
Ace also looked helpless. His little brother really was…
After waiting a few minutes, a panting Luffy finally returned.
Seeing his empty hands, there was no need to ask. He had failed.
Nami wanted to punch him but held back after Vivi’s persuasion.
“Let’s go! We need to move quickly! Time is already tight, and you, idiot, no rest for you!”
After yelling at Luffy, Nami pulled Vivi along and started walking.
The others followed as well.
She was right—time was life right now.
Every moment wasted meant more innocent citizens might die because of the war.
Luffy wore a pitiful expression, knowing full well that losing the supplies meant everyone had to endure the hardship.
He didn’t complain and simply trailed behind the group obediently.
They walked for another hour, and by then, everyone was panting, tongues hanging out.
The air shimmered with heatwaves, and their water was nearly gone.
Luffy, who had been leading the way earlier, had now fallen to the back.
Just moments ago, he was charging ahead, but now, every step looked like it could be his last.
Ace wasn’t as dramatic, but it was clear that he was suffering as well.
Seeing this, Vir thought to himself:
‘Hmm, it’s about time. I can give Luffy something to quench his thirst first. Ace probably won’t last much longer either.’
Just as he was about to speak, Luffy broke first.
Looking at Vir, who was riding on Chopper’s back, Luffy was full of envy.
“Why does the captain have to walk while you get to ride? I want a mount too! By the way, Chopper, aren’t you hot?”
Hearing this, Chopper turned his head. As a winter island reindeer, one would expect him to struggle in this heat. But surprisingly, he seemed completely unfazed.
At the corner of his mouth hung a transparent straw, with liquid visibly flowing through it.
But the water looked murky—no, filthy.
Following the straw, they saw that the other end was connected to Vir’s medical kit.
Chopper, unable to see the straw’s source, only felt the liquid was refreshing, sweet, and soothing.
Trusting his mentor completely, he never questioned what he was drinking.
Luffy, eyes wide in shock, couldn’t believe Chopper dared to drink that water.
Then, an idea struck him.
Wait, Vir has drinks in his box!
Earlier, he saw Vir pull out several ice-cold beverages to drink!
Though they looked dirty, rotten, and stinky…
But after the sandwich incident, Luffy no longer cared about appearances.
It only looked bad! The taste was actually pretty good!
Without hesitation, he jumped onto Chopper’s back, sitting right in front of Vir, face-to-face.
“Vir! You must have drinks in your box, right? Give me some, I’m dying of thirst!”
Luffy panted heavily, tongue hanging out, looking weak like he had just finished using Gear 5.
Hearing this, everyone immediately turned to look at Vir’s medical kit.
Their gazes burned with anticipation.
Even the sound of swallowing saliva was loud and clear.
They were really thirsty.
They had long run out of water.
In the desert, the body’s moisture evaporated rapidly.
Water was consumed at an alarming rate.
Now, with no supplies left, hearing Luffy’s plea made everyone’s attention snap to Vir.
Even Ace was no exception.
He had seen Vir buy a lot of water and stash it away.
Though his body was strong and he could last a bit longer, the thirst was unbearable.
Feeling everyone’s eyes on him, Vir smiled slightly.
Heh, they walked right into my trap. I didn’t even have to bait them.
As long as Luffy gulps it down, Ace will definitely fall for it too!
He opened his small kit and pulled out a bowl of chilled watermelon juice.
He handed it directly to Luffy.
“Here~ Ice-cold watermelon juice. Want some?”
The moment everyone saw it, they all silently averted their gazes.
Each of them desperately comforting themselves.
I can hold on. I’m not thirsty.
That’s not watermelon juice. That murky liquid… it looks exactly like the water used to mop a public restroom.
There were even a few dead cockroaches floating in it…
And a couple of flies buzzing around the bowl.
You call this ice-cold watermelon juice?
Bro, quit playing.
We still want to live.
Ace’s face was filled with disbelief.
He looked at Vir like he was an absolute idiot.
Was this guy drunk?
Unfortunately, Vir was completely sober.
Before Ace could even react, Luffy snatched the bowl and downed it in one gulp.
It happened so fast, even Ace didn’t have time to stop him.
His hand was still frozen mid-air, as if he had been about to stop Luffy.
His face was blank with shock.
His mind was in turmoil.
Is my little brother… insane?
Even Ace couldn’t comprehend Luffy’s actions.
Are you really that thirsty? You’d drink that?
If worst comes to worst, just pee in your hands and drink that instead!
But what shook Ace the most was the rest of the Straw Hats.
They all watched the scene unfold with complete indifference.
As if they had seen this countless times before.
So often that they had grown used to it.
Could it be that… Luffy has been living like this all these years?
Ace was utterly dumbfounded.
He stared blankly at Luffy’s satisfied expression, mouth opening and closing but unable to produce a sound.
After a long silence, he finally forced out a sentence.
“Luffy… all these years… you’ve really had it rough…”
—–
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