I'm Not Interested in Devil Fruits

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"The garbage dump and the boy— it really reminds me of the day we first met."

Liam smiled as he turned his gaze away from the scene. Robin offered a small smile in return. 

It was hard to believe that six years had already passed since that day on the small Island in West Blue when their paths first crossed. 

Sometimes, Robin found herself wondering how different her life might have been if she hadn't met Liam that day. Perhaps the answer lay in that so-called "prophecy book" Liam claimed to have read, but she had no intention of asking him about it.

As they traveled, bandits, mountain thieves, and other lowlifes were no match for Liam and his group. Liam and Hancock didn't even need to lift a finger; just one of the Kuja warriors accompanying them could easily dispatch such low-level threats with a single strike. 

The girls didn't even have to use Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki). Relying solely on the martial arts they had trained in since childhood on Amazon Lily, they effortlessly turned the thugs blocking their path into piles of scrap metal.

Before long, they reached the main city on the island— the royal city where the palace was located. The towering city walls came into view, and outside them, clusters of shabby wooden huts formed a slum. Occasionally, people could be seen carrying baskets filled with scrap metal, bargaining with merchants at the city gates.

Compared to the bandits and thieves they had encountered along the way, the slum dwellers and vagrants near the royal city seemed much weaker in terms of combat ability. 

They lacked the desperate, fierce look in their eyes that characterized the outlaws they had faced before. Instead, these people appeared more like malnourished slaves.

Even Hancock's expression shifted slightly at the sight. After all, she had nearly been abducted and sold into slavery herself, potentially becoming a plaything for the Celestial Dragons. Sandersonia, Marigold, and the other warriors, though accustomed to similar scenes, were still taken aback. 

On their island of Kuja, there were differences in strength, but not such stark disparities between rich and poor.

Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed nearby, startling Liam and the others. They initially thought pirates were attacking the city, marveling at the audacity of the pirates in this area. 

It was one thing to plunder the outskirts of the island; the royal family and military likely wouldn't bother with them. But directly attacking the royal city would prompt the nobles to call in the Marines.

However, the slum dwellers seemed unfazed. A hunched old woman calmly remarked, "It's not pirates; it's the 'Iron Execution'..."

"'Iron Execution'?" Liam asked curiosity piqued as he turned to look at her.

The old woman explained, "It's when they make a simple bomb out of scrap metal to execute criminals…" 

Robin nodded, understanding the grim concept, as it was similar to firing squads or cannon executions. She was still remotely controlling three other flower clones scattered across the island, so she preferred to speak as little as possible.

"Because of the recent 'Grand Tournament,' people are being executed by 'Iron Execution' every other day…" The old woman sighed, shaking her head.

"South Blue truly lives up to its name as the Sea of Machines. Even executing someone is done with such creativity…" Liam remarked, impressed that scrap metal could be repurposed for such a grim task.

"By the way, is that 'Grand Tournament' the one mentioned in the newspapers, where your princess is holding a marriage contest that's attracting so many pirates?" 

The old woman fell silent, looking up at the handsome young man and the striking women beside him— Hancock, Robin, Sandersonia, Marigold, and a few others who were both beautiful and strong.

"The way she looked at you just now was hilarious, Giorno~" Sandersonia teased with a giggle as they moved on.

"Does Giorno want to participate in the Grand Tournament for that princess?" Marigold asked, confused. "Don't we already have Princess Jolyne?"

Hancock and Robin exchanged glances with Liam, who shrugged indifferently. "Even if I go, I might not participate; even if I participate, I might not win; and even if I win, I might not have anything to do with that so-called princess… What was her name in the newspaper again?"

"Princess Erica Oroson," Robin reminded him.

"Right, even if I win, I might not have anything to do with Princess Oroson," Liam concluded.

As they approached the city gates, a figure stumbled out from the slum and collapsed in front of them. It was a frail old man. Behind him, a few unfriendly-looking young men chased after him but halted when they saw Liam's group.

"Hey! Don't meddle in our business!" the young men glared at Liam and the others, hostility evident in their voices.

Hancock paid no mind to the old man and was about to kick him aside to clear the path when Liam bent down and helped him up. "Are you okay?"

"Cough, cough, I'm fine…" The old man's face was pale, clearly showing signs of long-term malnutrition. "Thank you, thank you."

"If you're fine," Liam said with a smile, "could you take your hand out of my pocket?"

The old man's expression shifted! His bony hand had somehow slipped into Liam's clothes as if trying to steal a wallet or something valuable. When his actions were exposed, the old man's hand shot toward Liam's neck, transforming into a beast-like hoof mid-motion.

However, neither Liam nor Hancock, Robin, Boa's two younger sisters, or the other Kuja warriors reacted at all, completely unconcerned.

Clang! 

The hoof struck Liam's neck, producing a dull sound as if it had hit a sheet of metal.

"What?!" The old man's already pale face was filled with shock.

The young men who had been chasing him were equally stunned, completely unprepared for this turn of events. Liam grabbed the old man's hoof, stood up straight, and casually lifted him to examine him.

"Damn it! Let me go!" The old man quickly transformed into a black-skinned boar, his mouth sprouting two long tusks as he glared fiercely at Liam, who held him like a toy. But after struggling for a moment, he gasped and stopped moving. "Huff, huff… I'm so tired…"

"A skinny little boar, out here robbing people?" Liam said without turning his head. "Does this old man usually do this, kid?"

Robin and Hancock looked back to see a red-haired boy holding a dirty mechanical doll, expressionless as he watched them.

The red-haired boy coldly remarked, "Only outsiders like you would fall for it. Everyone knows what Old Neil is like."

"Damn kid! Don't ruin our business!" the group pretending to chase the old man shouted angrily.

"Stupid brat… huff, huff…" The boar-like old man in Liam's grip cursed a couple of times before gasping for breath again.

Liam casually tossed him aside and turned to the future "Supernova," Eustass Kid. "Did you follow us all this way just to warn us?"

"Hmph! Don't flatter yourself," Kid replied, weighing the broken doll in his hand with a mocking smirk. "I just wanted to get a cut of the action…"

At that moment, a Kuja warrior at the back of the group punched him on the head.

"Ow! Damn woman, why'd you hit me?!"

Thud!

"Again?!" 

(End of the Chapter)