4: Chapter 4 The Deserter King's Inner Demons

"Let... let go of me!"

The cool finger on her chin made Tashigi snap back to reality.

She instinctively took a big step back, pressing her entire body against the cold Marine wall. Due to extreme panic, her almond-shaped eyes, hidden behind red-framed glasses, trembled violently, and even the "shigure" she was clutching tightly shook slightly.

The man's breath was hot, and the faint scent of sea salt and undisguised aggression on him left the trainee swordswoman, who had grown up in military camps, with a completely blank mind.

Rice looked at the black-haired girl in glasses who looked like a startled rabbit, but he didn't continue to press her.

He raised an eyebrow roguishly, slid his right hand back into his jeans pocket, and with the foxtail grass in his mouth bobbing up and down, he smiled nonchalantly:

"Fine, I won't force you today. But little sister, the Marine is a very dirty place; sooner or later, you'll understand what big brother is saying. This "shigure"... keep it for now, and when we meet next time, I'll take both you and the sword."

"You... you arrogant, lawless scoundrel!"

Tashigi gritted her teeth, her pure, pretty face flushing red, but as soon as she saw Colonel Morgan lying in the ruins nearby, dead as a pig, the rest of her rebuttal got stuck in her throat.

In the face of absolute strength, any verbal justice seemed somewhat pale.

Rice laughed out loud, no longer paying attention to the bewildered Tashigi.

He turned around and strode towards the backyard training ground of the Marine base.

There, another important character was tied up.

The sunlight in Shells Town was a bit glaring. When Rice walked to the wooden stake in the training ground with his hands in his pockets, a man with short green hair, covered in blood but still possessing eyes as fierce as a wild wolf, was tied tightly to the stake with ropes.

Roronoa Zoro.

At this moment, the Three-Sword Style swordsman, despite being pale and having cracked lips from not eating for days, had not a shred of submission in the eyes staring at Rice.

He had heard that earth-shattering punch in the front yard, and he also heard the footsteps of the tall man.

"Hey, are you that monster from the punch just now?"

Zoro grinned with a blood-stained mouth, his voice hoarse, yet it revealed a backbone unique to a tough guy,

"Are you here to take my head, or just to watch?"

Rice stood three steps away from him, looking down at this future right-hand man of the Pirate King.

His pure physical combat intuition told him that Zoro's body contained a resilience; that was the character of a swordsman.

However, Rice was not interested in men, and he had no intention of poaching Luffy's right-hand man.

"I'm not interested in your head, just passing by."

Rice spat out the grass in his mouth, crossed his arms, and looked at him with amusement,

"You're quite tough. However, instead of waiting here to die, you might as well save some energy; a fool in a straw hat will come to save you in a while."

"Straw hat?"

Zoro frowned, clearly not understanding what crazy talk this tough guy in a white shirt and jeans was spouting.

"Alright, Moss-head, good luck."

Rice waved his hand at Zoro, his tall back casting a shadow in the sunlight.

He walked with a nonchalant gait, unhurriedly exiting the Marine base. Along the way, not a single Marine, terrified out of their wits, dared to raise their weapons to stop him.

When Rice returned to the dock and boarded the white dove, Makino was waiting on the deck with some concern.

Seeing Rice return safe and sound, without even a speck of blood on his clothes, Makino finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She walked up to him meekly, her slender fingers gently smoothing out Rice's slightly disheveled lapels, whispering:

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Feeling the concern from the woman's fingertips, Rice smirked and leaned in to whisper into her ear:

"Did you... miss me while on the ship?"

The suddenly close, broad chest made Makino's delicate body go a bit weak, and she playfully punched him with her pink fist:

"Stop it, it seems Luffy and the others are here."

"Hm?"

Rice rested one hand on the railing as the white dove was already slowly sailing away from the port of Shells Town.

About a few hundred meters away from them, on a secluded beach, a simple wooden raft was swaying as it came ashore.

Through the hazy sea mist, relying on his powerful eyesight, Rice clearly saw the scene on that small wooden boat.

A rubber brat wearing a straw hat and a red vest was jumping down excitedly.

And behind Luffy, a pink-haired brat, supporting his body with a crutch, his entire right thigh empty, struggling to move limpingly on the beach, was panting heavily with a pale face.

Koby.

Koby, missing a leg, had ultimately followed the original script, being fished out of a barrel by Luffy at sea, and had come limping to this starting point of destiny.

Across the sea, a few hundred meters away.

Luffy on the beach seemed to sense something; he jerked his head up and happened to see the large ship flying the White Dove flag, slowly sailing towards the deep sea.

Seeing that familiar figure in the white shirt, Luffy was stunned, then started jumping up and down on the beach, waving his hands desperately while shouting at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking:

"Hey—! Rice—!! How come you're running faster than me! Just you wait, I'm going to find partners even more impressive than you soon! I'm definitely going to be the Pirate King!!"

Hearing this unceremonious shout from across the distance, the foxtail grass in Rice's mouth bobbed, and he couldn't help but laugh and curse:

"This idiot, he really hasn't changed a bit."

However, Koby the cripple, standing next to Luffy, was struck as if by lightning the moment he heard the name "Rice".

He followed Luffy's gesture and looked over. When that glaring White Dove flag and the demonic figure in a white shirt with hands in his pockets on the deck came into view, Koby felt his brain go boom, and the remaining wound at the base of his thigh seemed to throb with intense pain again in that instant.

It was a fear that went deep into his marrow.

"His name is Rice, it's him... it's that demon... how could he be here..."

Koby was trembling violently all over, his face instantly turning paler than a dead person's.

Due to extreme fear, he lost his footing, and with a thump, the crutch he was using for support dropped directly into the mud and sand.

He collapsed in a wretched state onto the wet beach, letting the seawater soak his clothes, merely curling his body into a tight ball, his eyes full of terror as if facing the Avīci hell.

"Huh? Koby, why did you suddenly fall? Is your wound hurting again?"

Luffy turned his head to look at him in confusion.

On the deck.

Rice looked at the cripple shivering in the mud and sand hundreds of meters away, spat the foxtail grass from his mouth into the sea, and slowly curled his lips into a cold smile.

Although the world line hadn't collapsed, Koby, missing a leg, wondered if he could still run as fast when he became a deserter?