The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 64: Into the Sky

My stomach lurched as the prow dipped. The ship began to free-fall into the funnel. I felt weightless for a moment and gritted my teeth. Kaori yelped and started to lose balance. Then, abruptly, it stopped. The waters were suddenly eerily still. Everyone stood upright again and looked around, bewildered.

Sanji spoke up first, "What happened? It disappeared."

"What's goin' on?" Luffy asked.

Usopp sounded hesitant, "Wait. I-I don't get it. Where'd it go?"

My girlfriend gasped, and I saw her face pale. My brow furrowed as I turned to her, concerned, "What is it? Do you sense something?"

She nodded, her voice quiet, "The whirlpool is... It's being inverted. It's about to blow."

Nami almost whispered as she stared at the ground in terror, "I feel it. It's starting. The whirlpool sank under the surface."

Usopp murmured in fear, "You don't mean..."

The sniper never finished his question before a gravelly voice shouted at us from a distance, "Hold it right there!" I was puzzled, the voice sounded vaguely familiar.

Luffy turned towards the voice before speaking in an unsure tone, "Hey, uh, Zoro," I grunted for him to continue, "Look."

There was a giant raft with a massive black sail approaching us, but they were still quite far. My brow furrowed as I recognised some of the men on board, "The masked fighter, the sickly man with the horse, and the man with missing teeth from the bar. They must have followed us from Mock Town."

The man from the bar was standing at the front of the ship with his arms crossed. He bellowed with laughter, "Well, well, well. If it isn't Straw Hat Luffy."

Nami recognised him as well, "It's him. It's that Mock Town guy!"

"What guy?" Sanji asked, confused.

"I've come all this way to collect on your hundred-million-Berry bounty!" The man declared with a sinister grin, "So don't be shy!"

I gritted my teeth and thumbed Wado an inch out of its sheath, "Bounty hunters, huh? No, they're sailing with a Jolly Roger. They've gotta be pirates. So, how are they expecting to collect Luffy's bounty?"

My captain seemed more puzzled than worried, "Hundred million? What're you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me, kid," The man shouted back as he held up a wanted poster in each hand. I squinted to try and see the second poster, "It says right here, Monkey D. Luffy wanted for a hundred million. And for Pirate Hunter Zoro: sixty million Berries!"

My eyes widened in surprise before I felt a grin tug at my lips. Usopp peered through his binoculars to confirm what the man was claiming, "It's true! He's got a different poster for each of you. Hey, Zoro! Congratulations on your new bounty! Ha!" He hummed, puzzled, "Hold on a second. They're whispering something to each other."

My brow furrowed as I saw a thin man with a rifle holding up a stack of other papers and pointing. The man from the bar plucked the top paper off the stack and looked at it for a moment. Then, his eyes scanned us before landing on Kaori. His smile grew as he began to laugh, "Ah, didn't see you in town with your friends, little lady. Or should I say Blind Brawler Kaori: fifty-five million Berris!"

My girlfriend's jaw went slack in surprise, "Usopp, does he have a wanted poster for me, too?"

Usopp shouted gleefully, "Yeah! He's got it right there!"

Sanji jumped up and hooked his arm around the sniper's shoulders, "Wait a minute, Usopp! Come on. Do you see one for me?"

"Uh, no?" The long-nosed man answered him.