One Piece: Honey Badger Speedruns the World

He spun around twice, cold sweat dripping from his chin onto the floor.

If he can't find Raizo, he won't be able to become a true fighter in the Beasts Pirates.

"No... I can't stay here any longer. My life is more important. If I stay any longer and get caught by those two kings, I'll be dead."

"Go back and report—Zou is empty!"

Modi threw the torch on the ground, extinguished the flame, and turned to run away.

Just as I rushed out of the tree hollow, a gust of evening wind blew by. Carrot, who had been lying in the grass by the door... was gone.

All that remained was a flattened grass pit.

Modi's pupils instantly shrank to the size of pinpoints.

"Pretending?!"

He turned sharply to look into the depths of the forest, where he could faintly hear the rustling sound of leaves being quickly trampled underfoot.

We've been exposed. If we're surrounded by the chivalrous band and the musketeers, we'll be chopped into mincemeat.

"Hoo-hoo—!!"

Modi's left arm bandage suddenly burst open on its own, accompanied by a strange, inhuman scream, and a dragon-like creature with purple scales grew out of his shoulder!

That's not a normal transformation; it's more like parasitism.

The dragon's head was right where his palm was, wildly shaking its neck, while Modi's elbow had turned into two wings.

SMILE Fruit – Artificial Flying Dragon Man.

"Fly! Fly fast!!" Modi shouted at his left hand.

The lizard that was parasitizing his arm seemed to understand, and suddenly spread its pair of bare, fleshy wings and began to flap wildly.

Although the posture was extremely awkward, like a marionette being pulled into the sky, at least it carried Modi's heavy body and wobbled into the air, quickly disappearing above the treetops.

……

Behind a large tree a few dozen meters away.

Carrot poked half her head out, looked at the freak flying away, and stuck out her tongue in disgust.

"It really flew away... It looks disgusting."

"Ouch...it hurts."

Carrot rubbed her neck, wincing and hissing in cold air.

The burning pain brought to mind Duke Inuarashi's somber and serious face...

"Carrot, I have a very difficult task for you."

At that moment, Duke Inuarashi did not sit on that tall chair, but squatted down, his gaze level with hers.

That large, always imposing hand gently rested on her shoulder.

"At that time, Modi will betray us. In order to find Raizo, he will definitely target you as his guard."

"Huh?! Brother Modi, he..." Carrot covered her mouth in disbelief.

"Shh. That's his choice."

A hint of sorrow flashed in Inuarashi's eyes, but it quickly hardened like steel: "You have to let him succeed. Even... you have to pretend to be defeated by him."

"And after he escaped, Carrot, I want you to tell a lie."

Inuarashi stared into her eyes and said, word by word:

"You need to tell everyone that the person who attacked you... was Goss."

"You must shout that Gos broke into the holy site, injured the guards, and escaped."

"Why?!"

Carrot's ears perked up in alarm: "Mr. Goss is a good man! If we say that, won't he become a sinner against Zou? Everyone will hate him!"

"The point is to make everyone hate him, and to make him... feel like he can never come back."

Inuarashi turned around and looked out the window at the forest about to be engulfed in war, his voice low and sighing:

"That kid is a greenhorn who doesn't yet realize how vast the ocean is. He's just like us, and he'll shed his last drop of blood to protect Zou."

"But that would have ruined him. He shouldn't have died in a war that was destined to happen twenty years ago."

"Only by making him bear the 'crime,' making him believe that he is wanted and expelled by Zou... can he fly to the sea without any worries."

……

"Alright, now it's my turn to act."

Carrot took a deep breath, ruffled her hair, grabbed a handful of dirt and smeared it on her face, then, focusing her energy, she unleashed a high-pitched sound, loud enough to shatter glass, towards the brightly lit square:

"Aaaaaaaahh ...

That shout was piercing, desperate, and extremely penetrating.

"Enemy attack—!! Someone has stormed the sacred ground!!"

As she shouted, she deliberately broke several tree branches to create the illusion of a fight, and finally yelled out that name in a tearful voice:

"Goss...Goss broke into the Holy Land!! He injured me!!"

"It's Goss!! Goss ran away!!!"

……

On the outskirts of Zou, along a forest path leading to the port.

The night wind was a bit noisier than during the day, rustling the leaves.

"Tch, this damn wind direction, it couldn't have changed at the worst possible time."

Goss, with his hands behind his head and a blade of grass between his teeth, looked at the sky with some regret: "That sword-wielding guy left in such a hurry."

They said something like, "Once the winds of change in the new world, the drifting sky islands must set sail immediately..."

"Tch, even if I stayed another half day, I could have figured out the power generation technique for that 'Rose Dance' move."

"There's nothing we can do. Nami also said that a navigator cannot defy the temperament of the sea."

Mia, walking beside her, clutched the basic navigation notebook Nami had given her, a hint of reluctance in her eyes: "I still want to hear the story of Mr. Usopp disguising himself as Sniper King to save the day."

"Alright, stop thinking about that long nose."

Goss stopped, spat out the blade of grass from his mouth, and his eyes sharpened instantly as he looked towards the brightly lit coastline in the distance:

"The focus now is on that red nose."

He lowered his voice, his tone revealing an excitement about an upcoming big operation: "Boss Cat Viper has called everyone to a meeting in the square. This is a golden opportunity. Baal just sent me a message saying he's secretly acquired an old ship, which is moored right at the foot of Zou."

"Mia, when it's time to make your move, stick close to me."

Goss cracked his neck, making a series of crisp sounds: "Whether it's a Shichibukai or G-5, if they dare to block my way, I'll..."

However, he hadn't finished saying his cool and ruthless words.

A piercing scream, as if the victim had suffered a great injustice, suddenly rang out from the direction of the Whale Forest, carried by the night wind throughout the entire back of Zou:

"Enemy attack—!!! Someone has stormed the sacred ground!!!"

Goss and Mia were both startled and stopped in their tracks.

"What's going on? Who dares to cause trouble in Zou at a time like this?"

Goss frowned and subconsciously looked towards the forest.

"Judging from the voice... it sounds like that rabbit named Carrot?"

Then, Carrot's next sentence, tinged with tears and incredibly powerful, struck Goss like a bolt from the blue:

"It's Goss!! Goss injured me and ran away!!!"

"Goss is a traitor!!!"