“Come on! Be serious about this. We have to fight someone here.” Nami stood up and shouted at Liam. But, he simply blocked his ears and pretend not to hear him.

“So….. what can you guys do?” Usopp looked at them and asked.

“Punch!”

“Cut!”

“Steal!”

“Cheer!”

“You need to fight too.” Luffy, Zoro, and Nami turned their heads at Liam and shouted. 

“I will hide then.”

“You as well.” Three of them shouted at Usopp with the same expression.

Nami put her hand on her forehead and said “Liam, don’t joke like this. You need to fight and protect me so that I can steal their treasures.”

“Alright! Alright! I have been training for that. Anyway, what is the plan? We aren’t going to face them head-on, are we?” Liam smiled and looked at Usopp.

“Can’t we just punch them?” Luffy interrupted with a bored expression.

“Yeah, let’s just cut them.” Zoro nodded his head and answered.

“Hmm! Consider your strength, it wouldn’t be a problem. But, Captain,  you are an idiot and we are fighting against a hypnotist. So, I don’t think we can truly rely on you.”

“On another hand, Zoro would be a big help but he alone won’t be able to face off against the entire crew as well. I can definitely help to fight some but my strength hasn’t reached the point where I can truly help Zoro.”

“So, we have to rely on tricks. Good thing, they are coming for us. This is our territory for the battle. So, we can prepare in advance.” Liam explained which surprised both Zoro, Nami, and Usopp.

“Wow, Liam, you are really great.” Usopp shouted while hugging Liam.

“Yeah, just as you said, you are very resourceful.” Nami nodded her head and spoke.

“Humph! I won’t be fooled by him again.” Luffy folded his hands and pouted.

‘We know you will.’ Nami, Zoro, and Liam thought at the same time.

“Anyway, I have a brilliant plan to stop them in a track. How about putting the oil in this path so that they can’t come up. Even if they do succeed, it would make them tired and we will be able to attack them with ease.” Usopp suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea. Let’s do it!” Liam agreed even though he knew this would be useless. There is something else he wanted to do. 

After they finished putting oil in the ground, they waited till the morning but the ship didn’t arrive. Eventually, Nami heard the sound of the pirates but from somewhere far.

“Ahhh! They are in the port where we left our boat.” Nami screamed.

“What? Then, isn’t this wasted?” Usopp covered his head and shouted.

“Hey Liam, wait!” Zoro and Luffy noticed Liam running away and shouted.

“They are on the north side of the island. We have to hurry.” Liam shouted as he dashed away. It’s not like he doesn’t want to wait but he had something else he wanted to do.

During today’s training, he realized something. Although he trained a lot, he knew this training won’t make him as strong as the monster trio. Zoro literally trained every day but he never surpassed Luffy.

Training does help but there are limits that training creates. The only way to surpass those limits is to battle the stronger opponent.

Luffy beat down Crocodile and got stronger. Zoro beat down Mr.1 and learned something new about the sword. Luffy beat down Lucci and got stronger and the same thing happened to Zoro.

It wasn’t because they were stronger from the beginning. It’s just that each battle pushed them to the limit, forcing them to surpass their own strength.

He could prevent that oil situation. He could have asked Usopp to put the oil on both paths. But, he didn’t do that. If he had done that, Luffy and Zoro would’ve defeated the enemy with ease and he wouldn’t be able to push himself to the limit.

He isn’t Nami.

He isn’t Usopp.

He is Liam. He is a man who wants adventure. Joining Luffy’s crew will give him adventure and also prevent him from dying but it can’t make him strong on its own.

He has to work hard. He has to push past his limits. He doesn’t have training like the monster trio. And, he has just begun to train a few days ago. If he doesn’t face death, he will not see what’s next.

While Nami and Usopp were still behind, Liam reached in front of the path that leads the enemy to Syrup Village.

“Hu! Hu! Hu! Hu! Liam, you ran too fast.” Nami panted after she caught up with Liam. 

“By the way, where are others?” Usopp looked back but didn’t see anyone.

“Captain must have lost his way as for Zoro….. He is also someone who would lose his way. I guess both of them lost their ways.” Liam answered.

“Haha! Actually, it was my mistake that Zoro fell into the oil.” Nami cutely smiled and winked at both of them.

“What? How could you do that? Did you forget that we need him to fight here?” Usopp turned his head at Nami and shouted.

“But, someone has to come for the treasure.” Nami innocently answered.

“It seems like they aren’t interested in your treasure and more interested in our lives.” Liam looked at the group of pirates rushing toward them and answered.

“What are we going to do?” Usopp and Nami panicked at the same time. 

“You two, stay behind and don’t interfere, or else they will come for you.” Liam spoke as he slowly walked toward them.

“Are you serious? You have been training but you can’t face them alone.” Nami shouted as she looked at Liam.

“Yes, I can’t but I must.”

Liam smiled and walked toward the pirates. He clenched his fist and took a deep breath. 

Can he defeat them? If he had to answer, it would be no.

Although they are weak, they still have the advantage of numbers. 

‘This battle is not going to be easy.’ Liam took a deep breath and continued.

“Ha! That bastard thinks he can take down all of us. Kill him!”

One of the pirates snorted as he stabbed his sword forward and rushed toward Liam.

Liam moved to the side and caught his hand, kicking him in his face.

Bang! 

He caught the sword as the man fly back. 

Ding!

Another pirate slashed his sword but Liam quickly moved and blocked the sword. 

Bang!

He took a step forward while the swords were colliding and punched his face. Suddenly, a pirate slashed his sword from behind.

Splash!

The sword slashed his back but it only scratched him. He managed to dodge it properly, even so, the numbers of pirates were too much for him.

“Hu!”

Liam let out a powerful breath and jumped. He swing his body and kicked the head of that pirate. He slammed a few pirates away while flying back. Liam didn’t stop there as he continued to punch and kick others.

But while he was doing some great job, he was getting constantly injured. 

“Hey stop, what are you doing?” Nami stopped Usopp who almost shot one of the pirates.

“Why are you stopping me? Can’t you see he is in a tough situation? And, he is bleeding a lot. We have to help him.” Usopp whispered at her.

Nami pulled his hand away and whispered “Didn’t you hear what he said before? If we interfere, these pirates will come at us as well. Do you want to face them directly?”

“You are right. We should wait and trust him.” Usopp nodded his head as he backed down without a single thought.

Nami sighed but her eyes were filled with worries. While Liam was pushing them back, he was constantly getting injured by those pirates.

“Damn! He is strong. We can’t defeat him like this.” One of the pirates spoke as he dashed back. Following him, everyone else also ran away. 

“Captain, use hypnosis on us. We can’t fight him without that.” 

Liam looked at them and picked up another sword. He took a deep breath.

‘I am strong enough to defeat them but when I think about it, they are the weakest pirates in the world. Most of the pirates in East Blue are the weakest. This is not my limit. I still haven’t reached my limit.’

‘I have to get stronger.’

 Liam grabbed his sword while Jango hypnotized his crew. In an instant, their strength increased by many times. They all ferociously rushed toward Liam while holding their weapons.

Ding! Ding! Bang! Ding!

Liam took a deep breath and rushed toward them without any hesitation. His swords swing but they had no patterns. They were basically blocking each strike from his enemy while he was constantly getting punched and slashed.

Each time, he gets injured, he takes down one pirate. His body was bleeding as he continued to take down more pirates.

‘No, this isn’t my limit. More! I need more.’

“Ha!”