Just as Alex turned his head to brag to Luffy and Zoro, he heard the netted giant bird shriek—and before he could react, he realized something was off.

Wait a second… Luffy and Zoro didn't shrink… I'm being lifted off the boat!

By the time Alex pieced it together, two more massive birds had joined the first, biting onto the net and hauling him—and the entire fishing net—into the sky.

He was utterly dumbfounded. One second he was the bird-catcher; now, somehow, he'd become the bird-caught. His grip tightened on the net as the three giant birds Shamelessly carried him high above the sea. As a Devil Fruit user, he didn't dare let go—not unless he fancied a quick one-way trip to the seafloor.

"Oh no! Alex got carried off by those giant birds!"

Luffy clutched his head and shouted in a panic. He tried to stretch his arms to grab Alex back, but the birds were already soaring far out of reach.

"Some world's greatest hunter!" Zoro grumbled, glaring as Alex became a shrinking dot in the sky. Just as he reached for the oars to give chase, Luffy's eyes lit up.

"I've got it! I'll ride one of those birds to catch up!"

With that, Luffy launched himself into the air using the mast as a slingshot.

"Gum-Gum Rocket!"

Sproing!

He shot straight upward toward one of the flying birds.

Zoro watched, impressed. "Huh. Not bad… Looks like he can actually be useful when it counts."

But then… something was wrong.

"Wait… why isn't he riding the bird…?"

From his angle, Zoro could see clearly: the bird hadn't let Luffy ride it. Instead, it had clamped its beak around his head!

"Aaaaah! Help!!"

Luffy's muffled screams echoed from the sky as the bird flapped toward the others, dragging him along helplessly.

Now both of them—Alex dangling from a net, and Luffy with his head stuck in a bird's mouth—were being carried away.

"Seriously?!" Alex cried, stunned at Luffy's ridiculous state. "You came to save me and got caught too?! What are you even yelling for?"

From inside the bird's beak, Luffy shouted back, "We're both Devil Fruit users! If we fall into the sea, we're screwed! We need Zoro to save us!"

Alex blinked. "…Damn, you're right."

The two of them, still midair and flailing, turned their heads and started yelling at the top of their lungs.

"Zoro! Save us!!"

"I'm gonna be King of the Pirates—I can't go down like this! Zoro, think of something!"

Their desperate cries echoed across the vast ocean, tragically comical in the otherwise peaceful sky.

"Shut up, you two idiots!!"

Zoro was already furiously rowing after them, his eyes bulging in disbelief as he screamed back in frustration.

Poor Zoro. Just moments ago, those two had been confidently claiming how reliable and trustworthy they were. And now—barely five seconds later—they had both vanished from the boat.

Alex, who called himself the "World's Greatest Hunter," had gotten caught by birds. Luffy, their "fearless captain," launched a rescue mission only to end up bird food himself.

Zoro rowed harder than ever, sweat flying. As he watched Alex flail from a swinging net and Luffy dangle like a worm in a bird's beak, one thought haunted him:

Did I join a pirate crew…

…or a disaster waiting to happen?

These two were more trouble than they were worth.

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