A/N: I screwed up with some things in the first chapter and I apologize. As for the whole gold thing, the whole reason I made the power inconsistent when it came to that was because of economical and ethical reasons. Imagine people's reactions when they realize Luffy can just conjure up solid gold bars like that because of his Devil Fruit. I'm pretty sure it would affect the economy and that fruit would be sought after by many. Plus, Luffy being able to make an endless amount of solid gold bars makes me imagine that some of the problems the Strawhats faced originally, such as not having a ship in the beginning, made me imagine that the story wouldn't be as good then. Of course, I can make it be that Luffy can make solid gold if you want, but he's not going to do it often and probably keep it a secret between crewmates. Tell me what you guys think. Onto the story!

It's been 10 years since that eventful day with the bandits. Since then, Luffy has trained to become better adept at using his abilities. He even forced himself to read books talking about all the different metals and the specialities that came with them. Luffy's go to metal was, of course, Mercury. Being a metal that is liquid at standard temperatures really had its advantages. He could also solidify his body to the point where it's a metal tougher than steel, but Mercury was more fun!

His appearance changed throughout the years. For one, he was now 6'11. He was also quite muscular. Lean muscles all around. He also started to rock some facial hair now. His haircut didn't really change though. His sense of fashion did though. Since he was going to become Pirate King, he figured he might as well begin to look the part. Basically, look intimidating.

He wore the trademark straw hat over his head with a string attached so it wouldn't blow away, a black and blue polo shirt, black pants, a belt around his waist with a buckle showing a golden skull and what resembled crystals in the part where eyes should be, perhaps rubies(?), and army-like boots with steel tips. He also wore a silver chain necklace, a leather jacket, and sported a sword he kept sheathed for now. He made the sword himself and carried it with him as a homage to Shanks. Of course, he wasn't all that great with a sword compared to actual swordsmen, but he did have his fair share of skills with a sword.

Today was the day he set sail. He was in a small sailboat when a whirlpool appeared. Luffy was alarmed at first and quickly found a barrel he could use as a replacement for the boat. He threw it out on water, made himself complete mercury, and slipped through one of the cracks in the barrel, hiding in there in order to avoid drowning. While the barrel drifted off to sea, Luffy could only sigh in relief. His journey to become Pirate King couldn't be ended before it started, could it?

While in the barrel, he began to get bored, so he did what any reasonable man stuck in the middle of the ocean inside a barrel would do. What would that be you may ask? Well, that's simple. Sleep.

Luffy slept throughout the whole time he was stuck in the barrel until someone would find and open up the barrel.

*Line*

Coby, a pink haired boy with glasses, was absolutely terrified with what was happening right now. The crew he was forced to be a part of were currently forcing him into secrecy because of something stupid they wanted to do. Have a drink while everyone else was robbing the cruise ship they found of all the valuables people on board had. They didn't want Alvida to find out. The members of the crew remarked about how heavy the barrel was. They really hoped that the alcohol in there was worth the effort. Well, their answer was met by fists that looked to be made of steel.

"I had a really great nap!" Luffy yelled to the heavens.

Coby looked at what appeared to be a pirate. Quite an intimidating one at that as they were removing themselves from the barrel.

"W-Who are you?" Coby asked in fear.

Luffy didn't pay attention to Coby at first. He was too busy noticing Coby's crewmates on the floor, unconscious.

"What happened to them?" Luffy wondered out loud.

"H-Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" Coby yelled, annoyed at being ignored, completely forgetting for a moment he was trying to get the attention of a pirate.

Luffy looked behind his shoulder to see Coby and stared at him with cold eyes. Coby visibly flinched.

"Watch your tone boy."

Coby looked like he was about to pee his pants. Luffy's cold, monotone voice scared the pink haired boy quite considerably. Luffy moved his whole body around to face the boy and saw how scared the boy was. He couldn't hold it in any longer. He laughed.

"Hey! I'm just messing with ya! Don't be scared. You haven't done anything yet to make yourself be afraid of me."

Coby sighed in relief.

"You asked what my name was?"

Coby nodded.

"Well, my name's Luffy and I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"

"Are you crazy?! That title only belongs to the strongest of all pirates! You'll probably be kil-"

Luffy hit Coby on the head. A normal punch of course. No metal included.

"Ow! Why'd you hit me?"

"Because I felt like it.""

Coby was in a state of shock for Luffy's reasoning. He would have said something, but he was scared of what would happen if he got the taller boy upset. After all, he just knocked out two grown men without realizing it.

"Anyways, do you know where I can stock up on food? I haven't eaten in a while."

Coby nodded telling Luffy to follow him until the both of them found the storage room where plenty of food was found. As soon as Luffy saw the food, he began eating greedily while Coby simply sweatdropped at the amount Luffy was consuming.

"Does your stomach have any end?" Coby commented.

Luffy stopped eating for a second to answer the question.

"My body works different from others. My physiology allows me to eat a ton of food which is then used as fuel for when I fight. If I were to get in a serious fight, then I would have to stock up on food again afterwards. I burn far more energy in a fight than when I'm doing my normal activities. In this instance, it's because I haven't eaten since yesterday."

Coby was surprised at the fact Luffy didn't eat for so long. While not extremely long, he did know some people who would probably die if they went a day without eating.

"Why didn't you eat for the amount of time you did?"

"I didn't know where I was going and ate up all my supplies. Not only that, but a whirlpool appeared consuming my sailboat which is why you found me in the barrel, so, either way, I would've ended up starving." Luffy explained.

Coby nodded in understanding.

When Luffy finished eating, he started walking towards Coby with a happy smile on his face.

"Hey, Coby, since I told you my dream, what's yours?"

"Well, I want to become a Marine, but…"

Luffy raised an eyebrow to this.

"But what?"

"Well, I'm stuck as a member on Alvida's pirate ship. I was taken onto her ship by force and I've been trapped as one of the crewmates for as long as I can remember. It's basically hopeless now."

"Don't say that Coby. I believe you can still become a Marine. I'll even help you since you saved me from starving to death."

"How can you help me?"

"By kicking Alvida's butt."

Coby didn't really believe Luffy at first and tried discouraging him from trying to get into conflict with her, but Luffy didn't listen. They walked to the plank connecting the two ships with Coby trying to force Luffy to not approach Alvida.

"Coby! Who's this?" An obese woman wearing a white cowboy hat asked.

Luffy stared at the woman and then looked down at Coby.

"Is this whale Alvida?"

Coby nodded.

"You! Do you know who you're talking to? Coby! Who's the most beautiful woman in all the vast seas?"

Coby's legs felt like noodles, but he managed to man up and tell Alvida something he meant to tell her a long time ago.

"NOT YOU! YOU'RE THE UGLIEST THING IN ALL THE SEAS!"

This enraged Alvida to no end. She threw her mace at Luffy hitting him right in the face. She expected him to go flying, but she was shocked when her mace broke in half.

"How?" She questioned.

"Body of steel."

Alvida had a confused look on her face.

"What do you mean by that?"

Luffy smirked.

"Allow me to explain via demonstration. Metal Metal: Steel Pistol!"

All of a sudden, one of Luffy's arms began to stretch using the metal Mercury, but it suddenly switched to Steel when it came to the fist. At the rate it was moving, it would be impossible to avoid Luffy's punch. Alvida tried to move out of the way of Luffy's punch, but she was too slow (and big) to avoid it. Luffy ended up punching her in the gut. The force that came with the punch made of Steel ended up causing Alvida to go flying into the sky not to be seen for a while. She probably experienced broken bones and messed up organs as well from the punch.

"I should have probably used a weaker metal." Luffy muttered to himself.

Coby was in awe of what Luffy just did. He defeated Alvida in just one punch. A super strange punch, but a punch nonetheless. Did this….Did this mean he was free? Coby really didn't know how to respond to this sudden realization. What he ended up doing was start crying thanking Luffy for freeing him from Alvida's control.

Luffy smiled at Coby and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Don't thank me yet Coby. We still need to find a Marine base so you can get your chance at becoming a Marine."

Coby's eyes widened. Luffy was really going to help him become a Marine and he was a pirate too! This was the first time he ever met a pirate as nice as Luffy.

"Do you know how to navigate Coby?"

The boy nodded.

"Good because I don't know the first thing about it. So, let's go find a ship and we'll be off to find land."

Coby nodded happily.

A/N: So I read this fanfic where Luffy actually becomes a billionaire thanks to the gold pole the Skypeians gave them as a thanks for defeating Enel. Now, I'm reconsidering making it that Luffy can only produce liquid gold. If you guys want me to make it that he can make any metal in both liquid and solid form, I'll do it but only his crew and others that he trusts will know about the gold aspect. This chapter was short, but as I get into more arcs, the longer the chapters will be, probably. Tell me what you think about the outfit I gave Luffy in this fanfic and if you dare talk about his height or the fact I gave him a sword, I will ignore you. Bionic-TitanX out!