A Fruitless Start

by Apprendice of Life

Luffy start his jorney on the East Blue but a twist of fate makes so he can't eat a devil fruit. How this change shapes the world? Join him on a new journey. 1st story.

10. Chapter 10

A Fruitless Start

One Piece belongs to Oda.

Chapter 10 - The Art of War

…..

Luffy already knew that there were plenty of advantages of being a king, sure there are a lot of headaches and things he didn't want to do, like using clothes that served more like restraints, there was also the fact that if people love you too much they try and trick you… or something like that.

His idea was to ask to all the kingdom, anyone that sees or finds a strange or unusual fruit should bring it to him immediately and if it was one devil fruit they would be rewarded for as much money as they wanted(later adjusted to 1,000,000,000,000,000 belly by Genzo once he heard the reasons and then later changed again to 1,000,000,000 by the rest of the council that agreed with the thought by were more mindful of the expense). After that there were lots of fruits brought.

Some he ate because they were food that he never had before, others were just painted apples or any other normal fruit, there some people who were doing that for the reward but the majority were just convinced that the devil fruits didn't exist and wanted to make their king happy with other strange fruits. Not that he is complaining, the East had a great number of different fruits but he knows that there must be some around, even if not in his kingdom then somewhere around it…. it has been only a week and they have months…. months that could be used for training if Nami got the powers fast.

Looking at her at his side taking notes he tries to focus on the visiting prince Stelly, future king of Goa and he is there to try to convince him to lower the cost of the goods sold outside of the Flowers and Fruits kingdom. Zoro was to his left side basically sleeping on his feet and Luffy envy him for it…. maybe you can sleep with your eyes open?

The prince was still talking, isn't he seeing that there were other people with requests. Luffy wanted to send him away but his advisors said it would be bad and unless Luffy wanted to be king for the rest of his life and deal with the consequences he needs to hold himself back for at least a couple more months.

There were also the Krieg pirates to deal with, since they caught many of them and many were ready to talk if they were set free. They now had a lot of info on Krieg and Luffy wanted to deal with the bastard NOW. But he can't because they only had ten or so ships ready to fight…. against forty. Luffy says they can win but everyone else except Zoro disagrees.

So they are taking their time and taking down some ships one by one when they go and attack some of the routes or islands, the ones from the kingdom have their own guardians so they don't need to worry, the problem is the one that are not part of it or are other kingdoms and they can't help. Goa is an example and the prince had at least two mercenary ships to bring him to Cocoyashi, they are treating Krieg like he was a normal thing all the while people are dying because the guy is getting more desperate. So much for the East to be the most peaceful sea.

He argues that his people are starving and that if the prices were reduced they could feed the whole island…. in the most boring with the most complicated words that Luffy ever heard in his life. Worse, Luffy grew up there and knows that he is lying and when Luffy knows someone is lying it means they weren't doing a good job.

The young king looks to the window and can't wait to go training later, Nami is also more motivated to her dodging training and even started practicing more her Haki's, Sanji still jumped in front of her when was running from his balloons but the chef generally respect her enough to let her train because he liked to see her getting wet. Luffy doesn't get it but sure, whatever helped.

Thinking about Sanji reminds Luffy that the chef asked to go with them on their journey so he could find the All Blue, a sea with all species of fish. Personally Luffy can't wait to eat those fish and he and Zoro were funny everytime they fought, Luffy is loving his crew for when they go in a few more months.

Is the guy still talking?…. yep he is. Luffy swears he will learn to sleep with his eyes open or something, this is just boring. "... that is why it would be a kindness if his majesty reduced the price of the grain and meats, if his kingship can be so kind." Finally it looks like he finish- "As you know the Goa kingdom can…" Nope, still going. How do the other kings do this? Luffy is about to punch something….

"Cof, cof." He turns and sees Nami with her hand on her mouth, the fake cough is a remainder for him to behave…. He can't wait to be a pirate, then he doesn't need to sit down listening to boring stuff. He missed Spot too, how long since he played with the sea king? He should visit.

"Prince Sterry," finally Nami said something (also 'Sterry' was that the guy's name?) "You must understand that we have to think first about our own people and we can't just reduce our goods prices for you if they aren't going to be compensated."

"Then why are the prices inside your kingdom so low in comparison?" The prince moved and sounded indignated but his smile didn't diminish, Luffy found that odd. "You talk that your people need but you just need to buy something here to notice that. My servants even told me how easy it was to get new clothes for me at prices that are now unheard outside this kingdom." He stopped pacing and looked directly at Nami, "Tell me, are you trying to exploit us?"

"No my prince," actually yes but Nami tells Luffy to not talk about this, "The reason why the goods outside the kingdom cost so much more is because they are made using lots of other resources that are part of the kingdom."

"'Part of the kingdom'?" Luffy could notice that other people in the room looked interested in that comment.

"Because we have lots of territory we discovered the best place to plant certain crops and caves with good resources inside them and all of that in territory that belongs to different people." And many of those were deserted before and technically belong to him but not a lie. "These people need to be paid to the use of their terrain."

"What does that have to do with anything," the guy was growing frustrated at that point.

"Taxes," that word silenced everyone. "Since we, as in the king, have his own company and can get money on his own we have little need to collect taxes, so we all reached an agreement: None of our merchants pay taxes in the kingdom and in return they sell inside it without taxes being accounted for." The fact that by selling less to the outside left more to the inside made that there was more of everything around to everyone.

Once that Nami finished the explanation Luffy saw lots of people leave, lots of people wanted to understand the reason for the prices and since they were from the kingdom they have no reason to complain. The room now had only his 'guards', advisors and the prince with his own group at that point, that meant that either a lot gave up because the prince didn't or the tax doubt was bigger than it should. He knew that someone should have explained that better…. to him too, he still doesn't get all the details but if everyone is happy great.

"If you have no taxes here then why do we pay more?" Now the guy looks irritated.

"Because that only applies to our kingdom and any merchant that comes from the outside of it needs to pay because there is a risk from traveling into the sea." Nami is really being patient with the guy but its about money so it makes sense to him.

"But you must not cover your own trade routes with that 'tax'."

"Because people hire our company for protection and get a huge discount from it, not to mention the security."

"Then Goa would like to hire them too," and with that Luffy knew that the guy would regret that decision.

"Of course my prince, we can establish the price for the company to be a part of your kingdom, together with the establishment of bases, benefits and employment." Panic started to show up on the prince's face with each new topic.

"Wait, wait, what is all that about?"

"Weeeeeeeell you see, we need to protect our interests and our employees need some security, so other jobs need to be started and that needs to go from your own coffers. Also we need to send people for training, use one of our ships to secure a main trade route and a hundred other things that we need to set up for you to be protected properly." The smile on her face looked truly evil, "All will belong to the company, of course."

The face the prince Sterry made was the face of a man that knew that there was no winning this fight but then he puts a forced smile and turn to look towards him, "We-well maybe his majesty can do me a favor about this, I mean spending that much for a thing that won't belong to the kingdom looks like an awful idea and since he was from Goa originally he may be inclined to be more generous."

"Sorry but that was all in the king's law," that Luffy told Nami to write, "he doesn't need to be bothered with any of this matters."

"This is now a discussion between monarchs, I suggest you to stay silent from now on." The confidence returned to Sterry, he felt that he had a better chance dealing with Luffy directly.

Problem was that Luffy didn't like his attitude AND had grown up in the Dawn island and not the kingdom of Goa itself but technically he was part of it. He knew the true face of the kingdom he knew that most people lived day by day with what they could plant or find, he also had some members of the company drop some free food close to his old village when possible because he knew that they would need it. He was not like any noble the prince ever dealt with, "And how is that my problem?" Luffy asked and all gone silent.

The prince suddenly looked really smug, "Well, I am sure that we, as fellow monarchs, can reach an agreement. After all you are the grandson of Garp, even if your public life was when you were already older than most you must have lived a true noble life."

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Luffy can't help himself and while most just stare at him with Nami facepalming and Zoro waking up he can't help but laugh as a mad man. 'Noble life'? With his gramps? Only if noble means almost dying or being punched everyday for a reason or another. That is not even counting the training.

"His majesty may need to go rest now," Nami said, trying to salvage the situation.

"I need an answer today, our lifestyle can't continue with your demands." And the prince of the Goa kingdom finally lost his patience, "You also were one of our citizens so you own us your allegiance."

He needs to stop talking else Luffy will die from laughing, lucky for him came someone bursting through the main doors "`YOUR MAJESTY! YOUR MAJESTYYYYYY!" He was a small man that was also a guard and once he was a mercenary that swore loyalty to Luffy and in a month he was married to a girl in the village and had become a guard to the gates of the palace. His name was Bala and he had short black hair and was dressed in the red of his guard. The man approached the throne and ignored the prince that was still there, "I BRING NEWS YOU MAJESTY!"

"Calm down Bala, you don't need to scream," to Luffy it looked like the man was excited about something and the king had no problems with that but the man looked like he needed to take a breath.

"YES….SIR!" The guy tried to breath, "They found one," when no one reacted Bala elaborated, "One of the devil fruits sir, there is one in the palace right now."

That was all Luffy needed to hear, "Where?"

They moved to the main hall, Luffy, Nami and Zoro were leading "King Luffy, our conversation is not over!"…. with Sterry right behind still trying to talk but at the moment Luffy couldn't care less.

A devil fruit was found in the East, that was hard but he had hope he could get one for Nami if a lot of people were looking and that gamble paid off, a farmer brought one of them, making his way from one of the islands that made the kingdom(a small one at the border called Coconut island) and once he heard the news he made his way there to give the fruit to the king, Luffy will properly thank the man.

Luffy is the first to reach them, the farmer was easy to identify especially considering he was surrounded by guards, not to harm him but out of curiosity. He was dressed in practical clothes with a small tie on his neck and carrying a chest, he was old, maybe his gramps age, with jeans and a white shirt, in his head there was a big straw hat of a different model from his.

Once the man saw him he smiled, "My king, it's a great honor to meet you." The man kneeled and lowered his head.

"Please, you don't need to do that," Luffy doesn't think he did anything to deserve being knelt at, "besides you are doing me a favor."

"But you did," the man rushed to his feet and now Luffy is closer he could see that the old guy was as big as gramps, "thanks to you I could meet my great granddaughter before I died, you have no idea how happy I am for that."

"I did?" Luffy is pretty sure he never saw this man before in his life.

"But yes you did sir, thanks to your rule my grandson was able to move and find a job in another island and his wife gave birth to the most beautiful baby you would ever see," the old man was so happy and full of energy that he started to dance while talking about his family. "We may not live close anymore but the company gives passage to visits at a good price and I saw her twice now, once after birth and another before coming here. That is not even talking about letters, my grandson can finally do what makes him happy and be a carpenter, all thanks to you."

Luffy smiled at that, he didn't like being king and pretty much did nothing but he is happy that all he did had meaning, that it all gave the chance to others to find their own dreams, "Shishishi, you welcome old man."

"Sir," one of the guards called for him, a woman named Scata, like most guards, she is covered from head to toe in armor, "we tried to clean the fruit with water and it was not painted. I never saw such a thing in my life."

"Yes!" The man said with a serious expression, "Until discovering your request, my family had no idea what a devil fruit was. We were always simple farmers and one day, out of nowhere, one of the fruits in our land fruits changed shape and color." He moved the chest and placed it at Luffy's feet, "After that my family took care of the three that the fruit was until it fell, for generations and without failure it always matured, fell and we planted it again believing it to be a sign of good luck. We never had many problems with pirates and we always had food on our table so maybe it was, maybe it had powers."

"If it is important for you we don't need it."

"You gave us more than an old farm ever could," the man smiled, "Of the McJust clan we could only feed our small island in the past. Now? Thanks to techniques from Oran island and others we have better production and even if we never will be rich with the farm it is going to stay there for those that want to live in it and those that want to go beyond it and face their dreams. THAT IS WHY I MCJUST ANGUS CAME WITH THIS OFFERING!"

The chest may be big but, when it was opened, the fruit in it was the size of a big apple. Just looking at it Luffy could tell that was what they were looking for, it was white with yellow highlights, had some kind of pattern running around it and was unlike any other fruit he ever saw except the one Shanks carried with him years ago.

Nami approaches and picks up the fruit, for a few seconds she just stares at it, "Bring the reward." Luffy comments.

"There is no need your majesty, I-"

"I promised," Luffy interrupts Angus before he could say anything else, "whoever found one would be rewarded, I gave my word."

At that moment prince Sterry choose that moment to remind everyone he was there, "There is no need to someone with your prestige to force such a generous reward, besides," the prince looks at the fruit still in Nami's hands, "even he doesn't know if that is a 'devil fruit', as you call it. It can be some rare fruit but nothing more."

Luffy just rolls his eyes and when a guard comes with a briefcase he picks it up, opens it, shows to all the money, closes it and gives it to the old man, "I gave my word and no one will call me a liar on that, besides," he then looks at the prince, "I am certain that is a devil fruit."

At that the older noble couldn't help himself but step back a bit, he still had his smile but Luffy didn't care, "Sir," Angus started, "I have no need for money, I live a happy and simple life. I only came here to deliver this because you wanted it." He looks at the fruit, "I don't know if that is magical or not but if it is then you deserve to have it, for all the good you already did."

"Luffy," Nami called, she hadn't taken the eyes from the fruit, "If the man doesn't want the money, use it to improve his island in any way they need. Most of the time that will be better than just giving money anyway."

Luffy, Zoro and most of the guards, those that knew of Nami's…. habits with money, almost died of heart attacks listening to that, she could be, kind, sure but instead of looking to keep the money she actually gave an idea that the man could agree with.

"Can we do that?" Luffy asked Angus who nodded, "Then it will be this, you take the money and go in one of the company ships, ask the mayor or whoever is your leader to decide what to do with that."

"But what if it isn't one of the fruits you wanted?"

*CRUNCH*

Nami took a huge bite chewed really fast and swallowed before throwing the rest away, "That was the worst thing I ate in my entire life." She looks at her own hands for a bit before looking at the king, "And now what?"

"Depends on the fruit, are you feeling anything different?" Luffy asked.

"Nope, not at all."

"Maybe it was a simple rare fruit." Sterry commented, "It's only fair that the money be returned then, correct?"

"I have no problems with that," Angus was ready to return the briefcase.

"Nah he can keep it," said Luffy, still looking at Nami while she examined herself.

"But the fruit was faulty."

"He is right, my king."

"Your island is part of our country anyway and we could always do more for all of it, so take it." Luffy didn't care about the money itself anyway, sure he loves the idea of finding treasure but that is a whole other story.

"Are you insane?" Sterry looked ready to snap…. or he already did. "You send a bounty for some stupid fruit that may not even exist and when some fail you just reward them anyway?" He looked mad at that point, "You are against everything that a noble should be and you are a bad king and you- why are you smiling?"

While everyone looked at him and the prince while the latter had gone in his little rant Luffy hadn't taken his eyes off Nami, he saw when she started to change, growing bigger to the point her clothes were torn apart and her appearance stopped being human. Eventually others followed his eyes and looked at her while she was on four legs and had grown to the point she was taller than anyone in the room. White fur also was growing all around her body-

"WHA!" Sterry distracted him by falling in the ground and he noticed the faces of all around him looking at Nami and standing petrified. Even Zoro was more startled than he usually would be "IT'S REAL! DEVIL FRUITS ARE REAL!"

"Sure they are," Luffy says and then asked Nami, "How are you feeling?"

"I have no idea," her voice sounded the same, she obviously hasn't grown used to her new form yet.

"HAHA you look huge Nami," Luffy was smiling all the while.

"That is not a smart thing to say, idiot!" She didn't sound that upset and was still impressed with herself. "I am going to need new clothes."

Luffy smiled all day after that, especially when some people came to him and apologized for doubting. It's not their fault that such fruits were legends in the East Blue, but Luffy knew that they were real from both Shanks and Ana.

Afterall Shanks may kid and joke around, may have tricked him and even teased him but lied to him? Never.

…..

Shinzo won't deny that going legit didn't stop him from doing some of the stuff he could as a pirate, he got to travel, stay by the sea and, once he recovered the taste for it, to fight against the 'scum' he could find.

Considering who his king was it was not pirates alone that were the scum, it was the worse kind of pirates, marines and bandits that he got to teach some lessons…. More of the first then the rest for the ocean is his home. "KRIEG'S AHEAD!" Shouted the men on the crow nest.

"GET READY TO A FIGHT SAILORS, WE HAVE A JOB TO DO!" Shinzo shouted in command and all crew got ready to advance in the Straw Hat Tiger, it and all the other ships of the Flowers and Fruits kingdom were out and about with a simple order, protecting the kingdom by shooting down Krieg's ships.

The general consul was split and even if the king could press to get the fight right now he can listen to advice, specially when he won't be around forever to deal with the consequences of it, so a compromise was reached: If attacking Krieg's base is out of question we can pick his crew apart ship by ship.

Thanks to the captured pirates there is little that is not known about the fleet of the pirate, including his most recent plan to attack everything possible and then race to the Grand Line. That kind of plan could have worked in the old East Blue, where the marines were the only protection and not a very good one at that.

Now it's different, even if they don't have the numbers yet they have enough to cover most of their islands with many volunteering to move to places that need protecting against pirates, one group in particular that wanted to milk the East dry before running with their tail behind their legs.

"INCOMING!" He heard from the other ship while they smashed the galleon against it, the bigger vessel standing pretty much unschated after while the front of the other was damaged and the pirates lost their means of escape as their ship would soon sink, all that to force one result.

"SEND THIS SCUM TO THE DEEPS!" Shinzo ordered, usually they would offer the chance of surrender but this group especially was responsible for the attack in a small kingdom that had little chance of defense, all in the Saber hated the view that they saw when they arrived for a job and unanimously chose to pursue the cowards.

Raising his spear he charges and pierces a pirate following with a kick to another, from the corner of his eye he sees Menma jumping and launching kicks and punches all in vital spots with Sherry right behind having no mercy.

Once the East Blue had the title of the 'most peaceful' but that was a lie. It can be the weakest sure, with organizations like the Germa 66 in the North Blue and others, but the truth is that the peace in the East was a lie builded by ignorance.

Shinzo spins his spear getting three more pirates in his range. He can't help but remember what his leader, HIS KING had to do to reach this far. The man himself may see it all as nothing, as something that he had to do for his own reasons but Arlong and Krieg by themselves ruined the lives of many, the World Government was complacent and even the most convenient ally to the two pirates.

Jumping he stabs another in the neck and the battle was over, "LOOK FOR ANY HOSTAGE AND SUPPLIES! AFTER THAT WE SINK THIS SHIP!" With a shout, the Saber crew got to work.

At the end twenty people were rescued, fewer than were taken but unfortunately that was not a surprise. Not all Krieg's crews were in the business of capturing hostages because of their offensive, not everyone can be ransomed and they would 'in theory' go to the Grand Line soon enough.

Well not if Shinzo and the others had anything to say about it, "Give food and medical attention, we will make a bee line back to their island," he ordered and he could already tell how that would go. The small kingdom would try and would probably join theirs with their king officially surrendering their crown, sure the former monarch will be the leader and his family may stay in charge but only while it is convenient and it can easily stop being.

They need more ships, that is all Shinzo can think about and they captured some more, unfortunately even most of Krieg's are not really combat ready. No cannons, no infirmary, small pantry or a lot of other problems. The same thing forcing the Don to stay in the East is forcing them to not give chase.

Nodding, Shinzo gets ready to leave. For now all the ships of the kingdom were focusing on the defense, they didn't had enough to cover everything but they could chase any of Krieg's when possible, the Saber for all its size was really fast and its crew had already won five battles since the the beginning of all this, that is the third ship they sunk and the other two were caught and were in the process of being repurposed. He doesn't know exactly how the others were doing but so far they haven't lost any ships and nobody he knew personally got hurt with the exception of the Battle of the Baratie.

He thought that giving up piracy would give him some sort of peace but Krieg wasn't making it easy, especially when he is away from the people he owns his life to and one of them almost dies. He doesn't blame the ones with them, Shinzo couldn't because he knows that they would give their lives to pay the debt that was owed.

He blamed Krieg, the coward that attacks innocents and his friends just had the bad luck of being in the wrong place at the wrong time where two commanders of the bastard were working together in the most busy trade route of the old East. That was maddening.

No one died on their side but that was by luck, the 'man-demon' Gin gave orders to keep the killing to zero if possible and Zoro took care of most of the mooks while Nami stole the other commander…. She almost died and now wanted a devil fruit. He saw some in his time as a pirate and he was terrified of the stuff, those things were too dangerous in the wrong hands.

Now the boss lady would get one, sooner or later, and who knows what kind will be. He just hopes that it's not something too dangerous, not for the user, he never heard of a fruit that harmed the user but then he doesn't know everything. "Course is set sir," said a young man, a recruit carrying a spear and that he had to teach and prepare.

"Then what are we waiting for? We take these people home and then we have our work to do, by the longest route possible," there were cheers at the declaration. The longest route meant more chances to stumble in one of Krieg's and many there wanted some payback, either for the years of fear or for friends dead or hurt.

One way or another, soon enough the East will belong to only one king and Shinzo will die to make sure HIS is the one sitting on that throne.

…..

Krieg was taking inventory, he wished he could give that to someone else but that was a job that needed to get done and he can't just risk one of the idiots getting the work. His hideout is getting more and more agitated and his men are starting to doubt him, HIM DON KRIEG. That was enough to make the man mad, "Admiral?" Peluce entered the room.

"Talk," this was the last of his commanders left, the rest were gone, caught or killed. It didn't take long for him to come to that conclusion and he sent his last one to shake some people and investigate.

"They were taken in by the Arlong's Bane," the moment Krieg heard that he punched a wood crate so hard that it broke apart.

"THAT BASTARD AGAIN!" This was ridiculous! How does someone get so much bad luck to the point of crossing a KING in the middle of a raid for supplies? "Did they attack his kingdom?" Was Gin that much of an idiot?

"NO!" Peluce took a step back shaking his head and hands really fast in denial, "Apparently they attacked a restaurant that the King was, no one is at fault for it." Peluce obviously feared for his life now that he was the last commander left.

Not that Krieg cared, "How many ships?"

"Sorry, sir?" The fear is even more evident in his voice.

"HOW MANY DO WE STILL HAVE?" Krieg was losing his patience and his choices are getting more and more limited.

"Thirty-five on the docks right now sir…. our supplies are not enough for them all." The commander avoided to say who was at fault for that, the reputation that Krieg cultivated for himself, the trickster and the cruel monster, now was against him. No merchant wants to be associated with that kind of person, for pirates there is a black market for that but even those didn't trust Krieg and that is not even talking about the normal ones that didn't want anything to do with pirates.

"I KNOW WE HAVEN'T ENOUGH FOR ALL!" That was why he was in the inventory, he is not an idiot or an upstart, HE IS DON KRIEG. After all the cheating, killing and pillaging he would become King of the Pirates, he just needed a plan.

His usual tricks won't work anymore, even faking a flag from the kingdom that is a pest on his side won't make any difference because of the guards in each island. Even if that allowed him to buy stuff there was not enough treasure for that and to get started in the Grand Line, he needs it to get other pirates on his side with minimal losses.

"Don," Peluce started and by the tone Krieg could tell he won't like what he will hear, "maybe we should cut our losses and split the fleet."

"SPLIT?" Took all of Krieg's will to not draw a gun and shot the man down, "Are you insane? We are so close to go to the Grand Line and you want me to GIVE UP?"

"Sir, we are bleeding and keeping most of our fleet ready to depart is not helping," Peluce talked as fast as he could while keeping understandable, "IF we go with all our fleet to attack a kingdom we may get enough to go and be done with the East, even if we have loses we don't care about the marines anymore so we could just go."

"It would take longer to move the whole fleet," Krieg had already considered that choice, but there were a lot of troubles with it, "thanks to that bastard Straw Hat every island and every kingdom is going to be a fight to get in and out." It was not worth it going all in on something like that, that was the reason why the previous strategy was the best one, use their numbers to get the maximum possible and leave. If they just go in mass from one place to another, then they will lose more than they would gain by default if the enemy puts up a half decent defense.

"Sir, there are already talks of desertion." Krieg grabs the man by the throat.

"WHO WOULD DARE?!" Krieg starts squeezing but Peluce said.

"I...stopped them." That was enough to Krieg to let him go, the other man took some time to get air before continuing, "You still….are the strongest in the East….but the men….are getting agitated….no one likes the idea of being picked one at the time, especially when we are supposed to be a fleet."

The hell they think- no, no he needs to calm down, even if he just has one commander left there are still captains below him that could gather enough support and try anything. Gin would be the one to deal with those before but now he is gone.

Was this the only option? Use the time that the marines will take to mobilize to the East to try and fortify his position…. The problem with that is manpower, the pirates that are left in the East are the most tame kind, little trouble with the islands and lots with the marines, "What is the Straw Hat doing to other pirates?"

"He just let them be, if someone wants their reward they can try but general police seems to be 'you cause us no troubles and we do the same to you." That is that then, he can't recruit the more tame ones and the bloodthirst ones were already with him.

Looking out the door he could see plenty of them, trying to listen to the conversation, they barely disguised it. Once his reputation and power would make that any there thought twice before spying on him. But now? Now he was being pushed around by a kid made king and he can't even attack the guy because he doesn't know where he is. Is he in one of his many islands? On a ship? Where?

Then Krieg smiles, there is an alternative here that he just saw, "How many of our ships can travel?"

"Huh?"

"Long distances I mean," he puts a hand in his chin and a smile grows more on his face.

"If we cannibalize some of the damaged ones? Move cannons around and everything? Thirty out of thirty-five I think."

Less than what he wanted and he also has no more galleons but they still had plenty of men, "We go to the Grand Line," yes that is the best solution.

"I know we are going there but"-

"No, I mean we just get ready and go now," that was simple, easy and when the marines came looking he would be far away getting more power to one day bring the World Government itself to their knees.

"Wait? Now? We lost too much here, we need to regroup and we need-" Krieg grabbed his neck again but made no pressure.

"You forget that I am Don Krieg," he turned to the door and walked out, there was a big group there and they all were intimidated by him. Good, "YOU ALL SHOULD REMEMBER WHY WE ARE HERE, I WILL BE KING OF THE PIRATES AND YOU ALL WILL BE FAMOUS, RICH BEYOND ANY DREAMS AND MOST IMPORTANTLY POWERFUL!" He looks around and sees that their greed is winning, "GET READY, FIX AS MANY SHIPS AS WE CAN HAVE! TIME HAS COME FOR US TO TAKE OVER THE GRAND LINE!"

They cheered, Krieg was not the most charismatic but he can play the ambitions of his men, they all soon begin to move again, once their ships are fixed it will be just a matter of organization. He will have to make sure that the supplies are in different ships than most of the crew and that he or someone of trust is on board.

Unfortunately the only one he could see playing that part was Gin or maybe Calit but both are gone, he can't cover all the ships himself which leaves him with no choice, "Peluce," he looks back to his subordinate that had his hat covering his eyes, "find the most competent crews we have, not for fights but for defense."

"They are to cover supplies?" Peluce was always the smart one, Krieg nods, "Aye sir, anything else?"

"How long?" Krieg didn't need to elaborate.

"Have to ask the shipwrigths but…. a week maybe two?"

"Have it in one week or less, we leave this blasted sea and go chase for true glory."

Krieg is not sure how long he has to the marines to act, he knows their system and since he has broken the deal to not charge any kingdoms he would give a month to gather enough ships to take him out, maybe less. Considering the time of travel from his base to the Reverse Mountain that would be a week and a half while going with the numbers they had, considering the week that passed since he started the plan to leave he would have at most another week at that before the marines poured in the East. Maybe more but better be safe than sorry.

Yes, that will work, Krieg can't stop thinking of all the great things he will do once he is out of the East. Conquer the Grand Line, find the One Piece and then, once he is fully acknowledged as the greatest pirate that ever lived, once he has nations under his boots he will come back and rip the head of the Straw Hat all the while burning his country.

…..

Smoker was at the docks getting ready, HQ gave him the order to prepare a ship and go rendezvous with his old friend Hina and other marines of the East. The 'great' Don Krieg finally ruffed enough feathers that he was being called away from his post to deal with the pirate. There are a total of eight vessels belonging to the marines in the East and as the only captains either him or Hina would be put in charge, since she already was the head of her own special unit it would most likely be Hina in command and that suited Smoker just fine.

"Captain Smoker, sir," getting close to the ship was a young woman, she had short blue hair and was dressed in a simple button up t-shirt and jeans, at her side was her sword, a katana named Shigure and she was standing in salute…..

"Put your glasses, I am here," saluting a post while he was more to the side.

"Bah! Sorry sir," Tashigi puts her glasses and turns to him, "I was in a hurry!"

"Why? We aren't leaving for another few hours." He had two cigars, huge ones in his mouth, and looked at the ship. It was fully supplied already and they were just waiting for the men to get ready to go.

"We received new orders sir!" That explains the rush, either it was urgent or she knows he won't like what he is about to read.

Part of it he liked, Hina was given charge of the operation overall, he expected it and he didn't want it anyway, so all was good on that front. Another part talked about a change of operations that would see only three navy ships going with them, five in total, as the other three were to be used to counter Krieg's raids, they would join later and that Smoker respected the idea of protecting innocents as a priority.

The third order he didn't know what to make off with, the point of encounter is going to be the newest kingdom of the East whose king is no other than the grandson of the Hero, a person he met once as a favor to Kuzan, Monkey D. Luffy. The kid had gone and became a king of all things, talk about coincidence…. or its not.

Apparently he entered in a crusade against Krieg and even stole many of the pirate ships to make his own force to counter him, intelligence says that the new kingdom(Flowers and Fruits? Couldn't he have given it a better name?) had started a fight with the pirate and played defense in lots of small islands that were part of its territory.

If the information is accurate then the kingdom had also caught and interrogated many pirates before giving them to the marines for arrest, they had information on numbers positions and their main base as well.

With all that the marines could easily push an attack and the orders were to go there and negotiate with the king for the information and to use his country as a supply line for the campaign. The marines could interrogate the pirates themselves but reports said that someone put the fear of god in those guys and they are too traumatized for new interrogation.

He didn't like the idea of depending on civilians, "What do you make of this Tashigi?" He passes the paper to her and she takes her time to read, after a while she gives her thoughts.

"It's not a bad idea sir," she knows his personality and said carefully, "over the years the navy lost a lot of our strength in this sea, no challenges and the purge of corrupt officers saw to that."

"No challengers because only NOW the superiors see Krieg as a treat," isn't that funny? The most peaceful oceans but with a small detail, a fifty ship small detail. "We could have dealt with him much earlier than this."

Smoker, also known as the 'White Hunter' thanks to his devil fruit, had an important position on the East Blue, he was it's gate keeper. His station is in Loguetown and every true pirate passed there for a reason or another he was the one that made sure that none of them made it to the Grand Line.

That town is a symbol to pirates and marines alike, the rise and fall of Gold Roger and every other month a pirate dared to go and try to pay homage to the man. To the marines it is the place where the greatest criminal at the time had been taken down for good and Smoker being there is both political and practical.

Anyone trying to be a pirate and that dared to pass by Loguetown had the potential of being dangerous and having such a powerful and capable guardian there was really convenient. Smoker lost count how many pirates he had busted, beat and put in chains in his quest to clean his town. And that he did with pride.

"Sir, anyway we need help, besides" she fixes her glasses a bit before continuing, "as far as we know Monkey D. Luffy is a good man."

Smoker remembered the kid he met long ago, optimist, strong, insane or some kind of genius, "And how do you know he is a good man?" He raises an eyebrow in question.

"Well, he is pretty much stomping out the piracy in the East ain't him?"

"All we know is that he is against Krieg and that he gave training and weapons to hundreds all over the East Blue." The guy may be trying to give people to defend themselves but he was making an army, "This situation is only not worse because he doesn't like firearms."

There are no actual laws enforcing the non use of guns and general but beside cannons for town defenses and their ships the king hadn't asked or even started produced a single smaller gun, and his argument when the newspaper asked about it was actually a good one 'Why care for guns when I trained my whole life without them and I can punch a wall down.'

"To be fair, his training is only given to people that enlist in his company or army," Tashigi tried to play devil's advocate.

"To be fair," he repeats her to make a point, "sooner or later someone will try and take all they learn and use it for themselves anyway." That the same could be said about the marines and they did have their fair share of traitors over the years went unsaid. The fact that he basically had to lead a purge in the East Blue is proof of that.

Many corrupt branches had to be cut down, is the main reason why Hina was still around on this sea instead of heading back to deal with the more dangerous pirates on the Grand Line. The two of them worked together for months to chase and arrest dozens of corrupt marines and merchants, the 'Arlong Fiasco' as some of his superiors called it had such an impact that the HQ wanted all settled before the public eye turned towards it.

Some just surrendered and tried to say that Arlong had threatened them or something similar, they made deals and paid heavy fines but otherwise were left alone, the former marines on the other hand were not given any kind of mercy.

Some tried to fight, to become pirates or just run, each and every single marine name on the list was tracked down and caught or killed. Worse, Smoker knew some of them, thought them to be good people and once he got to ask them why they did it most had the same answer, 'The money was too good to let it pass', besides a single one that was the most guilty, Nezumi, the rest ignored Arlong thinking in making a quick buck and that the pirate would limit himself to a single island.

Now Smoker knew that the government could be cruel but he never saw an whole island with hundreds of inhabitants being left for dead like that. They lived under tyranny and one of their own was forced to work as a pirate and a slave.

Oh yes, he knew about the girl named Nami, how she used to be a thief that had stolen from pirates, a criminal in a sense, a pirate from Arlong's crew…. and he let her go. He had no heart to arrest such a person for essentially fighting for their people. Now she is the right hand of the new king and they need to convince these people to give their intel to the marines in full. Could he trust them?

"It makes no difference in the end. Orders are orders and we need to go there," Smoker said moving to his ship, "let's go Tashigi, once we join Hina and the rest we make our way to the Flowers and Fruits kingdom."

"Sir, yes sir."

…..

Sanji was enjoying his temporary life in the palace, sure is not the most luxurious one he had ever seen but it is thousand of times more homely. The people here are nice, any training was by choice and the ladies were all beautiful, once he met Nami's sister he couldn't help but commenting how the beauty must have been in their family much to their amusement.

Zeff also was in the palace with some of their chefs helping and teaching all that is needed about how to cook in the ocean, how to conserve food for long voyages and the kinds of fish that are the best to cook fast when needed. Besides that Zeff was the temporary teacher of the unarmed or kick section for those that wanted to learn to fight with their feet, not fists just feet for a chef's hands has only a place in the kitchen. The fact many there never cooked in their life is irrelevant.

He at this moment was working in the kitchen, the huge, full equipped and well made kitchen. Luffy's only true demand for what should be in his castle 'the best kitchen even made'. Baratie may have been a restaurant made to be the best but there was just no competition. Every chef had their space and there were at least ten ovens to make many dishes at the same time.

Better yet, the chefs competed for who would get the best stations among themselves and he and Zeff got second and first place. He will beat his old man one day, he was sure and he had months before…. he departs to a new journey.

Sanji will be a pirate soon enough, Luffy's 17th birthday is close and then they will go. So far is going to be him, his angel Nami, Luffy and the marimo. Thinking about them helps him focus on the dish he is making at the moment, an offering to Nami, a tangerine cake with ice cream.

He keeps his focus and notices Zeff leaving the kitchen, which means that was the time for him to start to train some fools that think he will be better and more generous than the marimo or the king's mother. That woman was the real taskmaster but Zeff is not far behind as he is only slightly better.

Well… the old chef looks to be having fun being a teacher, both in a kitchen and out of it. All while they wait for the repairs in the Baratie. Sanji will spend some time there before they go, it will be in one of the routes of the kingdom anyway and he…. kinda wanted to say goodbye to the others. None have given up on being chefs there, even with great offers, once the restaurant was back they all would go there, ready if the kingdom calls but always happy in their home. Sanji will miss them.

He hears a *ding* and that made him smile, Nami's-swan cake was ready to go. He moves and starts to make the final preparations, "OI SANJI!" Called Alan, one of the chefs of the restaurant, "Isn't that too much after a training session?"

"Of course not," Sanji denies, "it is made to help plenty after long times of exertion. After a long and hard work out, the body needs to start to replenish energy." Some nodded and others disagreed. Cooking for fighters depends on the energy that they spend during their training, that is why lots of cooks make plenty of carbs and others 'heavy foods'.

Sure sweet foods had a reputation of not being very healthy but it depends more on the person that eats them than the sweets themselves. Also is not liking she will eat all of it by herself, he knows that Luffy will be around and he will get most of it.

Luffy took upon himself to make sure Nami could control her new power, her devil fruit, and since she needed the help they trained together every day. He wanted to help, he really did but he was a gentleman and he couldn't spar with Nami properly to help her grow used to her powers.

But Luffy could, he didn't hesitate just because Nami is a woman, the barbarian. Breath in and out Sanji, happy thoughts, he is doing it to help her.

Picking a big tray he put the cake in it, big enough for ten normal people to eat, and started marching to the gardens/training grounds.

From the kitchen to the gardens it was a considerable way, he passed by many people, workers of the kingdom, bureaucrats, advisers, simple butlers and maids(stops, help a bit, keep moving). After it was finished, the palace became the center of the kingdom and if you weren't working in it, you had a den den mushi to call it or be called by it.

Passing by the main hall he sees her, she was tall, with long strawberry hair and a cigaret on her mouth, she was beautiful and was dressed in a fine red suit with a coat of the marines on her back, then he pays more attention and sees to her left, behind a big guy, another wonder to the world, this one with short blue hair, dressed in jeans, a jacket and with a sword at her side. She also had glasses that gave her an air of a intelectual.

Sanji stranded for a bit, admiring the view while a man with them talked with the guards, "I don't care that he is busy, I have a job to do and I need to talk with him. Tell him that is Smoker and he will remember me."

"Sir, I understand that you are important but the king is training right now and the boss la- I mean, the main advisor Nami ordered that they not be interrupted," It was obvious the guard we intimidated by the taler and bulkier man, "If you come back earlier tomorrow or a bit later today I can scort you all to him or he can be found in the throne room but for now he is not to be bothered."

"Smoker, let it go," the long haired beauty said. "Hina at least thinks he is using his time well, not like others that Hina met."

"The more time we waste here, the worse it will be later," the man called Smoker said, "you especially will be in trouble, depending on what happens."

A lady in trouble? Sanji can't let that slide, "Excuse me!" He approaches, dodging the guards and doing a pirouette, all the while balancing the cake without any troubles, "I am sorry mademoiselle I couldn't but hear your plight," Sanji ends stopping before Hina and picks up her hand. "My name is Sanji and if you need to talk with the king then you can count on me."

Raising an eyebrow she just asks "Can you?"

"OF COURSE!" He controls his excitement a bit before continuing, "I am the main chef for the king himself and I am in the process of taking snacks for him and his training partner."

"Main chef? Sanji, that means you beat Zeff? When?" One of the guards asked but Sanji wasn't focused on them until the short haired woman asked.

"Beat?" She sounded like it bothered her but it was probably because of how it sounded.

"My lady, we compete for the post of the number one chef of this palace using the best of our culinary skills, our maestry in the kitchen and our sense of how to use the best ingredients for many recipes," Sanji smiles confidently, "In a kitchen, our ingredients do the talking, not our fists."

"Oh!" Yes, she was impressed. Sanji embellished it a bit but that was all 100% true, "So, can you take us to his majesty!" She asked in a way that showed her relief, there would be no troubles for them anymore.

"Sure, but here is a piece of advice: the king is not the most formal person. He dislikes being called 'his majesty' or anything of the sort, if you want to ask anything better to avoid it," he offered his arm but the blue headed blushed and run behind the tall man, the other woman looked amused and accepted the offer and he started to lead them to the gardens.

"It's a nice palace," Hina started, "not the biggest Hina have ever seen and looks way more practical than those." Yes, all around them there were people going to a place or another with reports, stuff or just cleaning or guarding the hallways.

"Yes, the king is not the most smart person on the planet but he is practical," he is happy say anything just to keep talking to the pretty lady, "He didn't wanted a castle but his advisors insisted so he said that to do something useful with it everyone would have to work there when possible and 'bam', all bureaucracy is here, every island has a living in representant all the time incase the snails have any troubles and anyone can bring a problem to the others to help."

"Impressive, you would think that a king would focus too much on his own power," she commented, speaking from experience. "He must be some kind of wise man or extremely confident to not fear an uprising."

Sanji had to fight to not throw a laugh. Wise man? Luffy? "He is truly wise, in his own way. About the uprising bit, he doesn't care. The guy didn't want to be king, they wanted him as king, if anyone wants to leave they can."

"That is impressive, where did he come up with that idea?" Hina saw many islands in her lifetime and there is always too much power centered in one person, a reflex to the Celestial Dragons in a sense. Even if you can't be at the top of everything, most people want to be at the top of something.

"As I said, he doesn't care, this can be home to many but people work here a lot too," Sanji gave his best smile then said, "but it's not just all work and no play, anyone that works here can use the place to parties and such, the staff will even help or be part of it if they want." Sanji stopped for a moment and put a pensive face, "There is just one condition to have a party here."

"Oh, do tell." He had her complete attention and he loved it.

"You have to invite the king." At that time she and their companions paused and Sanji waited patiently for them to process the information.

"Hina has to admit Hina is really curious to meet this man." Now Sanji thinks he hyped up Luffy too much and he lost her attention to him. The problem is that this is his palace and his policies, he can't speak without mentioning the guy or else he will be a liar.

"Then let's go, we are almost there and as the personal chef for him and his main entourage I have to fulfil my duty," technically he was the pirate chef of the crew but still personal for him and, mostly importantly, for Nami.

The trek to the garden took a few minutes and all the while Sanji didn't hesitate to talk with the tall woman while her two companions followed in silence, he wanted to include the younger lady but the other one managed to draw all his attention.

Soon they were in the passage to the garden and Sanji could hear the loud sound of impact, it repeated itself from time to time and the three visitors were stunned by it, "Your king is fine?" Asked Smoker and Sanji just nods, he didn't feel the need to elaborate for the other man what was happening.

After all, it was frustrating to him.

Opening the door to the garden the first thing they see is a crowd surrounding and cheering for a show, "Stay close, these guys can be a loud bunch."

The crowd was colorful and full of life, they were resting now after a morning of training and making bonds for a lifetime among their brothers and sisters. Soon many would return to their homes or go to new ones and many will never see each other again unless circumstances permit it but even then, as the king would say 'enjoy the now, think the after after'.

"Moving through, cake for the king, moving through," many notice Sanji but they notice more his company, the marines. Some had problems but none said anything, "and here we are."

"And where is the king?" Hina asked looking around for anyone that looked like royalty.

"Look at the one fighting," said Smoker. Sanji now is sure that he met Luffy because no one could call him a king as he looked right now.

He was without any shirt and even his hat wasn't around to get in the way, he was sweating and looked tired and dirt from having been thrown to the ground more than once. His opponent…. his opponent is a bull but unlike any that has ever been seen before, it was big and had plenty of muscle but it was not male and it had no sign that it was female.

It was white but not like snow but more like a cloud, it's horns and hooves were gold colored or maybe they were some kind of gold, the horns themselves were huge, the size of a human arm but they were fitting on a bull of that stature.

It was a magnificent beast and it was getting in position to charge, "Should someone do something?" Tashigi sounded worried but not for the right fighter.

"I protested this so much you have no idea," Sanji complains but he can't do anything about this, it is happening and that was final.

"Hina can respect such a king," Hina comments, "He chose the right animal to train against if it was to grow in strength."

There was just one problem with that observation "HAAAAAA!" Shouted the white bull going as fast as she could. Luffy got in position and grabbed her by the horns, he still got pushed for a few seconds but managed to stabilize himself.

"Zoan," said Smoker as if that explained everything, and it did if Sanji wanted to be fair it kinda did, "That bull is a user, by the voice, a young woman."

"Correct," did the marines have a course on devil fruits. How does a marine of the East know about them? "We think it was the ushi-ushi no mi or ox-ox devil fruit: bull model or something but…"

Nami kept pushing Luffy but the man was not backing down, this was just one of the ways she decided to train. Dodging as a human and then charging with the strongest attack possible, for now they aren't using Haki to avoid too much damage, "Hina thinks that is too big to be just a bull."

"It was our best guess," damn how he wished he could smoke now but his hands were both busy.

Nami was using all her strength to try and dislodge Luffy but the king had years to grow, she had only a couple of weeks of direct training and even them she preferred to not attack unless she was in her bull form and because her clothes get destroyed when she transformed from a small girl to a giant bull until special clothes were made for her.

Finally Luffy's patience ended and he grabbed her by the horns to throw her off, Sanji wanted to kick the guy for how high Nami had flown before she hit the ground but the girl turned bull got up easily and got ready for another charge, "BRAT! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT USING YOUR HANDS!" Shouted Zeff from the side lines, he was still dressed as a chef.

"I know, 'use just your feet'. I am just not used to it yet!" He was still focused on Nami who charged again and this time he stopped her by using his feet against her head. The sound of the impact was loud enough to scare the smaller marine of the group.

"Does the king also have devil fruit?" she asked, pushing her glasses to her face.

"No, that is all him," Luffy with a devil fruit? That would be scary, the guy is already creative enough without one. "The guy is scary strong and believe me when I say this, he can punch a man through a wall if he is pissed enough."

He was glad that there were no more questions for a while since Luffy kicked one of the horns and tried to get distance but Nami pursued. They didn't know if the new form gave her a lot of defense or a great deal of pain tolerance but where before she took damage and fell like a normal human, now she can take a hard punch from Luffy and still get up even if a little dizzy from the attack.

Luffy keeps going back, using his legs in the best way to distance himself. Sanji could see that the king was not using Haki, and learning that is a pain and a half, but even then there was little to no hesitation in his kicks and Nami ignored them.

Of course it didn't start like that, the orange haired now a white haired in her full bull form, got used to moving first then after that she had to learn how to walk, how to go back to being a human and then to a bull again. From what some people said there must be a way to become a hybrid of the devil fruit and whatever who ate it was before(that was extremely specific) and Luffy agreed to it.

Problem was she didn't know how to become a hybrid yet, after a few days transforming is easy for her but she can't find a middle ground so far.

Luffy jumps to avoid another charge, everyone gets out of the way as fast as they can because Nami didn't learn how to stop when she goes all out "GODDAMNIT!" She hits a tree screaming in rage.

"She would benefit from learning to use her head," Zeff comments and some people laugh as the white bull gets up and starts to transform back in her human form. After the first set of clothes was destroyed Nami ordered special clothes( apparently there was a line that specialized in 'transformations', go figure) only now he noticed she was dressed in a blue vest with a small short, she had nothing on her feets and was massaging her head.

"Luffy, did you have to dodge? Couldn't have stopped me?" She sits on the ground and money is exchanged around, looks like there were bets.

"Not with my feet and without hurting you, you really went hard in the last one," by the sound of his voice Luffy is impressed, "I just don't get why you don't want to train as a human. Maybe that is what is stopping you from getting your hybrid form."

"I just feel stronger as a bull you know? It is like I could just go with my full force and nothing would be able to stop me."

"The tree did." Nami hit his head without any hesitation, "Shishishi."

"ALRIGHT, SHOW IS OVER!" Zoro calls, "Get back to work guys," when no one moved, he tried again "I SAID BACK TO WORK!" That did the trick and many were soon training and sparring. His two main students, those that mastered all fighting with one to three swords directing the armed ones while Zeff nods in Sanji direction and goes to deal with the unarmed. Dandan had already made herself scarce to not deal with the marines.

"Excuse me for a bit ladies," Sanji moves in Nami's and Luffy's direction, "Nami-swan I made you cake."

"Ah, thanks Sanji,"before the chef could get close enough Luffy had already helped Nami to her feet and both looked over his shoulder…. Nami did, Luffy was focused on the cake, "and who are they?"

Suddenly Sanji felt he made a terrible mistake, Nami's eyes told him 'if you only brought them here because of the women… there will be hell to pay.'

"Well….you see Nami…. it is just…." Sanji had no defense or retort, fortunately for him….

"Hey, you are that Smoky guy," Luffy went and started talking with the big guy. Bless you, your airhead bastard, "How have you been?"

"I have been going well, thanks for asking." Both men shake hands and Nami also goes to the man.

"I haven't introduced myself last time you were, my name is Nami and thank you for taking out the trash last time," she also said, going to shake the man's hand and he accepted it easily.

"It was no trouble, if I knew Arlong was here, you bet I would have been here earlier and would have sent him packing." Surprisingly she looked like she believed him, maybe it was the fact that he was the one that had come to get Arlong and the fishman had then been properly arrested but she did believe him, "I see you got a devil fruit now."

"Some recent experiences made me more aware of the dangers of the ocean," Nami looked nervous about something, "the marines don't care about this…. do they?"

"Why?" Smoker asked just shrugging his shoulders, "It's true that some users can be dangerous but that has more to do with the people than the power," He paused to think for a bit before saying, "in the Grand Line it's not uncommon for high members of certain kingdoms to have devil fruits. If anything that makes you a rarity only in the East Blue, but there? You would be one of a dozen."

"So the marines have protocols about devil fruits?" Asked an approaching Zoro, and the short haired marine moved to intercept him.

"It's- YES IT IS, THE WADO ICHIMONJI! Tashigi was really excited by the sight of the sword, "May I take a look?"

Zoro stood there for a bit looking at the girl, he had no reaction for a few seconds…. did he not know what to do? "Hey, marimo, let her see your sword." Sanji tried to help.

"You stay out of this!" Zoro does care about his sword but that was too defensive, even for him. "Sure," and he drew the blade and gave it to her with real care.

"Whoa that is so great," Tashigi stood there admiring the blade but Zoro just stared at her or at the sword, no one knew which so there were no comments.

"Anyway," started Luffy, "what are you guys doing here?" He looks to the three marines, "I think the short one was with you before….I don't remember her name," said short haired was still talking with Zoro and looked like the two would be going at that for a while. "You I am sure I have never seen before."

"Hina has never been here before," she came close and offered a small bow, "but Hina is here to ask you for a favor."

"Favor?"

…..

They moved to one of the meeting rooms, the snails were not present at the moment and some guards were at the doors. Inside the room was a round table, twenty chairs all around it and with a map of the East(Nami was proud of that one) covering the table, each sat in a chair with Luffy and Nami on one side and Smoker and HIna on the other.

In the middle of the table was the cake and Sanji had gone to make some tea, Nami insisted so he didn't promise anything he shouldn't. From there to the kitchen it would take him at least ten minutes to go, make three different cups of tea(Smoker asked for just water) and come back, giving time for her to get the marines out of the way.

"About that favor," she began eating some of her cake, Sanji is getting better at messing with tangerine recipes. "It is for you or for your organization?"

All of them had a slice but Luffy got the bigger one, the plan in this conversation would be the usual, Nami talks and Luffy interjects if needed, "It's for the organization. Hina was chosen to lead a fleet and take Don Krieg out for good."

Nami raised an eyebrow at that, "Really? Now? After we did most of the work?"

"Most of the work?" Smoker asked.

"While the marines were sitting out, we managed to take down plenty of Krieg's ships. Our intel says that he only has thirty and some left," there was pride in Nami's voice.

"Intel that you extracted from your prisoners, Hina wonders what you did to make them talk and have them afraid to even consider the marines a better choice than you," the woman was right, however.

"World Government rules say that we can deal with them as we wish…. and we had someone for them to fear," Zoro made a point of standing in each and every interrogation for the first ten times and once the word spread among the prisoners of his presence and his attitude they talked fast.

"Even so, we are preparing an operation," Hina continued "it will take some time, there are ships heading from the Grand Line and in a few weeks Krieg will be gone for good."

"Krieg will be gone in a few weeks anyway," Nami says, making the marines pause. They looked at each other and Smoker asked.

"What did you guys figure out?"

"The reason why Krieg started attacking on a greater scale, he plans to leave the East Blue," or at least planned to but with so many losses even that was up in the air.

"Hina doesn't think pirates are trustworthy."

"Believe me, they are on this. They told us even Krieg's base, where to find it and the names of the last commander and every captain they could remember." The fact Gin was a commander was a bonus, the guy didn't talk but the fact he was a prisoner broke plenty of the men's spirits.

"Then, you give us the information." Smoker was ready for a fight, "We will keep an eye on Krieg and once he leaves for the Grand Line the marines will be ready for him."

"Can they?" Asked Luffy, "There are plenty of pirates there that the marines can't do nothing about…. can you guys get Krieg?"

"Hina will personally search for him in the first islands, there are lots of bases in the area and Hina will catch them." The marine captain sounded confident however.

"Can you win against thirty and some ships showing up from nothing?" Luffy doubted that and Hina's silence affirmed his doubt.

"Not all ships make it to the Grand Line," says Smoker.

"But if enough do? Can you beat them?" Luffy was sure that no, they couldn't. There is a reason that even if the Grand Line is called the 'Pirates Graveyard' it is still said that 'there are as many pirates as stars in the sky'. If Krieg enters with a big enough strength, the guy can make a lot of damage before the marines or another pirate group stops him. "How much do you have now?"

"Hina is in command of five ships for now, soon to be eight and then more," she didn't know all that was coming from the Grand Line. HQ needs to define how many ships are going, who is leading what and if a vice-admiral was needed or not.

There were talks that Garp should be the one to take down Krieg but the fact he had family in a throne at that moment made the government fearful of sending the guy outside of the Grand Line…. there would be no problems if Luffy was a known born noble or if he wasn't a king but then Krieg maybe wouldn't be in this situation that forced the marines to move. Sanji returns and starts to distribute the refreshments.

"Then, even if we give you the information, you can't do anything with it," Nami concludes and sips her tea. The problem is always the same, the lack of ships to challenge Krieg.

"But there is something that you maybe can do for us," Luffy suddenly says and now Nami is nervous. This was one of his crazy ideas, ideas that work more than they should but are generally insane, "Let us borrow your ships!"

Nami hits her head on the table, Sanji, who was quietly standing to the side, drops his cigarette, Smoker joins him in dropping his own and Hina does a spit take. If Luffy planned for the sequence of events, he didn't say it. "Luffy…. why?" Nami asked.

"Well… we have lots of ships but we need more, with theirs we can stop Krieg here." He nods all the while he explains.

"Hina doesn't understand… Why are you worrying about Krieg? He is going to leave your territory," she was not the only one confused about this but Nami knew him well enough to know why, Smoker had a guess.

"I started this fight, I want to end it."

"Why not leave it to us," Hina offers, trying to get the king to see sense, "You are an important figure, besides Hina doubts that you have enough ships to face Krieg even with help."

"True, I think we have twenty ships with all we could get this last few months," Luffy stops to think, "Maybe less, I need to ask to make sure."

"But why risk it?" Hina was trying to understand his motivations, Smoker already got it.

"Because he has some pride in him," Smoker waited a bit and when nobody said anything he just shrugged, "to you Krieg is your problem and it would leave a bad taste in your mouth if others settle it."

"Yes," Luffy then finishes his slice.

"Well as a monarch, you can ask for help and even a marine base in your territory," Smoker had no problems with Luffy's reason more because he also didn't like the idea of Krieg escaping.

"Nah, no bases," Luffy goes for another slice, "but we can help each other to take out Krieg and then we go our own ways, no harm done."

"IF, and I mean IF, Hina agrees with this…." the woman let it simmer for a bit "she is in charge."

"No."

"Fair enough, but how are you going after Krieg without the marines?" Both of them were curious about that.

"We were already planning to." Luffy said.

"We were?" Both Nami and Sanji asked and Luffy was confused.

"Sure, don't you two remember when we talked about it? Three days ago?" The two looked at each other trying to dig their memories and Nami suddenly remembered something.

"But... that was a hypothetical situation," It was in a meeting with the council and she vividly remembered how Luffy insisted and it ended in a debate where the majority agreed that it was possible.

"What 'hypothetical' means?" Now Nami saw what the problem was.

"Wait Luffy, we have a lot of stuff to prepare." Luffy nods.

"Yep and I had Shinzo, Zeff and the others do it. Did no one tell you?"

"Sanji could you-" the blonde was already gone, "Can you guys give us a minute?" She was not even subtle and grabbed the king by the ear, "Luffy I will teach you a lot of new words after this. But first of all WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?"

For the next few minutes the marines watched as the orange haired girl complained at the king with a straw hat, both didn't know how to react to this.

Sanji finally came back, he looked shocked and just said, "Yep, we are ready to sail and we have Twenty ships ready with cannons, doctors, cooks and everything. Volunteers from all the kingdom, soldiers and mercenaries," Sanji paused.'' Most of the company is also on this."

A hands off comment from a king is still an order for the king, while most saw the meeting as establishing a theory to face Krieg, Luffy saw it as a chance to get the guy before he ran, "So? You guys gonna help or what?"

That was the moment that Smoker was grateful for not being the one in charge, Hina had in her hands either a chance to great success or a catastrophe. If she helps then either they win and all will be fine or they could die or lose a lot in an uneven fight. If she says no, they would be safe but if Luffy wins without them the government will be called incompetent or he dies and they are the guilty party for letting that happen when he clearly asked for help.

Hine was sweating, the nerves were catching up to her at that point. How? How did 'Black Cage HIna' get so….caged? Either this man is a genius without peers or an opportunist of the highest level. "Hina… will help." They could always retreat and she or Smoker can stop the king from doing something insane….

"Great, Nami, where should we fight?" He looks at her.

"WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME THIS FROM NOWHERE?" The stress of the day finally got her…. She just wants a shower and to go to bed. Even after knowing Luffy for years this is taking the cake.

"You know the East Blue better than anyone right?" Everyone, the guards, the marines, Sanji and Nami herself nods just waiting to see what Luffy would do at that point. "So, you know the best route he would go and we can get him there."

"Luffy, I need…..a map," she looks at the meeting table….. since when does meeting rooms have her maps displayed like that? "Oh."

Her surprise was so much that Nami transformed and broke her chair, falling to the ground. Nobody moves but Luffy asks, "Nami, you are okay?" It spoke volumes that not even Sanji reacted.

"Luffy…. when? How? What?" She voiced the thoughts of all in the room.

"What?" He tilts his head "We had the meeting three days ago, I was waiting for you to mention the best places for us to fight in the sea." He points to the map, "So I told them to get this ready."

"Well," Smoker decided that since they were already there and had a map, "let's see if she can give us a place for a proper battle."

…..

Zoro didn't know how to feel about Tashigi in the beginning. Sure she looked like Kuina but that was only in looks, Kuina was strong, determined and sure of herself besides the whole man and woman problem. If he had to describe Tashigi it would be excitable, the way she holds his sword and tells him about it's story, qualities and anything under the sun was astounding.

It was then that he knew she was not Kuina, his friend loved the sword but for other reasons and never talked to him so much about it. Zoro decided then that he would treat Tashigi as herself, Kuina is gone and while this woman had her face she was her own person.

"I am sorry," she finally stopped talking about HIS sword, "I just get excited about swords sometimes."

"I noticed," he smiled as he sheathed the Wado, "looks like our bosses left." He points it out.

"Oh no! Captain Smoker is going to be so mad."

"Want to go look for them?" Zoro offers and she accepts.

Off they went and Zoro had no real idea where the others were, they asked some of the servants of the palace and they just said that they were in one of the reunion rooms…. of ten. Now Zoro has a reputation of getting lost but on this nobody can argue that he was lost…. he didn't know where to go to begin with.

They spent a while looking and all the time they talked, about their carriers, "Honestly bounty hunting wasn't so bad."

"You were almost a criminal-"

"But I wasn't one," about the places they visited.

"There is this great store in Loguetown, it sells and does maintenance in swords and is the best in the East Blue."

"Ha! Considering how much I saw of this sea I think it may be the only decent store if you are saying, I will make sure to pass there." About their dreams.

"One day I want to save all the great swords from the hands of evil people."

"Oh, so are you coming for this one too?"

"WHAT? I mean, you are a good guy now, a royal guard to a good king. That is a great accomplishment."

And anything in general, surprisingly Zoro managed to find at least four different meeting rooms, some with meetings happening at that moment even but there was no sign of the king and the marines.

They lost themselves in conversation and it ended with them back in the garden/training field, "We are lost aren't we?" She asked, recognizing that Zoro had just guided them back there.

"Give me a moment woman, I am trying to think," to be fair he never saw most of the meeting rooms. Damn, he never saw all the palace for that matter, for him it was always to training, to the throne room, main hall and his room. He had no reason to go anywhere else in the place.

"Look, maybe we should ask someone to show us the room they went to," Zoro was about to say something when one of the doors to their side opened.

"Ah! There you are Tashigi," It was Smoker exiting the room followed by Hina, Luffy, Nami and the rest. "Did you wait for long?"

The meeting room was on the side all along? Now Zoro is embarrassed, he won't admit it but that one hurts.

"It's fine captain, Zoro here was making me company," the girl points at Zoro who just nods, "He was nice and showed me around for a bit."

She is not saying they got lost…. finally someone with sense. Smoker accepted the explanation, "Let's go back to the ship, we have an operation to organize."

"SIR, YES SIR!" She turns to Zoro, "See you later!" And the marines move with the guards to the closest exit.

"What the hell was that?" Asked Sanji, he raised an eyebrow and looked at the swordsman with a lot of doubt in his face, Zoro just looked at him for a bit before saying.

"Nothing!"

…..

Hello everyone and great news, we officially passed 100 followers. The fact that there are at least 100 people reading this fills me with joy. I thank you all for the comments and support. Special mention this time goes for chunnin33 who raised a good point that if I am right about Krieg's deal(my headcanon as he called) that Mihawk was sent to….deal with the problem, I hadn't thought of that but that is possible, who knows with Oda.

Now about the chapter, the title is a reference to a book that everyone must have heard about even if not read, "The Art of War" talks about the ideal conditions to fight, the best state for the troops and the information needed to be successful, this is a resume and it is a lot more complicated than that, the chapter deals with some of the fundamental aspects to get ready for a war.

About Nami's devil fruit I will jump the gun a bit, if you don't want 'spoilers' don't read the rest of this AN. It's is a mythical one, but once again I am using the idea that you can't use what you don't know or not use because you don't know everything, I won't reveal here what the devil fruit is but the fact that is a mythical bull or ox of some kind must give a clue….. except that there are a lot in different cultures :D.

About the participation of the marines, it simply makes sense and Hina was in the East around that time, she and Smoker have a history so she can be called to deal with corruption(that would take a while) and the most dangerous pirate possible. Unfortunately the real dangerous ones are still on the Grand Line meaning HQ can't just send Aokiji to wipe the floor with Krieg or a real fleet in the drop of a hat.

Thoughts? Doubts? Comments? Happy new year everyone, may this one be better than the last.

Next Chapter: How To Deal With Bad Pirates