From Caged Marines to Whitebeard Pirates

by Kanra Nakura

When Blackbeard was caught in the action of stabbing Thatch, a fight ensues, causing Marco to be thrown to the sea in his Phoenix Form, hearing the laughter of the traitor and the cries of his siblings as he submerged. Locked in a cage and kept as a pet bird for the Tenryuubito for months, Marco was saved by Marines under Monkey D. Luffy. Full Summary in the First Chapter. FemLuffy

7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

(A/N: This chapter is an interlude for Fishman Arc, a flashback. What the Whitebeard Pirates will be told are the scenes where Jimbei or the Royal Family of Fishman Island are present)

~A year and a month ago~

~Mariejois~

Luffy watched the interaction of the Royal Family with each other, though she made sure to stand behind the chairs of the Royal Family of Alabasta, letting them know who she's siding it. Not that it matters, to them she was just an unknown Marine guarding them all. Luffy could tell how annoyed Princess Vivi is, despite the smile on her face, and it wasn't long before they end their discussion for that day and all Royal Family left except for the Rulers of Alabasta and the Sakura Kingdom, including their companions. Once they were alone, Vivi slumps down on the table, as Dalton shakes his head.

"Can this day get any worse?" The King of Sakura Kingdom asked as he looked at Luffy, who was walking towards them, her crew standing behind her.

"Don't wish for it. It might happen." She said and gestured her head to the door, this made Vivi moan as her Father patted her back.

"How can you stand them and this place Luffy?" She asked as they all stood up and walk towards the door.

"I don't… I just black out whenever they spoke and pretend that I listened by blurting out useless suggestions to which they accepted." Luffy shrugged, as her crew snickered, Chopper talking with Doctrine and Dalton. "Celestial Dragons are dumb."

"Don't let them hear you talk like that towards them, Rear Admiral." King Cobra said as he looked over his shoulder and towards the Rear Admiral. "They might take offense of it."

"They pretty much let Luffy get away with it…" Zoro mumbled before the crew went quiet as the door leading outside the building grew closer, Chopper immediately runs towards Nami, who carried him in her arms when he stopped near her. When they were out, Luffy nodded at Robin, who immediately went towards her, while the rest continued on their way following the Rulers of the Kingdoms their Familiar with. The Young Rear Admiral made eye contact with her Right-Hand, who merely nodded, as they went away on their separate paths. As Luffy and Robin went right, and the others went left, they passed by a Celestial Dragon, who for some reason seems disappointed, then glanced at them, saw the logo on Luffy's back before blinking and said.

"Hold it right there, Rear Admiral." Luffy stopped, before turning to look at the Celestial Dragon, making eye contact with him while Robin looked at his chest.

"Is there something you want, Saint Mjosgard?" She asked rather bluntly, said Saint seemed flustered for a while upon realizing who he had called out and what said person was wearing.

"Ah… yes…" He stuttered, blushing, taking in the asymmetrical black leather skirt, showing her slightly tan legs, and the sandy color, long sleeve, off-shoulder shirt which showed her skin and a bit of her cleavage. Luffy raised an eye as he continued to stutter, though it's not obvious, she's confused as she purposely chooses the clothes that seemingly don't match each other's color. But… basing on where the eye of the Celestial Dragon is, Luffy bet it has something to do with her chest… Why oh why did she have a breast that's a bit huge than Hancock's? … She rather not know the answer after thinking about that question.

"Rear Admiral…" Robin whispered to which Luffy nodded and said to the still stuttering Saint.

"If there is something you want, Saint Mjosgard, please tell me immediately, I still need to meet up with Saint Rokudo."

"Ah right…" The Saint cleared his throat and asked. "What are the kingdoms that visited this year's Reverie?"

Luffy blinks at that question before honestly saying. "The usual, except that the Drum Kingdom is now known as Sakura and the Former King of Drum is now the Ruler of Black Drum Kingdom… why do you ask?"

"I see…" The Saint whispered before glancing around and looked at the Rear Admiral, no at Robin, who was nudged by Luffy. The Archeologist, glance at Luffy, and then at Mjosgard, who mouthed something at her. Once Robin got it, she nodded and then the Saint left, Luffy and Robin continued on their path. As they walked, Luffy snapped her fingers and slowly they got covered with a translucent, yellow mist.

"What did he say?" Luffy asked.

"He wants to talk with us after our business with Saint Rokudo… didn't say why…" Robin answered as she and Luffy turned into a corner, the older raven-haired woman added. "I still find it very hard to believe that a Celestial Dragon, a Donquixote at that, referring himself as a human…"

"Well… you're probably thinking about Doflamingo when it comes to Donquixotes' but… Saint Mjosgard is also a relative of the Former Celestial Dragon Homing… so I don't find it hard, despite the former Saint having the Mingo as a son."

"I suppose your right…" Robin agreed with her Captain's statement, before leaving Luffy's side going to the left, turning another corner, while the young Rear Admiral continued straight.

"Angel~!"

'What a pain…' Luffy thought as she braced herself for spending time with this saint.

~Two Hours Later~

Luffy was sipping tea with Robin and Saint Mjosgard, who made sure his father was not around. They just finished their… discussion, per se… and the Celestial Dragon was looking down and disappointed at what was discussed. But well… it's not like he had a choice, seeing the people he wants to help or changed him wasn't in this year's Reverie.

"Robin and I will look into this," Luffy told him, putting her empty cup down. The Saint looks at her and almost smiled but he merely nodded, saying.

"Of course, I will also watch out for the actions of the others."

"Deeply appreciated." Luffy gave him a gentle smile, tilting her head to the side, before she and Robin stood up and left, leaving the Celestial Dragon alone, who was flustered at the smile given to him. He shakes his head before standing up and went to his window, then looks down at his yard. Half an hour later, he saw Luffy and Robin leaving and head towards the direction of the building they were staying at.

"I really can't blame Saint Rokudo for wanting you… your one-of-a-kind Marine after all…" He mumbled, remembering the smile and the REAL person behind the mask of the Rear Admiral. The Savior of the Slaves, a Real Angel. Mjosgard had no idea whether he supports the Rear Admiral's actions or plans (both present and future), on one side it would at least stop slavery… on the other… it would change the life of the people he knew. For now… he'll keep quiet and see what will happen, but he will keep his promise because that's what matters.

~Luffy and Robin~

After leaving the room where they were having tea with the Saint, Luffy and Robin walk down a hallway before separating at the intersection, going to the office and library that belong to the current Donquixote, respectively. Robin made sure she had her necklace, a pendant in a form of a book (a gift from Luffy), out, while Luffy merely hummed. They both entered the room they wanted to go to and immediately rummaged around the drawers, fast reading the papers that were found. It was Luffy, however, who had found the document they wanted, she read it fast, before folding it and headed out, dialing a number at the baby den-den mushi she was holding, letting it rang twice before ending the call and head in the direction where she and Robin separated, by the time she was there, Robin was already walking towards her. As one, they both left the building, the Young Rear Admiral snapping her fingers once and lets them be covered with yellow translucent mist.

"Looks like someone likes to be absent," Luffy commented as she pulled out the paper she found and gave it to Robin as they walk down the street. Both females ignoring the looks they, more specifically Luffy, are receiving from both males and females around them.

"So, the Royal Family of the Fishman Island is invited to the Reverie…"

"But they didn't attend… so I think something happens to them that we weren't aware of…"

"Or they lost the paper, which is highly doubtful…" Robin glanced at her Rear Admiral, who was swaying in beat with her humming. "What do you plan to do Captain?"

"…The Shichibukai needed to be Assess right?" Luffy asked after a few minutes of silence, pushing the door in front of them open, smiling mischievously.

"Hmm…" Robin hummed as she and her Captain step on an elevator that was held open by a Marine, who was operating it for the time being, and press the button for the floor where the rooms for the G6 crew are. Luffy was quiet for a while, stepping out of the lift once they reach their floor and immediately head towards the door leading to their meeting room, opening it, and stepped inside without a pause. When Robin closed the door behind her, Luffy opened her mouth and asked.

"Sanji-kun… do you still desire to go to Fishman Island?"

…

…

"LUFFFYYY-CHWAAANNN!" Sanji cried as run towards Luffy, who merely sidestepped when he jumped at her, intending to hug her. He fell with a bang, but immediately stood up and said.

"OFCOURSE I DOOOOO~ 3 THE MERMAIDS~ MY DREAM~ AAAHHHH~ MERMAIDS-CHAN~~" The blond-haired chef then blinked and look at Luffy, who was blinking at him, before kneeling. "Of course, your still important to me Luffy-Schwann, as well as Robin-chan, Nami-chan, Hana-chan, and Mina-chan, and I will protect all of you with my life… but the MERMAIDS! The ALL BLUE OF MY DREAMS! IF I EVER MEET THEM, I WOULD BE SO HAPPY TO DIE~

"Then, why don't you die now, Ero-cook?" Zoro grunted from where he was leaning.

"What was that you Shitty Marimo?!" Sanji roared, after being frozen for a second when he registered that he was insulted and then immediately run towards the swordsman, who didn't hesitate to meet him head-on.

"Who the hell are you calling a Marimo?!" Nami sighed from the chair she was sitting at. Beside her was the table where Brook and the Vendetta Marina, who didn't even react at the scene and continued to play poker, sat. Luffy merely chuckled as she went towards Nami and the rest. Chopper was being carried by Robin, as she found him sitting beside the door. Usopp was with Franky and Gin, discussing something about weapons, the three of them sat on the floor a couple of feet away from the table where Brook and the others are.

"Why did you asked about that Luffy?" Nami asked as the Rear Admiral sat at one of the empty chairs beside her.

"Because…" Luffy gives her a mischievous smile. "We'll be visiting… I mean… *coughs* Assessing the Shichibukai~ what better than to start at the place where it could be basically like a vacation~?"

…

…

"EHHHHH?!"

"THANK YOU LUFFY-CHWAN~"

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughs delightfully. "Mah… I still need to talk with Senny about that… but we will be going to Fishman Island~!"

"LUFFFYYY/CAPTAINNN, NO!"

"LUFFY-CHWANNNN, YOU ARE MY GODDESS FOREVER!"

~Two Weeks Later, Marineford~

"Sennny!" Garp whine as he laid across Sengoku's table. Said Fleet Admiral sighed as he rubs his forehead.

"I told you, Garp, I can do nothing to retract the order! Heck, I didn't even notice what I agreed upon!" Sengoku roared, remembering the incident two days ago. When Luffy had arrived in his office after staying in the Mariejois for a week and asked to be the one to Assess the Shichibukai's.

~Two days earlier, Sengoku's Third Person POV~

It was a peaceful day in Marineford… or as peaceful as it could get with Garp screaming at the training in the background. He wished his Friend could train the newbies quietly, then maybe he can finish these papers as soon as he can. Or maybe Garp can do the paperwork… but nothing would be done if the Vice-Admiral did them. Focus, Sengoku! Don't let your mind wander away from the papers! Focus!

*knock**knock**knock*

"Come in…" The Fleet Admiral grunted, signing the papers laid in front of him, already knowing who the person outside with the help of his Haki. The person entered and closed the door behind them before they proceeded to the Fleet Admiral, who merely asked.

"What is it, Rear Admiral Luffy?" Said Rear Admiral grinned at the distracted tone her superior had and bluntly said.

"I want to be the one to Assess the Shichibukai next week!"

"Uh-huh… you want to be the one to Assess the Warlords…" He mumbled, before waving his hand. "Okay… if you can give me papers to sign about you being the one to Assess them…"

"Here!" Luffy immediately put the papers down, and the Hito Hito no Mi user didn't even bother to read it as he immediately signed and gave it back to Luffy, who nearly snickered and jumped in delight.

"Make sure to do a proper Assessment… I will tell the Shichibukai of this later this day or tomorrow." Sengoku went back to signing the papers, ignoring Luffy, who saluted while biting her lower lip.

"Of course, Fleet Admiral…" She put down a copy of the paper that she had the Fleet Admiral signed on the Coffee table across him so that he can see it later today or tomorrow and never forgot about it. "I will be taking my leave." She bowed and went out of the room, snickering with a hint of delightfulness on being able to successfully… convince… the Fleet Admiral without much effort. It was the next day when Sengoku found the paper on the table, and he found it because his pet goat gave it to him.

(What he didn't know was that the said Goat was sometimes an accomplice of Luffy, who gave him something to snack on whenever she was around and Sengoku wasn't looking… The snack and the gentle touch the Rear Admiral gave him is probably what made the Goat agree on whatever prank Luffy will give for the Fleet Admiral)

Seeing the paper, he merely glanced at it once, before grabbing the Den-den mushi, dialed the number for the control room, telling them of his permission for the G6 Crew, then the number of each Shichibukai and personally telling them of who and when the Assessment will start. Only after did he drop the receiver after calling Doflamingo, the last Shichibukai he needed to call, did his words…report/request, registered his mind, and when it did well…

"Hold on… what…? REAR ADMIRAL LUFFFFYYYY!"

~Current time~

And now… he had to bear with a sulky Garp, Tsuru, and a pouting Aokiji, for letting Luffy go. Said Rear Admiral had left the minute the control room had informed them of their newest mission and their passcode for when they exit and enter the gate after doing said mission. The Buddha user knew for sure that Luffy was giggling in delight, she did like to catch him off guard and prank him…which is either doing a mission he didn't want her to have, fighting someone that's not a part of her mission… or by doing the childish prank. What did he ever do to receive this sort of punishment? No… what did he ever do for having TWO MONKEY D.s' work with him and having fun during his despairing moments?! WHAT?!

~Same time, G6 Ship~

"Set sail for Sabaody! We need to coat our ship in preparation for Fishman Island!" Yu shouted as he watches their subordinates (which is 10 members only, and nearly all of them are being directed by Nami, the rest are free game… their Rear Admiral didn't want that too many crewmembers both when sailing and on base, even going as far as to limit their numbers below 40 members and set a shifting sail schedule. The Leader of the Vendetta Marina would chuckle every time he remembers the sulking faces of their 20 or more remaining marine crew that were left behind) run around the deck to work on their task. Inside the door behind Yu is the meeting room for the Superiors of the G6 Crew, where Luffy and her female leaders are seated, the former talking to a den-den mushi, while the latter was either writing something down on their notes or looking through the map they had.

"Lufffyyyy! Jii-chan needs you!" One of the den-den mushi wailed in front of Luffy, who keeps on snickering as she talks to the den-den mushi she was holding.

"So, we will be away for a while… think you can watch the Sabaody over for me?"

"…Your Grandfather is wailing over the phone… how come you're not hesitating to talk to me?" The person from the other side asked while the Young Rear Admiral waves her hand dismissively.

"I had the den-den mushi on mute. And this one is connected to a White Den-den mushi, so it's fine…" Luffy was grinning delightfully when upon hearing them sigh.

"Alright…We'll watch the Sabaody…"

"Thanks!" Luffy chirped, the den-den mushi grinned, and then she drops the call before turning to the crying snail, which then made a grunting noise followed by clothes shuffling.

"Luffy…" An elderly female voice called, said person unmuted the snail and hummed in response. "Why… why did you leave me alone to be with these insane geezers?"

…

…

It was chaos, shouts of curses, statements 'That's your concern?!' 'I'm not insane…'. The women in the room blink at the snail, then at each other, before snickering. Luffy had to suppress her giggle before she grabs the receiver and said.

"Why, Vice-Admiral Tsuru… you've been with Vice-Admiral Garp –" "It's Grandpa!" "— and Fleet Admiral Sengoku from the start, you've also trained my sensei, and is still have your sanity even before I arrived, so I'm pretty sure you can survive without me, shishishishishi."

"I can't survive without you!"

*Bonk!*

"Compose yourself, Garp. We are talking to a Rear Admiral on duty and not your granddaughter you liked to dote on but never had the chance to."

…

…

.

"I can hear sobs and whimpers…" Luffy deadpanned and when Tsuru spoke, they all can hear the amusement in her voice.

"Yeah, your grandfather is sulking and growing mushrooms in the corner."

"Ah, I see…"

…

…

"We're going now."

"Don't do anything ridiculous." She heard Aokiji mumbled, while Sengoku was grumbling somewhere in the background, Garp was still whimpering, and basing on the smacks she keeps on hearing in the background Tsuru was either patting her Grandfather's back really hard or she was kicking his back, and basing on their interaction together, she's leaning towards the latter. Oh well, if her Grandfather can fight and survive Roger or Shiki, then he'll probably survive the Vice-Admiral's kick.

"Ridiculous? Now, why would I do that?" Luffy grinned, before ending the call and cutting off whatever Aokiji was about to finish.

"No I take it back, don't do anyth—"

*Ga-cha!*

Luffy then looked at the side where Robin was seated, reading at the book she was holding. The older woman was chuckling, probably liked how her captain dropped the call with the Admiral that nearly froze her to death before. Nami's face was pale as she looked at her with wide eyes, while the twins were looking at her with awe and glittering eyes.

"You…"

"Not the first time~" She sang, turning towards the door and went out, just in time to see Zoro and Sanji doing their usual quarrel, and the others placing their bets. No, they don't bet on who will win, they'll bet on how the fight will end (which is mostly Sanji running off towards the women of their crew just to please them).

~Five hours later~

Luffy giggled as the sight of the Sabaody Archipelago grew nearer. They were heading for Grove 13 wanting to be unseen by Pirates and Marines, however… Luffy puffed her cheeks upon seeing silhouettes standing at the cliff of the grove and based on their postures/figures… she knew exactly who they are.

"Looks likes we'll be delayed on that assessment," Zoro told her as he went to stand beside Luffy, who was pouting.

"They're not marines… why do they have to answer or report to me?" She grumbled.

"Well… considering you want to change Sabaody and was declared as the next… leader…" Yu started as he grinned at the glaring Rear Admiral. "Yeah, they need to answer to you, just as you need to listen to them." Luffy sighed in dramatic despair as they neared the grove they plan to anchor on.

"I just asked for help and this is what I get."

"…I don't hear your complaining that genuine."

"…Shut it."

…

…

…

"Fine…" Luffy sighed in defeat, as the rest snickered, a new yet familiar heavy and adoring chuckled mingling among them. "Let's just finish this… Nami…"

"The girls, some of the men, and I will head to the shopping district and buy some supplies. Got it." The Navigator answered as she and the said group started to gather at the lowering gangplank.

"Be careful!"

"Sure!"

"Let's end this."

~The Next Day~

Luffy sighed, stretching her arm above her head, arching her body from the chair she's been sitting. She looked at the papers on her desk, before standing up and head towards the door of her office, and left the room. Outside her crew was lounging on the ship, some taking a nap (Zoro and Yu), some talking, while the rest looked at the sea with longing.

"Finally done, Captain?" Robin asked as she walks towards Luffy, who blinked and looked at her before smiling.

"Yeah. The papers are at the table."

"Of course." Robin nods her head before heading inside the room Luffy just left. The Young raven-haired girl walks down the small stairs that were on the ship, and immediately Zoro and Yu had their eyes open before standing up and head towards her side. Sanji, who just came out of the door beneath the stairs, blinking at the sight of her walking down, before turning back to the door and went inside.

Nami, Ussop, and Chopper were talking with each other, glancing in her direction once in a while. Hana and Mina were in front of the door where Robin just went out, holding some papers. Said twins were carrying some cloak with them, handing one to the older raven-haired female, who just came out of the room, before their attention went back to the Rear-Admiral, who was already walking towards the gangplank where Gin was standing.

"Brook and Franky?" Luffy asked him, using her haki to sense the said crew members.

"With Peter and Gray. They both went to get more supplies and… the egg." Gin answered, biting his lip when he mentioned egg, making Luffy giggled. The door where Sanji entered opened, with him following soon after, carrying a huge bag that is filled to the brim.

"Luffy-chwannn~ I got your adventure lunch pack ready~!" He swooned, making said Marine's eyes sparkled in delight.

"Really?!" She squealed, as she jumps over to Sanji.

"Hai~!"

"Tsk… ero-cook."

…

"What was that you Shitty Marimo?!" Sanji roared, immediately head to head, and glaring, with Zoro, who glared back as well. The backpack that the blond chef was carrying is now in Gin's hands, who sighed and slings it over his shoulder, while Yu shakes his head as sparks appeared between the two.

"Shall we go?" Yu asked at Luffy, who was smiling in delight. The latter nodded in agreement before turning to the rest of her crew.

"Have fun everyone! And be careful with the nobles!"

"Hai, Rear Admiral!"

The three of them were off, followed by Sanji and Zoro, who were still squabbling. Robin and the twins followed after them but headed in a different direction. The rest of the marine crew did the same, except for Ussop, Nami, and Chopper, who decided to wait for Franky and his group before following after their Captain. It was a routine of them that they created. Everyone in the Navy had the mindset the three of them were the weak link of the crew, when in fact they are not. They are strong, not on the level of Luffy or her right and left hands but still strong to be a leader.

People who think they are weak or that they can defeat the trio were always beaten by the said trio, hard. After all, if you need to be a part of the G6 Crew then you need to be at least New World Strong. And having Luffy as a captain will make sure that they are that and they won't let her down, again.

~With Luffy and her Group~

"Why don't they kiss already?" Yu grumbled as he, Gin, and Luffy walk a few feet ahead of Zoro and Sanji, who had been quarreling with each other. Luffy glance over her shoulder… oh wait, no… they were already fighting, swords and legs included.

"The moment they kiss will be the moment Luffy decided to stop eating meat and will purely go vegan." Gin snickered, laughing in amusement when Luffy snapped her head to look at him in horror.

"NO WAY! I love meat!" She yelled, Yu snickered and ruffled her hair in fondness.

"We know Luffy. Gin was just joking." She pursed her lips at that and looked away.

"It wasn't a funny joke."

"Hahahaha! Of course."

It wasn't long before they arrived at the bottom of a very steep hill with stairs on them. The 'mature' trio of the group immediately went up, not even bother looking at their 'childish' duo. The blond one of the duo was currently smirking smugly against the green-haired swordsman, gloating about nearly getting lost again, even with the two of them talking.

During their walk, Luffy was already snacking the barbeque meat that Sanji had packed, while the two males with her eat the sandwich or fruit that was there. Currently, Luffy was chewing and licking a bone from a steak she just ate, like a canine, not even bothered that it was unsightly to look at considering she's not in the Marineford. When they reached the top of the hill, they saw a bar that has the shape of the houses in Alabasta, and above the door was a sign that says Shakky's Rip-off bar. Yu opened the door and holds it open letting Luffy and Gin enter first, with him following soon after, letting the said door hit Sanji and Zoro, ending their fight, temporarily.

*BANG!*

"Ouch…" Sanji moaned out as he and Zoro splayed on the floor in pain before they grew a tick on their forehead, they then both stood up, steps inside and in unison they said.

"What was that for you damn she-male!?" Yu's eyebrow twitched, before he gave them a sweet, oh so sweet, smile that screams pain. Luffy giggled as she sat at a table and chair found on the corner of the bar, which was empty save for the woman wiping the glasses at the bar, and a silver-haired man, wearing an eyeglass, slouched in front of the bartender, looking at them in amusement while drinking.

"Oh look. They finally agreed on something." Gin stated, just as Yu opened his mouth. The Leader of the Vendetta Marina looked at him in irritation but was ignored as the former Don Krieg Pirate focused on giving food to his Captain, putting them on the table in front of her, before sitting down at the chair on the right side of Luffy, a chair away. Yu, after sighing, sitting at the left side of Luffy.

After a while, Zoro and Sanji did the same, the former sat between Gin and Luffy, the latter beside Yu. Their Rear Admiral was eating some drumstick meat, though her eyes were on the man that was looking at them. Said man raises an eyebrow at her, which made her do the same, the woman behind the bar was pulling out some drinks, juice, and beer, and put it on a tray in front of her, smiling in amusement at the interaction Luffy had with the man. The men in Luffy's group watched them in silence, relaxed but ready to protect their captain anytime.

…

…

The man then laughs, which made Luffy grin and her crew smirk or smile.

"What brings you here, Luffy-chan?" The woman asked as she swiped a sandwich from the boxes splayed out on the table.

"Hi, Shakky~! We need Old Man Rayleigh to coat our ship!" Luffy chirped as she drank the juice that received from Shakky. This made the woman and her husband blink in surprise.

"Me? Coat your ship?" The silver-haired man, Rayleigh, asked as he looked at Luffy, who was giving them a mischievous grin. "Why? You always passed through the Red Line whenever you went back to the new world."

"Sengoku… agreed… on letting Luffy assess the Shichibukai," Yu said, smiling proudly at his Captain when he told them that. It was silent in the bar, before Rayleigh laughs loudly, followed by his wife.

"Assess the Shichibukai… I like what you have in mind, dear Rear Admiral! Hahahahahaha!"

"How bold of you to asked Sengoku-chan of letting you have that Assessment when there's someone else that is supposed to do that," Shakky said, inhaling her cigarette. Luffy merely grinned impishly.

"Well… it will help the future of the World Government if I did it~!"

"More like you want to create more disaster," Zoro grunted, making Luffy gasp and pouts dramatically at him.

"Zoro! How could you, I would never!"

"Tell that to Sengoku, especially with what happens in Enies Lobby." Gin smirked.

"Enies Lobby? We were training!"

"Right…" Yu smirked before looking at Rayleigh and Shakky, who were chuckling.

"Alright brat, it will take me three days to coat your ship. I will do that after you tell me the mischief you've done since we last met." The former first mate of the Pirate king said, snickering at the story behind the Enies Lobby. Shakky gave her husband a sandwich she took from the pack again, shoulders shaking as she also remembered that story.

"Now, that's something I want to know too."

"Hai~!"

~Three days later ~

Luffy watched Chopper as he runs around the deck with the inflated bubble before looking at Rayleigh, who was smirking at them, standing at the cliff.

"Got any advice before we go?" Luffy asked, this made Rayleigh laughed.

"Ahahahahaha! You're asking a former Pirate for advice? I'm still questioning your sanity brat!" Luffy snickered in response before turning to her crew and said.

"SET SAIL!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Nami screeched just as the men followed Luffy's orders instead of hers. "LUUUFFFYYYY! We still haven't received a piece of advice from Rayleigh!"

"Oh come on, Nami." Luffy went towards her and claps her shoulder. "Where's the adventure of knowing how it works down there? Shishishishi!"

"WE'RE DOING A JOB! NOT AN ADVENTURE!"

"Shishishishishishi!"

"Ahahahahhaha!"

"Nami-chwan~ you're so beautiful when your angry~!"

Rayleigh smirked as the ship sink below the sea. He had already told their shipwright how the coating works, and Shakky also told him how Nico Robin, the twins, and Nami had gone to her and asked for books or information about the sea currents as they went closer to the island, such as the downward plumes. They didn't ask what's the safest or what sea path to avoid, because they believe that heading towards Fishman dangerously would make their Rear Admiral happy, and her happiness is theirs too.

"You'll do just fine."

~G6 Crew~

The marines couldn't believe what they were seeing, they were already 10 meters below the sea and everything they saw was unexpected. They couldn't believe that this is what the Pirates and Illegal merchant ships (aka Slave Traders) saw every time they went under the Red Line. The whole scene was mesmerizing, they couldn't even believe the Navy didn't allow them to travel as the pirates did, they're missing a lot of things.

"SUUUGGGOIIIII!" Chopper, Ussop, the twins, and a few lower Marines exclaimed as they watched the whole scene, 'oohhh-ing' and 'aaahh-ing' as they went further down. Peter went towards them, snickering before saying.

"This scene is worth everything we and Luffy did days ago, right~?"

"YEAH!"

"Even as we head down and face down the monsters and dangerous currents, right?"

"YEAH!" They raised their hands in the air, while those who didn't join watched them with amusement as it finally registered their brain. "Wait… NO!"

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed as those crewmates of hers that were admiring the scene run towards Peter, who merely looked at her with a grin filled with mischief, saying that they take back everything they said. She then looked at Nami, who was directing some of the marines that are working in her team. The Young Rear Admiral had to hold back a wince when she thought of being under Nami because while her Head Navigator is amazing on her job, it hurts whenever money, haggling, or even her mikan's were involved.

She looks at her Right and Left hands, who were both standing behind her, and then at the location of the steer, grinning when she saw Franky and Robin talking, Brook was in the background playing music to match the mood, she's pretty sure Sanji and Gin were in the kitchen, cooking. The rest of the marines were scattered around the ship, some even going as far as taking pictures on the sides of the ship. Luffy relaxed her body, before jumping up towards the platform of the sails, gracefully perched there and carefully spins around.

"So, this is the scene Ace and Sabo saw…" She mumbled, looking up, blinking wistfully at the sight of the natural sunlight disappearing the further they went down. She tried to calm her breathing, removing the thoughts that wandered away and tried to remind her of her situation.

"Luffy," Gray called out from below, which made her looked down and blink when he was holding a tray with drinks.

"… You went to the Kitchen and took that without Sanji's approval, didn't you?" She stated, grinning when he smirked.

"I have Gin's!"

"Shishishi! Naughty Vice." She laughed as she turned and falls from the platform, curling into a fetal position when she was a meter away from the deck, allowing herself to circle once and then straightening up, landing on her two rather gracefully on the wooden floor, that some of her female crew, which are, to be honest, only Hana, Mina, Robin, and Nami, jealous. The males' merely clapped in awe, some even whistling, shouting some point. Luffy went as far as bowing waist deep at her audience and grabs the drink that was there, while the Vice of the Vendetta Marina went and distribute the rest to the crew. The young raven-haired took a sip before humming and nodded.

"Gin is improving." She said, they all heard her which made them look at her, Chopper went as far as running and jumping straight into her arms. Luffy merely caught him in her arms, making sure her drink didn't spill over.

"How did you know it's Gin's?" Chopper asked, gesturing for the drink, in return the favored female marine made him drink it.

"Well, one thing my Observation Haki is telling me that Sanji is still bustling with delight in the kitchen, and Gin is merely washing the plates, amused by something, meaning are Sue Chef is merely cleaning up, while our Head Chef is still cooking." She pointed out, which made them 'ahh', she also added. "Also, whenever Gin prepares drinks or food, he always used the one gray markers at the bottom of the glass or plate. Sanji uses light colors." Hearing that Chopper stopped sipping, and he as well as the others looked underneath the glasses blinking at the sight of gray lines written on it. They blinked and then another one, before looking at Luffy, who snickered before shrugging, while Gray sighed in mock disappointment.

"And here I thought you would think it's Sanji's. It would be funny if you said that it was from him when it wasn't and then he'll think someone is trying to be like him."

"My devil fruits and my keen nose also helped."

…

"Right… no more guessing games for you," Gray grumbled, heading towards the kitchen, defeated. The crew laughs at his state, not even shock at this. The Marines that didn't belong in their crew sometimes think that they, especially their Rear Admiral and Vendetta Marina's are too serious and doesn't know anything about fun, but within their crew, around each other, they test each other's patience, even Luffy's, which sometimes lead for them to be thrown to the sea, extra training, or (if it's Luffy that's being punished) force to eat vegetables an entire week (it's supposed to be two weeks, but Nami (Luffy's punisher) and Sanji couldn't resist her for too long, they just can't). This makes everyone in the crew and base think that they are human, no matter how strong or different they are.

They were nearing the downward plumes when Luffy, who was dozing at the side of the ship with Chopper in her arms, suddenly perks up, her ears straightening up. She slowly stood up and then turned around, before leaning over the ship.

"Luffy?" Zoro asked as he went towards his captain, who had her eyes dilated as she looked down their ship. Zoro looked down and blink as he said.

"Is that a sea monster?"

"Is there something wrong?" Nami asked as she walks towards the two of their crew's powerhouse, when she saw them looking down, she did the same before paling rather rapidly and screeched.

"EEEEEEEKKKK! Monster!"

…

"EEEEHHHH?!" The whole crew shouted before they all run towards the railing and exclaimed in shock. Luffy, however, merely tilt her head to the side as Chopper shakes in her arms.

"Nami…" She called out, making the navigator freeze and fearfully looked at her Captain, whose eyes became feral and lips turning into a mischievous grin.

'No… no… NO WAY!' Nami screamed in her mind as Luffy slowly looked at her.

"Didn't you say we needed some… sea creatures to help us get down faster?"

'Oh Kami…'

"NOOO! CAPTAIN!"

~Hours later, Fishman Island~

Luffy giggled as she watched her crew formed a semi-circle around her, taking every scenery they passed as they went towards the Ryuugu Kingdom, where, according to the Princes and the Minister, Jimbei is waiting for them. The Young Rear Admiral knew that despise the cold exterior her crew is showing, they were in awe with everything they saw, Nami even started to relax a little despite the events that had to happen nearly three hours ago.

Luffy had found this sea creature, a Kraken, to which she named Surume after taming him. Said Kraken was a very sweet one, gentle and playful, he also blushes and smiles every time he received some compliments from them, though he seemed to have a shark stuck on one of its siphons to which Luffy rescued by fighting him as an attempt to tame the said Kraken. Though they did get separated during that time as they were pulled by the current of the Downward Plume.

During the pull Luffy and Sanji's bubble burst, forcing them to be in Zoro's, and while it was tight, Luffy did manage to find the Kraken and tamed him (Sanji was sulking the whole time Luffy tried to tame Surume as she was talking very sweetly towards him despite the fight they did). They manage to find the rest of the crew just as it was about to be punch by an Umibozu, who Surume took out quite immediately when Luffy said to save their ship.

After letting the attacker of her ship, her crew, get beat up, Luffy ordered for the Kraken to stop which was granted immediately though there was a hint of fear as he did so. As soon the trio joined the rest of the crew, Chopper immediately jumping in Luffy's arms, they were shocked that Luffy managed to tame the mythological beast and had suddenly done 180 degrees change of attitude. Though… Luffy remembered how her crew looked at her weirdly, no more specifically at Surume, when he reaches out one of his tentacles to her as she was praising, and thanking him.

('He had a crush for our Captain…' Luffy had no clue her whole crew had thought that.)

Zoro, Yu, and their vices did notice that while Luffy seemed to relax, her eyes were narrowed down on the ship that the Umizobu was carrying. This made them tense, especially Yu and Gray, as they knew their Rear Admiral a lot longer than the rest. Then they were told that the crew was under a Captain called Vander Decken IX, however, before any confrontation could happen, Luffy gently (Sanji wailed at this, while the rest of the crew didn't whether to be shocked, horrified, or faint) told their… um… 'pet' to pulled them away from that area. ("Nee~ can you pulled us away from here, my dear pet?")

Said Pet just nodded and even blush! The whole crew adored their Captain/Rear Admiral (their adoration isn't on the same level as Sanji though, they're like… a level or two lower) and is also quite possessive and protective of her. She might be a trickster and a manipulative person but she's still naïve and innocent. Any, and they mean any type of move done towards her, or even just an insult, one insulting word, and that person is down. So seeing this… Octopus acting like that towards her is annoying and frustrating. Maybe they would give it a warning.

But before they could proceed with that thought, they suddenly heard the captain of the Pirate Ship in front of them talking followed by the ground trembling and volcanoes erupting. One thing leads to another and they were all running away from erupting volcanoes, and flowing magma. Luffy had no idea how Robin could comment about the way Surume run so calmly, but she did have fun bouncing around when every time one of the volcanoes erupted. It was especially funny that Surume runs faster and faster when it comes to him being cooked with Luffy and her cooks' hinting of wanting to eat or prepare a particular dish that involves Octopus. The crew felt a short relief for that moment as said Sea Monster loses its affection towards their Rear Admiral for a short while.

Then they were jumping down a Sea Trench with Ussop firing some of his green stars, saving them from being crushed by boulders, though one of it slip through and hit Surume in the head, making him unconscious which then led them to fall directly down the trench. When Luffy and her crew woke up they were already beneath the Fishman island, Surume watching them carefully, the Young Raven-Haired teen did notice that he was slightly nervous and had a hint of fear, but that was it. He had immediately led them towards the Entrance of Fishman Island without her speaking a word, however, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Yu, and Gray did notice a slightly hostile presence of people that are mixed with the presence of Sea Kings that had surrounded the place, so maybe… that's one of the reasons her pet is acting like this.

After talking with the guards at the entrance, where Surume just left them without a good-bye, they were already passing through the tube that leads to the mainland. Now, due to Luffy spending time in Mariejois, she knew exactly what would treatment they would be receiving upon docking. So, she discussed with her crew, who would stay on the ship, who would go with her, and… who would stay with Sanji, who, after having severe massive nosebleed just seeing mermaid swimming beside their ship, requires a blood transfusion. They also met up with Camie on their way to the dock, followed by her mermaid friends which didn't help with Sanji's condition.

After a few minutes of being docked on the mainland, catching up with Camie, Sanji was taken to the back of the Mermaid Café, Gin and Chopper accompanying him, a royal caravan with the three princes and the Minister of the Right had arrived and told them where Jimbei is. The Ryuugu Palace. And as was discussed, the Vendetta Marina and the other 10 members of the crew stayed behind on the ship, so that they can assist Franky in fixing the ship. Said Shipwright had left the moment they docked to search for the relative of his Father figure, Tom, and asked for his help to strengthen their marine ship, and probably talk to him with the matter of his dream ship.

Robin stayed behind as well as she wants to head to the Sea Forest, where they would repair their ship. Camie had told them that the Sea Forest was where the Shipwreck that the downward plumes had created would be, and seeing the hostility of the people on the island, they would transfer their ship there instead of staying at the place where there are many Fishmen and Merfolk around. They need Franky for that and thus they waited. Sanji and his companions had to stay behind, especially with her head cook being weak as it is.

The Princes and Minister, though shocked, had appreciated that they were willing to move to a different spot for the comfort of their people, something the previous Assessor didn't bother to do. The three brothers, in return, had decided to stay, offering to watch/guard over Sanji's group. Luffy knew that it was both for the sake of their people and her crew, so she went along with it. Camie also decided to stay with Sanji with promises to talk with each other later.

And now, Luffy and her group which is consisted of Zoro, Nami, Ussop, and Brook, are on their way to the Ryuugu Palace, where they would be meeting Jimbei and King Neptune. As they went closer to the Palace Luffy did wonder, as she tilts her head to the side, who is that person that's crying so hard and in pain? She's also… alone.

'Hmmm… I need to check that.' She thought, and with only a twitch on her finger, Luffy was covered in a translucent yellow mist, followed by a translucent red mist that covered the group. Luffy knew that Zoro had noticed the change as his Observation Haki is almost at the same level as hers, but he didn't bother to react to it as he also knew that his Captain had a plan, she always had despite her acting stupid in front of other people she's comfortable with.

Without any word towards her crew, Luffy turned and left, grabbing a bubble coral on her way and waited for them to enter the palace and followed the pained noise that she keeps on hearing. Meanwhile, as she waited for the caravan to enter the entrance, she did wonder if she should train her crew more about Haki, she's no longer standing at the semi-circle they created, and they still thought she was there… well, 'she's' standing there, but it seems Zoro's only notice the difference.

Her lips immediately formed into a sadistic grin, excited at the thought of training them… maybe she spent too much time with her Grandfather and Sensei if she's this sadistic and excited about training them… oops.

~15 minutes later, inside Ryuugu Palace~

Jimbei and Neptune were waiting at the stairway inside the palace, a huge bubble covering the area, tense and ready. Especially Jimbei, who didn't expect the sudden visit from them, despite being told by the Fleet Admiral about visits for the Quadrennial Assessment which is something all the Shichibukai were reminded of about a week ago. And to think he would be the first to be assessed…

"Is this person someone you can trust-Jamon?" Neptune asked as the caravan filled with Marines appeared in sight.

"I am not sure, Your Majesty," Jimbie grumbled. "I haven't spent a lot of time with them. I saw the Rear Admiral during meetings but that's it."

"I see-Jamon." That was when the flounder stopped in front of them, and not even ten seconds later, there was a group of Marines standing in front of them, led by the Minister of the Right.

"Hmmm… what happened to the Princes, Minister?" Neptune asked.

"The Princes stayed on the island, one of their crew members needed a human blood transfusion so they asked to stay there and guard them."

"I see…" Neptune said, before eyeing their guest, something Jimbei has been doing since they stepped away from the flounder and into the bubble they created. It was a group of 5, two females, one orange hair and the other is raven, two males, a green hair and a long nose guy… and… holy shit… is that a skeleton?! Those who saw the group for the first time blinked at the sight of the skeleton before inwardly shaking in their head, breaking them from their stupor.

"Welcome-Jamon…" Neptune said, spreading his arms. "I've heard from Jimbei about this Warlord Assessment, and thus we welcome you to our Palace."

"Welcome, Rear Admiral." Jimbei bowed his head slightly, before straightening and looked at the Rear Admiral that was favored by nearly everyone in the Marineford.

"Thank you for having us, Your Majesty, Shichibukai Jimbei." Luffy bowed waist-deep, showing signs of deep respect, followed by her crew, which shocked them. No humans, especially marines, had dared to bow that deep, no one wants to bow that is below their recognition. The marines then straighten up, before Nami's eyes landed on the very person she might, might despise.

"I'm Rear Admiral Luffy, and behind me are my to-be Operation-Team Leaders. Nami, Brook, Ussop, and Zoro." Luffy introduced, gesturing at her crew once their name was mentioned.

"Rear Admiral… are you sure it was okay for the others to stay behind? I trust Camie and Hachi but… this person is…" Nami asked, her voice soft, yet her eyes were narrowed in suspicion and distrust. Of course, this attention didn't go unnoticed by the people surrounding them, which made them tenser.

"Nami." Luffy started. "They were once under the same crew, yes, but I will not allow you to behave terribly to one person, or even towards the people, here for the action of Arlong and his gang. We don't need that, we don't know what happened." At the mention of Arlong, they blinked in shock, while Jimbei froze. Luffy turns to look at her crew.

"Allow Shichibukai Jimbei to explained first before jumping to a conclusion, just like with Hachi."

"Yes, Rear Admiral." Nami bowed her head slightly, making Luffy pat her head and smile, to which the Navigator returned as well, blushing slightly, before looking at the people in front of her. "I apologize for what my Navigator had said and her actions… we will get to it as soon as you answer some of my questions."

"…"

"And what questions would that be-Jamon?" Neptune asked seeing Jimbei was still frozen or in shock as they all had an idea what the orange-haired human had meant and was still trying to process it. The Saw Shark Fishman had done something to her and that hatred probably runs deep, so deep that may destroy the fragile trust this crew had towards Jimbei and would probably change the result of the assessment, which in turn would in danger of their island.

"First of… Why were you not in the Reverie held almost three weeks ago?"

*Clash*

"My job here is to assess the Pirate Shichibukai Jimbei, which is true, but I'm more focus on the personal mission… so I want you to answer me honestly, your Majesty."

"How…" Luffy glanced at Jimbei when the king stuttered, then back at the king.

"I'm not sure what you have heard about me. It might be good, or it might be bad… So, I'll be blunt. I'm a marine that is favored by the people living in Mariejois, in other words, the celestial dragons, and a few higher-ups in the Marines as well. And being a favored of theirs, pretty much allowed them to give me orders to visit the Mariejois as much as I can, and they will give me and my crew a bit of leeway around the area."

"A favored Marine of the celestial dragons…" Jimbei whispered.

"I rather not focus on that for it's something that I hate." Luffy scowled, which something everyone in the room noticed. "And During one of those visits was during this Year's Reverie, but the visit was more like a job, as I was asked to protect the Royal Family of Alabasta."

"Alabasta? The kingdom that Vice-Admiral Smoker saved by overthrowing Crocodile and stopping his plan…" The Captain of the Sun Pirate cut in, though he wondered why Luffy gave him a mischievous grin while her crew tsk-ed in annoyance.

"We should have taken credit for that…" Nami grumbled as Ussop started to boast.

"That's right! They should know about Captain Ussop! The Brave and Strong—"

"Ussop, mind what you say. This island is protected by Edward Newgate, the Strongest Man in the World, they might be offended on what you will say and call the Captain…" Luffy butted in, grinning darkly at her sniper that turned pale with every word. "While I and the others don't mind for a small… skirmish… I will chuck you towards Whitebeard for letting us fight someone that isn't a part of our job."

"Sorry, Captain!" Ussop shrieked in fear as he runs and hides behind Zoro, who snickered.

"It's not like we didn't do it before."

"Yohohohoho! Fighting against the strongest pirate crew in the world is giving me the chills~ Ah… not like I have any skin, yohohohoho!" Brook laughs as he spins around the crew, making Luffy sighed fondly while Nami rubbed her forehead.

"Why are we surrounded with idiots…"

"You are still alive, Nami." Luffy patted her shoulder as the Navigator leaned against her, crying with crocodile tears.

"Captain… help…"

"Ummm…" Jimbei blinked, heck, everyone aside from the Marine crew, blinked. In the beginning, they were tense but as the times passed, they began to relax around them, and now… they were joking around.

"I have no idea what is going on…" The Shichibukai answered at the inquiring looked his king gave to him. Luffy giggled before moving away from Nami and looked back at their audience, continuing as if her crew wasn't making a fool of themselves behind her (Nami was already scolding Ussop, as Brook spins around and Zoro drinking straight from a sake bottle that came out of nowhere) and that Jimbei didn't interrupt her.

"While the Reverie was ongoing, I met Saint Mjosgard, who seemed disappointed. With a little talk and persuasion, I found out that he was waiting for you to attend the Reverie. Why he was waiting is between him and me, and maybe you will know once you will attend it. Hearing that, My Archeologist and I went to dig up some files and saw a copy of a letter which invites Fishman island to attend the Reverie, a letter that was created years ago…"

"Which begs the question… why haven't you attend the previous ones?" Zoro asked, stepping forward, a huge bump on his head. His beer was gone and it was obvious it was taken by Nami, who was still scolding Ussop, her teeth turned into razors, while her hand was holding the bottle. Neptune didn't know what to say, he could lie… but it might affect the assessment for Jimbei, whose true purpose for being a Shichibukai is to also ensure the safety of their people. "Our Rear Admiral, personally and voluntarily, told the fleet admiral about her desire to Assess the Shichibukai, just to know the answer to her questions. So we appreciate it if you'll answer the truth."

"I…"

"The truth, Your Majesty." Luffy pushed, this made the king sigh in defeat.

"Your Majesty!" The soldiers and ministers protested but couldn't do much as the king went and spoke.

"My Children and I are still gathering signatures from our kin, signatures of our people, showing their agreement with My Queen's idea of joining the world."

"And the letter?"

"It's…" Luffy tilts her head to the side as if she listening to something, sighed a few moments later. She closed her eyes and spoke.

"The letter is gone… it disappeared sometime after the funeral of your queen… no… years after her death, so it disappeared rather recently." Her statement, of course, shocked them. No humans, other than the Pirates who protected them, had known about the Death of their Queen, so how did she know.

"Your heart is still hurting and bleeding… you want revenge for her death despite the revelation of her assassination… you think by accomplishing the wish of your queen, it will heal." Luffy continued as her eyes slowly opened, and directly looked into the eyes of the king. "But here's the real question, Your Majesty… is the person you thought the one who killed your queen… really killed her?"

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

"What is that!?"

"The noise… it came from the Hard Shell Tower!" The guards shouted as the loud booms kept on going, the King, however, had a different concern.

"HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING-JAMON?!" Neptune roared as Luffy went closer to him and touched his hand, ignoring his question, she said.

"Your voice… your heart is screaming in pain… but the person's heart who is screaming more than yours… is your daughter. She knew who killed her mother… maybe you should have asked her or talk to her more." Luffy then turned to her crew, who suddenly became serious as she went towards Zoro, who was waiting for orders.

"Ensure the safety of the king and his people…" She then glances at the side, in the direction where the mentioned tower is, eyes narrowing when she heard more explosion in the direction of the tower. "Things is about to go wild." And right in front of their eyes, the Rear Admiral dissipated.

"LUFFY!" Nami screamed as the others with her exclaimed when the Rear Admiral went missing, Neptune was about to ask them some questions when the noises suddenly grew louder, not even stopping. As if whatever that hit them is being thrown in succession, which is impossible… unless…

"What the—?!" Ussop blurt out.

"Zoro-san…" Brook asked, as he and Zoro stood in front and facing the soldiers of the Royal Family, who stood in front of Neptune. "Did Luffy-san know this will happen due to her observation haki?"

At the mention of haki, Jimbei, who was standing in front of Nami, looked at them, as well as the Fishmen and Merfolk.

"Who knows… her haki is much more advance than mine… the ability to see, feel, and understand the emotion of a person… is something she mastered at a young age," Zoro answered honestly. "Don't also forget what Silvers' said to us. Luffy had the voice of all things."

Those statements made Jimbei and Neptune's eyes widen. If the Rear Admiral had haki, then it shouldn't shock them too much, after all, their queen almost had the same ability of observation haki the teenage girl had. But it seems to be on a different level, especially with the Voice of All things on her side.

"Is that true?" Jimbei asked, looking at Nami, who had her hair cover her eyes.

"… Yea… she manages to defeat Arlong with those."

Purupurupuru~

All eyes went to Nami, who was frowning before taking out a baby den-den mushi and answered it.

"Ye—?"

"Nami-san, it's me."

"Gin?"

"Hai… where's the Rear Admiral?"

"She's somewhere in the palace, Gin," Zoro answered, as he went closer towards their Navigator, who raised the baby den-den mushi. "What is it?"

"We have a slight problem here…" Gin told them, as he looked through the window of the Café he and his group is resting at the moment, the proprietor of the mermaid café was talking to the princes and guards. "It seems that they have someone here, who can predict the future."

"Oh?" Zoro asked as he looked at the fishmen and merfolk around them.

"Yeah… the mermaid who let us stay at the back of the café for Sanji's recovery? Turns out she was a fortune teller." Gin moved away from the window when guards had begun to surround the place. "Just a few minutes earlier, it seems she predicted that Luffy, our Rear Admiral, will destroy the Fish-man island."

"What?"

"WHAT/JAMON?!"

"Luffy will?" Ussop asked while Gin shakes his head.

"That's what she said, she saw Luffy in her crystal ball with the Fishman island burning behind her… but she also said that Luffy was wearing a straw hat when that happens."

"Luffy doesn't have a straw hat," Nami answered as she put her index and thumb on her chin. "Is she sure it's Luffy?"

"According to Camie, her predictions are accurate to a point… she just didn't know when it will happen." Gin gestured Chopper to pack, who had already done it, while Sanji was being cared for by Camie and Pappag, who would lead them out of the café, away from the guards. "Right now, we are being surrounded by the Royal Guards. I would like to know if we should head to the Sea Forest, but…"

"Wait for Luffy's orders," Zoro answered, narrowed eyes pinned on the people in front of them. "If they have the intention to capture you, leave the place, search for a safe one, and wait for Luffy's orders. She carries her den-den mushi with her, she probably had an idea on what is going on now, if she's listening."

"Roger. Let's go Chopper." Gin then ended the call, while Zoro and the others wondered about that prediction.

"Do you believe that Rear Admiral-san would do something like that?" Brook asked, his bones creaking as his grip to his sword tightening in anger at the very thought that someone would predict, declare, that his Rear Admiral, his Captain, his Savior, would do something as destroy an island for no reason.

"Have you met Luffy?" Ussop asked, giving the Devil Fruit user a reassuring smile. "Because she would never do something like that."

"He's right… the only thing Luffy destroyed was the entire area of our enemy. Thriller Bark is an example, Brook." Nami told the skeleton, who laughed in relief.

"Yohohoho! I never thought of Luffy doing it, but the very thought that someone predicted of her doing that… when it couldn't be even true is… making me angry." All of Luffy's crew looked furious at that statement before they went and looked at the Royal Family, who flinched at the Dark Aura that surrounds them.

"We're not going to attack you or anything…" Nami gave them a chilling smile. "But hurt our Rear Admiral in any way… we won't hesitate to retaliate in a way that won't harm your people but will still make you hesitate in hurting her again."

"… I'm sure the prediction is wrong…" Jimbei mumbled, suddenly fearing for his kins safety, Nami merely looked at him, then at her crew, before they huddled, excluding Zoro, and talked.

"Oi!" Zoro yelled, snapping their attention towards him. "Since our Rear Admiral is not here… you better answer her question!"

"Why should we?" The Minister of the Right asked. "Where did your leader even go?"

"Probably to check the place and the cause of those noises," Ussop mumbled as he readied his slingshot, their group huddle breaking as the noises slowly stopped.

"But… who could throw multiple things like this continuously?" Nami asked, twirling her staff.

"It's VANDER DECKEN!" Neptune roared as he finally realized who had dared to attack his kingdom. "He's probably after my Daughter-Jamon!"

"Vander Decken?" Nami mumbled, before looking at her crew. "Do you think it's the same one we saw earlier? You know, the one with the Umibozu that Surume punched?" Zoro raised an eyebrow before looking at the door and grinned.

"Looks like we're about to find out." As he said that the door suddenly slammed open, revealing humans that are battered, bruised, and shackled.

~With Luffy~

The Young Rear Admiral hummed as she continues floating inside the bubble she's in on the way towards the place where she can hear crying and sadness. She had separated from her crew the moment they pass through the gate of the tunnel, leaving with only Zoro as a witness. Well, that's her right hand, he was a lot sharper than everyone thought, despite his sense of direction. She paused humming and tilted her head to the side when she heard something rolling down the floor, that was when she notices a hallway that didn't have any water. Letting her bubble go through, it soon merges itself with the bubble around the hallway, she slightly jumps away from the entrance and lightly landed on the floor, making sure no sound was created.

Relaxing, Luffy looked to the side and a Fishman soldier, pushing a food cart towards the direction where she heard the crying. Seeing that, Luffy decided to follow him, making sure she was at least 10 steps behind to avoid being detected. After following the man for a while, ignoring the smell of food and the grumbling of her stomach (she should have eaten more of Sanji's cooking), they finally arrived at a door of a tower. The appearance of the said tower, however, made her frown as there are signs… no… weapons, embedded in the wall and door, some even left have steels patched around it. So deep in thought, Luffy didn't notice that the guard entered through the door and then left soon after.

She only snapped out of her thoughts when the guard rolled the cart away, she watched the retreating back of the person she followed, before slapping her hand to her forehead and sighed in disappointment.

"Idiot…" She mumbled before she went and push the door open, before kicking it softly, unfortunately, the kick was so soft that it didn't fully close the door. Looking around, she frowned when it was completely dark inside which made her pursed her lips. She did see some food, but she wasn't after it, she was searching for the person who made that sad noise. Jumping up, Luffy landed on a squishy, yet somewhat familiar coral… Touching the said coral, Luffy blink before jumping away when she realized it wasn't a coral.

"What the?!" She shouted and landed on soft ground, bouncing slightly, and looked around. Flicking her wrist, a small ball of lights began to slowly surround the Young Rear Admiral, and just as she was about to see the whole place, a light was flicked on and someone spoke.

"What is it?! Who might you be?!"

…

"How embarrassing…" The Marine grumbled, blushing slightly upon fully confirming that it wasn't a coral she landed, but a chest of someone… a chest… specifically, a breast… of a mermaid… a huge one at that. "Of all things to touch and land…"

"Somebody! Father! Big Brother!" The mermaid suddenly cried which shocked Luffy and jump side to side, avoiding the huge teardrops that fell from the mermaid's eyes.

"Ca-calm down! I didn't even do anything to you!" 'Is she… a child of the King?' She thought as she looked at the crying mermaid, trying to calm her down, raising her hands placating but the longer the mermaid cried, Luffy started to get annoyed, veins popping out from her forehead before she put her hands on her waist and yelled.

"Seriously! What is wrong with you?!" This of course shocked the princess as nobody tried to shout at her before. But the shock didn't last long as the Princess cried harder and harder, with each of Luffy's statements the Princess wept.

"A human has come to take my life, and has made it inside my room!"

"What?! NO! I was here because I hear crying from someone… but not this kind of crying… so I just came to look at it! I didn't even know it was you!" Puffing her cheeks, the Young Rear Admiral tried to calm the crying mermaid and herself, when she felt something with evil intention heading towards them… no heading towards the crying mermaid.

Gasping in shock, Luffy froze for a second and then realize that the door was left slightly open, which is her fault and she won't deny that, soon after an ax flew over her head and towards the chest of the crying mermaid, who had stopped when she realized that a weapon was heading towards her. Jumping up and facing the weapon, Luffy blocked it with her bo-staff, and feet covered in Armament Haki. As she blocked the weapon, she and the Princess then realized that it was an ax with a red rose in the middle, also, at the same time, the Young Rear Admiral notice that the weapon wasn't stopping, even with her blocking it.

Gritting her teeth in annoyance, Luffy slightly separating her bo-staff in the middle, making the ax slip in between hers, before arching her body and throws it behind her and the princess, who followed its direction, shocked at the sight of the weapon being thrown away from her, especially since it was a human who helped her. Luffy falls to the bed landing in a three-point pose.

"Where did that ax came from?" She wondered out loud, frowning, as she put her index and thumb on her chin, the elbow leaning at the arm that was laid across her stomach. She couldn't think more deeply as she then heard shouting and running that was heading towards their way. Both she and the pink-haired mermaid looked in the direction of the door.

"Hmmm…" She hummed and was about to raise her hands when suddenly she was grabbed by the mermaid saying.

"Forgive me." Luffy blinked as she was enclosed in a large hand and was then hidden behind the long pink hair of the mermaid, who talked with the people that run towards them. She listens carefully to their conversation, not making any sound, though she did wince when she heard something stabbing a flesh, followed by a pained noise.

"Megalo! Welcome back!" The mermaid exclaimed, Luffy tried to understand if that person was hurt but smelling no blood in the air, then the stab wasn't that deep or enough to hurt someone, probably a warning. She glances to the right where she saw the Shark the save hours ago looking at her with wide eyes. Narrowing her eyes, Luffy hummed quietly as she slips through the princess's hand.

"Oh, speaking of which, there is something I must tell you, Princess Shirahoshi." One of the guards said. "Normally, this would be done by the Minister of the Right, but he is currently with the King and Boss Jimbei, waiting for his guest to enter the Palace hall."

"Boss Jimbei's guest?"

"Hai… They're Marines and it seems they are also the ones who save Megalo, but I don't think Boss Jimbei and King Neptune will have the time to thank them as they are here for something necessary for Boss Jimbei to stay as a Shichibukai."

"Marines… and they are only here for Jimbei?"

"Yes. Please be careful, and if you saw some humans or Marines please let us know or scream."

"… Okay!" With that the guards bowed at her before turning around and closed the door behind them, locking them soon after. The mermaid princess and removed her hand from her back but then Luffy was no longer in her hold she was already staring at her pet shark, who seems to be cowering at the sight of the Rear Admiral. Shirahoshi blinked in shock as she didn't notice that Luffy had escaped from her grip, while the said Marine was looking at clothe wearing shark, who was frozen upon meeting the eyes of a possible top predator in the room.

"Umm… excuse me…" The Mermaid Princess started, making Luffy blink and turn to look at her. "Th-thank you for saving me."

"… Don't worry about it." The Young D said turning to look at the Shark again before looking back at the ax and points at it. "So… what's that about?"

"E-eh?"

"Your friend here…" Luffy turned to fully look at the princess, before jabbing a thumb at the shark over her shoulder. "Said that you're here for protection… but… from what I'm seeing, you getting hurt a lot more being here than being outside the tower."

"Said…?" Shirahoshi turned to look at her Pet then at Luffy. "You… you can understand Megalo?" Luffy merely raised an eyebrow as an answer, keeping quiet. Having the Voice of All Things was something Luffy didn't expect to have, she thought the reason she could hear voices of a person despite said person wasn't speaking or even feeling their emotion was because of her Observation Haki (at least that was what Admiral Aokiji told her during her training).

Only did meeting Rayleigh did she found out of the Voice and it wasn't a happy experience for her and her crew. Luckily, only she and her crew knew about this… she should probably add the people in this palace soon… the Marines still thought that she had a high level of Observation Haki, something that makes them and the Gorosei proud.

Seeing the raised eyebrow, the pink-haired mermaid shakes her head and grabs the Young Rear Admiral, lifting her to level the Princess's eyes. "Thank you so much. I was quite rude to you earlier, please, forgive me."

"I didn't know you were the one who saved Megalo's life." The Shark went closer to Luffy, making a 'sha-sha' noise as he did so. She merely smiled at the shark and rubs his side, fondly.

"Don't worry about it." She said.

"May I know your name?"

"Hmm? You can call me Luffy, a Rear Admiral of the Navy. It's a pleasure to meet you." Luffy stated as she stood up.

"Then can I call you Luffy-sama?" Said Marine made a face at that before sighing.

"Sure, if that's what you want." She mumbled and looked at the Princess, who relaxed slightly before tensing up again when the human asked her previous question.

"What was with the ax? What kind of person could throw that and from where?"

"… I know the culprit… It's a man named Vander Decken-sama." The mermaid answer as their eyes went to the said weapon. "He did it to get revenge since I refused to marry him. That man… had a Devil place a curse of "Mato Mato" upon him. Because of this, he's capable of… targeting my life from anywhere at any time, since he has set me as his target."

'Devil? Curse?' Luffy thought as she looked at the Princess. 'Devil fruit then.'

"That's why it's dangerous for me to go outside. I'm not even allowed to take a single step outside Koukaku Tower."

"Then… does that means that… *growls*" Luffy blink, before looking down at her stomach then back at the Princess, who blinked in shock. "Sorry… guess I'm hungry."

The Princess giggled in response before directing her hand to the table where her food was laid down.

"Here! Please eat!" Luffy blinks and looks at the princess with starry eyes and a drooling mouth, asking.

"Can I really eat it?"

"Go ahead." Shouting in delight Luffy jumps down from her hand and calmly walks towards the bread that was there in front of her first before taking a piece of it and eat. Shirahoshi tilts her body in appreciation at every noise the Rear Admiral created.

"By the way… if that guy wants to marry you, why is he trying to kill you?" The only human in the room asked, swallowing a piece of bread as one of her hands grabs another but her eyes were towards the princess, who answered.

"He has been doing it for seven years –" "Seven years?!" "— And on top of that, my father has decided that the guards can only be in here for five minutes at a time."

"Hmmm…" Luffy hummed as she swallowed a lump of clam meat.

"And so, Megalo is the only one I can talk to. He's a valuable friend of mine."

"Well… being alone is more painful than getting hurt… but I think in this case, it's fine to have someone to talked to rather than being outside the place and have no one to talk with," Luffy said as she took another piece of clam meat. Shirahoshi looked at her in shock, blinking when the human gain a dark look though it was gone soon after as she suddenly went and slurp a very long seaweed without gagging.

"You humans certainly do eat a lot for your size."

"Shishishishi." Luffy laughed as she skips a step towards the glass of lemonade that was there. "I'm pretty sure there are only a few people like me that eat this much, Princess."

"Is that so?" The Princess then blink. "How did you know that I'm a Princess?"

"Well… considering the guards called you Princess Shirahoshi… I get the idea." Luffy said as she turned to look at her with a smile. "Got any questions?"

"OH! Since you are a Marine, have you gone on adventures and such?" The Princess asked, lying belly down on the bed, face leaning on the palm of her hand as her elbow rested on the bed.

"Hmm… I guess you can say we have adventures… shishishishi… my crew and I pretty much roamed around the Grandline despite the order of the Fleet Admiral." Luffy answered, pausing from eating a long spaghetti noodle as she did so, before continuing when she was done.

"And have you seen the sun? When night falls, one can see stars floating in the sky, right? And there are many different kinds of flowers and animals with fur all over their bodies! Have you ever been to a green place called the 'Forest'?" Even when eating, Luffy began to gain a dark thought at the question, wondering why she was asking her this. Though she did snap out of it, when the Princess poked her cheek, making her spew out the meat she was eating.

"What are you doing?! Stop that!" She shouted on reflex, teeth turning into razors. The Princess, blink before swimming slightly away from her, turned and cried.

"Please don't yell at me so loudly. Luffy-sama… you're scary." Megalo, who was swimming around the room this whole time, panic and tried to calm her down. Luffy merely blinks and gulps the piece of shrimps in her mouth before turning to look at the princess, and, teasingly, said.

"Hey, why are you crying? Also –"

"Nobody has ever… scolded me before! Wahhh!"

"— you're a weakling and a crybaby despite being huge…" She tilts her head to the side before turning back to the meal she was having and stated while grinning. "I don't like you~!"

The Mermaid Princess and her pet turned to look at her, shocked, before the former suddenly became depressed as the shark went towards Luffy and tried to scold her, if only she was listening.

"What an awful thing to say… Nobody had ever said that to me… please leave! Wahhh!" Luffy merely giggled, thanking the crying mermaid as she finished the meal that was prepared for the Princess, before standing up and turned to look at Shirahoshi that had covered herself with her pink blanket.

"By the way… basing on the questions you were asking earlier… it seems like there was a place you want to go, didn't you, Princess?" Shirahoshi's tail suddenly perked up, before she straightens up and said.

"Of course… there are many places."

"I bet there are…" Luffy said as she waved her hand in the air adding. "Being locked here for 7 years isn't good for someone." Shirahoshi turned to look at her before blinking when something flapped around her vision, she slowly moves away from her spot and looked around as creatures she never saw before flew around her room, showing wonderful colors. A smile slowly appeared on her face as said creatures went to land on her hair and one landed on her nose.

"You're missing a lot of things…"

"What is this?" The Pink-haired mermaid asked as she slowly raised her hand as more of those appeared.

"They are what we called butterfly," Luffy answered, jumping down from her spot and walk towards the Princess, who turned to look at the slightly older girl, blinking when she saw some flower growing around the spaces the Rear Admiral passed.

"Butterfly…" The Mermaid said as Luffy stood in front of her, smiling.

"Yeah… gentle creatures that love to hover flowers and sometimes people they believe to have a gentle soul."

"But… how did they get in my room…?"

…

…

"Let's get out of here!" Luffy declared, ignoring the question as well as the shock looked of the princess. "Let's take a walk and head to the place you want to go!"

"No, wait! I can't do that!" The Princess protested as she straightens her body, looking down at Luffy, who was smiling as a butterfly passed by her. Megalo went to the side where Luffy was looking, his expression is also worried and protesting. This, of course, made her giggle and said.

"Don't worry! I'll protect you!" The Princess gasp at the conviction Luffy had. "If anything else comes flying at you, I'll just blow it all away!"

"What?!" Two pairs of eyes widen.

"Let's go! Outside! Right now!"

"E-eh? Right now? But… it's so sudden… I…" Luffy then smiled gently and went towards the Princess's tail and tapped it.

"I know your yearning for it… your heart is yearning for it… Don't let these things, the towers, the rules, the kingdom, and the danger, stop you… because as long as my crew and I are here, we will protect you, okay?"

Shirahoshi bit her lips, tears slowly dripping down her eyes before she closed them and nodded.

"Then… I want to go to Sea Forest!"

"Sea Forest…?"

"But… that's just a dream. I couldn't possibly do something as selfish as breaking out of here."

"Why are you starting to cry just from saying where you want to go?" Luffy asked, confused because as far as she knows, no one would start to cry just from saying where they want to go to… well… base on her interaction with people which is limited.

"I-I'm sorry," Shirahoshi stated, wiping her tears away. "I had to gather up so much courage just to say it. Please don't get mad at me!"

Luffy sighed and then her eyes closed, checking on her crew who was still talking to the Royal family, wondering why it's taking a lot longer than it should be. She listened to the voice of the Princess and then the King's before forcing 'herself' to ask the King a question that would hopefully answer and heal the pain in their heart. Just before she could receive any answer from him, Luffy's eyes snapped open and looked at the door of the tower, just in time to hear a huge boom and the building trembling. Her eyes narrowed when after the first one, it was soon followed by another one, and then another.

This has lasted for minutes, during which she had to 'tell' her crew and the Occupants of the Castle, what to do despite being in the Tower Shirahoshi, dissipating soon after. She sighed once she was done but the noises continued, which made her looked at Shirahoshi, who appeared to be more nervous the more the tower trembled and the explosion increases in numbers.

"You wanted to go to the Sea Forest." She half questioned; half stated. Intending to distract the princess from what was happening, which worked as the princess sighed and picked her up.

"I've always wanted to go to the sea forest. All this time, throughout these past 7 years. But… everyone warns me that it's too dangerous to leave the tower." Shirahoshi bit her lips, while Luffy looked at her blankly, waiting for her to speak out what her heart truly wanted.

"So I'm scared of going outside. But, Luffy-sama, will you take me there?" Luffy gave her a bright grin in response.

"Of course!"

"Will you really protect me?" Shirahoshi asked, hope slowly filling up her heart.

"Leave it to me and my Nakama! It'll be fine!" Nothing more was said, Shirahoshi cried in delight, finally being able to visit her mother's grave. Luffy let her cried out as she glances at Megalo, who blinked at her, before smirking rather mischievously. The Pet Shark suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine, as his eyes imagined the eyes of the human in the room glinting.

"Sha…*gulp*"

After a while, the noises had stopped, though Luffy's ears perked up as she heard some swords being unsheathed. She looked at the door as she jumped on top of the head of the shark before sitting down and patted his head apologetically.

"The sounds of attack have stopped, right? Let's go Your Highness!" She asked rather excitedly, though she had her hands curled around her metal staff as felt the shark moved slightly.

"Hai! I'm counting on you Megalo!" Shirahoshi said, hidden inside the shark's mouth, who had tears in his eyes. Luffy grinned as she shouted.

"GO SHARK! To the sea forest!"

"SSHHAAAA!" The shark screamed before banging his head on the door, once, twice, and then they were out at the third bang. Immediately headed towards the tunnel that connected the Palace to the Island. Luffy, who was inside a bubbled, narrowed her eyes as her keen eyes caught the sight of humans, all were battered and bruised… with collars on their necks.

'What?' Luffy kept quiet, something that Shirahoshi noticed and this made her worry.

"Luffy-sama?" She asked, only when they pass through the gate did Luffy move. Reaching into her cloak she pulled out a den-den mushi, dialing a number and let it ring.

Purupurupuru

Purupuru- gacha!

"Zoro…" Luffy immediately spoke, raising an eyebrow when she heard a grunt.

"Give me a minute, Rear Admiral," Zoro grunted as sliced a human away, wounding him but not killing. Nami was standing back-to-back to Jimbei, which should shock and worried him but since it seems that they are supporting each other Zoro will let this go. He'll be watching the Fishman should he intentionally hurt his crew. Brook and Ussop were the same with Nami and Jimbei, the rest were doing whatever they can to protect the King, who had paused when the den-den mushi rang. It wasn't long before the fight ended, and everyone was standing near each other despite the tense aura that had surrounded them before the fight started.

"Luffy, you still there?" Zoro asked, looking around the room, while her crew gathered around him.

"I never left." She told him, pouting slightly at the snail before her eyes snapped up to the sky and a little bit to the side where she saw some sea kings heading towards the direction they just came from. "Had a fun battle?" She asked, her attention divided to her crew and the sea kings, while the Princess blink and tried to listen to their conversation.

"Not really… they are all battered, Nami is currently checking their body whether they have a lead or something."

"If they do have something, I bet it's already been destroyed or left their persona."

"Yohohohoho. Why do you say so Rear Admiral-san?"

"They're the ones that were used as cannonballs on the tower."

"… YOU WENT TO OUR TOWER-JAMON?!" Neptune asked, roaring slightly. "Where's my daughter?!"

"Princess Shirahoshi is with me. I apologize for seemingly kidnapping her but those humans were trying to get inside the tower, thus I have to get her out."

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TAKE THE PRINCESS AWAY!" The Minister of the Right shouted, while Jimbei hummed and stroked his beard, glancing at the Marines with them, wondering why they were taking this calmly rather than panicking at the thought that their Superior just kidnapped a mermaid princess and, basically, just declared war. "RETURN HER TO US!"

"Hmmm… no." Luffy rejected, shocking everyone but Jimbei and her crew. "The walls of the tower are getting destroyed piece by piece, while I don't doubt the ability of your soldiers, you can't predict the minds of your enemies, especially desperate enemies."

"The Princess is not safe! She shouldn't be even outside!" The Left shouted. Shirahoshi bit her lip and tried to speak up but Luffy beat her to it.

"The Princess is safe with me! Should she be injured while being with me then punish me as you seem fit, but let me tell you this Ministers… Your Majesty… You have no right to lock her in a tower with no one but a pet shark as a company! You could have protected her by making sure she's not defenseless!" Luffy eyes glared at the den-den mushi, who suddenly a had startled expression which made her think that Zoro had directed the snails towards the fishmen and merfolk in the room.

"You don't know what your saying-Jamon!" Neptune said as he leaned down at the snail. "My daughter is safe in the tower!"

"SAFE FROM THE WEAPONS YES! BUT YOU CAN'T ALWAYS BE THERE TO PROTECT HER, ESPECIALLY IF THE PROJECTILE THAT'S THROWN AT THE TOWER ARE BEINGS THAT CAN OPEN THE DOOR! BY THE TIME YOU RESPOND TO HER CALLS IT'LL BE PROBABLY TOO LATE! YOU NOT ONLY MADE YOUR DAUGHTER SUFFER THROUGH HER PAIN ALONE, BUT YOU ALSO MADE HER AN EASY TARGET!" Luffy panted right after shouting at the King, who had a hurt expression as if he didn't realize those possibilities, even Jimbei, the ministers, and the soldiers thought the same. Shirahoshi covered her mouth, touched that someone had understood her, or somewhat at least, and told her father that she was in pain despite being safe within the tower.

'Luffy-sama… Outo-sama…'

"Because I brought the princess out, then I will protect her with my life. You can punish me if I failed on returning her to you unscathed." Luffy added, patting the shark's head. The King, however, couldn't respond to that and merely looked away from the snail. Zoro then turned the den-den mushi towards him.

"Where are you heading now?" He asked

"The Princess wanted to visit the Sea Forest, So I'm heading there." Receiving that answer, Zoro nodded.

"AH! Rear Admiral!" Nami shouted, grabbing Zoro's wrist and directed it towards her. "You need to be careful in Fishman Island! A fortune-teller of theirs had told the Princes and the Guards there that you would destroy the island, wearing a straw hat!"

"…"

"…At least that's what Gin said…" The Navigator mumbled when Luffy didn't answer her or even react to the statement. In truth, while Luffy was able to maintain her expression, she suddenly turned pale and was trembling. She inhaled quietly before speaking, forcing her voice to not tremble.

"Okay… I don't care about that prediction but I will contact Gin and we will head to the Sea Forest soon after I met up with him." Luffy said before her eyes went back to the creatures she was watching earlier. "Also, Zoro…"

"Yes, Rear Admiral?"

"Prepare yourself… I'm hearings and seeing unclear things that I don't like right now…" She mumbled, before looking away and keep her eyes ahead. "Ensure the safety of everybody."

"Roger."

Clank!

With Zoro and Co.

Zoro looked at the den-den mushi before his eyes snapped to the side where he saw a human leaning heavily on a lever that slowly lowered down.

"Ussop!" He shouted but it was already too late as the lever was already down, and the human had fainted.

"Wha-what's that for…" Nami asked as Zoro looked at her then at the Fishmen and Merfolk, who were blinking still in shock before his eyes landed on Jimbei.

"What's that lever for?" He asked, the Shichibukai looked at him. The present G6 Marines grew impatient when Jimbei didn't answer but after a minute or two later, he finally opens his mouth.

"That's the lever that opens the pathway between the palace and the island." The Fishman answered, making them looked at each other.

"So, shall we assume that whatever the Rear Admiral saw is heading this way?" Ussop asked as Brook laughed.

"Yohohohohoho! Don't forget that she was also listening despite it being unclear~ yohohohoho!"

"Tsk! Nami… contact Yu, inform him what is going on then head back to the ship! Take the Shichibukai with you…" Zoro stated as he headed towards the entrance. "Ussop, Brook, you stay here with me and prepare yourself, got it?"

"Got it, yohohohoho!"

"EEHHH? Hold on Zoro! Why should I stay here?!"

"Hold on! Why do I need to go?! And with him for that matter?!" Nami asked as she took a step towards their Marine Captain.

"That's right Zoro! At least let me go with Nami!" Ussop added but Zoro ignored his protest.

"Because right now… you want answers about Arlong, the Rear Admiral also wants answers as well, and the one who can give those are the people in this room but it can be guaranteed that we can get the correct answers from the person that we are assessing of, so GO!" Nami bit her lip at the answer that was given to her before she turned and grabs Jimbei 's hand and dragged him away, leaving them all stunned. The other fishmen and merfolk couldn't even react when suddenly Zoro spoke again just in time for the door to open.

"You heard the order of the Rear Admiral… Protect EVERYBODY!"

"E-eh? Matte Nami! Zoro!"

"Yohohohoho! Got it, Captain. "

With Luffy and Co.

Clank!

The Youngest Rear Admiral looked at her den-den mushi before inhaling deeply, followed by a deep exhale. The raven-haired girl did this multiple times for a few minutes, and after doing the last exhaling, she dialed the den-den mushi again, ringing only once before it was answered.

"Luffy?"

"Gin, where are you?" The Rear Admiral immediately asked right after hearing the voice of her Sue Chef, who sighed in relief.

"Camie and Pappag lead us to a shore a few meters away from the back of the café." Luffy blink before looking down and raised an eyebrow as she stated.

"Status?"

"… My 'Boss' seems to be dreaming still." Gin grumbled, glancing at the side, where Sanji was still daydreaming about mermaids. The former pirate sighed and pinch the bridge of his nose, defeated, while Chopper was looking for another way for Sanji's rehabilitation.

"Sanji…" Luffy started as the Shark following the direction she was pointing at. When she heard a happy 'yes' from her head chef, she added. "I will invite Iva-chan on our ship if you don't stop daydreaming."

POP!

"NNOOOOOOOOOO— mmmppphh!"

"Shut up, Sanji!" Gin shouted, throwing the snail towards Chopper, who caught it, as the said sue chef struggled and covered Sanji's mouth.

"Boys…" The three of them paused, blinking, while Camie and Pappag were looking behind them smiling with a hint of confusion, with the latter paling slowly, when the voice of their Rear Admiral was suddenly a lot closer and clearer. Turning to look behind them, they saw the shark that they rescued earlier, stuffed full and looked like he wants to puke, with Luffy standing on top of the said shark, looking at them with half-lidded eyes, reeking with disappointment. Gin and Chopper sheepishly smiled at her, while Sanji didn't know whether to react sadly or with a delighted smile.

"What are you boys doing?" She asked, said boys lowered their heads and played with the ground using their feet, pouting slightly at her disappointed tone.

"Sorry, Luffy…" They mumbled, making her sigh before gesturing to jump on the shark's head. They followed the silent order, with Gin carrying Camie in his arms, Pappag in the mermaid's arm. Luffy looks at them, making sure they have settled before patting the head of the shark, who shakily nods and swims away from their spot, just as they were hearing the voices of the Royal Soldiers, who were searching for them. Luffy's eyes turn into slits and blue for a few moments before it was back to normal. They saw the guard running in the direction they came from, looking around the place but the G6 Marines weren't bothered about being seen, Camie, and Shirahoshi, who they didn't know was there, blink when the guards shrug before going back to the direction they come from.

'That was weird, how come they didn't see us? We aren't that far from the spot yet.' Shirahoshi thought, before looking up and spoke. "Luffy-sama?"

"Hmmm?" Luffy hummed while the others blink in confusion when they suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice.

"How come they didn't see us? We aren't that far from the area yet."

"Ahh… They're just confused, Shirahoshi-hime." Camie's breath hitched, while Pappag turned blue.

"Then why are they confuse?"

"… I'll tell you when we're safe," Luffy mumbled before jumping from the shark's head and kicked a flying ax heading towards them away from them. Camie and Pappag shrieked, Gin, Sanji, and Chopper were on alert as Luffy landed back on Megalo's head, head tilted to the side, but her eyes were above them where they can see a large branch of a pink coral heading their way.

"SHIRAHOSHI!" It shouted. Said mermaid flinch, which made the Shark jerk, as well as all of them before they looked at the Rear Admiral, who had her lips pursed.

"Ne… Torikku…" Pappag started, his face color turned blue. "You mentioned Shirahoshi-hime… you don't mean our mermaid princess right? Because if it isn't that'll be a huge relief like you have no idea —"

"Yeah, that's the person I'm talking about." Luffy smiled at them rather innocently, completely forgetting about the coral that's following them and the person riding on it, shouting "She's with us, in fact, she's inside the shark."

…

"EEEHHH?!" Camie, Pappag shouted, while Sanji suddenly spun around and said.

"MERMAID PRINCESS?!"

Gin sighed, facepalming, wondering what kind of trouble they got themselves into, while Chopper blink trying to process the information before looking down at the shark they were standing on, and blinks once more.

"Did you say that there's a person inside this shark?" The doctor asked, Luffy nodded. Pappag and Camie crawled from their spot and towards the snot of the shark before leaning over and blink when they saw a pair of blue eyes blinking them, followed by a sheepish smile.

"H-hello…"

…

"EEEEKKK!" The two friends jump and backed away from the mouth, before the starfish went and jump on Luffy's arm, before pulling her hair.

"Ow!"

"What are you thinking, Torikku?! Why is the mermaid princess here?!"

"KORAAA! How dare you harm my Luffy-chwan~ ?!" Sanji roared, as he grabbed the starfish away, while Luffy pouted, rubbing her head. Gin shakes his head at their antics before patting Chopper's head, who was still wondering why there's a person inside the shark. Said Reindeer looked up and before the former pirate pointed at the coral that was following behind them, heading their way, then at their Rear Admiral, who snickered as she watched her cook and starfish friend fought, while Camie was crying as she tugged Luffy's coat.

"Luffy." Gin called but the Rear Admiral just gave him a side-glance followed by a smirk. He blinked twice when suddenly a black blur passed by his side and their beloved superior was no longer with Camie. They all looked behind Gin, blinking when the coral was already falling, smashed into pieces. A body was also flying away from the coral, heading toward the shore beneath them. Luffy landed gracefully back at the front of the Shark, not making any noise as her friends tried to process what happens and how?! Shirahoshi, who couldn't see anything blinks in confusion when she can no longer hear the voice of Vander Decken, nor the voice her companions create.

"Luffy-sama?" Shirahoshi called out, making Luffy leaned over and smiled at her.

"Don't worry! Your safe." The Mermaid Princess nodded at her response before going quiet and watch as they swim closer to the Sea Forest.

At the Sea Forest

Yu was pacing across the deck, frowning as he and the other Vendetta Marina waited for Nami and their Rear Admiral. Franky was seen talking to the brother of his Father Figure, Robin had left the ship, searching for a Poneglyph with a few other Loyal Subordinates of theirs. While the others had treated Hachi, who had suddenly fallen near their ship, gravely wounded. Yu glanced at the Octopus Fishman, before looking up and wish that Chopper was here because while they all know how to treat wounds, they are not on the same level as their doctor, who was more advance than them.

Gray watched as his leader paced in front of them, worried. Not that he could blame them, they have received a call from Nami minutes ago, about a prediction of Luffy destroying the island (how absurd), Luffy kidnapping the mermaid princess (not that shocking), and how the palace got invaded with a rebelling group of Fishmen. She left with the Shichibukai they were supposed to assess, a baby den-den mushi was also left with Brook, but seeing that they haven't received a call from him it's either they're safe or they're trapped. They all doubt it's the latter but it doesn't hurt to think like they are.

"YU!" The Leader of the Vendetta blink before looking up and smiled in relief when he saw Luffy waving at them, standing on top of a shark with Gin, Sanji, Chopper, Camie, and Pappag sitting behind her, looking all defeated or, in Sanji's case, in dazed admiration.

"Wanna bet they just found out that Luffy kidnapped a high figure of this island?" Peter teased, making his leader glared at him.

"I don't take sucker bets." His group giggled before they went and jump from the ship and landed in front of their Rear Admiral, who had jumped down from the shark, followed by her group. The crew who had stayed on the ship blink when the shark had tears in his eyes while looking like he wants to puke.

"What are you waiting for? Let her out!" Luffy smiled at the Shark, who hesitated for a moment before finally spitting out the mermaid princess, who shakes her head and slowly looked around the place. The whole crew blink, Sanji slowly absorbed the sight of a huge and beautiful mermaid in front of him. Shirahoshi took in the humans that were surrounding her, blinking at their relaxed postures, before looking at Luffy, who merely wink at her and turned to Yu to talk. The pink-haired princess went back to look at the blinking humans around her and hold a staring contest that was broken when Camie and Pappag shouted.

"AAAAHHH! IT'S REALLY SHIRAHOSHI-HIMEEEEE!" Luffy glance over her shoulder, giggling before looking back at Yu, who sighed.

"Please give me one good reason why you kidnapped a mermaid princess?" He asked patiently, like an older brother waiting for an answer from a very naughty sibling. Luffy smiled innocently at him and said.

"She was alone in the tower."

…

Yu blinked then his eyes went to the Mermaid Princess, who was now being entertained by Sanji, as Camie and Pappag are being consoled by Hana and Mina, who was smirking at each other with amusement. Gray and Peter were staring at the mermaid princess, who would stare back if Sanji wasn't in front of her before the swordsman's eyes went back to his Rear Admiral that was looking at the scene he saw with sad and longing eyes.

"I see." Was his only response. Pursing his lips he decided to change the topic and said. "Hachi is here, by the way."

"Hachi?!" Luffy beamed, making him smile before it was wiped out when he remembered the condition of the Fishman.

"Shit… Chopper!" He shouted gaining all of their attention as Luffy tensed. "Hachi is on the deck of the ship! He's wounded!"

"WHATTT?!" Chopper, Camie, and Pappag shouted before the Reindeer went and run towards the Ship, with the Starfish following. Sanji and Gin gathered around the two of them, with the former asking.

"What happened?"

"Well…"

"LUFFFYYY!" They all looked up, blinking when they all saw Nami running towards them, Jimbei following behind but soon after the Shichibukai froze when he saw the Mermaid Princess sitting there looking at the deck of the ship.

"Shirahoshi-hime!" He shouted, before running towards the Princess, who flinched and looked at him rather fearfully. Nami just ignored them as she went towards her savior, who blinked and merely welcome her with open arms.

"Nami?" She slowly asked as her navigator trembled, but before she knew it, Luffy's head got hit. Though everyone in the crew knew she didn't feel any pain (she never has since that day), it helps Nami calm a bit. Jimbei tense and went to stand in front of the Princess, who tilts her head and blinked in confusion, as they watch the orange-haired marine repeatedly hit her Superior.

"What on earth are you thinking?!" Nami finally stopped hitting Luffy and instead grabs her shoulder, shaking her like crazy as the Rear Admiral laughs. "Why did you go and kidnapped the Princess!?"

"Shishishishi!"

"Stop laughing! We were supposed to get some answers and yet you went ahead and kidnapped the princess?! You basically declared war, Luffy!"

"Ummm…" Shirahoshi started, not wanting for her first human friend to get in trouble because of her. "She didn't kidnap me." This made all of them look at her, shocked that she decided to help Luffy, especially Jimbie. "I… I sort of begged her to let me see the Sea Forest and visit my Mother's grave."

"Shirahoshi-hime…" Jimbei mumbled as tears slowly appear in the princess's eyes before Nami sighed in defeat and leaned on Luffy, who giggled.

"She was alone, Nami." The Rear Admiral merely chirped, which made her looked at the raven-haired girl.

"I know… I got it during the call." The Navigator pursed her lips as she looked at her crew. "But Brook, Ussop, and Zoro are in the palace."

"Why?" Gin asked.

"It was attacked by a group of rebelling Fishmen," Nami answered, before looking up and blink when she heard a voice that is very familiar to her.

"Nyuu… so Hody and the others had begun, nyuu…" Hachi said as he leaned heavily on the railings.

"HACHI?!" Those who weren't present when he arrived shouted, as he was slowly lowered by the crew. Luffy immediately heads towards the area he will be placed on, followed by Nami and Jimbei.

"What happened?!" Luffy asked as she leans beside him and frowned at the bandages that Chopper wrapped around him. Said Doctor jumped down beside them, carrying a bag of bandages.

"He got hurt bad, Luffy." This made the Rear Admiral scowled, before wiping it from her face and looked at the Mermaid, who was watching them with wide eyes, the ravenette could see fear leaking through.

"Shirahoshi-hime… why don't you go to your mother's grave while we continue to heal Hachi?" She suggested, Shirahoshi blinked and looked in the direction of her mother's grave, then back at Luffy before nodding. While she wanted to know more about what's going on, her desire to visit her mother's grave is stronger than what her brain wants. Besides, she had a feeling that her friend won't leave her in the dark.

"Why did you make her go Luffy?" Yu asked as they all glance at the mermaid princess. Luffy sighed before looking at Hachi then at Jimbei.

"Because I felt like this is something she can't bear to hear." She said, making eye contact with the Shichibukai.

"And that is?"

"The story that happened to this place… when the Queen Otohime was murdered."

…

"How did you know…?" Jimbei asked, tense but all he can see is the dazed eyes of the Rear Admiral, who was looking in the direction of the island.

"Jimbei-san… it's okay. I trust them." Hachi said as he was helped by Nami sit up. Jimbei looked at him, but the Octopus Fishman was merely looking at the ocean floor. "We, after all, did something bad."

"I thought Nami had already forgiven you for that Hachi?" Luffy asked, dazed eyes already gone, as Sanji spins around them in delight, carrying some teacups.

"Nyuu… she did but… it didn't change the fact that me, Arlong and others, had taken over her village, Cocoyashi, and Island." Jimbei gasps in shock and terror upon hearing that.

"We've given her a lot of pain… that we can't heal no matter how much we apologize!" The Shichibukai froze, not knowing what to say, as he stared at the Orange haired marine, who had given him such a cold treatment since the beginning they arrived, who was only relaxing around her superior that she had gained enough courage to look at him in the eye.

Meanwhile, Luffy was paying half attention towards them, it's not that she didn't care, but because she knew that the only way for some of Nami's pain to be gone, is to talk to the very person, who was rumored to be the one that ordered Arlong to invade East Blue. That and she's also paying attention to Shirahoshi, who was returning towards them, head tilted in confusion. Suddenly, Luffy's snapped towards Nami direction, whose hand had turned into a fist, face turning pale, as her eyes dilated.

"Nami…" Luffy called out, making her navigator looked at her immediately.

'Lu…ff…y…' Nami wanted to say, but all she could see and hear was Bellemere's death, Arlong's laughter, and nothing more matters… but then she could hear humming, which made her blink and look up, only to see Luffy creating the noise and swaying to its beat. She blinked again and looked down, listening to the noise her Rear Admiral is making and meditating like their doctor said she should do whenever she had a panic attack.

"Sounds like you had a terrible experience," Jimbei said nonchalantly, because… what can he say to that? This of course made Sanji react badly, but he was cut off by Nami.

"Yes." This made everyone look at her, even Luffy, who had to stop humming the moment she knew Nami was calm. "It would never make me change the way I feel about Arlong, but until I went to Sabaody Archipelago nearly seven months ago, I never knew that such tough Fishmen were persecuted by humans." Nami then told him how the things she saw in Sabaody was the same as Arlong Park that was built on her island, when she was done, it was Hachi who then spoke, how Arlong hated humans and that they went too far and hurt plenty, how they all yearned for the human world since they were kids, he went as far as going down on his hands and knees to bow down at Nami but Chopper tried to tell him to not push himself. It was only after that Jimbei told them of their history, how the pirates were attacking the island and that Whitebeard protected them, the incident of the Mariejois Twenty Years Ago, about Fisher Tiger, about the Queen and her Assassination.

By the end of it, the G6 Marines all didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do, so they all look at Luffy, who probably had more experience about this than anyone on their crew, being the bearer of the D and the one who have the Voice of All Things. Luffy knew that her crew was waiting for her to respond and she should but the person that needs to talk isn't her or one of her crew. And it seems that that person knew it too.

"I'm sorry," Jimbei said, bowing in front of Nami, who blinked in astonishment. "I… I wanted to stop Arlong from doing any ill-doing but the Marines he bought off didn't report to the Headquarters so I didn't know…"

"Whether you knew or not doesn't remove the fact that you let Arlong go to East Blue! I want you to commit Seppuku to atone for your sins!" Sanji declared.

"Enough…" Nami said softly, making the Shichibukai and the chef look at her in the eyes, blinking when there was a small smile on her face. "You made it clear that you didn't order Arlong to invade and cause pain to my island. The reason why I was hostile to you earlier because I thought that you ordered it. But you didn't, I despised Arlong but I bear no resentment to all of you Fishmen." Jimbei gives a small and relieved smile as he and Hachi suddenly have tears gathered in their eyes.

"I see… then I am indebted to you," Jimbei told her.

"Besides… I wouldn't meet my Rear Admiral if none of it happen." Nami looked at Luffy, softly. Said Superior, glance at her before smiling and went back to talking with Yu. "She's my savior."

Jimbei looked in the direction the orange-haired beauty was looking and wondered if the reason that she didn't hate them was because of the Young Rear Admiral. Nami chuckled upon seeing Gray dramatically collapsed beside Yu, whose eyebrow was twitching, before she moved away and towards the Princess, who was looking around in confusion, intending to update her on what happened in the palace. Jimbei watched Nami like a hawk before blinking when he heard some crying, and looking at the deck of a ship was… a Robot?... crying while Den was floating beside him, looking at the princess with wide eyes. The Shichibukai had to hold back a chuckled seeing the confused and shocked expression of a fellow Fishman.

"UWAAAHH!" Shirahoshi suddenly cried, which her present subjects looked at her in shock, wondering why or if the Marines hurt her, but all they saw was the humans trying to calm her down. It seems that they have told her what had happened in the palace, basing on her wails. Nami smiled sadly and patted her tail in comfort. Luffy blinks and smiled, not moving from her spot beside Yu, who was smirking proudly at their Navigator for being able to overcome her hatred for Fishmen despite what happened to her island and she was able to calm the princess down.

"Not going to talk to the Princess?" Gray asked, looking at Luffy, who glances at his spot on the soil. "You did bring her here."

"I know…" She answered and looked in the direction of the Princess she 'kidnapped'. "There are bad effects of me bringing the Princess here, but I want her to have the peace and freedom, albeit, for a short while, her heart is yearning for."

"I bet the good effect of bringing her here is that she's free from whoever attacked the palace," Yu grumbled, making Luffy hummed in agreement, before they walk towards the group, Gray, being the lazy bastard he currently is, just rolled on the ground until he bumped into Yu's leg, who glared at him but did nothing.

"Nami…" She called out, Nami hummed in response as she smiled at the Princess. "When you left Zoro and the others, what was the status of the King and his people?" This made all present stand in attention as Nami paused, then immediately turned to look at Luffy with wide eyes.

"I forgot!" She yelled, making her smile amusedly as some snickered or facepalm. "I planned to head back to the palace once I meet up with you and the others after bringing the Shichibukai here."

"The Captain was following your orders, Ussop was being dramatic but he and Brook stayed. The King and his people weren't restrained nor were they injured during the first attack. We made sure of it." Luffy tilts her head to the side, smiling gratefully, which made Nami nod back.

"Nyuu…" Hachi grunted as he slowly sat up with the help of Camie. "If the others are fighting Hody, we need to do something. He's a lot worse when it comes to hating humans, Nyuu."

"How worse can he be Hachi?" Peter asked as he leaned against the ship. "Because during that fight between you guys? I'm pretty sure Arlong is on the top of the list."

"Nyuu… Arlong-san would not hurt his kind… Hody has no reservation, especially if they feel compassion to humans." Every pair of eyes of Luffy's crew darken at that, finally knowing, or at least an idea, how Hachi got those grave wounds, that and the thought of hurting a crew or friend is a taboo for them. "The Reverie that will happen every four years is only three or two years away, something that Neptune will attend."

"Does Hody wish to stop that? It will be a long time before it'll happen." Jimbei said, but Hachi merely shakes his head and said.

"There is much more to it." But before he could continue, Luffy, Yu, Gray, and Sanji tense, before looking to the side just as Chopper spots a den-den mushi crawls out of the forest.

"That's a visual den-den mushi hooked up to a monitor," Den muttered, finally shaking away the shock of seeing their Mermaid Princess in public. And then a Hody image comes on a nearby TV screen before he began addressing the entire island. Everyone present had their eyes narrowed, anger was found in the eyes of their fishmen companions when they found out that their fellow kins were forced to step on the fumi-e of Queen Otohime, getting angrier when Hody went as far as announcing that he will behead King Neptune in three hours, at the plaza, and those who had signed the petitions for the Reverie will be sought out and killed.

Luffy tilts her head to the side, letting her hair cover her eyes, blocking them from sight when the self-proclaimed King called her by her epithet.

"And that Dumb Marine Bitch! The Favored Rear Admiral Torikku Meiiden!" Every single Marine growled as they reach for their weapon as if it would help them. "Take a good look at your Subordinates! "

The fishmen that was with the Marine flinched when they heard all of them growls as they all saw a live feed of Zoro, Usopp, Brook in a cage of a room that was slowly being filled with water.

"I will drown your crew after I kill the King! And I will come after you for stopping and arresting Arlong! More so, I will hold you hostage so that we can invade the Mariejois and kill every single human being's insight! After that… it'll be your head." The video transmission was then cut off, Sanji exhaled a huge quantity of smoke as his eyes narrowed upon hearing the threat that was made for his Rear Admiral.

"How did he knew about Luffy?" Yu asked, looking at Hana and Mina, who were both standing beside Peter, frowning. "Even going as far as telling us that he will use Luffy as bait… how did he know to do that?"

Jimbei frowned upon hearing that and headed towards them.

"May I asked what do you mean?" He asked as the Vendetta Marina started to gather around and looked at him. "Isn't it common knowledge that she's a favored one?"

"No!" They all hissed, as Luffy put her point and thumbing finger on her chin. "Those who knew about Luffy's status in Mariejois is only between the citizens there and the people working with the World Government! The Shichibukai who knew her is even sworn to secrecy!"

"All but Shichibukai Jimbei…" Luffy mumbled as she turned her heads toward them. "He didn't attend the meeting where I first met them, my best guess was when he saw me in the previous meetings and the other Shichibukai talk about me, he guessed what I am to the people in Mariejois."

They frowned in realization and looked at the Shichibukai, who looked surprised at what he just learned.

"Why would they hide that you're a favored Marine?"

"It's not the only thing they are hiding…" Luffy said as she fully turned to look at the Fishman. "Outside my trusted circles, the Citizens in Mariejois, and the Marines, my very existence is concealed."

"WHAT?!" Jimbei shouted as Den, Hachi, Camie, and Papag looked at her in shock, the latter three were gasping in shock. "Why would they do that?"

"We'll talk about that at some other time," Gray said as he finally stood up from his spot, as all of them formed a semi-circle around Luffy. Luffy's soon-to-be Operation Team Leaders started to head towards her as well, knowing that when the Vendetta Marina form a semi-circle around her, they would plan their next course of action.

"What I want to know is how Hody knew about you." Luffy hummed in thought before sighing and grumbled.

"Ussop…" Everyone took a minute to process that thought before they sighed and/or facepalmed.

"Of course…" Yu grumbled as Gray shakes his head. "We need to plan what to do next."

"Well… fortunately, we had our Rear Admiral to lead us and save our crew right, Leader-san?" Everyone blink before turning to look in the direction where the voice was coming from, Sanji's eyes immediately turn into hearts.

"Robin!" They all shouted as their Archeleogist, along with their fellow Marines walk towards them.

"Luffy!" The Archeleogist giggled followed by the greetings of her subordinates. Luffy smiled at them as they got closer.

"Robin! Did you have fun?" She asked, getting another giggle in response, which probably means 'yes'.

"The Demon Child Nico Robin!" Jimbei blurted out, blinking at the sight of the person who's been wanted since she was a child, standing in front of him and the Mermaid Princess, wearing a marine uniform and alive, free. Luffy tilted her head down, covering her eyes with her hair as all eyes went to Jimbei, who realized he might have made a mistake. Robin blinks before chuckling and then they all relaxed.

"Hello, Shichibukai-san." Robin greeted as she stood beside Luffy, smirking amusedly when the Shichibukai shakes his head and tried to ignore that she, who's been chased by the World Government for years, is working under the organization that's been directly being lead by the World Government.

"Have you heard what's going on?" Gin asked as Sanji delightfully served her some tea.

"I did…" Robin answered. "Though this situation is something we shouldn't be involved right, Luffy?"

Luffy's lips pursed, knowing that Robin was right. The situation here in Fishman island is a civil matter, and any civil conflict is to be avoided, at least that's the order of the Gorosei… something that's Luffy has been ignoring for a long, long time. Jimbei made a choking noise when he heard Robin said that they shouldn't get involved and tried to reason with them when Luffy suddenly spoke.

"Yes… we shouldn't be involved…" She admitted, Jimbei's hand turned into a fist, while the rest of the Fishmen and Merfolk, standing around them, turn away sadly, excluding the Mermaid Princess, who had no idea what's going.

"But… this Hody guy hurt one of our friends…" Luffy muttered darkly as she glared in the direction where she 'heard' Hody's voice at. "He had our friends trapped in a cage… I can't ignore that, can I?" Luffy asked her crew rather teasingly, making them snort and snickered.

"Caging and/or hurting our friends is a declaration of war for you." Gin mumbled making Luffy beam before Yu hit her head.

"That's not a compliment! You also declared war by kidnapping the princess!" Robin chuckled before she stepped forward and said.

"Well, the Rear Admiral always give back the people she kidnapped… after she got what she wanted." They all looked at Luffy, who wasn't even bothered when she was punched by and in fact, seems to be excited about something. Nami sighed as she stood beside Jimbei, who had no idea what's going on.

"Looks like we're fighting against Hody…" She mumbled, making the Shichibukai looked at her in shock.

"What?! Why would you do that?!" He asked, looking at Luffy, who was yanking Yu's arm like a brat wanting their parent to buy them something. "But you could just rescue your crewmembers and leave us be!"

"We could…" Sanji mumbled as he stood beside Nami, smoking. "But, as Luffy-chwan said, they harm our Nakama, Camie, Pappag, Hachi, and Shirahoshi-chan is our Nakama, so whoever dared to try to harm them is on our shit list and we will deal with them properly."

"But…"

"Nakama is Family! And Family is Forever!" Luffy grinned as the Vendetta Marina all had faces of defeat. "We're fighting against Hody!"

"AYE!" Jimbei blinks and shakes his head, not believing what was going on, and just as he was about to speak, he looked at his kin and saw the relief they are feeling.

"…Jimbei-san…" Hachi, the one who noticed him staring, started making Camie and Pappag look and smile at the Whaleshark Fishman. "They can help us… we just need to give them a chance and… trust them, nyuu."

"I agree with Hachi, Boss Jimbei," Den stated from his spot near the railings. Shirahoshi sniffled before inhaling deeply and said to Jimbei.

"I… Luffy-sama said that she would protect me, she and her crew…" The Pink-haired Princess gave a small smile at the Shichibukai. "And she's protecting me so much that I feel so safe with her."

"Are you saying… that you will trust the Rear Admiral to help us and save our island, Princess?" Jimbei asked, making Shirahoshi nodded in delight.

"Hai!"

"I see… however…"

"However…" Hana started as they began to surround Jimbei, who was still trying to process that a group of humans is willing to help them. "All Fishmen and Merfolk believe that we hate them, and vice-versa…"

"If Luffy tried to battle with Hody and us against his crew, even if it helps the island overcome this crisis, witnessing us knocking down Hody, who is standing against humans… would make the islander think that things will never change.." Gin said.

"But if we left now, Fishman Island would be under Hody's rule and, we have so many friends on the island, we can't just turn a blind eye," Sanji said as Jimbei shakes his head, but before the Shichibukai could speak, he continued. "Hey, Hachi."

"Nyuu?"

"You've been trying so hard to hide who did that to you… but you said a while ago… that Hody attacks Fishman who is sympathetic to humans. Did you get beaten by them because you spoke up for us?" Everybody looked at Hachi, who look away from them, despite Camie asking him.

"You not speaking means it's the truth," Hana said as Mina smirked.

"Do you remember what Luffy said? Hody hurts one of our friends and that includes you, Hachi."

"Shichibukai-san, I think part of the reason why our Rear Admiral wants to fight is that this is our Nakama's home, your home. We all knew the feeling of losing a home, and because of that, if our Rear Admiral wants to fight, we will go along with her." Robin stated

"She's right, we can't just leave."

"We have our reasons to fight."

"And…" Luffy started. "Thinking that someone is inferior merely because of their species is dumb. I think fishmen and merfolk are awesome." Luffy gave a bright smile to Jimbei, who gulped and mumbled.

"But… I'm sure not all of your crew agrees to this." Just as he finished speaking, all humans present suddenly felt something heavy is pressing them down. They tensed, unconsciously, as they looked their Rear Admiral, who had her head tilted to the side, covering one eye with her hair, while the other was looking at the lower ranking marines, who gulped.

"Who among you hates the Fishmen and Merfolk?"

…

"Who among you will not help us?"

…

…

.

Yu snorted as he eyed the marines, who despite being tense, was able to look at their Rear Admiral with determination with no hesitation or a hint of deceit in their eyes.

"You know, not answering the Rear Admiral shows how much your willing to sacrifice for people that are quite different from us."

"We know… we just have no reason to lie to the Rear Admiral." Hearing the response of one of her subordinates, without hesitation or a hint of lying, the heavy feeling disappeared and she was smiling delightfully at them. Jimbei looked at all of them in confusion, shock, and with a hint of hope and awe.

'Queen Otohime and Brother Fishertiger would like these humans.' He thought, as a smile slowly started to form on his face, and tears dripping down from his eyes as all of the leaders of this particular crew, began to gather and plan. Luffy then turned to look at him and gestured with her head for him to come closer, he blinked as her action made a few of her crew looked at him, waiting for him patiently to come and help them plan a way to save their crew and his King. He grinned as he joined their meeting and joined the circle that they have formed. And as one, they think and plan of a way to beat Hody and his Crew.

---

TBC

A/N: I have nothing to say, aside from... holy gosh... I nearly made this 50k words if I didn't split this chapter in half and put the other on chapter 8... gosh... Welp... this also means that whatever I plan for chapter 8 will be moved to 9... I really need to stop moving the plans... hahaha. Hope you guys liked this story and enjoyed it!

A/N: Stay safe!

Status:

Chapter 8 - Outline 80% (it was originally Editing with 20 % but... Chapter 7 happen and...yeah)

Chapter 9 - Outline 20% (had to redo it)

Reviews

KanaeAnne: You're very much welcome! And yes hahaha I really want to create a scene where Whitebeard is thinking of grandkids, I mean, he already has his sons and daughters, so the only thing he might (will) be wanting is to have grandkids to spoil to... Though... he didn't know that his grandkids would be a D as well as a Monkey... Meh, he can survive the little monsters *grins* . Oh yeah, the brothers' reaction towards Marco... *snickers* hopefully they won't have a flaming turkey for dinner hahaha. And yes, that is the story I will be adopting and it shall be posted on AO3 only. It should be up on my next update to this story, hopefully. Hahaha, I totally understand that hahaha, well, I hope you like this chapter and looking forward for your reviews of this story as well as the Admiral! Thanks for the review!

galdonesgwyndyl: You're very much welcome! I know, time flies so fast, I really thought I didn't update for a year, I do apologize for that. Thanks for the review!

iyulia juuzou: Sorry I have to use google to translate your message for me, but if Google is right, then I will try my best to have more scene of Marco gaping or stunned by Luffy's action hahahaha,Thanks for the review!

Akakuro dan Bbbfang: You're very much welcome! And I'm glad you like my story and do take care of your health as well, I'm more than happy if my story makes you happy ^_^ . Big Brothers' reactions to Luffy and Marco getting married as well as her being a marine, will either end in a bloodbath or the whole WG turning into hell... oh well, they deserve it somehow hahaha. Thanks for the review!

SerenaDragneel: It's totally fine if the review is late, hahahaha as long as there is one, I'm fine with it! Yeah I do apologize for the prev chapter not having that much of an event. Though... it seems that the one you hope for this chapter isn't really much there hahaha. I hope reading this one, will make you more excited ^^. It's fine if you haven't read Luffy's DF, I am still trying my best to make it look it's possible in canon hahaha. Take care of yourself as well! Thanks for the review and I hope you like this story ^_^

sousie: Awww... Thank you!

Phoenix-san: Thanks! The reactions of the older brothers will be something that is... uhh... probably worth the wait. Hahahaha, and Marco's reaction to finding out that the one he wants to be with is the younger sister of two sis-con? Now that is something we all want to see hahaha, hopefully, he won't be turned into dinner haha. Thanks for the review!

Akari starlight: Updated! Thanks for the review!

Birdie-san: It will be a lot of fun, hahaha. Though I can also imagine how the two of them would find out that Marco took a bath with their baby sister, hahaha. Canon-wise Luffy is very blunt, not even bothering to hide or ashame of doing something that isn't supposed to be done. I'll try to keep that on this Luffy hahaha.

Scenario: In the future, on the moby dick.

Luffy: *dragging Marco from the Kitchen*

Ace and Sabo: *saw Luffy drags Marco away and frowns when they realize she's leading him to the bathroom*

Sabo: Hey Lu! Where are you going? *walks behind them with Ace beside him*

Luffy: *looks at her brothers and smiles* taking a bath!

...

...

Ace: And why are you dragging Marco with you...?

Marco: *pales as he realized why*

Luffy: *blinks* Because we're going to take a bath together again.

...

Sabo: A-again *grits teeth* *turns to Marco together with Ace* *gives the bird a death glare*

Luffy: Yup! I took a bath with him when he stayed with me when I first rescued him *glance at Marco* I did worry about him when his nose started to bleed when I started to shower myself... are you okay to take a bath with me again?

Ace & Sabo: *thoughts* "nose... bleed... bath... again... shower... nosebleeding..."

Marco: *chokes* are you trying to kill me yoi!?

Luffy: *grins* of course not! but we still need to go to the bathroom! Come on, I'll let you wash my back this time!

Everyone: *shivers as dark aura surrounds the two sis-con* *backs away*

Marco: *looks at the sky and begged for whatever kami there is that he will still be alive to spend the rest of his days with Luffy*

Ace & Sabo: *becomes demon incarnate* *glares at Marco with one eye* YOU DAMN PERVERTED OLD MAN!

Marco: *flies away as the brother chases after him*

Luffy: *blinks* are they playing with each other?

Everyone: *facepalm*

Whitebeard: Gurararara, yes they are my dear daughter, yes they are.

Ace & Sabo: GET BACK HERE YOU DAMN TURKEY!