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Chapter Eight
Meanwhile everywhere in the World
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"Sir! We have received notice from Vice Admiral Garp of the capture by a bounty hunter of a man calling himself King Wapol of Drum, Captain of the Bling Pirates, sir! He requests that someone goes and retrieves this man discretely, in order not to raise too much waves around the population of Drum and the surrounding islands."
Sitting behind the desk, a marine wearing a floral-patterned button up shirt rolled his eyes and scratched his beard.
"Wapol, uh? We did receive some notices and complaints about him. I agree with Garp. Contact the marines closest to the route of those Bounty Hunters." Looking over at the transcript of Garp's report, the Marine raised his brows. "Looks like it's that granddaughter of his again. Get Wapol here so we can decide what to do."
"Sir, yes Sir!"
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"Well, this is certainly a conundrum, isn't it, fleet Admiral?"
Sengoku rolled his eyes, eying his Admirals and closest Vice Admirals in turn. "So it seems." He said sighing, raising his hand to pet the tiny goat munching on some grass by his desk.
Tsuru pursed her lips, clearly done with all their antics. "First you have a world noble turning into piracy and raiding merchant ships while using his name like there is no tomorrow. Then we have a Shishibukai openningly attempting to overthrow one of the oldest monarchies in the world, only to be stopped, not by Marines, but by a group of bounty hunters, and now you have a request from that same monarchy to pardon Nico Robin, one of the most well-known bounties from the south blue. And you call it a conundrum?"
Garp hummed as he bit into one of his rice crackers, clearly in a good mood. "That was my granddaughter and her friends that helped protect Arabasta. Isn't she amazing! Bwahahahahaha!"
"Finally, one of your descendants has some sense of justice. Although it still falls short, or she would have become a Marine as she should have."
Garp kept munching on, happily ignoring the party pooper called Akainu.
"The best course of action is to call up the Shishibukai to discuss who will be called in to replace Crocodile." Came from Aokiji.
"That will not be enough" Sengoku sighed. "The world government will not be happy with the news coming from Arabasta. I have already received orders from Kong to make sure we contact the press in order to make sure the news do not get out of hand."
The others nodded, clearly having expected the orders.
In his seat, Garp sighed and sadly bit into another cracker. And people still asked him why he didn't want to become an Admiral.
"There will be a promotion for Captain Smoker and his second in command then?" Aokiji asked, sounding bored.
"Yes. We will contact him shortly with the news. Tsuru, please coordinate with the communications department so they can write some statements to send to all the major news outlets."
"Very well" The old woman nodded, her face betraying none of her personal feelings. "And the rest of the… conundrums?"
Garp snickered, once again feeling a sense of amusement at the others expenses.
"The bounty hunter's actions should be referred in the news, let's use them as an example of good citizenship. That way we can show that their actions are an extension of the world government." Akainu proposed.
"Hum… it's a good possibility. But we must be careful not to lay it out too much. We must not let something like that get out of control."
"Agreed"
"And that fool Wapol?"
"That is not our jurisdiction. He falls under the world nobles. So will Nico Robin."
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"I knew he was a fool, but I did not expect such an idiotic thing" A white haired man with a black hat and a walking cane commented, shaking his head in exasperation.
"A fool will always be a fool." One of his companions offered. "The rest of the world nobles are in agreement that he no longer serves any purpose. A disgrace such as him should be left in Impel Down to regret his foolishness." A tall man with long white hair and a beard stated evenly.
"Very well." Kong nodded at his superiors, making a mental note to give the orders to transport the prisoner to his final destination.
"Are we certain that word of the events involving Wapol have not travelled far from Drum?"
Kong nodded once again, this time at a younger looking man that still retained his blond hair. "Yes, sir. No mention of it was made in any news outlet. It has been as contained as it could be."
"Very well. Let us close this matter for now." An older man sitting down with his sword in his lap called Kong's attention. "The matter of Arabasta must be closed as soon as possible."
"Yes, I have already contacted Sengoku. He has put out a statement lauding Captain Smokers efforts and has contacted the man himself for his promotion."
"Very well. It will be enough for now, but we must carefully monitor the actions of this Bounty Hunters group. What else is known of them?"
"We have compiled a folder on each member for your perusal." Kong passed over the files to each of the men, being careful to note each of their expressions. "They call themselves a crew, and not a group or organization. They do not seem to take bounty hunting as an absolute profession, only going after what we could consider the worst type of pirates. The ravaging pillaging scum type. Captain Smoker reported that they did not even attempt to capture fire fist Ace when they came upon him in Arabasta, which might be a as much as self-preservation as anything else."
"Hum. Not totally improbable."
"Still, Monkey D. Luffy. I don't care that she is Monkey D. Garp's granddaughter. Make sure to keep a close eye on her. A very close eye."
"Yes. These Straw Hat Bounty Hunters are useful, for now. But they will not be so forever."
"It will be taken cared of." Kong guaranteed, giving another nod.
"Good. What else is still to be discussed?"
"The request by Nefertari Cobra regarding Nico Robin, sir"
"Send word to Nefertari Cobra that his request has been granted." The younger one said, raising from his chair at the conclusion of the issues to be dealt with on the meeting. "It is no great sacrifice in the short term, if it helps keep Nefertari happy and contained."
"Yes." The oldest one nodded. "It will make the girl come out of the shadows for once. We will then be able to take advantage of such a thing at the most appropriate moment."
Kong nodded once more. "Very well. It shall be done.
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"A promotion? What promotion? If it wasn't for the Straw Hats, we would all be dead!"
…
"Tell them they can shove that promotion up their asses!"
A trail of smoke billowed out over the deck as a certain white-haired man exhaled loudly.
"Bloody bastards"
"Hina annoyed. You know they have to do this, don't you?"
"Tch. I'm not stupid. But I also have no interest in playing these games. It's not like they are pirates."
"It's not like they are marines either. A certain image must always be kept, and you know it."
"Whatever."
"Hina frustrated. Who would have thought that you would have so much in common with that girl's grandfather?"
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The island was bigger than he had realized before.
All the ancient trees made the land they stood on look smaller than it was, but after weeks and weeks of training, he could now understand its exact size.
To the east stood the old city, the ruins calling out to him more than any other place, as the bright Voice of his captain called back to him in excitement. She was with their archeologist, most likely exploring all the ancient temples for interesting stuff.
To the south he could feel the navigator helping the inhabitants of these lands scavenging for more lost materials from the other, more recent, ruins.
The sniper was with the doctor and cook on the ship, trying to apply some of the new technology they had acquired to their battered home.
And in his hands, his three swords called out to him, their voices clear and in tune, with one another and with himself, now more than ever before.
With a smirk, Roronoa Zoro opened his eyes.
This was how one became stronger.
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"Princess Vivi, Miss Minmin sent the report with the figures for this month"
"Ah! Thank you. What did it say?"
"The Guild has grown much faster than expected in the North and South blue. They have expanded the workplace to the first floor of the building in order to be able to take care of the calls, and that meant acquiring a few more den den mushi."
"Are the finances sound?"
"Yes, everything seems to be in order. Word is spreading faster than expected even in the weakest sea in East blue, but everything seems manageable for now. However, it is predicted that in one to two years it will be necessary to open up new branches."
"Um. We will see how it goes. Please keep monitoring the situation."
"Yes, princess Vivi!"
"Good. Now bring me my den den mushi. I want to give these news to Luffy."
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"Good morning, this is the Bounty Hunters Guild, Kiki speaking. How may I help you?"
The sound of several different voices echoed all around the room, as every talking snail had something to report.
"Yes, the guy can turn himself into a Bear. That was totally out of the blue, so I thought it should be reported back to you guys."
"Ah, yes, Vikar Island is the last known location of Rati, the mad priest, worth 10 million. His known abilities are…"
"I'm calling to say that the bastard is finally dead. Thank you very much…"
"Ah! Right, right. So, I just got to this island, right? And what do I see? This big man with very curly dark hair and a beard. Not nice looking at all. Travelling with four guys all weird looking…"
"… Hunters Guild, this is Barek speaking. How can I help you?"
"… and there is no way can I take a guy worth 20 million that can turn himself into mud. Is there anyone close by that could give a hand?"
"… Oh! And he seemed to be eating pie like it was his first meal in ages! I swear he looks just like that new poster that just came out last month. That guy they called the Blackbeard."
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"Hey, Marco, they want you in the comms room."
"What for?"
"Dunno. Someone wants to talk to you?"
"No shit, I would have never have thought it was something like that?!"
"Tche. Sarcastic bastard."
"I heard that!"
"You were supposed to!"
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"Makino, you have a package!"
"Oh? What could it be?"
Carefully unwrapping the package, the barmaid opened up the box only to find a strange looking and very pale snail, surrounded by half dead lettuce leaves.
Looking around, Makino quickly found a new container to put the snail on, promptly giving it enough water and leafy things for it to drink and eat.
Satisfied that the snail was looking happier already, Makino went back to the box to look for clues on the origin of her new, and mysterious, invertebrate guest.
Spotting a letter half hidden under the wrapping paper, Makino opened it up and her eyes quickly read over the contents, a happy smile taking over her features.
Dear Makino,
I hope you are doing well. I've made my way to Logue Town, and from here I will go to the grand line. Letters will be hard to send, so I decided to send you a den den mushi instead, so that we can just talk to each other whenever we want.
It's kind of hard to explain how the snail works, so I sent a manual for you to read, it's under the box! I do know that they eat whatever other snails eat though!
I miss you lots! Call my ship's snail as soon as you can! The number is XXX XXX XXX.
Lots of love,
Luffy.
PS – I hope the snail arrived alive!
Laughing at what was definitely her little girl's words on paper, Makino scooped out the manual to read.
She had someone to call soon!
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THE END
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Thank you for the reviews, for favouriting and following this story.
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So, plans for the future…
I'm already thinking part two of Paradise. I had been rewatching the episodes as I was writing this fic, to make sure I didn't get something majorly wrong, and I am now doing that for the second part too, at least for the most important parts.
Lots of people asked about Enis Lobby, and I already have that arc all mapped out in my head. That one will not be a problem. My big question marks right now are Foxy the Silver Fox, and Ace.
On Foxy – Is he smart enough to keep away from a bounty hunter? Or would he try to entice one to a Davy Back fight? Because Luffy has no reason to participate in a Davy Back fight, she isn't a pirate… And Foxy isn't stupid enough to annoy a bounty hunter… Or is he?
On Ace:
1 – Do I have to kill him off to make Luffy become more mature and aware of her weaknesses and of the mortality of her friends and family? – I don't really think so. This Luffy is already aware of all those things, as I hope I made clear.
2 – Should Ace die anyway, because there is no reasonable way of saving him? – Well, here is where I find myself uncertain. Because Luffy is a bounty hunter, not a pirate. If Ace is caught and she goes to help him, she will become a pirate and so will her nakama. Should I go that route? Or does it seem feasible that Ace would no longer be caught by Blackbeard after all the differences that Luffy caused in the timeline? Because, if he isn't caught… then, there would be no war and no repercussions of the war… and everything would be different and I would have a headache just trying to figure out what everything would mean… And who else would Blackbeard catch in order to become a shishibukai? Could this other person cause the same type of war that Ace caused? Maybe?
Decisions, decisions…
Help me out, please! Let me know what you think!