Momonosuke was dizzy, and Luffy told him to stop moving. He might be starved now. Luffy bent the ceiling metal after shoving one arm in, and found himself in the biscuit room, no children inside but covered in snow. He pulled them both out, and Luffy saw the gas coming right through the doorway. Momonosuke was ordered to not let go, and held on tightly while Luffy ran with gear second, going through hallways and down stairs, trying to find the scent of anyone else. He heard a blaring alarm and followed that noise. They passed that woman from before, only she was melted with the snow, and looked to be severely injured and scared. She wasn't giving them a hard time, though, thankfully.
"We'll get you something to eat real soon," Luffy said when the dragon was limper and his stomach was grumbling furiously. He ran with him, running towards the sound of people. Looking on either side, they were surrounded by poison clouds. People had already passed here. How had they gotten through?
Luffy sucked in a bunch of air and inflated his body, and then burst all of that air out as he used gear second to continue through the break in the clouds. They came out in the main corridor, but they were too late and that door was closed. Shit! They were too late! The poison was nearing the door.
Luffy jumped down, and used his haki covered fingers to dig into the middle of the door, and pry it open. He tossed Momonosuke inside and squeezed himself in and then forced the doors closed together. The captain panted and then picked up Momonosuke again. Luffy started to see pirates running around him. From the war.
With death behind them, they could only go forward. "Momo! Keep saying my name, over and over!" Luffy ordered. As he ran through the battlefield, the only thing that kept him knowing he wasn't there was Momonosuke saying his name in his ear over and over. When they reached the next gate, which was also closed, Luffy kicked it in.
Breaking through the door was like when he burst a hole in the wall.
"Charge men!"
"Hurry! We can't let Ace die!"
"Luffy, Ace's little brother!"
"Luffy! Luffy! Luffy!" the teen took deep breaths even as the gas pooled in from either side. He was panting and just going in the right direction until the vision faded, and he was back.
"Thanks Momo, you're a lifesaver!" Luffy said. The dragon boy didn't know what was so special about it. Luffy heard Law from another room, running past it. He looked exhausted and pale. Luffy recognized that look. The pale skin and shaking hands, the sudden bags under their eyes. Luffy froze, and went to the nearest guy he heard breathing, already unconscious.
Luffy dragged him into the other room, and threw him at Law's feet. Well, that proved Ace's theory. Momo asked what was happening inside the room. "The other guy has medicine for him," Luffy lied. Well, it was kind of true. Then Law came out of the room, looking much better. They didn't say a thing about what happened.
"Get ready to run right now," Law said seriously. Luffy could smell that Vergo inside the room. Luffy watched in shock as Law sliced the entire mountain the building was on apart. Immediately, gas started to flow in as the sounds of busted machines and rushing water were heard.
"A monster!" Momonosuke shouted.
Law said, "Ace-ya got caught up with a fight and lost Caesar." He and Luffy were running to the place Law knew they should go. Luffy swore. He wasn't worried about Ace, though. Or anybody. He could smell his crew had come through here or at least near here. But the smell of the gas had been burning his sinuses for a while, just not bad enough to damage them. It only hurt and gave him a headache.
"So where is he now?" Luffy asked, pumping his tired legs.
"In the control room, most likely," Law replied. Momonosuke was annoying on his back now. And Law was now in better shape than Luffy was. Luffy sniffed out seastone, and ran into the room adjacent to the main room. He had Momonosuke get off of him, and grabbed a handful of seastone handcuffs.
He put one over his shoulder and the other two in either hand. He went to the monitor room and kicked the door open. Momonosuke was to be left in the hallway. He could hear others around them, good guys. They would come here soon enough. He and Law saw Brownbeard laying on his face, covered in tears and injuries. Guns were pointed at them and Luffy let out that scary aura, and felt Law doing the same beside him. Everyone in the room cowered, even though they were not animals.
"Caesar! Come here right now and I won't bash your brains out," Luffy threatened in a low voice. Law just stood next to him, looking scary, too. "All of you, open the back door!" Caesar didn't come to them, and Luffy threw one of the pairs of handcuffs at his neck, causing him to fall back and choke. Luffy wanted to scare him like he'd managed to not do in front of the impressionable kids.
Luffy walked up the stairs to him. Caesar took the oxygen away from the whole area, and Luffy didn't care. He grabbed Caesar by the cheeks, and asked if he was too scared to fight back. But he seemed to, his devil fruit wasn't working as he was stared in the eyes by a living demon. Luffy looked nothing like how he usually did and had this whole time.
He slammed Caesar's face into the floor and cuffed him in seastone, both the wrists and ankles. He threw him over his shoulder. And both he and Law relaxed the fearful feeling, and Momonosuke stopped cowering. "The monsters are gone now," Luffy said. "I can't carry you anymore, I got this loser, now."
Compared to Law, Luffy had had the whole situation relatively easy. He listened for his crew, but found much of them were not with the others. Law was on the computer or whatever it was but Ace appeared, carrying one of the huge kids on his back. "Yo, Luffy! Glad you're okay!"
Luffy nodded. "I found Momonosuke. He's a dragon now, though," Luffy said, pointing to the dragon with low blood sugar. Then he pouted. "I barely got to fight anybody. I just scared Caesar and then cuffed him."
"Well, we can't all be lucky. You fought a lot at Fishman Island, though," Ace replied. Zoro came over and hugged him. Smoker was heavily injured, too, it seemed. The poison gas was seeping in through the cracks in the place by Law's huge slice. Why'd he do that while they were still there?!
Luffy was tired. It had been a long day, it felt. So much had happened. He reunited with Ace for a while, made an alliance with Law, found out he was definitely like what Luffy was, caught an enemy easily, and then found a dragon! Looking back at it, though much of it was stressful near the end, it was a super fun and interesting adventure! Now they just had to get out alive.
They heard the screeching sound of metal and could sense something big coming towards them. "Get on, it's our only way out," Law said. Everyone helped load the sick and injured up onto the huge cart as the rest climbed in. Momonosuke was crying over Kin'emon, who had gone after the wrong dragon, and foolishly dived into the poison gas.
It was sad he only got fixed up to die right after, but it was also his fault for being reckless. Though Luffy might have done the same thing for somebody he loved. Law pulled Luffy away from Zoro. "I'm not gonna tell anyone, but if you're on our ship it'll be hard to hide it. Ace already suspects." Luffy grinned. "And I have some awesome stuff to show you, too!" Referencing the blood stone and what they knew about its effects on humans and animals.
Luffy bounced away. But the ride wasn't smooth, and thanks to Law's slice of the whole mountain, it was caving in on them, as this railroad used for hauling supplies from the port inside went right through the mountain. Ace got on the front of the cart and burst flames at the rocks that were falling ahead of them. They had gotten so much hotter than they had been before, and melted the rock that stuck to the walls.
Zoro had Luffy in his lap, holding him tightly. "Are you okay?"
"I just felt worried. You went off on your own right after a panic attack," Zoro said quietly. Luffy said he had some trouble regarding that, but he turned out just fine. There was an explosion from behind, rocking the cart and making Luffy wince badly. He sighed, glad it hadn't blown his ear drum. That would be annoying and inconvenient.
"Something exploded!" Robin said.
"That was in building D. Inside the SAD production room," Law said. This made more rocks fall. There was a huge blockade of rocks that Law sliced apart even without using his fruit. His sword was very different from Zoro's three katanas. Luffy was tired, and Zoro said, "We should be on the ship soon. Just a bit longer." The young captain nodded. Ace smiled at them both lightly, seeing Luffy was in very good arms. But they still had to get away from the island.
Caesar was laying under Smoker's foot, completely unconscious. Helpless and defeated. Luffy felt like he'd missed out, cheated on something. Yeah, he got good hits in on him before, but he felt disappointed. He sighed quietly. But this was not a failure by a long shot. They lost nobody and helped a ton of people.
"Can anyone use wind? There will be poison gas outside," Law said in a bland voice. Nami offered her assistance, and went to the front of the cart. They were coming near the exit, and could see light at the end of the murky tunnel. There was so much poison gas in front of them! Nami used her clima tact and blew the poison out of their way as they came out into the open air.
"WE'RE OUT!" everyone cheered, Luffy included. Ace was grinning and said he hadn't done a real adventure like this in over a year.
"This'll be fun," he said with a grin.
They saw General Franky there, huge and strong looking! It was amazing, Franky made the coolest things ever! "Hoh, that's interesting," Ace said lightly. "Who're those guys?"
"These are some enemies here to take Caesar away," Franky said lightly, his voice coming through General Franky loudly. Luffy wasn't the only one amazed, all the boys and guys were, too. The women and girls were unimpressed and silent.
"Buffalo, Baby 5!" Law said, not sounding happy to see these people.
"Law! So you really are defying Joker!?" Baby 5 shouted, a woman with curly back hair and a maid's outfit on.
Buffalo, a weird looking guy who looked like his devil fruit was useless just on sight, said, "You traitor! Joker was still keeping the 'heart' seat open for you for your sake!" He had a stamp on his buck teeth. Those were big teeth, Luffy wondered if they got in the way of things. Well, this wasn't his problem, he relaxed against Zoro, both watching in interest. Ace was standing with his arms crossed, also looking entertained.
"Who're they? They friends?" Luffy wondered.
"No. They're enemies," the Straw Hats and Ace all stood up, ready to fight any enemy. Smoker looked ready, too. They were completely outnumbered.
"Help me!" Caesar begged. Still laying down, cuffed on the ankles and wrists. "Help meeeee!"
"Damn it, Law! Hand Caesar over!" Baby 5 shouted angrily.
"Nope. We worked hard for him!" Luffy called back. Ace told Luffy he should try scaring them off, wanting to see his frightening little brother. Law put his hand up. They were outnumbered and wouldn't be attacking. But he admitted taking them down was important. They were flying, so it would need a long distance attack.
"Nope! I got this one," Nami said with a grin, and threw a little white egg into the air, in front and above the enemies. It formed a huge thunder cloud. "Weather egg!" It cracked open to spring out a huge, black thunder cloud. Nami swiped her pole down and a lightning bolt struck the two enemies point blank, frying them both.
Luffy shot out both arms and dragged them back. They landed hard, and Law used his power to keep them from drowning, both devil fruit users. They failed at what they were sent to do. "Nooo!" Caesar cried, his hope of escape gone.
"Alright. First part of the mission done," Law said. Ace patted his back, telling him to be happier. They accomplished a big task.
"Even if it didn't go to your plan at all. Get used to that," he smirked, and dropped down as the others all climbed off of the cart. There were a lot of people there, former and current enemies alike. Then there were all of the children, who had been treated to an extent by Chopper. After everybody was off, the marines made a chalk line along the ground, designating one side belonging to the marine and the other to the pirates.
Nobody but the fodder marines cared about it. Luffy walked to Brownbeard. "Brownbeard, are you really getting captured?" he asked curiously. He was in a thicker jacket now, much more comfy. Ace was complimenting Nami on her weapon, asking how it worked. She gladly explained it, happy to have someone take interest in it.
"Caesar gave us some testing drug. If I'm sent to prison, I'll get cured. Even jail is better than being messed with by Caesar anymore. My subordinates are gone. Life on the sea alone is undesirable, anyways." Luffy apologized to him about it. "You're not the one that killed them with poison. At least it seemed they all went fast."
Luffy nodded. "Hey, Straw Hat! You went over the line!"
"You're the ones that drew it to include a pirate. Besides, that's your idea! I don't gotta follow it!" Luffy said. He looked up at the white mountains. He couldn't hear a single sound from the island. It was unnervingly quiet, everything dead and still. Even the shifting of the broken buildings didn't make sound anymore, settled.
Luffy looked forward to getting off of this island. Brook started screaming about killing Kin'emon, with Dragon Momo hurrying over, and seeing the already dead Kin'emon was now cracked apart. "You broke him, you idiot!"Sanji said.
"I'm sorry, Kin'emon!" Brook wailed. But then he popped back to life! They were silent before they were angry. Happy he was alive, but being all upset and worried about it when he was fine. Momo hurried over, and finally turned human at the sight of his father, though Luffy had a feeling that wasn't true. They weren't parent and child, their voices wavered when they called one another that. But it wasn't Luffy's secret.
Plus, he called Ace a brother and they weren't blood relatives. But Luffy was glad Momo and Kin'emon were reunited. Kin'emon thanked Luffy over and over for saving him. "Yeah! He helped me out a bit, too," Luffy said brightly.
Chopper was screaming about Law murdering the children, running to Luffy and begging him to stop hurting the kids. "I don't hear any screams of pain," Luffy said holding Chopper like a stuffed bear.
"I saw him chopping them up! Evil!" Chopper shouted. When Luffy was showing no concern, Chopper jumped out of his arms and hurried back to the tanker that had all the sick kids.
"Law! What have you done?!"
"I told you not to look. I just got finished cutting up their bodies." Luffy's brows raised, but when Chopper ran inside, it wasn't with a scream of horror or the bloody chopped up bodies. Instead, there were happy cheers from the kids. They felt better, now. "They were given stimulants. A long treatment will fix them. No quick fix from me."
Zoro tugged Luffy's hand lightly to their ship. "Time for food," Zoro said. Luffy took his hand and went to the Sunny, to the infirmary, and Luffy got a single blood bag.
"I'm bummed I didn't get to fight much," Luffy expressed.
"It wasn't really a fight mission. I did fight a snow woman and have to carry that weak woman out. But it was easy to chop the snow woman in half. Otherwise, things were easy going. How did you get Caesar anyways? Ace ended up losing him before."
"Neehee, I scared him into submission, and then I cuffed him with ones that I snatched from another room." His face fell quickly. "I had a long hallucination while me and Momo were running from the gas. I was imagining myself back at Marineford. Ace's nakama were running alongside me. I only kept grounded because I had him keep saying my name."
Zoro kissed his forehead. "Chopper made meds. It's only been three days. Hopefully they'll kick in soon enough," he said sweetly. Ace walked into the infirmary, and held out his arms simply. He knew. Luffy ran to him and hugged him tightly. Ace hugged him back.
"Tell me everything, okay? I was there, too," Ace said simply. "Not now, but I'm always there to talk. You have a wonderful crew, Lu." Zoro smiled slightly at it. "I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun tagging along. Though it'll be weird for you to be my boss."
Zoro said, "Law is the other captain, too. Luffy's not the only one in charge." Ace nodded, that was true. The green haired man said, "It's good to see you again, Ace. We can actually all get to know you now. Now Luffy's surrounded by everyone he loves." Luffy beamed and giggled.
He held both Zoro and Ace's hand as they walked back out on deck. Luffy was so happy right now. Happy and excited. He had his two favorite people in the world with him. Sanji was making food in a huge bowl with huge spoons. Luffy ran over to him. "Where do you get such big stuff?"
"They were on that tanker," Sanji said. Luffy drooled at the thick soup. "Get away, don't drool in the food. Got tell that Tra-guy to stop looking like he has a stick up his ass. He keeps glaring at us and it's annoying," Sanji said in irritation.
"Hey, Tra-guy, stop looking like there's a stick up your ass!" Law scowled. Sanji said it wasn't what he'd meant. "Well, I did what you asked. Did Iva-chan teach you how to cook at the island?"
"They had a super recipe book. I had to fight to get it."
"You're training was to get a recipe book? Ahahaha! That's so stupid!" Sanji kicked him away, Luffy laughing loudly. Chopper hurried over and asked what was so funny. "I don't think Sanji would want me to say."
"Huh, Luffy keeping a secret?" Ace asked.
"Shut up, all of you, and come get your food!" Sanji announced. People got bowls and excitedly were served their food. Luffy watched in confusion about how against eating food was for Momonosuke and Kin'emon.
Luffy asked, "Is Wano a place that doesn't let you eat good food?"
"No." Well, that was short and to the point. They didn't want to talk about it apparently. But the two finally ate to their heart's content. It had been painful listening to how damn hungry Momonosuke had been in dragon form. But it was a cool zoan to have. Too bad he didn't have wings, though.
"I had wanted to tame the dragons," Luffy mumbled through his food. Zoro and the marines were drinking all the booze there was on that tanker. And there was a lot. Zoro and Ace had a drinking contest that became quite the spectacle. Both drank three kegs each before Ace was deemed the winner.
He said, "Well, I guess I'm cheating. My devil fruit burns off alcohol in my system." He laughed about it, and Zoro was sleeping now.
"Hey, Straw Hat-ya!" Law called. Luffy drank his bowl and then scooped it inside the soup, much to Sanji's disgust, and went to see what their grumpy ally wanted. He really looked very grumpy.
"What's up?" Luffy asked, drinking the soup obnoxiously.
"We have to leave right now. If we waste time, they'll come and get us! Tell your friends."
"Oh, really? Got it!" He went to stand on a crate above everyone. But they all looked so happy! Well, they could stay a little longer. "Guys, someone is after us! So, hurry! Let's party!" Luffy cheered, jumping up. Law was baffled by this. Things would be hard for him to get used to on their ship. Ace would get used to it quickly, he'd grown up with Luffy's antics.
The party was rambunctious. Luffy went onto the Sunny and called for Law. He was scowling and Luffy showed him where he could sleep. He could sleep in the boys room, too or in the aquarium. "I don't care," Law said in disinterest. Luffy got an ice chest from below deck, and went to the infirmary.
"I don't know how much you need, but you can have these ones. They don't expire any time soon. I'll put it behind the counter in the bathroom so you can get some in private. Neh, it's not just us, by the way. I'll show you the other stuff later! Welcome to the Sunny!" and Luffy ran out to get more food.
He wouldn't tell anybody about Law unless he gave permission. Luffy respected secrets. Maybe not his own, but others, absolutely. He didn't see Law's reaction to what he'd say, and didn't really care as he went back to the party. Getting rid of four blood bags wasn't a big deal with how many they had. Though he did wonder how he got blood here. Maybe he took unsuspecting workers and drank from them like Luffy had done a few times before.
Nami had handed off the safety of the kids to Tashigi for some reason. "But she's cranky. She won't be good for kids," Luffy said, a leg of meat in his mouth. Ace was talking with Law, which seemed to make the captain uncomfortable even if he was older than Ace. Ace just gave off this mature and commanding feeling. Law was just a grumpy grump with a good resting bitch face.
"I have a thing for marine women, it seems," Nami said lightly.
"Okay, well, if you're good with it then that's that," Luffy replied.
Nami asked if he was happy about Ace. "Yeah. I missed him! And him being here will make things easier in multiple ways. For our task and just stuff with me. But I think he's bothered by my arm, like everyone else."
They were both sitting on crates. Zoro was asleep. Sanji was putting the leftovers in the huge bowl into containers for the kids to take with them. "Well, you make it easy not to with how you used it so well. Ace probably feels very responsible for it." Luffy nodded, knowing that was true. "Even though you'll say he didn't even want you there. You still did that to get to him."
"Yeah. Well, hopefully he'll see I'm okay now."
"Just okay?"
"Yeah. Just okay for now," Luffy replied. "Tra-guy is definitely a grumpy grump."
"Don't let him hear you say that or he'll cut you into pieces." Luffy shrugged. He didn't know Law's circumstances or abilities. He knew that he could be scary, but that was all he knew. Well, it would be hard for either of them to betray the other if they could easily eavesdrop even when not even meaning to. "I wonder what we're getting ourselves into this time." Luffy laughed and said they'd find out eventually.
The pirates saw off the kids as they got on the marine tanker to take care of them and hopefully get their bodies cured by the top scientist in the world, Vegapunk. Luffy was happy they were going to get treatment. But the marines were kind of weird, chanting about pirates being terrible. It was funny.
"They're weird marines. Not spouting about justice and all," Luffy commented.
"That's what they're doing right now, but I get what you mean," Usopp agreed. Ace was sitting on the outcrop of rock above them.
"We helped them out a lot. Maybe they feel guilty about accepting our help," he commented.
"That's what it sounds like. Though they're upsetting the kids," Chopper said in irritation. "Not the best start for them."
"Tashigi-chan will take care of them."
"You're talking about that woman like you're friends. She's a burden to everyone."
"How could you say that?!" Sanji demanded.
"I've fought her three times already, and all three, I've won. She's weak. Hopefully she actually takes care of them like she said," Zoro yawned. "Let's go back on the ship. Leave this dump of an island," he added.
Luffy said the island was boring, as well. Once the marines finally let the children say goodbye, the pirates all waved happily. Brownbeard would be going on a separate ship that would pick them up. He went willingly, which was the best for him. Luffy felt bad about him losing his subordinates, though.
They saw the kids off, shouting goodbyes and good lucks. Chopper teared up, sitting on Zoro's shoulders. "Well, let's set off. We're done with this place. Now we have two more guests with us! Well, five, including Momo, Kin'emon and Caesar.
Law went off on his own with his former buddies (maybe?), and kept their heads with them. It really was disturbing, that power to chop people up. They put them on a lifeboat and then a den den connected to Law. He guarded it for a few hours before somebody came up on the line. He was in the other room, with Luffy showing Momo around their ship. Franky enjoyed showing them his amazing contraptions.
Of course this was a tour for Ace, too. He was amazed by the stuff Franky had made. "My former first mate made striker for me," Ace said when they got to the soldier dock system. "This sure is an interesting crew. You've got a bit of everything, Lu."
"Neehee, I know, right?"
"I can't believe you were enemies with both Franky and Robin yet now they're your nakama."
"You can't talk, you tried to kill me for three months and Whitebeard a long time, too," Luffy said with a laugh. Ace blushed, embarrassed about how he used to act. Everyone else was shocked. "Ace wasn't nice when he was younger. Not like Sabo."
Ace frowned. "You told them about him?" he asked quietly.
Luffy nodded. "Sabo shouldn't be a secret! He was our brother." Ace smiled and nodded with a soft agreement.
When Law came into the room, he leaned against the wall and told them he'd sent the message to Doflamingo. The plan to have him give up on being a warlord and they would return Caesar to him. "Straw Hat-ya, if you don't mind I'd like to talk to you about something more private." Luffy raised his brows but went with him.
He led him into the infirmary, and Luffy wondered why. If it was about the blood supply? He did wonder how long it would take for the others to figure it out. But that wasn't what it was about. "What are your lingering effects from the war? I never did a check up on you."
"Oh, I still have some damage in my left ear. The eardrum ruptures if noises are too loud. Then I still don't have any feeling in my left arm. I can move it just fine and all. I won't talk about the other stuff."
"I can fix both of those injuries. I've improved over the two years." Luffy raised his brows. "Do you want me to fix them?"
Luffy thought for a moment. "Can you fix my ear?" Law frowned and asked about his arm. The place that anyone would want fixed first. "No, I'll keep my arm like this. It reminds me that I'm not and never have been invincible. I'll keep it how it is. I can use it just fine anyways."
"Are you sure?"
"Yup." The fix for his ear was instant and painless. He felt clear in the head, and hadn't noticed how the impairment had affected him. He grinned, glad all he now had was the mental trauma to take care of. "Thanks!" Luffy said.
"Will you show me about the thing you know? About what you are?" Luffy said there was no answer to that question. But he brought him to the blood stones regardless, and explained what they knew and thought they were. Even though Law was in a submarine, he'd not come across or recognized any creatures like the Straw Hats had.
Law covered everything up. He got tattoos all over the original marks, wore contacts and had dyed his hair. He never wanted anybody to know. Luffy didn't ask anything about his childhood. Not to be nosy. "And this is what gave you the whole strength exploding thing?"
"Yup! It's been really helpful but also annoying. I still can't control it, decide when it comes or not. And I have to get rid of it quickly or it'll hurt me." Law left when Chopper came in to do a session with Luffy. "Session?"
"Yeah. You can't treat mental illness with only medication. Usually therapy is the more important of the two healing factors," Chopper said. "I've never done counseling before, so I don't know if I'll be any good at it." Luffy said he would be fine. He knew it! Chopper was still uncertain, but said he'd do his best.
It was half an hour later that it was over. Luffy didn't know how it would be a regular thing when he said so much the first time. He wasn't embarrassed to open up to Chopper completely. Chopper would never think less of him because of this. Even if he might be more worried sometimes.
When he got out, Zoro came up behind him and rested his jaw on Luffy's shoulder. "How'd it go?" he asked, hands rubbing circles on the marks on Luffy's chest and stomach.
"Good!" Luffy replied. Ace was sleeping sprawled out on the grassy deck, which he liked a lot. "Looks like we'll have two napping people, shishishi."
"I nap for the hell of it, he just passes out," Zoro said. "I can't wait to face a yonko. See how strong I've gotten," he added with a grin. Luffy giggled. He wanted to see Zoro get serious. He hadn't seen him wear his bandana in two years. "And now I take my shirt off, too when I fight."
Luffy giggled. "Hey, Luffy! I made some lava cake for you," Sanji called. Luffy zoomed inside for the chocolate blood lava cake. Luffy asked why. "I haven't made one in two years. I wasn't able to advance any of the blood dishes, though. There wasn't exactly a recipe for that kind of thing."
"That's okay!" Luffy said, and dug in. They weren't telling Kin'emon or Momo. Or Caesar. They would also keep it a secret from Law, even though he'd known for a while.
"Hey, explain what Law's actually doing here," Sanji said. "Me and Brook were gone. I heard about being allies?"
"Oh yeah, you were gone!" He got Brook and Sanji out on deck, with Law looking uncomfortable as Usopp and Chopper were playing tag like kids. "So, we're allies with Law and his crew! We're doing stuff to defeat a yonko, and we should get along!" Law looked thoroughly uncomfortable with Luffy's arm around his shoulders like a friend.
"I'm still against it!" Usopp said.
"Will it make a difference? Luffy-san's already decided," Brook said. Sanji nodded. There was no changing his mind now. Sanji turned to Law and told him this alliance would be seen differently between both captains. Law looked bothered, the second person to warn him about this. Well, he should know by now what he'd gotten into!
Sanji said, "Well it makes sense now why we kidnapped Caesar, that troublesome idiot."
"Sorry I lost him before," Ace said, awake now.
"It's fine! Everything worked out in the end!" Luffy said, and Ace smiled.
"Shulololo! You'll never get away with a stunt like this! The big wigs will come after you! You should realize your stupidity and just die!" Caesar said, getting a kick to the face by Sanji.
Law spoke, and explained, "I had you kidnap Caesar at Punk Hazard and destroyed the tanks inside that make the SAD." Law then explained about the territories of the New World. Each yonko had more than a few. They were protected islands under them. The islands usually have a ton of subordinates and rule them like a crime syndicate. "If you attack them with one crew, you'll never get away from it."
"That wasn't how our crew was at all. We got protected islands usually if we had any friends there," Ace said, with a small smile.
"Whitebeard and Shanks are nothing like Kaido and Big Mom," Law said, even though Ace had been in the New World years longer than Law. Ace wasn't bothered by this. Law continued to explain that those in the underworld syndicate hid from marines to do their business. And their leader was Doflamingo, under the alias of "Joker".
Luffy's already heard all of this, and was watching something out to sea. A large ship that wasn't there. It was burning. The Moby Dick. He looked away, knowing it wasn't there. This would be annoying. As long as he knew what was real, maybe it'd be fine. He was holding his left arm without realizing. He'd been completely distracted from the conversation. Chopper took his hand to remind him of their conversation. He was brought to attention fully when Kin'emon and Momonosuke were shouting in shock about them going after Kaido.
They tried to hide it, but were shocked and seemed to have realized something very important. Ace looked like he knew their problem, he'd visited their country before. He closed his eyes and said nothing of it.
Law said they were after Kaido and needed to decrease his battle strength, getting rid of the artificial devil fruits that were powering his army. He bought so many from Doflamingo. If they destroyed those contraptions, Kaido would not get any more devil fruits for his men.
"But that meant you could make an infinite amount of devil fruits!" Usopp said in shock.
"Exactly. Currently, there are over 500 users in Kaido's army despite the risks." The three weakest Straw Hats wanted to back out of the alliance, afraid. Luffy thought they'd be fine. Ace said, "I'm going to Wano with you guys. I have my own reasons to take down Kaido."
Momonosuke and Kin'emon asked what he meant. "I went there four years ago. I know the state it's in, and I have some people I want to see myself. Besides, I made a deal with somebody about it," Ace explained.
"You made it into Wano?!" Kin'emon was shocked.
"Yeah," Ace replied simply.
Law said having Ace was a real help to them. Ace replied he was glad to be of help for his brother's beloved crew. Luffy beamed and nodded. Law explained they were going to Dressrosa to destroy the other SAD tank and get rid of their ability to create SMILEs anymore. Kin'emon wanted to go to Dressrosa since he was missing a comrade there. They were going to go get him back.
"It's all so convenient! Neh, Tra-guy, are you psychic?"
"No, it's just many coincidences," Law said stiffly.