Chapter 6
Three day before the Straw Hats were to leave Conomi Islands, and the day after they killed Arlong, his crew and all those marines, inside of the room at Marine HQ there was a meeting between most of the Vice Admirals, as well as some higher ranked Marines.
"We are here today to talk about a big problem that has risen in East Blue, and is marching toward the Grand Line," the Marine Commodore Brannew said, surprising most of the people there. The only ones not surprised are Vice Admiral Garp, Vice Admiral Tsuru, Fleet Admiral Sengoku and the only Admiral present in the room, Akainu. They are not surprised since they knew what Commodore Brannew is talking about.
"There is a new pirate crew which has started in East Blue not few days ago, and have already proven to be more then we can handle while in that sea," Brannew said, again getting some raised eyebrows.
One of the Vice Admirals, Vice Admiral Onigumo, asked. "What's so special about them if it was needed for all of us to be hear, including an Admiral as well as Fleet Admiral?"
Brannew then pulled out six bounty posters, and posted them on the board for all to sea. The first on the left had the highest bounty, while the first on the right, the lowest.
Most of the eyes in the room bugged out, and some jaws dropped.
"This here are six members of the newly formed, Straw Hat Crew," Brannew started to explain. "The captain," he pointed at Luffy, "is Monkey D. Luffy. He is the grandson of our Vice Admiral Garp." Everyone looked at Garp after they heard this, and again some eyes have widened.
"We first heard about him two days after he started his journey from his home village in Goa Kingdom," Brannew said. "He called Vice Admiral Garp from Shells Town, and said that marine Captain Morgan has been killed, as well as half of the marine force on that island, and the base is almost completely destroyed. Straw Hat didn't exactly said he did it, but we were sure he did.
"Vice Admiral Garp went there to check the situations, and from some of the surviving Marine's, as well as some citizens of the Shells Town, we found out that the Straw Hat, along with two others," here he pointed at the posters of Naruto and Natsu, "came to Shells Town on the Pirate Ships which belonged to the Ganzack Pirates and Trump Pirates. Morgan and his entire force waited and confronted them, only for the Straw Hat to say they are there to cash in some bounties," this got him raised eyebrows from everyone.
"The three of them have brought a dozen pirates, all with around or over 5 mil belly bounty, and said how they found them in a war against each other and decided to capture them and collect their bounties. Morgan accepted that, and after it was confirmed the pirates are who it was thought they were, Morgan handed them over 80 mil belly for all the bounties.
"The Straw Hat and his crew decided to stay a little while in Shells Town, and somehow were able to convince Pirate Hunter Zoro," pointed at Zoro's bounty, "to join their crew, and saved him from being imprisoned in the base yard.
"In the meantime, while Straw Hat and Natsu Dragneel were convincing Roronoa to join them, Naruto Uzumaki, marched into the Marine Base, and started killing everyone in sight, as well as destroying the base. As I said, it ended with the death of Morgan and half of the forces.
"During the questioning of the surviving Marines and the Town's civilians, it was discovered the Captain Morgan was corrupted Marine who believed to much of himself, and has used his position to take money from people, threated with execution, and has even executed some civilians and Marines for nothing more than for disobeying the order they knew was wrong. Everyone was afraid of Morgan and his son, who used his father's influence to get everything he wanted.
"According to the results of the interrogation, the Straw Hat and his two crewmates didn't like how Morgan is treating people he is supposed to protect, and got angry. Uzumaki was especially angry for some reason, which is why he marched in and killed everyone in sight.
"Uzumaki was even heard to say that he killed Morgan because he deserved it, and the other marines were killed because they were cowards, who, instead of killing Morgan and tossing his body to the sharks when they saw he is not suited to be a Marine, they were too afraid of him, and did nothing, thus letting innocent people to die.
"After the three were done there, they packed their things, and along with Roronoa, left the Shells Town, with the civilians waiving them on the way, as they were all grateful that Morgan was gone. In fact, the entire Town celebrated the death of Morgan."
Brannew stopped to drink a little water, and saw that almost everyone in the room was stunned to hear all this.
After few moments, Brannew continued. "After that call to his grandfather from Monkey D. Luffy, it was decided to keep a watch on them, so before Vice Admiral Garp even arrived in Shells Town, the group of Watchers, was sent to observe them from a far, and report."
Everyone nodded at this, as that was natural thing to do in that situation, as they needed to know about the crew before they can do something.
"After Shells Town, the four went on the Orange Archipelago, and there they dealt with Buggy Pirates, who have taken over the Orange Town, and caused the citizens to run into the mountains," Brannew continued. "The 'Watchers', haven't caught up to them until then, but the people from Orange Town called the HQ and said what happened. Apparently, even though Buggy and his crew were beaten to the ground, none was killed, and for some reason, the Straw Hat left without even calling the marines, nor taking Buggy to hand him over for the bounty.
"Of course, by the time the ship got there, Buggy and his crew have already left, and haven't been seen ever since.
"Now, as for the next stop the crew made, we are not sure, since the 'Watchers' still haven't caught up to them. Though if we were to guess, we believe that they made a stop in Syrup Village, on the Gecko Islands.
"We believe this to be the case, because of this guy," Brannew pointed at Usopp's bounty poster. "We checked all of the names of the crew, and we found out that Usopp, is known to us, as the guy who has captured Kuro of the Thousand Plans, three years ago in Syrup Village. It was at that point we found out that Morgan is dirty, since he and Kuro faked Kuro's capture and executions so that Kuro can walk away free without us going after him, while Morgan got promotion to Captain for that."
Vice Admiral Momonga scowled at this, and asked. "Then why was Morgan allowed to remain the captain in Shells Town, when it was known that he is dirty, and executing civilians and marines left and right."
Brannew answered. "We knew about that plan with Kuro, but didn't know about anything else, since no one in Shells Town, but Morgan was ever questioned. In the end, it was decided to let him stay on his post, as no one wanted to say that one of ours was dirty. This came from the top."
Here, everyone looked at Sengoku. "It had to be done," Sengoku said, but he was regretful. "The World Government doesn't want stuff like this to come out, so it was either to leave Morgan as he is, or to kill him in secret, without anyone knowing anything. In the end, it was decided to let him be, but he got a warning. I guess he didn't hear it, or he outright ignored it, as he thought no one will find out."
"He should have been disposed of," another Vice Admiral, this time it was Doberman, said it! "If that was taken care of back then, all the Marines killed by Uzumaki would have been alive. Not to mention the marines and civilians who Morgan himself executed."
"It's already late for regrets now, and nothing can be done to change what happened," Akainu said. "Now, continue Brannew. I want to hear what else that pirate crew has done."
"Well, Usopp was given 16 mil as that was Kuro's bounty, and then we haven't heard anything about him, until we got his picture and name, as a member of the Straw Hat Crew," Brannew said. "We did some deep research on him, just like on all the other members of the crew, and found out that Usopp, is the son of Yasopp. The left hand man of the Red Haired Shanks."
Everyone's eyes widened at that, including Garp, Sengoku, Tsuru and Akainu, as none knew this.
"After the Syrup Village, which we are mostly sure is where they found Usopp, as we doubt he has moved somewhere else, the Straw Hat's went to Conomi Islands."
"Why would they go there," Garp asked? "That's not on the way to the Reverse Mountain."
"Yes, well, apparently, before Usopp joined the crew, another person joined the crew," Brannew said, and pointed at Nami's poster. "Her name is Nami, and we found out she is from Cocoyasi Village, which is one of the formerly 20 villages and towns on Conomi Island."
"What do you mean, formerly?" Sengoku asked with narrowed eyes, and everyone got a bad feeling.
Brannew sighed. "The Watchers, have caught up to the Straw Hat's when they were on the way to Conomi Island. As is their job, they didn't confront them, nor have they shown themselves to them, but were only observing them from the distance.
"They all arrived on Conomi Islands, yesterday, and what happened there, and what the watchers found out. All I can say is, I can't believe no one in the HQ knew what was happening on Conomi Islands for the past eight years."
"Well, spill it out already," Onigumo said, after Brannew went silent for a few moments!
Brannew sighed, took a deep breath, and started to explain. "You might now that eight years ago, Fishman, Arlong was let out of the prison, and he then went to the East Blue along with his crew," most nodded at this, while few didn't remember really, as Arlong was insignificant. "Well, when he arrived in East Blue, he went on Conomi Islands, and took over, and when I say he took over, I mean he enslaved all the people there from all 20 towns and villages, and made them pay him tribute. 100 thousand belly for every grown up person, and 50 thousand for children, each month. If even one person in the whole village or town couldn't pay, Arlong wouldn't just kill that person, he would kill every single leaving being in that town or village, and raise the place to the ground. That's the reason there's 17 towns and villages left on Conomi Islands. Two villages and one town were completely destroyed and there was barely anyone alive."
Everyone in the room was shocked to hear that, and some felt like they are heaving heart attack.
"HOW COULD THAT HAPPEN," Vice Admiral Dalmatian, yelled? "It's impossible for Arlong to enslave the entire Archipelago for that long without anyone noticing!"
"Someone did know," Brannew said, and everyone looked with raised eyebrows. "Marine Captain Nezumi, from the 16th Branch knew. The problem is, that he was also corrupted, and Arlong has been paying him to keep what's happening on Conomi Islands a secret from the HQ. So as you see, until yesterday afternoon, we knew nothing about what's going on there."
Many were shaking heads from what they heard, as they were in disbelief, while few were surprised, but calm. One of those who looked calm, was Onigumo, and he asked. "What happen yesterday to change that? I'm also assuming that it's because of whatever happened there, that we are all here, and all those bounties are to be released."
Brannew said. "The Straw Hats arrived, and after few hours, all of them ended up in Arlong Park, a place Arlong built for himself and his crew, their HQ, of a sort.
"Nezumi was also there with great deal of the Marine force from the Branch 16. Arlong and Nezumi made some business, and were celebrating, when they were interrupted by the Straw Hats.
"To make the long story short, there was a battle, and in the end, there was only one fishman left alive, he managed to escape after being defeated by Roronoa. As for the marines, all but Nezumi and one other marine were spared. Everyone else, was killed by the Straw Hats. I'm talking about hundreds of fishman and marines. All killed in less than half an hour."
"T-That's impossible," Marine Vice Admiral Momousagi, stuttered. There were also few others who were dumbfounded.
"Unfortunately, it is possible," Brannew said. "The Watchers couldn't get close so they won't be spotted, so they didn't hear what was said. But, they saw everything.
"Straw Hat had Roronoa, Usopp and Nami fight and kill all the marines and fishman, and they succeeded. Nami killed dozens of lower level fishman and marines. Roronoa killed some of them, and the defeated the Fishman named Hatchan, who was one of the officers of Arlong Pirates, with an 8 mill belly on his head. Usopp killed few fishman and marines, and also killed, Kuroobi, who is another of the officers, and had 9 mill belly on his head.
"Straw Hat himself took on Arlong, and destroyed him completely, as there was nothing left of Arlong.
"With the battle over, Straw Hat and Natsu Dragneel, took Nezumi and the surviving marine, and went somewhere with Nezumi's ship, while the others stayed behind.
"At first the Watchers, didn't know where the two pirates took Nezumi but by direction where they went, and how quickly they came back, without Nezumi or the Marine, they guessed that they went to the Branch 16, which they proved later to be the truth, when Straw Hat returned.
"The Watchers, went to the Branch 16, and found Nezumi dead, along with everyone else except the marine they already left alive before. That marine called the HQ and told us everything that happened in Arlong Park, and then at the Base. The Watchers only confirmed that yesterday in the afternoon."
Brannew then said why Luffy and Natsu went to the base, and what they took, and after that, he was finished with the story.
Everyone was in disbelief, and in deep thought about what they just heard, so no one said anything for a while.
The first to ask something was Vice Admiral, Strawberry. "So, what now? I'm assuming those bounties are for everything the Straw Hats did since they started. But what will we do about them, and will something be done about this corruption among the lower level Marines? I have a feeling that Morgan and Nezumi are not the only ones."
"You are right, Vice Admiral Strawberry, the bounties are given to the whole crew for everything they did, but also to tell the world that they are a VERY big threat, and should not be messed with. We have investigated about their powers. We know what Vice Admiral Garp told us about the Straw Hat, Natsu and Naruto, and the Watchers told us some more about them, and the others.
"Now, I know that all of you think that the bounties are very high, but trust me, they are not. In fact, the only reason Luffy, Natsu and Naruto have their bounties so low, is because they are still in East Blue, and we don't want to spread panic by giving them the bounties which would represent their level of power. If we did that, all three of them would have over 100 mil belly bounty.
"As for what will be done with the Straw Hats and about the corruption, that's not up to me to decide." Brannew finished his speech.
Everyone nodded at that, though most were in deep though about everything they heard about the crew, and their power. They wondered how they could be so strong.
"What do we know about their powers, specifically, Monkey D. Luffy, Naruto Uzumaki and Natsu Dragneel, since they seem to be the biggest threat?" Momonga asked.
"Let's start with the captain," Brannew said. "What we know about him is what Vice Admiral Garp told us, as well as what the Watchers saw in the battle against Arlong. We know he ate DF 10 years ago, which gave him the horns and marks on the face, as well as the ability to manipulate lighting and thunder. We know it's a Zoan DF, and that's it."
"That's all we know about him," Momousagi questioned, and got a nod it return.
Garp then went and said. "I never found out which DF he ate, and I spent years researching it, and even talked with Vegapunk. Not even he knew."
"Did you train him," Doberman asked?
"A little bit here and there," Garp shrugged. "But he mostly trained himself, and I never wanted to show him Haki as he was already powerful as he is. I couldn't risk for him to become unstoppable, especially considering that he holds great hatred toward the World Nobles and the World Government. I believe that is the reason he had his crewmates kill all those marines, even though he could have just kill Nezumi, who was in charge."
"Where does this hatred come from?" Vice Admiral Stainless, asked.
Garp sighed. "Luffy had two friends as a kid, who he considered to be his brothers, and one of them was killed by a Celestial Dragon, 10 years ago when the Noble went to East Blue to visit Goa Kingdom."
The eyes of many widened one more time.
"After that incident, Luffy become more serious, and battle hungry. He was often angry, and I was afraid he might go and join the Revolutionary Army, but thank god, he never did."
After few moments of silence, Doberman asked Brannew. "You said if you gave him bounty which would represent his power, it would be much higher than the one you gave him. But how higher, and how do you know how powerful he is?"
Garp was the one who responded. "When Luffy called me from Shells Town, I was with Sengoku, Tsuru, and the Admiral in the meeting. I told them what I knew about Luffy, and how strong I think he is, based on the fact I could sense his presence, and compare it to others.
"I'm convinced that Luffy is above Vice Admiral Level, and not by a little." When Garp finished, there was pandemonium, as almost every Vice Admiral in the room was yelling and asking how is that possible, and that he must be wrong.
"I'm telling you the truth," Garp sighed. "Luffy really is that strong and dangerous, and is not to be taken lightly, because the consequences would be higher than we would want to think about."
After few more minutes of arguments, Brannew decided to move to the next member.
"Next would be, Naruto Uzumaki. We don't know much about him. He came to the same village Monkey D. Luffy lived in, about three years ago. We don't know where he came from, or why he suddenly moved to another place as a thirteen years old. He has no known family or anything.
"About his powers, well, Vice Admiral Garp said his presence is about as high as Straw Hat Luffy's, which means he is very strong. The only other thing we know about his powers is what the Watchers saw when the crew was on the way to Conomi Island. Apparently, Uzumaki can walk on water," many gasped and some had their eyes widen, "yes, I'm not joking about that. The Watchers saw him yesterday when he run across the ocean, and then dived down and pulled out two drowning people. Then he created some sort of clone of himself, which pulled him out from the ocean, and then they both ran back to the ship, while carrying two man.
"That's about as much as we know about him, since he didn't fight on Conomi Island, and we don't know exactly what he did in Shells Town, because the few survivors among the marines said he only used hand-to-hand combat, and nothing else."
Brannew made another pause, and then continued. "Natsu Dragneel. Of all the current members of the Straw Hat crew, it's him we know the least about. Except his name, and the fact that he has no DF powers, but is capable to controlling fire, according to Vice Admiral Garp, the only other thing we know is that he is supposed to be the strongest member of the crew. Even stronger then Luffy and Naruto."
"Are you sure about that," Momonga asked? "I can't think of any Pirate Crew in which the captain is not the strongest member."
Garp replied to that question. "Again, just like with Luffy and Naruto, I haven't actually seen him fight except some small stuff here and there when I visited Luffy. But just like with Luffy and Naruto, I did fell his presence, and I can tell you with 100% certainty, that Natsu Dragneel is on or above Admiral Level."
"Ok, that's just bullshit," Onigumo roared! "How can, what, 20 year old KID, be on the same level as Marines strongest force?"
It was a good and reasonable question, but no one, not even Garp cold answer that. Garp did say though. "He is abnormality, but not more than Luffy and Naruto. Natsu is 21 years old, while Luffy is 17 and Naruto is close to 17, so it's normal that he is stronger than them. When I first saw him, Natsu was MAYBE slightly weaker than Luffy and Naruto are right now, and Natsu was 18 years old back then, so I wouldn't be exaggerating if I say that Naruto and Luffy could potentially be stronger at that age, then Natsu is right now."
"I still don't understand," Momousagi said. "How can Natsu and Naruto have any powers if they didn't eat DF's?
"I don't know," Garp said sincerely. "I saw them both swim in the ocean and that was after I saw Natsu use fire attacks. The same goes for Naruto, though in his case, I never actually saw him having any abilities. What the watchers saw him doing, is new to me."
"Are the Watchers going to continue to observe them?" Momousagi asked, and Sengoku nodded. "Then they better pay close attention, because we need to find out as much about Naruto and Natsu as we can. Also, we must find a way to find where they came from.
Everyone agreed with this, and then they decided to move on to the next crew member. "Roronoa Zoro. He was known as a Pirate Hunter around East Blue, and was relatively good for that sea, and has piled up quite a lot of heads. He uses Santoryu, which is strange for a regular human with only two hands, but he apparently uses one with his teeth, by placing the handle of the sword in his mouth vertically."
This got raised eyebrows, as it sounded ridiculous, but then they looked at Zoro's poster, and saw how it looks like.
"He was in Shells Town three weeks before the Straw Hats arrived and from what the citizens said, he agreed to stay a prisoner for a month without any food or water because Morgan's son threatened to execute some girl after Zoro killed his wolf for attacking the said girl, and causing mayhem in the restaurant the girl's mother owns.
"Of course, Morgan's son never intended to let him go, and was going to execute him. It is that which set Luffy and Natsu to save him, and Naruto to go on a killing spree."
"You know, out of the four pirates you brought up so far, I can't, for the life of me, say that even one of them is a bad guy," Vice Admiral Strawberry said, which got him curious and questioning looks from most in the room, as well as some evil looks from Akainu, Onigumo and few others. "Wouldn't you agree with me?" He asked in the end, but no one said anything, though Garp did laugh, making Sengoku scowl at him and gave him dirty look.
"Of course they are not bad people," Garp said. "No matter what most of you think, just because Luffy hates the World Nobles and the World Government, and has become a pirate, doesn't mean he is evil. And, while I don't really know him as well as I want to, I KNOW, that he is not evil, and that he would never accept someone evil in his crew."
"Hm, he is a pirate, and all pirates are evil and deserve to be brought down," Akainu scowled at Garp. "You are just saying that because he is your grandson."
"Maybe he is evil in your head which doesn't care about anything except to kill all those who don't follow your Absolute Justice," Garp scowled back. "But while they won't say it, I know that 80% of the people in this room think the same as I do."
Garp was apparently right, since almost all the marines in the room looked at the floor, but said nothing.
"You will see very soon that I'm right, because if things continue to happen with Luffy and his crew as they have so far, I wouldn't be surprised if by the time they reach Sabaody, Luffy and the crew will make friends and alias in every place they stop. And when that happens, I will be the first to laugh in your face, because it will prove that Luffy and his crew are not evil, as normal people don't like evil people."
"It doesn't matter if they are evil or not, Garp," Sengoku sighed. "They are pirates, and as such no matter what they do, they will still be criminals who do what they want and don't follow the law."
"Let's move on to the next crew member." Tsuru said, so Brannew coughed, and moved on to, Nami. "Nami, no last name. She is from Cocoyashi Village. The Watchers were able to find out that she has an older sister named Nojiko. The two are not real sisters, though, but were adopted by a woman named Bell-Mere. Doing some research here, we found out that Bell-Mere used to be a Marine Lieutenant, who has suddenly decided to retire one day. Now we know that she did so because she found two little girls in some town in East Blue, where the two were the only survivors while everyone else was slaughtered in a battle between Pirates and Marines.
"Bell-Mere raised the two with very little money, and has actually started growing tangerines to live from by sealing them.
"Everything was fine until eight years ago when Arlong came," Brannew made a pause, and sighed, before he continued. "Bell-Mere only had 100 thousand belly savings, which she used to pay for Nami and her sister, and since she couldn't pay for herself, she was shot down and killed by Arlong right in front of the two girls and some other villagers."
There were gasps by many in the room, and some were even shaking their heads in disbelief.
"By doing more research yesterday, the Watchers were able to find out that Nami is incredibly good in drawing sea charts since she was little girl, and is unbelievably good Navigator. When Arlong found out about this, he took her in, and gave her a room in Arlong Park where she was forced to draw charts, thus, she has become a member of the Arlong Pirates.
"Eventually, not long after that, Nami made a deal with Arlong, that if she can gather 100 mill belly, Arlong will sell her the Conomi Islands, and leave."
This got many raised eyebrows.
"So, Nami has spent almost eight years, going all over East Blue, and stealing from pirates in order to collect that money. She has used her expertise in Navigation to do so, and has become incredibly good in stealing. In order to be able to protect herself, she has learned how to wield a staff, to a certain extent. She has no special combat power whatsoever, and only uses that staff.
"She was able to collect the final money she needed few days ago, and went with the Straw Hats on Conomi Islands. Her plan was to give money to Arlong, and if he takes it and leaves, there would be no need for battle and bloodshed.
"Unfortunately, that didn't go well, since before she came back, Arlong sent Nezumi to take the money from where Nami hid it, and promised the corrupt marine a third in return. Nami arrived in Cocoyashi at the same time Nezumi was there, and since she couldn't stop him, she marched at Arlong Park, but wasn't able to do anything.
"After that, she reunited with the crew when they were on the way there. You already know what happened next."
Everyone nodded after Brannew finished, and there were many sighs all over the room, as they heard yet another member of the Straw Hat Pirates, who is supposed to be evil, is actually not.
"Finally, we have Usopp, also unknown last name. The son of Yasopp, and just like Yasopp, is an excellent sharpshooter. Grew up in Syrup Village, partly with his mother, until she died from unknown illness years ago, after which he was leaving alone.
"As I already said, captured Kuro, and got 16 mill bounty. The Watchers didn't go to Syrup Village yet, so we don't know much more about him.
"As for his powers, except his skills in marksmanship, we don't know anything else, because he hasn't used anything else. Of course, he has the horns on his head, which indicates that he most likely has a DF power, Zoan type, to be specific. Though which one, is unknown."
"Those horns," Vice Admiral Lacroix, suddenly said, speaking for the first time. "They look familiar, but for the life of me I can't remember from where."
Brannew nodded. "They did look familiar to us in the bounty department as well. We looked it up, and found out that a Captain of the Space Pirates, used to have the same kind of horns."
Several Marines widened their eyes as they remembered about that crew.
"Of course, now I remember," Lacroix, said. "I had a run in with that crew once. What was the captain's name again…? Jackson something"
"Brendan Jackson," Brannew said.
"What were his powers again," Lacroix asked? "Because I can't remember."
"We… do not know," Brannew said, and everyone was confused, because it is rare for a pirate as known as Jackson was to have a DF powers which are unknown. "We know that somehow, he was able to land a hit on an opponent no matter what, but we have never found out what his DF powers were, nor was he ever seen transformed into his Zoan or hybrid form."
"If that kid now has the DF powers which once belonged to someone else, that means that this Jackson is dead," Momousagi asked, as she didn't know about Jackson from before.
"Yes," Brannew said. "He died five years ago in a battle between his crew, and Phenex Pirates. In fact, NO ONE, from both crews has survived. They all killed each other."
Brannew then stopped, and frowned. "Now that I think about it, the two crews went from the Grand Line to the East Blue, and had the war there. In fact, I think that they battled on a small island just south from Syrup Village."
"That would mean that with both captains dead, their DF would have reappeared somewhere close, and Usopp could have potentially found Jackson's DF and ate it," Lacroix said, and everyone nodded. "Though, I wonder if he found the DF that the captain of Phenex Pirates had, because if I remember correctly, he also had some DF powers, though they were also unknown, just like Jackson's."
"We don't know," Brannew said.
With Usopp's story somewhat covered, all Straw Hat crew members were covered, and everything which was known about them, is now known by most of the marine higher ups.
"So, the question of the century," Momonga asked. "What do we do about the Straw Hat crew?"
Sengoku went and answered. "For now… nothing," his answer surprised everyone in the room, and got more than one eyebrow raised. "I will go and inform the Gorosei about their existence, their powers and what is known about them, and then depending on what they say, we will act accordingly. But for now, we let them be, as we don't know how strong the three strongest are, and if Garp is right about their powers, we could be in trouble."
"Well, they will most likely stop in Loguetown, and if they do they will have to pass though Smoker," Strawberry said. "And since none of the crew members apparently know Haki, Smoker might be able to apprehend them all."
"That might happen," Sengoku said, as he knew about Smoker and his DF ability, as well as that no pirate who has stopped in Loguetown on the way to Reverse Mountain in the last five years, has left the town. They were all arrested by Smoker, as they were unable to pass through his Logia Type DF. "But we cannot rely on that."
"I doubt Smoker will be able to go pass them," Garp said, and everyone looked at him again. "You all know that Haki is now the only way to defeat or punch a Logia user. An opposite element can do that as well. Or the element that is similar and yet stronger. Smoker is smoke Logia, but Luffy can control Lightning, and Natsu can use fire. Depending on how hot that fire is, Natsu can burn and even kill Smoker even without Haki. The same goes for Luffy, since Lightning is four times hotter than the surface of the sun. With his Lightning, Luffy could potentially be able to burn Akainu, who is magma logia. Smoker is nothing compared to that."
Many couldn't believe that, but the other knew that Garp is right about the hotness of the Lighting, and knew that Luffy would be able to burn Akainu with it.
"The Watchers continue to observe the Straw Hats, right?" Lacroix asked.
"Yes, they will," Sengoku said. "They are our best chance to discover which powers they have and what they do from now on, until it is decided what to do with that crew."
Everyone nodded, and with that, the meeting was over. Everyone left, while Brannew went to do his job, and have the new bounties distributed by the News Coo.
XXX
"What the FUCK!" Nami exclaimed when she saw the bounty posters fall from the newspaper.
"Hm, I guess we got out first bounties," Luffy commented with a smirk. "Though I have to say, I didn't think they will give all of us bounties."
"How in the hell did they get those pictures?" Usopp wondered, and everyone had to agree that it was a good question.
Right down on the ground and in front of the whole crew, as well as Johnny, Yosaku and Genzo, lye six bounty posters of the Straw Hat crew.
The first, the captain, Monkey D. Luffy with a 50 mil belly bounty. Luffy's picture was taken when he was standing in Arlong Park with his hand stretched in the air. There was blue lightning dancing all over the cloud covered sky which was seen in the background, and Luffy's face was shown to be looking up toward something. His horns and the straw hat were clearly seen. Everyone realized this must have been taken right after Luffy threw Arlong toward the sky to be destroyed by lightning.
The next highest bounties were Naruto's and Natsu's, who both have 40 mil belly on their heads. Both of their pictures show their faces, with no special effect on or around the two. The thing that did draw slight attention on Natsu's bounty were his silted eyes, as that is unusual.
Then came Usopp and Zoro, who, surprisingly, had 20 mill each. It's surprising for the crew, because Zoro had a name behind himself, and is known, while Usopp is not. Zoro's picture is of him standing in a stance to perform Tatsu Maki, with Wado Ichimonji in his mouth, and two other swords in his hands stretched to the side. Usopp's was relatively normal, though his face was caught from the profile. It only shows him with both of his pistols pointing at something, and one horn is seen, while the other is not.
And finally, it was Nami who had only 10 mill belly on her head. Her picture was taken while in the battle in Arlong Park. She was in the middle of fishman and marines, and was beating them up with her staff. Her hair was slightly messy, like it was being blown by the wind, and she had a small smirk on her face.
"Oh, this is just great," Nami whined!
"Oh come on Nami, what's the problem," Luffy asked, as he hugged Nami with one hand over her shoulder and drew her towards him, making Nami blush. "Everyone else seems to be fine with it."
And he was right, as Usopp and Zoro had a smirk on their faces, while Natsu and Naruto looked neutral, like they look most of the time.
"I-I didn't want to get a bounty," Nami whined again!
Luffy shrugged. "We would all get bounty eventually. What does it matter if we got it now or in a few weeks or months?"
"I know, but I wanted to be stronger before I have to worry about bounty hunters coming after me." Nami said.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Luffy said, and Nami looked at his eyes. "We are here to protect you until you get stronger. And trust me, you will be stronger."
Nami nodded, and smiled at Luffy, and then Natsu said. "We better leave this Island as soon as possible. The marines might decide to come after us, and that would place the civilians in danger."
"I agree," Naruto said. "The farther we are from here, the best. Especially since this is Nami's home village, and there are people here she cares about."
Everyone agreed, and so, Nami went to wake up Nojiko, and help her gather her things if she was to join them, while all the others, except Johnny, Yosaku and Genzo, stocked the Going Merry with what they needed to continue the journey,
Genzo went to hide the money and gems Luffy gave him for the company he was to create with the help of Kaya, after which he joined Johnny and Yosaku, who said good bye to the crew, and all three immediately went to work on Arlong's Ship, so they can remodel it slightly and allow Johnny and Yosaku to get to the Syrup Village with it.
Once the Merry was stocked, Luffy found a Den Den Mushi in Arlong Park, as, surprisingly, that was the only place with one on the entire Conomi Islands, and then he called Kaya. He explained to her his plan to fund a company, which will have her name on it, but Nami and Nojiko will be the true owners. He told her about Johnny and Yosaku and that they will be in Syrup Village in a few days, and also they talked about few more things they needed, and about the land Luffy gave Kaya the money to buy.
When all was over, and after Nojiko joined them all, everyone said their good byes, the Straw Hat Crew left the Cocoyasi Village and went on their next adventure.
XXX
As the Straw Hats were preparing to leave the Conomi Islands, the bounty posters were circulating the world, and many people were surprised by the fact that a crew who's barely few weeks old, has six members and all of them have bounties. And that's not small bounties either.
In Syrup Village, Kaya and Katrina have already seen the posters before Luffy even called, so Kaya congratulated Luffy and everyone when Luffy and she talked.
In Luffy's home village, there was a party at Makino's bar, where everyone was drinking and celebrating Luffy's, as well as Natsu's and Naruto's first bounties, and were all happy for them.
The news has also reached Shanks, who was camping out with his crew on some Island who knows where. They went back to drink after they saw Luffy's and Usopp's posters, and haven't stopped until days later.
The bounties have even reached Zoro's old village, and children in the Dojo were ganging up on Koushirou to teach them how to become strong pirates like Zoro, because they knew that Zoro used to train in that same Dojo.
In Loguetown, two woman, one blonde and one brunette, along with a little blonde haired girl, were watching the bounty posters for the Straw Hat Pirates. The two woman were both wide eyed, and had tears running down their cheeks, while the little girl was confused as to why her mommy was crying.
XXX
It has been few days since the Straw Hats saw their first bounty posters, and hurriedly left the Conomi Islands, as they didn't want the marines to come after them while there. Of course, Nojiko joined them, and on the way away from the village, was informed about everything that was discussed while she was sleeping, and the bounties which came out. She was not happy to know that right now, she is the only member of the crew without the bounty.
When they left Conomi Islands, they discussed where to go next, and Nami said that the next stop should be in Loguetown, as that is the final island before the Reverse Mountain, and there is no reason to stop anywhere in between her home village and Loguetown or to stay any longer in East Blue.
That's when Naruto said that they might need a cook before they enter the Grand Line, so they decided to find one.
It was Zoro who suggested the place where they might be able to find one. It was a floating restaurant called Baratie, and Zoro knew about it since he visited it some time ago with Johnny and Yosaku, while they were still doing bounty hunting together.
So, in the end, it was decided to head to Baratie, and find a cook, who knows how to cook, as well as fight.
XXX
On the way to Baratie, while everyone was mostly relaxing on the ship, they were interrupted by Marine War ship, which Naruto saw from the craws nest. He then informed the others, who all went on the deck, and were ready to battle. Well, all except Naruto, as he remained in crow's nest.
"Straw Hat Pirates, I'm Marine Lieutenant Iron Fist Fullbody, and in the name of law, you are all under arrest!" Fullbody yelled, from his war ship, while glaring at Luffy, and the others.
Luffy looked at the marine for a few moments, with an amused look on his face, while the others mostly look disinterested.
"And how exactly do you plan to arrest us," Luffy asked. "We are no slouches."
Fullbody scowled. "You'll see," he said, and then he told his man to sink them.
A bunch of a marines from the war ship went to the cannons, and one of them fired one cannon ball, which went straight at Luffy and the others.
Zoro acted without being told, while the others didn't move. Though Nami and Nojiko did look a little nervous, as they were not as skilled as others. And even though Nami remembered that Luffy said they will protect her, she knew they want be able to always do that. As for Nojiko, she is definitely the weakest member of the crew, and has no skills whatsoever. Which means, that until she learns to fight with her hands, or learns how to wield a weapon, she is a little more than a dead weight.
As the cannon ball flew at the group of five, Zoro unsheathed his Wado Ichimonji, and cut the cannon ball in half, making both half's flew on his sides, and away from the ship, until they fell into the ocean where they exploded.
"WHAAAAT!" The marines yelled, and Fullbody started to sweat a little.
"You are way out of your league, Marine," Luffy said, with a smirk on his face. He loved seeing the fear on the face of marines. "I'm not in the mood of killing today, which is why I'm willing to let you and the others go. I would advise you to take my offer, because if you don't, that lovely lady next to you will, unfortunately have to watch as we kill all of your soldiers and then you."
Fullbody growled at Luffy, while the woman next to him looked scared, as she didn't even want to imagine what would happen to her if she is captured by pirates.
Eventually, Fullbody decided that living another day might be better than charging in blindly, so he turned around and walked away with the woman, while telling his soldiers to back away, and move on.
"Well, that was surprising," Usopp said. "I really didn't think he would back away."
"He's smart and values his life," Natsu said. "He knows he can't defeat us all, so he decided that it would be safer for all of them not to battle."
"I agree," Luffy said, and they all went back to what they were doing before they were interrupted. Which is noting.
XXX
Few minutes later, while the ship was still on the way to Baratie, and while everyone was just seating around, bored out of their minds, Nojiko decided she doesn't want to be dead weight, so she approached Natsu.
"Natsu, I need you to train me!" She said with hard eyes and conviction in her voice. This got her raised eyebrows from Natsu, but also from all the others who have heard her.
"Why would you want me to train you?" Natsu asked.
"You are my boyfriend, are you not," Nojiko asked with narrowed eyes. "You are also one of the stronger members of the crew, and because of that, you should be the one to train me."
There was a silence for a few moments after that, which was broken by Natsu. "Listen, Nojiko, I'm not really the best person to train you. I mean, I can help you, have few spars with you, and maybe teach you some hand-to-hand combat, but that's about it."
"Why aren't you the best person to train me," Nojiko asked, a little too loudly?
"Besides hand-to-hand combat, I literally can't teach you anything else." Natsu said, and this time, got raised eyebrows from everyone except Naruto and Luffy.
"What about that fire manipulation I saw you using in the cave near my home village?" Usopp asked, and Natsu looked at him.
"I can't teach her that," Natsu said. "That is something only specific… beings, can teach, and I'm not one of them.
"Although," Natsu continued, and everyone was now looking at him, waiting to hear what he has come up with. "Now that I think about it, I might be able to GIVE you the power which is the same as mine, and then teach you how to control it."
"What do you mean, give her," Nami asked? "Didn't you just say you can't teach her?"
"I can't teach her the same way I was taught," Natsu said. "But, there is another way to do it."
"How?" Nojiko asked, as she was interested.
Natsu didn't respond, but instead got up, and went to the room he shared with the other guys in the crew. He came back a minute later, carrying a wooden box with him.
Everyone except Naruto and Luffy were surprised by the box, and interested to know what's inside, as they didn't know. Naruto and Luffy though, did know what's inside, and were wide eyed because of what Natsu was planning to do.
Natsu placed the box on the deck, and then set in front of it, and looked at everyone. "First, you need to know what I am, and what my powers are. Naruto and Luffy already know this, but the rest of you don't, so I guess it's time to tell you."
Everyone set in front of Natsu, except Luffy and Naruto, who were either in craw's nest, or leaning on the side of the ship.
"First you need to know, is that in the East Blue, there are two… continents, about which existence barely anyone knows." Again, everyone except Luffy and Naruto were wide eyed.
"How can we not know about two continents in the East Blue," Nami asked? "It's not like it's a small island which can be unknown."
"The two continents are protected by a powerful barriers, which means that unless you already know about them, you can't pass them. People from there can come here, and people from here can go there, but ONLY, if they know about the existence of the continents and where they are.
"One continent is called Earthland, while the other doesn't exactly have a name, but there are several nations on the continent, and they are all called Elemental Nations, as the names of the five biggest Nations are named after the five main elements, fire, water, earth, wind and lightning. The two continents are not exactly separated. They are connected, and the eastern part of the continent is Elemental Nations, while the Western part is Earthland. The barriers which are surrounding them separately also go in between the two connected parts, so that the separate types of power are not mixed.
"What you also need to know, is that people on both continents have special powers, but there are no DF. The special powers are called, Chakra, which is something which is used in the Elemental Nations, while on Earthland, people use Magic."
Jaws dropped at the mention of Magic.
"Naruto over there, is from the Land of Fire, in the Elemental Nations, and he can use chakra," Natsu continued. "That's how he can do the things some of you have seen.
"I on the other hand, am from Earthland, and I use Magic. More specifically, Fire magic.
"Now, there is no need to go into my entire life because it will take a while to explain everything, but my magic is a little different than normal magic, and the fire I can control is not normal fire, but instead, it's Dragon Fire. There are different types of magic, and my magic is called Dragon Slayer Magic. It means, that while my fire will work on anyone or anything just like normal fire, it will work the best, against Dragon, as it is the same fire used by Dragons, and Dragon Slayers are trained in the art of Dragon Magic in order to slay Dragons."
Again, almost everyone was floored and had their jaws on the floor. "You mean to tell me that there are real Dragons on Earthland?" Usopp questioned.
"Well, there used to be a lot of them centuries ago," Natsu said, and then his look darkened, scaring the shit out of Nami, Nojiko and Usopp. "But there is only one left right now."
Natsu was quiet for a few moments, until he calmed down, then he took a deep breath, and continued. "Back in the day when Dragons existed, the only way to become a Dragon slayer was to be trained by a Dragon personally. I was trained by a Fire Dragon King, Igneel, and have become Fire Dragon Slayer.
"Later, when the Dragons were thought to be extinct, or to have never existed in the first place, people created something called Dragon Lacrimas." Here Natsu stopped, and opened the box, showing everyone several greenish balls, which on the first look didn't look anything special, but they could be wrong.
They were.
"These are all Dragon Lacrimas," Natsu started speaking again. "Dragon Lacrimas are called like that because once imbedded into the body of a person, that person will gain Dragon Slayer magic. What type they gain, depends on the Lacrima.
"When I was back on my home continent, I was a part of a guild, and the master of the guild explained to me one time how the lacrimas are made, which is why I was able to make these after I left my continent and arrived in Foosha Village in Goa Kingdom.
"These Dragon Lacrimas are imbedded with several elements, one element per Lacrima. Though, I tried to do something different and succeeded. You see, in Elemental nations there is something called bloodlines, at least that's what Naruto called them. He told me that some bloodlines are element based, and are a combination of 2 or more elements. So, I tried to do that, and made some Dragon Lacrimas who won't give the user control over one element, like only fire, or lightning, but depending on the lacrima, the combination of two or three element, like scorch, which is a combination of wind and fire.
"So, my question is. Do you, Nojiko, want me to embed Dragon Lacrima into your body and give you Dragon Slayer magic?"
Nami and Nojiko were wide eyed, while everyone else was surprised. Even Naruto and Luffy were surprised as they didn't think Natsu will offer Nojiko to give her Dragon Slayer power.
"Y-You can give m-me Dragon Slayer magic," Nojiko stuttered and Natsu nodded. "But how? Does having Dragon Lacrima in my body allow me to use magic?"
"Magic users have something called containers in their bodies, which allow them to absorb and use Magic," Natsu said. "Only those in Earthland and one other place have those containers and can use magic. People here can't because they don't have those containers.
"Anyway, by having Dragon Lacrima embedded into your body, you will gain a container, and will be able to absorb and use magic."
"But didn't you say that magic only exists in Earthland," Nami asked? "How can Nojiko absorb magic if there is none here?"
"No, I said that only people in Earthland have containers," Natsu said. "Magic actually exists in the entire world, which is why Nojiko could absorb it if she has Dragon Lacrima embedded into her.
"Also, Naruto and I, can convert energy into Magic and Chakra. While magic exists in the entire world, and I can absorb it even outside of Earthland, according to Naruto, chakra only exists in the Elemental Nations, so if his body was unable to convert pure energy into chakra, he wouldn't be able to use it while here."
There was a silence for a while, as Nojiko thought about Natsu's offer, and if she should accept it. It would definitely make her stronger, but would there be some side effects.
"Will there be some side effects?" Nojiko asked.
"For you, there won't be any side effects," Natsu said, confusing Nojiko and the others.
"What do you mean?" Nojiko asked.
"The First Generation Dragon slayers, are the ones who are trained by Dragons personally," Natsu started to explain. "I'm one of them. All first generation have two common side effects. One is that we have motion sickness. We literally can't drive on anything without puking our guts out. The second side effect, is that there is a possibility that a First Generation Dragon Slayer will eventually turn into a Dragon if they overuse the Dragon Slayer Magic."
Nojiko was wide eyed. Everyone else was stunned.
"Wait a minute," Nami said after a minute. "How come you are not puking your guts out if you gave motion sickness?"
"It is possible to overcome that weakness after some time," Natsu said. "I only overcame it last year, and I was a Dragon Slayer for like 10 years before that. As for the other side effect. That one is also taken care of. I won't turn into a Dragon because the Dragon which taught me made sure that never happens.
"You on the other hand, will be a Second Generation Dragon Slayer, and they don't have motion sickness, nor is there a possibility of them turning into a Dragon if they overuse their magic."
Nojiko breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to know." She said.
Natsu shrugged. "I wouldn't even offer you this if there were side effects."
Nojiko nodded.
"Oh, and another thing. While you and I can't TURN into a Dragon, I can, and you could TRANSFORM into a Dragon." Natsu said, getting raised eyebrows.
"What's the difference?" Nojiko asked confused.
"The difference is, that if you turn into a Dragon, you become a full Dragon," Natsu said. "If that happens, you are no longer human. You can, of course, transform back into your human form, but you will still be a Dragon, you will only be wearing human skin.
"But, willingly transforming into a Dragon is not permanent, as you are still human, only able to transform in the Dragon form and then back into your normal, human form. Think of it like Zoan type DF users. They can transform into their Zoan form, but that doesn't mean they are the beast. They are still regular humans."
"Sooo, does that mean you can transform into a Dragon?" Nojiko asked, while Nami, Zoro and Usopp came closer, and you could see Usopp's eyes light up in excitement.
"WOW, you can," Usopp grinned in glee, and was all over Natsu, as he wanted to see it. "Can we see it? How big are you in Dragon Form?"
He would have continued to yell out questions if Nami didn't stop him by hitting him over the head.
"Yes, I can transform," Natsu said with a sigh. "No, you can't see it right now, and I'm pretty big."
Natsu then looked at Nojiko again. "So, what have you decided," Natsu asked? "Do you want to become a Dragon Slayer, or not. If you want, I can train you to master Dragon Slayer magic, but if you refuse, then except hand-to-hand combat, I wouldn't be able to teach you anything."
"I accept," Nojiko said right away, and Nami looked at her wide eyed.
"Are you sure, Nojiko," Nami asked? "Don't you want to think this through for a while?"
"I'm sure, Nami," Nojiko said. "This is a perfect opportunity for me to gain a lot of power, and there isn't any draw backs from it. I would even be able to swim, unlike if I were to eat DF."
"She's right about that," Natsu said, and Nami gave up on trying to convince Nojiko to think this through some more.
Natsu then looked at Nojiko and asked. "So, which element do you want?"
"Which ones do you have?" Nojiko asked after she looked at the lacrimas, and saw they were all exactly the same, with no differences whatsoever. It made her wander how Natsu can tell which one's which?
Natsu looked at the lacrimas, and said. "There is fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, metal, storm, plasma, scorch, wood and ice. So if you are to choose, for example, fire, you will be Fire Dragon Slayer, just like me. The same goes for the others."
Nojiko thought for a few minutes bit couldn't decide. "Which one do you think I should choose?" She asked.
Natsu held a hand above the lacrimas, and on the third lacrima, he took it, and held in front of Nojiko. "This is Water Dragon Lacrima. If you take this one, you will be Water Dragon Slayer, and will have the ability to control, created and eat, water."
"What do you mean, 'eat water'," Nojiko asked, confused?
"Every Dragon Slayer can eat their own element," Natsu said, causing Nojiko to go wide eyed again. "I, as a Fire Dragon Slayer, can eat fire and it will power me up. You would be able to eat water. Well better said you will be able to drink water, and every time you do it, you will become stronger. Of course, it's not permanent. Once you use up that extra magic, you are back to normal.
"Another thing you need to know is that if you drink the water you create, nothing will happen because Dragon Slayers, while they can eat the element they create, they will not be powered up by it. They will only be powered up by their own element if someone else creates it, or if they find it in nature.
"It is possible, after a lot of training to become able to regain the wasted magic by eating the element you produced," Natsu here stopped and created a fire ball at the top of his palm, much to the amazement of Nami and Nojiko. "See, I created a fire ball. It uses magic, so I now have less magic then I did before I created it. If I throw it, it will cause an explosion, and I will have less magic. But, if I were to eat the ball instead of throwing it," here Natsu ate the ball, causing everyone but Naruto and Luffy, to wince a little as they thought Natsu will burn himself. Much to their surprise, nothing happened.
"I ate the ball, and the magic I used to create it, is now back in me," Natsu said. "I'm not stronger then I was before I created the ball. I'm on the same magical level. So you see, with enough training, if you drink the water you produce, you can regain some magic you used. And remember, this is only useful if there is any left over water after your attack. Instead of letting it go to waste, you can drink it or suck it back."
Nojiko nodded, and so, Natsu told her to lie on the deck, on her back, so he can embed the lacrima into her body, but he did warn her first. "I need to tell you first, before we start," Natsu said, and Nojiko was all ears. "While doing this to someone who already has a magical container is easy, and there is no pain, it might be different for someone who doesn't have a container. Since you have no container, the Dragon Lacrima will create one, but you might feel pain."
"Now you tell me," Nojiko almost yelled, and was no longer so sure about this.
"Are you sure there will be pain," Nami asked? "Did you already do this for someone?"
"I have never done this before," Natsu admitted. "I only heard about it, and because of that, I know there shouldn't' be any pain, but as I said, this has only been done on people who already had magical container. It has never been done on someone without one, so I'm not sure if she will feel any pain or not."
"Let's just get this over with!" Nojiko said, and Nami and Natsu looked at her for a few moments, before Nami sighed, and Natsu smirked, before he moved to work.
Natsu placed the Water Dragon Lacrima on Nojiko's stomach, and held it from above so it won't roll away.
"Ready?" Natsu asked one more time, and Nojiko nodded.
Natsu then pushed pure magic into the Dragon lacrima, which then started to glow, and after few moments, the lacrima was gone, turned into blue colored magic, before it entered into Nojiko's stomach, and then slowly spread around her entire body, enveloping her completely in blue aura.
At first Nojiko didn't feel anything, and was about to smile as she thought it was over and she will get over it without pain, but then the pain suddenly came, and she screamed. "AAHHHHHHHHHH!"