A Fruitless Start
One Piece belongs to Oda.
Chapter 7- The Straw Hat Company.
…..
"Don, calm down" his 2nd in command begs him, but he is pissed, no he is absolutely livid. Three months, for three months his flagship, his mighty galleon, have been missing. For a time he thought that one of his men had betrayed him, he could deal with that, just find the traitors and skin them alive. Easy enough. Now the giant man can't stop frowning and his subordinates knew he was in a bad mood. And all because of a newspaper.
Don Krieg(17,000,000 dead or alive) was considered the 'Ruler of The East Blue' and had plans to go claim the One Piece in a more or less a year. He has ambition, he has power, weapons, subordinates, everything he needs. Then, from out of nowhere, a brat starts to show up and make waves. first defeating Arlong 'the Saw', the only other pirate on the East Blue worth a damn in his opinion. After that he shows up and stops a raid led by Gin, his right-hand man.
After that failure he almost punished Gin(12,000,000 dead or alive) for it, but reading about this 'Monkey D. Luffy' and the fact he was the grandson of the 'Hero' Garp gave him pause. This would be his rival, he smiled at the thought, the Garp to his Roger, chasing him and trying to arrest him just to be defeated again and again for, unlike Roger, Krieg has no intent of having an execution. But the idea of a rival like that excited him. He would be the King of the Pirates and that meant he needed a rival of his level. He laughed at the idea that day and planned how to make a proper introduction with his 'fated rival' in a way to not kill him and not end the fun.
Now he wants to throttle that kid because of the picture on the paper. HIS GALLEON, taken and repurposed as the main ship of the 'Straw Hat Company', together with the picture there is also an interview, with the secretary/vice-president of the newly created enterprise, where she(they) bragged how they freed some prisoners from the pirates and took the ship while his men were lost on the sea.
That was an attack on him and he needs to answer in kind, there are only a couple of problems, out of his five commanders, now four, only two of the present ones knew about the deal with the government. The others followed him for his strength and he can't deny that the settlement he made lets him be seen as weak. Transport some cargo, don't attack the main kingdoms and you can do whatever you want even attack marines.
That is it! The deal of a lifetime. Krieg saw that as the government recognizing his power and felt that they should have offered the title of warlord to him, but there were already seven and that was the limit(on many places the 'organization' is even called Shichibukais), so he could say he was the next in line when one of the others 'retired'.
But his commanders wouldn't see it like that, some were extremely loyal like Gin but he was also strong and the men respected him, it's better not risk it. He could win for sure, but Gin was useful and he didn't want to waste his men for nothing. Pearl and Peluce knew what happened, the Don needs to be careful.
Calming down a bit he looks at his commanders "We need to retaliate." That was a fact. "We shall show that upstart no one messes with Don Krieg."
"Just say the word Don and we will attack his island" Gin, always loyal and always an idiot.
"Gin, we can't just strike there" Peluce talks, he was a fat guy with a tophat and a hammer on his back, he liked to dress stylish and managed to pull it off despite his weight "That is a major kingdom, If we do this the whole marines will be on the East in a flash" That is why Peluce is the fourth in command, to keep Gin's impulses on line and give reasons for Krieg to be 'merciful'. "Once we get on the Grand Line, we can raise our numbers, almost all pirates of the East are under our banner."
Yes, besides one or two worms and Buggy 'the Clown' all pirates are under Don Krieg jolly roger, his power is absolute and soon he will use his 5000 man to start his campaign to take the greatest sea. He is sure the government doesn't suspect his plans and once he makes his move it will be too late for them to stop him.
"Don?" Gin was asking something, he should pay some attention. "Then how do we get back for 'Arlong's Bane' insult?" Ain't that a good question?
He could go and attack with everything he had, but then the marines would go after his hide, not even counting that the kid did defeat Arlong, repealed Gin and took a ship that once had over a 100 men. Krieg is sure he can win a fight but only him and maybe Gin, the rest would lose, unless he could use all their numbers on him.
But what would that do to his reputation? 'The mighty Don Krieg needs to use his thousand men to beat a single teenager', he will be a joke on the Grand Line and that will not help recruiting more pirates.
"We should just find him alone and kill him, he can't be that strong" said Pearl, polishing his armor.
"And how do we get him alone?" asked Calit, once a just pirate captain and now a commander for the fleet, he still uses a captain coat and is a pile of muscles bigger than the Don himself, but the purple headed man can only use swords because his aim is shit.
But what to do? The answer is a simple and an easy one, get his galleon back and kill or hold hostage anyone using it. If the straw hat is there then a lesson can also be taught. He wouldn't go personally of course, if he does it would send the wrong message, he has people to do the heavy lifting for him with the minor tasks. "Calit tell me how much you know about that area?"
"Admiral, I was originally from Goa, I can find him anywhere on those islands." That made Krieg's mind.
"Pick five of our ships and as many men as they can carry. Find my galleon, I want Dreadnaught Sabre back, and take anyone on it, kill as many you need but I have questions which need answers." Calit got on his feet, and left immediately to get ready.
"Are you sure about that Don?" asked Gin "'Arlong's Bane is strong".
"He may be but even he can't beat 500 and some men alone. Besides," Krieg smiled "He is starting his own company now and we can send some of our to verify his new properties." The paper didn't say exactly where he is doing his business, but it says that has a focus on building and trade. We just need to find his holding and we can 'share' all the profits." After all he has been using his ship for a few months, nothing wrong in getting rent for it.
"If you say so Don." Gin looked worried, that won't do.
"Gin, you better remember, I'm Don Krieg, if he does become too much of a bother I will deal with him personally." Because he is the strongest and possible rival or not no one will stand on his way to become King of the Pirates.
…..
It was night and Nami was doing what she did best(beside stealing), counting money in her office, one of her offices. The idea of creating jobs for the former prisoners themselves was actually from Luffy, he said "We don't need the government for anything. We do it ourselves" and with that the 'Straw Hat Company' was born, an idea that broke her small fortune.
She knew that would happen, she warned Luffy and cried a bit in her sleep because math doesn't lie. Starting such an operation from nothing without any help cost her all 51,403,991 belly she had saved since she joined Luffy, the money from the bounties and the stuff she stole from nobles and pirates, all gone. All sunk on this company.
She doesn't regret doing it, off course but it annoyed her to see all the money go. And that is not even counting the difficulties of building a company like that. A thing like that needs to do something….anything that can make a profit. As usual Luffy surprised her with a idiotic coment that had real wistom behind it "What they want to do?" he asked her and after she had no real answer he asked them. Out of the 221 people they saved(galleon or not that was a bit too much) almost all of them had no place to go back to.
Cue to the money being used to buy materials, tools and even clothes to be used by the islands some would like to live in….and they decided to live all in one place, the newly named Freby Island, a non-inhabited island she and Luffy had found in one of their trips. Because many were soldiers and had to learn to build by force, one of the things the company would do by default was construction. First in the island base, a new village was founded and Luffy called it Sabo's Town, where all freed from Tequila Wolf chose to live. The bounty hunter duo, Johnny and Yosaku, decided to stay there and become fisherman. Zoro wished them luck.
A small election was called, and the elected mayor was a woman called Valta. She was on her older days with some white on her short black hair, because of the conditions of the Freby Islands, picked a habit of using summer dresses. To be fair everyone uses summer clothes now, "To bask on the heat" said Valta.
After that, to establish trade and have jobs to connect with the economy of the East Blue and incentive people to move in the Freby Islands, 50 people, many former soldiers and no name pirates, wanted to work together to help the island and also pay their saviors back. They offered their services as a crew for Luffy to take the Grand Line, Luffy's answer was "If you are not coming for your own dreams I don't want you. What do you all want?" Almost all said to be free and live peaceful lives.
To give them safety and legitimacy, the company would use Luffy's name and symbol with a banner and flags with a straw hat based on his being surrounded by blue, and after he(she actually) had made some official documents(and bribed some people) the project was officially born. The business would be construction and protection with planned expansions where possible, after all the work that many of them had to do a lot there are master builders with stone and metal, with the ideal of escorting other ships and protecting places were the navy didn't go on the side for those that asked(fair prices depending of the job), the base would be Freby(not know by the government) and the president would be Luffy with Nami as his vice.
At the moment they were on an escort job of a passenger ship and Nami was working on a map of the region using some maps that their clients had to double check and improve her own. The fact that she now had an office(two really with another on Sabo's Town) and that it once belonged to Don Krieg is hilarious to her and to make the pirate mad she gave an interview pretty much calling him for a fight.
Normally she wouldn't do that, but with Luffy and Zoro(not even counting the former soldiers and pirates of the fricking Grand Line) she feels that she has nothing to fear...and they need the money to buy a ship for when the pirate crew sets sail. She also needs to make sure their people are not harmed when they do, so she has a little more than a year to put all the dots on the 'i's.
A knock on her door takes her attention from her map "Enter!" She says out loud and one of her subordinates(strange to think that she now had some) appears, a average sized man but well practiced in spears named Shinzo, he had long blue hair and dressed in jackets and pants all blue, he refused to use anything other than that color, born in the Grand Line, former pirate and now captain of the Straw Hat Tiger(no one knew Krieg's name for the ship and the straw hat on the sails had inspired the name). He was the captain because Luffy wasn't, but everyone knows Luffy is the one calling the shots.
"Boss lady, we finished" he goes to her and gives her a book, a treasure made with tales of every person that came from the Grand Line, "We hope all that we got here will make the boss the King of the Pirates."
Luffy may not like spoilers but he loves tales and stories and by disguising useful information as stories she can use it to find people or places to help on their journeys. Opening the book she finds some of the intel they wrote, the places that will be useful on their journey in a year's time.
The best place for doctors is Drum Island, the Shipwrights of Water 7 are the best on the business, the many climates on the Grand Line and the types of islands. All that on the glossary, taking to a page with stories and explanations. If Luffy got the book he would have a good read.
"Thanks Shinzo, how is the crew?" she asks while placing the book on her drawer.
"Getting used to the sea ma'am, easier now that we have space to breath on the ship". He was in a good mood, as a former pirate the sea is his home. Speaking of it.
"You sure it's safe for you to be the captain? We could ask one of the others to do it, even if just in public."
"Yeh it is. I wasn't arrested, didn't have any time to commit big crimes really. The second my crew was beaten we were sold to the government by other pirates and that was that."
The fact slavery is allowed by the government in certain parts of the world scared her. What if it wasn't Belle-mère that found her and Nojiko? "If you feel safe then it is fine."
"Where is the boss, sleeping already?" he asked curiously.
"Yep, and as usual I'm left with the paperwork" Nami is not exactly bothered by it, Luffy takes care of the fights and she takes care of navigation, money and press. And she uses the press to make sure he is seen as the great savior of the East, entrepreneur extraordinary and youngest future marine…..she enjoys seeing him squirm at some of those, even if he never becomes a marine, she will hold that joke over his head for years.
"Then I wish you a good night."
"To you as well" he closed the door and Nami got up, it was time to go sleep and hope nothing goes wrong tomorrow. Once their guard duty is up they will go to the Conomi Islands, she misses her sister.
…..
Luffy loves hanging out with his 'employees', he didn't care if they technically worked for him and neither did most of them, they all liked to have fun on their little trips, it was supposed to be work, but he was trying to teach Haki to the others and that involved fighting. He likes fighting, growing up he, Ace and Sabo used to spar a lot.
And now he has a lot of people used to fighting to spar with, neither knew Haki but he and Zoro were going to teach them, what they could of course. At this moment he is practicing with Shinzo, learning the ways of the staff, with a proper one and not a pipe, a pity really, but Shinzo said that a pipe was not made to fight and a proper one would last more.
Around them everyone is cheering on the fight, most days he spends like this, either training or just talking with his new friends. He talked with Tristan and his brother Teslan about their home on the South Blue, he played card games with Yuve, a woman who made a living gambling on casinos before her debtors came calling, learned some dances with a okama named Sherry and trained with Shinzo and Zoro. To be fair, he and Zoro had some more duels with the same rules as before and they were keeping the score going, fighting almost every other week if possible, at the moment it was 7x5 to Luffy. Zoro insists he will catch up, especially if he can use his Haki on his weapons. It's funny, because if he tried his own body first he would be able to use it a bit but he wants to be the greatest swordsman not just a fighter, not as funny as the rule that he has to stay on the boat so he doesn't get lost, he hates that rule, Luffy laughs at it.
Nami still tries to dodge training, saying she has better stuff to do, but Luffy has a plan, and once it is executed she won't escape unless she completely mastered dodging. He can't wait, they just needed to get to the Conomi Island and then she would have no excuses.
"Pay attention boss, you are leaving your left side OPEN!" Shinzo attacked, aiming to the stomach but Luffy was prepared, instead of just blocking he puts his staff above his opponent's and grinds it until he hits Shinzo on the face.
Shifting his footing he turns and kicks right on the chest, sending the captain flying until he hits the pillar of the sails. "Back on the ground, captain Shinzo loses." said a bystander of the fight.
"Hey, hey that doesn't count as the ground" complained one of the sailors. Looked like someone lost a bet.
"Hey judge, give a ruling here."
The judge was the oldest man on the boat, an old soldier in his forties who liked to use a helmet anywhere he went. Once he was free it was his first order of business to get a helmet to protect his head and 'not be knocked out by a coward's blow ever again'. HIs name is Kabuto.
After taking a look at Shinzo's position, who didn't move to give a fair judgment, he decided "The boss is the Winner".
"Oh come on" "Yes no chores for me today" "Gonna hop to the other boat and see if some girl wants to hang" "Danmed"
At all this ruckus Luffy could only laugh, made he wish he could take everyone there as his crew, but most of them are enjoying the easy life in the East and he wouldn't force anyone to abandon it out of some obligation. He wants to be free and is only fair if others are free too.
"Nice fight boss" said Menma, an excitable blond teenager, who liked to dress in orange. Luffy liked the guy, he was cool and had a 'never give up attitude'
"Yes it was fun. Aren't you going to try?" Menma liked to fight, but he didn't like weapons.
"Nah, I prefer my fists," Luffy also did but he learned the hard way that preferring something shouldn't stop a person from growing. But Luffy can't complain, if he had another way to use his fists he would stick with it, but he needs range.
The fight against Zoro showed him that and the fun on the ship confirmed it, he asked Shinzo to try and teach him and while a spear is different from a staff, they are similar enough for them to train. Nami could have helped and even improved with them but she just said 'work' and locked herself in her office for that day.
"Here is a towel mister Luffy." He had to stop for one second to look at this girl, he didn't recognize her and he made a habit of trying to remember the faces and names of everyone who worked for him(it is hard) and he is almost certain he doesn't know this girl.
She was blond and also too well dressed to be on a ship as a sailor, everyone else was dressed practically, shorts or pants, vests or shirts, some were shirtless and going around doing their stuff. He himself was like that, only his shorts, sandals and his straw hat along with his staff to train. He also needs to remember to get some boots….or shoes, some guys say that having two pairs of each would be better to many climates.
He was losing himself again, he grabbed the towel "Thank you miss" she was in a dress that looked too cumbersome to be on a ship. She can only be one of their clients, the ones that paid to watch his people train, fight and sail for a good part of the trip on their ship. He didn't understand why they did that and didn't spar or help in some way, they just watched them do stuff. "What's your name?" better be polite. For some reason the girl got red on her face.
"It's Nadia. And It's nothing sir, all to help the 'Hero of the East'" and for that comment he felt himself turn in stone, "I was wondering if you would like to eat with me sometime". Normally he would accept such a notion on a heartbeat, free food was free food. But that title,THAT TITLE…
Fortunately for him, Zoro came to the rescue, "Luffy, time for another of our fights." He then looked at Luffy, who seemed stuck in a pose and the girl looking at him confused, he then asked her, "You called him a hero didn't you?"
"It's what he is," the girl didn't notice but Luffy holded the towel on his face and seemed to scream on it, or tried to. "Shouldn't we show the proper respect to the savior of the East Blue?" They turned to Luffy when they heard a noise but his face was still on the towel.
"He is just shy..." he isn't and Zoro knows that. Why do they torment him? Taking a peek, he can see Zoro smiling. "Tell you what, go back to your ship and later he will be there telling some stories to all the crew, okay?"
"But I wanted to spend some time with him," she sounded sad about that but Luffy doesn't care at this point.
"You do huh? Well it's hard because the boss is a busy man. Needs to motivate the crew and such," good man Zoro, get that Hero Worshiper away from him. He swears, when he is a pirate he is going to do something so big that people will call him the world greatest villain, the meanest man in the East.
"Very well." She turns to Luffy who is returning her towel with a small smile on his face "I hope to see you later mister hero" and off she is gone, to join with the others guests and to watch some other spars. It was exercise and a show in one, another idea for some profit.
Luffy really wished they had music as well, but there were no musicians on the ship. Their clients must have some, but it was always slow music or something like that. He wants a party or more parties during their trips. Most didn't mind but he loved music….maybe he should learn, after he finds a musician?
"Are you there?" Zoro called, he must have lost himself again.
"Sorry Zoro, I was thinking of getting a musician for our crew," he smiles just thinking about the idea.
"This one or the other" avoiding saying the word pirate is annoying as heck, but his mother's advice is still on his mind.
"Both if we can," he really wanted to sing his favorite song now, but it's a pirate song and that won't do. Just a year and a few months until then….
"Go drink something or another, your head is too much on the clouds today," if Zoro knew about the sky islands he would see that his head wasn't even close.
"Yep, gonna see what Nami is doing." The girl is spending too much time in her office and he knows she is using the work as an excuse to not train, but he isn't going to convince her now….he has a plan.
…..
Zoro watches Luffy leave to hang out with Nami, the guy is simple as they come, doesn't want much, enjoys the company of pretty much anyone and if he has good food and good company no one is going to have troubles from him. But that was only the surface, after months of sparring with the guy Zoro can say for sure he is the most ambitious man on the planet.
Everyday he trains for the beginning of his(their) journey, since he started the company he tried to learn how to lead it and he did descently….in a micromanaging level. Coordinating teams and understanding people is something he can do, is when big numbers enter into play he gets more than lost, there is no description to the mess he ended making on the day he tried but if he could understand Nami….there is a reason why she didn't bother him with the paperwork.
But he has charisma, Zoro can say that for sure. You need to have when you got former pirates and soldiers from distant lands all working together. "Zoro, can you help me with this rope, we are getting to the port and we need to ready the ship to approach," this trip is a short one, paranoid or curious people paying to see a 'Hero' in the flesh rather than needing the protection.
"Going" the good side out of this is that he doesn't need to worry about when he would eat anymore, now if he could convince the others he doesn't get lost but they were the ones moving and got Haki on his swords all would be perfect.
…..
Time for part one of the company expansion plan, courtesy of Nami, if they wanted the company to survive when they become pirates there is some things that they need, first legitimity, Luffy's reputation and their(her) money got that, economical dependence, in some way, shape or form, the East Blue has to need the company, either for the protection or construction, this trip was securing that one. The last one is the most complicated, numbers. The marines have power because they number thousands and have a presence on all the seas, for the Straw Hat Company to be relevant it needs at least enough to control at least part of the East.
She thinks control because nobody on their side trusts the government and on their first chance or by any mistake they make there is a huge possibility that the company is going to be either destroyed or something worse. And the moment they become pirates, and they will be, Luffy is absolutely decided and she will follow, they will lose one of the things that started the company. So, yep some security is needed.
This is why they are here on a random island on the East Blue, to sell services and recruit people. This security job is just one of many to spread the idea of the company, it's not a mercenary job, no one is looking for a fight, but if an island is short on jobs there would be no problem in looking for work with them.
Dressed in a short black skirt, a tie and formal wear, Nami moves with Luffy to the village center. He was also dressed in proper attire, with his hat on his back since it was his symbol there is no problems for him to have it and their goal here is starting a building project to expand the village in a proper city and maybe a kingdom one day, this will be the third of such meetings and Luffy is getting good at the art of negotiation.
The mayor of this one is young and recently elected, a good thing, easier to trick and impress. Nami watches the interaction. "It's a pleasure to have such a renowned hero in our island, mister Luffy, I'm mayor Ferdiand," said the mayor, extending his hand for Luffy to shake.
They rehearsed this situation hundreds of times, in a meeting he won't care about what they say, they can call him a hero if they like, for the company and the people who need it, Luffy is going to swallow his irritation and power through it "A pleasure Ferdiand, my name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm here with a business proposition," he made a mistake and jumped the gun a bit on talking about business but it's all fine, everyone in the room appears too happy seeing him to care.
"Yes sir, it's truly an honor, but we don't have anything for your business to work on." This is the first challenge on most of these islands, finding something to work on, "We have plenty of space and our village can sustain itself well enough therefore I fear you wasted your trip."
Zoro was the one that gave an advice that Luffy could use on these things, something that helped him see how to navigate them 'Treat all of it like a fight' and that is what he does and in a fight, Monkey D. Luffy doesn't back down.
"We understand that but we have some suggestions on projects that may interest you," and so it begins. Ideas of ports and channels, walls and defensive buildings, anything that could be used and bargained with was on the table at any moment.
Nami can't help but be impressed with how Luffy behaves seriously when he wants, but that is the man with the ambition to be the King of the Pirates, when he wants something he either will hit his head in a wall until it breaks or improvise his way to victory.
Soon enough the discussion went for the trump card of the company, housing or the fact that most homes of the more isolated villages are almost entirely made out of wood, if a real bad storm hits everyone could lose their living. That is where Nami comes into play.
"Her maps are the best in the world, I can guarantee it and she has proof that lots of bad storms happened around here and will happen again." Luffy's word, a hero word can go far and this island is in a location of the ocean where storms are frequent. The mayor can't deny that.
"May I see some of her work?" Hook, line and sinker. A good mayor cares for his people, especially in a world where he can be taken out by a sword quite easily.
"If I may," she approaches with some papers, "turn your eyes to this map," she says, unfolding a map of the region. "Notice that there is a grand quantity of storms in the area. For what we could tell and you can confirm, some of the houses and areas of the village got really damaged on the last one, correct?"
Hard truths are better than the sweetest of lies, they can't be denied and can make even the strongest warrior lose their will to fight.
The way that every single person on the room looked to the map was a motive of pride to Nami, none could say the map was bad and details were added on the way to the island, she wasn't dodging training, not at all, she was just busy….taking her time and adding stuff just to make the map as much comprehensible as possible, not avoiding get rocks thrown at her at all.
It took a few minutes but they caved. Deals were made and they would stay on the island to help the construction of some buildings to the protection of their people with the possibility that the richer ones would ask for their own houses. They also got permission to get some stone from the mountains, and other unused areas from the region. And most importantly, recruitment, they will let them post some notices and make some calls to get more people on the company.
Leaving the building Luffy immediately took out his tie and put his hat on his head "Ahh, I thought that would never end." Nami wants to laugh at his attitude, he hates this stuff but is willing to do it anyway, within reason.
"Well since you behaved so much we can go get lunch and then explore the island," that put an immediate smile on his face, after spending almost a year with him, she learned to understand him very well.
They find a restaurant and, as usually happens, people stop to try and talk with Luffy, that calls the attention of the people on the street and results in him trying to ignore them and eat anyway. This time has a little difference, Nami starts to spread around the information that they were looking for more employers for the company, people who wanted adventure, a job or to just travel. The Straw Hats will take all applicants….not really all but enough.
They would have to follow some instructions and go to their ship, the ones selected will have until the ship passes there again in a month to decide if this is really what they want or not. It's not permanent and they would have to be taught some stuff and trained on both fighting and construction but it's a job with pay. After Cocoyashi, they will start to go back to the islands already visited and start the projects and recruitment proper on them.
After eating came time for exploration, Luffy, Nami and some of the stonemasons started to go around and look for a good zone to start a quarry. Luffy is the best to explore mountains of all the crew, Zoro would be useful as well for his strength alone but he could get lost. They changed to more comfortable clothes and off they went.
Beside the two of them there were also other three, Menma, Sherry and the best analyst of stones and stonework of the company, Flint, a tall man with a simple combo of shirt, pants and boots, he also took to wearing a straw hat, a different type than Luffy but he said he liked the idea and got one big enough to cover all his face in shadow. Out of the three, Flint is the only one to have been called for the expertise on the subject, Sherry wanted to do some walking and Menma wanted to see the rest of the island.
Not all stones are proper to construction and making cement would take more time and resources than just finding a good place to get some good rocks for the foundation, the project will start proper in a month anyway, after they have done some work on the other islands. If the ability of their people are good enough(and it is) the base and stone will be ready for the next month and the construction will only be a few days.
"Aaaaaand stop" Flint calls for the halt, before a small mountain made of solid rock "this one will do".
"Are you sure?" asked Luffy, he obviously wanted to explore some more, she also needs to go for more details of the island. "Because we can keep looking".
"Nah these ones are perfect, once we cut them they will be ready to be put in lots of places." Flint ran his hand on the stone "It will be enough, we can mine this place too".
He was a miner once wasn't he? It would be good if metal was found on this island.
"Soooooo can the rest of us go explore more?" asked Luffy.
"Aren't you the boss?" Sherry had a smile on that comment. "You could go by yourself."
"Yes, but it's more fun with friends." No one denied that, even Flint just shrugged his shoulder and all decided to go for a nice hike. Maybe they would find places for more materials.
…..
A few days later the time to leave had arrived and Zoro was feeling restless, he was allowed to leave the boat eventually but he was followed everywhere, to a bar, to a forest to train(yes it was on purpose). Anywhere he has gone there were two or three crewmates to babysit him, not to hang out but babysit, he was at the end of his rope.
"ALL READY TO SET SAIL!" shouted one of the straw hats.
"SUPPLIES ARE A OKAY!".People are moving from one side to another, with a galleon there is a lot to prepare and that is why the crews of this stuff need to be big.
"IS EVERYONE ON THE SHIP?" asked Nami and, almost as one, every single one of them looked at Zoro.
"YES MA'AM!" The unison of the shout only lost to the next one that came soon after.
"I'M GONNA KILL YOU ALL, YOU BASTARDS!" Zoro's threat had gone on deaf years and soon enough the ship was leaving port.
"BYE STRAW HATS" "SEE YOU IN A MONTH" "SAFE TRAVELS" "STAY STRONG, HERO LUFFY"
Many say goodbye and well wishes to the sailing crew, Zoro still is not used to the 'hero exit' but he is used to Luffy getting completely pissed or depressed because of his heroic acts. Shinzo keeps ordering everyone to their places and Zoro approaches Luffy and Nami and hears him say "...the worst ever, the greatest villain with the biggest bounty ever printed I will torch the World Government…." he continues rambling while the other two look at each other.
"So? Is he planning to take over the world today?" asked Zoro.
"Apparently he plans to crash the biggest marine HQ he can find and make as much chaos as possible and escape after breaking….something important there." Nami is just amused by all of it.
"Well that would be fun," Zoro would relish the challenge.
"For you fighters maybe, I doubt the marines would have anything good to steal there" that would depend on the HQ, he thinks.
"How long is he going to go like that?"
"Until something distracts him I suppose," he looks at her skeptically before asking.
"You are not snapping him out of it to avoid training, aren't you?" The way she smiles says it all, Zoro is not surprised but he knows that Luffy has a plan about that when they get to her home island, personally he believes it will be funny either way.
"Well, I have to tell the guys the best course to Conomi Islands…." she starts to leave but Zoro stops her.
"Woman, stop stalling and snap him out of his rant before we end up actually attacking a marine base." She stops herself and releases a sigh knowing that Zoro is right and the sooner she does it the better.
"FINE YOU WIN!" she turns and says "Luffy we are away from the coast now".
"...AND THEN I WILL RAIN FIRE ON THEIR- sorry Nami what did you say?" He stops his 'I'm not a hero rant' and turns to Nami.
"We are away from the coast now," she smiled a bit "You can have your song if you want."
Luffy smiles and is one of his huge ones, he runs to the top of the ship "GUYS IS TIME TO SING!" everyone looks at him and soon enough they start his favorite song, it's a pirate song, about delivering sake.
…..
Calit is starting to get worried, he has been looking for the galleon of his Admiral for a few weeks now and has not seen a single clue. He is in command of five ships, each with approximately 100 and they are getting anxious. This was supposed to be easy.
"Captain?" his first mate called for him, he also was someone from Goa, they had left the kingdom years before the fire that wiped out their former home, the Gray Terminal. "What do we do now?"
"I don't know Drai" Drai is smaller than many men, about the size of an average man's leg, he was also the fastest man Calit ever met. He had short purple hair like his captain but of a shade darker and carried a couple of knives, 16 in total either on his waist or hidden on his long sleeved shirt. "The Don won't like it if we go back empty handed."
"It's not your fault the guy isn't here."
"Yes, we have been looking like mad but he hasn't returned to Goa for a while now." Calit felt frustrated, he knew the region and it's ports with the best potential for trade and business, any endeavor would use them. SO WHY ISN'T THE STRAW HAT HERE?
"Sir?" talked one of the grunts "Maybe he isn't interested in Goa anymore?"
That….would make sense? "Drai what do you think?"
"I know as much as you." Which means nothing.
Putting his hands on his face Calit sigh exasperated "If we don't find any sign of the guy or the ship, it will be our hides." Krieg is not a kind lider, especially with failure. "How much do we still have?"
"We can last a couple of weeks still, a month with luck" If push comes to shove they could just attack a random village and demand goods, "The problem is that some of our people are going stir crazy."
"I know, I know, I'm too but there is nothing we can do." Calit passed around his subordinates, "If we don't find the galleon, the Straw Hat or both we are fucked".
"Maybe split the ships?" suggested Drai.
"We have been on the main routes to Goa for weeks Drai, splitting makes no difference because he is not here" the fear on the captain's face is obvious to all.
"Calm down. You are right but what can we do?" all were silent about that. Calit looked to his sail, and saw Krieg's jolly roger. He starts to think about what to do.
"We will have to guess."
"Guess?" asked both men.
"He can be on any part of the sea, we have to risk it." Or he will lose his head.
"So we are splitting?" asked the grunt.
"Yes, we are," he needs to be smart about this. "We split, each ship will go to a major port and keep watch." The problem is communication. "After a few days, we reunite on an island and change the plan again. If one doesn't return, the others will go and look at the area of that ship."
"We could take and use some villages' den den mushis," suggested Drai.
"That….is a bad idea." After Arlong, who knows what the marines would do about a missing den den mushi "We can attack and leave and most marines would not care, but after Arlong we don't know if they have some way to figure out that we have a random snail."
"Uhh... but why after Arlong?" asked the grunt.
"Because the papers made that an issue" Drai affirmed.
"Arlong went and took an island all to himself, even our Admiral hadn't thought of that" the fishman idea was a good one, control an already inhabited territory and expand from there.
He had everything for it to work too. He had marines and merchants in his pocket, a tamed people who feared him to the point of not fighting back and the strength of his crew, coming from the Grand Line that only Don Krieg could ever compete. And he still lost.
"After the 'Conomi Islands incident', the marines of the East stepped up their game." Explained Drai,"Inspections and patrols were raised in number, the corrupt ones were arrested and the trials had the results posted for all to see. Few of Arlong's allies didn't end in Impel Down, and even us had to change some of our habits."
The captain said "If we become another Arlong we are screwed, the government doesn't like losing face and we would be an easy target." Calit is big, not dumb, "And the Admiral knows that."
He entered the common room of his ship and, soon enough, a map of the East was on a table for all the five captains to see, they debated a bit and decided which sectors they would cover and the rendezvous point. All of it took an hour just for the decision, there were no fights for Calit spoke with the authority of Don Krieg, his decisions were law.
The five ships separated and Calit can only hope that someone finds the galleon, his life was at stake.
…..
Conami Islands didn't have a big port to receive a galleon class ship, so the Tiger needed to stay on a coast with little risk of hitting the rocks, ten people would stay to watch over while the rest would make contact and get ready to trade anything they could. Since this was Nami's home she was excited to be back and to see her sister.
Luffy was almost ready to execute his plan, he just needed to bide his time now, he, Zoro, Nami and half of the crew were going to Cocoyashi.
"So, here is where you two meet?" asked Zoro, he was walking on the front with Luffy and Nami, many eyes on his back to guarantee he won't get lost. Luffy thinks he won't, he may have troubles finding a place but not on following…..not that he would point that out, he finds all of it funny.
"Yep, there were some bad pirates here and an Arlong guy, he was strong but slow."
"What Luffy is trying to say is that there was a pirate crew of fishermen on the island and until he showed up they were tyrants who made us live by their rules" Luffy lets Nami tell the story, it was hers afterall.
After hearing Nami's version, Zoro turns to Luffy "Were they all strong or was just the Arlong guy?"
"THAT IS YOUR QUESTION?" Nami sounds upset about Zoro's nonchalance.
"What?" he shrugged "He showed up with his mother and kicked the pirates out. I get you all had troubles before but he and his gramps solved them," she tried to answer but her finger was pointing up and she couldn't say anything. "With all that out of the way I can only ask: were they strong?"
"I fought some of them plus the Arlong guy" Luffy then smiled "there were two others that I didn't fight because one ran away and the other was shot by mom" at that moment he shrugged. "Only Arlong was strong but he was still too slow, on the water he got faster, but I kicked him out."
Zoro raised an eyebrow at that, "How did you kick him out?"
"Training."
"Training?"
"Training."
Nami expected some reaction out of Zoro at that "Cool" that wasn't it.
"I really don't get how you two make some impossible stuff happen." They look at each other and before both say anything "And I swear if the next word out of you mouths is 'training', I'm beating you both down." They immediately shutted up.
Getting closer to the village Luffy and Nami notice instantly that somethings are different….a lot of somethings.
First, the village was bigger now, there were a lot of open stores, people going all around and the port was considerably bigger, second that same port was full of merchant and passengers ships and third there was a statue there of a man with a straw hat.
For a second nobody moved, Luffy felt lightheaded and they approached the village(or town) Nami had a huge smile on her face….she was snickering almost all the way. There were hotels, restaurants and souvenir stores with many toys that looked like him. He found it all cool but there was also a pit on his stomach, something that was making him nervous, his instincts were warning him of some kind of danger.
"LOOK! IT'S STRAW HAT LUFFY!"
Suddenly, lots of people were looking at him, they didn't look like they wanted a fight. Most were smiling and looked happy to see him if not all.
But his instincts were screaming right then and he did what his training with gramps taught him to do. He got ready to fight. They surrounded him fast, from all sides, not a single one of them throwing a punch or anything like that, they were pushing papers at him and everyone was too loud.
He didn't know what to do. Were they asking him stuff? But they were too many. He tried to look for his friends and they were trying to go to him….trying and failing because they weren't fighting just pushing these people a bit.
Confused and not being able to do what he always did in this situations, he executed the maneuver number two when his gramps wanted to do something even he considered stupid.
He ran.
…..
Nami fell to her knees, she couldn't stop laughing at the situation, the crew and even Zoro were confused, but she wasn't. Luffy had fans, he always did since all the Arlong debacle and this was the island where his legend began in a sense. Someone(maybe Genzo) started a tourist attraction out of it and this is the result, lots of fans in a place wanting to know about him.
When he showed up, he must have made their day because they were in pursuit. Soon she was alone without a single member of her crew, all either getting lost in the confusion or gone to try and help Luffy, she didn't care for the moment. She is home and maybe some of her time is going to go figuring out what was happening.
"NAMI LOOK AT YOU. MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN EVER!" said one of the original members of her village.
"Look guys, it's Nami. NAMI OVER HERE!" called another.
It was difficult to find many of the original inhabitants because it's too full of people, but she found some every few minutes, not all and not her sister, but some. Finally she reaches the sheriff's 'station', Genzo's house and she is baffled, now it was a proper station with officers running around, helping people and doing their jobs. There was even a cell with some guys on it….she wonders for a second if Genzo would arrest her.
"NAMI!" and there he is, still dressed the same but with an extra medal on his chest. Apparently Cocoyashi is now a town and he was the….chief? Mayor? Still the sheriff?.
"Genzo is good to see you" they hug for a bit. "I'm surprised you let the island turn into a tourist trap," she teased.
"To be fair, people just came here to know the story" he shrugged "and we just told them the truth, in a sense."
She kept her eyes half open and asked "And the statue?"
"One of our many attractions, come to my office."
"YOU HAVE A OFFICE?" she was smiling all the way.
Once inside, Genzo ofered Nami some tea, to which she accepted "You could have sent some warning that you were coming '' she sits on a chair while he is still standing
"How exactly? It's not like we have a den den mushi." She drinks a bit of her tea.
"The big Straw Hat Company has no den den mushi? Scandal.'' He also is drinking but in his hand is a cup of coffee.
"We just didn't get one yet." Getting one of the snails is easy, making it into something useful is a different thing, a specialist is necessary. "It's not like we are swimming on money, we just started."
Genzo looked at her in the eyes "If you need money, say the word and we will give it". She almost jumped at that.
"Genzo, there is no need-" he interrupts her.
"Maybe there is no need but no one forgot how much you fought for us." Getting up, he looks at a window and sees the town full of life "We got lucky Nami, we were saved, you were saved but we did nothing." He went silent for a minute,
Nami didn't know what to say, she didn't know that he thought like that. How many of the old villagers thought like that?
"We just sat there and waited for you, now we can help." He looks to her "Thanks to our new success in tourism we expanded. Many here started businesses tailored to it, when Arlong…" he paused "When he was here we were limited, with him gone we got more partners and more trade." He turns fully to her and smiles "And thanks to the 'Hero of the East'" even she smiled at that one "We have a lot of people wanting to see where the story happened, if we hadn't burned the park we would be using it as an attraction or something. We still are but not as it could have been."
"I prefer it burned." She hated that place.
"Me too. The changes annoy me a bit but your sister said you would find it funny." Putting his empty cup on his desk he continues "We didn't help then, but all will help now, just say the word. Do you need a ship? We can get the best of the East Blue. Do you want a den den mushi? Give me a few days and you will have one or more. We may have been useless before but now, now we have contacts and lots of resources. Say what you need and we shall get it."
Nami was shocked, she didn't expect the situation of Conomi to turn around like that, once a village always afraid of being destroyed by a tyrant, now a town, growing by a stroke of luck that beaten the same tyrant. A rich town, and getting richer.
She could use that, get workers for the company, resources and other stuff. Once she sat down with some of them she would have enough for the company and the pirate…. "I...think I can't accept your help." she starts and tells Genzo of Luffy's dream, Tequila Wolf and her wishes.
For a time he says nothing "And what about it?"
"What about it?" she can't believe his question "I'm a pirate-"
"Technically you aren't".
"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" she is losing her patience in this conversation.
"Nami, do you think I care?" She goes mute after that question."Nobody here will care either, if you want to be a pirate go for it, you earned the right to choose and we WILL support you".
She was nervous at that declaration, even if she was happy for it the government won't be….She can almost see her people being caught and made to work in a place like Tequila Wolf. "Fine you can help" Genzo smiles "But only for the company" he lost a bit of his smile at the comment "I don't want the government knocking on this place if they figure you helped on anything else. The idea is to make the company strong enough, for when we go and become full fledged pirates, it will stand by itself."
"We could still-"
"No" she stands raising a finger on his face "Promise me you, if you will help it has to be for the company." she smiles and sits down "I'm grateful you all care but once we are pirates I don't want you all getting hurt because of it."
"And you think a company won't?" He is sceptical but she smiles.
"Not if it is big enough." Simple yet effective, "All we need is to have most of East Blue with us. Weakest sea or not it doesn't matter because it will be too much of a hassle to try and take it out, for that we need lots of people, bases and, more importantly, jobs."
"And how" he raised an eyebrow "you plan to do that?"
"Going from island to island and asking who wants a job." she almost fell to the ground because of the face Genzo made.
"That is…..how does that even work?"
"Luffy's idea" she shrugs "ask people what they want. If they need money and are willing to learn great, if they have a skill but their home island is full just move them to a place where it isn't. Under our employment of course."
"Basically, the Straw Hats can do anything?" she nods "Convenient."
"It's what we can do to help the people we liberated. Whatever we use as pirates can't be associated with the company." She is resolute on that.
"Fine" he can't argue against her, it would just be a waste of time. "How long are you guys staying?"
"We can stay a total of ten days, more or less."
"By the end of it I will have enough to make sure that you won't have to worry about the government, on the East Blue at least."
"Oh" now she raised an eyebrow "And how are you going to do that?"
He chuckled "Let this old man have a few surprises. Now, it's breakfast time and I know plenty of good places to eat."
She decided to follow him. They would catch up and then she would go spend time with her sister, the elder could show her the 'new' Conomi Islands.
…..
Zoro knew they were trying to keep him from 'getting lost' but the guys were not bad company, Shinzo, Flint and Tristan, the last one can't avoid looking like a thug with his long coat, point brown hair and shirtless, were following him while he checked the town, considering the story of the place(the tour guides told different versions with the same themes) the fact that Luffy started his...career here made this a hotspot for a lot of stuff.
From foods and drinks with straw hats to toys of the guy, he picks one being sold, a small image of him looking like it was flexing his arms but there was more muscle than it should, both as a toy and totally different from the person it was based on….Is that a store selling straw hats like Luffy's only with different colors and sizes?
Looks like Flint will be getting his wish, there's enough hats there for everyone on the ship….Zoro is not going to use a hat, it's not his style. At least while the others buy it all Zoro can just go and do his own thing. There is no one to fight might as well look around the rest of the island.
Nami said that there was another village if he wanted to check that, and if he didn't there were plenty of taverns and restaurants for him to spend the time.
Going around the city, he notices that there is a certain order on the chaos, every time he saw someone doing something reprehensible there was another person in uniform to diffuse any tension. Most of the people around were common folk, there was little to no air of arrogance on them, maybe the normal people liked heroic stories better than the 'nobles' of the world….or there were nobles around, just not of the dumb kind.
Walking around he ends leaving the town, he remembers Luffy telling him the directions of the park but he can't remember where he said it was and Luffy is not the greatest in navigation, so he just goes around and sees the sights.
The more he goes inside the island the more green he notices, it starts small, some of the buildings are new but they are more residential, lots of houses, small ones but good ones. Then comes the farms lots of vegetables and fruits, he sees lots of fences and keeps moving.
Soon he is standing in front of a stone wall, looking around for an entrance he sees a line and wonders why so many people were waiting to see what is inside.
Deciding to just jump over the wall so he wouldn't have to wait on the line.
Looking at the sight before him, he could see, surrounded by a wood fence, a ruin, destroyed by both a fire and the elements. Besides this ruin there were lots of people, taking pictures with a professional, who had the cost for his work considerably high, there was a pool with children on it and some tents selling food and drinks.
This must be the 'Arlong Park' or what was left of it, once the center of power of a pirate crew now turned into an attraction. The water looked as if it came from the sea, there were ramps to the tourists and a fence to stop anything dangerous from entering.
"HEY YOU" someone was calling, he looked to the side and saw a man without a shirt running in his direction. "Did you JUMP the wall?" Zoro just looked at the guy confused, "I understand that you MAY WANT to take a look but we have RULES here and you need to wait for your turn and THEN, AFTER PAYING the fee YOU CAN ENTER".
"Oh sorry, I just saw the line and wanted to know what it was for." He didn't want trouble, god knows what Nami would do if he picked a fight with someone from her village or something.
"IT'S okay, but I WILL HAVE to ask for you to leave sir." Zoro just shrugged, he had no problem with it and decided to leave the way he came.
"Troublesome place that one. Can't believe they are using it like a real park." He wasn't going to tell Nami that, if she liked the thought, great, if she didn't, he wouldn't be the target for her rage.
…..
After spending the morning with Genzo, she was ready to see her sister. The afternoon was just starting and she was full after an excellent breakfast. It's strange for her to eat out like that on Cocoyashi, she almost can't recognize the place, there are much more people and much more places. Only by leaving the former village she can see the island by how it was, lots of green with a small road leading to the home of her childhood.
It was still the same, the grove of tangerines is a bit bigger but the house is the same as she can remember.
Before going to see her sister, Nami decided to go and visit their mother. Approaching the grave she smiles at the differences. Where before it was a cross made of wood with a simple name now stands a bigger cross made of stone, close to it there were flowers and a familiar pinwheel….either someone is trading the last one with the flowers or Genzo has a lot to explain how this can survive the elements.
She looks to the inscription on the grave "Here lies Belle-Mère. Mother, Hero and a true inspiration." She smiles a bit, and starts talking for a while. First about her adventures and her plans, but then she stops when she realizes something. "I better get going, else I won't see Nojiko today. Don't worry mom I will come and visit tomorrow."
She starts to leave for the house, once there she just walks ready to enter but stops herself and knocks on the door "IT'S OPEN" she hears her sister's voice and enters immediately.
"Don't you know that leaving the door open likes this is dangerous?" she smiles "Any thief can enter your house like this." Nojiko was sitting on a table with room for four people. There were two cups in it and she was drinking one.
"Nah, the good thieves are gone now. And no one has the balls to mess with 'Belle-Mèrres Tangerines, the best ones on Conomi'", she gets up and the sisters hug.
"I miss you."
"I miss you too," she takes a step back and goes to the kitchen. "Wait a bit, I will get you some tea."
"Did you have a visitor earlier?" She takes a look at the second cup and notices traces of tea in it. "Is there some guy that I should know about?" she gets ready to start teasing her sister.
"Not at all, just a friend asking me something about you."
"Did you tell them that I had no intention of a long distance relationship?" she sits on the table, while Nojiko brings a full kettle of tea. "I have my hands full at the moment with Luffy and the company."
Nojiko pours tea in two of the three cups and Nami is ready to ask why "Nothing like that, he actually knows you well, but he is finding troubles to….'motivate' you properly."
Nami almost did a spit take on the table. That is not good "Nojiko?"
"Yes?" Her sister is all smiles at the moment but Nami is afraid of the meaning behind it.
"Who was here before me?" Please don't be LuffyPlease don't be LuffyPleasedon'tbeLuffy.
"Technically, your boss, right?" She is too upbeat about this.
"And….what did you two talked about?" She drinks her tea trying to keep a calm appearance but inside she knows what is coming.
"Apparently, my sister" at that moment Nojiko looks almost indignated "Is shrinking on the training that is supposed to keep her safe." She puts a hand on her forehead "And her employer is worried that she is working too much or just being lazy."
"Stop the drama and be direct." She is frustrated and fearful but Nojiko insisted on keeping the play going.
"But Nami" she puts her hands on the table. "As your sister I had a duty to inform him that you are the picture of efficiency and that a little training is not a problem."
"You don't know what his training is about." She will have to dodge Luffy while they are on the islands, "He always-".
"Throws rocks and other stuff to teach you how to dodge." Nojiko interrupted her "He explained in detail his methods and even compared them with his 'gramps'." No one will disagree that Luffy is kinder than his grandfather. "Besides I convinced him that we could reach an understanding."
Nami raises an eyebrow "What kind of understanding?"
"He won't throw rocks at you anymore." Nami was about to jump and hug Nojiko all the while proclaiming that she was the best sister ever. "Also you will be training with him at least two hours a day."
"Waitwaitwaitwait" she shakes her hands on Nojiko's face "You said no more rocks."
"Yep" Nojiko was still smiling "we found a replacement."
"What kind of replacement?"
"Balloons!" Nami's mind stopped for a bit with the answer.
"That doesn't sound so bad." She relaxed a bit.
"Good, you agree now you two can commence." Nojiko gets up and starts to take away the set of cups.
"What do y-" from her back she feels something hit her head, it didn't hurt but she was completely wet. "LUFFY!" She should have guessed. Her sister was just smiling.
"Nami, I'm disappointed" started Luffy, on his arms he had at least a dozen of balloons. ALL of them are filled with water. "You were already able to dodge stuff at that speed. We will have to start all over again." He was prepared to start chasing her.
"DON'T YO-" gets hit by another "STOP-" and another. Finally Nami dodges the follow up and goes after Luffy, the straw hat smiles and starts to run away from her all the while keeping a rhythm. "ONCE I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU ARE DEAD!"
"IT'S FOR YOU OWN GOOD!"
Nami could have sworn that she heard Nojiko saying something like "You guys have fun"
…..
Before the usual comments on the chapter I feel I should say something because of a certain comment about Haki( thank you for the support to all who commented and read my story). I have theories about Haki that I will apply here but I feel that there is a misconception on the community in general on Haki, ever since it was introduced people try to say who has it and who don't or how powerful it is and I get that…..but Haki is not invencible, it never was. It is a skill, a technique that can be trained and refined, Oda shows that a lot in his arcs if you pay attention . IT IS POWERFUL sure but not all powerful, for instance Sentomaru in Sabody kicked Luffy's ass but there were other factors, like the fact Luffy didn't know about Haki in the the first place, while in Amazon Lily every amazon knows Haki and yet they have different levels of power for, even if power is beauty, one can't just get it for free, it's the why I believe and try to apply that conflict is key to true growth. Is the reason why the pirates of Amazon Lily would be stronger than the common amazon and Hancock would be even stronger since she was the older sister and probably had to fight during and after their escape more than the others. Damn, it's possible that is the reason why she has the Supreme King Haki, because she loves her sisters enough to go beyond for them and their harsh life made the three stronger than the others. Course there are exceptions but talent can only take one so far Luffy has talent but he needed training or he would suffer later and that is why he accepted the training from Rayleigh, so he could get stronger with minimum risk to his friends. The straw hat is surprisingly patient when his friends are in danger.
In the case of Crocodile that 'should' have Haki or that he is weak, think about it this way for a bit…...if Crocodile touches you, you are dead. He can drain ALL WATER OF YOUR BODY what is the point of Haki for a guy like that? He is weak because he was the 1st? If that is it, watch every major fight after him and compare because Luffy needed a brain to win there and not on most fights after, damn Crocodile was the only guy that went straight to Luffy and fought him fairly from the beginning while, Lucci didn't wanted to fight for instance and it was more a competition of strength and Moria didn't fought that was Oars(zombies). Observation maybe can be added to the Croc? He can have that fair enough, he even knew Robin's betrayal and countered accordingly. He can have Mantra(observation), that can be retconned and it would be fair but Armament? Nop, no point. Enel is the same flipping argument. Why care about punching or making your weapon stronger when you can throw lighting from the sky?(I have an argument on that but that would be a spoiler) Actually I would argue that his(Enel) Mantra was on par with Katakuri but in a different direction, where the mochi man could see the literal future, Enel could feel the intentions of people for kilometers, islands of distance….Enel is a broken character and the only real reason that Luffy won was because he was rubber and had more fighting experience because "god" never fought for real before to the point he was surprised to take damage that day, that was it. I hope that helped to clarify how Haki works(at least for me) and helps people enjoy the story(both this one and the original work because when I realized that I was stunned, even if Haki wasn't planned from the beginning, Oda made sure it fitted his story and his world). All can learn Haki but not all can master even a single aspect of it.
I told myself that I would be patient on this and take my time to not burn out with this and my work….oh well what can you do? No action on this chapter, but we are getting there. Based on the covers of One Piece Nojiko was able to start her very own company or a small business(named after her mother) and Belle-Mére grave was improved, so all normal on that front. The rest of the island's good fortune was because Luffy is considered a hero and his presence changed stuff for the better.
Since Krieg had not many of his commanders alive at the time(MIhawk is a savage) he appeared in the main story I got to use some of the OC's I had planned for the bridge. What do you guys think?
The company on itself is based on the fact that Sun Wukong was a king for all the intents and purposes and even if he could call armies to his side he didn't, they are a place with those that are loyal to him and where he can come back if he ever needs to. They also present an opportunity to set the stage for reasons why Nami would get some intel on the Paradise side of the Grand Line with no risks. And it still is not on it's final form for a company is good but in that world you can have something bigger with the right arguments. Can anyone guess what?
Next Chapter: The War in The East.