Hello all and welcome back for the start of the Alabasta arc as well as Luffy's new bounty.
No excuses beyond that shit happened and here we are, so moving on.
Only a couple things to mention. First, the majority of you wanted Koala to stay with Sabo so she will and I may have her with Luffy in a future fic.
Second, still want some weapon suggestions for Bonnie since NO ONE suggested anything
Not much else to add so let's get to the usual stuff.
Disclaimer: See previous chapters
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
'Conversation thoughts'
"Non-humanoid/pissed off Luffy voice"
"Above's thoughts"
'Above's conversation thoughts'
{Flashback}
CHAPTER 7: Alabasta PT. 1
Open Sea: 3 Days Since Last Chapter
Luffy and the others relaxed as the ship sailed, hopefully, towards Alabasta with the main crew, or officers as their deckhands began calling them, still working on a few things along the way. Nothing too dangerous to use on the ship, but still necessary and effective nonetheless as they still had things to refine and master even when they weren't on solid ground.
Currently, Jack had shoes on his feet and was trying to see/adapt to not seeing even remotely well to adequately well since the ship normally sent vibrations through his feet well enough for him to move about easily, even if things were a bit fuzzy. Now he was dealing with things being VERY fuzzy, but that was because Luffy wanted him prepared for potentially walking barefoot in the sands of Alabasta since that would make his "vision" fuzzy as well and he needed to be prepared to wear shoes since the scorching desert could burn him if he walked barefoot too long or they traveled to one of the hotter sections of the desert.
The fact he may be fighting Baroque Works' agents on sand and not solid ground only heightened the need to adjust to fighting with poor "sight" compared to other times. Unless of course he decided to stay on the ship the whole time, which seemed unlikely as this gave Jack a chance to have a real fight in a long time.
While Luffy had a decent amount of information about Baroque Works, there was no telling if they had expanded or kept agents hidden away until things began to look desperate or Crocodile called them back because his plan was getting closer to being accomplished. From what Luffy had learned about the man, Crocodile was overly ambitious and wouldn't tolerate anyone interfering or screwing up in his plans and those that did were soon sent to the after life for such things. Same for if you knew his name in connection to Baroque Works..
Hence why Valentine was so terrified because she failed and now knew his name.
Speaking of the former Baroque Works woman, she was currently sitting on the deck working on her powers by slowly increasing the weight of a feather gram by gram until it was around 5 pounds, then slowly turn it back to its original weight. She was doing this to become familiar with increasing the weight of something to a certain point and then stopping before doing it in reverse. She was doing it slowly as it would give her control and keep her from getting distracted and accidentally making the feather go up into the thousands of pounds. If she could master this, then she had a broad spectrum of potential combat options to her whether that was making her umbrella a deadly weapon or immobilizing an enemy because they weighed 10,000 pounds. There was also the speed and evasion potential since she could make her weight to that of a gram while keeping her muscle mass and strength and move at high speeds or leap far into the air.
She just needed control first.
Nearby, Koala was going through her katas while now sporting weights to not only increase her strength but her speed as well. After the beating Luffy gave her, he had healed her up a bit and then had her working on her speed and how observant she was so she'd be aware of her opponent's moves and actions as well as her surroundings. If she couldn't out speed an opponent then she at least would be able to mentally keep up and anticipate them. It was safe to say getting her ass handed to her opened her eyes to how much she still had to learn and she was motivated to do so.
Also nearby was Bonnie who had a cutlass in hand and was channeling her powers into it to make it go from rust covered to sparkling new to dull to fresh from the forge and back again to get a feel for how much time she was removing from the object in question. If Luffy was right, she could restore things to what they were at a certain point in time, which meant she could be a literal life saver if need be as she could potentially reverse wounds, though that was likely only helpful so long as the person was alive. She could age and reverse affects, but it was doubtful she could return someone to life.
Of course testing out her powers on people was still a ways off since she needed more control, but the prospect was there to aim for.
There was also the unknown factor of if the time she took added to her own life and then shortened it when she aged someone downwards. Hence why Luffy cautioned her against overdoing it with her powers since she could possibly kill herself by aging too many people without taking in some vitality to compensate it.
Down below, Zoro was sparring with Yosaku, Johnny, Alvida, and Gin to get their skills sharper as Luffy had them pair up with one being blindfolded and the other using a wooden sword or swords in Gin's case. Reason being they needed to learn to extend their senses beyond their sight and be able to fight when they couldn't see. Plus, this would eventually lead to them training for Haki if they had it.
Haki was a useful power, granted Damon had helped Luffy take it even further evidenced by his Killing Intent working like Conqueror's Haki only it could be lethal if Luffy wanted. However, for his crew to learn and break the limits they had on themselves, Haki was a good progress point for them to aim for. If they could master one or even both of the lesser ones, Armament and Observation, then that would open a whole new realm of possibilities for their powers, skills, techniques, and talents.
Makino and Sabo both had the lesser two and both had Observation to such a degree that they could sense their surroundings easily, the drawback was that so long as there was no direct threat to them then Observation was not as effective. It was essentially a heightened danger instinct that would tell you to move if you were in danger.
Arguably, Armament Haki was more beneficial all around for them since Makino could stay far out of the line of fire and pelt people with arrows that could puncture high grade steel armor like it was wet paper and Sabo could move so fast that there was only a rare percentage of people that could keep up, let alone hit him.
That wasn't to say the two didn't train and practice with Observation, they just didn't get as much of a benefit from it as the others likely would.
Speaking of the others, Usopp was working on making Nami a new and better staff for her with Luffy giving him some input and ideas as well as some methods on how to achieve better results. Usopp was also planning to use some of those ideas and methods on the crossbow he had and the bolts for said crossbow to ensure he had a variety of bolts and options in the field.
Sanji was educating some of the lesser crew on how to cook and prep food so he had some help in the kitchen and so if he and the others were away from the ship, the rest of the crew would still get fed. There was also the bonus that if at any point they wanted to go to one of Luffy's territories instead of sailing constantly, there would be more cooks available widespread.
Nojiko was instructing a group of members on how to properly maintain, clean, load, disassemble, reassemble, and work the different guns. While a bit daunting, Nojiko was thankful for Bellemere's help in this regard since Bellemere wouldn't let her sleep until she had disassembled and reassembled one of each of the different types of guns that the villages took from the now deserted Marine base. Since there were 9 different types of guns, and Bellemere had her break them down after multiple hours of training to use them, Nojiko didn't get a lot of sleep during those days before they set sail from Coco village.
Now she was putting it to good use and teaching the lower crew members how to do everything that was crammed into her head.
Igaram was giving his own input since he used firearms as well, plus his duty as Captain of the Royal Guard of Alabasta meant he had trained recruits in sword and firearm combat before. He wanted to repay these people in some manner, but since Alabasta wasn't that rich of a country that meant money wasn't going to be that suitable an option, so giving their new crew some training seemed the least he could do to start repaying them.
Kaya was in the living area of the ship studying material that both Chopper and Luffy gave her since she wasn't practicing with her Kama until later when one of the others was free to spar with her.
Chopper was going around checking on anyone who still had some injuries or problems that weren't fixed after Luffy freed the crew. When he wasn't making his rounds, Chopper was reading some of the books Luffy had since they were a few he hadn't read before. He was also mentally preparing himself since Luffy had told him he wanted him to train to fight as well. Reason was that just because he was a doctor didn't mean he would be exempt from fighting, if anything him being a doctor meant that he would be targeted by their enemies to ensure he couldn't heal any wounded that were still alive. Luffy didn't want him as a sitting duck, so he wanted him training and practicing his Devil Fruit to get an even better grasp of what he was capable of.
Chopper had accepted since he knew the world was bad, even worse after he learned about slavery and the cruelty of the Celestial Dragons, and it wasn't going to do him any favors. Luffy had promised to keep him from the fighting if it was possible, but eventually the little reindeer was going to have to fight and be prepared for it when it did occur.
Sabo was going around the ship checking over things and bringing things to different areas as needed. He was mainly keeping busy at the moment since there wasn't much else for him to do unless Zoro or one of the others wanted to train with him.
Makino was lounging near the helm and commenting on corrections to the course as the Log Poses moved. She was also petting the little raptor Luffy had and was now named Echo since he seemed to make his own noise whenever Luffy spoke and mimicked him if he nodded or shook his head. Makino and the others of course thought it was cute.
Luffy was at the helm enjoying the quiet while it lasted since he knew there was going to be a war soon, and Alabasta would likely be the powder keg to ignite it. If he could, he would have held off for a few months to keep training his crew to new heights, but Alabasta would be doomed by that point and that was unacceptable to him.
So, he'd have to get them prepared through fire and pain and hoped they got through it all right.
Vivi was near him just leaning on the railing and lost in thought on what to do about different things. She had always believed the government was helping people, the Celestial Dragons actions notwithstanding, but now after each thing she'd seen, she wasn't so sure anymore.
Near them was Nami, who was lounging on a chair since Chopper still wanted her taking it a bit easy and to not stress her body too much. She had done some light training with Luffy before he decided it was enough and had her relax, which she did with the newspaper and a glass of wine courtesy of Sanji as she sat and relaxed.
All was calm and peaceful… until….
"HOLY SHIT!" Nami shouted drawing a lot of attention as she was gawking at her newspaper.
"Something wrong?" Luffy asked and Nami quickly scrambled up to her feet and came over with the newspaper as the other crew members came up to the deck to see what was going on. Luffy raised his eyebrow before looking at the paper and smirked seeing his picture there.
Makino then leaned in and widened her eyes, "Oh my." Makino stated as Luffy chuckled knowing this was going to get a LOT of attention. "For crimes against the World Government, destruction of World Government property, sedition, piracy, anarchy, assault and murder of Marine soldiers and officers, stealing Celestial Dragon cargo, and attacks on Celestial Dragon ships. Monkey D. Luffy is wanted dead or alive for the price of 450,000,000 Beri." Makino read shocking everyone while Jack snorted.
"Of course, only mentioning cargo being taken, not specifically stating WHAT the cargo was." Jack stated making many murmur in agreement since not everyone knew the Celestial Dragons could just take anyone they wanted as a slave without anyone stopping them unless they wanted to be killed.
"True Jack, but there are a LOT of people who do know what cargo the Celestial Dragons usually transport. So they can't hide that even if they don't openly state what the cargo was." Luffy stated making Jack nod, "Besides, I'm sure the Revolutionary Army will publish their own report stating it was a slave ship and that will spur a lot of people." Luffy continued as Koala nodded knowing that they did do that, though even she didn't think anyone in the army had openly attacked a Slave Transport ship.
Sabotage, infiltrate, intercept when they docked, or mark to rescue later? Sure. But outright attack and raid? Not that she knew of.
She idly wondered what Dragon's reaction to this would be.
REVOLUTIONARY BASE: UNKNOWN ISLAND
Dragon was in a meeting with a few of his commanders going over some different matters including their recent liberations. One matter of note was one of his commanders, Ivankov, was captured and currently being sent to Impel Down and would shortly be out of their reach for a time. While the man was… unique, he was still a capable fighter and commander and as such they'd have to find a way to rescue him soon or risk losing him permanently.
Everyone stopped the discussion as one of the grunts came charging in, "General Dragon! Sir! You need to see this!" The young woman shouted frantically as she brought the paper over to Dragon, who raised an eyebrow before looking at it.
Both his eyebrows rose up when he saw the report on Luffy, "I see." Dragon muttered as he looked over the report thoroughly.
"What is it, sir?" One of the assembled commanders asked with curiosity clear in their voice.
"There's a pirate here with a 6 digit bounty." Dragon stated making them raise their eyebrows in confusion.
"And?" Another commander asked not seeing what the interest was.
"He got that bounty by attacking a Celestial Dragon Slave Convoy." Dragon stated making them all widen their eyes, "He apparently destroyed the escort entirely and then raided the slave ship before taking the slaves with him and leaving the ship behind. It's even more impressive because he's from the East Blue and has only been a pirate for under six months." Dragon continued surprising the commanders further.
"Did they free the slaves or did they simply take them to sell to one of the auction houses?" A third commander asked and Dragon hummed.
"I'd bet the latter, this pirate is the one I sent Koala to join." Dragon stated making them widen their eyes in surprise.
"So… we have a potential ally out on the seas." Another commander commented and Dragon nodded.
"So it seems." Dragon stated with a small prideful smile, he idly wondered what his father thought of this since he hated the Celestial Dragons as much as Dragon did, he was just trying to advance and fix what he could from the inside over directly spitting in their faces.
AMAZON LILY
A woman was sitting on a throne relaxing as a snake creature was nestled around her protectively while different women in bikinis and belly dancer drapes stood guard. They all were incredibly beautiful and had snakes with them while two women easily towered over the rest and were standing next to the woman on the throne. The woman was the Shichibukai Boa Hancock, ruler of Amazon Lily and leader of the tribes that inhabited it, while the two women near her were her sisters Sandersonia and Marigold.
Hancock was classified as the most beautiful woman in the world and took advantage of that in multiple ways especially since her Devil Fruit only worked on those who found her beautiful, and was no doubt part of the reason for her legendary beauty. Not that many cared since they were too infatuated and head over heels for her to care what she did at any point and time, save for a few of the highest ranked Marines but even then they had a hard time focusing when shew as around. A slight side effect, though it was much more to do with trauma from her childhood, was that she despised men both for being pigs, chauvinists, and miserable cretens that if they weren't necessary for reproduction should be wiped off the earth.
She was currently lounging around since she had just returned from an outing where she destroyed another wanted pirate crew, which was her job as a Shichibukai: Immunity from all crimes and her own small territory and in exchange she was to attack all other pirates and split the bounty and treasure collected with the Marines.
Of course there was a line drawn for the immunity, but because of her position the Celestial Dragons weren't able to come here and take any of her people as slaves, which included any that were on her ship any time she left the island, nor could the Marines attack it without MAJOR just cause.
The peace and quiet she was enjoying was interrupted as the doors to the chamber were flung open and a small older woman came rushing in, "Princess! Princess! You need to see this!" She shouted as she approached making everyone look at her in confusion.
"What is it?" Hancock asked as she looked at the woman in confusion.
"Th-There's a… huff… a bounty on a new pirate." The woman stated as she panted as Hancock and her sisters frowned while the woman sent the other women in the room to wait outside.
"And why is that important?" Sandersonia asked as the doors closed and the woman panted a minute.
"He… he attacked a slave convoy!" The woman stated shocking Hancock and her sisters as they froze in disbelief.
"W-w-what did you just say?" Hancock asked in a shaky voice.
"He attacked a slave convoy! Destroyed the escorting ships, killed the officers on the ship itself, and then set all the slaves free and took them with him!" The woman continued as she handed the paper to Sandersonia, who handed it to Hancock.
Hancock shakily looked at the paper and the article on the raid. She saw the picture of Luffy looking over his shoulder towards the camera and couldn't help the shudder that went through her at the look in his eyes. It was a look she had seen many times in many slaves. It was the look of someone that couldn't be bargained with or bought, someone you couldn't break or tame, the only way to stop them was to kill them because they weren't going to backdown otherwise no matter what was offered.
A man with moral convictions who wouldn't be stopped until he was dead.
She thought all such men were long since extinct, but perhaps there was at least one man she could tolerate if the need arose, as unlikely as it was.
She idly remembered Fisher Tiger.
"Onee-sama." Hancock heard Marigold say causing Hancock to blink and look to her sisters and see they had concerned looks. "Are you all right?" Marigold continued making Hancock tilt her head.
"Yes, why do you ask?" Hancock as she didn't know what caused the concern.
The two sisters looked at each other uneasily before Sandersonia spoke, "Onee-sama, you may not realize this, but not only have you been staring at the paper for five minutes, but you're also crying." Sandersonia stated making Hancock widen her eyes before she touched her face and saw that indeed she had a few tears going down her face.
"Why? I've not cried since I was a child, so why am I crying now?" Hancock thought to herself in confusion since she truly didn't understand why now she was shedding tears.
It couldn't be from this man's actions. It was ridiculous, stupid, and completely impossible to happen. She knew it wasn't from memories of Fisher Tiger since she never even met the man, only saw a few glimpses of him when he broke them out of their cells during his raid of Mary Geoise to rescue the Fishmen there, though he was kind/merciful enough to free all the slaves there despite his clear dislike for Humans. Even so, she still felt respect, thanks, and happiness when thinking of the Fishman.
Sure this man had saved some slaves, but did he do it out of convenience or because he was actively looking for the ship?
Would he save all slaves or just those he decided were worth the effort?
Would he continue to spit in the faces of the government?
Was he abusing the slaves or treating them like people?
Did they choose to stay with him or was he dragging them along against their wishes?
Was there a huge point since unless you scarred the area you couldn't get rid of the mark?
Would she be ordered to hunt him down? So the government could get what they wanted but insult her at the same time?
Was he going to keep raiding Slave Convoys?
Was he doing this for the right reasons or because he simply wanted to piss off the government?
Too many questions and no answers or information available to her to formulate answers. She needed to know what about this man caused her to release tears for the first time in over 10 years.
"I-I want all of our informants and contacts watching this man. I want to know as much as possible." Hancock ordered as she reined herself in some to not seem eager and keep the tears back more.
The older woman nodded, "It will be done, Princess." The woman stated before bowing and leaving while wondering what this man could do if he actually met their princess.
Hancock was silent as she sat there staring at the paper even longer. "Let's see what this man will do now." Hancock stated knowing that his bounty would bring pressure down on him and he could cave into it and take an offer to replace a Shichibukai and part of that would be to turn over the slaves he took.
The question now, was whether he would stand against the world or crumble to save his own skin?
Time would tell if that sliver of hope in her heart was warranted or just the last remnants of a scared naïve stupid little girl who had long since died. The little girl that wanted to believe there was another wonderful reckless fool out in the world that would challenge the Celestial Dragons, just because he could.
MARINE HQ
Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp sat in his office while ignoring his old friend Sengoku complaining about the fact his grandson Monkey D. Luffy had just made a BIG wave in the world and it was making several of the top members nervous that they were going to have a pirate version of Dragon running around. If he kept up this amount of attention, they were going to send Garp or one of the Admirals after him.
Garp tuned him out as he read the detailed reports of the surviving crew from the different ships and similarly ignored when Sengoku got annoyed and sat down in a huff. Garp didn't know who it was that trained Luffy, but he couldn't deny his grandson had grown leaps and bounds compared to what he originally thought he would do. The fact that that boy Sabo and Makino were with him was also surprising as well.
However, it was the reports of his abilities that truly got Garp's attention. Currents suddenly shifting against the normal flow.
The wind becoming like razors and cutting apart sails.
Creating a ball of light that destroyed a Man O' War in one hit.
Creating waves of water that completely demolished a Frigate.
Stretching his limbs into the water to grab the hull of the transport and pulling it in towards his own ship, a Brig outfitted like a Frigate.
Garp had no idea how Luffy was able to do all of that, but he already knew what part of this had Sengoku concerned and it wasn't the attack on the transport. It was the fact that those powers were similar to what they had reports of that entity called Reaper had from his few appearances they could track. If he was connected to Luffy now, then the higher ups were only going to get even more paranoid and agitated since Luffy was displaying powers similar to him.
However, there was a BIG detail that Sengoku missed that Garp noticed when he looked at the names of casualties and those that survived. "Sengoku." Garp stated getting his friend's attention, "Did you look at the names of casualties vs the names of those survived?" Garp asked and Sengoku frowned at the random question.
"Of course, I had to oversee and sign the condolence notifications." Sengoku stated a bit irritably.
"No, I mean did you LOOK at the names." Garp stated handing the two lists to Sengoku, who frowned and looked intently at the lists before his frowned deepened.
"I recognize this name, and this one… and these too, and these here." Sengoku stated before he looked up at Garp with his eyebrows raised as he knew every name on the casualty list, and not for good reasons.
"Everyone on that casualty list are those that have been investigated by Inspector Generals or at least were punished for different crimes and violations of the laws. The survivor list, minus the slave master, are all people who have never committed a heinous act, been questioned about their actions, been implicated in some scandal or crime, or even been looked at by the Inspector Generals." Garp stated as Sengoku looked back over the names and finding his friend was right.
"So… a coincidence." Sengoku stated and Garp just gave him a 'are you fucking kidding me?' look.
"Maybe for one ship, but for the entirety of the convoy? Even the ships that were utterly destroyed, there were survivors that are good, honest, hard working men that truly believe in real justice instead of the justice of the nobles." Garp stated and Sengoku frowned further.
"What are you saying? That your grandson has a spy in our ranks that gave him details?" Sengoku stated and Garp frowned.
"Doubtful, but still possible. However, I think it was more than that." Garp stated and Sengoku frowned, "He's got powers similar to that Reaper guy." Garp stated and Sengoku sucked in a hard breath of air as he sat ram rod straight.
"You think he could "see" their souls like The Reaper claimed?" Sengoku stated and Garp merely shrugged.
"It's possible, but nothing we can confirm at this moment. Regardless, he did us a small favor while at the same time pissing off the Celestials." Garp stated and Sengoku frowned at him, "I'm just saying, he cleaned out quite a few of the problems we had in our lower ranks and thus they can't shame us and bring more heat down on us or spur others to join the Revolutionary Army and he spared the good soldiers that can still learn and grow to be officers that will be good for the future of the Marines." Garp stated making Sengoku scoff.
"And you like the fact he pissed off the Celestials, though I'm sure part of you wished he hadn't since this is gonna bring a lot of problems down on him." Sengoku stated and Garp shrugged.
"Maybe, but he's my grandson, if you take a shot and miss, you'll never get another one because he'll ensure he kicks your ass next time you meet." Garp stated with his large Cheshire grin in place as Sengoku felt his eyebrow twitch.
However, he couldn't deny the bit of truth in that statement since they had tried to remove Dragon time and again and each time they failed it got that much harder to get another shot at him. It was the same for Garp, each time someone failed to kill him he came back even stronger and fiercer than before, hence him being able to go toe to toe and even bring down Gol D Roger.
If Luffy was anything like his predecessors, they had one shot to kill or capture him or he was going to be even more trouble for them in the future.
Garp merely smirked at Sengoku doing his thinking face and looked back at the reports again. Despite his annoyance at Luffy being a pirate and being so brazen, he felt proud that his grandson was already this strong and was willing to say a big 'FUCK YOU' to the government and Celestial Nobles. He just hoped he was ready for all the shit he just brought down on his head because bounty hunters, thugs, Marines, and maybe even the Shichibukai would be after him now.
Sengoku was right that more attention meant more threats coming down on Luffy, but that was something he always knew would happen if Luffy followed his dream and Luffy knew it was going to happen as well. Although, he doubted Luffy knew the extent of the higher ranked Marines' power, he hoped the brat would keep training seriously and show his potential.
If they ended up meeting along the way? Well, Garp would deal with that when he got to it, though he'd most likely use his fists to do so.
BACK WITH LUFFY
Zoro merely looked at the paper, "Huh, you'd think with us helping we'd get bounties too." Zoro stated and a few of the others nodded.
"You'd think, but it could just be they couldn't identify you. I mean my picture was still brand new in circulation so a lot of people knew my face, it wouldn't be that hard for them to identify it as me leading the crew that sacked the ship." Luffy stated making Zoro nod seeing his point.
"Besides, it's not like we won't get a bounty soon anyway just from traveling with him." Makino stated since merely being on a crew with a bounty usually resulted in you getting at least some kind of bounty on your head as well.
Maybe not as impressive as the main bounty, but still a bounty nonetheless.
"When we're done in Alabasta, I'm sure there will be bounties on us. Beating the shit out of a Shichibukai and his organization while saving a country is going to get even more attention on us. Beating a Shichibukai is a big enough attention grabber since they are government pirates and beating one isn't supposed to happen, so the government and other higher ups are going to be flipping out when it happens. The fact we are saving a country from their own lapdog also throws mud and dirt on the government's face as they appear so inept that they couldn't control their own soldier from destroying a founding country's government for who knows what orbit looks like they secretly sent Crocodile there to assassinate the Royalty and take over to better run the country for the government." Sabo stated making many widen their eyes at hearing the implications.
"I know why." Luffy stated as he directed the ship making everyone turn towards him, "Robin-chan is supposedly able to read the language of the ancient world, the type that makes up the writing on Poneglyphs." Luffy stated as he looked at Igaram and Vivi making them stiffen and widen their eyes, "I heard some things from my dad about different stories and the like, and Alabasta's royalty are said to protect a holy site that no one but them are allowed to see personally." Luffy stated as everyone looked at Vivi, who was looking away from everyone. "However, I can guess that it's not so much holy, as it is ensuring no one tries to decipher what's on the Poneglyph. That then leads to the question of what could possibly be on it that they would be so terrified of and would ensure not even the World Government knew about, but can't get rid of since those stones are VERY hard to destroy. Thus that leaves one item in particular that could cause such fear and worry about SOMEONE reading the ancient language that's there." Luffy stated as the crew was hanging off of every word while Igaram was switching his attention between Vivi and Luffy in confusion while Vivi was sucking on her bottom lip.
Luffy turned to look at Vivi, "That Poneglyph gives the instructions on how to make one of the Ancient Weapons, doesn't it?" Luffy asked and Vivi froze as the crew all gained shocked or horrified expressions on their faces along with Igaram.
Why wouldn't they? The weapons were the stuff of legend and horror/ghost stories about the damage, chaos, and destruction that was caused by them during the unknown century that the World Government wanted to keep buried and forgotten. Of course there were those who sought those weapons out because with one you could challenge any force in the world with little trouble save for someone having one of the other weapons or just an incredibly massive force to face you, with two you could take over the entire world if you knew how to use them against the third, and with all three, there was no possibility of you being challenged by anyone.
You were essentially a god on earth if you had all three.
So, to hear that there were instructions on how to build one was shocking and terrifying all in one.
Luffy saw Vivi's shaking form and continued, "Based on the fact it's instructions or blueprints, they are for either Pluton or Uranus since Neptune isn't a machine, it's a living being. Going further based on an educated guess that one rumor says Pluton was originally built at the seaport of Water 7 and Uranus has no known legends of what it actually is at least on this side of the world, I'm going to say it's Pluton" Luffy stated making Vivi look at him in shock as he just gazed at her. "Want to tell me I'm wrong?" Luffy asked as Vivi merely stood there nearly drawing blood on how hard she was biting her lip.
Makino merely smiled sadly at her before going over and hugging the girl, "Don't worry, we'll stop Crocodile and make sure no one finds that Poneglyph." Makino stated as Vivi tried to relax in her embrace.
"B-but boss! If you had that then-" One of the lower crew stated before Luffy cut him off.
"Then I'd have every admiral in the Marines after me with their infamous Buster Call warships being sent at me as well and I'd have the Revolutionary Army after me to get the ship and my help to crush the World Government and my refusal would then mean both the Marines and the Revolutionary Army would be after us along with every power hungry mad man wanting to take over the ship and declare themselves the king of all they witness. Pluton may be an Ultimate Weapon, but even if can be brought down through time, effort, and continued attacks on it since repairing the thing would NOT be cheap, refilling the ammo it uses would not be easy or cheap, and getting enough trustworthy people to man the entire ship effectively would be its own chore. There's also the fact we'd have to ensure it was never left alone or out of sight for long because if myself and the other officers here were to leave the ship, could all of you handle an Admiral or some such taking the chance to seize the ship for the World Government?" Luffy asked and the crew member immediately paled while everyone else saw the logic behind the denial.
Power was great, but being able to fully utilize the power and keep the power was another problem all together.
"So no, we will stop Crocodile and save Alabasta, but then I'm going to destroy that Poneglyph and ensure no one will EVER be able to read or use it." Luffy stated as everyone muttered their agreements while Vivi looked at him in surprise.
Access to one of the most powerful weapons in the world and he gladly, readily, and easily turned it down like he was being offered a drink of water. Then again maybe she shouldn't be so surprised, it wasn't in Luffy to conquer and destroy just for the sake of being in command. He may be a pirate, but he had more honor and respect than many of the nobles and officials she had met in her life.
Luffy was so strange for someone claiming to be a pirate, but then again if he wasn't she'd probably not be getting a ride home and would instead be held captive to be ransomed back instead. Not to mention what some lesser/crueler people would do to her just because she was a woman.
She hoped that maybe her future husband would be like him since if Luffy treated his crew like he would his subjects, he'd make an incredible king and Makino's glow about her clearly showed that Luffy knew what he was doing when alone and-
She blushed at the line of thought and quickly shook her head since it wasn't likely she'd see them again after Alabasta was saved.
…
…
…
That thought made her feelings turn somber as she was friends with these people and now she was unlikely to see them again in a friendly setting. Especially since Luffy gaining more notoriety would mean it wouldn't be safe for them to visit regardless of what they did for Alabasta. Playing willing host to a notorious pirate was not going to help make the World Government continue trade and financial stability to the region since the World Government could just blockade their country and stop all trade and resources coming in for support and aid that was needed during the years where harvests were poor and the people were at risk of starving.
No, unless Luffy reached something equivalent to a Yonkou, there was no way they could knowingly let him into the country.
No, her friends would have to leave after saving her home and it was unlikely they would see each other again for a long time.
It was sad, but it was best for everyone, even if it hurt her to do it so her people could live on in peace.
Such was the life and duty of a Crown Princess.
LATER: ALABASTA BORDER
Luffy directed the ship along the coast before coming to a stop next to the shoreline of a small town of Nanohana with only Luffy, Sabo, Makino, and Zoro being in any kind of mood that wasn't worry or problematic. The reason for the others was because they met a man calling himself Bon Kurei after he apparently fell off his ship and Usopp "caught" him while fishing for some extra food. The man had been weird, but friendly while showing off his Devil Fruit powers that allowed him to turn his body into that of anyone who's face he touched, which of course meant a few of the others didn't stop him from touching them before he showed them his power in full. Though Luffy did threaten him when he tried to show off his naked chest while having Nami's body and as such was NOT acceptable.
Bon Kurei had apologized, mainly while shaking in fear and hiding behind Usopp, who also mentioned if he did that to Kaya then he was going to hurt him too, and Luffy accepted the apology. However, it wasn't until after his ship came and got him did Vivi suddenly realize that Bon Kurei was Mr. 2 of Baroque Works.
Naturally, that caused everyone to freak out while Vivi was apologetic for not noticing sooner. Luffy was calm through the whole thing before pointing out to everyone that they each had identifiers that Mr. 2 couldn't copy. Luffy had his own accessories and weapons that were unique to him and had his Devil Fruit on top of it.
Sabo, Alvida, Jack, Bonnie, and Chopper had their Devil Fruit powers.
Makino had her bow.
Usopp had his crossbow.
Kaya had her senbon and Kama
Sanji had his cigarettes.
Zoro, Yosaku, and Johnny had their swords.
Koala had her Fishman Karate.
Gin had his tonfas.
Nami and Nojiko both had their tattoos, evidenced by when Mr. 2 was trying to show off Nami's body, he didn't have her Tangerine/Pinwheel tattoo on the shoulder, which led Luffy to believe he could only copy certain things/what he could see of someone and both girls had their tattoos covered due to the shirts they wore.
On top of all of that, they each had their clothes as well since Mr. 2 couldn't copy their outfits only their bodies.
However, this just further reinforced some things Luffy was telling them, namely them all getting to know each other as family, comrades, friends, and Nakama. To know each other so well that no one could ever possibly fake being them, could ever pretend to be a member of the crew that someone missed or didn't really communicate with, or any other forms of infiltration or espionage. Know their likes, dislikes, personalities, their dreams, their fears, their joys, their sorrows, their heartache, their happiness, everything that there was to know about them.
To know what was fact from fiction.
What was real from what was fake.
What was genuine from what was pretend.
To be able to spot any intruders easily because they didn't belong and couldn't prove that they did because the crew was so tight knit that it was impossible to infiltrate it.
The crew was your family and you were to always know and trust your family.
That was Luffy's creed for his ship and future crews as he gained his own fleet and he wanted his crew to fully understand and realize that.
OF course, that didn't have any direct bearing on what was happening right now as Igaram was sitting on Vivi's pet duck Karoo, "Princess, I shall go on ahead to Alubarna and try to warn the king about what is happening, hopefully he'll be able to settle matters with his words and actions while getting the rebels to stand down." Igaram stated as Vivi nodded and hugged him.
"Thank you Igaram, stay safe." Viv stated as Igaram nodded while Luffy walked up.
"Make sure you're careful, Igaram. Crocodile has had YEARS to get agents into different areas of the country for his plan, meaning he could have royal guards, town guards, shopkeepers, vendors, palace servants, and all of that. Make sure that the only people who see you or Karoo are the ones that you can without a doubt trust, or he may realize we're here and will either expedite his plans or send one of his agents to kill you and Vivi before you can even hope to tell the king anything." Luffy warned and Igaram nodded knowing that he needed to ensure he only spoke to and saw those that there was no possibility that they worked for Crocodile.
"I will, please keep the princess safe, Luffy-san." Igaram stated and Luffy smiled and nodded.
"Of course, you just worry about yourself and Karoo, we'll take care of Vivi and Mr. Sandy." Luffy stated with his smile being infectious as Igaram smiled before he and Karoo took off to the north.
Luffy then turned to address everyone else, "All right, we head into town and get what we need quickly and quietly then we're out. We'll move the ship up river to save some time and ensure any Marines possibly snooping around can't follow us easily and we'll be mostly out of sight. The priority is clothing and water, but anything else useful is fine to grab just make it quick since I don't want to linger here too long and risk getting reported either to the Marines or Baroque Works." Luffy ordered making everyone nod before he turned to Vivi, "Stay on the ship for now. We can't exactly have the princess that's being targeted wandering around out in the open just yet. I'll have Nami grab you a cloak while in town so you can at least be somewhat hidden as we move." Luffy ordered making Vivi nod her head since like Luffy said, there was no telling who was a Baroque Works agent and as such could report her return to Alabasta to Crocodile.
With that said and done with, Luffy left several of the crew behind to watch over the ship and Vivi as they went into town with proper attire, supplies, and most of all water being on the priority list with other things being lesser, but could still be obtained if there was time. Luffy also ordered that no one went anywhere alone, they were always to be in at least pairs so there was less chance of being ambushed or picked off by enemies they didn't know were there.
Zoro was with Luffy when they came across a problem: Smoker and Tashigi had apparently chased after them from Loguetown and were now here. In fact, they were standing right in front of them with both having their respective weapons out and at the ready while Zoro had a hand Wado and stood there. Luffy merely glanced at Zoro knowing his friend had wanted to see Tashigi pushed and pushed hard.
Now it was time to see if she was slacking off or training seriously the past few weeks since they last met.
Luffy looked back at Smoker and could feel he was indeed stronger than last time, but not enough for Luffy to consider him a threat. He guessed Smoker was the type that got stronger by having his ass kicked, the harder the kicking the stronger he got.
Well if that was the case.
Luffy smirked before he was gone and Smoker only had enough time to widen his eyes before he was hunched over gasping in pain as Luffy's fist was rammed into his gut and he was sent hurdling down the street, slamming into the ground at different points and even going through three carts. Luffy rotated his neck a bit before catching Tashigi's sword with his thumb and forefinger shocking her as she couldn't budge an inch.
Luffy merely turned his eyes on her and Tashigi stiffened as she felt like an apex predator was staring down at her, "Your fight is with him." Luffy stated turning his eyes to Zoro as he pushed Tashigi back and started walking towards Smoker as he did while tossing some money pouches to the people who owned the carts.
Tashigi stumbled before righting herself and was about to go after Luffy again, when she suddenly twisted to block a strike from her right.
Following the blade to who was holding it, she saw Zoro standing there with an unreadable expression. "I give you an A on speed, but a C on execution." Zoro stated making Tashigi's eye twitch before she pressed his blade back and then jumped back to give herself some room.
Zoro smirked, "I hope you've been practicing, I'd be disappointed if you're still at the same skill level I left you at." Zoro stated as he readied Wado for combat not wanting to risk the fight with his other two since Kitetsu wouldn't restrain itself and Yubashiri was still being adjusted too since it was so light.
Tashigi frowned, "I have been, and I promise you that you will lose this fight!" Tashigi declared and Zoro smirked.
"If you've got something to say, say it with your sword." Zoro replied as Tashigi narrowed her eyes before charging at Zoro with her blade at the ready.
Zoro smirked and charged in to meet her.
Over with the others, they had finished fighting a few Marines and incapacitating them before beginning to leave, though the area was a bit damaged from their small skirmish. A few misthrown grenades and some deflected or missed bullets kind of left a bit of a mess, but nothing too serious to repair or replace. Naturally, they sent the grunts back with the supplies, clothing, and provisions while they kept the Marines at bay while Sabo helped move the supplies while handling some Marines blocking the path.
Once they were incapacitated, they began leaving before it turned into a sprint to leave as they heard the crashes occurring nearby and knew it meant Luffy and/or Zoro was fighting, which was the cue to leave town before there either was no town or Marine reinforcements came to investigate.
Luckily they finished their shopping so there wasn't a problem with getting out of town and heading for the ship to leave until the others got back.
"Dammit! What the hell could have caused Luffy-kun or Zoro to pick a fight?!" Nami shouted as they hurried.
"Distracting the higher ranked Marines so the rest of us could get away without risking the supplies?" Yosaku provided and Nami blinked before groaning.
"Okay, fair point." Nami stated as they kept running not noticing a shirtless man with an orange cowboy hat, black pants, boots, and a red beaded necklace overheard them as they ran.
"Luffy's here? Well sweet! Have to make sure he's not slacking off and has been working on his powers properly." The man stated with a grin as he went to see the fight that was apparently taking place.
Though calling it a fight was a bit generous.
Over at said fight, Smoker was panting as he had a nasty cut along his torso, several smaller cuts all along his arms, legs, and back, some bruises, a few cracked ribs, and his left arm felt like it was broken, but it wasn't so bad he couldn't use it if push came to shove. Across from him and still looking fresh as a daisy was Luffy, his sword in hand as he stood there completely calm.
Smoker grit his teeth at the fact he was still being handled like a child by this man. He had never had a problem facing pirates before, whether they had a Devil Fruit or not, but this man was treating him like he was some fresh recruit from the academy.
It made no sense!
How could a pirate fresh from the East Blue possibly have this much strength and power? It would be one thing if he was actually trying to fight, but Smoker could easily see he was just toying around since there were several instances where he could have run his blade through Smoker's heart or head and instead went for a lesser wound.
For whatever reason, Luffy wasn't trying to kill him only wound or break him slowly.
Why? No idea but it was insulting to him and aggravating.
Luffy merely smirked at Smoker, seeing the wheels turning as he tried to work out what was going on and why. Truth be told, Luffy didn't know why himself, he was just disappointed that Smoker was as weak as he was and wanted to push him into growing stronger. As such, he was beating the shit out of him since both gramps and Damon both felt pain and combat could bring out the best in you when it was given in enough quantities.
So he needed to keep beating Smoker until he started keeping up better.
With that in mind, he launched at Smoker again, who tried to keep up with his Jutte but wasn't succeeding as Luffy delivered multiple hits with his fists, legs, and the back of his sword before a hard spin kick sent him crashing into a wall.
Smoker fell to the ground hacking blood as Luffy stood there before sheathing his sword. "You've gotten better, but you're not there yet. Find me when you want another rematch, but I better see some improvement." Luffy stated as he walked away as Smoker grit his teeth as he couldn't move to even try to stop him.
Walking over to his friend, Luffy saw that Zoro was standing there with Tashigi on her knees panting with her blade on the ground. She had several nicks and cuts on her, but nothing too serious, life threatening, or disabling. Mostly annoying or wearing down hits, likely him giving her some reminders when she messed up an attack or some other item.
Zoro was teaching/testing her but not holding her hand along the way either.
"Zoro, time to go." Luffy called as Zoro nodded and sheathed his sword as Tashigi looked on in shock.
"Wait a minute! We're still fighting!" Tashigi stated as Luffy looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"You're on your knees, exhausted, wounded, and can't even stand anymore, how exactly are you still fighting?" Luffy asked as Tashigi blushed in embarrassment at the fact she really couldn't get up. "That's what I thought, see you around." Luffy stated as he and Zoro took off while Tashigi grit her teeth.
The two ran through the streets dodging or knocking away any Marines that had gotten back up or come reinforce those that were already in town. While staying to fight would have been entertaining, they didn't have a lot of time to waste on small fry since more time on them meant more time for even more to show up and cause headaches and more time for Crocodile to fulfill his plans.
As they rounded a corner, Luffy glanced back as a wall of fire rose up blocking any remaining pursuers and smirked knowing who was responsible for that. Sabo would be happy too, assuming he wasn't going to be a dick and take off without even saying hello.
Turning back forward, Luffy leapt over a wall with Zoro following him before they hightailed it to the ship and set off towards the river while the Marines were busy putting the fire out.
As they started off, Luffy paused and smirked before turning to see the man in the cowboy hat sitting there with a grin on his face, "I was wondering when your ugly mug would show up." Luffy stated making the man laugh before he walked up and hugged Luffy, who gladly returned it.
"Hey, I'm the pretty one of the three of us, so if I'm ugly what does that make you?" The man laughed before he then hugged Sabo when he came up.
"Delusional, as usual." Sabo stated as the three laughed before they locked arms with matching grins.
"The three misfit sons, together again." The three echoed with a laugh as everyone looked on in confusion while Makino was smiling at the scene.
"C'mon, you should meet my crew." Luffy stated as he pulled the man over with a grin, "Everyone! Meet me and Sabo's brother Ace!" Luffy exclaimed with a cheesy grin as everyone looked on in surprise while Makino giggled.
"Nice to see you again, Ace." Makino stated shaking his hand while he grinned at her.
"Nice to see you too, though I still can't believe you got with this blockhead." Ace stated before falling to the deck as Luffy smacked him on the head.
"Smarter than you are, dumbass!" Luffy growled as Ace rubbed his head and stood up.
"Damn, you really do hit harder than you used to." Ace stated with a laugh while Luffy smirked and Sabo grinned.
"Of course, unlike some people I don't slack off on getting as strong as I can." Luffy stated and Ace snorted.
"Yeah, yeah. So what are you up to on Affinities?" Ace asked and Luffy held a hand up making Ace nod. "Good, though I figured you'd be further along, unless none of them are compatible?" Ace asked and Luffy shook his head.
"A few are, but I haven't had the chance to practice them together. One pair I've already got their combined form of, but a majority I'm missing one of the base 10 to create them all effectively. I've been trying to force some of the others, but you can tell how that went." Luffy stated making Ace nod while most of the crew was looking at each other in confusion.
"Well shit, here I was hoping you'd be able to show me any new stuff I could do with my Devil Fruit." Ace stated as his hand caught fire before it condensed in a ball and he tossed it in the air where it spun before bursting in a shower of sparks.
"The Flare Flare fruit. Unfortunately, Fire is one of the ones I don't have along with Lightning, Natural, Negative, and Living. I have Wood, so that's a start, but not nearly as high as I want to be." Luffy stated making Ace nod.
"So, Ice, Metal, Mud, and Sand?" Ace asked and Luffy nodded. "Damn, all right. Can't do much of that since I don't know if my fruit would trigger something or not." Ace stated with a sigh as Luffy shrugged.
"It's all right, so you joined White Beard huh?" Luffy asked making most of the crew gawk at the duo as Ace nodded.
"Yeah, one of his Division Commanders. Was thinking about asking if you wanted to join too, but I know that's not gonna happen, but if it comes to it, I'll fight for White Beard and you'd better make it a good one." Ace stated as Luffy laughed.
"Yeah, though I doubt it will come to that, since I doubt White Beard wants One Piece." Luffy stated making the lesser crew look at him surprise.
"What? Of course he does." Ace stated with a frown while Luffy merely raised an eyebrow.
"Ace, he's had decades to find it and has seen more of the Grand Line than even the World Government plus he knows Roger's old crew personally, so they could have told him at any time. That leads to one of three possibilities: 1) He knows where it is and has chosen not to go after it. 2) He doesn't know where it is but has decided to leave it alone for someone else to take the title. 3) He did find it, but has chosen not to lay claim to it for whatever reason he feels. My bet would be that whichever it is, he keeps the search going because if the infamous White Beard is hunting for One Piece then it must exist and that then inspires the next generation to strike out and make something of themselves. It also has the added bonus of pissing off the World Government because they've been on a major propaganda campaign to discredit One Piece existing. If that happened, White Beard would have to watch the age of freedom and piracy die out till only petty thugs and amateurs were left besides his crew and that's something he doesn't want to see at his age." Luffy stated making Ace frown since he couldn't refute any of that, hell rumor was that only White Beard and Red Hair were looking for the treasure out of the four Yonkou.
Big Mom and Kaidou were content just having their territory while earning their own wealth and status through it.
"Okay, can't really fight you on that, but don't think that pops is gonna just let anyone get through his territory to get to One Piece." Ace stated with a grin as Luffy smirked.
"I don't doubt it, but if he thinks I'm going to kneel, bow, or pay homage then he's got another thing coming." Luffy stated with a grin as Ace laughed.
"Yeah, I know." Ace stated before he turned serious, "By the way, have you encountered a man named Teach? He's been calling himself Blackbeard." Ace asked and Luffy frowned before shaking his head.
"Nope, sorry. He was at the Drum Kingdom at one point, but that was months ago." Luffy stated as he had heard from Chopper and the doc about how Wapol fled after a man calling himself Blackbeard attacked.
Ace nodded, "Yeah, I already checked there. Asshole came this close to killing a friend of mine when he betrayed White Beard and swiped some important items on his way out, counting a new Devil Fruit we obtained. I've been after him ever since." Ace stated with a growl as Luffy frowned feeling something was off about this concerning the Devil Fruit.
"Ace, do you know which fruit it was?" Luffy asked and Ace frowned in thought.
"The… Dark Dark Fruit." Ace stated Luffy stiffened and clenched his hands tightly.
"Ace… You will NOT fight that man alone if you find him." Luffy stated in a deadly serious voice as Ace frowned.
"What? Come on, I can handle that chump easily and he won't have had enough time to truly master it." Ace argued, but stopped as the look in Luffy's eyes told him there was NO discussion or argument to be had.
"Ace, you WILL promise me that you won't fight him without backup. You do NOT fuck with Darkness or its capabilities, even a low level Darkness user was dangerous for dad before he fully mastered his powers and talents. You will NOT fight him without backup and you WILL take it seriously when you fight, are we clear?" Luffy stated as he remembered a discussion with Damon when training with his early Affinities.
FLASHBACK
A younger Luffy was on the ground panting after working with his Stone and Wind affinities and was trying to catch his breath while Damon was standing there looking at him with a smirk remembering his days of exhausting himself in training his Affinities. It was a literal and proverbial hell to endure and master the 50 he had, but it was worth it in the long run even if there were some he didn't like to use unless he had no choice in the matter.
Luffy, however, was thinking about his Affinities since he knew Stone came easiest for him, but he felt he was getting the hang of the Wind affinity pretty well too. However, that was leading him to wonder if Stone would be his strongest or if it was just the most natural one he'd use. "Hey dad." Luffy stated making Damon tilt his head at him, "What's the strongest Affinity?" Luffy asked and Damon merely hummed a moment.
"Well, that's a bit of a complicated question Luffy, as it's really the dependent on what you mean. If you mean what Affinity has the most effect on everything, then that would be a tie between the Natural, Negative, and Living Affinities as they are essentially the building blocks for all the others. If you mean which Affinity will be strongest for you, then that's an unknown as that can change depending on how your body adapts and how much you train in each one." Damon stated before he glanced at his arm for a moment and instinctively flexed it, "If you mean the one that is the most dangerous to go against, I'd say it was the Darkness Affinity." Damon stated as he stared at his arm.
Luffy merely cocked his head to side, "Why that one? Aren't there more advanced ones that are harder and more dangerous? " Luffy asked in confusion and Damon nodded.
"Yes, there are harder ones to control, but all of the truly dangerous Affinities rely on Darkness as it's base. It's even more influential than Negative is in those types. The reason being as just like the base three, Darkness exists everywhere and you can't truly destroy it: You can push it away, make it flee, even make it hide in fear, but you can't truly kill it. Darkness is also all consuming, everything eventually falls to it, even Light can fall as Light always gives Darkness life in the form of shadows and the two war with each other. A master of the Darkness Affinity can crush nearly everyone they face save for someone who has a stronger mastery than them, even one of the large scale abilities can fail against it if the Darkness is hungry enough to swallow it whole and never let it escape. Light, fire, water, earth, stone, lightning, all of them can be consumed by Darkness. There's only one Affinity that is guaranteed to defeat Darkness all the time, but it's also the hardest Affinity in existence, evidenced by the fact that I am the only known person to ever unlock let alone use it." Damon lectured making Luffy's eyes widen.
"What Affinity is that?" Luffy asked in curiosity as Damon smiled and leaned down whisper in his ear as Luffy looked at him in surprise and confusion while Damon had a happy and content smile.
FLASHBACK END
Damon had then talked to him thoroughly on the dangers and advantages of each Affinity when it came to using them against another, and that meant Ace was at a major disadvantage against this Blackbeard since even if Ace possibly had years of practice with his Flare Flare Fruit, the Dark Dark Fruit could easily eclipse that just on raw power and capability. If Luffy had the Fire Affinity, then he could potentially help Ace make up the difference, but he didn't and thus this was just wishful thinking until he could get said Affinity and help his brother.
He then scattered those thoughts since they weren't going to do any good right now and focused on Ace, "Am I understood Ace? Promise me." Luffy stated and Ace frowned before nodding with a sigh since he knew Luffy had his reasons.
"All right, fine, I promise I won't fight him alone and I will take it seriously if/when it does happen, but I refuse to let what he did slide. Our crew is a family, and he betrayed that." Ace stated and Luffy nodded. Ace then frowned and pulled a pocket watch out of his shorts and looked at it before frowning, "Well, guess that's my cue to go." Ace stated with a sad smile as Luffy and Sabo sighed.
"All right, but take care of yourself, yeah? Last thing either of us need is to come save your sorry ass when you get captured." Sabo stated as Ace snorted and punched his arm before he waved and jumped off the ship onto his small boat and started sailing towards a large swarm of ships with the Baroque Works insignia emblazoned on it.
Ace merely grinned darkly from under his hat as he looked at the ships, "You shouldn't have messed with my little brother." Ace stated as his hands engulfed in fire as he approached.
Luffy and Sabo merely blinked as the Baroque Works ships were set ablaze in a near instant stopping any and all pursuit of them as they continued towards the river to stash the ship and proceed on foot.
"All right, let's get moving everyone! We got a lot of ground to cover." Luffy ordered making the crew sound off as they began easing the ship through the river dodging rocks and sandbars as they did.
With any luck, the war would be stopped in the next couple of days before Baroque Works could truly ignite said war to fully consume the country.
Well, luck and some skill on their part because if nothing else, they were going to be doing some fighting while here.
DONE
Next time will be the second part and maybe end of the Alabasta arc along with a few others things depending on how long some different items take and go. Hopefully within a reasonable timeframe since life seems to be bouncing back and forth over things.
For those who missed it, I've started a Pat-reon (remove the – for those unfamiliar with it) to help get some of the stress off my life and thus make it easier to get chapters out for you all. If you'd like to become a patron for me, you can find me on pat-reon under my writer name. If for some reason that doesn't work, you can find a broken up link in my "Heads Up" "story" on here or you can go to my heads up item on Archive of our own (same writer tag) and a full link will be there for you to use.
To those who don't know what Pat-reon is, basically you guys sign up and pledge a certain amount of money a month to me to basically make it easier for me to produce content for you and depending on how much you pledge you get different perks such as a shout out in chapters, a look at what I plan to do for future chapters, pick a pairing for me to do, pick someone to bash/kill, early warnings for when I am about to do release a chapter, a look at future fics and chapters that aren't next to be posted, and even giving me an Omake to do. I plan to add more benefits/perks later on as I get more patrons as I can focus more on my writing and rewarding my patrons, I also plan to do Pat-reon only polls in the future so there is that incentive as well.
Speaking of: Shout out to my supporters on Pat-reon: Lyndsay Schwartzkopff, Michael Welsh, Jeff Broderick, Woolleymammoth, and Taurus Frederick. Thank you for giving your support and for the future support you are giving.
Also, got a poll up for what Luffy's sword will eventually become.
That's it, see you all next time.
