When he woke up from his recovery nap, the ship was anchored, and he saw the reason. They were in front of the other side of the Red Line. They wanted him to see it when they arrived. Damn it! He missed their reactions from being asleep. He looked up at the familiar, imposing wall, though this time it wasn't storming violently.

They'd come this far. Half of their journey through the Grand Line for the first time was nearly over. It made him… sad. When Robin saw his expression, sitting in her lawn chair with a book from the packed library, she smiled. "Even after we make it to the last island, we're still pirates. Plenty of islands we haven't been, too," she said lightly.

Luffy smiled. That was right! They only traveled one of the seven paths in the Grand Line, and there had to be a ton of islands in the New World! Their adventure across the most dangerous sea wasn't nearly over. Not nearly! The thought made him feel happy. He went inside to where he heard everyone and showed he was awake.

"Time to go to Fishman Island!" he cheered. They were out of the Florian Triangle, too, so he could use his senses just as good as before. Damn that fog was annoying. But they'd gotten Brook there, so he didn't hate their time in that place completely. They had an interesting adventure, at least.

They smiled at seeing him and his sparkling eyes. Sanji handed him a hot chocolate that everyone else had, as it was chilly outside, and said Mary Geoise was near. Marine headquarters was as well. They had to be careful.

Luffy scowled at thinking of World Nobles. The Celestial Dragons up on the Red Line. He hated them. They took away his brother. Luffy never wanted to see a bubble head. "Well, we'll be careful," Nami said, glaring at Zoro and Luffy. "So, how did the training go? You slept for over an hour."

"Yeah! It was really weak, too. I can't force it. And I haven't found any pattern either!" Luffy said in frustration, drinking his hot chocolate too fast, it being too hot. He spit it out on Franky across the table. He sat there with warm hot chocolate on his face. "Oops. Sorry, Franky."

"You're disgusting," Sanji said, and handed Franky a napkin. He wiped his face, not seeming that bothered. Then he changed the subject, and told Luffy he finished the backpack and would show him once they started sailing again. "Don't guzzle it! It's still hot!" Sanji said, and Luffy nodded, blowing on it first.

Luffy was happy and excited to see the backpack. "Wait, that can wait for later. We have to get down to Fishman Island, right? We should use the shark submerge to search for it. We don't know where the entrance is, and the Red Line is really long," Nami explained. Luffy raised his hand, wanting to go.

It ended up being him, Robin and Brook. He was the one to drive it as they dove and searched the Red Line. Luffy couldn't hear or smell anything underwater, or through the submarine, so they could only rely on sight. They found nothing, and watched how deep they went. Franky said the sub would implode if it passed 5,000 meters.

However, it was easy to see a huge monster coming after them. It also couldn't sense Luffy, it seemed, and tried to attack regardless of his presence inside. The shark submerge barely got out of the way of it's huge mouth and bite. They searched only a bit more, and found nothing that would clue them in onto where Fishman Island was.

When they surfaced, the news of not finding anything helpful was a dampener on Nami's mood. They went as deep as possible, but were nowhere near the bottom of the sea where the island was. Nami sighed, regretting not asking Lola more. "Maybe we'll drift down in a giant bubble!" Chopper said.

Usopp pointed out they had no way to make a huge bubble. And bubbles didn't sink, they rose. Chopper frowned. Luffy wondered if they should move along the Red Line more.

"The Red Line spans the entire width of the Grand Line. It would take way too long," Sanji said. "Damn, I wish your senses worked under water."

"Well, they don't and never have," Luffy commented easily, sitting on the roof of the submarine. But he did hear bubbles behind them, and the sea monster surfaced, that had tried to eat them only moments ago. "It followed us!" But it sensed Luffy and froze. Despite being a sea monster, it looked to be sweating.

Luffy gave it a gomu gomu rifle to go away. "Shoo!" Luffy called, knocking the thing into the Red Line and sinking below the surface. Two things came shooting out of its mouth when it gagged from the punch. It was a fish! A large one, but not that big.

"It spit something out," Sanji commented casually.

"It's a giant fish!" Luffy suggested. But it was making a girly scream. Usopp said it was a person. But Sanji and Franky thought it was something else.

"It can't be!" the cyborg shouted. Sanji had hearts in his eyes. Then it landed on top of him, slamming him into the deck hard. It was a mermaid!

She screamed, "Ahh, I flattened a human! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry, are you okay?!" she asked, shaking Sanji's shoulders. He was fine with it. He had a nose bleed and still looked and acted dazed. Zoro called him pathetic. The mermaid turned around, and was shocked to see more people. "Wah! There are a lot of humans! Wait, no there aren't!"

Luffy moved behind Usopp, not wanting to scare her off. "Thank you very much for saving me from being digested! I'm easily eaten by marine animals! This is the 20th time," she said lightly.

"Ehhh? 20 times? Man, you must be dumb, huh? Ahahaha!" Sanji yelled at him to not be disrespectful. "Hey, can you poop?"

"Don't answer! Stop asking that question, you idiot! She's a beautiful lady, respect her you damn buffoon!" Sanji shouted at him angrily. Luffy ignored him, and she looked at him with wide eyes. Nami quickly said Luffy wasn't scary, he was really nice and safe to be around. She asked what he was.

Luffy simply said, "Dunno yet."

"Oh, well I'm a mermaid."

"We could tell," Usopp said.

"I have to thank you some way for saving me! Do you like takoyaki?!" Luffy asked if that was cannibalism. "What do you mean?" Nami smacked Luffy and told him to just stay quiet. She then pleasantly told the mermaid they would be happy to have some. She said one would be 500 berries. "Wait… this is no store! I got it wrong!"

She was stupid. Zoro put his hand over Luffy's mouth from behind. He knew he was going to say something rude. Her name was Caimie and Sanji was over the moon in happiness of seeing a mermaid. Usopp said they already met a mermaid. Kokoro was a mermaid, just an old one. But she looked nothing like Caimie. Well, maybe not all mermaids were beautiful like Sanji thought.

When Sanji's face grew pale at thinking of her, Nami disapproved and called them so disrespectful. "You know how much she helped us in saving Robin and Franky?" she snapped. Luffy had moved to look at the other creature hiding from him behind Caimie. Luffy moved around the mermaid to see it, and finally saw it was a starfish.

"Hey, a talking starfish! Neh, can I touch you? Are you squishy? Do you have those suction things? What would happen if I cut off one of your limbs?"

"Ahhh! Monster!" the starfish screamed.

"How rude! I was just curious," Luffy said with a frown and crossed arms. "Hmph," he said, pouting and looking away. Usopp mumbled he acted like a child.

Chopper said, "Well, you don't know what it feels like, right? Luffy's okay with himself calling him a monster of us saying it. But that's just rude of that starfish."

"I know, right!"

"I'm sorry! You just asked me about cutting a leg off!"

"Didn't mean I was going to do it!" Luffy said and walked back to the group. Maybe all of the people of Fishman Island would think he was a monster. While Sanji absolutely looked forward to it, Luffy wasn't nearly as excited. The crew but Sanji looked at him in pity. He was too busy with the mermaid. She looked troubled, too.

Robin asked who the starfish was. "That's my pet and master, Pappag! He's a starfish." When asked about it, the starfish said that Camie took care of him, so he was her pet. Luffy wasn't looking, but was listening. The talking starfish said he was a fashion designer, which was a surprise to even Luffy. He was wearing a stylish hat, though. "Thank you for coming to our aid!"

"You're welcome. Now apologize to Luffy," Zoro said flatly. Pappag looked at Luffy, and apologized if he was rude. "You were rude. You know nothing about Luffy."

Luffy said it was fine. He expected it. His voice and tone were the picture of dejected. "Neh, what do you feel like when you're in front of me?" he asked, turning to look at Pappag and Caimie. "Be honest."

"Like I'm staring in the face of a sea king ready to strike," Pappag said. Everyone was shocked by that description. Caimie said she felt the same thing at first. But he seems nice now. Luffy looked at the marking on his arm and grabbed it. The deck was awkwardly silent. Caimie broke the silence, to Luffy's appreciation.

But was he really that scary? He asked Chopper about it. "You were scary at first, but to me you didn't smell dangerous. I just got a bad feeling looking at you until you started talking to me. When your voice was kind, it wasn't so scary." Luffy hugged him tightly and Chopper laughed. "Well, us monsters gotta stick together!" the reindeer said with a laugh. Luffy grinned and agreed, his mood lifted considerably.

"Anyways, this is really good timing! We have a problem we need help with-"

"Takoyaki first, Nami!" Luffy whined. Caimie agreed they did need takoyaki. She moved on from being scared of Luffy, but maybe she was just fearless. He wondered why they thought he was a scary sea king. He was smiling when they landed. There should be nothing threatening about him just by his appearance.

Well, he would probably never learn why. He wanted to, but he was also worried and even afraid of what he'd find. If he actually was some terrifying monster. He knew he could be scary on purpose, but he didn't think he was evil or anything of the sort. At least when he was in control. Though he wasn't evil when he killed Lucci. He tried to kill Luffy first, and it was his own fault.

He brought himself back to the present and out of his crazy train of thought. Caimie pulled out a den den mushi, and called "Hacchin" her friend who made the takoyaki! "Sorry, I got kinda lost! Where are you right now?"

But the guy on the phone, his voice familiar but not enough to be recognizable, seemed to have been kidnapped. He was asking for her help. Though Luffy wondered how she could help if she kept getting eaten. She might get eaten again on her way there! And how lucky she was for surviving 20 times.

Looking to the side, he saw Nami was thinking, too. She recognized the voice, too, it seemed. They then heard Caimie get the location of where Hacchin was. He was caught by slave traders? Well, Arlong had talked about how badly humans treated them. Maybe his hatred was just, but not against who he took it out on. Nami's village wasn't guilty of hurting him in any way.

Luffy hated him, still. Being so terrible to and talking about Nami how he had.

The location of where these bad guys were was near Sabaody Archipelago, five kilometers away from "Grove 44". Whatever that meant. But was that a nearby island? The log pose pointed down to Fishman Island, not an archipelago. The place was called the "flying fish riders kidnapping gang".

Hacchin was being beat up on the other end, and begged Caimie not to come. It was hard to listen to. Then the call was cut, leaving them all in shocked silence. All Caimie could say was her captured friend's name. "What about the takoyaki?!" Luffy asked in an upset voice. Franky scolded him.

"Sorry Luffy-chin, can I give you the takoyaki at a different time? I have to go save my friend." Luffy crossed his arms. He got his hopes up for the takoyaki! He offered to help them rescue her friend. Then they would make him takoyaki. Pappag looked surprised. After all, the "vicious" pirate was offering to help. And wanted food in exchange.

"Also, if we help, can you show us how to get to Fishman Island?" Nami asked, pointing to the log pose on her wrist. "We don't know how to get there and aren't getting any closer to finding out on our own."

She was shocked by their kindness, for near strangers. Well, they had reasons to help, even if they didn't know her. Food and directions. More than good enough payment to help out! "You'll really help us rescue Hacchin, Luffy-chin?!"

"Yeah! But who's Hacchin anyways? And how'd he get caught? Did he get eaten like you did?"

"He runs the takoyaki shop I work at! We got separated, but he wasn't eaten like I was." Luffy declared they were getting that takoyaki even if it meant death, with all but Zoro agreeing. He called the whole thing ridiculous.

"Though dart brow probably couldn't make good takoyaki if he worked at it for a year. Food is such crap-" he was kicked at and they got into a fight on deck. Nami did her usual of punching them in the heads, only this time she did it half assed. Still strong, but she didn't shout at them in annoyance or exasperation.

She was happy that they were going to be brought to Fishman Island. Well, this Sabaody place first after saving Hacchin who was off the coast. Pappag knew how to get there and where it was, and Caimie called fish to come with a sound only Luffy could hear. It was sharp and sudden, and he winced without helping it. It was just sudden and sharp.

"What's wrong?" Zoro asked, a bump on his head.

"Her fish talk hurt my ears. It was really high pitched." The others said they hadn't heard anything. Robin mused that it could be similar to a dog whistle. The frequency is impossible to hear by regular humans. "Maybe. At least it was short, though! Not like Laboon's." Brook asked what he meant. "Laboon was so loud it made my ears bleed."

"What?! I'm so sorry!" Franky asked why he was apologizing. "Well… It just seemed like what I was supposed to do."

"Don't feel bad, Usopp blew my ear drums, too, once," Luffy said casually. Robin, Franky and Brook were shocked. They hadn't been there for the fight. "Yeah." Usopp was looking ashamed. "It's bad when my senses are targeted. When we were going through Enies Lobby to find Robin, they poured gasoline on me and I nearly passed out from it."

Brook said his senses sure were vulnerable. "More than worth it with how convenient they are, though," Sanji said. Chopper glared at him, but Luffy agreed. The pros were worth the few cons. But they weren't perfect. Like how they were weakened from the fog, which was annoying. And how strong scents canceled out others.

The fish apparently were too scared to go near the enemies to go themselves, but they'd show them up to that point. Nami was intrigued over speaking to fish, and Luffy looked down. They swam to the other side of the ship Luffy wasn't at, and he ran to the opposite one, watching them go back and forth in amusement.

Sanji grabbed his face and told him to stop trying to scare the fish! "Shishishi!" was Luffy's response, even as his face was being yanked and stretched out. The fish stopped swimming away from him and went in front of the ship in an amazing arrow formation. It led them through the waters, the ship cruising parallel to the massive Red Line. Luffy sat on top of the crowsnest, looking at just how impossibly tall it was.

So tall he couldn't smell anything from the surface of it, high in the clouds. He asked Nami what living in Marygeoise would be like. "Probably very wet. And depending on how high it is, the air might be thinner. I don't know just how tall it really is," she said, in awe. "But for World Nobles to live up there, it should be a nice place."

"For them. I've heard they have slaves." Caimie said that was true. "Disgusting." The others agreed with Sanji's words. "I bet you hate them even more than any of us, Luffy." He was referencing how Sabo was killed. Franky and Brook didn't know about it, so they were confused.

"My brother was murdered by a Celestial Dragon when he was twelve," Luffy said sourly. "And the guy didn't get in trouble or anything! And when I asked Garp about it, he couldn't do anything! It's like they were his boss." Brook and Franky looked angry.

Robin said that was the gist. "The marines work under the World Government, with the Celestial Dragons being a large influence. The marines bend to their will. Your grandfather included, no matter if he wanted to or not." Franky said that was absolutely ridiculous. "That's just how the government works. There's no logic behind why a force meant to keep the peace of the world would allow slaves. That's what the revolutionaries want. To dismantle that unjust system."

"My dad?"

"Yes, he's the leader of that effort." Luffy thought that was a better profession than his grandfather's. Though one was legal and the other was not. Well, Luffy didn't care. Being a pirate and monster wouldn't be legal, either.

Pappag and Caimie were listening as they followed the fish. "You guys… are you strong? You offered to help and all," Pappag said. Luffy looked over and the starfish hid behind Caimie. Then he realized what he'd done and apologized. Luffy smiled, and thanked him for putting in an effort to not be afraid of him.

"We're strong, don't worry," Zoro said. Though he was sour.

"I think you can lift weights now, Zoro. Your muscle fibers have healed well enough. Just not the 300 pound weights. 100 only." Zoro left and scurried up the crowsnest immediately, and Luffy followed, telling them to call them when they were there. Nami and Robin giggled.

Luffy happily watched Zoro lift the weights enthusiastically. "Zoro's so strong."

"Not really right now," he said, lifting a weight above his head that was exactly 100 pounds. "I should be lifting those ones."

"Sorry…"

Zoro turned and asked why he was apologizing. There was almost a look of worry on his face, wariness and suspicion. Luffy said he felt it was his fault somehow. "It wasn't your fault. I promise you that."

"Nobody will tell me. I know you, Sanji, Robin and Brook all know, and I don't want to press and to respect your privacy, but it still bothers me. It was something so big and all. I don't even know who did it."

"Another enemy. You were unconscious and very injured when the second enemy came and took care of us all quickly."

Luffy said he knew there was another enemy. He didn't know who or what he could do, though. "I heard in passing about someone else. Nobody seems to want to talk about it with me, though." Zoro said it was nothing against him. "Okay…"

Zoro put the weights down and walked to Luffy, bending forward with his hands on the bench. "You are not responsible for what happened after you were out. You put yourself through too much to ever be blamed for what happened next. Understand? You have no reason to feel guilty about anything."

His voice was very serious and insistent. Luffy nodded. Zoro pecked him on the lips, and went back to lifting weights, shirtless but still with bandages. Chopper kept getting mad at him when he got annoyed with the wrappings and took them off. He got even angrier with them when Luffy unhelpfully said he looked like a mummy. So Luffy was pleased to see the bandages still there.