The octopus fishman was still injured and had trouble talking, but was treated as well as he could for the time being. "If his plan is going how he wanted it to, the country should be in chaos right now. But I don't know what his ultimate plan is. He never said it in front of me. He hates humans more than Arlong. And the big difference between him and Arlong is that Arlong never killed fishmen, only humans. He hated them only.

"Hordy will brutally kill anyone that takes their side or doesn't hate them, even fellow fishmen. He has no problem with that! The reverie is every four years, and it's this year. Neptune was going to try and make peace, go up to the surface to join it!" Jinbei demanded to know if Hordy was trying to stop something so important like that.

Luffy was bored. Hordy was bad, why not just beat his ass and make him not do this stuff anymore? It was that simple. Who cares what he wanted, he was the enemy. That's all that mattered. He voiced that opinion.

"The reasons he's done this are very important," Jinbei replied.

Then they all turned and saw a huge visual den den slowly make its way to in front of the pirates and the two mermaids. Luffy watched in interest as a big screen popped up. He'd not seen one this big before. He'd only seen one once before, when there was something playing in Goa on one. He didn't remember what it was, but remembered that he thought it was really cool.

"That's him!" Nami exclaimed. Luffy would definitely guess he was a shark fishman. Chewing with teeth like that must be hard. Did he only eat meat with those? But Arlong was able to regrow his teeth, this guy probably could, too. Luffy wondered if it could end up how it did with Arlong. Well, he was much, much stronger now. He would win.

"Ah, inhabitants of Fishman Island. Can you hear me? I am the captain of the New Fishman Pirate gang from the Fishman District, Hordy Jones!" Luffy tipped his hat up and watched with mild interest. No matter what he said, he was a bad guy. And Zoro didn't kill him since he was alive. He hoped his crew was okay. Especially Usopp and Brook. He didn't know how strong they'd gotten but for Usopp's awesome plant stuff he'd used in the water.

He couldn't wait to see how they'd improved! And Usopp looked more muscular than Luffy now, which was slightly annoying. Even after so long of training, Luffy hadn't buffed up like Ace did. How Zoro did, his hot and highly toned boyfriend. He wanted to have some fun with him already.

"I have something to tell you." The fishman got his attention back from the out of place thoughts. "The Ryuugu Kingdom will fall today, and be reborn with me as your new king!"

"Heh, he doesn't look like king material at all," Luffy commented.

"This is serious!" Nami scolded. Hordy continued, saying anybody who was friends with humans would be kicked out of the country if they didn't leave voluntarily now. "Soon, citizens of the Fishman District will come. They share the views of hatred of humans. If they see you siding with them at all, things will not go well for you. They wish to bring change to the island, and with human sympathizers here, it won't go as easy as we want." His voice was annoying, and Luffy crossed his arms.

One ear was still ringing.

"I know that many of you saw the death of beloved Queen Otohime. If we believe in the humans and try to reach out to them with open arms, they will betray us as they betrayed her! How can you fools not see that?!"

Luffy turned to Jinbei and said, "That guy seems like a liar." Jinbei asked how he knew. "I don't. He just looks like a liar." Sanji agreed. He couldn't explain it either. So it wasn't Luffy's super hearing that showed it. "How was that queen killed?"

"By a human pirate."

"Who found him?" Sanji asked with side eyes.

"Hordy found him…" Jinbei said. Luffy turned back. It was just a hunch. It sure was convenient for him, having her die so he could pull this off, no matter how long ago the queen's death had been. Suspicious. The shark fishman bashed Neptune's family now, calling them liars. Luffy pressed his lips together.

Arlnog was completely truthful with all his blabbing during their fight. This guy was different. He could just tell. "See for yourselves!" He showed the king tied up in chains and wounded. "Your King Neptune is weak, emotionally and physically!"

"Well, it was partly our fault he was captured. Mostly Zoro," Nami said lightly.

"What's with you people?!" Jinbei asked. Luffy wondered where Zoro was. And where Usopp and Brook were, too.

"It is time for us all to say goodbye to the current Ryuugu Kingdom! In three hours time, at the Gyoncorde Plaza, I will strike the head from this worthless king's shoulders!" Luffy narrowed his eyes. You'd think an oppressed group of people would look out for one another. It was kind of odd. Were there that many people from this Fishman District? Would they outnumber the peaceful fishmen and merfolk?

The villain explained that he found a box of signatures from half of the country. More than Otohime had ever gotten when she was alive. Otohime's dream was still going strong by the doings of her children. "With all of these signatures, we can tell by the names your beliefs in this subject. Therefore, we have all the names of filthy traitors!

"There will be no more treading on the late queen's image. Now that we have these, we can easily tell how you all feel! There's no way to hide from this. Be prepared or leave this country! It won't welcome you anymore," he said with a grin. "And finally, I'll address the Straw Hat Pirates!" He showed an image of Zoro, Brook and Usopp in a cage hanging from a ceiling.

"They got caught!" Luffy said.

"Those idiots. What are they playing at?" Sanji asked in disappointment. Chopper was the most worried of them all. All five of the Straw Hats watching were even more worried when Hordy informed them that they'll fill the room with water slowly. Drowning the "filthy humans" at the same time they killed the king.

He was going after Luffy's crew members based on a grudge of them taking down Arlong, who the guy admired. It wasn't too surprising that someone like this approved of Arlong's actions and were angry when they were stopped.

"Straw Hat Luffy! Your bounty is 400 million berries! Killing your crew will be a good message and example to those on the surface!" Then he switched back to talking about destroying the Ryuugu Kingdom. He was annoying. This message was too long and it was a feat that Luffy was paying attention to the whole thing.

Well, it still changed nothing. Luffy was going to take care of him. Now all he had to do was pull it off a little faster. But his bounty was raised! No doubt because of the war and Impel Down mass break out. But only 100 million more? When he raided Enies Lobby, his bounty jumped 200 million. Well, 100 million more and it'd be half a billion! Now, where could he go next to raise his bounty even more?

Zoro would be so impressed.

The video ended, and Luffy turned around. "My bounty went up!" he bragged with a smile.

"That's what you care about?!" Nami said angrily. Jinbei said it was no doubt what happened two years ago that raised his bounty. Though after he got to 300 million, going any higher was a feat. Well, Luffy would manage to do that! The biggest bounty he'd seen so far was Ace's, but he bet Whitebeard's had been super high. 500 million before the war, maybe raising due to everything that happened there.

Sanji ignored Luffy and said, "They're blatantly trying to pick a fight."

Luffy shrugged, his left arm just a fraction slower to raise than the other. "Well, even before all that crap, I was planning to beat him anyways. Now I just gotta do it a bit faster. He's cocky, and we've all seen how cocky guys fall!"

"Arlong, Krieg, Crocodile, Buggy," Sanji said. "Yeah, you're right. Not to mention the assassins from Alabasta." Jinbei looked baffled that they were speaking so casually before he spoke, saying something that surprised Luffy.

The whale shark fishman insisted that Luffy not fight after they convinced the princess to not go to the palace. She was useless and having her as a hostage would be a mess. "But, Father!" she said, clinging to Megalo. He could take her there, but she paused. Luffy was amazed to hear she could talk to sea kings! But was disappointed when she wasn't able to do it. Just had the capacity to.

"Hordy doesn't want that power used against him! You must stay unknown and hidden here!"

Luffy demanded to know why he couldn't fight, with Franky saying it had to do with them all being humans. "That is correct! Your involvement would only make relations worse, and Hordy could use it against us all. Use you as an example of their violence towards us."

"My crew is captured by him. Do you honestly think I'll sit around and let someone else take care of it?" Luffy asked coldly. He liked Jinbei a lot, but he wasn't about to abandon his crew. Seriously, what were they doing? "If you want to stop me, you'll have to make me." He had a cold face on, but wasn't out of control and could keep his aura in.

Sea kings were afraid of him. How would a shark fishman handle it? But he could see him looking bad if he forced him down with that kind of intimidation. He didn't really care that much, but he didn't like the bad relationship the fishmen had to suffer from the humans.

"As a one-time comrade, I had hoped you would listen to reason. You really are that man's brother." Luffy didn't find this as an insult. "If you refuse to back down, then I have no choice than to force you." Luffy could just run off and be fine, probably. Well, Jinbei was fast, but he wasn't in water right now.

"Hey, why are you fighting right now?!" Nami demanded.

"He wants to stop me from going to help our captured crew members!"

"And I'm telling you to wait!"

"Why do I have to wait?! Three hours might not be long enough to save them. They'll drown!" Luffy insisted. "They're my crew, I'm not gonna leave them when they need help!" Sanji and Chopper tried to get them to stop fighting. "Then explain it to me! Why the hell would I wait to save my own crew? You saw me fight for Ace, you know I'll do the same for them!"

"If you fought how you did with Ace-san, this island would be doomed!" Jinbei shouted. Luffy was annoyed now. Very annoyed. He tried to get onto Megalo, but Jinbei punched him backwards with his fishman karate. Luffy stood up and scowled. He shot forward and kicked in the gut before he heard and smelled Robin approaching.

Then she appeared and walked in between them before Sanji took her place by accident, and was the barrier between both punches, knocking all three of them down. It was a sneaky tactic, but it reminded him of his gomu gomu substitution from the war. Robin walked out of the forest, the previous one a clone (cool!). She looked so easy going, entertained almost.

"Why's Robin coming from the forest?" Chopper asked in surprise.

"Fufufu, I don't know the circumstances, but aren't you friends? So why are you fighting?" she asked lightly. Luffy wondered what she was doing in the forest.

"Hey! Did you look at a poneglyph without me?!" Luffy asked, veering off topic. She nodded, but said it was something completely useless to all of them. "Oh, okay." Then Jinbei brought him back to the current issue.

He shouted, "Think about it, Luffy-kun! What would the people of this island think if humans went on a rampage against any fishmen?! The Arlong incident is seen by some as humans just hunting them down for being fishmen! It's wretched that something like that happened, but how would my people feel if humans barged into a sensitive issue like this?! 'Humans are savages', 'humans are violent', 'humans are not welcome here'! Can't you see that issue?!" Jinbei asked loudly. Luffy's left ear was ringing louder. He was frustrated with Jinbei but also with his disability. It was annoying and distracting!

The fishman continued. "If you add that to taking down Hordy, people will only see it as history repeating itself! Humans against fishmen, even if the fishmen are bad people with terrible intentions. Hordy stood up to humans, and if you take him down, it would only further bad relationships with humans, no matter what you do for us."

"But I'm not-!"

Sanji was still laying on his back and interrupted him. "That's not the point, Luffy. And what you say may be true, Jinbei. But saving our crew matters more than that issue. It's our duty to protect each other and ourselves. Those idiots can't do shit for some reason, so it's up to us. Besides, if we do nothing, this island will fall into Hordy's hands, won't it? And we have many friends on this island," the chef explained.

"Hey, Hachi. You keep refusing to tell us where you got those wounds. But you said before that Hordy would hurt fishmen and humans alike, if there's any hint that they are friendly with one another." He turned to him. "You are friends with us, humans. Were you attacked by Hordy for that? Because that will make this personal even more," Sanji continued further.

Hachi didn't answer, but it was answer enough. Luffy hit his ear with the heel of his hand, and the ringing stopped. Chopper looked at him in worry and Shirahoshi in guilt. But nobody said a thing about it. There was no blood, so it didn't look like a big deal.

Sanji continued, and Luffy was glad nobody said anything about his ear, even if all of them knew about it. Luffy had his bad arm resting limply at his side while his other fist was balled. "For Luffy, saving this place is even more personal by you being here. We have a reason to fight here. You won't stop all of us. Even if you beat the shit out of Luffy, he's not the only Straw Hat with a reason to fight."

"That's right. Move out of my way!" Luffy shouted in pure annoyance. "I don't care about your reasons, the thing that needs to be done is to have Hordy defeated. Since nobody else here seems to be able to, why can't we do it? He beat your whole army! I said I'm going so I'm going!"

"No, I won't let you! I'll take care of it!"

"Why is it okay for you to fight for humans, but we can't fight for fishmen? You killed a lot of humans two years ago. Aren't you just being a hypocrite?" Luffy challenged. Jinbei looked like he hadn't thought about this, but still didn't want them to fight. It didn't make sense to Luffy. Why was the opposite okay?

"That was different. I would have fought regardless. I was already known as a pirate that can hurt others!"

"And everyone here knows we're pirates that have hurt others, too," Luffy said.

"Wow, he's actually making a solid argument," Franky muttered in shock.

"I have a plan!" Luffy demanded to know why he didn't say that in the beginning. "Because you wouldn't stop insisting on going!" The pirate captain was annoyed that Jinbei hadn't said this in the beginning. "I want you to become this island's hero!"

"Hah? Why would I want to be a hero? I love heroes, but we're pirates. I don't wanna be one. Listen up, at a banquet, there would be meat, yeah? Well, heroes have to share all their meat with everyone and I refuse! Who would want to do that?" The others in the vicinity thought it was a terrible reason. But it made sense that Luffy would think that. He was always ridiculous.

Jinbei said he'd give him meat if he listened. Luffy fell quiet, and the former warlord finally explained his plan. Luffy would only help him out. He'd wait in Megalo's stomach while the princess and Jinbei got caught on purpose. The enemy still had the keys to the cuffs of the royal family, and after Luffy quietly exited Megalo, he was gonna steal them. And a Celestial Dragon's letter, which Luffy didn't know what it was for or what was on it. "Is there anyone who can do that?" Nami and Robin offered to do so.

"Once the king is freed, I'll call Luffy-kun to come and save us. It shall be embarrassing, but necessary. If he makes a flash entrance, then everyone will know we're your accomplices. The princess should wait in a safe place outside of the plaza. Once you get the letter, flee from the area with the king and princes."

"Did they really get beat up?" Luffy asked. They were supposed to be very strong, right?

"Nyuuu, Hordy has a miracle drug. He uses them to make himself stronger." That was helpful information. Jinbei continued. While Luffy made a big entrance, the others would go to the palace and save the three members in the cage. Once they'd all gathered, they would come to the plaza to help.

"Figure it out when you get to the palace."

Sanji said this plan sounded too rough. It wasn't thought out well! "We must do it, even if it sounds ridiculous." Luffy looked at the shark, that looked so defeated, needing to eat somebody again. At least Luffy wasn't as huge as Shirahoshi. "I'll be right back," Luffy said, and hurried onto the ship and got quality ear plugs. He put one in his bad ear to protect it.

Luffy asked if there was seastone involved in any of their weapons. "Not that I know of."

"Good. I don't use seastone anymore." He stopped once he found it too troublesome to be worth it. Rayleigh also told him he shouldn't use it anymore, no matter how helpful it had once been to him. And Luffy agreed, and hadn't touched it in two years.

Jinbei said the plan would work enough that it was clear he and the princess were allies and trusted the crew. He didn't exactly want to be cheered on to defeat an enemy. That was embarrassing and annoying. "I'm not sure about fighting in front of a crowd of fishmen," Luffy stated. "It sounds like a bad idea."

Chopper asked why. "My scary side is released sometimes. I have to focus in the back of my mind to hide it. If Hordy is any threat, then I might lose concentration," Luffy explained honestly. "You've all felt that side of me. It scares fishmen and merfolk. If you want me to be some savior, I'm not the savior type." He was glad nobody brought up Marineford because that would be a crappy argument and not worth the time disputing.

"If that happens, then it happens," Jinbei said solemnly. "I just hope you can focus on not letting it out."

Luffy said, "I'm only doing it this way cause you asked! But if they start cheerin' me on I'm gonna be really annoyed!" He pointed his finger at him. He was considered a hero in Alabasta, but only by a small group of people. Not a whole island. And he was not the hero any other time. Even if he helped out. Nami's village saw all of them as heroes, and he got plenty of meat then, with the four of the original members splitting the adoration so none of them got too much.

Zoro would agree and hate being cheered on, too. By anybody but Luffy, probably. He sighed, wondering if they'd have to leave the island before they could go on a date.

"You have my thanks," Jinbei said sincerely. Luffy nodded.

He climbed into Megalo's mouth and crouched on his tongue. Luffy saw the massive esophagus, and pulled on it to see what happened. The shark spit him out and gagged. "Hahaha! Sorry, shark." Megalo was pissed, but let him climb back in, where he sat on the small tongue patiently.

It reeked in there, but he'd smelled worse in his life. He heard the sounds of the others getting ready to leave and do their own mission while Shirahoshi and Jinbei got on Megalo. This shark sure was a durable and obedient pet. Luffy stretched his arms, getting ready to fight. So, this Hordy had a drug that he used?

Luffy couldn't look down on that too much, as he'd used seastone for assistance. But a drug like that had to have consequences, right? Enhanced strength from a drug… would that do anything in the long term? Well, he didn't know and didn't really care. All he was going to do was beat Hordy's ass and save Jinbei and crybaby Shirahoshi's kingdom.

When the shark landed, Luffy heard a lot of stuff, but it was muffled through the shark a bit. Shirahoshi knew that Hordy killed her mother, which Luffy had suspected before. She hadn't told anyone cause her mom begged for her to not hate. He thought it was honorable, but also stupid. He couldn't blame her for doing what her mother's dying request was. But still… maybe things wouldn't have come to this and he could have gone on a date with Zoro...

When Shirahoshi called for Luffy to help, he was spit out of the shark and pumped his arm to enter gear second, which was no longer harsh on his body, and landed a jet stomp into the guy's gut. He smelled like a decaying body. A fresh one. The scent of somebody when they've just died. Not decomposed at all, but clearly dead. Maybe that drug really was bad. Hordy was kicked through layer and layer of coral. Luffy could hear him once he got out of range of observation haki.

The enemies were shocked by his appearance, and the annoying people around were so happy he was there. As a monster, he felt wrong to be cheered on. More than just for being a pirate. He was a beast in a human form, not some hero for them all. He would try to keep his scary aura inside as long as other fishmen were around.

Landing that solid kick showed Hordy didn't have observation haki, or at least not extremely fast reflexes to act on observation haki. If you couldn't react fast enough, haki was useless in a fight.

"He saved King Neptune and the princess called for him!" people cheered. Annoying.

Jinbei sounded resigned when he said there was no other option but for him to come out earlier than planned. "Oi, hurry up, all of you!" he called to his crew.

Nami formed, lifting her mirage to keep herself invisible. "Oh, we were hurrying from the start. Honestly, who believed you could stay put for a second?" But she didn't sound annoyed or upset, more like she didn't care much.

"Whaaa?! A woman came out of nowhere!" She held up the letter, and asked if that was what Jinbei wanted. Robin's arms were unlocking the cuffs as they sprouted on the bodies of the restrained royal family. Those drugs must be strong if they were beaten so badly. It no doubt didn't reflect well on their image.

"Good work!" Jinbei praised the two female Straw Hats. Luffy smelled the Sunny and his crew on board descending. Luffy plugged his ears when the gaon cannon was used against the fishmen in front of the beaten royalty. Unlocked or not, they were pretty injured.

The whale belonging to Neptune, that they rode what felt like ages ago to a party, gathered the royal family sans Shirahoshi out of the danger zone. Luffy heard an enraged Hordy, panting as if he was tired, coming back as the Sunny landed hard on the rough and rocky ground. Thank goodness for Adam's wood. Everyone jumped off the ship. "Zoro, how could you get caught?" Luffy asked.

"Shut it," he grumbled. "You reek."

"Neehee, I got vomited up. You don't pull on the hanging thing in the throat without being thrown up." Zoro looked at him with his one eye in disbelief, and Megalo bared his teeth at the rubber teen.

The crowd gathered on the roof of the walls of the empty plaza hurled questions about them. Did they really kidnap the mermaids? Were they good people, or enemies? "Friend or foe, you decide!" he called, pressing his hand to his hat. All nine Straw Hats had weapons drawn, ready to fight to save this place and beat up the guy responsible for ruining their long awaited visit to the mystery kingdom.

They all ignored the fishmen pirates who were mocking their presence as wannabe pirates to talk about how they found the whale, how the Sunny was brought there, and Franky's new weapons. New weapons! Awesome!

"They're ignoring us!" one of the enemies said in anger.

"Oh, we can hear you. You're just not worth replying to about such a weak insult," Zoro said coolly. "I'd say you're the wannabe pirates, but I'm not so petty like that." Zoro was really petty right now. It wouldn't be a good time to giggle, so Luffy held it in. "Sorry I got caught, captain," Zoro muttered so only Luffy could hear.

"You'll make it up to me later," Luffy said. Zoro agreed, a smirk in his voice. "Neh, crybaby, you're not so weak after all. I woulda' blabbed a long time ago." She smiled lightly, seeming happy but embarrassed by the sort-of complement. Jinbei agreed. All of them knew keeping such a huge secret had to have been hard. Though she wasn't allowed to see anybody long enough to probably explain the story.

Luffy wouldn't allow her to have the need to hide away for another decade.

"I'm very sorry. Keeping such a selfish secret to myself for so long…" she said sadly. Jinbei simply said she needed no reason to be guilty. Luffy nodded. "Some day, the small seedling of your kindness and acceptance will grow, and reach over the entire island. Then, maybe, fishmen could finally join hands with humans. If anyone can make that kind of change, it is you, princess Shirahoshi."

She had teary eyes, but didn't start crying again. Hopefully she was done with that. Everyone was cheering them on, and Luffy's right eyelid twitched. There was something about being called a hero by strangers that he just didn't like. Maybe it was because they didn't actually know what he was.

Though that insecurity was mostly gone since he didn't scare others away now. He felt a burst coming up. He never held them in, no matter where he was or what time. It was easier on the training island since there was nobody and nothing that could be harmed. Hordy was coming closer, appearing now, and Luffy found no better target to shoot his wind at besides the enemy fishman.

He let out the energy that threw him back into the coral. "There, all set for a bit," Luffy said. Jinbei asked if he still couldn't control it. "Nah, not really."

"Damn you, Jinbei!" Hordy said in annoyance. "I fell into your stupid trap like a chump! And you're using humans to help you? You clearly have no pride as a fishman!"

"I have pride in the fact that I can look beyond race! You are unfortunate to not have that skill. The people surrounding this place have more honor and acceptance than you could ever have in your life," Jinbei replied.

"Your sworn brother, Fisher Tiger, detested humans as well! He died by them! You are disgusting, and those who agree with the thought of joining hands with humans will not live long enough to do it again! I'll become this country's new king, and at the reverie, I will show the world the might of fishmen! I will make that a blood bath! Then the curtain will rise of the terror of the island under the sea! Nobody will think to mess with us again."

"You say 'us' as if you care about anyone other than your tools of friends. You care nothing of this country, you just want power, and to look strong. You look weak, Hordy Jones. You are weak, being so close minded!" Luffy was impressed by Jinbei's harsh but still fancy sounding insults.

"By my hand, we will take revenge! And that starts with these puny pirates! Humans will bow to us or be dragged to the bottom of the sea! Look at the strength and might of my men! You don't stand a chance. No matter your bounty, all humans are nothing in the presence of fishmen! That's your future, Straw Hat Pirates!" The brim of Luffy's hat was lowered, and covered his eyes.

He simply said, "I will be the Pirate King. That's my future."

"Pirate King? Jahahaha! What can ten pirates do against the 100,000 people I have here?! My New Fishman Pirates!" Man, he was annoying. None of these pirates were worth a penny in strength. Luffy could easily show that weakness.

Luffy walked into the provoked crowd of enemies and looked up, releasing his strongest haki. Not a trace of the fear in it. Just simple conqueror's haki, nothing fancy or unique. Rayleigh helped him hone it, better than Ace was at his. Half of the crowd rushing towards them had their eyes turn white and foam at the mouth as they fell to the ground. Just like he had done when he was half dead two years ago, only stronger.

Almost instantly, the plaza was covered in unconscious bodies. Everyone was confused by what happened but most of his crew.

"This is conqueror's haki?" Robin asked in awe. He was proud none of them fell. Zoro sounded proud of him, saying he wouldn't follow a weak captain. Sanji sounded irritated, slightly. He could do much more than tame a giant octopus. Jinbei was shocked by the improvement of it. How he had no control the first time, hadn't even noticed it was him that had done it.

Luffy looked up. "You can be whatever kind of king you want. But there's no need for more than one king of the pirates!" Luffy blew up a fist and slammed it down hard on a group of enemy pirates. If they could be called that and not sycophantic minions. Their captain cared nothing about them.

"Bring as many thousands as you want!" His crew took this as the go to pummel their own groups of pirates.

"He took down 50,000 in one go!" someone shouted in shock, and horror, so it was an enemy.

"50,000? Jeez, leave some for us," Zoro complained.

"Oh, sorry," Luffy said. "Well, have fun," he added with a grin. Hordy moved and created a water droplet, and Luffy remembered this attack from Arlong. Shooting a drop of water so hard it was like a bullet.

He grinned, "You think you can protect a giant princess in the middle of the plaza?!" he taunted. But the water bullet was stopped with a loud bang when Jinbei sent his own water bullet. That wasn't their name, but Luffy couldn't remember it and water bullet fit the description. See, Jinbei was really strong! His crew hadn't seen it yet, though Luffy championed it multiple times before now.

He had trouble not standing around and watching his crew be badasses with new techniques. Some much more clever than his own new techniques. Well, besides gears four and five. He wondered if he'd ever use five against anybody. But it was so distracting until he heard huge shuffling, something dragging along the ground.

He looked away from a flying Sanji and saw Surume. "Ahhh, they brought the kraken!"

"Hey, Surume! I'm happy you're okay! Remember me?!" Luffy cheered, waving his arms. "We're friends!" The kraken immediately smiled and beat down the enemies for Luffy. "Go, you're awesome!" Luffy cheered, easily punching people away without even looking as he watched the people around him.

"Surume, protect Yowahoshi, okay?!" he called. He nodded and moved in front of the giant mermaid. She thanked the kraken for his help. He was doing fine until the new robot General Franky blew out of canon, a bright flash and loud boom. Luffy froze. His vision blurred and suddenly he was surrounded by boiling bodies, screaming. The sounds of booms, gunshots, the clashing of swords.

"You era is over, Whitebeard!" Luffy looked to the side to see Whitebeard bleeding all over the place. Luffy found himself running and hitting anybody to get to Ace, who had his head bowed. Luffy blew open the wall, losing the feeling on his left side.

Suddenly he was back in the present, and his hands were covered in blood. Zoro was calling his name and the battlefield looked at him. What happened? He had a flashback in the middle of the battle. Fishmen were looking at him in fear, and the kraken was shaking.

"Fuck," Luffy said.