41
"I can already see the Island," Coby said, he was now actually wearing a black and white mask that only covered the first part of Coby's face. A cheap one that he bought much to Luffy's recommendation before starting the journey.
The boy had asked why, and Luffy said, something along the lines of, he didn't want Coby to lose his chance to join the marines if he was recognized. What… Luffy himself might be greedy… but there were some lines that he wasn't willing to cross. If he couldn't convince Coby, he would at least not take away his chance to fulfill his dream.
Which made Coby very grateful, also adding to his dilemma. He didn't know if joining the Marines was a good thing, after the experience with Captain Morgan.
Unlike the original time-line, they didn't make a show when taking down Captain Morgan, and of course, those marines were scared that they tried to impression a powerful bounty hunter like Zoro. So, they didn't ask many questions. So none of the Marines knew that they were actually sailing out to be pirates.
"Oh, neat." Luffy shouted, rocking the boat.
"Stop it! You are going to sink my boat…" Kunia said frowning a bit, the boy was really out of control sometimes. Her small sailboat was crowded enough and she didn't want it to sink it in the middle of the ocean.
Zoro just lazied around the boat, indulging in a small nap. His three swords by his side. Coby wondered if he used all of them in a fight. But then again, Luffy's two large Naginata were currently used for rowing boats and he was sure that wasn't ther purpose.
Also, Luffy did have two naginatas and but he only saw him use one at a time. He only saw him once using that though, so he wasn't sure.
Rather than giving a response, Luffy instead opted to jump out of the boat, hovering in the air using Geppo. "Yo, I am going to get a head start," Luffy said, ignoring the weird looks that the others gave, excluding Sparky.
"Is that a Devil Fruit power?" Kuina asked, the unanswered question.
Actually, before today Coby didn't believe about the rumors about the devil fruits… but seeing Luffy and his unordinary power, that could be explained with a supernatural fruit.
The monkey made a sound while shaking his head as if denying their claim.
"That's not his Devil Fruit power, it's something else" Zoro said, now that he was woken up from the shaking of the boat.
Kuina raised an eyebrow. "How do you know…"
The now awaken swordsman pointed at the six-armed monkey, "He said that wasn't his devil fruit power, but something called Sky Walk, or Geppo." Zoro said, the monkey said something else. So the green swordsman added. "And he also added that anyone can do that."
Kuina and Coby both blinked at the green-headed swordsman being able to understand monkey speech. Even Sparky was a bit surprised, but Luffy could understand him so he wasn't that surprised. It also made him appreciate the swordsman a bit.
"Yeah, I also saw Sparky use the same technique as Luffy." Coby said, "Wait does that mean I can learn that as well."
The monkey shrugged, while the only female member thought over something else. 'So he did eat a devil fruit…' Kuina muttered, nodding to herself. She had see people use those in recent years. These things were considered legends.
"It's a technique that you do by kicking the air or something…" Zoro looked at the monkey weirdly, "You cannot be serious?" he asked the monkey.
The monkey rolled his shoulder as if saying whatever you want to believe.
Even Kunia and Coby questioned the logic behind it. That didn't make sense. But also, Zoro being able to communicate with a monkey didn't make sense either.
Luffy reached the town pretty quickly, and Sky Walked around a bit, taking in the sights. He was high enough so that civilians weren't likely to take notice.
Then again, he knew this island was the one they were searching for by now, and he also knew that there were more than just civilians in town. As if reacting to this revelation, a cannonball came into his peripheral vision. It was aimed right at him. He could have maneuvered out of the way pretty easily, but he quickly came up with a better idea. He looked down and confirmed that the timing would be right.
He caught the cannonball with one of his hands and let gravity pull him down. Landing with a crash onto the ground and making cracks in the pavement. Four witnesses stopped running and looked at him.
"Am I seeing thigs…" One of the three armed man asked.
"Hey, Nami someone threw a canon ball at me."
The girl in question flinched, how did he come here? She had made sure to make a run for it after he was meeting with the bounty hunters in Shells Town. Was he following her?
"You don't throw cannon balls. You shoot 'em." One of the men said, "But more importantly, how did you catch that?"
"Eh, I do that all the time," Luffy answered as he spun the canon ball on his figure. "Gramps used to play fetch with me and Ace when we were little."
Somehow Nami actually believes him. Also seeing Luffy she got an idea.
"Boss!" she shouted with feigned glee. The pirates looked from the new arrival to her and back to the new arrival. "You're here," she continued. "Great! Mind taking care of these guys for me? I got the map, so I'll head back to the ship."
Luffy watched, amused, as she hastily retreated without giving him time to potentially refute her words. Not that he would. Actually, he was planning on hold her to the statement that he was her boss now.
The pirates quickly rounded on him, completely missing the sharp turn that Nami took as she sprinted behind the houses to their left. "So you're her boss, huh? I guess we can just take you to Captain Buggy, then."
Luffy scoffed. "Sorry, I already have an appointment with Big Nose, and I'd rather make the fight with a future Yonko a bit flashy." The pirates looked outraged and slightly fearful at the disrespect the man showed.
Luffy mused at the inside joke, he had been in this world for nearly three years now. He almost missed the One Piece manga and other forms of entertainment, but then again gaining strength was in itself entertainment for him. "Anyhow catch."
And Luffy tossed the canon ball that made the three pirates comically widen their eyes. But before the ball could get near them it exploded making a non-lethal blast that blasted them to a nearby building, knocking them unconscious.
Luffy on blew air at his right hand's index finger which had whips of smoke coming out of it. This was his special version of his finger pistol, which he dubbed as Air pistol. A technique he had perfected to use with his devil fruit ability.
Like the King-kong gun, his index figure would get compressed like a spring and shoot out a finger pistol with out moving his whole arm. And because of him being a rubber man, the attack would be even faster than if someone using the normal version of the technique. He can also fire it in rapidly, he was inspired by Ace's original fire-gun technique.
42
Nami hid behind a wall, climbing it in a way, to get a better view of the fight…which was over. The three men had been beaten easily, but she wondered what Luffy did with his finger.
She had only seen him point his hand in a child's finger pistol motion, before the canon ball exploded. Did he fire off a bullet from his finger… how was that even possible.
Was that the legendary Devil Fruit power that Arlong and his men talked about? She had a lot of questions…
Luffy seemed to notice her, so she had to get down. And act naturally. "Thanks, by the way," she said, trying not to be nervous. "Nice job kicking their asses!" She hesitated, then added, "Mind if I treat you to some food? I have a proposition for you!"
No, she wasn't going to ask for him to fight Arlong just yet. She wanted to gouge his strength first. She didn't want to send the boy to his death.
"Sure why not…" Luffy nodded in agreement. Despite knowing what this would lead to, he wasn't about to turn down free food.
Nami winched when she remembered how much food Luffy ate. Yeah, that wasn't a good offer in her part. But anyways what done is done… she would need to think of something later.
"Let's form an alliance." She said, before explaining.
Luffy was tuned out at the moment, so he just nodded, he was thinking about other stuff.
Like how it would be a hassle to explain Haki if the marines got the wind of it. Garp wasn't a person who would put that info on the table, but if he used Haki willy-nilly and people recognized it, he would be in trouble.
He wasn't worried about the Marines, but some Paradise pirate having Haki users got leaked, they would put a huge target on their back. Luffy wasn't against a good challenge, but his crewmates were barely ready for it.
And he didn't want that until he made his crewmates strong enough. So he had to kill any potential leaks on that info. It would be best to not use them, willy nilly.
Nami for the most part needed to be strong, even after Wano she didn't gain any kind of Haki. And that was something that needed to be fixed. If Nami picked up bo staff this time he wouldn't mind teaching her. As his naginata use was almost similar, and he did have some experience with using long pipes.
The Nami's talk broke him out.
Her proposition was to infiltrate Buggy's base of operations together and split their treasure 60/40. Luffy just nodded his head, he seemed bored. He was also a bit excited to fight both Zoro and Kuina.
But Zoro needed a day or two fully recover from his hunger torture. So he would wait a bit. Fight them at their strongest, and show them his strength.
But if they pushed for a fight he wouldn't decline. He liked being overpowered.
He wasn't like your average shonen protagonist that's hungry for battle. No, he did enjoy it from time to time, but he enjoyed training more. And most of the battle he did enjoy were one-sided beatdowns of him beating the enemy.
However, he didn't like it when Garp gave him a one-sided beating. Call him a hypocrite but he didn't like losing.
Nami didn't tie him up with ropes for now. He briefly wondered why, but quickly dismissed it as Nami recognizing that he wasn't as stupid as he made people believe.
But while they walked towards the area that Buggy's crew was occupying, a small grin stretched across Luffy's face as he realized that Nami had adapted to this minor detail, and simply planned to 'betray' him when they got there.
Though she was trying to dubble cross the dubble cross.
"Hey, I'm going to tie you up loosely," Nami whispered. It seemed that he was wrong in his conclusion. "I know you can easily break out of them, but I want them to let their guards down."
Luffy was impressed. So she was mainly playing a dubble game… or was she trying to test him. Not that some ropes would be a hassle to him. Luffy nearly laughed at the thought of her naivete as they continued to walk.
Nami wasn't stupid, far from it. Her true problem was that she was blinded by her preconceptions and common sense. But she should fix that… this world was lacking in the common sense department.
A few pirates took notice of them as they walked into the plaza, and signaled their captain. Buggy showed up and looked at them with no small amount of hostility.
"That's the girl that stole our map" someone from the group said and the other guessed that the other person was her companion. "And aren't you the guy I shot?" The blue nose said some other stuff, but Luffy turned it down.
The straw hat boy also was a bit bewildered by how strong Buggy's aura was, compared to how weak he was. Was the blue nose lazy or something, he had some gold nugget potential there.
Those that had a strong aura, they had an easy time growing strong. Though as they grew stronger, their aura strengthen as well. It was a continuous cycle of sort. Or that's how his Garp had explained to him.
There were many strong marine that started of with a weak aura, but grew strong over time. It mainly depended on their ambition and the effort they were willing to put in it.
So it wasn't a very good estimate.
"What do you flashy bastards want? I hope you're here to return the map you stole!"
Nami took on a devious grin as her plan unfolded. In no more than a few seconds, Luffy's hands and torso were tied up with a rope that seemed to come out of nowhere. She really was good at this.
"That's right! I'm sick of working for this guy. I've come to return the map and join your crew. You can have my boss as a gift," she shouted.
Buggy looked thoughtful at this turn of events, and then started laughing. "I guess you're not as stupid as I originally thought! Good work for me."
Figures. Pirates soon surrounded Luffy, and he rolled his eyes.
"Hey, before this goes any further… I have a proposal for you clown guy." Luffy said.
That made Buggy frown. "What did you just call m…"
But he was cut off. "Join my pirate crew."
What Luffy needed strong people, and even though the clown was another Ussop to his party, he wasn't unwelcomed. Though convincing him would be tough.
43
"Join my pirate crew." That's what the boy had said.
The surrounding pirates looked at Luffy as if he gained a second head.
Buggy wasn't even angry anymore, he just laughed. "Sorry but I don't want you in my crew, flashy bastard."
"No, I mean, leave your crew and join mine," Luffy said, ignoring the sarcasm, and the ropes that tied him. "You can be someone strong if you put your mind into it…"
Of course, just looking at an aura one couldn't guess someone's potential, some people have weak aura till they awaken their haki.
Still strong-willed people had a type of aura that shone brightly to Observation Haki users. But being strong-willed doesn't mean they were actually strong.
But Buggy's aura seemed to be strong, he was sure he would be able to handle Luffy's full brust of Conquer's haki. And that saying something. But then again he was a former member of Roger's crew, so he might have just gotten used to it. And his impressive aura was because of that.
Buggy almost got a flashback from a certain redhead wearing a straw hat saying something similar. Wait… that hat. It couldn't be.
"What are you guys waiting for…" Buggy almost turned hostile. "Get that flashy bastard!"
"Okay then… Nami get on the ground, this is foking shoot out." Luffy ripped away from his restraints as the pirates poured around him to attack.
But the moment the orange-headed girl dived under, Luffy made his hands mimic a handgun, and started shooting. "Taste my foking railguns lads."
*Bang *bang *bang *bang *bang *bang *bang *bang *bang *bang *bang
A second later every one of the pirates got shot down with some coming out of there bodies as if they were shot by a bullet. There were no bleeding, but Luffy made sure to break some bones and give some lasting damages.
There might be internal bleeding… but blood was supposed to internal anyway.
Buggy and Nami looked and widened their eyes comically, theri jaws hit the floor in unison.
Luffy brought his hands up which had some coming out of his index and middle finger, as if they were actual guns. And Luffy breathed in the smoke, blowing it out of his mouth. "Uh, I almost want to touch myself."
Both Nami and Buggy were still wide-eyed and jaws dropped to make any comment about it.
"So… now do you want to join my crew?"
Buggy quickly came out of his stupor. "Never!" And he shot toward Luffy with six small blades in his hand.
Luffy also grabbed his naginata and swung it. Buggy smirked internally as he knew that his devil fruit powers would be able to avoid the sharp attack. But what he didn't expect was to be hit by the side of the blade, making him blast away half screaming across the island.
"That's what I call a home run," Luffy said as he planted Horn's Edge into the ground as he put one arm over his eyes to look at his shot.
Nami again was bewildered at the impressive feats of strength. Those muscles weren't for show after all. Luffy just shot Buggy the pirate away like a freaking baseball.
"Oh, when did you guys come here?" Luffy asked, acting ignorant. Sparky rolled his eyes. The straw hat boy was showing off again.
Coby, Zoro, and Kuina saw what Luffy did. The sword users actually wanted to help Luffy when they saw him in danger, but the monkey stopped them. And they saw how quickly he dealt with all of them.
"This might be e-even faster than Alvida's crew," Coby said sweating a bit, okay, that might be because of the new mask that he was wearing. But he actually thought Luffy was in danger for a moment, even he was willing to join the fight. But it seemed that he forgot how overpowering Luffy was.
Nami turned to the voice seeing the rest of the crew and Luffy laughed.
"Anyway, guys come aboard, there's free food here." Luffy said. And he started pulling out the foods that the buggy pirates were eating. Only Sparky seemed to joined in, later on, the others were still processing it.
Zoro was the first one to break out of the stunned expression. He had smirked in a challenging way.
"Hey, fight me today," Zoro said. Now he got why Luffy wanted to fight both of them at once, fighting him together might just give him a chance of beating him. But he still wanted to go against him alone And the green-haired swordsman was just itching for a fight.
He already took out three of his swords, and put one of them in his mouth. He was about to put his bandana over his head…
"So he does use three swords at once," Coby muttered to himself as he took a few steps back, in case a fight breaks out.
"Nope," Luffy answered, but before Zoro could speak, Luffy continued. "I want you to fight you at your fullest. I mean that isn't a condition, but I want some challenge at least… Your recovery is great, so let's fight tomorrow or the day after…"
Zoro wasn't that patient, but Kuina stopped him by putting a hand in front of him. "Yes, let's do what he says for now."
"You just say that because you already had your good share of the fight against Captain Morgan."
Kuina rolled her eyes, "Oh, please the man wasn't even a challenge. But this isn't the time to fight…" she pointed it at a certain direction.
From where townspeople came out and were looking at Luffy like a savior. They had their town taken from them by Buggy, but all of them came prepared today to fight, but it seemed that straw hat-wearing boy had already dealt with them.
Of course, no one noticed that a certain bird that was dressed like a mailman snapping pictures of Luffy and the crew.
44
Kuina didn't know what to say about the straw hat boy. He seemed young, and most of the time stupid as well. Or that's what he tires people to believe.
But he was strong… one other key feature of the boy was his inhuman strength and skills.
She had traveled to all four blues in her journey. Her father wasn't keen on her learning the way of the blade so she had left home early, before she was deemed ready by her father.
And she had seen and learned the way of her sword on her own, mostly. And in all four blues, Luffy's level of skill would be usually shown by veteran pirate, those who have traveled the grandline.
When Luffy had left with his unusual technique of skywalking, she had asked Coby about him. Coby was a bit informed about him, and there were rumors that Luffy was the grandson of the marine hero.
The strength made sense if Luffy was from such a family. But… why would he want to be a pirate? It didn't make sense.
And then Zoro had also pointed out from Sparky —the six-armed monkey, who he was someone able to communicate with— that Luffy had indeed eaten a devil fruit. But the monkey went on to detail that just eating a devil fruit won't make you stronger, it will give you supernatural abilities yes, but won't make you stronger until you train and master your abilities.
When Luffy left from the boat, Zoro said something to her, that she still remembered.
"If we want to be strong, we should join us." Zoro had said. And he was serious, "Something tells me… he isn't bluffing about his strength." It had more value to her as Zoro was good at judging people's strengths. At that time, when she was at the boat, she didn't think about it much.
But now when she saw the straw hat boy seemingly knock out almost a hundred pirates with just pointing fingers at them, she didn't know what to expect.
Zoro was as amazed as she was. And it seemed as if Luffy was just playing around. But then again, Coby did say, Luffy had taken down a fifty million pirates when he was dubbed the new hero of Goa Kingdom.
Even if that was the case, she couldn't be as strong as her. A flash of a woman with blue hair welding a green-hilted saber came to her mind. Her graceful swordplay still played along her mind, that day any doubt that she couldn't be strong as a woman vanished away.
She was using her shortsightness, when the world was truly vast. Even one of the Yonko's was a woman. Though she didn't have a good reputation. It broke her perception of the world.
And Kuina made a promise to the blue-haired woman to meet her at New World. Though where that was she still didn't know. Maybe an Island on the grandline.
She did teach her a few things before going.
In their short encounter, she had learned a lot from her. Taking on Luffy alone might be hard, but… She was still confident that both her and Zoro might be able to take down Luffy.
She was already stronger than Zoro, but the green-haired swordsman always had a way to surprise her.
.
Nami looked at Luffy's back as him and all the villagers enjoyed a small party on Buggy's former ship. All of the villagers were celebrating their town's freedom.
It was odd when all the villagers found out that Luffy was also a pirate. But then soon put that back to his head when he said he wasn't like any of bad pirates. Also, it eased them that he didn't have any official crew or a ship… or anything for that matter, not even the pirate flag.
So they took that as the boy being delusional and thought of him as nothing more than a self-proclaimed pirate. They evidently treated him as a hero. Throwing a party and all. It lasted for no more than one hour as Luffy needed to continue on his journey.
"Hey," Nami called as Luffy and the rest were already docking thier small boat. "You needed a navigator right?"
Luffy looked at him curiously. "Yes, I do actually? Wanna join my crew?" he asked with a welcoming smile.
Nami hesitated. "No… I can't join your crew… but I can help you along the waters of East Blue." She said, this was a bit of a gamble but. "I tried to trick you," she reminded him. "I almost got you killed."
Luffy laughed, "Not to brag or anything, but I don't think that will work. Well, unless I get caught by gramps… but then I would be dead." he mumbled the last part to himself, "But, I'm alive, aren't I? Also, I'm pretty sure I only broke out of those ropes, because you tied them loosely."
Nami could practically hear the sarcasm in his voice. Others would take that as a cue and back away. The boy might try to get rid of her at the sea for trying to play the double agent… but something in her told to trust the boy. "You're not mad?" she asked quietly.
Luffy just smiled. "Nah, don't worry about it," he replied. "But I will make you stay permanently in my crew one day." He winked playfully.
Nami let a small smile grace her lips but still felt guilty. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she couldn't join his crew permanently. She was so close. Sadness welled up inside her. She was really starting to like Luffy despite his affiliation as a pirate, but this couldn't last.
"Then I will be in your care," she told him.
Luffy's smile grew wider. "Welcome to the crew, Nami," he responded.
"Where do you want to go next, then?" If she couldn't stay in the crew, then she'd be damn sure to do her job well while she was here.
"Our next destination is Syrup Village," he replied.
45
"Our next destination is Syrup Village," he replied.
Nami looked thoughtful. She knew where it was. It was a small village on the Gecko Islands southwest of here. What did Luffy plan on doing there? She doubted there was anything of significance. But there might be… the boy was full of mystery.
Also, she actually needed a boat to get off the island. By luck it seemed that her boat was taken by someone, so Luffy's boat was the only way off the island.
What she didn't know was that Luffy had made taken the opportunity to sink it when Nami wasn't looking. He wanted the girl to on his journey, and a bit of manipulation went a long way.
"Are you sure you want her on the boat… we are already overcrowded." Kuina said, "My boat isn't really meant for that many people."
"Meh, Zoro could go for a swim if it gets crowded," Luffy added with a carefree expression.
"Yeah, that might work." Kunia nodded.
"I never agreed to this!" The swordsman complained. But both Luffy and the swordswoman ignored that.
With that they set sail. As the island grew more distant, Nami noticed with slight panic that there was only one bag of treasure on the boat. They had separated everything into two. "Um, Luffy? Where's the other bag of gold?" she asked nervously.
"Ah, I left in on the shore for the townspeople." It took a moment for this statement to register in Nami's mind.
"You left it? That was worth at least 5 million Belly!" She yelled in frustration.
"Oh, come one some charity work never hurt anybody," Luffy said, and he pointed at the bag that was on Sparky. "And we have tons of valuable stuff in there."
Nami looked at the six-armed monkey. And he did have a small bag carrying some valuables. As if seeing her stare the monkey narrowed his eyes and kept the bag more secure.
Now Nami was curious… what treasures could that type of small bag hold. But she did remember that Luffy once took down a pirate of fifty million… she gulped. She knew it wasn't right… but she really wanted to get that amount of money right now.
Maybe joining him wasn't such a bad idea after all.
'No Nami, don't think about it.' She told herself. 'Don't let your greed fool you… Luffy is a good guy, he might call himself a pirate. But he has done nothing but good. Don't steal from him.'
The girl sighed internally. Luffy was the type of hero that everyone needed. Helping others when it's not their damn business. Her village was a prime example that needed help.
But Nami wasn't sure if she should ask for Luffy's help. She might get the boy killed.
"They're not a very wealthy town. They'll need it for repairs. Besides, one of these days we will go to the city of Gold, and you can have all the gold you need, shishishi." Nami just sighed and gave a small smile.
"That would be a dream come true." She chuckled herself. She still felt a bit bad about loosing her money, but she could live with that. Sometimes helping others felt good.
Zoro and Kuina found it ironic a pirate of all people was helping others. Maybe the rumors about him being a hero wasn't just a rumor after all.
What the straw-hat boy didn't notice was a glimmer in the eye of a certain pink-haired boy who was looking at Luffy with admiration.
.
After that, it wasn't long before they reached their destination. As the island came into sight, Luffy was getting more and more excited about the prospect of seeing one of his favorite characters.
"Stop right there! I am Captain Usopp, the great protector of this village! State your business here, otherwise my 80 million followers will chase you to the ends of Hell!"
"Impressive," Luffy said. "But how does this small Island have so much population."
Usopp hadn't really thought that one through, but it looked like they were buying it.
"He's lying." The other members said, with bored look.
"Crap! I've been found out," Usopp exclaimed as Luffy burst out laughing.
Usopp swayed back and forth comically as he wondered out loud what he was to do now that he'd been discovered.
"Don't you dare laugh," he said firmly with his slingshot raised. "I am a man of intense pride! I don't take well to being laughed at! That's why everyone calls me Usopp the Proud!" This was another lie. No one called him that, but they didn't have any proof of that, did they?
"Hey, calm down," Luffy managed as his laughter subsided. "You're Yasopp's son, right? Let's just talk about things over food. We're not here to pillage or anything."
Usopp lost his balance and fell off the hill he was standing on, landing face-first in the dirt. He got up with an embarrassed expression. "It's true that I'm Yasopp's son…but how did you know?"
Luffy smiled genuinely. "You remind me of him. Even the way you gloat is the same." Which wasn't a lie, considering his canon knowledge. Usopp's chest swelled up with pride upon hearing this, and he agreed to talk things over as a restaurant town. He even went as far as to offer to treat them.
The restaurant they were eating at had a sign that simply said "Food." This suggested that it was basically the only restaurant in the area. This really was a small village. As they ate, Luffy told Usopp stories of the boy's father and his incredible marksmanship, and Usopp listened eagerly.
Some of the stories were from what he remembered from canon. Others were the tales of the marksmen of Red Hair pirates he had gathered from the underground sources.
46
"There was also a rumor that Yassop once accidentally shot, Admiral Aakinu's robe, burning a hole in the kanji Justice. Man the lava freak was angry, but the most funny part was he couldn't even find Yassop's location" Luffy said, laughing out loud. "Even though it's a rumor I can actually see that happening. A sniper's job is to be invisible and do his work quietly." Usopp had stars in his eyes so did Coby. "No, wonder he's in Shanks crew."
"Wait, Shanks?" Coby said wide-eyed, Usopp fearing no better, "Do you mean Red-Haired Shanks?"
Luffy nodded, grabbing his hat, "Yup, the one and only. The Red Yonko of the sea." He said fondly tugging his hat.
"The world's greatest swordsman," Kunia muttered, but the others didn't hear it except Luffy.
Which made the boy frown. It couldn't be… Hawk-eye should be… unless. And a wide grin dawned on his face. This world was different after all. Maybe a certain pirate didn't lose his arm.
Usopp always knew his father was amazing, but it felt good to hear someone confirm it.
"Oh, by the way Usopp, do you know where we could find a ship." Luffy asked, which made the boy lie, before excusing himself.
They continued eating after Usopp left until the three kids from earlier rushed into the restaurant, almost falling over each other. "We're here to defend the village Captain!" one shouted with newfound resolve. He then looked around confused.
"Where's Captain Usopp?" another demanded, holding up a wooden toy dagger in what he hoped to be a menacing manner.
"Ah, that was some good meat," Luffy sighed, patting his stomach in satisfaction. Sparky copied Luffy getting the gist of the situation. The three kids looked at him in horror.
"What? No way! Don't tell me you ate the Captain!" the third one shouted indignantly.
Coby blinked a sad expression towards the kids, and muttered, "I tried to stop them…" the boys grew paler hearing that.
"Well, our swordswomen here, can chop anything in fine pieces." Luffy said. She wasn't part of the crew just yet. But that was manageable.
Kunia raised an amused eyebrow, before nodding. "Though, the man didn't have much meat on his bones. Good thing the bones weren't too tough to chew on." Now that turned dark right there, Coby sweat-dropped at the details.
"About your Captain," Zoro said, catching their attention. He put on his best evil grin. "He was delicious."
"No!" They shouted in unison, pointing at Nami, "Witch!"
"What the heck did I do!" Nami said, with a tick mark on his head. Every one of them laughed.
Once Coby managed to calm them down enough to convince them it was a joke, Luffy asked if they knew why Usopp took off in such a hurry.
"Captain usually goes up to the mansion on the hill to recite his far-fetched stories to the girl that lived there." One of them, who introduced himself as Carrot, replied, "She is always sick and isolated, and that Usopp's lies cheered her up."
Most of the crew softened at that.
Luffy got up. "All right, let's go then."
"We're actually not allowed to go there," Carrot said disappointedly.
"Captain gets in through a secret entrance," the boy who had introduced himself as Pepper added proudly.
"All the more reason why we should go," Luffy said, stepping on the tool that he sat on, pointing at a random direction. "Aye aye mates. We go on an adventure!"
Rest of the crew looked dumbfounded at the captain's expression.
"Wow! They are totally real pirates!" The three boys cheered at Luffy's shenanigan.
Nami wanted to protest the logic, but the three boys cheered and took off in the direction of the hill, led by the boy who had introduced himself as Onion. Luffy laughed and trailed after them while other followed wordlessly.
.
A tall gate surrounded the mansion, stretching around the full perimeter. The vegetable trio was wondering if they could find the Captain's way in when something wrapped tightly around the waists of Sparky, Nami, Kunia, Zoro, Coby Pepper, Carrot, and Onion. "Gomu Gomu no…" Luffy said jovially.
The entire group, minus Sparky, looked in shock from Luffy to what was wrapped around them and back to Luffy. It was his arm. It was coiled around them like a snake. His other arm was also stretched out and had grabbed the top of the gate.
Before anyone could question the absurdity of what was currently happening, Luffy shouted, "sling-shot!"
They tried to avoid the inevitable, but were pulled along with him as he launched himself past the gate and high into the air. Luffy just enjoyed the breeze as the rest of them, minus Sparky, screamed their lungs out, tears leaking down their eyes.
Before they landed, Sparky pulled free of his grip, knowing this would only be painful if his landing was dependent on his Captain, who wasn't exactly worried about him dying from a fall like this.
He landed on his feet and skidded in a long line before finally coming to a stop. Luffy stuck the landing with his knees bent and one arm wrapped around his captive passengers, which were dangling above his head, gasping for breath. He promptly let go of them, his arm snapping back to his side as they fell to the ground in a thud. "Yeah! We are in." he said.
Surprisingly they didn't crash landed as expected. Well, Luffy made sure they didn't, but they did fell the shock and terror of their quick ride.
Kunia was shaking and tried to unsheathe her Wado Ichimonji, with a murders glare at the teen. Looking at Kunia, Luffy quickly took cover behind Zoro's back.
"Save me!"
"Uh… even I'm tempted to do the same." The green swordsman gave a tired sigh. But he got that this will often happen.
"Hey, that was fun." Luffy protested.
"Like hell it was!" Nami shouted, wondering how they were still alive. She was about to ask what the hell he just did, but was trying to find the right words, and the veggie trio beat her to it.
Coby was on the ground, shaking, "I-I saw my life flash before my eyes!" Sometimes Luffy wondered how this kid got into a Rear Admiral position in three years.
"That was awesome!" Pepper shouted.
"Can we do that again!?" Carrot pleaded.
"How did you do that!?" Onion demanded.
47
"That was awesome!" Pepper shouted.
"Can we do that again!?" Carrot pleaded.
"How did you do that!?" Onion demanded.
Luffy addressed them in order as he turned to each of them. "Yes, it was. Maybe later. I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi. I'm a rubber man."
"Rubber man…" Nami repeated helplessly, and her head sagged. Of all the ridiculous things in the world.
"Rubber?" a few voices repeated.
Now both Zoro and Kuina knew about devil fruits. And they sure knew that being Rubber wasn't considered anything special. Both of them heard about Whitebeard's quack quack fruit. With how much Luffy displayed his strength, they were expecting something similar.
(A/N: For those of you unfun people out there, I know I messed the name up. But it became a meme now, and I don't wanna ruin it. The name should be quake quake fruit, or gura gura no mi.)
That actually brought some respect for the rubber boy. That only meant Luffy's power was no short-cut fruit, but was result of training. Something both the swordsman could admire.
"Devil Fruit… so it's not a rumor after all. I've never seen him do that before!" she said surprise written on her face. "I assumed that you were just superhumans or something! The Devil Fruits are supposed to be a legend! Don't tell me you guys ate one too!"
"No, not me," Zoro said.
"Me neither," Kuina said.
Coby didn't say anything just shook his head.
"Oh, yeah, only Sparky ate one." Luffy said. "I actually have another fruit in the bag as well."
All eyes looked at the six-armed monkeys. Some wondered if the six arms were part of the devil fruit powers. But no one voiced their question.
Nami's eyes widened in realization. A devil fruit user… she didn't know a lot of it. But there were rumors that it made people invisible. True or not…the prospect for asking Luffy and Sparky for direct help against Arlong.
The more she stayed with Luffy the more he seemed to be appear like one of those aloof main characters from fantasy books she read when she was little. But Luffy was anything but aloof, he was acting that way. But underneath Luffy was more smarter then he let on.
That was also the reason why she was a bit more cautioned against him. What if all of this is an attack… to let all of thier guards down. But something in her told otherwise.
"Hey! What the hell are you guys doing here?" They turned to the familiar voice. They hadn't noticed Usopp up in the tree until now. He was on a branch level with an open window that a young girl was leaning out of.
Luffy grinned widely and pointed at Usopp. "We're here to recruit you!"
Usopp's eyes widened to epic proportions. Recruit him? Weren't they pirates? Excitement welled up inside him but we quickly composed himself. He pointed to himself confidently, chest inflating.
"Finally, someone recognizes my talent." He said with his arms crossed and a confident smirk on his face. "Tell you what. Let me be the captain and I'll join you,"
"No way!" Luffy shouted, still smiling. This caused Usopp to lose his balance and almost fall out of the tree. "You can be the sniper, though. Uh… why not be one of the officers of the crew. Sharpshooter of the straw hat pirate, Officer Ussop, has a nice ring to it."
This caught Usopp's attention and he almost forgot about being captain. "You bet it does! You won't find a better sniper in all of East Blue!"
They all looked at the bold statement with mixed reactions. All of them was wondering what kind of sniper used a slingshot. Except for Luffy who fondly smiled at his new crewmate. Or his future crewmate, Usopp cleverly neither confirmed or denied his joining his crew.
Luffy also found it amusing how most of Usopp's nature for blatant lies, his statement might actually be true. Well, when you lie so much as Usopp some were bound to be true. This time though, Luffy promised himself that he would make Usopp the amazing sniper he was ment to be.
He already had some plans for him.
The girl leaning out the window, who had been silent up until now, spoke up, "Are these friends of yours, Usopp?"
Usopp looked at her and waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, them? They're just fans of mine. They wanted to join my awesome pirate crew."
Nami felt embarrassed for the guy. Did he have no humility? Luffy had just invited him. Come to think of it, he hadn't really given an answer yet, but Luffy seemed complacent as if he had already said yes.
"Oh, is that a six-armed monkey…" but the girl was cut off..
"Hey, you delinquents! What do you think you're doing?" Everyone, minus Luffy turned to the new voice. It was a tall man with slick black hair and round glasses. He wore a formal suit and tie and walked with rigidity.
Usopp and Kaya stilled upon seeing him. He stopped in front of the tree and looked at everyone other than Kaya with distaste. "You are all trespassing on private property. I suggest you leave now."
"Klahadore! It's OK…we were just talking. You don't need to kick them out," Kaya said pleadingly. The caretaker looked at Kaya and shook his head.
"I cannot allow this, Miss Kaya. Your condition is bad enough without that ruffian's influence. I will not allow him to poison your mind with his ridiculous fabrications." Usopp was trying his best to take the not-so-subtle insults in stride, but everyone could tell he was having trouble. Kaya looked angry but held her tongue.
Nami was confused. Kaya did look pale, but not letting her have visitors wouldn't help at all. She herself felt most weak when she was alone for long periods of time. If anything, Usopp's visits should aid her mental well-being. What she needed was social interaction, not isolation from her peers. Didn't this Klahadore realize that he could very well be making her condition worse by insisting on her seclusion?
Coby wanted to stop the man himself, but didn't know how to refute those arguments. Kunia just stayed silent looking at Kaya she got enough of the picture of what was happening.
Zoro just forwned, something didn't feel right to him.
48
Usopp, although disgruntled, decided to ignore the insult and try to reason with the caretaker. "Listen, I'm sorry I trespassed, and I don't want any trouble or anything. I just thought Kaya could use the company. She never sees anyone and…"
"And?" Klahadore interrupted. "Do you presume to insinuate that you know what would best aid in Miss Kaya's recovery better than her own caretaker? What could a person of your upbringing possibly know about her needs?" Usopp was really having a hard time composing himself now. Upbringing? What did he mean by that? Kaya was looking at her caretaker in horror.
Either Klahadore didn't notice that he had offended or didn't care. He continued, "Of course, I suppose I shouldn't set such high standards from the son of a filthy pirate. Breaking and entering must be second nature to you, but I'm afraid I must ask that you not come back…"
He was forcefully interrupted as Usopp's fist collided with his face. He fell back onto the ground and glared up at him in annoyance. "Don't worry," Usopp said quietly. "I was just leaving." He turned around and stomped out of the compound, the infuriated scowl never leaving his face. Kaya had covered her mouth and was watching him leave with regret.
The veggie trio shouted insults at Klahadore for good measure before running off after their captain. Even Coby felt that it was wrong as to what happened. "A child shouldn't bare the sins of his parents," Coby muttered to himself as they already excited the hearing range of the so-called butler. What Coby didn't know was that most of the world thought otherwise, a point that would soon make him realize something.
Luffy found it funny and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Coby frowned. "You don't think that's unjust."
"Oh, gladly," Luffy said all smiles, but his smile this time had some rage in it. "I just know a certain guy that… who was pretty famous of a pirate. God! Why am I hiding from you guys, you are going to be my future crewmate."
Some of them wanted to protest that they hadn't joined yet or couldn't join. But they didn't interrupt Luffy. He seemed to be well informed about piracy and anything related to Marines more than him.
"He was the Pirate King. And he fell in love… fucked and made a woman pregnant." He said while he chuckled, that didn't quench the anger in the statement. "After his execution, the Marines hunted that poor woman down, and she by her sheer willpower held the baby for two whole years. They killed every child born in that time frame, all in the name of justice. And even after all that the poor woman died and passed on the child to someone that could protect the newborn. The government still put a hunt for that boy. All because the government wanted to diminish any living relative of Roger… to wipe away the linage of the devil span… how fucking fantastic!"
Luffy laughed with sarcasm and anger, and some of his haki might have gotten released. But all of his future crewmates found that one thing… the straw hat boy wasn't lying. One can't copy those raw emotions.
Coby was in horror that the Marines he always idolized did something so… unjust. While others might doubt Luffy's orgin of being Garp's grandson. Coby didn't. It wasn't his naivety, that he believed Luffy. No.
Coby knew people and understood them far better than anyone. A trait that his mother always told him he inherited from his father. And he knew Luffy wasn't a type of person to lie about something like that.
Coby knew Luffy wasn't completely honest by any means. Everyone had their secrets but most of what Luffy said always seemed truthful to him. Even though he knew Luffy was trying to manipulate him into joining his crew.
He knew that Luffy wasn't like the other pirates. Giving him the face mask and doing other stuff so that Coby's chance or joining the Marines doesn't go wrong… all of those were genuine.
Coby wondered, if what they heard was some top secret from the Marines. Because it sure as heck wasn't common knowledge. Maybe that was why the grandson of the marine hero didn't want to join the Marines.
He was too free-minded and stubborn to do so.
No one said anything as they walked back. All of them were processing the information dump that Luffy just had given up.
.
Luffy found Usopp sitting under a tree at the edge of a cliff. He walked over and sat down next to him. Usopp noticed but didn't look at him. He was lost in his own thoughts.
After a while, Luffy spoke, "It's not her fault, you know." Usopp still didn't turn to look at him.
"No, it's not," he said.
"And your visits are helping her," Luffy added.
Usopp looked up at the clouds and sighed. "Yeah, I know," he said.
Luffy nodded. That was that, then, Coby joined them soon enough staying silent, enjoying the mid-day breeze.
They sat in silence for a minute before Luffy nudged Usopp, who looked up at him in question. Luffy put one finger to his lips and then pointed down at the beach. Usopp followed his finger and stiffened as he spotted Klahadore walking towards an eccentrically dressed man with heart-shaped sunglasses that he had never seen before.
Already suspicious, Usopp got down on his stomach and looked over the ledge, Luffy and Coby followed suit. As they listened in on the conversation that was being held below them, Usopp's eyes gradually widened in shock and then narrowed in outrage. While Coby's eyes widened in horror.
Luffy kept a consistently focused glare on his face until the two men below them parted and walked in opposite directions. Usopp waited a few seconds to take in everything he had just heard, and then got up and abruptly started running in the direction of the village. Luffy quickly caught up and grabbed him by the arm, stopping him in his tracks.
"Let go! I have to warn them!" Usopp shouted now that they were out of earshot. Coby wondered why the rubber boy stopped him.
49
"Let go! I have to warn them!" Usopp shouted now that they were out of earshot. Coby wondered why the rubber boy stopped him.
"Will they believe you? Can they even help anything if they do?" Luffy asked quietly. Usopp's eyes widened as he realized the obvious answer to both questions. His expression turned troubled and he looked at the ground. Coby was surprised at the quick thinking, Luffy didn't seem to be the thoughtful type.
"Then what can I do? This is the village I grew up in, I can't just abandon them to their fate!" Usopp said.
"Then fight for what you believe." Luffy said. He also added, "An island big as this should also have some marines patrolling the waters… but as you guys don't pay tax to world government calling in help now would be ignored or thought of as a prank."
Coby snapped his head to Luffy. "Tax? Wait, is that why some of the Island Alvida attacked and docked on never had Marines on them." Now everything added up.
Luffy obviously added that part to manipulate Coby. And the pink-haired kid knew it, and yet what Luffy said was nothing but the truth. Just how far is the corruption of the Marines? Is there any justice in that any organization to begin with?
"Fine… I will stand up against them." Usopp said with determination. "I will die protecting the village like a hero." He said with shaky legs.
"Eh… didn't you want to be a pirate."
"Yeah, but if I die I won't be able to be one," Usopp added as he gulped, why was he talking about his obvious demise?
"Then let's make sure you stay alive till then," Luffy said, with his odd laugh. "Sparky you brought the two guns I have told you to?"
The six-armed monkey popped up from a tree. As he took his bag out of his shoulders and scrambled something out of there. Two polished wooden guns.
"Toy guns made out of Adam wood," Luffy said as he placed them at Usopp's shaky hands. "Salvaged them from an idiot price years ago… and after Sparky did a bit of tinkering he was able to make it work with most round-shaped bullets. The only drawback is that it won't kill anyone."
"I… uh… they are surprisingly light," Usopp said.
Luffy nodded. "Yup, most things built from Adam wood are. When I first saw them, I just knew they would work well for my future sharpshooter. They also have minimal recoil, which also means less sound as well. Using your slingshot wouldn't be fast for pirates… and I want to see if you can master it in a day. Sparky would be helping you of course."
What Luffy was planning to Jhon-Wick Usopp up before the end of the year.
Slingshots are awesome, no doubt there. But do you know what's even more awesome. Gun. Fucking Guns! I tell you.
The made a sound of appreciation as he took out six smaller-looking silver revolvers from his side. All of them seemed dangerous and both Usopp and Coby had no doubts that they were.
Usopp gulped. "I… thanks."
"I actually gave you this so you don't feel guilty for accidentally killing anyone, but it still uses gun powder, so a shot to the eyes or throat could kill someone. But a shot to the chest, arms, legs or any other areas won't knock out someone, then again it might be same for your slingshot. So you only have one chance for a headshot."
"Jezz you are not putting pressure on me at all." Usopp said, still a bit shaky, but he grabbed the guns. They were designed six-shot revolvers. And used small round-type bullets, not much different from his usual slingshot ammo. The gun had an upper compartment where gunpowder needed to be added. "Thanks… I actually don't want to accidentally kill someone."
Luffy waved his hand. "We will fix that as well, when we reach the grandlines… we will find many bastards who you would love to blow their brains off."
Luffy found some sick pleasure in the pale face of Usopp and laughed evilly.
"Let's not do that…" the sniper said.
Luffy nodded in acknowledgment and, having been prompted for advice, started brainstorming a plan out loud.
Usopp and Coby kept a focused expression and nodded every now and then, as well as throwing their own suggestions. By the time they met up with the rest of the crew, the veggie trio was nowhere in sight. Kunia seemed to be annoyed at Zoro for some reason, anger maybe. And Nami seemed to look at them warily.
Coby filled them in on what happened. Nami looked mildly disturbed but kept calm, while Zoro and Kuina's expressions conveyed nothing of his thoughts. For them, it was just unpaid pirate cleaning.
With the plan decided on, all of them started making preparations for the following morning.
Only Usopp was out in the wild trying to fix his aim with his new weapons. The gunshots weren't all that loud so they could practice for some time in the edge of the island.
Luffy had to say, Usopp was natural at gunslinging. There was also a reason why he put pressure on Usopp, it was to judge his talent. And also to make use of it.
As in this world, talents are only shown when people are in huge pressure. And Luffy knew this one of those situations for Usopp. And he used it wisely.
Taking inspiration from Usopp, Coby also asked Luffy from hand to hand-to-hand combat training.
And so Luffy drilled some basics into the pink-haired boy. He was real eager to fight of those pirates and show them justice. Huh, I'm really taking a good marine away from Grandpa, poor him.
Anyway, Coby also wanted to use a spear-like weapon. And found a sharp pitchfork. He was trying to copy who he saw as the strongest, so Luffy didn't mind giving him pointers.
Luffy actually felt bad that he would be taking away such an honest figure from the Marines. But oh well, they don't say, pirates are greedy for nothing.
50
They were waiting for the pirates to arrive, the crew was scattered around the village, and the two coasts. Luffy, Sparky, Coby, and Usopp were here, while others were elsewhere.
Usopp had his wooden revolver on his side, strapped around his waist.
"They're here. They're coming from the other side." Luffy said, looking towards the south.
Usopp and Coby looked at him questionably. "How do you know?" Usopp asked skeptically.
"Observation Haki. Which by estimate you both should be talented at." Without further explaining, Luffy grabbed Usopp and Coby's arm. "Well, let's get going."
"Wha…" Usopp couldn't even finish his word, when Luffy jumped in air bringing along with them.
He then used his legs to launch them both high into the air, and started using Geppo to get them to the other side quickly.
Observation Haki was about reading people's intent. And a group of pirates with malicious intent was like a flashlight in a dark forest. A good way to utilize Observation Haki.
Both Coby and Usopp screamed comically, while Luffy just laughed. Sparky was on Luffy's shoulder barely even reacting.
Usopp was flabbergasted about the concept of Observation Haki as it is. But now… that didn't explain why Luffy could fly. Was he even human? It was about a 6 km stretch between the two coasts, and he crossed it in less than a minute. Usopp was a good runner, but it would have taken him at least 10 minutes to go that distance.
Zoro and Kuina took notice of them as they touched down on the slope leading down to the north shore. Nami spotted them and frowned in curiosity. The pirates have yet to reach the shore… How did they get here so fast?
"They are here," Kuina said, bringing there attention towards the large ship that had Black Cat Pirates marks on it.
She was wearing her white kimono with a blue belt. Her traditional dress matched well with her sword. The Wado Ichimonji.
The roar of pirates itching to pillage the village became discernable. They rushed off of the ship and flooded onto the path, running up the hill before stopping when the unexpected sight of their opposition reached their eyes.
They looked at each other in confusion, having been told that no one would be expecting them. "Oi, Jango!" one of them shouted back to the ship. "There are a bunch of teenagers in the way! I thought this was supposed to be a surprise attack!"
Jango looked a little confused as well, but shouted back, "Does it matter? If they're in the way, just kill them! We're in a rush, Captain Kuro told us to meet him by morning!" Before the pirate that had given his report could turn back to address the four of them, he felt a painful sting in his back and fell over onto the ground.
The other pirates traced the path of the projectile back to one of the teenagers, who two wooden guns on his hand. One of them giving of smoke.
They were surprised as they barely heard any gunshot before one of their comrades fell.
That made the enemy pirates look at him with anger. And the one who got hit, quickly got up, but he fell again when several shots him. Two more shots actually, and this time he wasn't getting up.
"Why you… get that long nose brat." One of them screamed as they charged toward the group.
"Usopp, don't snipers usually snipe from a distance," Luffy said, making the long nose nod, before running away to get high ground.
Coby was shaking, yet he held a pitchfork in front of him. Luffy found it cute that his pink-headed disciple was actually trying to copy how he used his naginata.
"Kill those bastards," Jango said, making the pirates pour out of the ship.
Kuina moved first, taking the lead, charging headfirst at the group of pirates. Or what she would have done, if Luffy didn't stop her by placing Horn's edge in front of her.
"You have to let the hatchings fight to gain some experience." He said, "You and Zoro are strong enough to take them down without any problems… but let Coby handle it."
"What?!" Coby looked terrified at what Luffy said.
"Now now… Usopp will have your back." The straw hat boy said, the long nose also yelled, but Luffy ignored that. "You wanted to be a hero right… so do it."
"Are you insane?" It was Nami who spoke.
Luffy looked her right in her eyes. "If you truly want freedom, then you have to be ready to sacrifice something for it… If not, then you are one of the reasons why freedom never lasts."
Nami felt those words slap her in the face. It was almost as if he was saying about her involvement with Arlong.
Luffy saw the effect and stressed further, but to all of his crew. "There's a quote I go by, 'Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.' If you want to break that cycle, then you have to be hard yourself. Weakness should never be celebrated, and strength should be always sought after… that is only how you keep the good times in check."
All of the people, were amazed at what Luffy said. Usopp and Coby especially as they were pushed into battle right now. Now it made sense why Luffy was pushing them forward.
But even still, Nami was worried about the pink-haired boy. "Shouldn't we help?" She asked more so whispered as Coby took several steps forward with a pitchfork in his hand.
"Who? Him or them?" Luffy said. "Have more faith in your future crewmates." He smiled.
And lo and behold, Coby was actually faring quite well against the canon folder of the Black Cat Pirates. However every time he would stab someone with his pitchfork and blood came out, the boy would be visibly shaken.
It would have made the other pirates take down Coby easily. But it wasn't the case because a certain sniper made sure to put a bullet right before they could attack Coby.
Nami was actually amazed at Coby's and Usopp's teamwork.
