101
While Luffy and Aramaki took the fight to the forest, the rest of the crew were busy getting ready to leave the island. They were setting up the Going Marry, the ship also didn't have it's pirate flag so there was a less chance that the Marines attack them while they fled the island.
Gin was the most damaged among all of them, having severe burns on his skin. Hatchan was next. But because of him being a fish-man and his quick recovery the sword wound on his chest wasn't that bad.
Mommo the sea king was only knocked out and had a cracked skull, but Sparky was able to wake him up. So the sea king should be able to pull the Going Marry right now.
"What do you mean, you want us to start the ship?" Coby asked the six-armed monkey. "We can't leave without Captain." Yosaku and Johnny who was on Coby's side nodded.
The six-armed monkey said some words which was barely understandable, but Zoro was able to translate them. "We aren't leaving Luffy, it's his order… in fact the monkey says he'll join him in the fight, while we flee. Luffy doesn't want to fight that man either… so he's just stalling them from us. We would only be dragging him down if we stayed here…"
"You guys can't be serious…" Nami shouted, "He's fighting there alone… and isn't he some big shot hunter from the grandline. Luffy is in danger… we can't leave him."
Zoro looked at the navigator, "Captain's order… we can't do anything about it." He said with his fist clenched.
"In plain words… we will only be a liability to him…" Sanji said, smashing his fist in the nearby wall in frustration. It was always like this, he wasn't just strong enough to make a difference. "Nami… we want nothing more than to go there and help him. But the fact is… we aren't strong enough." He hated being useless. But they could do nothing more than trust their captain.
Kuina didn't say anything just looked at where the fight was going, they could hear the blade clashing. First Mihawk, now him… the world truly were filled with people that had a monstrous level of strength. She had to get stronger if she wanted to reach that level.
Sparky had already left after explaining things, and no one stopped him, he was the only one who could help Luffy.
"We might not have to leave the island." It was Anchor who spoke. All heads looked towards him. "Look…" he said pointing at a certain direction in the sky.
A man from the marine ship jumped out of the marine ship, and his lower body transformed into some kind of smoke. And this man was none other than the Marine caption of Logue Town, Captain Smoker.
The marine landed on the shore looking around and found barely any civilians around.
Smoker looked around saw all of the straw hats, before his eyes stayed on Kuina and Anchor for a while, but then a huge explosion of green flames brought his attention tp the place where the battle was taking place between Luffy and Aramaki.
"Mind explaining to me what the fuck is going on?"
.
The reason why Smoker came to island was because he heard the distress signal from Sakura Island. Someone tried to contact the marines, most probably the late-mayor who also died in during the attack.
And after that Smoker came with one of his ships. Sakura Island was quite far from Logue Town, but there wasn't anyone near that would be able to help the island.
So he went in with some soldiers to look into the matter. Even though they knew by then the pirates would be done with it, as coming from Logue Town to Sakura Island would take at least two days even for fast marine vessels. Smoker still opted to come here.
As a marine he couldn't just ignore the call. His own beliefs won't let him. So he was surprised when he found out that a battle was going on in the Sakura Island.
Coming to the shore he found out that the threat of Captain Kuro and ex-marine Captain Morgan was already dealt with by a local bounty-hunting group. It was the same group who took down the other pirates in the blue. Led by a man who was better known by his allies Mario, the hero of Dawn Island.
But the problem was another bounty hunter came around dragged Mario to an unwilling battle. And Smoker had to get there and stop it. But there was just one problem, both of them knew Armament Haki.
"Good luck stopping those monsters," Anchor huffed, not amused. "If they aren't stop those two might even end up sinking the island with us…"
"Why couldn't things be easy…" Smoker said with a dark look on his face, before giving the former Marine a dirty look.
"What? You are the marine here…" Anchor shrugged. Smoker and he went way back, from the time back when they were still in the training camp. If the smoke logia was going, as his friend he would as well.
And besides, Luffy was quite a good customer, he didn't want to lose him just yet.
Smoker clicked his tongue, he took out a small transponder snail. "This is captain Smoker speaking… I will be engaging a bounty hunter by the name of Aramaki, who is running wild and creating problems. In case I was found injured or dead, you would know what happened."
102
Smoker clicked his tongue, he took out a small transponder snail. "This is Captain Smoker speaking… I will be engaging a bounty hunter by the name of Aramaki, who is running wild and creating problems. In case I was found injured or dead, you would know what happened."
With that, he cut the connection off before putting the snail back in his pocket. The fight needed to be stopped, the green flames were already spreading into the forest, and half of it was already scorched, soon it might even reach the port city.
"Hey," Zoro called, making Smoker stop and look at the green-haired swordsman. "Captain ordered anyone from going there... and that includes you."
Sanji, and Kuina also nodded, if needed they would stop him
Smoker's face twitched but before he could say anything an explosion occurred, bringing all of their attention to the fight.
The fire in the forest stopped along with all of the noise. It seemed the battle was over.
.
Luffy flew onto the ground winching from the pain in his gut, that punch hit like a truck. He was more so affected from the green liquid that was around his body.
He could feel it eating away at his flesh. That bastard suddenly blew himself up in close range. Even though Luffy could react to most of his opponent's attacks, he was getting exhausted from playing the running game.
Luffy had a few wounds but most of them weren't serious. Still, he had to keep up his observation haki at all times along with his gears… it was quite stamina-draining. The man was too experienced for Luffy to land a blow.
Luffy stood up, but suddenly he started feeling dizzy.
"Rahaha… already feeling the effects of my powers. Let me tell you, now that you are going to die." Aramaki said, before jabbing his thumb to himself. "I have eaten the Kemi Kemi no Mi (Chemical Chemical Fruit)... I can produce any kind of chemical… that substance on your body is a chemical that I was inspired by the green viper back in my hometown, now you won't be able to survive for long."
Luffy was not only feeling dizzy but also feeling nauseous, and yet he was calm. Why? Because the man might be strong, he was in fact quite stupid.
Who the fuck reveals their powers. And so what if the man had some Chemical powers. He could tell it wasn't anything radioactive, only a strong poison, which Luffy was easily dealing with Seimei Kikan. But he was acting weak and wobbly on the outside.
Sparky was already around the area, and was waiting for an opportunity… sparky might be strong, but being an animal, it already had a god-given talent for hiding his aura.
Observation haki users could still sense him, but to them, it would appear as if it was just another animal in the forest… not something to worry about. That's why he was trying to make Aramaki let his guard down.
Aramaki attacked again, this time Luffy was playing the defensive game. Waiting for an opportunity.
The fight continued, but even without acting, Luffy was losing badly. Even with all efforts he wasn't able to hold him off for long. Deep wounds started appearing more on Luffy, Horn's edge's blade was broken and tossed to his side. Even his nameless naginata was on the floor, away from Luffy's reach.
Even Luffy was back to his base state.
"I'm surprised you survived this long… Any last words?" Aramaki asked grinning while he held Luffy by the throat, dangling him in air. His sword was pointed at Luffy's chest to stab him… "Heh, like I cared…" he said as pushed the sword in.
But suddenly things slowed down, and a grin appeared on Luffy's face. A savage grin, "Gotcha Bitch." he said, quickly, cuffing the man with sea prism stone in both hands at the same time.
Aramaki's eyes almost popped out of his socket, –but slowly– as he lost his devil fruit powers. He was even more surprised when sea stone bullets, a total of six shots dug inside his back.
Luffy grabbed the man's face with both his arms being in a well-familiar motion. "This might mess up your face, so brace yourself," Luffy said, dangerously, his forearms starting to fold as if it was a spring, before turning black from haki. "Gomu Gomu no… face-buster Rokuogan!"
And like that a dangerous amount of wind pressure was released from the technique. Creating a deep gash on the ground that dragged till the end of the island. Throwing the man off as he flew of the island itself. And into the sea.
With that Luffy dropped onto the ground panting, that last attack, he put every ounce of strength in it.
The last thing Luffy saw was Sparky coming towards him.
A/N: I forget to mention that Luffy doesn't have his gear forth yet. Because of only having armament haki for a few months. Anyway, this doesn't change anything.
Luffy didn't win fairly, he just caught the Aramaki off guard. And it's not something out of the ordinary in the one-piece world.
Like how Apoo caught both Luffy and Zoro off guard even though being much weaker than Luffy. Same with the clone-clone fruit guy who stabbed Odin. And not to mention how Yamato held of Kido even though she was weaker then him.
Even in the wacky world of One Piece, people get caught off guard.
Aramaki Ryokugyu is still stronger than Luffy. Not around admiral level just yet, but above your vice-admiral level, that's for sure. That's why there was no use of advanced forms of haki.
So hope you understand the power ranking of Luffy and the other characters.
103
"So you are saying we are pirates now…" Luffy asked, frowning. Luffy had woken up, it's been only a few hours since he had the fight with Aramaki. "Not that I'm happy about it… but" he looks down at the newspaper, "This is total bullshit… we didn't attack any marine base… are they really trying to falsely accuse us." he said irritatedly, more so it was saying today he attacked the marine base.
The marine base in question was on the other side of east blue. The rest of the crew looked at Luffy and didn't say anything. They were also very frustrated. This isn't the first thing Luffy wanted to see after waking up from a big fight against a madman.
"Wait… didn't Smoker stop you guys from leaving the Island," Luffy asked. They were all in the Going Marry, in the middle of the ocean. With what they told him, the bounty poster was distributed in mid-day.
Usually, bounties don't come at that time, they are usually given away with regular papers. But Luffy's case was diffirent. It was a special handout to all the blues by the News Crew for free.
Luffy's Bounty Poster:
It had an image of Luffy lazily sitting on the top of Going Marry with his two naginata's crossed on his back. He didn't look intimidating from the picture at all… and yet the description that came along with it was totally the opposite.
[Fallen Hero Straw Hat Luffy.
Bounty: 70,000,000 Berries
Dead or Alive]
Behind the bounty poster was the main thing, where it wrote details about Luffy.
Luffy, more famously known as the hero of the dawn Island Mario. The marines have received claims that almost all of his heroic deeds were a setup and a hoax to gain fame. Most of his endeavors with pirates were a total setup to fool the civilians and loot their treasures.
There was even a picture of Gin and Hatchan's picture with Luffy while they were in the Cocoyasi Village. There was also another picture of the Going Marry with the official Straw Hat pirate flag. After that, it went on to explain how Luffy even attacked a marine base that was under Captain Nezumi.
"Well, someone hates me," Luffy said frowning. Why take extra steps and set him up otherwise… though he was more interested in who took the photo of him with Gin and Hatchan. "Anyway, why didn't Smoker stop you guys? Isn't he some honest marine or something…"
"Actually captain, the problem is with that marine Nezumi. Smoker was the one that was investigating that rat in the first place… and so he actually knew the real story. That's why he didn't take action." Coby said, honestly, this was the first marine he saw that didn't act like a total villain.
Luffy nodded so Coby continued.
"Also, the islanders were really cheering for you after you tossed that green guy to the sea… and they already view you as a hero. So they didn't believe what the government said. And even protested if Smoker wanted to capture you… not that we would let him of course."
Luffy just shrugged, and didn't say anything. Luffy doubted that… if Smoker wanted and he was serious, Luffy was sure he could take down the whole crew. Including Sparky… all of the sea stones Luffy had gathered from the black market, the cuffs, and bullets were used against Aramaki.
So Smoker had a good chance that he would be able to capture all of them… logia powers were no joke. The users might die off from being too cocky, but the powers were just too damn amazing.
Luffy hummed, "He didn't even try capturing Gin or Hatchan…" well both of them had bounties, and unlike him, they were justified.
"He tried…" Zoro said, "But we stopped him… And also Anchor also gave in a good word. It seems that the blacksmith is buddies with the Smoker guy."
Luffy nodded, that Popeye guy was an ex-marine, and they both do look similar in age.
"Speaking of Gin? How is he…" Luffy said, he looked down at his own body, there were some severe burn marks. But his body would heal without leaving behind a scar. Honestly, Semi Kieken is broken as fuck in the right hand. Armaki's Chemical Acid was another deal. Good thing that moron didn't try to nuke them right off the bat.
That made all of the crew members a bit gloomy.
"He's still unconscious… The Island doctors got to him on time… but some of the acid got to his lungs, and other organs causing some internal bleeding and lasting damage there… it will be a while before he's back to full health unless he is treated by some highly skilled physician." Nami said. She was blaming herself a bit, if she wasn't with Gin, if Gin was with the others, then maybe Gin wouldn't get that injured.
"Hey, no one knew it would happen, okay?" Luffy said, as he smiled at the girl, " And if it makes you fell any better, I messed that man up pretty bad myself… heck, I wouldn't be surprised if he kicked the bucket."
The others nodded, all of them knew the battle was a close call. Sparky had explained what had happened. It also made them view how big the world is.
"Anyway, what about Hatchan and Momoo?"
After seeing Gin and Nami get attacked by an unknown man, both Hatchan and Momoo jumped into the fight to save Nami. It didn't go as planned, but Nami felt glad for the help.
They could have easily ran after Aramaki easily dealt with Gin, but they stayed.
"Momoo has a cracked skull… but it's nothing serious. But Hathcan on the other hand got a sword wound from that bastard… it's nothing serious… though Hatchan kind of lost two of his arms." Zoro said, making Luffy wide eye in horror.
Kuina rolled her eyes, "Don't worry though… he said he could grow it right back in time. Him being an octopus Fishman and all."
"You almost scared me Zoro!" Luffy grumbled, while Zoro just smirked. The others in the crew also felt a bit glad that their captain was worrying about them.
"Hey, captain… did you know the Aramaki guy by any chance?" Kuina spoke again.
Luffy blinked, "No… I did know about him from time to time. Why?"
Kuina didn't say anything for a while, before she opened her mouth, "You see, there's a rumor back in West Blue that… it's about a guy who I'm pretty sure is Aramaki. Well, there are some rumors that he likes to take government contracts from time to time. He also has some bad rep in the bounty hunting gig… and people say that the reason why he isn't a criminal is because of his involvement with the government."
"Government as in Marines?" Coby asked.
Kuina shook her head, "No, as in world government… you know the cipher pol."
"Why would Cipher Pol work with bounty hunters…" Johnny asked, while Yosaku nodded.
"To take care of people off the books." Coby said, slowly, while Kuina nodded.
Luffy thought for a while before throwing the thought to the back of his head. He also had some suspicion that it was kind of a hit job. And the sudden bounty just proved his theory…. It seems that the world government had eyes on him. But he wasn't worried.
Still, it was a bit worrying as to why this happened. This kind of thing didn't happen in the original. But then again, Luffy didn't have a staring reputation in the original.
The world government might be stupid, but they also have good ears… he wouldn't be surprised if they knew about Luffy's haki. Heck, previously the newspaper even wrote about his clash with Mihawk… so of course, they would send one of the best bounty hunters after him.
"Eh… let them do what they want… I might be pretty banged up right now. But fighting with the bastard also improved my skills a lot. I will be much stronger… so and with enough training I will be the strongest." He said flexing his biceps. And he was being serious, both his observation haki and Armament haki gained a tremendous level, maybe because it was his first time fighting with such unfavorable conditions. "Then we won't have to worry about those freaks anymore. Shishishi"
That brought some smiles and giggles in the room. "And besides we are an official group of pirates now. We should celebrate." He said, but winching from the pain his body. Even with Semie Kikken, his body would need some time to get fully back to an optimal level.
Time hadn't passed that much, he was only out for two or three hours, but give it a day or two and he would be back to optimal condition.
Still, Luffy was a bit sad that he wouldn't be able to push his body in the meantime. But rest was necessary as he was sure he gained very valuable experience from his fight.
104
"Oh, by the way… where should we go next… directly to the grandline?" Nami asked now that the mood was a bit lighter.
"Nah, we should visit Logue Town first… I want to see the execution platform." Luffy said, "I also heard there's a good sword shop there…" he said looking at Zoro, who still needed two more blades. "And also I want to meet the Smoker guy…"
"Eh… Captain… he actually said not to come there, or he would be forced to capture you." Coby said, hesitantly. "And what do you want with him anyway."
"Join my crew of course. Shishishi…" And Luffy wasn't kidding. Smoker would a great ally for him in the future. Heck, from the start Smoker's character was similar to Garp. In relation to chasing the pirate king.
And with his logia powers and skills, he would get well in the crew. But then again, there was so and so chance that he would accept the offer.
The rest of the crew either sighed or laughed. Especially Sanji, he was kind of brought into the crew that way. But the main reason why Luffy was going to Logue Town was to meet Dragon… and get some help there.
"For now, let's party… Sanji, bring in the food!" Luffy said, getting down from the bed. The boy winched from the pain that ran through his body.
"Hey, you shouldn't get out from bed yet…" Nami said, worriedly.
"Honey, it would be my pleasure to accompany you in bed. But I have more important stuff."
Nami snorted, while the captain of the ship went out of the room. The rest of the crew followed their captain outside onto the deck of the ship. The wind blew calmly, as the Going Marry sailed through the ocean, with Momoo pulling ship.
Momoo had a bandaged up head and Hatchan was on top of the sea king, also had bandages on his body. Two of his arms were missing from the right side, but the Fishman didn't seem too worried.
"Hey there…" Luffy said gaining both of their attention. "Thanks for helping the crew." He said, jumping to the head of the Going Marry.
"Oh… uh, thanks," Hatchan said, a bit embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head. However, he did feel a bit sad from his missing limbs.
"Um… are you sure they will grow back?" Luffy asked.
Hatchan looked at Luffy and nodded. "I have had worse… we octopus Fishman have some good regenerative abilities, nothing like Coby's powers… but other than a decapitation we can pretty much survive in anything." He said flexing his biceps all six of them. "Don't worry, it won't take a week to fully grow them back…"
Luffy was a bit amazed. It seems that he recruited a hidden gem. So Fishman depending on the species had abilities from the fish side… interesting.
"Though… that green stuff is kind of irritating my wounds…" Hatchan said.
Luffy thought for a moment. "Hey, tell Momoo to head towards Logue Town… Nami direct the ship at full speed. There should be someone that can help both Hatchan and Gin there."
Luffy best bet in getting some help was from dear daddy, Dragon. If Dragon was there… that meant the revolutionary ship was somewhere near as well. He should be able to get some good medical attention from there.
Honestly, Luffy was quite worried about both of his crewmates. Chemicals were no joke, especially from the horror story he heard back in his previous world about how long time exposure to certain chemicals could give you cancer.
While Luffy was thinking about how things went, he suddenly looked upwards, and frowned. His observation haki was picking up something, but… he couldn't quite get what.
"What's wrong captain?" Coby asked looking at the empty space where Luffy was looking.
"Meh, it's probably nothing." Luffy shrugged. "Hey, Zoro… how's your new sword going."
"Well… uh."
Suddenly Mid-sentence Luffy stretched out his hand, enlarging it and caught something mid-air. "Gotcha bithch!" Luffy said with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
And it was a bird… not just any bird, but a newspaper bird. Calling it a bird would be wrong… as it looked like a bird-human, similar to Big News Morgan, but much smaller in size. Half of Luffy's hight actually.
"Let go of me!" the bird said, it's voice was a bit childish. But Luffy wasn't paying attention to that, no, there was a camera hanging on from his shirt.
"So you are the birdy that's taking our pictures…" Luffy said with narrowed eyes as he brought his hand back with the bird still in his hand. He held the little creature by its long neck. "Mind telling me why… you thought it was a good idea to do that without our permission?"
The bird man struggled to free itself, even half of its body getting transparent, but it couldn't do much when Luffy used a whiff of Conquer's Haki on him. The bird seemed to be too shocked and started shivering.
"Good. Now you have some explaining to do, before we cook you and feed you to Momoo." The sea king in question looked at the birdy with a hungry grin. He never had a bird person before. Maybe it would taste like chicken.
"Nooo…" with that the bird fell unconscious.
"Oops?" Luffy said, "I think we broke him, guys."
The other sweatdropped at the scene.
A certain collar snapped out from the bird's neck, and fell on the ground, turning the half-visible bird fully visible.
"What's this?" Luffy said, looking at the device. Accidentally pushing the button as it turned invisible. Now Luffy was wide-eyed.
He thought that power was from the invisible invisible fruit… not an artificial device. But then he looked at the logo… and tossed it to Sanji. The cook in question caught it.
"It seems that the birdy here… has some tech right here…" Luffy said, now that Sanji studied it. There was a Germa 66 logo on it. Now even he was curious.
105
"So you are telling me… that you have been following us since Shells Town." Luffy said with narrowed eyes. "How didn't I catch you with my observation haki…"
The bird hesitated.
"Tell me…"
"Not to insult you or anything… but, you aren't that experienced in using it… the device only works with inexperienced and non-observation haki users." He said, Luffy hummed it seemed that the fight with Aramaki actually did improve his haki usage. Garp was a bit stingy in training Luffy's haki, so it was given he would have some flaws in it.
"But why is this… Germa 66 tech in your hand?" Sanji questioned.
The birdman gulped, he also knew about Sanji being a Vinsmoke and all. And the tech wasn't something amazing… as the finished product could copy the full ability of the Clear Clear fruit. So this was just one of the failed experiments, which Morgan got with some connections.
Even the world government didn't know about it. As they more so relied on the tech that Vegapunk made. So he gave away the info…
"But please give it back, dad will kill me if he finds out I lost that…"
"So, Moragan's your dad," Sanji said with narrowed eyes.
"Uh… no, what gave you that idea…" the bird said trying to act oblivious.
For a spaying bird, it was quite bad at lying.
"Okay, so tell me… why did Aramaki attack me on the same day when I was framed for destroying a supposed marine base?" Luffy asked. This was the question that needed answering.
"I-I uh… I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that." The bird boy cried, "I can't break the promise…"
"Then he won't mind, if we kill you and feed you to our Momoo, right?" Sanji said this time taking out a butcher knife, making the bird panic in horror.
"No, please no… don't kill me." The bird said. "I can't tell anything more… we bird folks don't betray our word… if you really want to know, call father… he might able to answer your question."
Luffy didn't say anything for a while, before speaking, "Sparky, bright me the denden mushi."
The monkey nodded and brought the black snail to him. "Now, mind telling us your daddy's personal number… or should we beat it out of you." There was also a transponder snail that he got from the bird-boy, but he didn't know if the marines or other party could intercept the signal. So he wanted to be careful, in case.
It seemed that the bird didn't need any more motivation. And gave the number away. Well, the birdboy did want to live to tell the tale.
The call started ringing. A video call.
"Purree… purree… purree…" the call was then picked up. Even giving the video function of the call. "Big News Morgan here…" but the birdman stopped and looked between Luffy and his son. "What did you get yourself into this time Mori…"
"Well, someone's concerned." Luffy mused.
"Mind giving us some answers, big birdy. Or we might do something to your little birdy right here." Zoro said, putting his sword near the bird's neck.
"What do you want to do to him?"
"…Things."
"That is not a legitimate answer!" Mori said, a shade paler from the heat the blade was emanating.
Morgan sighed at his son's cowardice… but then again confidence came with experience… that was the reason why he left him on spy duty. But it seems that wasn't going as planned.
Zoro seemed to legitimately scare the young bird… So, if Zoro's playing the bad cop, let's play the good cop.
"Now, now Zoro… I'm sure the birdman is willing to share some info with us." Luffy said, with a kind smile. "Isn't that right…"
"Yes, of course… hero." Morgan said. Unlike his son, he wasn't intimidated… much. But with how pissed the blond cook looked and how scary Zoro was, he wasn't taking any chances.
"Hero?" Luffy mused. "A fallen hero… who supposedly destroyed a marine base. But I'm a pirate now… so mind telling me why this happened." Luffy said getting the bounty poster and putting it on screen.
"You do know I don't do bounty posters…"
Luffy snorted. "Yeah, but this picture… while I do look good in it. That could be only taken by your son right here… that means you were giving my crew's info to those world dogs." With that he narrowed his eyes. "And you might not do bounty posters… but it was your birds that distributed the bounties…"
"Well… that is something we had no control over…" Morgan hesitated for a moment. Thinking if he should say it… but seeing his son in that state, there was no escape from it. He should have pulled Mori out after Luffy was labeled as a pirate… but there was no going back. So the bird started explaining.
"… I didn't want to label you folks as a pirate group… even while you sailed with a black flag… I didn't want to out you guys as pirate… but it wasn't my call to begin with… the government for some reason deemed you dangerous, especially if you are Marine Hero's grandson, and you know who's son…" He said, Luffy seemed a bit skeptical, "Hey, why do you think, the papers wrote so much about your good deeds? Honestly, the paper sales bloomed after your debut… everyone wants a hero. And all of them were interested in why you were a bounty hunter, not a marine… that was a story that was worth writing. More so when I did some research in your village…"
"Wait… you bastards even went there… you are playing with fire birdy." Luffy narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"Relax, we didn't exactly go to your village, but we did know that Shanks used to visit that Island a lot… and that hat… well, I won't tell anyone with your connection to Shanks or the hat if you are asking… My son won't either… he might be a coward, but we bird folks can keep our beaks shut." Morgan said, "And the world government is more scared of your father than with your connection with Shanks really… they don't want people to start following you. And make you their idol."
Actually, Luffy wasn't that mad at being labeled as a pirate, but he didn't want to gain rep for things he didn't do.
"Its nothing new… they did destroy Ohara just cause of some misled fear." Luffy shrugged, and studied Morgan's reaction. The bird's face darkened a bit. That wasn't a subject he wanted to remember.
More so when some of his friends died in that attack.
"Yes, the world government is paranoid in that sense…" Morgan said, "But my hand is tied… the chypre pole made a visit a few days ago. They wanted to buy some of your photos that we had… well, more like took it forcefully and stashed in a few thousand bellies… They also warned me to keep the news of you dying under wraps… I didn't get what they meant back then. But they honestly, sent the Ryokugyu the mad hunter after you… I'm still surprised that you survived. But it's too bad that they labeled you as a pirate… you would have been a great hero…"
Luffy tuned things down and thought things over for a moment. So it was a hit job. But it also meant… "you guys were the ones that revealed our location didn't you?"
Morgan froze, and coughed. "Well… they did threaten me…" And that was total bullshit. This guy could easily take down a normal chypre pole agent, but that was in the original story. This guy might be different.
"I don't actually care… but I'm here to offer a deal." Luffy said, "You said people wanted a hero… didn't they… then why not continue with that. Make me a hero… who was framed by the goverment, who is kind and all that jazz… I don't actually care about the fame, but having a following would make it easy, when I become the world's strongest man, the pirate king and eventually take down the world government."
"Bold words…" Morgan grinned. "But what should I call you… the pirate hero…" Morgan blinked. "A pirate being a hero… A pirate being a hero…" Morgan then grabbed the den den mushi. "Why didn't I think of this before… This will make a grand headline! Lahahahaha…"
Luffy didn't stop the bird man's antics, "Okay, so you in?"
Morgan looked at Luffy again, "The government won't like it…"
"Oh, please…" Luffy rolled his eyes, "When did you care so much about the government… I'm sure you would be able to slip out of any trouble." Luffy said, "And I assure you… give me five years… and the whole world government system will be no more. Now… wouldn't you want the man that will change the whole world to have a good reputation from the start."
Morgan was grinning ear to ear. Luffy was flat-out saying for Morgan to bet on him. It was honestly a gamble, the amount of hassle and headache the government will give will be a pain the ass for him… but the question was… was he willing to take the risk.
"I'm in." Morgan said, grinning. "Lahahaha…"
"Shishishi…"
"…"
"Um… dad, can you tell them to untie me now."
"On that note… I hope you don't mind us keeping the invisible tech with us." Luffy said, what… he was going to milk the deal.
106
It has been a day since the Going Merry left the Sakura Islands and life aboard the ship was as lively as ever.
Nami rested under an umbrella, a fresh newspaper in her hands. After doing some basic training she was more than happy to laze around for the day. On her side sat another lady elegantly, Kuina… the older girl was really enjoying the strawberry cake Sanji made.
Honestly, Nami used to envy her on how she could eat anything and not gain weight. But after she also started training, she was sure she could eat a whole sea king and not get fat. Honestly, Luffy was a slave worker when it came to training.
Now she got why people said not to date a health freak. But then again she wasn't dating him or anything.
On the other hand Zoro, Johnny, Yosaku, Gin, and Coby are nearer the figurehead. Zoro had been sparing with Johnny and Yosaku, both trying to master their abilities.
In Coby's case, it was all physical, while in Zoro's case, it was more about using the sword that had a devil fruit ability in it. While Zoro was training with the bounty-hunting pirate duo, Coby and Gin were training alone.
Coby focused on his kicks and leg-based movement, trying to get his legs ready for Soru. He lacked speed, and that was the part he was focusing on right now.
Gin was opposite them, having borrowed a pair of handballs and was now trying to imitate a workout he had seen Zoro do that morning. He had woken up a few hours earlier and started training ever since, Sanji and Sparky had to force stop his training to get him to eat or rest.
Even Luffy scolded him for pushing his body too hard. But then again, Gin felt frustrated from his loss, and this motivated him to do whatever training he could.
The former Krieg Pirate coughed from time to time… he wasn't fully back to full health. And yet he pushed himself, the buckets of sweat rolling down his face indicated much.
Luffy was enjoying the view from the crow's nest, while Mommo pulled the ship in towards Logue Town. They would reach the last island before grandline in a day at most.
If the sea king wasn't injured it wouldn't have taken that much time, but it was still faster than any ships around the water. Hatchan himself went out for a swim into the sea, to stretch out his muscles and help Sanji in catching big fishes for lunch.
Sparky and Usopp were the only ones that weren't in the view. Well, that was because they were spending their sweet time modifying the guns they had. Anchor had left them some good material and ideas, before they left the Island so they were eager to implement them on their weapons.
Nami blinked when she saw what the newspaper wrote. "Um guys… I think you should see this." She said, the wind blew and from the newspaper, a few of the bounty posters fell.
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
"Pirate Hunter" Zoro- 25,000,000
"White Lady" Kuina- 30,000,000
"Man-Demon" Gin (new allegiance)- 15,000,000
"Six-armed Fishman" Hatchan (new allegiance)- 9,000,000
"Sweet new bounties…" Luffy grinned, he was wondering why only he got the bounty. If the marine viewed Luffy as a threat then by extension they would label everyone as pirates. And it seems that it took some time for them to take action.
But then again, Luffy's early bounty was because they thought they could get the boy killed along with the other pirates. But it didn't work out for him.
The rest of the crew were more focused on the bounty poster. Discussing and bragging about their bounties.
"What?!" Sanji yelled from the second level.
"Oh," Gin commented. "Nice picture." He said, this picture made him look much more intimidating than his previous one. This was a picture of him bloodied in the fight with Coby. Not a glorious moment, but at least the picture was great.
Zoro also liked his picture, this was taken when he fought against Mihawk. While he looked beaten up, it also portrayed his will to get stronger.
Kuina's picture was more calm, and she didn't look like a threat at all. Heck, some wouldn't even call her a pirate with how friendly and clueless she looked in the photo. And yet her epithet was a nightmare for the pirates. She was a well-known bounty hunter after all.
"Even Hathcan got one!" Coby said, depressed, joining Sanji in depression.
Hatchan's picture was of him on the sea king Momoo, pulling the Going Marry.
"See Momoo, we got a bounty raise…" Hatchan cheers, along with the happy sea king.
Usopp was with Coby and Sanji, trying to cheer them on. But both of them were quite sad not to get bounties.
Luffy almost found it funny, how Coby was sad for not getting a bounty, when in fact a few weeks ago he was spouting dreams of becoming a marine… fufufu… take that Aizen, it all worked according to his plan.
"Luffy, see this…" Nami said, pushing the newspaper near his face. The straw hat blinked before seeing the newspaper. And after reading a few lines, he grinned.
"That son of a gun…" Luffy grinned. The paper said, many things about the straw hat. But the most notable thing was about Luffy's supposed alienation with the pirates, how Captain Nezumi was corrupt and was under investigation… and how Luffy was seen near the Sakura Islands, protecting the islanders from a bounty hunter gone rogue named Aramaki.
While Luffy was happy that his name was cleared. He was more so happy about how Moragan portrayed Armaki as the villain. That bastard shouldn't be able to join the marines, now that his public image is ruined.
Luffy was praying that, Aramaki was dead, he did shoot him into the sea along with sea stone cuffs, but there was always the chance of him surviving.
Also, the paper noted how some islanders from Sakura Island spoke in favor of Luffy. This will change stuff… but Luffy was sure that the world government is pulling their hair because of the news.
Morgan made sure to wrote it in a way, where Captain Nezumi was to blame for the whole mess and misinformation about the hero Mario… this way, Morgan isn't totally going against the world government.
Morgan wasn't implying that the marines were lying… no he was saying that the marines got fooled by a corrupt rat amongst their ranks. Which wasn't a good rep for the marines.
It made it look Luffy like as a victim. Luffy didn't know Morgan would go this bold… but then again he did even more in the original. Even making Luffy the fifth emperor way before he was at that level.
"This calls for a celebration, Sanji stop brooding and bring in the food." Luffy said, but seeing Sanji depressed, he added. "Please…?"
"Well, since you said please..." Sanji headed to the kitchen with a shake of his head.
"Captain, this is very dangerous," Coby warned. "If we go to Logue Town we might get in trouble, with our new bounties… people will be gunning for us. Even if Smoker isn't in the area, I'm sure they put someone of the same rank there… A powerful marine… they might target us, if we go there."
"A p-p-p-powerful m-marine…?" Usopp stuttered, "Well, w-we aren't scared of that…" Usopp had missed the whole fight with Aramaki, but it also made him a bit more scared of the unknown dangers.
More so, if Aramaki tried to cut the Going Marry, he would have died along with it. It was a good thing that the green bull was trying to show off and bring Luffy's attention.
"I'll see if I can learn anything more from the paper," Nami offered, settling back into her reading in the hopes of gleaning some new information they may need. It wasn't just Luffy had new bounties…
The newspaper also went with other upcoming pirates, one named Kid and the other named Law, and their misdeeds. But their bounties were much lower, similar to Kuina's bounty… their fame was covered up because of Luffy's contribution.
"Captain, are you sure, we should go there…" Coby asked again, "I-I honestly, don't want to get into another fight until I master at least one of the rokushiki techniques."
Luffy blinked, "That's quite thoughtful, but we'll be fine," Luffy waved off. "We're strong. If that new marine Captain comes for us, we'll just kick his ass. And besides, we will hide our ship and wear disguises…" Luffy grinned pulling out fake beards and mustaches from nowhere… well it was out from Spakry's backpack of course.
The other crew members blinked a bit surprised. They thought that Luffy would tell them to act boldly, but it seems that wasn't the case. But with how ugly the disguises looked they wouldn't be wearing them anyways.
Seeing such reactions the captain felt a pang of sadness, "Well, okay then… We'll be really sneaky, Shishishis…" Luffy said. "I'm good at being quiet and sneaking up on things. I did it all the time back in the forest."
The others opted to ignore or not pay attention to Luffy's goofy antics. Sometimes they wondered if Luffy had a second brain for his wild ideas.
107
It was a peaceful day in Marineford… well, as peaceful as the Headquarters of the World Government's military branch could get, anyway. Incessant mutterings broke out among the high-ranking Marines in the conference room before one of them spoke up.
"We apologize, Commodore," one Marine said. "But do you really think that our Marine branches in East Blue will be unable to deal with this threat?"
The high-ranking marine in question nodded. "To be blunt, they won't even come close…" he said regretfully. He turned to three bounty posters that hung on the wall. "Buggy the Clown, 15 million Belly, Pirate Fleet Admiral Don Krieg, 17 million Belly, and Saw-Tooth Arlong, 20 million Belly. Taking into account that the average bounty in East Blue is 3 million, the fact that his crew crushed them all can't be ignored. These three had the highest active bounties in the eastern seas… not to mention he even cashed the bounties in while he was hiding himself as a pirate."
"And that's not adding the fact that the boy gained his fame when he single-handedly took down a 50 million Berry pirate. One that slipped away from the marine's capture… also having one of the immortal devil fruits." Another high-ranking marine said.
"It is not just their captain that has caught our attention, however. He also has Pirate hunter Zoro, and White Lady Kuina on his crew… not to mention taking in Gin and Hatchan from his enemy crew." A stoic old aged marine said, "I have seen a lot of pirates, but those that know how to make the enemy work for them are the ones that make a name in the sea…"
A few Marines shifted uncomfortably at this. Though a mid-ranking marine spoke up.
"Well, sir with due respect, shouldn't we re-evaluate Mario… or Luffy's motives," he said, even though he was a bit nervous, but as a hard-working, he couldn't help but voice his opinion. "His sudden turn to piracy, and his relation to Vice-Admiral Garp, along with his actions spoke far from a ruthless pirate that we usually hunt."
"Are you implying that we should overlook his crime of dawning a black flag and pursuing a selfish dream just because he has some relationship with a well-known figure in the marines?" It was Vice Admiral Stainless who spoke. "You should rethink your words before saying it."
"Ara ara… Stainy, don't scare the boy off. Let him speak his mind." A man who was also dawning the robe of Justice spoke. It was Vice Admiral Cancer who spoke. "And as for your question… the whole situation might look unclear, but don't let newspaper fool your judgment. The world government had inspected the case itself, and we all know how reliable they are…" he laughed at the end. Whether his last sentence was sarcasm or serious no one knew or questioned.
Those that were in the room all knew how things worked with the world government. So almost all of them had doubts about Luffy… more so when some of them knew who his father was.
It was not mentioned, but Garp only had one son. Said son turned out to be the most wanted man ever. And if Luffy was carrying the same family name, it became obvious who the father was. And so it was generally known, why the world government had an eyes on Luffy.
Still, they had to keep their mouth shut. While most of the marines in the Marinefrod were honest, and believed in justice… —mainly because of the hard work Sengoku put in to comb out weeds from the ranks, unfortunately, he couldn't do it all throughout the ranks, as world government agents tended to recruit questionable candidates now and then, using them as puppets to do their bidding— There were also some that were loyal puppets of the world governments hiding in their ranks. That is why most of the marines often acted oblivious to their actions.
Speak or act out of line, then you might get put on bubble man duty, and no one wanted that.
"Anyway, don't mind us… continue your report."
"Ahem… yes sir. Our sources suggest that the 'fallen Hero' Luffy, has taken under three other capable fighters amongst his ranks…" With that, they showed the pictures of Coby, Sanji and Usopp. "Though, their threat level is yet to be discussed. Still, they have contributed a lot in fighting from what our sources tell." That was also the reason why they didn't have bounties.
Coby had taken down Gin… before he changed alliance, and Sanji had single-handedly fought a Fishman alone. And won. Those were not ordinary feets. And not the mention the fact that the boy Usopp also had some good sniping skills, often using handguns along with his slingshots.
There was also another woman the crew, but the marine didn't deem her threat worthy yet to be discussed. The same can be said for the odd monkey that apparently had six legs, a pet they supposed. Also, they had no information on them, same with Johnny and Yoskau.
In actuality, the marine got their info from the spy set up by Big News Morgan. And because of the deal Luffy made only some of the information was reviled, where some were hidden. Such as Johnny and Yosaku being in the crew.
"If I may interrupt, Commodore," one Marine said politely. "What of the strange gossip regarding Pirate Hunter Zoro's alleged clash with the Royal Warlord, Dracule Mihawk?" More mutterings broke out among the Marines in the room.
"Wait, didn't Mario… no I mean Luffy clash with him?" another marine said.
Another, round of mutterings broke out…
"Sigh… this will take a while," Stainless said, while Cancer just lazily smiled.
108
Johnny and Yosaku, were having an intense training session with Zoro right now, still on the Going Merry. They looked quite beaten and bruised.
Granted, it was because Zoro was working them to the bone, but that wasn't really the point. While it was training for both Johnny and Yosaku, it was also training for Zoro to hold back his strength with his new blade.
The flames of Akaiittou Nozarashi were hot and hard to control, but Luffy suggested Zoro use this against allies. This might make it hard, but with the stakes high, Zoro was getting good contorl over the famed blade.
Even though it was risky, Sparky and Luffy were just around the corner if things got out of hand. Speaking of Luffy, he was also busy…
Kuina was training with Luffy on her bladed attacks. While Sanji was using blue walk to dive into the sea and look for new fishes to catch. Hatchan had found some rare fishes that he was having trouble catching, so Sanji lent a leg for the job… it also worked good for his training.
As things were going now, they would reach Loguetown within a few hours. The Straw Hats peaceful afternoon was interrupted with a cannon firing, paired with the cannonball landing in the water near them.
"Gah!" Usopp shouted, sounding terrified as he fell backward onto his back. "What the hell was that?!"
"Sounded like a cannon," Sanji replied as he got back to the ship, and squinting his eyes to see the enemy ship.
Usoppo was worried because it was a marine ship… with this close to Logue Town, they could be surrounded in minutes.
But then looking closer, it was actually two ships fighting amongst each other, a big marine ship and a smaller pirate ship. And it seemed that both by both ships firing canon balls at each other some of them got near their own ship. Usopp almost felt glad that they weren't the target.
"What's going on out here?" Zoro asked, looking out of the ship along with Yosaku and Johnny.
"There's a fight going behind us." Usopp pointed. "Luffy, What do we do?"
"Hm… we should get near first and understand the situation before acting." Nami who was also steering the ship nodded and fearlessly saied through the canon fire. Her other crewmates easily handled the canon balls before they could hit the Going Marry.
"The marines are being attacked," Coby cried angrily. "We need to do something!" Well, Luffy and the rest of the crew could see how the marine ship was getting slaughtered by pirates.
But the numbers of the pirates didn't add up. The pirate ship was much smaller, a quarter size of the Going Marry, and yet there were too many pirates. But maybe the other pirates were prisoners, because some of the pirates were even killing each other. Logue Town was a good place to doc the pirates, before sending them off to Impale down.
So most likely what happened was a small-time pirate group orchestrated a prison break to get some of their crewmates free before they could reach Logue Town. More so now that Smoker was no here.
"Chill out, Coby." This time it was Gin who spoke up. "Only captain can call the acts…"
Zoro and Kuina nodded.
Luffy was almost touched by his crewmates' loyalty. And gave the charges to help the marines… if he had a reputation of a hero, so why not help them. And he didn't like meaning less slaughter anyway.
The Going Marry speed up, coming near the other ships… Luffy commanded Mommo to spray water on them to stop the fighting for a second.
And it seemed to do the work. Now both marines and pirates were looking at Luffy. And all of them were scared for different reasons.
"That's the fallen Hero… Mario." One of the Maine soldiers said, "Is he here to help the pirates."
"Stupid… didn't you read the newspaper, it said that the former marine Nezumi is the one that set up the whole mess." One of the pirates said, "He's clearly with you guys."
Similar conversations were being held while Luffy docked the boat with the crewmates.
"Find every single one of those pirates, and help the marines clear out the trash," Luffy ordered as the marines sighed in relief and the pirates screamed in panic.
Zoro went after a pair with his sword, quickly knocking them unconscious, while controlling his blade. Sanji and Gin went after a group as well, both kicking the enemies in the side of the head. Luffy shot the rest of the fleeing pirates with his finger gun.
All the while Marines stepped aside and saw them take care of the pirates with ease.
Johnny and Yosaku were too tired to fight. But also Sparky would stop them in case they wanted to join the fight… as Luffy wanted them to still have an active bounty hunting license in case they wanted to cash in for some info or bounties later on. He didn't want them to labeled as pirates.
Usopp was aiming down the enemy and shooting them from the Going Marry, rather than go to the Marine ship and fight the pirates.
"You lot will pay for this!" The enemy pirate captain said. "Mark my word, Mario…"
But he didn't get to finish his sentence as he was bonked in the head and knocked out. "Name's Luffy…" he said a bit irritated.
But he soon steadied himself when the rest of the marines were looking at them weirdly.
"Um… thanks for helping us." The man in charge of the marine ship said. "We would have lost more lives if it weren't for you." Sadly many of the marines were already dead or got seriously wounded before Luffy got there.
Now that all the pirates were captured, the marines, especially the low level soldiers were a bit glad that Mario was still a hero and doing his good work. Even while he was a pirate.
"Please leave the ship!" the marine in charge requested, genuinely, "We won't try to capture you… but as marines even if you are good people you are still labeled as pirates, I'm sorry we can't treat you any better, but I have already called for backup from Logue Town, and I don't want them to capture you."
The others were surprised even Luffy… it seems that every good deed does get rewarded. So he just nodded and jumped back into the ship. Along with his crewmates. But before he went he said something…
"Don't worry, we won't go the Logue Town anyways, we will directly go the grandline and get out of your hair." Luffy said smiling. Of course, it was a lie, but he commanded Mommo to sail in the direction of the reverse mountain, until the marine ship was out of view, and then changed course.
But nobody saw that Johnny and Yosaku had actually gone along with Spakry and looted the smaller pirate ship while the battle was going on. Even taking down some pirates without the marines knowing.
"Look what we found!" Johnny called with a huge smile on his face. "You'll love this, Big Sis Nami!"
"Will I?" She asked. "Why?" On cue, both men opened the treasure chest to reveal glittering gold coins and Berry notes.
109
"Look what we found!" Johnny called with a huge smile on his face. "You'll love this, Big Sis Nami!"
"Will I?" She asked. "Why?" On cue, both men lifted the chest open to reveal glittering gold coins and Berry notes.
Nami squealed happily as she jumped up and down like a child, before jumping and snatching the chest of the duo's hands. The orange head snuggled the money as if it was her boyfriend who came home safe from a war zone and sighed happily.
"Looks like we found some extra funds for Loguetown," Sanji said with a smirk. "After all, we all need something I'm sure." Of course, Sanji figured out that Luffy was only trying to miss direct the marines, with his earlier words.
Luffy smiled. With this, all of the marines would think that Luffy and the crew left for the grandline, while they would doc at the opposite side of Logue Town.
The Logue town was situated on the Logue Town Island. Yup, stupid name. But he didn't decide it.
Anyway, it is an island where, there was a forest on the other end, and a town front end. So Luffy told the crew to set up the ship there, near the forest, rather than in the port… it won't hide the ship fully, but it was the best they can do for now.
Smoker was still in Sakura Islands, and with their ship's speed it would take at least one day to get here. More than enough time to get out of here. That was more than enough time for what Luffy was planning on doing here.
And just like that the Island came into the view… The last island before the grandline. Now they only had to sort out the small-time commotion that was happening on the ship.
"Distribution?" Nami demanded, still hugging the chest from a few hours ago. "These schmucks don't know the first thing about money!" she said hissing, while she hugged the money.
Luffy sweatdropped, "Nami, I will bring you a city of gold, but I'm damn sure it won't change your act."
Nami pulled down her tongue and eyelid in protest… very mature.
"Don't be greedy," Kuina replied, "If they need the money then they simply need the money. Simple as that. Also, I need some cash for testing the fine desert on the island anyways," she said with an open palm, to give her some of the money.
Completely ignoring how shamelessly Kuina was asking for money, Luffy agreed with the swordswoman.
"I'm going with these two to find a sword shop," Zoro said, referring to Yosaku and Johnny. "I need two more swords thanks to Mihawk, and they need better swords in general."
"Six swords," Nami replied, gulping a bit. "How much do you think you need?"
"I dunno. three or four hundred thousand?" Zoro ignored the hissing sound Nami did. But the girl didn't protest much, digging through the chest. Once she'd stacked all the bills, she handed them to the swordsman.
"Hey, if it's short on money, don't forget to come back to the ship and ask Sparky… we do have more than enough cash." Luffy pointed out.
Nami shook her head, "No, you will get a good deal, okay?" grabbing the green-haired swordsman by the shoulder and dangerously eyeing him.
"Uh…"
"Okay?"
Zoro just nodded. Luffy helplessly shook his head, but made a note to tell Sparky to hand over some extra cash before the boys left for sword shopping.
"Now…" she said. "Who else?" she said looking over to Coby.
The boy shook his head, "I will go with Zoro… he might get lost otherwise, and I don't need anything anyway." Nami sighed, and nodded happily, before looking at the next one.
"We need groceries," Sanji said. "And with how everyone eats, I'm really not sure how much I'll need. But give me as much as you think I need, Nami-swan!"
Nami again flet a good amount of weight reduce from her bag of bellies.
Gin also requested some money for both him and Usopp, so barely anything was left.
"You do know, we still have around a hundred million in Spakry's bag right?" Luffy deadpanned, but Nami ignored them.
After joining the crew, Nami had gone through Spakry's bag a few times, but didn't take out much from there. As that was the best place to store cash anyway, being safe on Sparky's shoulder and all.
Who needs a personal safe to store cash when you can have a super-monkey carry it around? Though, Nami really wondered how Sparky could fit all that much stuff in his bag… a mystery that she didn't question.
"What will you understand… for you it might be glittering gold but for me… they are much more than that." She cried, and Luffy rolled his eyes. It seems that Nami was in love with all the money.
"Usopp, you're coming with me," Gin said, now that he had the money.
"Huh?" The sniper asked, looking up from the chemistry set in front of him. He wasn't exactly paying attention, as he was more focused with his own stuff. "Where are we going?"
"Shopping, *caugh" Gin said, he was still affected by his previous injuries. "Don't worry about it, I'll be fine. Let's hope I don't end up half-dead like the other time." He laughed.
Usopp looked doubtful, but he didn't say more. "Now, where's Luffy?"
"About thirty feet ashore already," Yosaku replied, looking off the ship. Turning, the others watched the Captain running through the forest ahead of them.
"I guess we're good then," Nami said. "Return to the ship once you're done. And for the love of God, don't start trouble. I know saying that without Luffy here might make no sense, but God knows he'll find it anyway."
With this the crew's meeting adjourned, everyone, moving off in their own separate way. Gin left with Usopp, the former Krieg pirate in search of a certain type of shop. He could tell from the look the sniper was giving him that he was confused, but he'd see what they were doing soon enough.
"Did you want to stay on the ship or something? *cough" Gin asked him, clearing his throat, "You… *cough… you look confused."
110
"Did you want to stay on the ship or something? *cough" Gin asked him, clearing his throat, "You… *cough… you look confused."
"Uh… No, I'm just confused as to where we're going." Well, he had no reason to hide it from him, but he figured he might like the surprise. Eh… whatever
"We're looking for a Gunsmith… *cough… I actually was from Logue town, well, wasn't born here… but stayed half a decade here… before going on to be a pirate… *cough… so I was thinking if I could set you up with good guns," he replied. "I figure if Luffy called you a sniper… *cough… we should actually get you a rifle."
"But I have guns…"
"No, I mean a rifle. You know the sniper rifle that is used for long-distance attacks, the only drawback is it will use real bullets…"
"...Huh?" Gin didn't know what he was confused about, but he didn't bother asking him as he saw their destination ahead of them. Walking inside, the pair wandered over to the rifles and began to shop.
The shopkeeper recognized Gin immediately and spoke with him for a bit, before leaving them behind to scout the shop.
"What do you think we should get you? *cough" Gin asked as she examined the guns. "A bolt action would probably have more power behind it, but if you can master it that would be really helpful."
"...I dunno." Looking over at Usopp, Gin saw him worried.
"What's the matter?" He asked, confused. Usopp was just playing with his fingers, mumbling something under his breath. "Come on man… *cough *cough… I can tell something's bothering you."
"...I-I already have two guns… do I need it," he said. Gin blinked at him a few times, unsure if he was serious. He was supposed to be their sniper, was he not? A sniper without a real sniper rifle.
"Oh," he finally said. "That's fine, but I would think a sniper would want one, wouldn't you?"
Usopp opened his mouth, but then shrugged. "I… uh, I don't know about large guns… they… how should I say it, they don't fell right for me. Though, I'm eager to take on a bazooka, but they aren't actually guns."
Gin deadpanned, "And sadly they don't sell them here…" Gin said. "Still, now that we are here… I think you should look for a pair of new guns or at least buy stuff to modify the guns from an actual gunsmith. No offense, but they might do better then both you and Spakry combined."
Usopp felt a bit hurt, but Gin did have a point. "But, hey… how do you know so much about guns anyways?"
Gin took a medium-sized pistol out of his back pocket, which was well hidden, and waved it back and forth it front of Usopp, his eyes watching it.
"Wait, you have a gun?" Usopp asked.
"Of course, I have a gun. *cough… Though, I rarely need to use it." Gin said, "I might be strong, but I have no love for the sword like Zoro or Kuina, nor do I have weird abilites like Sanji or Luffy… I use every advantage I have. *cough… That's why I took to the shop… the last fight… *cough… it showed me that I wasn't enough."
Gin was saying those genuinely. Usopp looked at Gin, who was sighed, massaging the wound on his chest, and the burn wounds on his arm.
"Believe me, you don't want to be in that place… *cough… the helplessness you will feel. That's why I think you should be prepared. " Gin said, "And besides I have heard Yasopp was very famous for his use of a long-ranged rifle, that's the reason why I brought you here… But if you aren't comfortable, then figure a way out, with your slingshot… I don't know, use a bow or a bigger slingshot, that might work." Gin shrugged.
That made Usopp think. A bigger slingshot… that could give him more firepower, if a bigger resistant band was used. But his internal thinking was cut short by Gin.
"When I became a pirate, I accepted that one day I might die, but that doesn't mean I won't try to live. Also, unlike the previous crew… this one has a better understanding. Captain Luffy is very caring about the crew… so you don't have to make sure you live, but your crewmates as well."
Usopp stared at him for a good long time, before he nodded.
"Fine," Usopp said. "I get what you're saying. But I won't take the rifle…" Gin was surprised by Usopp's refusal. "I don't think it works with my style… like you know how you don't use swords or clubs and use that weird weapon of yours…"
Gin blinked again, but nodded. Usopp did have a point, no point in forcing to learn something that he wouldn't be comfortable using in a fight. "So what are your plans…"
"I will actually follow your idea…"
"Which one?"
"The one with the big slingshot… I'm sure I can make it better than any sniper rifle." Usopp said, "For close range, I will fight with my guns, while in the distance I can use that."
Gin blinked, before he burst out laughing. "If anyone can figure that out, then it's you… I knew you had some balls after all."
"H-Hey! I'm the great Captain Usopp! My many enemies know I take no risks! I account for everything!"
"I'm sure you do 'Captain'. I'm sure you do." Gin shook his head, smirking. "Now, if you have the ideas, I'm sure the gunsmith might be able to help you with making your large slingshot… well, he might love your creative ideas and give you a discount."
"Okay," Usopp nodded, as both of them made their way to the gunsmith.