"The air's different." Nami said, just as she and Zoro came out of the Antique House, a clothing store, with several bags of clothing they just bought. She then pulled out her barometer to check. 'The barometric pressure dropped. A storm is coming...Aw, I wanted to stroll around for a bit longer.' she thought. She then went back and asked for a plastic bag for their clothes, and their money.

"What's up?" Zoro asked her. She gestured them to go to an alley, and then she proceeded to open their crate.

"There's a storm coming. I wanted the bags to cover the clothes and the money." Nami answered him while putting the money inside the plastic bag. She then locked the crate and backed off for Zoro to carry the crate up to his torso. "Be careful of ripping the plastic." she said after placing their purchased clothing above the crate.

"I can't see anything." Zoro complained to Nami because the bag was blocking his vision

"Well you can't carry it by hand or on your head because it might rip. It's fine, just let me navigate, you directionally challenged brute around, like I always do. It's better this way so that you don't just run off and turn in the wrong direction."

Zoro grumpily sighed but decided to let it go. "Are we gonna go to the plaza now? You done?"

"Yeap, best to cut it here."

"Well, best to tell you now. The last time, Buggy and a lady with a big club almost executed Luffy, but because of a lightning strike, Luffy survives. Then we get hunted by a Marine Captain with a Smoke Logia Devil Fruit, who catches Luffy. But he's saved by his dad and we get back to the ship in time."

"What...After this we'll need to have a very comprehensive talk about what exactly is it that you know, and jot all of it down. But first, don't we need to save Luffy and get the fuck out?! I don't know what the fuck a 'Smoke Logia' even is, but based on the context, I expect it means somebody we probably shouldn't be messing." Nami half-shouted to him.

"Not really. I can feel that nobody is really that near Luffy right now, and the Marine I talked about, his name's Smoker. I could beat him easily...Eyebrows and Usopp are with each other moving towards Luffy's direction. Let's go." he informed her and the two then went their way towards the plaza. There, they met up with both Usopp and Sanji in the plaza, when they saw Buggy and Alvida execute their plan, trapping Luffy, readying him for execution.

"The storm is coming quickly!" Nami felt massive changes in the atmosphere, all of it pointing towards a massive storm. "It might take the ship, and the soldiers might lock down the docks. You got this Zoro?" Nami asked Zoro while taking the bag clothes off him.

"Yeah, I got this. You too Usopp. Here. There's also someone approaching a ship. It might be one of Buggy's guys or a Marine, so you guys better hurry up." Zoro reassured Usopp, gave him the crate filled with money and dials, and warned them of a stranger approaching their ship.

"I am going to be THE PIRATE KING!" they all heard Luffy's declaration before going. Dark clouds started to cover the island.

Zoro then sent his Conqueror's haki specifically towards the Buggy-Alvida alliance which caused all of the riffraff to drop. Everyone then noticed his presence, specially Buggy who looked very angry at him.

"You've come Zoro, but you're too LATE!" Buggy said while swinging his sword down Luffy's neck.

"Sorry guys. I'm dead." Luffy simply said, smiling with too much cheer for someone under the guillotine.

Zoro was about to stop Buggy but then felt the breathe of lightning. And he felt correctly as lightning striked, bringing down Buggy and the scaffold, but leaving Luffy mostly unharmed.

"Shishishi! I'm alive." Luffy cheerfully proclaimed. His clothes are slightly singed but not on fire.

That's when Smoker and the Marines decided to show up. He easily caught all of the allied pirates, then the Marines tied them all up, with Alvida and Buggy caught in a Seastone net. They also tried to shoot a Seastone net towards Luffy, but before they could do so, Zoro grabbed the gun off them tossing it into the bag on his back with Usopp's shield and helmet. Luffy and Zoro non-fatally neutralize the Marines till Smoker.

Smoker turns to smoke and envelops Luffy, with Luffy being incapable of touching Smoker. Zoro didn't help Luffy because he's encountered a different type of problem.

"Roronoa Zoro! You didn't tell me you were a pirate! I bet you were laughing at me when behind my back...I can't stand you making fun of me! I'm going to take Wado Ichimonji away from you!" Tashigi shouted towards Zoro. But immediately after a single exchange, Zoro clearly outclassed her in every parameter, and immediately disarmed her. But Zoro didn't do anything afterwards and just let her go.

"Why didn't you kill me? Is it because I'm a girl?" she asked Zoro, looking like she's just a nudge away from crying. "Women may not be as strong as men, but how dare you go easy on me! My sword isn't just for show!"

"I went easy on you because you're weak." Zoro's simple statement hurt Tashigi's pride. "I didn't kill you because I have no reason to do so." His second statement simply confused her, her image of pirates not connecting with what Zoro just said. "It's got nothing to do with your sex! Fuck! Both of you are so fucking similar! Specially now! It's so uncanny!"

"Who are you talking about?!"

"You look exactly like my friend who died years ago! You even say the same things! Stop being like her!"

"What?! How dare you! I'm not copying anybody! I don't know your friend, but I'm the victim here! She's probably copying me!"

"You?! Ahh!" Zoro simply couldn't take it. He felt Dragon's presence and watched him save Luffy. So to get out of their akward argument, Zoro grabbed Shigure and chucked it on a roof of a building. Just like last time, he grabbed Luffy and they ran towards the west dock where the ship was docked, only to see it being carried away by the waves.

"Hurry up you guys!" the boys heard Nami's shout in the distance.

Luffy decided to try to slingshot his way towards the ship. "Hop on Zoro!" he called out to Zoro who also moved back with Luffy, but for a different idea.

Zoro moved back to gain speed as he accelerated to his top speed and jumped towards the water. He then started sprinting on the sea till he got close to the ship, and then jumped on Merry. They were stunned by Zoro literally running on stormy seas to reach them. Zoro, just after landing, then moved sideways, and Usopp did the same immediately after, before Luffy flew towards where they were before and into Sanji, and the railing.

"Shishishi! We made it just in time." Luffy said as a pissed off Sanji started stomping on him to no effect. "You inconsiderate dumbass!"

"Usopp, come with me. I'm going to show you something." Zoro said as he called Usopp and went down and went to the store room. He opened the bag on his back to show its contents. In it was a helmet, a shield, and a rifle. Usopp gulped on that last one.

"In the future, you...hit your head, quite a a lot. Here's something that will protect you when you do. Also, I knew you bought goggles and thought that you could put it on there." he told Usopp as he handed him the helmet.

"Here's a proper shield. No offense to the shield you made, but it's obviously a rush job. This one isn't exactly a top notch forged steel either, but it's pretty close and it's made of those me-memory"

"These are made of memory metals! Whoa that's so cool! What's the memory transfer temperature?" Usopp immediately cut him off to geek out about his gift.

"The what?"

"The temperature you need to heat it up so that it returns to the original shape."

"Oh...shit, I didn't ask, and they didn't tell me either. Though, I think the owner himself probably either forgot to tell me, or didn't know it was a thing at all. He was about to give me millions of Berries worth of free swords, and I suspect even the helmet and shield was discounted."

"It's ok, I'll feel the range of it out later."

"Ok, and I forgot to mention that the helmet is also made of memory metals. Also, where did you guys put the crate earlier?"

"Just behind that pile over there. Nami really wanted it buried." Usopp said as he guided Zoro where it was and they both pulled it out. It was still locked, but Zoro couldn't be bothered to ask Nami so he simply broke it off.

"Nami will probably not like that." Usopp

"It's fine, if people actually knew what's in here, that small lock and this wooden crate wouldn't stop them. It's mainly there to stop people from casually peeking at what's inside...Anyways, these were the dials I was talking about, you should be able to use these to upgrade you guys' equipment." Zoro gave Usopp his post hoc rationalization for breaking the lock and showed off the dials. "Remember, don't click any of them in the ship or you might start a fire, or worse."

Usopp froze at that, and very gently put back the dial he was holding back into the crate. "Tell me those types of things before you show them! Oh yeah, Nami also took hers and Luffy's share from the pile, while she already unwillingly gave me mine, so take the rest of your money before Nami loses control." he advised Zoro.

"I will...And finally, the rifle, or more importantly, the bullets. I took these from the Marines. Inside's a bullet that shoots out a net made of Seastone. Seastone is a substance that supposedly has the 'energy of the sea', or something like that, that nullifies a Devil Fruit's power upon contact." Zoro explained why he brought a rifle, while gathering the rest of his money.

"Usopp! Zoro! Come out! We're celebrating entering the Grand Line!" Luffy shouted for them, so Zoro and Usopp complied and went back on the deck. They arrived on deck to see a barrel of alcohol being carried by Sanji. He placed it in the center of the front deck. "Okay, Let's officially launch this ship unto the great ocean."

They then started stating their dreams.

"To find the All Blue."

"To become the Pirate King!"

"To become the strongest swordsman ever."

"To draw a map of the entire world."

"T...t-to become a Brave Warrior of the Seas!"

"Grand Line, here we come!"