Chapter 40: Loguetown

"Thanks for the paper!"

"Squawk!"

The News Coo flew away as Sen got to checking out the newspaper he had just purchased, chucklingly at the article covering the front page, one about the disbandment of the East Traders.

Thanks to a journalist that Draconis had ties with, the news coverage about it only covered the dissolution of the trading company with the only reasoning given being an internal conflict between captains.

'To have it on the front page… that journalist sure work fast…'

It had been several days since they left Temasek behind and came to the Twilight Isles; specifically Flut Village of Irenia.

Ever since Rein helped in stopping the coup two years ago, Silvia had maintained connections with the small noble household that was responsible for the upkeep of the territory of the small rural island.

It was thanks to them that they were able to sign a lease and purchase the land and building for the headquarters of their new company at a relatively low price; though it was with the condition of signing a contract for them to have priority in shipping.

Sen glanced at said building that was currently getting renovated; though rebuilding would be the more accurate term considering that the building had all but fallen apart from years of disrepair.

That had forced Bronz and Silvia to spend most of their start-up money on building materials and a construction crew to patch it up and use tents as temporary storage for all the paperwork and contracts as well as a temporary base of operations.

Thankfully, the docks next to it were included with the building where the Silver Fang and Beneavor were currently anchored.

It was also where the female captain and newly promoted director of the newly established Fangs Trading Company had been holed up dealing with all the paperwork and establishing their new trading routes and contracts.

He then glanced over to the rural village that was now their new homes, where he spotted Dva getting chased by Steve down the streets while the locals laughing at the sight.

The villagers had been rather welcoming to their rather abrupt arrival with many sailors having integrated into their little community quite well, with Sam already becoming somewhat of a lady's man among the local girls.

Even Kris was getting along with them, though most of them still kept a distance from him on account of his race and all that; surprisingly, he was rather popular with the local kids:

'…I wonder if Rein reached the Grand Line by now…?'

His thoughts naturally went to his disciple that had departed on a journey of her own days ago, leaving the life of an employed guard for the adventures aboard a pirate ship.

It was akin to a parent worrying over a child that had recently left the coop to live on their own; even more so considering her destination was the infamous Pirate's Graveyard.

Despite the fact that she had in-depth knowledge of the Grand Line as well as possible future events, it didn't change the fact that she wasn't trained for that stretch of sea in mind.

If he had known this would be how their paths diverge, he would have at least trained her in Haki.

"Hm?"

As he was lost in thought, a couple pieces of paper floated onto the ground from between the newspaper's pages, the new bounties judging from the word 'WANTED' printed in large bold letters on it.

But the moment Sen noticed the people on the posters, he couldn't help bursting into a booming laughter that echoed across town and had everyone looking at him oddly.


The days swiftly passed us by as we made our way towards Loguetown, and they had been rather peaceful all things considered.

The waters had been calm with little clouds in the clear blue sky, allowing the newly dubbed Knight Merry a smooth sailing throughout; though the skies this day looked to be less clear than before, a sign that the weather would be making a turn soon enough.

I had found myself settling into a routine of sorts as I got more comfortable with the crew, interacting with the other Straw Hats and getting to know each of them on a personal level rather than as characters written by an author.

Nami was easily the first one I'd gotten close with, the navigator was just happy to have another female in the group to interact with; she often found time to talk with me throughout the day, most of which was about new possible outfits I should get when we reach Loguetown.

Surprisingly, me and Zoro ended up getting close quite quickly; our training times almost always intersected with each other, so we ended up sparring often, leading to a somewhat senior-junior dynamic between us with him giving me pointers on my techniques and footwork.

And unsurprisingly, Sanji had been rather quick to welcome me in open arms and treated me with the same courtesy as of any female he ever interacted with; though unlike with Nami, there was a sense of distance between us.

Considering that he was aware that I also know about his true origins, it was natural that he would be rather cautious about me.

Usopp was still a little freaked out by my detailed retelling of the Syrup Village arc and kept me at arm's length most of the time; but he didn't hold any hostility with me, so I didn't mind.

And Luffy? The rubber man was more than welcoming for me like the loveable goofball that he was, and constantly asking questions about my world like a curious child.

Most of them were nonsensical and random in nature, ranging from asking what kind of food were eaten, to what kind of creatures existed there; there was even the infamous question of 'Do they poop?' that got me and Sanji whacking him in the head for asking such a thing.

All and all, I was able to integrate myself into the crew without too much trouble and found myself right at home on this ship.

"The price went up again!?"

"Squawk…"

With a grumble, Nami pulled out some coins from her purse and dropped it into the barrel hanging off the News Coo's neck, "You guys really need to stop raising the price all the time!"

"Squawk, squawk!"

With a satisfied cry, the seagull flew into the sky and into the horizon, leaving our navigator to grumble about inflation as she began flipping through the paper.

"It's just a newspaper." Usopp stated, "No need to get so riled up."

"Hey! Daily expenses quickly stack up, you know!" She told him, "If we don't want to end up paupers, we need to save as much as we can!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say; just don't disturb me right now. This part is very delicate–"

"Argh!"

"WAH! MY EYES!"

Rolling my eyes at Usopp's cries, I returned to the Dragon Sword Style manual Sen had given me and tried to make sense of its contents the best I could as I followed what was written within it.

With a chalk in hand, I drew out circles in the pattern written all over the deck till most of it was dotted in white circles; it reminded me of those special training scenes in many martial arts films.

Zoro looked over from above me with an eyebrow raised, "What are you doing?"

"Training exercise." I told him.

Alongside the ten stances, the book also included a form of footwork intrinsic to the style and the training exercise used to learn and practice it.

However, the description itself was rather difficult to decipher in part of its poetic style of writing which I couldn't make heads or tails of; thankfully, there were notes by Sen that helped make sense of the flowery words.

The deck didn't meet the exact requirements written, but Sen's notes within it stated that should suffice for when doing the exercise on the ship.

I read through the description once more before putting the manual and chalk aside and began the training exercise; with Ryuga in hand, I stepped on the circles one after another in a certain order while making sure to keep my feet within the circles.

After a single lap, I was greeted with every circle being smudged in various directions; the complete opposite of what I was trying to do.

Zoro let out a chuckle as he looked down from above me, "That has to be the weirdest dance I've ever seen."

"It's not a dance; it is a form of footwork for my sword style." I huffed, "And it is only my first time, so of course it is going to look weird."

"Whatever you say. Have you gotten used to that sword yet?"

"More or less."

I lifted up my new sword as I swung it about a few times, getting used to the difference in weight distribution compared to Nanashi's.

When I first unsheathed it from its scabbard, Ryuga made itself to be quite different from any katana swords that I was familiar with.

Unlike a regular katana blade that had a single cutting edge, its blade possessed a second edge halfway up its spine that had its tip resembling a jian sword. As a result, it was slightly lighter than Nanashi and its weight distribution was completely different from it.

It threw me off balance at first, but I quickly got used to the difference in weight after sparring with Zoro for the last couple of days.

"Your master sure is something to give you such a weird sword." Zoro commented.

"Any sword is good, to be honest." I noted, "Though I agree this sword is weird."

""AAAAHHHH!""

The loud cacophony of cries rang out from the rear deck which had me and Zoro running back to check what was going on.

What we found wasn't anything of danger, just a surreal scene of Luffy ecstatically laughing as he held up a wanted poster in his hand with Usopp sulking in a corner alongside Sanji, all the while Nami had her face in her palm letting out a loud dejected groan.

"Uh… what's going on here?"

"Zoro, Zoro! Check it out!" Our captain showed us the wanted poster in his hand with a wide grin, "We're wanted men now!"

"Huh? Whoa, 30 million!?" Zoro cried out as he read the poster, "I've never seen a bounty that high before!"

Considering the fact that Luffy still struck Nezumi, it was only natural that he would still get the bounty for it. Though it was a different photo then the one in canon.

For starters, the background was that of the cliffs of Temasek instead of the ruins of the destroyed Arlong Park; and Luffy was giving a peace-sign instead of a simple wave.

"Woohoo! We are proper pirates now!" Luffy cheered happily.

"That is not something to be proud about!" Nami shouted at him, "With a bounty that high, strong bounty hunters from all over will be gunning for us! And that's not including the people Marine HQ will be sending after us!"

"Who cares? We aren't going to stay in the East Blue anyways!"

"That's not the point!"

"Nami, give it a rest." I told her, "As a pirate, he was going to get a bounty sooner or later."

"…was this the same in those books of yours?" She asked me.

"Yup, it's even the same amount; the photo was slightly different, but it was still the same."

"So… this is inevitable?"

"With everything he had done so far, it would be strange if he didn't get a bounty."

Nami let out a tired sigh, "Damn it… then we can't afford to stay in the East Blue any longer."

"So, why are you two sulking?" Zoro asked the two men kneeling in a corner grumbling away.

Usopp let out a low annoyed grumble, "After everything I have accomplished, how come I don't get one…? It's so unfair."

"You tell me." Sanji grunted, "How come only Luffy is the only one that gets one? I am way cooler-looking."

"Luffy is the one that punched a Marine Major in the face, remember?" I pointed out, "And you all know how vindictive that Nezumi is…"

"Damn it, I should have given that shitty bastard a kick as well…" Sanji grumbled.

"Oh, quit being so childish. It's not like you guys aren't getting bounties in the future."

"…we do?"

"E-Even me…?" Nami asked.

"Yup." I nodded, "Every single one of us."

"Yahoo!" Usopp cheered, "We're all going to get bounties!"

"Ah Rein! No spoilers!" Luffy cried out.

"Oh, come on. We all know that's going to happen eventually."

"Well, some might come sooner than you think."

I turned to Zoro who showed us another bounty poster in his hand that wasn't Luffy's, and my jaw dropped at what was printed on it as Luffy let out a cheer in response.

Written in bold big letters was my name with the amount of 15 million beri underneath it; along with a photo of my face in half-dragon form looking to the side with gritted teeth.

Not only that, written on it was also an epitaph of 'White Devil'.

"15 million. Not bad." Zoro noted, "That's quite high up there, Rein."

"Forget that! How come I've got a bounty!?" I cried out.

I thought the marines were attempting not to put out an arrest for me? When did that change!? And where did they get this photo!?

Not only that…

"Why am I 'White Devil'!?"

"That's the part you are more hung up about!?" Usopp cried out.

"Wait, didn't you fight off Nezumi back at Cocoyashi?" Nami noted, "I mean, if Luffy got one for punching him once…"

"I knew I should have kicked that bastard!" Sanji cried out in agony.

Well, Nezumi in canon did use his connections to put a bounty of Luffy in the first place; it wouldn't be farfetched for him to do the same for me.

"Looks like we really can't afford to loiter in the East Blue any longer…" Nami sighed.

"Alright then!" Luffy cheered, "Men, set course for the Grand Line! We are heading there now!"

"Hey wait, I see an island up ahead!" Zoro suddenly called out, "That's where Loguetown is, right?"

"Oh, perfect timing." Nami turned to our captain, "Luffy, we are making a stop at that island first!"

"Eh!? But I want to head to the Grand Line now!"

"Not without resupplying, we are not. Our food stores are getting dangerously low." She told him firmly, "Besides, didn't we all agree that we will be heading there first?"

"Huh? We did?"

"…Luffy, weren't you present when we talked about heading there first?" Zoro asked.

"I was?"

"…Seriously…" He groaned.

"I bet he wasn't even listening in the first place…" Usopp sighed.

"Heheh, I guess so… but then why are we stopping here?" He asked, "What's so special about that town anyways?"

"Loguetown is the birthplace of Gold Roger, and the place of his execution." Nami explained, "That's why it is also known as The Town of the Beginning and the End."

That immediately got Luffy's interest and had him looking at the island in the distance with a longing look, "The town the Pirate King died at…"

"So? Are you interested now?"

"Heck yeah! Let's dock there! Men! To Loguetown!"

With a cheer, Luffy issued the redundant order which we followed and directed the Knight Merry towards the island.


Loguetown was just as bustling as always, sailors and locals alike filled the streets with just as many stores selling their wares to anyone that passed them by.

The moment we docked, Luffy told us that he would be looking for the execution platform where Roger died and then proceeded to disappear into the crowd before any of us could say a word to him.

That prompted the rest of us to simply leave him to his own devices and split off from each other to check off our own respective shopping lists.

Zoro borrowed some money from me and headed for the sword shop to buy his replacement swords, Sanji went off to the market to buy supplies for the long voyage ahead, and Usopp decided to take a gander at the various stalls available.

As for me and Nami…

"Oh, Rein, try this one now!"

"Another one…!? Isn't it enough already?"

"Come on! This will look perfect on you!"

"You said the same thing for the last one…!"

I let out a grumble in a retort before being pushed back into the changing booth with yet another attire being forced into my hands by my way too excited shopping companion.

With great persuasion from her, I ended up getting forced to join Nami in her clothes shopping excursion, which soon turned into forcing me to be her dress-up doll.

And for some reason, they all had skirts that exposed my legs more than I felt comfortable.

"Hurry it up in there! I want to see!"

"Alright, alright; just hang on. I'm almost done…"

I zipped up the mini-skirt and opened up the curtain for Nami to see. She soon had the biggest grin as she let out a small squeal to my increasing embarrassment while I tried to pull down on the offending clothing.

It took every restraint I have in my body to not squirm from how breezy it was between my legs; especially since it only went halfway down my thighs and a little movement would have exposed my underwear to the world.

How could Nami and Dva handle wearing such exposing clothing all the time was beyond me.

"Oh, you look sooo good in that! You need to get that!"

"I refuse to wear this!"

"Eh!? But it shows off your legs so well…!"

"My usual pants show them off well enough!"

Changing back to my usual attire, I exited the changing booth and handed the miniskirt back to her which she threw onto a pile of similar clothing that we had accumulated over the past couple of hours or so.

It was quite the sight to see all those clothes piled up like that; and only a third of it was mine.

With a great heave, Nami lifted it all up and placed it on the counter, where the plump old lady manning the counter raised her eyebrow at us as she looked at the amount of clothes we were purchasing.

"We'll be getting all of these."

"All of this? Do you have the money for it?"

"Wha—Of course I do! How rude!"

"Oh relax, little missy. I'm just pulling your leg a little." The old lady chuckled as she started packing it all up, "I say, you sure are buying a lot. You girls heading off on a trip?"

"You could say that." I noted.

"Well, you better take care of yourselves out there; with all those nasty pirates roaming the seas, acting like they own the place."

"Yeah… pirates…"

A couple of those nasty pirates were currently in front of you and buying from your store right now; one of them even had a bounty of millions on her head!

After paying for it all, we left the shop with a large sack of clothes in my arms; but we barely took several steps forward before Nami stopped in her tracks and looked up at the sky.

After checking a device, she turned back into the shop and asked the old lady, "Excuse me, ma'am; do you have any big vinyl bags?"

"Vinyl bags? What for? It's not even raining."

"It's better to be safe."

"If you say so."

I took the opportunity to take a sniff of the air and smelt the familiar scent of an approaching storm; guess this part of the arc remained the same as in canon.

Minutes later, the sack was replaced with a large vinyl bag that I was now heaving on my back as we made our way down to the road.

Nami then turned to me, "Rein, we might need to head back to the Merry soon. There might a huge storm coming."

"Yeah, I can smell in the air." I agreed, "But we need to buy one last thing."

Following my lead, we entered in another store that was close by, one that I know was selling the very thing we needed for our voyage into the Grand Line.

My eyes wandered to the many different Log Poses on display; all with designs ranging from the simplistic, to the intricate and ornate that was clearly more of a fashion statement.

"What kind of compasses are these?" Nami asked.

"Log Pose. They are essential for navigating the Grand Line." I explained, "Normal compasses doesn't work there, so we have to get this instead."

"Really? Why not?"

"Each island in that stretch of sea has their own magnetic field, which renders compasses unable to find a proper magnetic north. A Log Pose, on the other hand, works by locking onto the magnetic field of one island and points us at the direction at it."

"Whoa… it's a good thing we have you here with us."

"Glad to be of service. Now, help me pick out one."

It took us about a minute of perusal before we picked one out; a simple brown leather strap attached to a wooden frame with engravings surrounding the glass orb where the magnetic needle dangles on metal string.

Compared to the one in canon, the one we ended up picking ended up resembling the one we would be getting in the New World years later.

With our navigation needs settled, we left the store and began to quickly make our way back towards the ship; Nami's expression looking increasingly nervous when she checked the device once more.

"With how fast the air pressure is dropping… the edge of the storm will hit us within an hour or so."

"Then we better hurry back–Eh?"

"Oh." "Hey."

As we crossed into a junction, we met up with the rest of the crew, with the guys having finished with their shopping too; I was quite happy to see Yubashiri and Kitetsu hanging on Zoro's waist.

Though it was quite a comical sight to see Sanji and Usopp carrying around the large elephant tuna on their shoulders while having bags of other groceries hanging from their arms.

"Ah, excellent timing. We have to head back to the ship pronto." Nami told them, "Have any of you seen Luffy?"

"Nope." Zoro shook his head, "Didn't he say he wanted to check out the execution stand?"

"Isn't that at the town square?" Usopp pointed out, "Where is that?"

"Right over there, if I remember the map right." I noted.

And also where Buggy and Alvida reappeared for the first time out of many and attempted to execute Luffy on it; and failed to do so.

"Say, what's with all those people?" Sanji asked, "Is there some kind of event or something?"

Like the cook said, the town square was currently filled with countless number of people, all of them seemed to be looking at one location in particular.

Wait, this scene looked familiar… right, wasn't this when…?

"Wait… is that… L-LUFFY!?"

"What!? Where!?"

"O-On the execution platform!"

"Seriously!? Why is he up there!?"

We all followed Usopp's gaze and shared a look of disbelief at the sight of our captain with his head on the literal chopping block, with Buggy happily playing the part of his executioner.

All except for me, as it was a scene I had saw coming a mile away; I could even barely make out the green hair of the future fanboy Bartolomeo from within the onlookers.

Nami must have noticed my calm expression, as she slightly calmed down from the shock of seeing our captain in possible mortal danger.

"Rein! Is this supposed to happen?"

"Yup. Word by word."

"T-Then, he'll come out of this alive?" Usopp asked, "He's not going to d-die here?"

"Nope. He'll live. Although…"

"…Buggy isn't the real threat here." Zoro pointed out, "There's someone more dangerous."

I nodded, "Yup, that would be Smoker, the Marine Captain in charge of the Marine Base on this island. He's a Logia user that controls smoke."

I had seen the man from the distance whenever the Silver Fang came to Loguetown for business, and he was as intimidating as Oda drew him.

"L-Logia!? As in those crazy strong types!?" Usopp cried out, "There's one here!?"

"Yeah, and we have no actual way to deal with him right now."

Without any Haki training, and a lack of any Sea Prism weaponry, we stood no chance in escaping him if he went all out on us; he would have all of us in cuffs if we let him.

"GYAHAHAHA! For the crime of angering me, the great Buggy; I sentence you, Monkey D Luffy, to a flashy execution!" Buggy loudly proclaimed to all in attendance, "Let's cause a flashy ruckus, boys!"

"YAHOO!" "Just stand there and watch!"

"Kyah!" "Get back!"

The clown pirate crew fired their firearms as they shouted and raise a huge ruckus upon the people around them; Smoker was no doubt nearby observing the situation, ready to send in his soldiers at a moment's notice.

I handed the vinyl bag to Nami. "Nami, leave Luffy to me and Zoro; you, Sanji and Usopp head back to the ship and kept it from getting swept away in the storm."

"Wait, what about that Smoker guy?" She asked, "Did you just say that we have no way to deal with him?"

"I did; but I have an idea on how to slow him down. Now go!"

"R-Right! See you back on the Merry!"

They quickly took off as me and Zoro quickly unsheathed our weapons and rushed towards the crowd, ready to clear a path for Luffy for when he eventually gets free from Buggy's restrains.

While I was confident that my new captain would not die to the clown as dictated by the plot, there was still the problem that was Smoker's actions.

The man was a careful hunter, and could have his men on standby nearby ready to surround the town square within seconds of the order being given.

If that happened, we would have lost all chance of escaping Loguetown at all.

"I AM THE MAN WHO WOULD BECOME KING OF THE PIRATES!"

As Luffy's loud claim to the seas' throne echoed across the square and into the ears of all that was present, we ran into them as they quickly parted for us all the while screaming in fright.

And as the sky darkened and rain began to pour down upon us, we both rushed down at the pirates and readied our swords.

"Hold it!"

"This execution is cancelled!"

With a loud cry, we clashed against the pirates Alvida had commanded to intercept us; grins on their faces as they rushed towards us with weapons drawn.

And like the fodder they were, we quickly cut them down in no time at all with few quick swings from our swords.

Unfortunately, the number of men rushing at us was more than enough to keep us from reaching the platform.

"G-Gyahahaha! Just watch carefully from down there, Roronoa Zoro!" Buggy called out with a wide grin, "This is the end of your little captain!"

"Like hell it is!"

Like a tornado of sharp steel, the former bounty hunter tore through the pirates as he quickly made his way towards the platform. I quickly followed after him, Ryuga's blade cutting down pirate after pirate with each swing.

"…Zoro! Rein! Sanji! Nami! Usopp!"

Then, I looked up and I saw Luffy with a big grin on his face as Buggy swung his cutlass down on his neck.

"Sorry, looks like I'm dead."

Then, as his supposedly last words left his mouth, sparks encased the clown pirate's cutlass, and the sky tore open; and lightning descended from above and struck down upon Buggy just like it was written.

Thunder came booming soon after as the execution platform burst into the flames and collapsed upon itself before the rain quickly put it out in seconds, as a straw hat falling gracefully as a leaf onto the ground.

Then, stepping out of the blackened timber looking perfectly fine, Luffy picked up his signature hat and placed it upon his head as he let out a laugh all the while his executioner laid on the ground covered in soot.

"Hahaha! Looks like I'd live! How lucky!"

"…huh, looks like you are right, Rein…" Zoro noted as he sheathed his swords, "Luffy did come out of this alive."

"Told you." I stated as I sheathed Ryuga as well, "Now let's get out of here. The Marines will be on our ass any second now."

"Surround the square! Capture the pirates!"

As if on cue, the Marine soldiers came rushing out from the nearby buildings, sabers drawn and platoons in formation ready to block whatever exit they could.

"They're here! Run for it!"

"Quick! Back to the ship!"

"Ushishishi! Run! Run!"

At Luffy's command, we took off running down the streets and broke through the soldiers before they could completely surround and arrest every pirate involved.

Thanks to the heavy downpour, none of them were wielding muskets so we don't have to worry about getting shot at. That didn't stop them from chasing after us with sabers in hand.

"Rein, can't you just fly us to the Knight Merry?" Zoro asked.

"In this crazy weather? I'm more likely to get blown away the moment I took to the air!"

The last time I attempted flying in a storm had me tumbling all over at the mercy of the strong winds before crashing into the ocean; that was the first time I thought I was dead for sure if Kris hadn't rescued me.

"Halt!"

"Get back here!"

Zoro looked back at the chasing soldiers with a grimace, "Damn, these guys really do not let up…"

"Should we just fight them off?" Luffy asked.

"Don't. It would just be a waste of time." I told him, "Just focus on reaching the Merry—"

"Roronoa Zoro!"

"Ah! Sergeant Major Tashigi!"

Somehow overtaking us and now standing in our path the figure of one Marine Sergeant Tashigi, her blue jacket bellowing in the wind as she glared from behind her dark blue rain-soaked bangs.

It was honestly surprising how she managed to cut us off so quickly, but I guess it was only natural for someone who patrols these roads on the regular to be in the know of the lay of the land better than any of us.

"To think that you were that infamous Pirate Hunter…!" She growled out, "Had you been toying with me this whole time!?"

"So she's a Marine Officer…" Zoro muttered to himself.

"I shall take back Wado Ichimonji and Yubashiri!"

"Heh, just try it!"

Drawing their swords, Zoro clashed swords with Tashigi; the female officer openly struggling to push back the former bounty hunter who kept her at bay with relative ease. It was painfully clear how big the gap between the two really was.

"You guys go on ahead." Zoro told us, "Leave her to me."

"Oh, okay." Luffy nodded.

"Take her down quickly and catch up!" I told him.

"Wha–After them!"

""Y-Yes, ma'am!""

Leaving the two to fight it out, me and my captain continued to rush down the streets towards the northern port; with half of the soldiers soon chasing after us at their officer's command.

The storm was getting stronger by the second as lightning and thunder rumbled from within the dark clouds above, intervals between them getting shorter each time.

My jacket was thankfully water resistant, but the rest of my clothes were completely soaked all the way through from all the rain and were sticking rather onto my body quite awkwardly.

Urgh, I knew I should have worn the one with a hood… No, the wind would have just blown it off the moment I pulled it over my head.

"Hey! Someone's up ahead!"

"Huh? Wait, that's…!"

Looking through the heavy rain, I saw the imposing figure that Luffy had pointed out in front of us; a tall built man with short grey hair and a long jitte weapon on his back glaring straight at us.

Marine Captain Smoker stood before us, and he was as intimidating as I remembered; even the comical sight of two barely lit cigars sticking out from between his teeth didn't change that about him.

"So you've come, Straw Hat Luffy." The captain noted.

"Who are you!?" Luffy asked.

"Smoker, the Marine Captain in charge of these waters." I told my captain, "Be careful, Luffy; this guy's a Logia Devil Fruit user."

"Oh? Looks like you are quite well-informed, White Devil Rein." Smoker noted, "But that's not going to change your fate in any way! White Snake!"

"That's what you think! Breath Cannon!"

His arms formed into white plumps and shot towards us as I immediately shifted to my half-dragon form and took a deep breath; once I had enough air in my lungs, I unleashed it all at the smoke coming right for us.

And as I had hoped, the blast of air was enough to blow away the smoke before it could come close to us.

It was a trick that I'd developed while trying to recreate the fire breath from the day I first came to this world; Sen was the one that helped named it for me.

"Clever. But that's not good enough to stop me!"

"It is enough to trouble you! Breath Cannon!"

I quickly fired another blast of air right at him, striking into his body that turned to smoke on impact, momentary stunning him from doing anything as he tried to pull himself together.

I then quickly turned to Luffy, "Quick! We need to–Mmh!?"

"Rein!"

"You really think that trick would work twice?"

His smoke suddenly surrounded my face and forced my mouth shut, sealing the only way I had to counter him as he suddenly formed right behind me.

He then threw out his other hand and extended out in large plumes of smoke that snaked around Luffy, grabbing and lifting him into the air.

"W-What is this!?" Luffy cried out as he tried to grab onto the smoke to no avail.

"Surrender." The chain-smoking captain told us, "None of you will be setting sail on this day."

"Why you…! Gum-Gum Pistol!"

Luffy threw a stretching punch right at Smoker in the face, the rubber fist which simply passed through a cloud of smoke as his face remained unharmed.

With an almost bored look, the captain pulled my captain close before slamming him headfirst down onto the ground; Luffy bouncing up upon impacting the ground before Smoker slammed his feet onto the back of his head.

"…Are you really worth 30 million?" He wondered out loud as he pulled out his large jitte from his back, "No matter. Either way, your luck ends here."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Y-You're…!"

As if appearing from the shadows, the cloaked figure that was Monkey D Dragon made himself known by grabbing onto the Sea-Prism tipped weapon before the captain could even swing it.

Even though it was under a hood, I could scarcely make out his tattooed face that just screamed dangerous; as expected of the world's most wanted man.

Are you sure about showing your mug like this…?" Smoker asked behind gritted teeth, "The entire government is after your head, you know."

"…The world still awaits our answer." Dragon noted cryptically.

Then, as if the revolutionary had commanded it, a particularly strong gust of wind blew right at us and blowing away the smoke that constrained me and Luffy while sending us tumbling across the ground.

At the same time, Zoro came barrelling towards us and dragged me and Luffy up onto our feet.

"Come on! We have to move!" He told us, "A huge ass storm is coming!"

"G-Got it! Let's go!" I nodded.

Folding back my wings, I took off running after the swordsman with our captain quickly catching up to us in no time flat; running past the Marine soldiers that had caught up in the gust and were in the amidst of getting back on their feet.

I looked back to see Dragon standing with his back towards Smoker staring right at us; a small almost proud grin was visible from under his hood.

This… this was my one chance to make a change in the timeline, the one change I had hoped on making once I had the chance to do so.

"Dragon!" I called out to him, "Tell that right-hand man of yours to head to Alabasta!"

"Huh? What are you…?"

The rest of his words were drowned out by the storm as I refocused my attention to getting to the Knight Merry as fast as possible.

Whatever happens next, it would no doubt change the plotline irreparably, and it might have the domino effect of making the Alabasta arc even harder to navigate through.

But if it meant that the brothers could have the reunion they deserved, then it would all be worth it in the end.


The moment we made it to the port, we quickly boarded the Knight Merry and set sail into the storm; the strong gusts and rough waves making the task extremely difficult.

"Yahoo! The ship feels like it could flip right over!"

"Don't even joke about that! You'll jinx us!"

Luffy let out a chuckle at Usopp's terrified words as he sat on the ship's bow without a care in the world while the rest of us looked out over the horizon alongside him.

More specifically, towards the lighthouse shining far out in the distance.

"You see that light over there?" Nami pointed out, "It's known as the 'Light of Guidance'. The entrance into the Grand Line is just ahead of that light."

"I-Isn't heading into the G-Grand Line in a storm like this kind of b-bad…!?" Usopp asked.

"Does it matter? We're going to enter the 'Pirate's Graveyard'." Zoro pointed out, "In fact, entering in a storm fit the mood perfectly."

"I-I guess so, b-but…!"

"In that case, why don't we have a cast-off ceremony to celebrate?" Sanji asked as he pulled over a barrel, "I've heard sailors do it for good luck; and we do need some where we're going."

"Ooh! Great idea! Let's do it!" Luffy cried out.

We soon all gathered around the barrel, and that famous scene that I had known by heart began to play out in front of me.

As the one that proposed the idea, Sanji started us off by putting his foot on it first. "To find the All-Blue."

Followed by Luffy, "To become the King of the Pirates!"

Then Zoro, "To be the world's greatest swordsman."

Nami was next, "To draw the map of the world."

After some hesitation, Usopp joined in, "To…To become a brave warrior of the seas…!"

Then, it was my turn.

I looked at the barrel with the feet of all my crewmates, nervous yet excited grins on their faces as they looked at me with anticipation.

Never in my life that would I have imagine being part of something so grand, yet here I was, ready to head to the dangerous Grand Line for the sake of my dream.

And so, with the same nervous grin as they all, I put my foot down on the barrel and proclaimed for all to hear.

"To unravel the secrets of the world!"

Then, we all raised our feet up and slammed down onto it together, the loud thud signaling the end of one adventure and the beginning of a new one.

""TO THE GRAND LINE!""

""OOHH!""


To be continued…


Here we are! After 6 years and 40 chapters, we have finally cleared the East Blue saga and now entered into Paradise!

It sure took quite some time, huh? But the journey to here is definitely worth taking this long.

So yes, Loguetown still happened as per canon with hardly any changes, but I felt that changing anything would not do this arc any justice, so I've kept most of it as it is.

But that part at the end? Boy, are we going to see ripples in the future!

What is going to happen, you just have to read on to find out!

With that, I thank you all for reading this!