Luffy was well aware that he could ask Ace to take care of Crocodile for him. It was also something that he never even considered doing. Not once in his life had he ever asked anyone to solve his problems for him and he wasn't going to start now.
Trusting your friends to do their part was one thing, but running to your big brother was quite another. A man had to stand on his own feet and face his own challenges. Such was the will of the Conqueror.
Crocodile was admittedly a problem, however. Luffy wasn't so dumb as to not notice that things were getting worse instead of better, so he was clearly doing something wrong. Alas, he didn't really understand how the sand croc thought, so the reasons for this eluded him.
Deciding to ask his crew for their opinion later, Luffy focused on something less frustrating. Namely, his bounty.
Much like the man whose title he sought to claim, Luffy loved big, flashy things. He had been enormously pleased at the high bounty he had been assigned in the last loop.
Now the question was how to make it even bigger?
XXXXX
The Marine base at Shells town had been completely overwhelmed by one man. Axe-Hand Morgan was beyond furious.
"You dare come here and defy me?" He growled rhetorically. "I have the highest rank on this island. That means I am the greatest."
"Your rank is a lie." Luffy retorted blandly. "You got promoted for capturing Kuro of the Thousand Plans, but it was a fake. The real one is still out there."
He had learned this during one of the past loops.
"LIAR!" Morgan couldn't tolerate such a notions. "Men, kill him!"
His subordinates fired their guns at Luffy, but that was exactly what he wanted.
"Tekkai!"
The bullets didn't quite ping like they'd hit an iron wall, but they also didn't bounce as if they'd hit rubber either. It was probably as good as he would be able to get with it unless he trained up his muscles to tense harder.
"I know all your Marine secrets!" Luffy laughed. "You can't hurt me!"
He very deliberately ignored the outraged Marine captain and pointed at his son. "You, Buttchin. Go get Zoro's swords. You were planning to break your promise, so you have to give them back."
More terrified of this pirate than he had ever been of his father, Helmeppo ran away to do as he was told.
"DIE!" Morgan roared, swinging his axe-hand.
"Shigan!" Luffy poked him in the chest. His finger didn't penetrate, but it broke a couple of ribs. Again, probably as good as he could get with that until he trained up his finger.
A few minutes later, a newly freed Zoro was belting on his swords and scowling at the rubber man.
"Alright, you got me out of there, but I have no interest in being a pirate and pillaging islands." The swordsman growled. He took debts very seriously, but would not compromise his honor to repay one.
"Me neither." Luffy nodded. "Join my crew and you'll meet Hawk-eyes Mihawk one week from now."
Zoro stilled. "How can you make that promise?"
"I just can."
Staring into this strange, straw hat-wearing man's eyes, Zoro felt a chill go down his spine. There was a powerful spirit behind those eyes, stronger than anyone he'd ever met. For some reason, he believed him.
"Alright… Captain."
XXXXX
Luffy let his crew fight where he could because he knew they needed it, but he also showed off for every Marine they encountered.
He very briefly considered picking a fight against Mihawk for training. The swordsman was undoubtedly strong, but that was the problem – he was too strong. He would swat Luffy like a fly at this point. It was the same reason why he hadn't tried baiting Kizaru to fight him yet.
So he went back to his previous plan of getting his bounty up, which was where he was now, after casually beating Arlong into the ground again.
"Call Marine headquarters and give me your Den Den Mushi." He demanded of Captain Nezumi.
He had to make sure they gave him his proper bounty after all.
"Luffy, what are you doing?!" Nami yelled.
"I just need to talk to some people." Luffy replied, answering nothing.
"Marine HQ. What is it, Captain Nezumi?" The snail asked.
"This is Monkey D. Luffy, future Pirate King." Luffy said. "Captain Nezumi was taking money from the Arlong pirates to leave them alone, so I beat him up. Put my gramps on the line."
"… you are the grandson of Monkey D. Garp?" The marine on the other end concluded incredulously after a good ten seconds of silence.
"Yeah, put him on."
"One moment."
Luffy hummed as he waited, ignorign his crew's flabbergasted expressions.
"LUFFY!" The snail suddenly roared. "WHAT'S THIS I HEAR ABOUT YOU BECOMING A PIRATE? I TOLD YOU THAT YOU WERE GOING TO BE A MARINE!"
"Never!" Luffy yelled back. Even these time loops couldn't convince him to try it, partially because they'd probably make him scrub floors until it reset anyway, but mostly because the thought of being a Marine made his skin crawl. "Listen up, Gramps! I'm going to be the Pirate King and I already know that Rokushiki thing that CP9 does. I want a hundred million beli bounty."
"YOU CHEEKY LITTLE SHIT!" The snail bellowed even louder. "YOU CALL ME UP AFTER BECOMING A PIRATE AND DEMAND A RIDICULOUS BOUNTY ON YOUR HEAD?! And how do you even know about CP9?!"
"I stole a bunch of Marine secrets." Luffy claimed, remembering that to be the cause of his high bounty in the previous run.
"From who?!"
"From the Marines. Aren't you listening?" He complained.
"Which. Marines. Luffy?" Garp audibly ground his teeth together.
"Uh…" Luffy hadn't anticipated this question! "Spam-something? Some stupid guy in a leather mask that likes to talk a lot."
"… what the hell was that idiot doing in the East Blue?" Garp's muttering came through.
"Anyway, can I have my bounty?"
"Damn right you're getting a bounty!"
"Awesome. Thanks, Gramps!"
"Don't mention it, brat!" Garp said goodbye angrily and slammed down the transmitter.
Very pleased with himself, Luffy turned towards his crew and saw their expressions.
"What?"
XXXXX
On Enies Lobby a Den Den Mushi rang, and it was soon picked up by the man in whose office it rang in.
"Spandam speaking." The leather-masked man asked politely.
"Spandam." The unamused voice of Fleet Admiral Sengoku rumbled. "Would you care to explain why a rookie pirate from the East Blue knows the Rokushiki and claims to have stolen the techniques from you?"
Spandam's jaw dropped in utter bafflement. "B-b-but I've never been to the East Blue!"
"So my reports say." Sengoku said neutrally. "But then why would this rookie even know about you?"
It was an impossible question to answer. "I don't know, Fleet Admiral, but I swear I will find out! What is this pirate's name?"
"You'll soon be receiving his bounty poster and all the information we have on him. I want him captured and interrogated yesterday, Spandam!" Sengoku thundered, slamming the transmitter down.
Shaking and sweating, Spandam rapidly thought over what forces he had available. They were few, quite honestly. He was only in charge of the CP9 members that used Enies Lobby as a base, which currently amounted to a grand total of three operatives. Rob Lucci, Kaku, Kalifa and Blueno were on an important mission and couldn't be spared, leaving him with Jabra, Kumadori and Fukurou.
Jabra was the strongest and Spandam wouldn't feel safe without him nearby, leaving Kumadori and Fukurou. Both were weirdoes, but one was significantly more reliable than the other.
XXXXX
Smoker and Loguetown couldn't muster any more resistance than they already had, and so were easily defeated. Luffy once again stole the jitte, still thinking it his best chance against Crocodile at this point.
It was only as they arrived at Whiskey Peak did things start going… different.
Most notably, they were not welcomed by a throng of fakely enthusiastic bounty hunters. Instead, the town held both the peculiar silence of a graveyard and the noise of a theater.
"Like leaves scattered by the autumn winds, you have fallen to the ground." The weird, face-painted, pink-haired, kabuki actor-looking guy with a great mass of pink hair pontificated. He was wearing a black suit that absolutely did not fit with the rest of his aesthetic and dramatically spun a monk's shakujo in his hands. Every word he said was dragged out and every syllable emphasized.
"When you reach the other side, seek out my mother in Heaven and tell her… tell her that I am well. And killing." He continued.
"Igaram!" Vivi exclaimed in horror, seeing the fallen body of her friend.
"Who the hell is this weirdo?!" Nami and Usopp wanted to know.
"Eh? What's CP9 doing here?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "Is the pigeon guy here, too?
He would actually love to fight him again.
"Monkey D. Luffy." The CP9 agent declared dramatically. Or normally, for him. "You have learned secrets and arts not meant for you. I am Kumadori and I have been sent down from the mountains to capture you and call you to account for your sins. YOI! YOI! YOIYOI!"
"Mountains?" Luffy was even more confused. "But there's no mountains on Enies Lobby."
"You even know from whence I hail?!" Kumadori gasped and made a warding gesture as if he had been struck by an evil spell. "By what dark pact and fell sorcery do you come by your knowledge?"
"I just know things."
XXXXX
Robin was very confused.
The arrival of the one whom she later learned was named Kumadori on Whiskey Peak was a surprise. She had been waiting here for Princess Vivi, to see what she would do and maybe give her a little bit of covert help. Robin did feel a little bad for her, even with how numb her emotions had become over the years.
She had known immediately that he was dangerous, but it took a while to identify him as a member of Cipher Pol. His bizarre appearance clashing with his crisp business suit had been the first clue… Cipher Pol liked its agents to dress sharply when they weren't going undercover, regardless of how it revealed their affiliations to those in the know. The confirmation had been his use of the Rokushiki.
She had stayed well out of the way as she watched him murder the people of Whiskey Peak. If there was a reason for it, then Robin had missed it.
Then the Straw Hat Pirate Crew arrived, with its superstar rookie captain. His record-breaking one hundred million beli bounty had raised quite a few eyebrows. The first pirate to become a Supernova on his debut.
Learning that he had apparently somehow gotten his hands on CP9 secrets and mastered the Rokushiki certainly explained why the Marines were so furious. And how did he know what Enies Lobby looked like? Or that CP9 was based there? Even she hadn't known that and she knew a lot more about the secretive organization than most.
Then they started fighting and Robin became even more confused… and impressed. Captain Luffy wasn't just keeping up with Kumadori. He was winning.
XXXXX
Luffy was having some fun for a change. Oh, he was certainly quite angry that Igaram had been killed, but he would be back in the next loop. In the meantime, he had a strong enemy to fight.
Although not as strong as he would have liked. Luffy may have lost a good chunk of his strength when he was sent back, but he was still stronger than this guy.
"The lotus blooms at the break of dawn." Kumadori declared nonsensically and dramatically, jumping into the air. "Rankyaku Renge!"
His legs blurred, sending out a flurry of air slashes. Individually weak, but so many that it could cut a man to ribbons.
Luffy deliberately weaved through the many attacks, doing his best to dodge it all. He took a few slashes, but nothing serious.
"That's pretty cool." He admitted. "I've been trying out something, too! Gomu Gomu no Rankyaku Muchi!"
Luffy threw out his leg, letting it stretch for quite a distance. Then he abruptly jerked it the other way, causing the rubbery appendage to crack like a whip. Combined with the Rankyaku technique, this created an immensely powerful flying air slash that screamed through the air towards Kumadori.
"YOIYOI!" The kabuki-themed CP9 agent yelped and quickly threw himself sideways. The attack just barely missed him, hacking off a good chunk of his hair before continuing to fly towards the town of Whiskey Peak, eventually slicing through several buildings.
"I see now that I cannot defeat you." Kumadori declared, falling to his knees. "To atone for this failure, I will commit seppuku."
"Oi, really?" Zoro deadpanned, watching the weirdo draw a wakizashi and aim it at his stomach.
"I pray that my comrades will wash away the stain of my failure." Kumadori said sorrowfully and stabbed himself with the blade. "Tekkai!" And it bounced off.
"DON'T PLAY AROUND WITH US LIKE THAT!" Usopp and Nami roared, outraged that they had felt even a moment of sympathy for the strange man.
"I cannot die!" Kumadori wailed in shame. "Is this… the will of my mother in Heaven? Could she be telling me not to give up, even when it seems hopeless?"
"No, you should definitely kill yourself for what you did to Igaram." Vivi said mercilessly.
"YOIYOI, if my enemies wish me dead, then I shall fight on!" Kumadori declared. "Behold! A millennium in the sea. A millennium in the mountains. Inhaling the wind, swallowing the mist, I lived as a hermit and completed my training, and lo! I mastered this Life Return technique. In nature, from the hair on one's head, from one's vital organs to the tips of one's toes, even to the end of one's "short hairs", there is not a single spot that cannot be controlled with one's consciousness! Seimei Kikan Kami Shibari!"
His pink hair suddenly exploded in volume and surged forth like a nest of snakes, seeking to bind the rubberman.
"Eh, it took you two thousand years to learn this technique?" Luffy was unimpressed. And gullible. He easily dodged away from the comparatively slow hair. "I can do it, too. Watch! Seimei Kikan!" At his will, his fingers started stretching and wiggling without external manipulation.
It was still a work in progress, but he'd at least managed to get it to work on something other than his stomach.
"That's creepy!" Usopp and Nami decried.
Sanji was wondering what else could be controlled by such a technique, a perverted expression growing on his face.
Kumadori gasped in shock.
XXXXX
Kumadori was defeated without any dramatic neck to neck battle. Luffy was simply stronger than him and the CP9 agent eventually couldn't keep up anymore.
Then He took a deep breath and yelled. "Robin! Come on out!"
Freezing in fear, the hidden archaeologist contemplated what to do. The Straw Hats were obviously not Cipher Pol agents. There was a limit to how convoluted even the World Government was willing to make its plots.
Deciding to play it safe, she used her powers to form a mouth and a pair of ears in a nearby hidden spot to speak.
"How did you know I was here?"
"Shishishi, you're always here, Robin." Luffy laughed. "Join my crew and I'll help you find the true history."
Reeling back in shock, her reply came back a lot sharper than before. "How do you know about that?!"
"I know, because we are the people Jaguar D. Saul told you about. You belong with us, Robin."
The shocks just kept on coming and it was destroying her composure. She hadn't heard the name of the gentle giant in decades. "Just tell me how you know so much."
"It's a long story. Come join us on our ship and I'll tell you everything. You'll be safe, I promise."
Something in his voice rang with such truth that even Robin had to struggle to be skeptical.
"… alright."
XXXXX
"I see, so that's how it is." Robin nodded contemplatively after the time loop explanation.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US ABOUT THIS SOONER?!" Nami,, Vivi, Sanji and Usopp yelled, far less even-tempered about the revelation.
"I did tell you, so many times." Luffy complained. "It gets boring explaining the same thing over and over."
"Oi, stop your bellyaching." Zoro spoke up when they continued berating him. "He told us now, didn't he?"
"Anyway, Robin, I need to ask you something." Luffy said, ignoring the brewing argument between his crew.
"I will do my best to answer." The archaeologist promised.
"I'm getting stronger, so why are things getting worse?!"
"… I am going to need a little more detail."
A shot explanation of what he'd been doing the past few loops and Robin had the answer.
"Fufufufu, I see where you've been going wrong, Captain-san." She chuckled. "Crocodile is an arrogant man, but he isn't stupid. Your unusually high starter bounty and the reports about your feats that he has no doubt received have made him wary. Rather than risk you disrupting his plans, he chose to kill you at a distance. If you want to lure him into battle, you should hide your strength instead of flaunting it. Also, it may be better if you do not immediately recruit me to your crew. I know quite a bit about Baroque Works and having me turn traitor against him would also make him cautious."
"But sneaking around like that is hard and boring." Luffy whined. Granted, he did have some fun doing it in that Marine base they landed in after coming down from Skypeia, but that had only been for a short time. Sneaking around and hiding his strength for weeks sounded impossible.
"I suppose you could also continue beating your head against a wall." Robin shrugged. "With an infinite number of tries, you are bound to eventually become strong enough to knock it down."
"Thanks, Robin!"
"She was being sarcastic!" Nami and Vivi yelled at him, each for their own reasons.
"I wasn't, actually." Robin denied. "Brute forcing his way through the obstacles in his path is indeed an option in his situation, if not a very intelligent one. It may take him thousands of resets and drive him to the very brink of sanity, but if the description of Haki is accurate, then he could continue to accumulate strength without limit. Eventually, none would be able to stand before him."
"… I'll try hiding my strength next time." Luffy pouted. While the thought of being that strong was appealing, the 'thousands of resets' was not.
XXXXX
With Igaram's confirmed death, Vivi was grieving, but also focused and angry. Luffy hated seeing her like that and redoubled his private promise to keep the man alive. Knowing that a reset was guaranteed, he didn't bother trying to convince her to detour to Little Garden or Drum Kingdom.
This resulted in reaching Alabasta several days earlier and would have meant missing Ace. However, something else happened that took priority over that development.
"Zehahaha! So you came to Alabasta after all, Straw Hat. Zehahahaha!" Blackbeard laughed. His crew was with him and they were clearly ready for a fight.
"What are you doing here?!" Luffy demanded, angry and confused.
"You've earned quite a bounty on yourself, the biggest rookie bounty ever, zehaha." Blackbeard casually explained. "If I bring you in after exposing whatever Crocodile is doing here, the Marines are sure to offer me a Shichibukai position."
Blackbeard did not for one moment believe that Crocodile didn't have some ulterior motive for playing hero to some random kingdom. He'd met the man long ago, after all. Plus, biding one's time for years until the time was right to execute a long term plan was the exact same thing he had done.
"Not if I kick your ass!" Luffy shouted and launched himself at the treacherous older pirate.
Blackbeard was surprised by his speed and took the hit full force. It knocked him into a building, but didn't actually hurt him much.
"Zehaha, I see your bounty isn't just hot air!" He laughed. "You've got incredible Haki for a rookie. Probably for the best that I take care of you early. Kill his crew, boys! We only need the captain, zehaha!"
Luffy wasn't going to let that happen and fought the enemy captain with all his skill. He employed his rubber techniques, the Rokushiki and everything else he knew.
It wasn't enough.
XXXXX
Luffy awoke back at the start of his adventure and took a deep breath, reminding himself that his crew was alive again. They hadn't been ready for Blackbeard and his crew of veterans. Luffy hadn't been ready.
Seeing his crew killed in front of him while he was taken captive was the worst. He understood keenly why he had to hide his strength now. Blackbeard had been drawn to him by his high bounty, a bounty that attracted more trouble than he could handle