NOTE: Welcome back to our next installment of Sands of Freedom! With the group now established, let's see what they decide to do next!

Enjoy and Review!

Chapter 5: Bots and Bounties

Nami stretched her limbs as she sunk into the warm waters of the bath inside their temporary new home. After the insane events of the previous two days, the navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates was finally able to enjoy herself some nice private time. Using the money acquired from selling their stolen junk and meat (Much to Luffy's displeasure) the two were able to afford living in one of the recently built apartments in Spino. As much as Nami missed the more grandiose luxuries the Sunny granted them, she wasn't going to let the hospitality shown go to waste. It had taken most of the previous day to get their living situation worked out and by the end she was too tired to even bother with a bath.

As much as this country was struggling with gaining water, it was nice to see that the town had enough water for bathing to be possible. Of course, she figured that with the limited amount allowed she wouldn't be allowed to take as many as she normally would.

RUMBLE!

"Not that a certain captain of mine cares about that." Nami sighed as she heard Luffy finally getting up. It was obvious that he was heading for the kitchen to get his breakfast. That was until she heard the door to the bathroom opening, Luffy's face popping in.

"Hey, Nami! When is-GWUH!" A stool smashed into his rubbery head.

"DON'T JUST WALK IN HERE, IDIOT!" Nami roared.

Luffy shook his face back to normal. "Why? It's not like I haven't seen you naked before."

"Dumbass! That was my own choice! This is an invasion of privacy, now get out!"

"But I want breakfast!" Luffy whined.

"I'll cook breakfast when I'm done! Now leave or else I'll charge you for getting a peep!" She yelled at her captain. Luffy nodded his head vigorously, not wanting to have a debt to her like Zoro.

When he slammed the door shut, Nami lowered herself into her bath water. "Idiot..."

As Luffy stuffed his face in the background, Nami admired her new outfit in the mirror. She wears a light orange crop-top with a bee insignia on the chest, and a short light grey skirt with a belt strapped around her waist. Her feet are protected with knee-high black boots, and a long white cloak held around her shoulders. "Hm… I wished they had something better, but it'll do for now. Maybe, Sand Land will have some more fancier shops in different towns."

"Why doft it matfers?" Luffy spat.

"Swallow first, Luffy." Nami lazily ordered.

He nodded his head and swallowed down his food. "I said why does it matter?" Luffy's attire had some differences too. While he kept his blue vest, he wore a teal pair of shorts and a similar cloak like Nami around his shoulders. Contrary to what the others had suggested, Luffy kept his sandals since they were what he felt the most comfortable wearing. His iconic straw hat still hung around his shoulders.

"It's fashion, Luffy. I want to look my best, no matter what world we end up in." Nami explained as she approached the table. She noticed that Luffy hadn't touched her plate of food, he never did but she appreciated his willpower.

"I don't get it." Luffy took another slab of dino meat and bit into it.

"Nobody expects you to." Nami sighed as she took the time to enjoy her own food. She was honestly growing pretty tired of eating dino, but it wasn't like they had any other option. They needed more money if they wanted to afford some of the pricier food items that Spino or any other town had to offer. There was also the necessity of purchasing jugs of water to keep them from getting dehydrated. "Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

"We should check in with Ann and the others today."

"How come? Oh…! Are you excited to get looking for that sprig?!" Luffy giggled.

"It's called a 'spring', Luffy! And while I do want to help search for it, we're low on supplies and funds as is. So, if we're going to help Beelzebub and the others then we're going to need bots of our own." Nami explained.

"Our own bots?! Awesome!" Luffy was already imagining driving his own personal vehicle with a portable meat dispenser.

"But knowing that the prices for these bots are going to be expensive means that we're going to need money."

"I'm not selling more of my meat."

"We'll sell it if it comes down to it!" Nami's stern tone left no room for argument. She settled back down and crossed her arms. "I'm sure the others know of different ways we can earn money in a way that'll satisfy us both. C'mon, let's get moving!"

"Right!"

Luffy and Nami arrived at Ann's garage to see the gang conversing as Ann was working on a large round vehicle that the pirates were unfamiliar with. "Woah! What kind of bot is that?!" Luffy's awed shout grabbed their attention.

Rao nodded at the pirates. "Nami. Luffy. Good morning."

"Good morning, Rao." Nami smiled at the old man, then looked down at the demons. "Good morning to you two as well."

"Morning." Thief returned. Beelzebub just rolled his eyes and didn't return the greeting, believing it to be too 'goody' for a demon like him.

"And to answer Luffy's question, it's a tank!" Ann looked down from her spot on the top of the bot. "It's one of the militaries' strongest weapons, a vehicle capable of dealing out huge damage with strong explosive charges. It also has machine gun ammo to release rapid fire shots to hit longer ranges. However, it's slow as molasses due to its size and weight."

"So cool!" Luffy's eyes were filled with stars.

Beelzebub smirked, puffing his chest. "I know, right? Much cooler than a pirate ship, huh?"

"Nope!" Luffy's denial was swift and loud. "The Sunny is way cooler than a tank!"

"Hmph! I doubt it." Beelzebub scoffed.

"Just let it go, Prince." Thief sighed.

Nami observed the tank, noticing the military insignia on the side entrances. "Where exactly did you guys get this from? Unless you built it yourself?"

"Nah, I didn't build it. Beel and the guys busted me out of a military base, and we ended up stealing this to escape. I just fix it up whenever it needs repairs." Ann explained as she carefully climbed down to the floor.

"Do you think you could build us one?" Luffy asked.

Ann crossed her arms like an 'X'. "No way! Tanks are pretty difficult to build and have so many complex mechanisms inside that one wrong move while building it could end with it blowing up on itself. My knowledge on them is only good for maintenance."

"Aw man! I really want one!" Luffy pouted.

"I mean…you could bust into a Royal Army base to steal one…" Ann sort of suggested.

"Really?! Sure, let's do that-gack!" Luffy was yanked back by Nami squeezing his neck. The captain gasped loudly when she released him. "Namiiii! What was that for?!"

"As if we're just going to go storming into a military base this early in the morning! We're already on one government's shit list, let's at least try to avoid another!"

"We're pirates! Why do you care so much about the government hating you?!"

"Because I'd like to be able to walk around without the threat of getting shot at for at least more than a day!"

"To be fair." Rao spoke up, getting their attention. "The three of us are already at odds with the Royal Army due to stealing that tank in the first place. Luckily, they don't know we're stationed here in Spino but that's extra reason to be careful. You'll be joining us, so be warned that we'll likely be going against the Royal Army regardless."

"Fine by me!" Luffy smiled confidently.

"Ugh…fine. But we're not stealing a tank…at least not now." Nami relented. Luffy nodded his head, agreeing with the idea of doing it later on. She turned back to the group with an inquisitive look. "Since we're still on the topic of bots, Luffy and I were looking to have our own made. However, we lack the funds and were hoping to find out a fast way to earn money?"

"Steal?" Beelzebub suggested.

"I don't think this is the right time for it, Prince." Thief said.

"Yeah, but they're pirates. Why should they care about doing anything moral?" Beelzebub responded.

"We're not that kind of pirates. We're not here to hurt other people or make their lives harder. We chase after adventures and dreams." Luffy smiled. Beelzebub paused and found something strange about the pirate's words. It didn't fit his idea of a pirate or what pirates are supposed to be, but it fit the image of Luffy perfectly.

"Well, if you want to make money you could find a job-"

"Out of the question." Nami denied. "This idiot wouldn't survive 3 minutes in any workplace, and we don't have the time for that."

"Then the next best step would be hunting bounties." Rao suggested.

"Yes, I suppose that would work for these two." Thief agreed.

"Bounty hunting? You guys have that here too?" Nami asked, a bit surprised at the similarities between worlds.

"There are plenty of outlaws and monsters lurking around Sand Land and the Royal Army isn't necessarily keen on keeping track or dealing with them all. So, the local government struck a deal to set up bounties and people step up to deal with them if they can." Rao explained to them.

"In fact, I'm pretty sure the Junker Market Lisab has an updated bounty list, right?" Ann asked the old sheriff.

"It should. We can go check it out now if you two are ready?" Rao asked.

"Sure!" Luffy agreed, meaning that Nami had to go along with it now. Neither of them had any experience bounty hunting, something that Zoro would be perfect for, but she was certain that they could handle whatever was needed.

Beelzebub shrugged, not having an issue with it. "We can go, since I do have some iron ore to give to that one guy. I want to read the next volume of that comic series he has."

Ann went up to Nami and gave her a list of materials. "Here, it's a list of materials needed to build a car. Once you two got the funds, you should be able to buy the parts at the market or just find some laying around. Once you do, just come back and I'll build it for ya!"

"Thanks." Nami appreciated the kindness. She looked back to see that Luffy and Beelzebub were already racing towards the town gate, blowing past people as they did so. "Children…" She sighed.

"Now you know how I feel." Prince also sighed.

"Trust me, I've known since I met Luffy. I never thought I'd meet someone who could match his energy perfectly." Nami muttered.

"Me too."

The Junker Market Lisab was just as one would expect a junkyard to look. Piles upon piles of machinery and the likes were scattered all over, junkers littered the place with clear experienced ease. However, what caught the pirate's attention the most was the massive ship that was embedded within the mountain behind. "Woah! A spaceship?!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Not exactly." Rao crossed his arms, old memories surfacing through his mind. "It's one of the battleships used in the war. After it crashed, the junkers got their hands on it and used it for parts. The Royal Army saw no purpose in recovering it, so they didn't stop the junkers from making this place their home."

"That thing is a battleship?!" Nami cried. Just the sheer size of it reminded her of Enel's ship back on Sky Islands. That entire experience was still a nightmare to think back on. If it wasn't for Luffy's body being naturally resistant to electricity, then Enel would've won easily. She nervously turned back to Rao. "W-we don't have to worry about someone using it, right?"

The old sheriff shook his head. "Not at all. That thing was put long out of commission during the war. It would've taken years to try and repair it. Even then, I'm certain the power source is long gone…" Nami tilted her head at his voice softening at the end.

"Well, we better go look for the bounty hunter with the list." Rao walked into the market with the others right behind him. She wondered why he seemed so…depressed when talking about the battleship. Nami understood that war was a terrible thing and remembered that he used to be a part of the army, but there was something hidden in his tone that left her wondering.

"Oh, there he is." Beelzebub pointed at the junker waving at him. He turned to Rao. "Old man, I'm gonna go exchange the ore."

"Alright, we'll be by the bounties." Rao nodded his head.

"Oh! Let me read the comics too, Prince!" Thief hurried after Beelzebub.

"Me too!" Luffy followed the demons, leaving the two normal humans alone.

"Shall we?" Rao motioned in the other direction.

"Gladly. Someone has to be the responsible adult." Nami followed Rao to the further ends of the Junkers Market. As they did, she noticed how some of the junkers turned to stare at them, or more specifically, at her. "Uh…we're being stared at."

"Don't mind it, they won't do anything stupid that'll hurt their business. It's just that Junkers here aren't used to being around women." Rao explained.

Nami blinked. "What? So, there's no female Junkers?"

"Not any that I've seen." The sheriff shrugged.

Eventually the two found a Junker with a large rifle strapped to his back. He was looking over some papers on the table in front of him. When he heard footsteps, the gas-masked individual turned around to greet his new arrivals. "Huh? Oh, it's you." The hunter recognized Rao.

"You two know each other?" Nami asked.

"Well, I am a sheriff. We've also done a few bounties ourselves to bulk up on funds." Rao answered.

"With that demon friend of yours I shouldn't have been surprised by how quickly you guys were taken down bounties. It's a good thing Sand Land is chalk full of weird things otherwise we might've been put out of a job." The hunter jokes. "So, here to check out the bounties?"

"Well, it's more likely she wishes to do so. Nami and her friend want to make some money, and I figured bounty hunting would fit their skills the best." Rao explained.

The hunter looked Nami up and down, marveling at her beauty. He quickly coughed into his hand when he realized he was staring at her too much. "A-are you sure you're up for this, Miss? Some of these bounties can be pretty dangerous. Wouldn't you need some strong help?" The hunter flexed his muscles a bit.

Nami mentally rolled her eyes before smiling sweetly. "Oh, don't worry I'll be fine. My friend is pretty strong himself."

"H-he?!" The hunter flinched back. "Y-you have a boyfriend?!"

"HELL NO!" Nami roared. "As if that idiot would ever be my boyfriend!"

"You two do seem awfully close." Rao hummed.

"Because I have to watch that idiot 24/7 or he'll end up causing mayhem!" Nami yelled. "I mean sure he's saved my life countless times, is really strong, treasures his friends more than his own life, can bring a smile to my face just as quickly as he can piss me off, and lets me wear his hat more than anyone-what were we talking about again?" Nami stopped herself before the tangent could get any longer. Both Rao and the hunter stared at the navigator, both men wanted to say something but a sudden third sense alerted them that it would be an unwise choice.

"A-about the bounties…" The hunter coughed.

"Oh right, sorry about that. Can we see them?" Nami asked. She was handed the stack of bounty photos and started flipping through them with Rao looking over her shoulder. As she searched through them Nami couldn't help but wonder if Luffy may end up doing something stupid to get his face plastered on one of these. The last thing they needed was to become wanted criminals in a 2nd world. Eventually, she stopped when she came across a familiar looking face. "Wait a minute…isn't this?"

"The Diamond Boss?" Rao blinked. "That's right…a bounty was recently put out for him just a few days ago before you guys arrived here."

Nami smirked and picked out that one. "Welp, in that case we'll be taking this one."

"Really? The Diamonds are pretty tough." The hunter warned. His confusion grew when the old man and navigator shared a smirk with each other.

"Oh, I don't think they'll be an issue." Nami's eyes turned into Beli signs at the thought of acquiring the soon-to-be her money.

"Here's the next volume, kid! Thanks for the help!" The junker handed Beelzebub the comic book as he exchanged it for the bag of iron ore.

"It wasn't anything hard." Beelzebub said before turning his attention to the book. He was about to open it up, but a rubbery hand snatched it out of his hand. "HEY! That's mine to read!" Beelzebub yelled at Luffy.

"What a weird book." Luffy comments. He opens the book and makes a loud noise in excitement. "Woah! It has pictures! These are way better than Robin's!" His enjoyment was short-lived when Beelzebub snatched it right back. "HEY!"

"I'm reading it first! Do you even know how to read?" Beelzebub asked.

"Of course, I can read! Makino taught me how!"

"We have no idea who that is." Thief said.

"I just don't like reading books, because they're boring. Too many words." Luffy added.

"No surprise there." Beelzebub rolled his eyes.

"You don't like reading your text books either, Prince."

"Shut up, Thief!"

"Guys!" The pirate and demon turned around to see Rao and Nami walking over to them. The navigator hurried to her captain to show her the wanted poster they grabbed. "Luffy, do you remember this guy?"

"Nope."

"Should've expected that answer." Nami rolled her eyes. "It's the leader of that Diamond gang you beat up a few days ago. This guy is worth a pretty hefty sum of money. What do you say, wanna kick his butt again?"

Luffy whined. "Those guys? They were pretty weak though."

"I'll spare some money to buy you some meat."

"What are we waiting for guys?! Let's kick some ass!" Luffy's mood flipped like a switch. He started running in the direction of the battleship. "Here I come Diabomb guys!"

"LUFFY, THAT'S THE WRONG WAY!" Nami started chasing after him.

Beelzebub turned to Rao. "Are you still certain about letting them help us?"

"Luffy's…eccentric but his strength can also prove helpful. He's also not a bad guy at all from what I've seen from him so far. And Nami may be temperamental, but she has a good head on her shoulders that helps keep them on track. Definitely the strangest criminals I've ever met." Rao answered.

"They are strange for a pair of humans to add. The Prince really likes Luffy too." Thief added much to Beelzebub's embarrassment.

"No, I don't! There's no way I will ever be friends with that weirdo rubber idiot!" Beelzebub huffed. The demon boy turned around and made way towards the exit of the market. His companions just shook their heads and decided to wait for the pirates to return.

"D-damn that bastard!" The leader of the Diamonds cursed as he and his followers attempted to fix their base. After the utter decimation that Luffy and Beelzebub had left to their hideout, the 2nd biggest gang in Sand Land attempted to return everything back to normal. "Next time I see that straw hat wearing bastard, I'll kill him!"

"Uhh…boss?" An underling tapped his shoulder.

"What?! Can't you see I'm busy fixing my throne?!" He barked back.

"I-I think you might want to see this!" The boss huffed and turned around to see what the commotion was about. His eyes bugged out of his skull when he witnessed all of his underlings once again stacked upon each other. And standing on top of the bodies were none other than the two responsible for the mess in the first place.

"Yo, Diamond guy! The old man wanted me to ask if you were willing to surrender nicely or…" Beelzebub paused.

"...Get your ass kicked!" Luffy cracked his knuckles.

Whatever remaining force the Diamond boss had flinched and scuttled away, terrified of the demon and pirate's fighting prowess. The boss refused to back down, his pride as a leader was clearly at steak. "As if I'd back down! You got lucky the first time, Straw Hat! But you and your little demon pal are DEAD!" He whipped out his dual spiked maces.

Beelzebub scoffed at the human before him. "Little demon pal? Mind your manners, human! The name's Beelzebub, the Fiend Prince!"

"And I'm Monkey D. Luffy! And I'm gonna become King of the Pirates!"

"I don't care what your names are, you're both gonna be dead meat! HAAAA!" The boss charged forward, swinging his maces with deadly force.

"That didn't take long." Rao said as Luffy dragged the unconscious and bruised body of the leader.

"Like I thought, he was all talk and no bark!" Beelzebub scoffed.

"These gangs are pretty dangerous for the average person, Prince." Rao said.

"Do we look normal to you?" Beelzebub motioned towards the whole group.

"Hey! I'm pretty normal!" Nami defended herself.

"You're a pirate from another world with a captain whose body is made of rubber. I don't know what your definition of normal is back in your world, but that doesn't match ours…or at least for humans." Beelzebub said.

"You have to admit, Nami. You and Luffy are pretty strange." Thief chuckled.

"Says the short demon with the name 'Thief'! In case I didn't mention it before, I'm a professional thief and we don't normally go around making it so blatantly obvious." Nami scoffed. The old demon clearly took offense to her claims.

"I'll have you know that I've never failed in any of my heists in my thousand years of living! I'm called 'Thief' for a reason!" Thief defended.

"Okay, okay, let's break it up." Rao stepped between the two before they could start a fight. "Let's just hurry and take the leader to the nearest sheriff outpost to collect the bounty. Even though he said that, Nami and Thief were still glaring at each other. Rao could only sigh knowing that another rivalry seemed to have suddenly started.

Beelzebub laughed and turned to Luffy. "Can you believe those two? Fighting over something like that?"

The captain laughed along with the demon. "Yeah! Pretty stupid!" He wasn't exactly quiet, thus Nami and Thief ended up hearing them.

"WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT FROM YOU TWO!"

Ann stared down at the full package of parts that the group delivered to her garage. She looked over the list once more to make sure they bought everything. "Yup! That seems to be everything on the list! Thanks, guys. With this I can build that new car for Luffy and Nami."

"Alright!" Luffy cheered.

"When do you think you'll be done?" Nami asked.

"Eh, I'll probably have it done by tomorrow morning. I'll be spending all night making sure everything works as it should." Ann answered. Nami looked satisfied and Luffy still had an awestruck expression.

"Perfect. With that car, you two should be able to better keep up with us. I think tomorrow will be the best to get back started on looking for the Spring." Rao said.

"And hopefully find our crew while we're at it!" Luffy added.

"If that's the case, then I'll spend the rest of the day reading this!" Beelzebub held up his recently acquired comic. That was until Luffy snatched it away again.

"I wanna read it first!"

"In your dreams, rubber idiot!"

The humans and Thief just sighed at the two as they chased each other around, fighting over the comic. That was until Beelzebub kicked Luffy into one of the support beams of the garage. THe vibrations caused several of the engines hanging on the ceiling to fall down, landing on top of Luffy.

"My engines!" Ann cried as she rushed over to check on them, showing no concern for the pirate crushed underneath. "Can you two take your fighting elsewhere?!"

"HE STARTED IT!" The pirate and demon yelled.

"Children…" The others sighed.

Elsewhere, a woman with tanned skin, dressed in a white coat that covered most of her body with a white cowboy hat adorned on top of her black hair, approached the site of an ancient ruin. She held a small sack over her shoulders that held some of her essentials. Her white boots tapped along the stone tiles of the entrance grounds, alerting the group of junkers that were blocking the entrance.

One of the Junkers noticed her. "Hey, lady! What the hell do you think you're doing?! This is our turf!"

The woman chuckled softly. "Fufufu…apologies. I was just coming to examine these ruins."

"Well, too bad! Ain't nobody getting through unless we allow it!" Another one yelled, swinging his bat threateningly to scare her. She didn't flinch at all from his display of dominance and just continued to smile at them.

"However…if you're willing to be our woman, then I don't think we'd mind letting you though." The group leader suggested. His words generated a sense of hype from his fellow Junkers, all clearly excited at the idea of being able to touch a woman for the first time in their lives.

She smiled at the Junkers. "Apologies, but I'll have to decline. I'm already a part of a group and they'd be pretty saddened if I left."

"In that case, DIE-huh?" The leader and junkers all made confused noises as arms sprouted all over their bodies, holding them in place. "W-what the hell is going on?!"

The woman had her arms crossed, then clenched her fists. "Seis Flur: Clutch!"

CRACK!

"GAAAAHHH!" Screams of anguish rung out among the ruins as the Junkers fell to the ground. Their bones snapped in several places effortlessly by the woman's abilities. With the opposition disposed of, she walked past them to enter the mysterious ruins.

"Hmm…one of the many ruins of Sand Land. Let's see what kind of history you have in store for me." Nico Robin, Archaeologist of the Straw Hat Pirates, declared.

Chapter End

NOTE: The first Straw Hat to make their appearance since the first chapter is none other than Nico Robin! I felt like she had to be the first one, so let's see if she meets up with Luffy's group soon.

I don't know what Nami is so worried about. There's no way Luffy could possibly do something that would turn him into a wanted man in Sand Land...right? Eh, I'm sure they'll be fine.

I always wondered why there are no female Junkers in Sand Land. I guess the game developers never thought about adding any and felt it would be better to have the player beating up a bunch of male thugs than women. Even though there is like...one female antagonist in the game.

Nami and Thief seem to have blossomed their own little rivalry? I was waiting to kinda start this, because of Thief's role as the stealth guy of the group. In the Sand Land game there are several stealth missions you have to do with Beelzebub and Thief, so Nami will get to flex her skills in that department soon.

I promise next chapter will finally see some actual progression.

Have a great day!