Nami turned out to be skilled at boating because it wasn't long before they had ditched the Marines. No doubt Alvida and her crew were being arrested, which helped to distract the Marines.
"So there's something I'm curious about; If you two are searching for the One Piece, you realize that means heading for the Grand Line, right?" Koby said.
"Yeah, the four of us used to live there," Lithos said, gesturing to Ariala, Ferros, and Merone as well.
"Trust us, dangerous as it is, it's not the pirate graveyard people think it is. There's enough calm areas for whole civilizations to live in." Ferros said.
"But it's also a crazy place, nearly impossible to navigate unless you spend enough time there. I've seen the ships of people who take the Grand Line lightly." Ariala said, shuddering at that last part.
"Which is why we need a strong crew to sail there," Luffy added. "I heard Alvida mention that Pirate Hunter guy?"
"You mean Roronoa Zoro?" Merone asked.
"I've heard of him. Apparently he's being held prisoner at a Marine base not far from here." Koby said. "Don't know why, he's supposed to be as scary as a demon."
Luffy grinned. "Sounds like the perfect guy for our crew!"
"Are you serious?!" Nami called out. "Zoro is a pirate hunter! And didn't you two just admit to being pirates!?"
"Well if he's being locked up by the Marines, I'm sure he has plenty of reason to turn Pirate." Ferros chuckled.
Nami sighed. "What have I gotten myself into...?"
"Get used to it, sister!" Ariala snarked.
During the time they spent sailing, Luffy and the Children of Whitebeard spoke of their childhood together to Nami and Koby. While doing so Luffy couldn't help but notice something was resonating with Nami, as if she was reassessing herself. But he brushed it off. It wasn't his place to pry since she wasn't part of his crew.
"So what exactly are you guys looking for in a crew?" Koby asked.
"Mostly the basics. As I said, Luffy's the Captain while Merone's the Quartermaster." Lithos said. "Me, Ferros, and Ariala are the First, Second, and Third Mates respectively. But we'll also need a skilled Navigator, a Lookout, a Gunner, a Cook..."
"And a Musician!" Luffy chimed in. "Cuz pirates love to sing!"
"I've never heard of pirates singing," Nami said.
"Spend enough time on a large enough pirate crew, and you will come away with ten or more catchy shanties," Ferros smirked. "The open seas can get boring, so pirates love to play music to pass the time."
"If Zoro's reputation is as good as they say, then he'll be perfect as our Tactician. We just need to convince him to join us." Luffy said.
Soon enough they reached the Marine base at Shells Town.
"This is where we part ways. I don't like associating with pirates." Nami said.
Luffy shrugged. "Suit yourself, but I have a feeling we'll meet again."
Nami sighed. "Honestly, that may very well be the case..."
"See you around!" Ariala waved goodbye as Nami sailed off.
The five friends soon walked into town, with Koby trailing right behind them.
"Are you guys sure you want to do this? I mean, if they locked up Zoro that means he has to be a bad guy, right?" Koby said.
"Who knows? That depends on what sort of person is in charge here." Merone said. "Not all Marines are the good guys."
Lithos gave a few Berris to a nearby merchant to get some fruit to share with his siblings.
"So, do you guys know if Zoro is at the base?" Luffy asked innocently.
To everyone's surprise, the entire street seemed to leap back in a panic.
"Huh, guess they don't like talking about it," Ferros noted casually.
"Guess we'll just have to check out the base personally. We were planning on helping Koby become a Marine anyway. Might as well see if they take applications for him." Luffy decided.
Merone sighed. "Nothing we can do to stop you, that's for sure."
"I'm not sure if this is the best place to sign up," Koby said nervously. "Rumor has it the guy in charge here is Captain Morgan—"
Once again the entire street leapt away in a panic.
"I'm starting to think our Mr. Pirate Hunter's not the bad guy here," Ariala noted.
"Okay, this is just weird. Why would they be afraid of a Marine Captain's name?" Koby pondered.
"Good question. Looks like we're about to find out." Luffy said as he looked up to see the group had arrived at the front gates of the Marine base.
"Well, we're here...how do we get inside?" Ferros asked. "A group of Pirates can't just barge in and ask for a kid to be signed up to the Marines. And even if we could I doubt we'd find Zoro that way."
"Guess there's no other way..."
As Luffy said this, he stretched his arms out and pulled back before slingshotting himself over the gate.
"GUM-GUM ROCKET!"
"He's nuts!" Koby cried.
Merone sighed. "He's always been like that..."
"The only reason he hasn't died from his stupidity yet is because we've been there to reel him back." Lithos quipped.
"I found Zoro!"
Koby gawked. "Are you serious?! I thought he'd be locked up in a prison cell or something!"
Ariala grabbed Koby and turned the lower half of her body into a gale of wind to fly over the gate. Lithos formed a stone pillar underneath him to reach the top of the gate and walk over while Ferros turned his legs into metal springs to bounce over, Merone turning into a trail of water to leap across the gate before reforming on the other side.
Sure enough, Zoro was sitting out in the middle of the base's yard, tied up and crucified and sweltering under the hot sun.
"That's Zoro all right. But this is not a normal punishment for criminals." Koby noted.
"Yeah, I'll say. All you have to do is untie the ropes and he's free." Luffy commented.
"I don't think that's what Koby meant, Luffy." Ariala pointed out.
"Hey, you guys," Zoro suddenly called out. "You're an eyesore. Get lost."
"Well, I never!" Ariala huffed. "Can you believe this guy, Merone?"
"No, I can't believe this guy, Sis." Merone calmly said.
Suddenly, the six of them noticed a ladder being put on the wall just next to them, and a little girl climbed it. She looked over at them and made a shushing motion with her finger. After looking around to see if there was anyone else in the yard, she hopped over the wall using a rope and approached Zoro.
"She's crazy! We've got to stop her!" Koby panicked.
"Why?" Luffy asked. "She's not a pirate, so I don't see why Zoro would harm her."
"You again, Rika? What do you want?" Zoro regarded the girl.
"I thought you'd be hungry, so I made you some rice balls!"
"You could get killed if you stay here, pipsqueak," Zoro warned. "Scram before it's too late."
"I worked really hard to make them," Rika said as she unwrapped the rice balls and held them up.
"I ain't hungry! Hurry and get the hell out! You're an eyesore!"
"Now now, Zoro, it's not nice to be a bully." A condescending male voice spoke up.
Two Marines came through the nearby gate along with a thoroughly unpleasant-looking man with blonde hair and a tacky purple suit.
"Who's that weirdo?" Luffy asked.
"Something tells me he's not part of the Marines," Lithos noted.
"At least the Marines are here," Koby said with a sigh of relief. "That should keep the girl safe."
"Well now. Those are some tasty-looking rice balls." The tacky-suited man noted as he looked at Rika's rice balls before snatching them rudely from her hands.
"Hey! Those aren't for you!"
Ignoring her, he bit into one of the rice balls, only to gag at the taste.
"That's way too sweet! Why the hell would you fill rice balls with sugar?! You're supposed to use salt!"
"I thought they would taste better sweet..." Rika explained.
The man sneered and threw the rice balls to the ground before cruelly stomping on them.
"That bastard!" Koby exclaimed in disgust.
"See what I was talking about, Koby? Some Marines let the power get to their head." Merone said.
Rika was tearing up at all her hard work being so cruelly wrecked right in front of her.
"I worked hard to make those..."
"Oh? Didn't you read the notice?" The man sneered as he pulled out a piece of paper. "Those who help criminals will be executed! By order of Captain Morgan! Even you brats should know how scary my dad is!"
"So he's Captain Morgan's son, huh?" Ferros noted. "No wonder he acts like he owns the place."
"You there. Toss this kid over the wall." The man ordered one of the Marines who was accompanying him.
"But, Mr. Helmeppo..."
"Just do it, you idiot! Or do you want me to report you to my father?!"
The man gulped and reluctantly approached Rika before kneeling down.
"Sorry about this. Curl yourself into a ball. That will help you survive."
Rika did as instructed, but it ultimately wasn't necessary. Luffy managed to grab her as she went flying over the wall.
"Nice catch!" Ferros said, giving a thumbs-up.
"She seems to be okay," Koby said as he checked up on Rika. "I can't believe that bastard would give such an order!"
Meanwhile, Zoro was glaring at Helmeppo as he laughed.
"You're a real bastard, you know that right?"
"Call me whatever you want, you're entitled to free speech while imprisoned. But you're really stubborn about staying alive." Helmeppo said.
"You bet I am. I guarantee I'll live out the full month!" Zoro replied confidently.
"We'll see about that." Helmeppo sneered as he walked off with a laugh.
"I've still got ten days left, you know!" Zoro pointed out.
"If you can live that long!" Helmeppo taunted.
Once he was gone, Zoro sighed in annoyance. He then sensed someone else and looked up to see Luffy standing there.
"So, you're the famous Roronoa Zoro, huh?"
"You're still here?" Zoro asked. "I saw you and your friends earlier. Thanks for saving that girl, by the way."
"I'm kinda curious, If you're supposed to be so strong, how'd they catch you and lock you up?" Luffy asked. "Not to mention surviving for a month without food? I'd be dead in three days!"
Zoro smirked. "You just lack spirit, that's all. I'll live through this, no matter what it takes."
"Yeah, but your stomach can't lie," Merone said, appearing right behind Zoro. "You're getting hungry."
"It's not like they aren't feeding me, they just offer the absolute minimum amount of food needed to survive day to day." Zoro clarified. "Speaking of which, could you pick that up for me?"
He turned his eyes towards the mostly destroyed rice ball. Merone smiled and whipped up a water bubble, cleaning off as much of the sand and mud as she could, leaving the rice ball looking mostly normal afterward.
"I apologize if I couldn't precisely clean it enough."
"It'll do."
Merone tossed the rice ball into Zoro's open mouth, which he swallowed.
"That Helmeppo bastard doesn't have the right tongue for sweets. "It was actually pretty good."
"He really said that?!"
Luffy and the Children of Whitebeard had visited Rika at the local inn where her mother worked. Needless to say, the kid was happy to hear Zoro liked her rice balls.
"Ate every last bite!" Luffy grinned.
"You know, I'm starting to wonder if Zoro is really as bad as they say..." Koby noted.
"No one's exactly like the legends portraying them. You should see the crazy things they say about our dad Whitebeard." Lithos pointed out.
"Actually, Zoro let himself get arrested and crucified in our place... Because of something Helmeppo did." Rika said.
"Really now?" Ferros asked as the six sat down to listen.
"He's Captain Morgan's son, so he acts like he has the run of the town. Almost a month ago he was walking through the streets with his pet wolf. The wolf was a vicious and mean one, breaking into the restaurant my mom owns and eating all the food without regard for the customers."
"And Helmeppo just forced everyone to deal with it, I take it?" Ariala asked with a frown.
"I tried to scare the wolf off, but when it tried to attack me, Zoro threw a stool at it to knock it out." Rika continued. "For the first time ever Helmeppo was scared, knowing Zoro's reputation. He acted like Helmeppo and his wolf were just annoying him, but somehow I could tell he was just trying to help us. When Helmeppo threatened to tell his father and get the whole village executed, Zoro agreed to let himself be strung up instead for a whole month. Helmeppo promised that if Zoro could survive for that entire time, he'd be allowed to live."
"Damn, now that's badass!" Ferros whistled. "How long has it been since then?"
"Three weeks. Helmeppo has been trying to stack the deck in his favor the entire time, punching and kicking Zoro while he's tied up."
"Now I really want to get this guy for our crew!" Luffy grinned. "If he can handle all that, he's perfect!"
Suddenly, a crashing sound was heard as everyone looked to see Helmeppo barging in, rudely propping his legs on a fruit bowl on the table he was sitting at.
"I'm hungry! Let us eat here for free! And bring some good booze as well!"
Nami happened to be sitting at a nearby table enjoying a fruit juice. Luffy and his friends remained mostly inconspicuous to Helmeppo's notice but they furrowed their brows in annoyance toward him all the same.
"I've been getting pretty bored lately, so I've decided to execute Zoro tomorrow!" Helmeppo revealed as he had some wine poured for him. "Hope you all look forward to it!"
Obviously, that didn't sit well with Luffy, who glared angrily as he cracked his knuckles before rushing toward Helmeppo and punching him across the jaw, sending him crashing into a nearby wall.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Teaching a scumbag a lesson, that's what."
"Do you even know who I am?! I'm Captain Morgan's son! One word from me and he'll-!"
Helmeppo's words were cut off when Ferros turned his leg into pure iron and stomped down on his hand, making him wail in agony.
"You're nothing but a cowardly bully. Rather than fight your own battles, you cry to your father anytime something doesn't go your way. You're not even an actual Marine, so why should the people obey you?"
Helmeppo clutched his broken hand and scampered out of the inn. Luffy and his friends looked at each other and nodded, knowing that a fight was surely coming their way soon enough.
"We should go and rescue Zoro, methinks." Lithos pointed out.
Meanwhile, at the Marine base, the iron-jawed Captain Morgan was sitting at his desk.
"I am...Great!"
"Yes sir, Captain Morgan!" The nearby Marine saluted.
"And yet the tribute to me has been a bit lacking lately," Morgan noted.
"To be fair, Captain, the citizens' wallets do have their limits."
"Whether they can pay or not does not matter. What matters is how much they respect me."
Before the Marine could make another argument, Helmeppo suddenly burst into the office, clutching his broken hand.
"Father! There's someone I want you to slaughter!"
As Zoro continued to struggle under the sweltering sun, his thoughts turned to his days training to be a mighty swordsman.
"I made her a promise...I can't let myself die in a place like this!"
He then noticed Luffy and the Children of Whitebeard standing in front of him again.
"You lot sure have plenty of free time."
"Well, we were gonna wait until the last ten days of your sentence passed," Ariala admitted. "But our timetable just got upped."
"Here's the thing, we need strong people for our crew. And when I heard how strong you are, I figured you'd be great for our Tactician." Luffy grinned.
"You guys do realize I'm a pirate hunter, right?" Zoro pointed out. "Why would I stoop to a criminal's level?"
"Kinda too late for that if your current state of being is any indication." Merone dryly retorted.
Zoro blinked. "Fair enough. But I'd rather not become a despicable pirate."
"So don't become a despicable pirate, just become a heroic pirate. Those exist too, after all." Luffy said simply.
"You guys sure know how to negotiate, but I still need to live through ten more days of this. Then I can move on to accomplishing my real goal in life."
"So you have one too? Depending on what it is, you might make it easier to join our crew." Luffy noted. "By the way, I heard you're a swordsman."
"Yeah, but that stupid punk Helmeppo took all my gear."
Luffy turned to Ariala. "Hey Ari, you can move the fastest out of all of us. Think you can find Zoro's gear?"
"You got it!"
She turned her whole body into wind and flew into the base, surprising Zoro.
"Wait, she's a Devil Fruit user?!"
"The rest of us are too." Luffy grinned.
Meanwhile, Morgan was busy having his men erect a large statue of himself, which didn't sit well with Helmeppo.
"Dad, what about getting revenge for me?! That guy in the staw hat hit me, and the one in the goggles broke my hand! Not even you ever struck me before now!"
Morgan nodded. "That's true. But do you know why?"
Helmeppo looked confused before Morgan suddenly spun around and clocked him hard enough to send him flying into the fortress wall.
"It's because you're a stupid son not even worth hitting!"
He used his axe arm to lift Helmeppo off the ground by the scruff of his suit.
"You may be my son, but I am the one who is great! Greatness is something you earn in your life! It is not something you are given by lineage!" He snapped before unceremoniously dropping Helmeppo. "Which reminds me, I heard a rat snuck into the crucifixion yard earlier."
"You mean that little pipsqueak?" Helmeppo asked while dusting off his suit. "I already made sure she was dealt with."
"You already had her killed, I trust?" Morgan asked.
"I mean I tried, but I guess someone was watching the whole thing because she was rescued."
Morgan scoffed and pointed to one of the Marines.
"Go into town and find out who dared to rescue a criminal slated for execution. Then execute them both!"
The Marine was shocked. "But, sir... She's just a little girl!"
"Anyone who disobeys my orders is a traitor! I don't care how old they are!" Morgan declared as he clobbered the Marine over the head with the flat of his axe hand. "I rose to the rank of captain with my own strength! In this world, titles mean everything! And as the highest ranking officer at this base, I am the most superior person here! That means everything I do is right! My every word is law! Is that clear?!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" the Marines all immediately answered fearfully.
"This symbol of my greatness took many years to complete," Morgan said as he gestured to the statue. "We'll deal with the traitors later. For now, finish raising the statue onto its pedestal! Let my greatness be a symbol displayed at the top of this base!"
Of course, with so many Marines busy working on the statue, Ariala had plenty of time to search the base.
"Let's see, the swords would likely be at the armory. Maybe I should find someone who knows where that is."
Suddenly she heard something rumble from up above. It turned out that part of the statue had hit the roof of the base.
"Everyone must be up there. I'll have to check it out."
He swiftly glided up the base just as Morgan was confronting the man who caused the statue to bump.
"I told you to think of this statue as me!" Morgan declared, bringing up his axe hand threateningly. "The slightest scratch or speck of dirt is treachery!"
But before he could bring his hand down, he and the other Marines got distracted by the sight of Ariala leaping up from the bottom of the base. She landed on the statue and caused it to both topple over and break in half.
"Not really a good likeness anyway. Much too handsome for the real thing." Ariala quipped.
"Damn you! You'll die slowly for that!" Morgan screamed in apoplectic fury.
"Hey! She was with the jerks who broke my hand and called me a coward!"
Morgan paused. "Men, this one deserves a quick and painless death. She can't be all that evil if he understands my son as well as I do."
"Daddy!"
"You couldn't kill me even if you tried. Besides, I just came here on my captain's orders to pick something up for our newest crew member." Ariala said as she pointed at Helmeppo "Come to think of it... You're the one who took it, right? So you'd know where it is."
She grabbed Helmeppo and ran off, shocking the entire base.
"Don't let her escape!" Morgan ordered.
"Captain!" Another Marine called out. "There are others down in the crucifixion yard! It looks like they've been standing there for a while!"
Morgan looked down and spotted Luffy, Lithos, Merone, and Ferros waiting around patiently.
"Must be the captain that girl was speaking of," Morgan realized. "Seems I'm getting surrounded by one traitor after another."
Meanwhile, Nami had also slipped into the Marine base and was currently picking one of the locks when she heard the commotion.
"Find her! She's got Master Helmeppo!"
Nami scoffed. "Someone just made things a lot more complicated here."
Helmeppo was screaming in terror as Ariala dragged him along before stopping.
"Okay, Mr. Butt Chin, where did you stash Zoro's swords?"
"Over there, in my room!" Helmeppo said, shakily pointing to a door labeled "My Room".
Ariala blanched. "Wow, you're just tacky all over."
"Freeze! Release Master Helmeppo at once!"
Ariala turned to see several Marines aiming their rifles at her.
"Meh, he's not my type anyway. You can have him!"
Ariala threw Helmeppo to the stunned Marines as she turned into wind and slipped through the lock of the door, entering his room and looking around before finding three pristine-looking swords.
"Ah yes, swords. Nature's knives." She mused.
"You do realize I can't escape yet. I've still got ten days left." Zoro pointed out while conversing with Luffy and the others.
"Oh yeah, we forgot to explain that; Helmeppo was actually bragging about executing you tomorrow. He never intended to hold up his end of the deal." Luffy said, shocking Zoro. "I didn't like it when I heard that, so I punched him as hard as I could."
"And I broke his hand for good measures," Ferros added.
"You seriously did that?" Zoro asked. "Are you sure you're pirates?"
"Pirates aren't all evil. I've known at least two crews of pirates that are good people and protect others, seeking only freedom and adventure." Luffy said.
"And the captain of one of those crews is our father," Merone added.
Just then, several Marines showed up with rifles, Morgan right behind them.
"The crime of treachery against me carries a heavy penalty...And the punishment is execution!"
"Uh, I have a question!" Ferros said as he raised his hand. "What if someone above your position were to go against your orders? Like say, telling you to knock off killing and exploiting the people here?"
That question actually made Morgan hesitate for a brief moment before shaking his head.
"That question is irrelevant! But I must commend you on pulling all this under my nose until now. Tell me, was this a planned coup from the beginning?"
"I prefer to work alone, unlike an arrogant bastard like you who uses soldiers as pawns." Zoro said.
"And we're just here to grab him for our crew!" Luffy added. "Until I heard what your son was up to. Then I decided to be a bit more thorough around here."
"Believe us, when Luffy sets his mind to something, he will never stop." Lithos chuckled.
Morgan scowled. "You'd be wise not to underestimate me. Strong as you may be, before my authority, you're as good as scum! Men, open fire!"
Zoro's eyes widened as his mind flashed to a young girl with black hair smiling at him in his childhood.
"Kuina..."
Luffy, Lithos, and Ferros quickly stood in front of Zoro as the rifles went off, the bullets bouncing off their rubber, stone, and metal bodies without issue.
"So...they have Devil Fruits." Morgan noted.
Ariala soon arrived in a gust of wind, holding the three swords she found in Helmeppo's room in her hands as Zoro looked in amazement.
"Just who are you guys?"
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! And these are my brothers and sisters Lithos, Merone, Ferros, and Ariala!" Luffy smiled. "And I'm the man who's gonna be the King of the Pirates!"
"Are you serious?!" Zoro asked in shock. "Do you even know what that means?!"
"Does it really need a deeper meaning?"
"Being King of the Pirates is just a step up from the Four Emperors, except you get way more freedom." Lithos pointed out.
Ferros smirked. "And Luffy here is the one who's going to succeed Gold Roger. Together, we are going to find the One Piece!"
"Hey, I got your swords back." Ariala said as she handed the swords to Zoro. "Are they all yours?"
Zoro nodded. "Yup, I use the Three-Sword Style."
"That's not easy to master. You must be even stronger than we thought." Merone noted. "Anyway, I think it's pretty clear you've been marked as a criminal by the Marines. So, care to reconsider your position on joining our crew? Luffy's not gonna give up on you no matter what, you know."
Zoro smirked. "Guess you got a point. At this rate it seems joining you as a pirate is my only choice right now."
Merone nodded as she made a small whip of water that sharpened itself and cut Zoro free of his bindings without accidentally cutting him. As all this was going on, the Marines were left gawking in shock.
"Just what are those monsters?!"
"They're Devil Fruit users. Rare this far out in the Blue Seas." Morgan explained. "Those who eat one are granted otherworldly powers. Breathing fire, creating tsunamis, and even transforming into fantastic beasts. There are rumored to be as many Devil Fruit powers as there are drops of water in the ocean. Yet despite the vast research done on them, very little is truly known about how they work. The majority of Devil Fruits can be found in the Grand Line, but occasionally a few fruits will find their way out to the Blue Seas. Like what these five displayed just now. That's clearly Devil Fruit power they possess."
Undeterred, he raised his axe hand.
"But in the end, Devil Fruit users are still human, and can still be killed! And everyone who opposes me gets executed, no matter who they are! Men, use your blades! Chop them to pieces!"
Zoro scoffed as he placed one of the swords between his teeth by the hilt, then easily blocked all the blades the Marines were using.
"You guys seem to have forgotten that I just got free. And three weeks isn't nearly enough to weaken me to the point that your cheap sword skills can kill me."
"OH MY GOD HE IS SO GODDAMN COOL!" Ferros gushed.
You know, you made a big mistake deciding to go back on our deal. Before I was just a bounty hunter, taking out the pirate scum you all needed help dealing with. But now... You've convinced me to turn pirate myself."
"Oh man, he really is!" Ariala said, joining her brother in gushing.
Zoro turned to Luffy. "Something I need to make clear. Whether I join your crew or not, I'm only in this to fulfill my own ambition. I aim to become the world's greatest swordsman! I won't let anyone get in the way of that dream!"
Luffy nodded. "I'm not about to get in the way of any dream a member of my crew has. And if I can, I'll even help them. That's the sort of captain I am. Besides, if I'm going to be King of the Pirates, I'll need the best of the best for my crew! And having the world's greatest swordsman as a member is definitely a good start!"
Zoro chuckled. "Looks like we have a deal then. So then, any first orders you got for me, Captain?"
"Yeah...DUCK!"
Luffy suddenly swung back with his leg stretched out. Seeing what was coming, Zoro quickly ducked along with Ferros and Lithos while Merone and Ariala simply turned into water and wind respectively.
"GUM-GUM WHIP!"
The stretched-out leg swung like, as the name implied, a giant whip as all the Marines were taken out in one blow, leaving Morgan gobsmacked.
"Captain, we can't handle these guys!" a Marine called out.
"Who said that?!" Morgan snapped. "Everyone who spouted weakness just now, shoot yourselves in the head! I have no use for weakling soldiers!"
Merone rolled her eyes in disgust before dashing toward Morgan and transforming her arm into a giant fist of solid water.
"POSEIDON'S FIST!"
Morgan found himself slugged right in his metal jaw, the force actually being hard enough to crack the metal prosthetic.
"If you've got no use for weaklings, relieve them of duty. To force them to kill themselves is a gross misuse of power."
Morgan stumbled back, then furiously threw off his coat.
"Rankless, low-status bums have no right whatsoever to defy me!"
"Oh, we have a right!" Ferros said, turning his arms into tungsten steel and banging them together. "You're just too blinded by your power to realize that! And too high up your own ass to realize how outmatched you are!"
"We'll see about that! I'll show you why I was given the name Axe Hand Morgan!" Morgan snarled. "Let's see your powers save you from this!"
He swung his axe blade, but it phased harmlessly through Merone and Ferros' bodies, leaving a trail of water and liquid metal respectively.
"Yeah, did we forget to mention? We're Logias. It doesn't matter how hard you swing that blade, you can't touch us."
Lithos launched himself above his siblings, Morgan looking up to see him combining both his arms into a giant stone hammer that he swung down with all his might.
"STONE HAMMER!"
Morgan wound up slammed into the ground hard, actually creating a crater from the impact. The other Marines were standing there in shock.
"A man like you doesn't deserve to be called Marine. You abuse your power, you commit crimes and call it orders, you disgrace a young boy's dream. And for what? To glorify yourself at the expense of others?" Lithos said with a glare.
"Hold it!"
Everyone turned to see Helmeppo had arrived with Koby, holding a pistol to the boy's head.
"Yeah, I don't think that's gonna stop us." Merone said calmly. "Especially when there are literally three other people there to stop you."
Sure enough, Luffy, Zoro, and Ariala were enraged to see Koby being threatened, so Ariala rushed forward and delivered a powerful cyclone punch to Helmeppo's face, making him let go of Koby and spin out of control before being sent flying into one of the nearby pillars.
"ROLLING THUNDER!"
"God, that was unnecessarily violent!" Koby said as Luffy helped him up.
"Hey, Zoro! Why not give us a taste of the future world's greatest swordsman?!" Ferros called out.
Zoro smirked as he charged toward Morgan, who had gotten up and prepared to strike Ferros from behind, only for the swordsman to dash past him with all three of his blades out.
"ONI GIRI!"
Morgan's eyes went white as blood gushed out of several cuts that now littered his body, falling over and passing out in the process.
"T-They just beat the captain..." One of the Marines realized.
"Anyone else want a turn?" Zoro offered dangerously.
What happened next was shocking. Instead of surrendering or attacking, the Marines all just cheered, declaring their freedom.
"Guess none of them really liked serving under Morgan," Luffy realized.
"He was the only really evil one here. The others were just too afraid to stand up to him." Lithos noted.
While all the action was happening, Nami was busy finishing tying up two Marines as she looked around Morgan's office. She soon noticed a wall safe behind some barrels and pushed them out of the way. Luckily the safe was already unlocked, and Nami saw what she was looking for inside it.
"Here it is! A chart of the Grand Line! I knew a Marine base had to have at least one lying around."
She unfurled the chart, only to find a Jolly Roger with the skull having a red clown nose.
"I've flashily taken the map! Signed, Buggy the Clown."
Nami sighed in frustration as she crumpled the chart in her hand.
"Of course, it would be him... The man they call the Genius Jester, who's supposedly immortal. But that won't stop me. Being immortal doesn't mean you can't be stolen from."
Back in the village, the group had been offered as much food as they could eat.
"Man, that was great! I haven't eaten in three weeks!" Zoro said.
"Thank you for treating us." Merone said politely to Rika's mother, Ririka.
"Well, you did save the town. Though are you sure you have to leave so soon?"
"Town saviors or not, we're still pirates. And even with Morgan routed there's still a Marine presence here. So we really can't stay." Ferros shrugged. "Sucks, but that's the way it is sometimes."
"Though the new acting captain did promise to take Koby in after we confirmed he wasn't part of our crew." Ariala pointed out.
"You all are amazing!" Rika said.
"And we're just getting started. We've got a long way to go before we're ready to find the One Piece." Lithos said. "The Grand Line is a dangerous place, and the closer to the edge you get the more dangerous it becomes."
"So right now it's just the six of us?" Zoro asked.
"We're just starting out. We still need to gather a few essential crew members before we can even reach the Grand Line." Luffy admitted. "In particular finding a Navigator before then is going to be essential."
Zoro shrugged. "Well, I think a crew is pretty decent with six people."
"Numbers aren't going to get us through the Grand Line. Instead, we need strong members." Lithos pointed out.
"Fair enough, but what about your ship?"
"That's something else we need to work on. We're going to need a bigger ship to make it through, especially as we start to add crew members." Merone said. "Right now we barely have a longboat, and that's on loan from someone else. Come to think of it, that also means we'll need a Shipwright."
"Unfortunately, we don't know the Blue Seas as well as we do the New World," Ferros admitted. "So I don't know where we can find a good place to get a larger ship."
Zoro sighed. "Helluva crew I just joined..."
"As we are now, we're not ready to even approach the Grand Line," Ariala said. "We'll need more than a few extra members and a decent-sized ship to get us there."
"Is the Grand Line so terrible?" Rika asked.
"I'm sure you know this, but the world has two oceans, cut in half by the Red Line, a giant continent that circles the world. The Grand Line cuts through the Red Line at a right angle." Merone explained.
"It was at the end of the Grand Line that Gold Roger found the legendary treasure, the One Piece. Finding it granted him the right to claim the title of King of the Pirates, obtaining everything this world has to offer in the process." Ferros continued.
"After he was executed, many pirates sailed for the Grand Line to claim the One Piece for themselves. But none since Gold Roger has managed to complete the journey." Lithos finished.
"Isn't your father the legendary Yonko, Whitebeard?" Zoro asked. "Why hasn't he tried to sail for the One Piece?"
"He did, at the same time as Roger no less." Ariala clarified. "But Roger got to it first, so Daddy decided he already had his chance, and that it was time for the younger generation to lay claim to the title."
"I've heard that whoever enters the Grand Line never comes out alive," Rirka noted.
"That's a gross exaggeration. Sure, the Grand Line is dangerous and many pirates who try to sail to the end never reach it but it's not so dangerous that it's uninhabitable, and in fact, many islands have been settled by those that were beaten by the Grand Line but still survived." Ferros said.
"You sound like you know all about it," Zoro noted.
"The four of us were raised on the Grand Line. We have inside knowledge on how it works." Merone explained.
Luffy nodded. "It's sad that we have to leave Koby behind, but his dream is to be part of the Marines, so we have to part ways. But I believe we'll always be friends."
"You sure he's gonna be okay?" Zoro asked. "He apparently spent two years as Iron Mace Alvida's cabin boy, and the Marines do have a skilled intelligence network. If they find out about that, Koby won't be getting his dreams."
"They already know, but they're not heartless like Morgan was." Lithos clarified. "They're willing to overlook it since Loby was so low on Alvida's crew, and was pressed into service against his will."
"Anyway, it's about time we leave. The Marines won't be letting us stay here any longer." Ariala said as she stood up.
"Are we gonna have to deal with an investigation?" Ferros wondered.
"I overheard some of the Marines saying how they don't intend to report us to headquarters. Just informing them of Morgan's gross misuse of authority." Zoro said.
Lithos picked up the large bag of food provided to the group and they headed out of the inn. As they untied their boat, they saw a surprising sight. The Marines had lined up on the shore of the island, Koby standing next to the lieutenant colonel with tears of joy in his eyes.
"Men! One final salute to this island's heroes!"
Zoro smirked. "Getting saluted by Marines even though we're pirates."
"Don't get used to it. For every decent Marine out there, there's a nasty one just waiting to abuse their power." Merone said.
Luffy grinned. "Well, maybe we'll see Koby again someday. We might be on different sides, but friends stay friends no matter what."
The pontoon they were given had its sail unfurled and caught the wind to take off, letting the new group of six pirates sail away from the island.
"One thing I'm wondering...Why are you two even looking for the One Piece anyway?" Zoro asked.
"We made a promise; Me to the man who gave me this straw hat, and Lithos, Merone, Ferros, and Ariala to their father. Both of them saw the One Piece with their own eyes. So now, we want to live up to their legacy."
Zoro smiled. "A promise, huh? I know all about that."
With the wind at their backs, the six sailed off for the next step in their adventure.
I should probably start breaking these chapters up more. Don't want to give myself burn out too quickly.