Alright so latest updat eof rthe pirate king. j hope you guys enjoy it cause i gave it my very best.

Also to the last comment on this fiction. That was a nice idea you gave but for ow j don't plan to have any of my fictions made into a comic.

I happened to notice that some people do pm me but I don't receive it until later on. And when I reply they don't text back. maybe it's it getting through, I don't know. Just wanted to clear that out.

Also I'm open to ideas for Naruto's nickname, so hit ne with all you've got.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the effort and non-existent plots found in this fiction.

Chapter 6

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN IT'S TOO LOW?!"

"It's just as I said. The bounty just doesn't add up." Edward said seriously. If he hadn't seen them fight with his own eyes he would have written them off as a group of amateurs. This was what had misled Spencer and his group. By the time they realized it, it was already too late.

"I can't believe this. And I was so happy to get a bounty" Naruto said dejectedly. He Couldn't decide whether to be happy or angry about the fact that his bounty was way below average. Maybe it was a good thing since his bounty poster was like a death flag.

"It's not only you. We were also so excited since this kind of bounty is high in the part of the sea we came from" Roger shook his head. The smile on his face gone.

"How annoying" Rayleigh sighed ruefully. That explains why the marines haven't been on their throats. The marine captain from before had also been clueless about them.

"Well that is that." Edward shrugged before walking towards the old man. He dropped a stack of berries on the table as payment for the damage done to his bar before making his way towards the door.

He stopped at the door, then turned to Roger's group and said. "I'll advice you guys to leave the bar while you still can. That marine will be returning with back up soon"

With his piece said, Edward stepped out of the bar .

"He is right. The next group that will arrive night be stronger than the last" Naruto hurriedly said to the group. The fact that a pirate with a high bounty would give them such an advice spoke volume of the marines power.

"I don't have a problem with it. Moreover we got what we came for. No matter how little" Roger added his two cent.

"Very well." Rayleigh nodded not seeing a problem with it. He then turned around to look and Spencer and Taro then said.

"The two of you are free to go. But make sure to never cross path with us again"

"WE WON'T!" Taro and Spencer blurred out. They had already sworn to themselves to quit the bounty hunter business and go look for a decent job.

Rayleigh nodded and prepared to leave with the others. However before they could step out of the bar the old man hurried called out to them.

"Wait. I still have one piece of information for you" The old man said. He had just finished counting the berries that Edward had given him and the amount was enough to cover up his bar repair and living expenses for the rest of the year. So as a sign of gratitude he felt that he had to at least help out his friends.

"There is a Marine warship docked somewhere on this island. Be careful"

'A marine warship' Naruto and the others exchanged looks when they heard that. The three of them have never seen a warship before. They have only heard of it or saw pictures of it in the newspaper. They've never encountered the real deal.

"We should get going" Rayleigh said and the three of them promptly left the bar.

Spencer and Taro sighed in relief when the three of them finally left the bar. They felt like if they had been in their presence any longer they might pass out.

"They are finally gone. What a relief" Spencer sighed. Now that he was finally free he was going to fulfill his promise and find a decent job to do from now on.

Taro nodded beside him. It was already nerve wracking that they had been taken prisoners by some no name pirates but they didn't expect to run into a more fearsome pirate. We're they perhaps cursed? The events that had transpired in just this few days was already enough to match the years they spent bounty hunting.

"Taro let's quit bounty hunting forever"

"Yeah"

The old man was ignorant as to what was going on as he was too busy happily counting his money.

…….

"You guys are finally out" A voice said as soon as they walked out of the bar.

"Edward?" Naruto exclaimed when he saw the familiar face of the young adult with an overwhelming bounty. "I thought you had already left "

"How could I leave after the trouble I caused you guys" Edward laughed boisterously. The three of them had just pulled themselves into a huge mess just for helping him so he couldn't just leave them. Even if they didn't know just how much trouble they were in.

"It's nothing really" Rayleigh immediately waved him off.

"You know if you want to help you can just join our crew" Roger immediately suggested, taking advantage of the situation. However this time Naruto and Rayleigh didn't try to stop him. If they could get someone with such a high bounty on their crew it would serve as a deterrence to others. Especially now that they knew how little their bounty was when compared to others.

Edward laughed when he heard Rogers offer and said. "As tempting as that is I don't plan on joining any pirate group. I prefer flying solo"

"Will you at least consider the offer" Roger asked seriously. He really want Edward on his crew. He felt that Edward would be a huge addition to them seeing as he knows more about the Grand line than they do.

"I'll consider it if I were to ever change my mind" Edward promised.

"Very well" Roger grinned. Although disappointed he didn't push the topic anymore. Especially now that he had his words.

"By the way what brings you to this island?" Rayleigh asked curiously. He found it hard that someone with a bounty as high as Edward would be come to this island without some intention.

"It's nothing big really. I'm only here to visit a friend "

"A friend?" The three of them turned to look at Edward with an incredulous look.

"Yes" Edward laughed when he saw their expression. Anyone would find it hard to believe with the marines hot on his tail. But he didn't expect his location to be leaked.

"Come, I'll take you to her" Edward said before leading them deeper into the island before they stumbled upon a crowd of people lines both sides of the road.

"What the hell is going on there?" Naruto asked as he peaked out from behind the crowd trying to see what was going on. Rayleigh and the others also followed suite.

The marines walked through the middle of the street pushing wagons filled with chests and all sort of stuffs.

"Those are tributes for the celestial dragons." Edward answered.

"Tributes?" Roger asked as he watched the marines parade down the street.

"Kingdom, associated with the World Government, are expected to pay tribute to the Celestial Dragons every year. Those who are unable to pay will lose the world government protection" Edward Explained to them with a deep frown.

"Tributes huh?" Naruto repeated, puzzled. It was his first time of hearing of such a thing.

"Hey, you there!" The voice called out behind them, prompting them to turn around to see a female approaching them. She was quite a beauty and had dark blue hair tied up in a loose pony tail, with side bangs in bangs that framed her face. She wore a short pink dress with purple flower patterns, and a white marine coat draped over her shoulders. A rifle was strapped over her back.

"What are suspicious looking people like you guys doing hiding in the crowd? Are you planning on stealing the heavenly tributes?" The female Marine questioned them as she walked up to them causing them to tense up.

'Shit'

'Have we been caught?'

'Suspicious? I knew Roger was gonna get us in trouble even without doing anything '

'This is bad news. We need to act fast'

'That coat. Is she a marine commodore?' Edward squinted. His gaze focused on the coat draped over her shoulders. The marine seemed to notice his gaze.

"And you" She turned to look at Edward with a scrutinizing gaze and asked. "Why are you wearing a cloak? Take off the hood and let me see your face"

'Not good' Everyone prepared to engage in combat when they heard her words. As soon as Edward took off that hood it would be the signal for them to take action.

But however, before they could take action a marine appeared from the crowd running towards them.

'Another one' Rayleigh grabbed the hilt of his sword but the marine ignored them and turned to the female marine. "Captain Tsuru !" The marine saluted her.

'Captain!'

"What is it?" Tsuru glared at the marine causing him to shudder in fear before hurriedly reporting to her. Not daring to be slow.

"The captain wants all high ranking officers in deck for an important meeting. He specifically asked for you to be present"

Tsuru sighed in defeat when she heard the marine's word. She turned to look at Roger's group and said. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be back for you guys later" With that said Tsuru left with the marine.

"Well that was fun" Roger laughed after Tsuru left. He wasn't expecting her to leave like that after suddenly confronting them.

"Maybe for you. For a moment there I thought I'll have to kill her" Rayleigh sighed. If she had tried anything funny he would have cut her down immediately.

"A captain huh? Ain't that something" Naruto laughed. That was the first captain rank marine that they had encountered since their time on the Grand line. But unfortunately according to Edward there should be a rear admiral somewhere on this island.

"We should get going moving before more marines show up" Edward said before leading them away from the crowd. After walking around the streets of Drum kingdom they reached a two story building outside of town.

"Is this the place?" Naruto asked.

"Yes" Edward nodded before banging on the door of the building.

"Kureha are you home? It's Edward!"

The door to the apartment opened to reveal a young pretty lady standing by the doorway with a surprised expression.

"Edward? Come in, come in."

Naruto was stunned by the beauty in front of him. Rayleigh and Roger were in the same boat. They were expecting to meet a middle aged man, not an heavenly beauty.

Edward didn't find their reaction surprising. He had also been like that the first time he saw kureha.

"Well don't just stand there looking like morons. Come in." Kureha ushered them in. She quickly locked the door after confirming that nobody saw them.

"What?" Kureha asked when she saw Roger's group looking strangely at her.

"You are not going to ask who we are?"

"Why should I? You are not the first group of people that Edward had suddenly showed up at my door with. At this point I don't care anymore" Kureha shrugged before turning her attention to Edward and asked. By the way what happened? We were not supposed to meet until after the heavenly tributes"

"Unfortunately my whereabouts was leaked to the marines. And now that they are actively searching for me, I had to speak up my plans. I even had a run in with a marine group at a bar on town. That was where I met this guys".

"How unfortunate indeed. Especially on the day of the tributes. It's going to be difficult to get off this island even with the help of your friends. More importantly can we trust them. According to what you just said, you recently just met them" Kureha looked suspiciously at the group. The reason she didn't bother to question them before was because the last group Edward brought was one that he had known for a while not one that he had recently met.

"That we can do. After all, they have wanted posters". Edward reassured with a grin. He also had his doubt about the group before. For all he knew they could have been hired by the marines to get to him. But after seeing their wanted poster he let go of that suspicion. After all, no marine in history has ever been given a wanted poster, not even those undercover.

"It seems that we have landed ourselves in a precarious situation" Rayleigh groaned before he glared at Roger who was the cause of their current predicament.

"So it seems. But we can handle it" Roger laughed ticking both Naruto and Rayleigh off. It took all their willpower to resist the urge to smash his head in.

"By the way how did you and Edward know each other. Are you guys lovers?" Naruto asked with a childlike curiosity. But his question startled everyone.

"Lovers?!" Edward and Kureha quickly became the center of attention. Kureha quickly shook her head and said.

"No, we are not lover. Edward only comes here to buy medicines from me. At most we have only known each other for two years now."

"Moreover I wouldn't want to date her. She's crazier than she looks"

"Shut up" Kureha smacked Edward on the head which only made him laugh.

"Wait you make medicines?"

"She might not look it hit she's one of the best doctors you'd find on this part of the Grand line." Edward said with a proud smile with ticked Kureha off as she pulled on his cheek and scold him.

"Why are you taking pride in my accomplishment?"

Seeing an opportunity Roger said. "Why don't you join us? It just so happens that out crew needs a ship doctor. Someone of your capabilities shouldn't be confined to one island"

Rayleigh and Naruto also nodded, expressing their supports of his words. They might not be able to get Edward to join them but if Kureha could then it was an even bigger win for them. If what Edward said was true then even the marines would fight to have her on their team.

However, contrary to their expectations, Kureha shook her head and said. "Sorry but I don't plan on living my life on the run. As a doctor I need time and freedom to do my experiments and research. And those two things are something a pirate don't have. Moreover, it would be a shame to have a beautiful face like mine on a wanted poster "

'Well she does have a point. Why didn't I think of that? Oh right I wasn't in the position to make such a choice' Naruto sighed dejectedly. Even Rayleigh didn't know how to refute her claim.

Everyone knew that time and freedom was definitely one thing that pirates lack since they'd be too busy running around the place to escape from the marines. For a doctor focused on research, it's a huge disadvantage.

"Then we'll get you those things If that is what you want" Roger retorted with a confident grin, refusing to back down. He and Kureha entered a staring context Both refusing to back down. When it felt like things were finally going to escalate, Kureha suddenly smiled and said.

"Okay if that's the case. Then if you manage to make a big name for yourselves at sea, then I'll consider it. If not you'll never show your faces to me ever again. Deal?"

"Deal." Roger grinned. That shouldn't be a problem since he planned on doing just that.

"I'll be waiting then" Kureha smiled a she watched Roger return back to his seat.

'Roger?' Naruto has never Roger so eager to prove someone wrong before. But it shouldn't be surprising since he hasn't known Roger for long but judging by his personality it still saying something. However even Rayleigh who had known him the longest was still surprised.

"Speaking of which, are you don't making the medicine?" Edward asked Kureha when he saw that they weren't going to argue anymore.

"Not yet. But I'm almost done. You guys can make at home. I'll be right back." Without waiting for their reply Kureha turned around and left the room.

"What do you need medicines for, Edward? You don't look sick" Rayleigh asked curiously.

"No it's not from me. I'm taking it to my hometown. There are a lot of sick people there who need it" Edward replied with a frown look as if recalling a bad memories.

"Your hometown? Are you reselling it?" Now Naruto was confused. Was Edward perhaps planning to give up piracy to become a doctor?

"No. I'm giving it away from free. You see in the past my island couldn't afford to pay the heavenly tributes and was abandoned by the world government causing it to become a lawless place, deepening put poor status. It's the reason I became a pirate. To help my island" Edward said which brought a frown to Roger and the others faces as they could hear the sadness in his voice.

"How noble of you. To become a pirate for the sake of your island. That explains why you are a lone pirate. Since there's rarely any pirates out there who shares the same vision as you, us included." Roger said. Everything was finally starting to make sense now. No wonder Edward w as so quick to reject his offer before. He would only be hindering himself by joining a group.

"Sounds more like extortion to me" Naruto frowned. If this was how the world government operated then they were no different from local thugs asking for protection money.

"Who knew there was such a side to the world government" Rayleigh rebuked. It seems the Grand line was a place for dirty acts.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg. It gets worse"

……

Meanwhile on one of the marine warship, Tsuru finally arrived in the meeting room where the other officers were gathered. One of them being the marine Edward had fought. The other officers present glanced at her when they saw her walked into the room before looking away. Only those she were familiar with nodded to her in greeting.

"You are finally here, captain. Take a seat." The burly man seating at the head of the table said prompting her to take a seat.

The man who spoke before was a recently promoted rear admiral. Rear admiral key, he was the one in charge of receiving and escorting the heavenly tributes from Drum kingdom.

When key saw that everyone had settled down he resumed the meeting.

"The reason I called this meeting is because captain jiro engaged the target in a bar on this island." The other officials turned to jiro who had a smug look on his face when he felt all the attention on him. It would have been even better if he had managed to capture Edward but he didn't expect for him to have allies.

"Moreover, he had accomplices which weren't mentioned before. I have already sent marines to the bar but they were long gone by the time they arrived there. As you all know apart from escorting the heaven tribute we were also asked to arrest Edward Newgate if possible. So I am now tasking you all with searching the entire island for them. I will also get the king of Drum kingdom to lend his soldiers in apprehending this criminals"

"Accomplices? Is he perhaps planning to start his own pirate crew? This is against what we heard"

"I don't like where he is going, we should capture him at once."

"Edward had been able to avoid direct contact with us so far. What if he has already left the island?"

The marine officers started discussing among themselves until someone suddenly raised their hand silencing everyone and becoming the center of attention.

"Yes, captain Tsuru. What is it?" Rear admiral key turned to the person in question. To be honest he didn't know what to think of Tsuru. She was someone who had only been in the marine for a year and was already granted the position of captain. This had caused a lot of commotion and dissatisfaction among the marines but there was nothing anyone could do about it. The decision was final.

However, after she successfully captured the captain of the Gorge pirates, those who objected were silenced. Any other dissatisfaction was completely cleared out when she later went on to capture all members of said pirate crew. Not only that but some infamous pirates had also fallen prey to her. She was quickly growing famous among the marines.

Imagine his surprise when he had been told that she was going to be under his command to escort the heavenly tributes from Drum kingdom. But whatever he thought of her doesn't matter.

'Moreover, I heard that she was from the same division as those monsters.' Key sighed before returning his attention to Tsuru. "So you were saying?"

"This pirates you speak of. Is there a way for us to identify this accomplices?" Tsuru asked. For some unknown reasons she had this bad feeling about the whole thing

"Yes, indeed." Key nodded before tossing a stack of bounty posters on the table for all of them to see.

"This!" Tsuru's eyes widened when she saw the faces on the bounty posters. Her mind flashed backed to the group she met on the street. There was no mistaking it.

'Its them!'

That's all for now. I'll be leaving now. Kindly favorite, follow and review before leaving the fiction behind.

Don't go without doing any of those okay?

If you are new here, please go and check out my other stories. I know most of them are on hiatus but I promise I will be updating them soon.

Well I'm off to go play some codm. until next time.

Ja ne.