Next day;
"Hey!"
Bonney stood in front of the Straw Hat Crew and waved her hand. She had returned to teenage form.
"Are you Kuma's daughter?" Luffy walked in front of her and asked. He still had many bandages on his body, but he was capable of moving around.
Bonney nodded and observed his situation.
"Man, you must have gone through a rough battle. Who did you fight? And, is that something you did?"
She said while pointing at the island.
After all, the condition of that island way beyond repair.
"Kaido. It wasn't just me. Liam also fought." Luffy replied.
"Kaido? You mean that Kaido, one of the Emperors of the Sea?" Bonney's eyes widened, but then she remembered something and nodded her head.
"No wonder Dad brought me here."
"Although I have joined your crew, I won't call you captain yet." Bonney spoke with a serious tone.
Luffy paused for a moment. He didn't care about the title, but now that he was the fifth Emperor of the sea, he needed to maintain his majesty.
He thought that for a moment before kicking it out of his mind.
A silly smile appeared on his face as he nodded.
"Okay!"
"Aren't you angry?" Bonney asked in confusion.
"Why would I be angry? They only call me Captain when they talk to others about me. Even Liam only calls me captain when he needs to confirm his decision."
Luffy waved his hand as he replied. He truly didn't care if they called him captain or Luffy. Because he knew they respected him as a Captain from the heart.
And that's all it matters.
That's why Liam confirmed with Luffy when he invited Law and Kuma. If Luffy hadn't agreed, he would've had no choice but to send them back.
Of course, Luffy wouldn't embarrass Liam. He might not like it, but he would give Liam some face.
After all, Liam was basically his think-tank.
"You are weird." Bonney gave him a strange look and shook her head. She raised her hands and said.
"But even so, I want to fight you before I join your crew."
Hearing this, Luffy narrowed his eyes. This time, it was different.
Before this, he could allow Bonney to act as she wanted, but now, she was challenging him.
The Captain of this ship.
He could simply let his crew take care of her, but he didn't want to do that.
One of the things that Liam had taught him over the journey was that he must maintain his position as a Captain through a display of power.
If someone scoffed or damaged him, it would damage the reputation of his crew.
Anyone from the crew could bully him, but no one from outside should disrespect him.
Liam knew Luffy was deeply influenced by Shanks, but he knew even someone like Shanks wouldn't let anyone mess up with his crew's reputation.
It was proven when Shanks let Yassop destroy Bartolomeo's crew, even though he showed absolute loyalty towards Luffy.
As a friend, Shanks could allow others to make fun of him, but as an Emperor, his crew wouldn't let anyone mess with their reputation.
So, even if Luffy did let someone attack him or insult him, his crew would handle the offender.
But Luffy didn't like his crew meddling with this, so he agreed with Liam's advice.
So, when Bonney provoked a battle, she challenged the majesty of an Emperor.
Whoosh!
At a point-blank range, Bonney felt the full impact of Luffy's Conqueror Haki. Because she was too young, she almost lost her mind.
But she was also someone who had gone through several adventures in the Grandline.
At the last moment, she managed to maintain some of her Willpower and stay conscious.
Because Luffy was only affecting her with his Conqueror Haki, nobody felt any pressure on them, but they could feel the Haki spewing out of Luffy.
"It seems like Luffy has learned to maintain the majesty of an Emperor." Liam had a proud smile on his face as if he were Luffy's father.
"Of course, he is the Captain." Zoro nodded his head and folded his hands in front of his chest.
"Now that I think about it, all of this is your influence. Sure enough, slow and steady wins the race. It took you almost four months to change him."
Sanji nodded his head.
"I still remember when you tied Luffy with a rope and threw him into the sea because he skipped training. Hahaha! His stomach was bloated with seawater."
Vivi chuckled as she revealed the training days.
"Doesn't he have any power in the ship?" Law curiously asked. This was the first time he had seen a Captain like this.
"No, he has all the power in the ship. He doesn't need to navigate. He doesn't need to cook. He doesn't even need to clean. He leaves everything to us."
"The only time he helps is when we face a storm." Liam gritted his teeth as he mentioned these things.
He knew Luffy was a type of captain who would do nothing but eat and play.
"Well, when it comes to training, Liam has some vivid imaginations to make him train. One time, he forced Luffy to use Armament Haki to cover the ship for an entire day."
"If he misses even for a single second, he will not get any food for one time. The problem is that he eats five times a day."
"And, he also needs a lot of food to recover. So, that situation got so intense that Liam had no choice but to compromise." Nami replied.
"How do you make him compromise?" Law asked.
"I told the crew to ignore him for the day. Since Luffy can't stay alone and quiet, he had no choice but to focus on his training. This not only improved his Armament Haki but also his mind."
Liam replied.
At the same time, Luffy released his Conqueror's Haki and turned around. He raised his hand and shouted.
"You bastards, don't complain about me when I am here. If you keep doing this, I will reveal your embarrassing moments to everyone."
"Huh? Do you even remember any embarrassing moments from us?" Liam pointed at himself and asked with confusion.
"I don't, but Robin knows a lot." Luffy said.
"Robin, aren't you spoiling him too much?" Nami pouted. She knew with Robin's powers, she could spy on anyone in the crew.
"Ara! Shouldn't I spoil my boyfriend?" Robin gave a sinister smile and asked.
"Wait a minute, you two are in a relationship?" Bonney, who had recovered from Luffy's Conqueror, shouted in shock.
She wasn't shocked that Robin could be in a relationship. After all, she was a very beautiful lady.
But she couldn't accept Luffy as her boyfriend.
Simply because he gave her an 'idiot' vibe.
Robin was already standing near Luffy. She walked up to Bonney and patted her shoulder.
"If you find someone as sincere as him, you will also fall in love."
Hearing that, Kuma's expression darkened as he spoke.
"Miss Robin, Bonney is ten years old."
"What? You are a kid?" Luffy asked in shock.
"I knew she had the power to control others' age, but I didn't think she was a kid. To be a Supernova at the age of ten is quite impressive." Law spoke in a surprised tone.
"Don't call me kid. I am not a kid. I am supernova just like you. No, you are already an Emperor. I am a supernova just like him."
Bonney shouted at Luffy.
"Don't underestimate her, Luffy. She was capable of defeating a CP agent at the age of nine, where you couldn't even shoot a Gomu-Gomu No Pistol."
Liam patted Luffy's shoulder and spoke.
Hearing that, Luffy couldn't help but blush. After all, it wasn't a lie. He didn't have proper control over his Devil Fruit.
"Wow? Really? CP Agent?" Nami was quite stunned.
"Which group?" Robin narrowed her eyes and asked.
"It should be normal CP agents. She was Khalifa's sister, Alpha. If she is taught properly, she has more than enough talent to master Armament Haki and Observation Haki within two years."
Liam replied and turned toward Bonney.
"But your most important power is your Devil Fruit. There is a man who is willing to turn all of his crew members into Devil Fruit users. Even though there is a high risk of losing everything in a storm."
"Because in his eyes, the benefits of having powerful devil fruit outweigh its weakness against the sea. Your devil fruit is quite powerful."
"Because your Devil Fruit isn't just about changing age. It's about controlling Timeline. You can change the timeline for yourself, where instead of this fruit, you obtain Luffy's fruit."
"Or even Sanji's Lightning Devil fruit or your father's fruit. You could also imagine yourself in a form where you are the World's Strongest Swordswoman and gain that power."
"Of course, you also need a powerful Haki to do this kind of thing. Otherwise, it will simply fail."