That night, Nami sighed in relief when everyone went to sleep, including Luffy. She first transferred all the treasure onto Johnny's boat before she got in herself, and with one last painful look at the Merry, she pushed away. 'Bye Luffy, Bye Zoro… I'll miss you…'
She started rowing the boat, feeling extremely dejected that she was leaving behind her crew, and realized that the blissful and carefree time she had had with Luffy over the past few weeks had ended.
She was so out of it that it took her an embarrassingly long time to figure out that her boat wasn't moving. When she finally did realize it, however, she became confused and looked behind her, only to yelp in shock to see Luffy. He was hanging off the side of the Merry while holding onto a rope that was attached to her boat.
"L-Luffy…" she stuttered, her mind going blank.
"Hey…" he said softly before pulling her boat back. She just stood there, not knowing what to do as he pulled her back and tied the boat to the Merry. He then silently held out a hand to her, and she reflexively took it.
Her mind only started working a few seconds later when Luffy made her sit at the back of the ship before he too sat down next to her. 'What do I do? What do I do?' Her brain went on a panicked overdrive, wondering what she should say to make sure Luffy wouldn't learn of her plight. She wondered how this looked from his perspective, and she found her answer.
"G-guess you found me, huh? Tch!" She clicked her tongue, sneering at him, "Well, I did tell you I'm a thief from day one, and what we had was just a temporary alliance. It's your fault for trusting me. I was just using you and tricking you this whole time. Just waiting for the day that you'll amass enough money, which I can steal and sail away."
"I see…" Luffy nodded slowly. "I'm from a galaxy far, far away. I came to this planet to search for a droid that crash-landed here a year ago."
"…Huh?" Nami dumbly blinked, not able to comprehend what he was saying.
"Okay, now it's your turn again," Luffy said with a grin.
"…what?"
"Hm? Weren't we telling made-up stories? It's your turn again."
Finally understanding what he was implying, she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, "You think I'm lying?!"
"Of course you are."
Seeing his nonchalant and jovial nature while she was agonizing and despairing over what to do, Nami's frustration levels reached a boiling point.
She lunged at him and grabbed him by the neck of his vest in fury. "Why are you never serious, goddammit?! I just betrayed you! I'm telling you that I used you from the start! I was just pretending to be a part of your crew so that I could steal all your treasure! If I had the chance, I would have stolen your ship too!"
Luffy sighed, looking up into the sky, not knowing what to do. He had waited for her to confide in him, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen. He didn't want to make her tell her story if she didn't want to, but it didn't look like he had any other choice, as the way things were going, she would leave.
"I know what's on your shoulder," Luffy said, looking back at her, and she flinched, her eyes trembling. Nami's mind blanked as her whole plan was to not let Luffy find out about Arlong, but if he already knew, there was nothing she could do, as he would just come after her even if she ran away. To her credit, her shocked state lasted for only five second,s where she panicked, calmed down, thought about it, saw an opportunity to make him hate her and took it.
She scoffed putting on an irritated scowl, "You saw it huh? Well, no point in hiding it, I guess. That's right. I'm an officer on Arlong the Saw's crew," she said lifting her sleeve and showing him the tattoo as if she was proud of it, "I was already a part of a different pirate crew even before I met you. All I did was use you!"
"Right"
"…Right?! Right?! That's your response?!" She hissed shaking him and feeling frustrated. She could see that he didn't buy her lies and he already knew that she was somehow involved with Arlong, so even if she successfully ran away, he would still come after her. And make a mess out of everything once he learns what happens there, ruining all her hard work.
"Hey, relax," Luffy said looking at her with concern as she seemed to be going catatonic.
And seeing his face, she only felt more frustrated at the total lack of betrayal or anger on his face which she wanted. Instead, all he had was a look of concern and worry as he looked at her and that's when she realized her plan to make him think she had betrayed him would never work. "Why are you like this? Are you even a damn pirate?! You know what a pirate does when they see a crewmate running away with all the treasure?! They capture them! They punish them! They hurt them! They kill them!"
"Hey, sto-"
She felt tears prickling her eyes and felt all strength leaving her body as she continued, "You should be mad at me… you should hate me for betraying you… you should kick me off the crew… So, why are you worrying about me? Why do you care so much? Why are you so kind?"
She collapsed on his knees and rested her head his shoulder, knowing she was just prolonging the inevitable. The moment Luffy learned of Arlong, there was nothing she could do that would make sure the two didn't meet.
Only the sounds of the soft waves crashing against the hull of Merry resounded in the air for a few seconds as Luffy felt his shoulder getting wet. Luffy slowly pulled her close and rubbed her back calming her down. "Did you expect me to believe that you were putting on an act this whole time? You do know it sounds absurd right?"
She sniffled as she lightly nodded her head. 'I don't have any other choice…'
"So, what was the plan? To try to make me think that you betrayed me and make me hate you enough that I'll kick you off?"
Nami gave a small nod, her head still resting on his shoulder.
"Wow, how stupid. As if anyone would believe that… Also, I already told you that all the treasure is yours until we collect 100 million, so you were just stealing from yourself… I expected more from you, Nami, tch tch" Luffy said clicking his tongue as if he was disappointed.
"Shut it, idiot," Nami mumbled lightly punching him in the stomach while Luffy just chuckled. The conversation died down, Luffy waiting for her to continue, and Nami wondering what she should do. She absolutely couldn't think of any alternative reason that would seem believable, so she took the only way possible - to tell him directly not to interfere.
"I need to go, Luffy. I'm leaving the crew"
"If you genuinely wanted to leave, I wouldn't mind. But you're doing this out of desperation, so no. Unless you want me genuinely gone, I'll never leave you. I'll follow you if you leave, I'll chase you if you run… I'll never ever let you go unless you want me to…"
She bit her lip in frustration and her trembling hands grabbed his shirt, her head still down and her face hidden. "Y-You and Zoro… you guys are the first friends I've ever made in my life… and if you follow me, you'll die because of me… A-and I-I don't know what I'll do to myself if that happens…"
Luffy sighed at her stubbornness. "You think it's not the same for me? If I let you go and something happened to you, I don't know what I'll do to myself either. I'll never be able to forgive myself…" He made her lift her head and saw her tear-stricken face. "You're not alone anymore, Nami," he said using his gentlest voice possible, "You have me, you have Zoro, Usopp and Sanji… so please, stop suffering all by yourself…"
She still stayed quiet, not wanting to drag others into her problems.
"What's your dream, Nami?" Luffy suddenly changed the topic.
"What?"
"You only ever told me that you wanted to collect 100 million. You never told me what your dream is. So, what is it?"
Nami stayed quiet for a few seconds before declaring her dream to someone after a very long time. "I want to navigate my way all around the seas. And when I've seen everything with my own eyes, I want to create a map of the whole world!"
She saw Luffy's eyes light up and just that simple reaction made her heart flutter with pride. Whenever Luffy and Zoro declared their dreams to others, she wanted to tell-no, yell out her dream too. Tell them that she had a dream just as grand as theirs too.
"So you want to come to the Grand Line with me?" Luffy asked next.
"Yes…" came her instant response. "Yes…yes…" 'More than anything else in the world, I want to chase my dream with you…' "B-But I can't…" she said in a broken voice and clutched onto Luffy's shirt tightly, barely able to hold her tears back. "I want to… I so want to… but I can't…"
She recalled all the fun times she had had over the past few weeks. The most fun adventure, the most infuriating and yet, fun conversations, meeting a bunch of bad people and also meeting a bunch of amazing people. A life filled with laughter and joy… A life filled with fun and happy times… Happy times…
A long forgotten memory flashed in her mind - Something she had forgotten somewhere along the way… something Bellemere had told her once…
'…Whatever happens, don't ever lose your strength to laugh… If you can survive and keep on living, then I guarantee that someday, happy times…lots of 'em…will come your way!'
Nami stared at Luffy, realizing that he was the embodiment of that statement, and she couldn't hold back the tears anymore. For the first time in eight long years, she broke down in front of someone other than Nojiko as tears uncontrollably poured down her face and she finally let Luffy in.
In between sobs, she told him about her life as a child, how she, Nojiko and Bellemere were a family, their financial situation, the day Arlong arrived, their lack of sufficient funds, her mother's sacrifice and declaration, her last words, Arlong shooting her right in front of her, Arlong finding her maps, taking her with him, branding her, Arlong taking down multiple Marine battleships like it was nothing, her resolution, her making a deal with him to buy her village back for a 100 million, her trying to unsuccessfully kill him in multiple ways, her miserable life for the next 8 years, how he had turned her wonderful dream into a fucking nightmare…
Luffy quietly listened to her. Hearing it from her own mouth with sobs and sniffles mixed in was way more impactful than just watching it on a screen. The scenes from the flashback also played in his mind, Nami's backstory being extremely vivid in his mind as Leo loved Bellemere. He felt an intense rage build up for Arlong and wanted to beat him to an inch to his death. He calmed himself as Nami finished her story and she also tried to calm herself and tried to bring her sobbing in control.
He put his arms around her, bringing her into a hug and she leaned into him. "You're so strong, Nami… You've done amazing so far all by yourself. Bellemere would be so proud…"
That brought a fresh set of tears and it took quite some time for her to get her emotions back in control. She slowly separated from him wiping her tears away, now embarrassed that she had cried so much and pretty much drenched Luffy's shirt, and she was still sniffling. She didn't even meet his eyes, not knowing what kind of face he would be making.
"So 100 million for him and you'll get your village back," Luffy said and she finally looked up to see his face, which just seemed calm.
"Yes, I'm so close… I almost have a 100 million"
"How much more?"
"Just a little more than 2 million"
"Ah damn, if I hadn't left 5 million of Buggy's treasure, you would have reached your goal huh? That's why you were pinching yourself back then…"
"Yeah," Nami gave a small smile, "I was shocked and thought I was dreaming, so I was making sure I was awake. And then when you told me you had left half the treasure, I realized I was still 3 million short…" 'Didn't feel anger at all though… I thought I would have to continue travelling with you and Zoro and didn't mind it one bit…' she added in her mind. "Black Cat pirates didn't have much. Just under a million. So… just over 2 million left"
"That's fine. We'll get that much within no time," Luffy said thinking Krieg would probably have that much.
"With the way things are going, yeah… I'll just give him his 100 million and then my village will be free and I'll be free…"
Luffy sighed softly. "Nami, you're one of the smartest people I know," he paused before adding, "After me, of course," which made her lightly chuckle and land a soft smack on his head, "Do you really think he'll keep his end of the deal?"
"When it comes to money, he keeps all his deals… so yes"
"Really? He's set up a base on your island and considers you valuable. Do you really think he won't find some loophole to trick you?"
She averted her eyes. "…No, I've seen him. As long as money is involved, he keeps his word"
"Look me in the eye when you say it"
She bit her lip, tearing up again in frustration, not able to lie anymore, even to herself. "… I-I'm too valuable… There's a chance… only a chance!… that he might not keep his end of the deal… But I have no choice but to believe that he will. The only thing I can do is hope. Hope that he'll leave me and my village alone after I give him the money… I can't do anything else"
Luffy gently wiped her tears away, "Not anymore. You have your crew with you now, don't you? We'll just have to fight them"
"NO!" She quickly grabbed him as if afraid he might just go off to Cocoyashi right then, "Y-You don't understand, Luffy! They're Fishmen! You and Zoro might be monsters, but he has a huge crew full of guys just like you and even an actual monster from the Grand Line! You can win against a few, but they'll just gang up on you! You won't be able to fight them all… you will die and it'll be because of me…"
"Okay okay, calm down," Luffy placated her first. 'Guess she still thinks there's strength in numbers…' he sighed internally. "We'll do it your way. We'll go to Cocoyashi, give Arlong the money. If he keeps his word, all good and we can continue our journey. But if he betrays you, then there is no choice other than to fight. Would you really want to spend the rest of your life working under him or fight for your freedom?"
Nami stayed silent for a while going through everything in her head. 'Can he really do it? Beat Arlong if it comes to it?'
After a long time, she finally sighed and agreed while hoping that Arlong would keep his deal. "Okay, we'll do what you said. My way first and if things go wrong, only then we fight. Got it?" She said yanking him.
"Shishi there's the bossy girl I know"
"Idiot…" she huffed but had a small smile.
"You should go to sleep now," Luffy said when he noticed that she was blinking a lot, her eyes wanting to close due to emotional exhaustion. Nami nodded before she lied down next to him using his lap as a pillow. Luffy meant for her to go to her room but he just shrugged and slowly ran his fingers through her hair.
"You know," he began in a low tone, "Back when you were sailing away, I had half a mind to discreetly get on the boat and after you went far enough, I would start saying, Na~mi~," he said her name in an eerie wispy voice, "Or," he then changed his voice to match Gollum, "Go Gollum! Gollum!"
Nami, half-asleep, let out a little carefree giggle that was melodious to Luffy!s ears before she lightly slapping his chest, "Idiot… I would have… killed you…" She drifted off to sleep and Luffy smiled watching her peaceful smile.
Zoro got up stretching his joints as he had sat still listening in on the whole conversation between the captain and the navigator from around the corner. He walked up to Luffy and looked at the navigator peacefully sleeping on his lap.
"Guess I'll sharpen my blades to cut some fish," he whispered having felt his blood boil when Nami had talked about what Arlong had done to her mother and her village. Luffy just smiled and nodded at him. He left and came back with a couple of blankets for the two.
"Thanks," Luffy whispered and Zoro smiled before leaving.
———
Nami slowly opened her eyes and felt someone softly scratching her scalp which honestly felt amazing. Memories from the previous night quickly came back to her and she realized she was sleeping on the deck using Luffy's lap as a pillow and even a couple of blankets covered her up.
She turned to look up at Luffy who was awake and looking down at her with a smile.
"Mornin. Wow, your eyes are so puffy," was the first thing that came out of his mouth and her hand automatically balled into a fist and landed hard on Luffy's cheek.
"You don't tell a girl that the first thing in the morning, idiot!" She said sitting up.
Luffy chuckled as he pulled her into his chest "The sun isn't even up yet. You can sleep more"
She agreed and snuggled into him, making sure ti hide her face.
"Last night…" she said hesitantly. "The things you said…"
"Yes, it really did happen. It wasn't just a dream"
She sighed in relief afraid that it could have been some cruel dream.
"When do you have to be back?"
"Hmm, I'm already running late this time, but a couple more days should be fine"
"Well, okay then. I'll convince Sanji soon, and then we'll go to your place"
"What if he doesn't agree?"
"We'll leave and come back again after we're done with Arlong"
"…After Arlong huh? Hehe… I've spent most of my life thinking about how to get rid of him that I've never thought much about what I'll do after he's gone…"
"Well, you'll have the rest of your life to think about it…"
"Mmhmm… Thanks, Luffy" Nami turned to look up at his face in gratitude… and he again ruined the moment by touching her below her eyes and going "Wow, it's like a bouncy castle" causing her to lash out at him again.
"Idiot!"
———o———
'Where the hell are you, you Kreig bastard?!' Luffy cursed inside his mind, hoping Kreig would show up soon, as he sat across from an irritated Sanji while the rest of his crew, the two bounty hunter brothers and Moodie sat around giggling at him.
"Just drop it, Sanji. It's okay," Luffy sighed.
"No! We're doing this until I get it right! Now, tell me again but explain properly. You can't just say Taco Bell sauce and expect me to make that! What does that even mean?!" Sanji huffed in annoyance.
"I don't know okay?! I just ate at that restaurant! Why the hell would I bother to learn how they made things!"
"Ugh, describe it at least!"
"It was a red sauce"
"Made of tomatoes then?"
"Maybe? It was sweet and spicy"
"That doesn't give me much to work with!"
"Just forget it already. The stuff you make is a million times more delicious!"
"No! You said you were nostalgic about it! And nostalgic food is a wonderful thing. I'm a cook and so, it's my duty to cook it for you. Just describe what an Enchirito is again and I'll cook it"
"I don't know…" Luffy cried. He had just told him about how he missed the taste of an Enchirito and Sanji had latched onto it because Luffy had a wistful look when he talked about it.
Sudden shouts from customers near the windows interrupted them and Luffy cheered. 'Finally!'
"That's Krieg's flag!" / "It's Don Krieg!" The customers screamed terrified.
"Foul play Kreig?! We need to get out of here this instant!" Johnny and Yosaku shouted and Moodie also nodded with them.
"It's okay," Luffy said calmly getting up, "Nami, we need to move Merry a bit away"
"Are you insane?! He's the strongest pirate in these parts!" Yosaku yelled. "We need to sail away, not just move the ship!"
"Calm down, will you" Zoro yawned and while the two brothers started telling how terrifying Krieg was, Luffy and Nami went to the ship and anchored her far from the Baratie. By the time they were done, Krieg's ship had almost reached the Baratie.
"Whoa, that's one huge galleon…" Nami commented as Luffy carried her, airwalking towards the Baratie. "Looks like it's been through a few fierce storms…"
"Yeah, you can say they're Grand Line wounds I guess"
Nami hummed as they landed back on the Baratie where people were panicking and trying to run away. Usopp had also joined the two bounty hunter brothers in convincing them that they should run away once he learned Krieg had 5000 men under him. Things soon got quiet though when they actually saw the shabby state of the ship and people wondered what had happened.
Gin soon entered the restaurant supporting a large man on his shoulders, who was barely able to walk straight.
"Food…Please, give me food…" Krieg's exhausted, weak voice resounded in the quiet restaurant as everyone observed him in confusion. They just couldn't equate the terrifying Foul Play Krieg they had heard about to the sorry state of the man in front of them.
Krieg took another step but he soon keeled over and fell to his knees.
"Don Krieg!" Gin yelled trying to support him, "Please! Don's on the verge of death! He's doomed if he doesn't eat!"
"Ahahaha!" Patty burst out laughing. "This bum is Don Krieg? How funny!"
Sanji, who was sitting with the Strawhats, suddenly got up and walked towards the kitchen, while Luffy observed him with a smile.
Gin yelled in rage that they had plenty of money, but Patty wasn't listening as he laughed at him before asking someone to call the Marines. The other customers cheered and agreed with him yelling things like "This is the punishment for all the crimes he's committed! If we give him food, he'll just attack us!"
"I won't do anything" Krieg begged bowing on his knees, "Feed me and I'll quietly leave… Please, help me…"
Gin teared up as he tried to stop his captain from bowing down but Krieg continued to beg, not that it had any effect on Patty and the others. And that's when Sanji came out holding a plate of fried rice and wine in his hands. "Move it, Patty!"
He kicked Patty out of the way making him go crashing to the floor before presenting the food to Gin. "Here Gin. He can eat this"
"Sanji!" Two voices yelled- one from Gin out of elation, and the other from Patty out of disbelief and anger.
"Thank you!" While Krieg started gobbling up the good, Patty and the other cooks started yelling at Sanji about all the underhanded ways Krieg used to win battles like raising a white flag and then attacking the enemy when their guard is down.
"That two-faced scoundrel is better off dead!"
And as if proving all their words, Krieg, after finishing his food, suddenly attacked Sanji and sent him flying. Luffy sighed while the cooks and customers were horrified.
"Don!" Gin yelled in shock, "This isn't what you said! You said you wouldn't hurt anyone if I led you here! That man saved our lives!"
Krieg didn't care as he grabbed and squeezed Gin's shoulder making him scream in pain while he sneered at everyone. "Ah, that was good food. I feel my strength returning already"
He then looked around the interior of the ship approvingly, "Nice ship. I'll take it!"
Guests started panicking and running away, Gin pleaded with Krieg, and the cooks blamed Sanji while Luffy's table quietly watched. Johnny and Yosaku were panicking, Usopp was fidgeting nervously, Moodie was curiously studying everyone, Zoro and Nami were calm and Luffy looked bored.
"My ship's a wreck, so I'll be taking this one…" Krieg continued and Luffy wanted to just punch the guy's face in and get it over with, but he sighed knowing he would become shackles to everyone's growth if he just took care of everything. As for his thoughts about Kreig, he did sympathise with him as he was starving but the moment he attacked Sanji, the one person who showed him kindness, he became scum in his eyes.
When Krieg demanded food for his hundred men, Sanji started walking towards the kitchen which gobsmacked the other cooks and Sanji was quickly surrounded with the cooks pointing their weapons at him.
"Are you a spy for Krieg, Sanji?! Why are you doing this?!" One of the cooks accused him.
"Go ahead and fire," Sanji said unperturbed and opened his arms wide, "I know that they are unredeemable scum but it doesn't matter. Wondering what happens after we feed them or judging them is too much of a hassle. I'm a cook. No more. No less. I see someone starving, I feed them. That's all"
Luffy grinned nudging Nami, who was next to him. "See? See? My cook is so cool!"
"Yeah yeah," Nami rolled her eyes but she did think Luffy was right.
Patty soon bashed Sanji from behind and a few people held him down while Patty brought out a cannon and shot at Krieg, which sent him flying outside crashing through the door.
Just as Patty thought he had won, Krieg walked back in without a scratch on him saying "This is the lousiest restaurant I've been to…" He then removed his coat to reveal a suit of golden-coloured armour which covered just his upper body.
"You're damn annoying!" Krieg roared pulling out two guns and at the same time, multiple slots in his armour opened up revealing more guns, which shocked the others into panic.
Just before he could start firing though, all the guns sticking out from his armour were ripped out before the ones in his hands were swatted away. Everyone stared dumbfoundedly at the straw hat-wearing man standing in front of Krieg who threw away all the guns.
"Wh-what happened?" Krieg stared at all the empty slots in his armour before looking at the man in front of him. 'Did they get damaged because of the Grand Line?' "Who are you?"
Luffy didn't answer as he walked back to his table and plopped back down not giving him a second glance.
"Hey, you brat!" Krieg growled, "I'm talking to you!"
Luffy rolled his eyes at him and before Krieg could blow up at him again, Zeff came up and dropped a huge bag in front of him. "Here, food for a hundred men. Take it to you men"
"Owner Zeff!" The cooks yelled in shock.
"Zeff?" Krieg's eyes widened, "Did they say 'Zeff'?"
"Owner Zeff! What are you thinking?!" Patty asked shocked, "If we feed all those pirates, they'll only come and attack us!"
"That's only if they have the will to fight," Zeff scoffed before turning to Krieg, "You went to the Grand Line and came back running scared, eh?"
While the cooks were freaking out over how even Krieg couldn't handle the Grand Line, Moodie poked Luffy to get his attention.
"Why do you think he failed? He had five thousand men, so is that not enough to survive the Grand Line even for a few days?"
The rest at his table also perked up and paid attention to the two, also curious.
"Hmm…well, think of a tsunami. Does it really matter if you have just ten men or ten thousand? It'll wipe everyone out regardless. It's the same with Grand Line. You can only survive if you're strong enough to handle it"
"I see," Moodie nodded in understanding.
Usopp spoke up in a trembling voice next "I-Is that tsunami thing just an analogy or d-do you mean it literally too?"
Luffy grinned, "Who knows?"
"Hey hey! Can't we rethink our plan of going there?! It's suicide!" Usopp got terrified and started panicking.
"Quite you," Zoro bonked him on the head.
Luffy turned his attention back to Krieg who was demanding that Zeff hand over his log book and Zeff firmly declined it.
"Then I'll take it from your dead hands!" Krieg roared, "It's true th-"
"Hey!" Luffy yelled getting his attention. "Go feed your crew. They're dying of starvation out there"
Krieg slowly turned to glare at him. "Were you talking to me, brat?!"
"Zeff won't give you the logbook. So, go feed your crew, come back, attack and kill everyone here, and then you'll get the logbook, okay? So get going now. It's really irritating to hear you talk"
"The hell are you saying, you bastard!" The cooks yelled at Luffy in rage.
"How dare you speak to me that way?!" Krieg roared, "I'm Don Kr-"
"Yeah yeah," Luffy sighed, "You're gonna kill me too. Fine, just hurry up will you? Your men are dying out there"
Krieg looked lost on whether to kill Luffy right now for speaking to him that way or whether to come back later. He remembered his guns being pulled out from his armour and instantly decided that he would go and prepare. "Watch your mouth, brat!" He snorted as he lifted the bag of food, "I'm taking this food to my men. Then, I'm coming ba-"
"Just fucking go already!" Luffy sighed and Krieg's eyes twitched.
"I'll kill you first when I come back!" He growled at Luffy before addressing the rest of the restaurant and told them to leave if they didn't want to die before finally leaving.
"Heh, thanks, kid. It really was irritating to hear him talk" Zeff smirked.
"Right? Right?"
"I'm so sorry, Sanji!" Gin cried in shame, "I-I didn't think he would do this…"
"No need to apologize, underling," Zeff said showing no hostility towards him, "Every person in this restaurant acted according to what they felt was right, that's all"
"Owner Zeff! Why are you acting like you're siding with Sanji?!" Patty asked enraged while the other cooks nodded and threw out similar statements.
"SHUT UP, YOU EGGPLANTS!" Zeff roared shutting everyone up, "Have you ever felt what it feels like to be on the brink of starvation?! Losing all food and water in the middle of the sea! Do you know how agonizing that is?!"
He calmed himself down while the rest were confused before glancing at Sanji who had a dark expression on his face. "The difference between you all and Sanji is whether you know it or not…" He didn't comment on it anymore and just pointed to the back of the restaurant, "If you're gonna keep complaining, then just head out the back door"
None of the cooks backed down and resolved themselves to fight, and seeing that Gin became agitated and yelled "What is wrong with all of you?! Did you not see how strong the Don is?!"
"Hey, Gin" Sanji calmly said walking up and sitting right next to the Strawhats' table. "As a cook, I fed them because they were hungry. But the ones who will come to attack now are fully fed plunderers. If they try to take over the ship, I'll slaughter them all without mercy, including you. Got that?"
While Gin was taken aback by the statement, Luffy yelled out to him. "Hey Gin, I'm curious. What exactly did you do to make Hawky chase after you all the way back here?"
"Hawky?" Gin asked confused before his eyes widened, "Y-you know the man who chased after us?!"
"My, I was wondering why the ship looked like it had slashes," Zeff nodded with a smile, "If it's him, that explains it"
"I barely saw him!" Gin yelled terrified as he held his head having traumatic flashbacks, "There was a crazy fog… I don't know. It's all mixed up in my head that I don't even know if it was a dream or not. T-That one man… Just that one man sunk all our ships!"
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Only Luffy and Zeff remained calm while everyone else freaked out that the whole of Krieg's armada of 50 ships was sunk by a single man.
"Y-You know who that is?" Gin asked Luffy, "That man with hawk-like eyes"
Zoro, who was drinking calmly, spluttered out. "H-Hawkeye?!" He then looked at Luffy and connected the dots. "You were talking about Hawkeye when you said Hawky?!"
"Yeah," Luffy said amused, "I was wondering why you didn't react to the name before…"
"You know him?!"
"No no, just know of him"
"Ahh…" Zoro leaned back into his chair disappointed.
"Who is Hawkeye?" Usopp asked.
"He's the man I'm looking for. The Strongest Swordsman in the World"
"He's a Warlord, isn't he?" Nami asked getting a nod from Luffy and a questioning look from Zoro and Usopp, which warranted a small explanation.
Meanwhile, Gin was recounting what had happened to them and saying that he didn't know why Hawkeye had attacked them.
"Maybe you disturbed his nap?" Zeff suggested.
"That's not funny! He murdered our entire crew!"
"I wasn't joking," Zeff placated him, "That's just the kind of place the Grand Line is"
"A place where anything can happen huh?" Zoro smirked. "Can't wait to see it myself. Sounds like a very fun place and the man I'm looking for is also there"
"Fun place?!" Usopp gasped, "Did you not hear one word of what Luffy said?!"
"Stop it. There's no way we're not going there" Nami bonked him on the head while Sanji just stared at each member silently.
Luffy suddenly felt a presence approaching them, so instantly got up and walked towards the entrance.
"Luffy?" Zoro asked also following him along with Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Zeff and Moodie.
There was a loud battle roar from the galleon alerting them that the pirates were ready for battle, but Luffy wasn't even looking at them and just staring into the distance somewhere behind the ship. The others tried to see what he was looking at but the pirates soon started swinging over while the cooks gave their own battle cry.
"Luf-" Nami was pulling his hand when a loud CRACK! drowned out every sound followed by sounds of creaking. Everyone watched in astonishment as the galleon got cut right down the middle, the two halves creaking under their own pressure and breaking apart even more. The sea became chaotic as the galleon lurched and began sinking and while everyone was holding on for dear life and Zeff was shouting to get the Baratie back in control, Luffy and Zoro's eyes were fixed on the man they could see in the distance.
"He followed us all the way out here!" / "He's come to kill us!" The Krieg pirates were screaming in horror while their galleon collapsed and the debris created a platform of sorts in front of the Baratie.
Nami, who was holding onto Luffy for balance, saw him and Zoro both looking in the same direction without moving and found a silhouette of a man sitting on a small boat when she looked too. "Who's that?"
"Hawkeye…" Zoro breathed, his heart thumping in excitement.
"Wow, really?" Moodie asked, having come up to them too.
"You mean that scary guy is here?!" Usopp shrieked.
While the others chattered, Luffy studied the man sitting in the coffin-like boat curiously. His clothing of a red and black ornate coat, the crucifix hanging off his neck, the short beard, mustache and sideburns that all pointed upwards - It made Luffy think of a Spanish Swordsman. And then there were his unique eyes.
"How did he cut that ship in two?" Patty asked, "He doesn't seem to be carrying any weapon"
"It's on his back" Zeff answered.
"What? That sword?! How can he cut a galleon with just a sword?!"
"He can. That's why he's called the Worlds Greatest Swordsman"
The Krieg pirates were despairing and screaming at him asking what they did to him that he was chasing them.
"I was bored." was Mihawk's calm answer, which just enraged the pirates. One pirate pulled out a gun and shot at him while Mihawk causally pulled out the sword on his back and gracefully deflected all the bullets.
Luffy watched as Zoro jumped onto the debris watching Mihawk's swordplay as if he was in a trance. "He deflected it with just the tip of the sword… I've never seen such graceful movements…"
"A sword without grace is nothing but an iron bar," Mihawk said eyeing him and his three swords. The pirates recognized Zoro too and started chattering, but Luffy tuned them all out and just watched his swordsman.
Zoro grinned as he untied the bandana on his arm, "I've been sailing the seas to meet you!"
"For what reason?"
Zoro tied the bandana on his head, "To be the best!" He grinned bringing out his swords, "You said you were bored, right? Let's duel!"
Mihawk looked unimpressed. "A duel? Such a pitiful weakling"
He jumped from his coffin boat and landed softly in front of Zoro. "If you are a fine swordsman, you should be able to gauge the difference in our strengths without having to cross blades"
"Yeah, I know"
"And yet, you challenge me… Is it that you are brave? Or simply reckless?"
"It is my ambition that fuels me," Zoro declared as he put Wado in his mouth, "And a promise to a friend!"
Mihawk still had an uninterested look in his eyes which reminded Zoro of the way Luffy looked at all his opponents. His eyes narrowed when Mihawk reached down for his crucifix necklace and unsheathed it to reveal a tiny knife.
"…what's the meaning of this?"
"I'm not the kind of fool who gives it their all to hunt a rabbit. You may be a swordsman of some renown in these parts, but this is East Blue - the weakest of the Seas." He then made an apologetic expression as he held up the knife, "Unfortunately, I have nothing smaller than this on me"
"Quit mocking me," Zoro clenched his jaw in anger as he charged at Mihawk, "Just don't regret it when you die!"
"You're just a little frog in a well. Time you learned how big the world is…"
"ONIGIRI!"
His three blades were stopped, the momentum completely dissipating as if he hadn't put any strength into it, and Zoro's heart sank. He already knew that in terms of pure physical strength and speed, he was lacking a lot. But still… His eyes trembled as he saw that his opponent had stopped his strongest attack with just the tip of the pocketknife… Was he no match in swordplay either? He was planning to close the gap in physical strength with his swordplay, but Mihawk hadn't even bothered to take out his sword and cross blades with him. And yet. Here he was. Putting all his strength and skill into his attack while Mihawk's hand didn't even move.
'No wait!' Zoro quickly stopped despairing over the situation as he thought about Haki. 'He's definitely using Haki to block my attack…'
Zoro jumped back calmly, surprising Mihawk a bit at his quick switch in emotions, and took a deep breath before lunging at him again. 'I just have to unlock Haki too and we'll be on even ground!'
———
Luffy looked on in pity knowing exactly what Zoro was thinking. He was surprised when Zoro instantly got over his despair of his strongest attack being blocked and started attacking again, but it was clear what he was thinking. He was trying to unlock Haki.
Just telling someone that there is a mysterious force that exists in them, and seeing the feats one was capable of doing using Haki were two completely different things. And Zoro had just heard about it. Luffy was unfortunately nowhere near proficient in Armament, so he had pretty much never used it during the spars with Zoro and the only time Zoro had seen it was when Luffy had explained it and had punched a tree. Observation wasn't flashy, so Zoro had no proper idea of what exactly Haki was, and hence his thoughts of him being on the same level as Mihawk if he just unlocked Haki.
Mihawk seemed to be curious about what Zoro was doing too as he was attacking him with a calm mind. Mihakw pushed him using a bit more force making him fall on his back before asking "What are you trying to do?"
Zoro panted as he instantly got up and focused again. 'Just have to unlock it… just have to unlock it…'
"Zoro!" Luffy yelled halting his thoughts and both swordsmen curiously looked over at him too. "He's not using Haki"
Zoro's eyes widened with shock while Mihawk went "Ah" in realization.
"You thought I was using Haki?" Mihawk chuckled shaking his head. "It would besmirch my name if I used that in a duel against a weakling like you"
And despair finally set in for Zoro. 'It can't be!'
He charged at Mihawk again and all his swings were blocked or deflected by his small knife. And now that he wasn't thinking about Haki, he saw how Mihawk was responding to his attacks. A downward swing got parried away by the tip of the knife at just the exact spot to alter its trajectory to the right. A three-sword strike was intercepted at the exact spot where all three swords met and would be immobilized if intercepted. It was pure and flawless swordplay.
"GRRAAAH!" 'THIS IS RIDICULOUS! IS THE GULF BETWEEN US THIS MUCH?!'
The ferocity of Zoro's attacks increased as his mind became disarrayed, thoughts of his childhood with Kuina, all their fights, their promise, his training, the spars with Luffy - Everything becoming a jumbled mess in his head, which made his attacks like that of a mindless beast.
Luffy watched with a blank look as Zoro lost his cool and kept a watchful eye on Mihawk. He had thought that Zoro would keep a level head since he had kinda shown him that people could grow much stronger, but looks like losing to a toy-like knife was too much of a blow to his pride.
The others were in shock and disbelief that East Blue's strongest was being toyed with.
"L-Luffy," Nami's trembling hands pulled on his shirt, "Do something…"
"It's okay," he said softly, "Zoro's strong. He won't die"
"Strong?" Sanji scoffed, "He's getting his ass handed to him there. You call that strong?"
"Not that kind of strong"
No one understood his words, except for Zeff, who nodded in understanding. "Conviction eh?"
"Uh-huh"
Mihawk, losing interest in the fight itself, just studied Zoro. "What drives you, pitiful weakling? Why are you fighting so hard?" He said which made Zoro attack even more fiercely.
Johnny and Yosaku got riled up yelling "How dare he call Big Bro a weakling?!" and tried to charge at him, but a simple yank from Luffy made them stay in place.
"Luffy!" Usopp screamed, "Zoro will die at this rate! We gotta help him!"
"This is Zoro's dream. No one has the right to interfere" he said shutting down any arguments.
Zoro's reckless and mindless attacks continued and Mihawk got bored and decided to end it. "TORA-GARI!" Zoro's attack was stopped and the toy-like knife pierced his chest. Blood gushed out from his chest and mouth, and screams erupted from the crew and others.
Zoro panted hard feeling the blade in his chest ready to take his life and his body trembling in exhaustion… but he held his ground and stood where he was.
"Do you wish for me to pierce your heart?" Mihawk asked surprised, "Why do you refuse to step back?"
"I don't know… Not really sure myself," Zoro panted as blood dripped out from his mouth, "But I believe that if I take even one step back now, all the promises and oaths I've made up until now will go to waste… and I'll never be able to return to where I'm currently standing…"
"Yes… such is defeat"
Zoro chuckled darkly, "That's why I can't step back…"
"Even if it means death?"
"I prefer death to defeat"
For the first time in the fight, Luffy saw a glint of respect in Mihawk's eyes as he pulled his knife out of Zoro's chest and sheathed it. "Kid, announce your name"
"Roronoa Zoro!" He declared bringing up his swords in front of him and held them such that all three of his swords were at angles to one another.
"I will remember it. It has been a while since I have seen one with such strong will. As respect to a fellow swordsman," he said pulling Yoru out from his back and holding it in front of him, "I shall wield this, the strongest sword in the world, to end your life"
"I appreciate the offer…" Zoro said calmly readying for the final attack. 'The world's strongest… or death!'
Mihawk charged at him and Zoro began spinning the swords in his hands.
"Three Sword Style: Three Thousand Worlds!"
The two exchanged strikes, sounds of swords clashing rang through the air, and the two stood back to back. The two swords in Zoro's hands shattered an instant later and a cut opened up across his chest.
"ZORO!" Nami screamed in alarm as she kept trying to make Luffy help him.
'I lost…' Zoro calmly accepted his defeat, taking out Wado from his mouth and sheathed it with a click. 'Never thought I would lose… So this is the difference between me and the World's Greatest…' Zoro then turned around to face Mihawk and presented his chest to him, spreading his arms wide. 'Sorry Luffy… Guess I won't be able to continue my journey with you… ahh… he already showed me the difference and yet, I lost my cool… is Luffy disappointed in me?…'
"…What are you doing?" Mihawk asked confused.
Grinning, Zoro answered. "A wound on one's back is a swordsman shame"
Mihawk felt excited watching him. The person in front of him had amazing resolve who given enough time could perhaps surpass him. "Splendid!" He praised smiling wide as he began swinging his sword at Zoro.
'So cool…' Luffy also smiled wide, feeling a mixture of pride and also anger that he had to let this happen.
The others, however, were showing a different sentiment.
"ZORO!" / "BIG BRO ZORO!" Usopp and the bounty duo screamed in unison.
Sanji grit his teeth, not able to understand why Zoro was going so far. 'The result is obvious. You were going against the strongest in the world? Why would you cling to your ambition even after realizing your inevitable death?!' "It's simple! Just give up on your ambition!"
"You idiot!" Nami shouted through tears before she raised a fist to hit Luffy to do something but flinched when she saw that Luffy was… Steaming?
There was no time to question him as Mihawk's sword swung down on Zoro, his chest got cut and blood gushed out. Before Zoro had even begun his downward fall, Luffy appeared behind him and an instant later, Luffy gently put down Zoro on the deck of the Baratie.
The bounty duo, who were about to jump into the sea, froze when they saw Zoro right next to them but quickly got over their shock and began treating him along with Usopp and Nami.
"Idiot! Asshole! Stupid!" Nami cursed him out through sobs.
"Zoro! Stay with us!" Usopp yelled.
"Big Bro Zoro, say something!" Johnny and Yosaku sobbed.
Seeing Zoro in good hands, Luffy went back to Mihawk and studied him carefully, more importantly, his eyes. It really was special with the strange concentric patterns. Similar to Im. 'Is there a connection?'
"…Are you so angry that your body is steaming?" Mihawk asked puzzled at seeing Luffy's body releasing steam.
"What? No no," Luffy chuckled, "It's my devil fruit… well, I am angry that you cut up Zoro but you didn't kill him, so that's okay"
"I see. Were you not worried that I would kill your friend? You seemed pretty calm"
"Nah. I knew you would recognize your successor"
Mihawk's eyes widened at that."My… Truly interesting…" He then noticed that straw hat dangling on his nape and got even more intrigued.
Zoro's eyes were unfocused for a while but he slowly opened his eyes and saw Nami's tearful face. He then noticed everyone else trying to treat him and it finally registered that he was still alive. He tried to say something but ended up coughing out blood, which alarmed everyone.
"He okay?" Luffy yelled out.
"Of course not, you dumbass!" Nami screeched.
"But he's conscious!" Usopp answered.
"It is much too soon for you to die, boy," Mihawk yelled out, "My name is Dracule Mihawk. Discover yourself. Learn more about the world. And grow strong! However long it may take, I shall await you at the top! So forge on ahead with your fierce conviction and strive to surpass my sword! Strive to surpass me, Roronoa Zoro!"
Zeff, the only one apart from Luffy who actually understood the sheer magnitude of what Mihawk had just said, was in awe. "To think Mihawk would say such words…"
"What's your goal?" Mihawk asked turning his attention to Luffy who was smiling.
"Pirate King"
"You tread a perilous path," Mihawk smirked, "Even harder than surpassing me"
"Yeah, I know. And I'll do it anyway"
Mihawk nodded liking his answer and confidence.
Zoro, who vaguely heard the words being exchanged between Luffy and Mihawk, had only one thing going through his mind. 'Is Luffy disappointed? Is Luffy disappointed? He must be embarrassed… I lost my cool…' He forced his hand to move, grab Wado and painstakingly pointed it towards the sky.
"Ahh idiot! Stop that. Don't move!" Nami and the others yelled but it fell on deaf ears.
"L-Luffy, c-can you h-hear me?" he managed to mutter through his pants.
"Yeah!"
"Sorry for worrying you… I know… that if I don't become the World's Greatest Swordsman, it'll… only disappoint you, right?"
He spat out more blood causing the others to tell him to shut up, but he held his sword high.
"I SWEAR!" Zoro declared with tears streaming down his eyes, "That I'll never lose again! From now to the day I beat him to become the World's Greatest Swordsman… I WILL NEVER LOSE AGAIN! Got any problems with that, PIRATE KING!"
Luffy grinned wide, feeling ecstatic chills running down his spine. "Shishi Nope!"
"You two make a good team," Mihawk said grinning too. "I suppose you are the one who told him about Haki?" He asked Luffy as he began walking towards his coffin boat.
"Yeah," Luffy answered, walking along with him and their voices were low enough that only the two heard each other. "I'm not from the New World though. Just happen to know a lot of things"
"I see"
"By any chance, do you have Shanks' number on you?" Luffy asked suddenly making Mihawk do a double take.
"Shanks?" His eyes went to Luffy's hat again. "I'm afraid I do not have it on me. I'm positive I had written it down somewhere but it should be somewhere back home… I think…" He trailed off trying to remember.
"Well, give me yours th-"
"HAWKEYES!" Krieg suddenly yelled interrupting their conversation. "YOU CA-"
Luffy quickly soru'd in front of him, kicked him in the face and sent him flying back, before coming back to Mihawk's side. Only Mihawk was able to follow his movement and saw what happened. To everyone else, Krieg was yelling one instant and the next, he was flying back with seemingly no one attacking him and crashed into his broken galleon.
"Annoying," Luffy sighed before looking back up at Mihawk.
"You are quite fast," Mihawk commented looking at his legs curiously.
Luffy tilted his head in confusion. He was fast sure, but fast enough to make Mihawk comment on it? "It's just Soru"
"Hmm, have you not realized it? Considering your strength, you are much too fast for it to be just Soru. Is your devil fruit related to elasticity? That would explain the incongruency"
Luffy blinked dumbly before thinking carefully about it. With just Gear 2, he could achieve speeds much faster than Blueno's Soru in the story, so now that he was adding actual Soru with Gear 2, was he achieving speeds way greater? Even in his normal state, it would be much faster.
"I see" Luffy nodded in understanding, "I haven't actually seen people using Soru, so yeah, I guess I didn't have a reference to judge it. The elasticity of my legs is basically giving me an extra boost each time I kick off the ground. So, the harder and more times I kick off the ground, the faster I can go. Is that it?"
Mihawk nodded. "Looks like you are an instinctive learner. That's great, but you should analyze what exactly you are doing when you have the time. You can achieve greater things that way"
Luffy nodded in understanding. "Thanks!" He said before offering him a pen and paper, which he took but looked hesitant.
"Don't worry. I know you like to keep to yourself… Apart from getting Shanks' number, I'll only call if it's something concerning you or related to you. I could've prevented a tragedy on Whitebeard's crew if I had his number a couple of years ago. So now, I make sure to get everyone's number. Better to have it and not need it rather than to need it and not have it, you know"
Mihawk looked curiously at him. "By tragedy, do you mean how one of their own killed another?"
"Yeah"
"I see" Mihawk nodded and wrote down his number. "You're intriguing"
"Shishi thanks. Here's mine," he said giving him a piece of paper with his number written down, "Call me if you're bored"
Mihawk took it and jumped back to his coffin boat. "Farewell. It was time well spent to come here"
"Bye-bye. Say hi to Shanks for me!"
He used a swing of his sword to propel himself away and disappeared from everyone's sight.
Luffy went back to the Baratie where Zoro had been mostly stabilized and taken inside to rest.
———
Krieg finally got his bearings and stood up shaking his head. He looked around in anger and when he didn't find Mihawk anywhere, scoffed. "That damn coward! He sneak attacked me and ran away!"
While he rallied his men, Luffy sat on the railing waiting for the battle to start when Nami walked up next to him.
"Zoro's okay," She said as she leaned on the railing.
Luffy hummed in response before seeing a solemn look on her face. "You angry at me?"
"Of course, I am, idiot!" Nami slightly glared at him. "What would have happened if Zoro actually died huh?!"
Luffy sighed. "It's his dream, Nami. I pro-"
"Yeah yeah," Nami sighed rubbing her eyes, "I know… and I get it… You guys aren't just playing around when it comes to your dreams. I already knew it… but seeing him almost die… I don't know, just made it real I guess. Zoro made it very clear that he would rather die than let his dream end… and you're like him too. Haah… Why did I have to join up with a couple of suicidal bastards?…"
Luffy grinned while she snapped at him to not laugh about such matters.
Sanji watched the two from behind them with a contemplative look on his face, having heard the conversation. Half his mind was going 'Nami-swan looks so cute when she's angry~' while the other half was thinking about what she said and what Zoro had said earlier. 'Not playing around… Rather die than give up huh…'
He blew out a puff of smoke looking thoughtful before he caught Zeff looking at him with a smirk and he grew annoyed. "What you smiling at, ya damn old geezer?"
Zeff's smirk only widened and Sanji cursed him under his breath. Fortunately, their fight didn't start as the Krieg pirates soon started their attack and the two went away to guard their restaurant while Luffy and Nami just watched. The fins on the Baratie were opened up and a proper platform for a fight formed. Then the Mackerel figurehead of the Baratie detached itself from the ship and it turned out to be a paddle boat with cannons sticking out of its open maw. Patty and another cook called Carne were riding it and shooting cannonballs at the Krieg pirates.
Usopp and Moodie came out from inside the restaurant while the cooks and Krieg pirates fought and joined Luffy and Nami, who were just watching.
"Hey, Zoro's all bandaged up now. He's going to be fine" Usopp said while observing the fight.
"The scar's so long," Moodie added trailing a fine her across her chest, "It looks bad now but once it's healed, it's gonna look really sexy"
"Shishi yeah, it will look sexy alright"
"Idiots! He almost lost his life and you're talking like this?!" Usopp snapped.
"Ehh, you guys just don't get the sheer magnitude of what that scar signifies"
Before they could ask what he meant by that, a tall and ridiculously dressed man climbed up onto the platform. He had a giant circular iron plate on his chest that covered him up to his knees, and a few smaller ones which covered his elbows, kneecaps, shoulder pads, and his hands. And at the centre of each plate was a pearl. It was the aptly named Pearl, the second commander of the Krieg Pirates.
The pirates cheered, and the cooks became shocked when Patty and Carne were taken out like they were nothing by Pearl, but one of the Strawhats had a different reaction.
Nami's eyes glinted and she became excited. "Hey!" She yelled loudly getting Pearl's attention. "Are those real pearls?"
"Hm?" Pearl looked at her and since she was pretty, showed off. "Hahaha! Yes! These are all real pearls! Why? Interested? My face is handsome too, so I guess it can't be helped if you fall for me! Hahaha!"
"That face is handsome?" Nami looked disgusted as she jumped down. "Well, either way, I'll be your opponent! And when I defeat you, all those pearls will be mine!"
Pretty much everyone, except Luffy and Usopp, was in disbelief - the pirates started laughing and mocking her, Pearl and Krieg included, the cooks looked worried, Moodie looked doubtful but seeing the calm look on Luffy's face just observed her curiously, Sanji came up to her to dissuade her…
But Nami didn't care, not listening to anyone, and just walked up to Pearl with her shock staff out. "Oh? Laughing at me huh? You won't be able to take even one hit from me"
"Little girl thinks she can defeat me! Hahahaha!" Pearl and the others' laughter only intensified. Sanji came up to stand in front of her protectively saying something chivalrous but Nami pushed him away before standing in front of Pearl.
"Hahaha! Okay, hit me. Go on, hit me! Hahahaha!" Pearl laughed leaving himself wide open.
"Okay then," Nami grinned as she extended her staff and brought it down on his chest plate. A tong sound of her shock staff meeting the iron chest plate rang in the air but nothing else happened, which caused Pearl and everyone else to laugh harder. Luffy and Usopp were snickering too, except for the complete opposite reason.
"She sure likes this huh?" Usopp commented as Nami waited for two more seconds.
"Yep, she sure does," Luffy grinned and finally Nami turned the dial up.
BZZZZZZZTTTTT!
The iron plates plus him being wet added to Pearl's electrocution and everyone who was laughing at her froze and stared in shock with their mouths hanging wide open. Five seconds later, Nami turned the dial down and a smoking and burnt Pearl fell face-first onto the deck and Nami twirled her staff around and grinned at everyone.
"Who's next?" She asked pointing her staff at them and everyone took a step back gulping in fear. 'God, I love this feeling!'
When no one came, she scoffed and dismissed them.
"Oh, my love! Nami-swan is a goddess!" Sanji spun around singing her praises.
"Instead of that, make yourself useful," Nami ordered him, "Extract all of those pearls from this idiot. They're mine!"
"As you wish, my dear Nami-swan!"
"MEN!" Krieg roared just then, "Don't be scared of that bitch! Just get that staff she's using away from her!"
"Why don't come yourself and take it from me, coward?!" Nami fired back and Krieg glared at her.
"Why you little?! Men, attack her!"
"HAHA! HE'S SO SCARED!" Moodie suddenly yelled joining in on taunting him. "He doesn't even want to take a chance by coming near her!"
Nami chuckled readying her staff just as multiple pirates began charging at her. At the same time, a giant iron-spiked ball was thrown by Krieg directly at Nami. She just saw it before focusing on the pirates coming at her knowing Luffy would take care of it and Luffy did. He just caught it with one hand in midair before landing next to Nami and gently placed it next to her with a grin while Sanji did a handstand before spinning his legs and taking out all the pirates that charged at them.
Immediately understanding Luffy's intention, Nami grinned too before touching the iron ball with her staff and turning the dial all the way up. Krieg, instantly realizing what she was doing, let go of the chain that was attached to the iron spike ball, but he was a bit late to let it go and he felt electricity coursing through his body for a second which made him fall down to his knees.
"COWARD!" Nami yelled with a giggle and Moodie added on the insults too.
Luffy didn't give anyone time to understand what had happened as he picked up the iron spike ball and threw it at the pirates causing a row of enemies to get smashed by it and fall into the sea.
All that had happened in less than five seconds, so the pirates were extremely scared of them who looked like monsters to their eyes.
"Finally joining the fight, you damn coward?" Kreig roared at Luffy as he stood back up.
"…You know me?" Luffy asked surprised.
The cooks, pirates and Kreig looked at him dumbfounded.
"Oi! The hell do you mean? He's been taunting you this entire time" Sanji said shaking his head in disbelief.
"He was?" Luffy asked honestly surprised. "When?"
"When the two of us were talking," Nami informed with a giggle, "He kept yelling at you and telling you that you'll be the first to die. You even talked to him earlier when he was in the restaurant too"
"Really? Well, sorry for ignoring you, man" Luffy said looking at Krieg, "I think my brain filtered out anything you said because you're so annoying"
"That's it! I'm killing you with poison!" Krieg roared as he instantly shot a missile at the Baratie.
'Oh yeah, this guy shoots some poison…' Luffy recalled and intercepted the missile before it was even halfway between Krieg and the restaurant. The missile actually exploded when he touched it and a bunch of shurikens burst out impaling Luffy.
"Hahaha! You fell for the trick!" Krieg laughed but Luffy just landed on a piece of debris and pulled out all the projectiles like it was nothing before looking at Krieg. "Is that it?"
Krieg grit his teeth in anger, realizing that his opponent was strong and the surrounding pirates who were cheering also instantly quietened down. Luffy went back to the Baratie and just as he landed, Gin yelled loudly. "Don't move!"
Sanji and the cooks' eyes widened with shock when they saw Zeff lying on the ground with his peg leg broken off and Gin standing above him with a gun pointed at his head. "Anybody moves and I'll have no problems blowing his head off!"
"HAHAHAHA! GOOD GOING, GIN!" Krieg yelled, thinking he had won.
Sanji scoffed at Zeff, "You pathetic geezer, why are you setting a bad example when we're fighting here?"
Zeff scoffed back, "Hmph! I don't want to hear anything from a little eggplant like you"
"Little eggplant?! Stop treating me like a kid already!" Sanji yelled angrily at Zeff before looking up at Gin, "Gin! Aim that gun at me"
"Sanji… why?" Gin said looking mortified, "All you have to do is get off this ship! Then, everyone lives!"
"No, this restaurant is that old geezer's treasure. I refuse to let anyone take it!"
"It's just a restaurant, Sanji! Why would you give up your life for it?!" Gin pleaded with him.
"Just a restaurant?…" Sanji sighed, 'It's not just that. It's that geezer's treasure. I've already taken away everything else from him… His strength… His dreams… I won't let anyone take away his treasure too!"
"Damn eggplant…" Zeff sighed.
The other cooks became curious and asked him what he meant which lead to Sanji recounting the first time he met Zeff and what happened on the rocky outcropping they were trapped on. From Sanji's ship being attacked by the The Cook Pirates, Sanji yelling "I'm gonna find… the All Blue one day! There's no way I'm gonna be killed by some stupid pirates like you in a place like this!", Zeff and Sanji ending up on the rock cropping without food, starving for a long time, Sanji finding out that Zeff ate his own leg to make sure Sanji had something to eat, learning that Zeff had the same dream too, and Sanji promising that he'll get stronger to help him build his floating restaurant.
Sanji finished his story with his head bowed and a dark expression on his face. "I took everything from him. He gave up his leg so that I could live! He gave up his dream… There is no other way for me to show gratitude for his kindness other than to risk my life for him! So, come at me, Gin! I'll never let you take this restaurant away!"
There was silence for a few seconds before Luffy let out a deep tired sigh. "You self-sacrificial goddamn idiot…"
"Wh-what?"
"He didn't cut off his own leg so that you could slave away under him forever," Luffy said as he walked towards him and flicked his forehead.
"He-" Sanji began protesting but another flick shut him up and Luffy continued, "He didn't save you just so you could die for him. He bet his dream on you"
"Shut up!" Sanji snapped grabbing Luffy's vest. "What do you know huh?! My enormous debt to that old geezer and this ship! You could never understand!"
"Debt? Debt?! If you think you owe him something, are you gonna repay it by sacrificing yourself, you damn coward?!" Luffy said pushing back and making him fall on his butt. His eyes trembled as Luffy grabbed his collar and continued, "Is that what you think Zeff wants? Every day you spend here working under him is you spitting in the face of his kindness! He saved you, a random kid he didn't know, just because you had the same dream as him. And instead of living your dream, here you are talking about throwing your life away and how you'll slave under him for the rest of your life!"
"Hey eggplant," Zeff called out a second later and Sanji slowly turned towards him, "When we talked about All Blue a couple of days ago…" he rested his head on the deck with a smile, "It made me really happy"
"Geezer…"
"Heh, I thought you had lost interest in it because you hadn't mentioned it in so long, but your face still lights up whenever you talk about that place… Someday, instead of stupid and crazy theories, I want to talk about the real thing… with you"
Sanji's face morphed from shock to understanding, realizing what Zeff was saying and Luffy smirked shaking his head. 'Still can't say it outright huh? Guess that's how they are built'
"HEY GIN! BLOW HIS HEAD OFF ALREADY!" Kreig yelled and Luffy, Sanji and Zeff finally came out of their own world and recalled that a hostage situation was in place.
"Oh right… this is going on," Luffy said as he held out a hand to Sanji.
"You forgot? You stupid asshat!" Sanji yelled as he took his hand and pulled himself up.
Gin was still holding a gun to Zeff's head and Luffy sighed. "Hey Gin, you know who the worst kind of people are?"
Gin looked up at him with a distraught face already knowing the answer.
"Yeah, people who betray someone who was kind to them for no reason"
Gin's hand dropped and at the same time, a lead ball came flying in, courtesy of Usopp, and hit him in the temple making him stagger sideways. An instant later, Nami lunged at him with her staff out and thrust it at him. Gin sidestepped her attack being careful not to touch the tip of the staff, but Nami twisted her body and swing it at him. Gin quickly jumped back, putting some distance between them, and Nami clicked her tongue in disappointment knowing she had missed her chance for a surprise attack.
"Gin!" Krieg growled dangerously, "I clearly saw it! You lowered your gun first! Have you lost your mind?!"
"Don…" Gin said, "I'll take care of this man myself. It's the least I can do for him as he saved our lives… You should've left when you had the chance, Sanji. Now, the best I can offer you is a painless death"
"Eat worms, ya bastard!" Sanji scowled at him.
Gin then turned to Luffy. "You too, Strawhat. You should have left"
Luffy didn't answer and just stood with a thoughtful look on his face. Something was bothering him like he was forgotting something important.
"Hahaha! Too scared to even speak, Strawhat?!" Krieg taunted him but Luffy gave no reaction of having heard him.
"Luffy?" Nami walked up to him and shook him slightly. "What's wrong?"
"Hmm not sure"
"You hungry or something?"
"My stomach would speak out if that was the case"
"Hehe yeah. Your stomach growling could probably be heard all throughout East Blue"
"Shishi yeah… Hmm well, let me think for a bit"
"Sure"
While the two were talking casually and cracking jokes, Krieg was still shouting his head off asking who was a better Pirate King material amongst the two of them. And Luffy just continued talking with Nami, completely ignoring him.
"Alright! You've ignored me for the last time boy! Gin, kill that cook first and then we'll wipe everyone out!"
His men cheered, Sanji and Gin started battling, Nami stood next to Luffy watching her new crewmate fight, Usopp and Moodie stood at the railing watching the fight while Luffy stood thinking hard.
When he saw Usopp shooting at Gin from the second-floor deck, Luffy felt like he had missed something. 'Hmm… what is it? What is it? Usopp shooting from a high vantage point…' His eyes slowly widened finally realizing what was bothering him. In the story, Usopp and Zoro leave to chase after Nami immediately after Mihawk leaves, and reach Cocoyashi. He vaguely remembered what lead up to the 'Walk to Arlong Park' but he clearly remembered that Nami stabs herself in the hand to make it look like she was killing Usopp. And why does she do that? Because Usopp gets captured. And why does Usopp get captured? Because he shoots at Arlong from atop a house when he's about to kill Genzo.
'Genzo!' Luffy paled. Now that Nami was here and Usopp was also here, Arlong would still try to kill Genzo, wouldn't he? Luffy hastily checked the time and thankfully, it had been only 30 minutes since Mihawk left, so they should still be good.
Thankfully, the fight between Sanji and Gin was short and had come to an end with Gin bawling his eyes out that he couldn't kill Sanji. Krieg, of course, got enraged and called him a traitor and a weakling.
"Don…Is there any way… any way at all that this ship could be spared?" Gin pleaded tears running down his face. Krieg got even more furious along with the other pirates and Krieg lifted his shield up.
"Okay!" Luffy clapped his hands putting a stop to their conversation. "We have places to be, so I'll end this quickly!"
Before anyone could react, Luffy kicked towards all the pirates and their eyes bulged out in shock when a wind blade originated from his feet.
"He's like Hawkeye!" They paled when the wind blade slashed them across the chest and they fell into the sea. Luffy sent out a couple more Rankyakus and that was that was needed for all the pirates to back off in fear.
Krieg watched with gritted teeth, "You're a devil fruit user too?!"
Luffy didn't answer him as he kicked wind slashes towards him too, and he jumped out of the way.
"MEN! PUT YOUR MASKS ON! EXCEPT FOR YOU, GIN! YOU'RE NO LONGER A PART OF MY CREW!"
Gin looked distraught, and before the still-conscious pirates could even put on their masks, Krieg fired his MH5 poison gas bomb. Luffy just intercepted it halfway and it exploded, engulfing him in a purple gas upon impact.
"HAHAHAHA! THAT WAS POISON, YOU IDIOT! ANYONE WHO INHALES IT WILL DIE IN A FEW SECONDS!" Krieg laughed.
And hearing that, Nami paled, her eyes tearing up. "LUFFY!" No matter how strong he was, the poison would kill him, wouldn't it?
So did the others on the Baratie.
"That idiot!" Sanji cursed gritting his teeth. He had just joined and one of his crew members almost died and then another one was now being poisoned.
Usopp, Johnny, Yosaku and Moodie also cried out in alarm, yelling his name.
Nami dived into the sea without thinking and started swimming towards him. She struck a couple of a pirate and stole their gas masks, hoping that Luffy was holding his breath. But, her heart sank when she heard coughing sounds coming from inside the smoke. Nami swam faster, her heart beating way too fast, and by the time anyone else noticed, she was already halfway towards him.
"Nami-swan!" Sanji yelled in alarm when he finally noticed her and was about to jump in to stop her when the gas started dispersing. The gas soon cleared and they saw Luffy swinging his arms wildly to disperse all the gas while coughing.
"LUFFY!" Nami yelled again. "Please tell me you held your breath in!" She pleaded even though it was obvious he hadn't given how he was coughing.
"Oh hey Nami," Luffy casually waved getting his breathing in control, "Why are you swimming? And why are you crying?"
Nami stared at him dumbfounded at his casual tone. "…Th-that was poison"
"Oh. Don't worry, I'm immune to most poisons"
"…You're immune?"
"Yep. Pretty much only the deadliest of poisons can affect me. Like Magellan's probably…"
Nami silently held a hand out and Luffy airwalked towards her and pulled her up onto a broken piece of debris. She took a deep breath before smacking him hard on the head. "YOU GODDAMN IDIOT! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME BEFOREHAND?! I WAS SO SCARED!"
The rest sighed in relief knowing he was safe when they saw Nami hitting him again and again.
"Hey hey, okay stop," Luffy caught her hands as she huffed in anger, "You can hit me all you want later, okay? Let me take care of that first" he said pointing a thumb at Krieg.
"Fine," Nami grumbled. "But your debt just increased by a million for scaring me!"
"I'm in debt? Since when?"
"Since right now!"
"Shishi okay okay" Luffy chuckled as he jumped towards Krieg, who was gaping like a fish mumbling '"Th-That's im-impossible"
"Agree to disagree," Luffy said as he landed next to Krieg and punched him in the face, making him crash into the deck.
Krieg stood back looking furious. "I'M DON KRIEG! THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE-"
Another punch landed in his abdomen and he got his breath knocked out of him. His eyes bulged out when he realized that the wootz steel armour he was so proud of had cracked.
"I-I'm the STRONGEST!" Krieg yelled, more to himself than anybody else, before bringing out his battle spear.
—
Usopp watched Luffy break every weapon Krieg brought out with ease and actually felt sorry for the man. A spiked cape shield - Broken with a punch. An exploding battle spear - Broken with a punch. Projectile bombs - Swatted away. No matter what Krieg did Luffy just brute forced it and took care of it.
The fight was pretty much over and he could see that even Gin - the man who kept saying that Krieg was the strongest - was looking on in disbelief. Usopp sighed in relief that the fight was over but also felt ashamed at the same time. What had he done in the fight? He had been on the second-floor deck the whole time, sniping at the pirates. They were all accurate shots - Pirates standing on debris on the sea lost their balance and fell into the sea. Pirates who had climbed aboard the Baratie and fought the cooks were distracted by his sniping and when they angrily glared at him, other cooks got a chance to take them down. He had sniped at Gin once too, but that was it.
Basically just slowing them down or distracting them - That's all he had done. He knew he couldn't contend with Luffy or Zoro as they almost seemed to be in a different realm, and Sanji also seemed to be a monster like them too. Nami was the only 'normal' person in the crew and even she had an overpowered weapon which helped her stand toe to toe with the other monsters. She was sitting on a piece of debris while being surrounded on all sides by pirates as she watched Luffy take down Krieg, and there wasn't a trace of fear on her face. And here he was, safe on the second-floor deck and for most of the fight, and yet, his legs had trembled whenever someone glared at him.
'If only I had a weapon like Nami too…' Usopp trailed off. He recalled all the different trick weapons that Krieg used. Even though Luffy had taken care of them like they were nothing, they were still formidable to normal people. Projectile bombs, exploding spears, nets ('ooh maybe I could electrify it?') He thought of the Buggy balls and recalled Luffy saying that they could definitely be made smaller - and Usopp's mind raced with possibilities for increasing his arsenal.
—
At the same time, Nami was also looking at all the different weapons Krieg was pulling out and looked down at her own shock staff. 'This is pretty much a one-trick weapon huh?' When she saw it for the first time, the shock staff was an overpowered godlike weapon but now that she had fought a lot with it, she recognized that there were tons of drawbacks to it. Once the surprise factor wears off, everyone would just avoid being touched by the staff and that would be it. If they were strong enough, they could jump back and lose contact with the staff too. 'Would be great if few more features could be added to this weapon… like maybe wires that shoot out that are electrified too? Hmm, Usopp said he was an inventor right?'
—
At the same time, Sanji was watching the one-sided fight along with Zeff.
"Oi, crap-geezer… You want to talk about the real thing huh?" He trailed off blowing out a wisp of smoke.
"You have hearing problems or something, little eggplant?"
"Why you, you stupid geezer!"
The two devolved into a verbal fight.
—
Luffy ripped apart the net that was thrown at him before punching him one last time in the gut and Krieg felt his ribs break as he collapsed to his knees and lost consciousness, while still mumbling, "I'm… the… strongest…"
"Alrighty, that's that," Luffy said before taking off the diamond knuckle gloves Krieg had on his hands. While the Krieg pirates were coming to terms that their captain had lost, Luffy jumped to Nami and presented the diamonds to her.
As soon as she saw it, her eyes shined and the diamonds were snatched from Luffy's hands. She studied it for a few seconds, before breaking into ecstatic giggles. "These are real! It will easily fetch at least a million!"
"Oh? Great then. My debt is already paid off then"
Nami froze, just for a second though, and with an even stare, shamelessly added. "Interest has piled up"
"I had the debt for like two minutes!"
"Yes, Interest rate is 200% per minute. So, you still owe me 3 million"
"Sure," Luffy smiled before saying, "Jokes aside. I think you're missing something very obvious here"
"Hm?"
"You said you were just 2 million short to a 100 mill"
Nami slowly lost her smile and stared at the diamonds in bewilderment before looking back at the Baratie where Pearl had fallen unconscious. "T-those pearls… that many big sized ones… They will easily fetch about 3 million…"
She lost strength in her legs and leaned on Luffy for support, who gently held her in place. "You did it"
"…I did it…" she repeated dumbly, the reality of the situation not set in yet.
"Well, let's go get your freedom back," Luffy said with a smile and it was sweet music to her ears.
"Yeah…"
"Well, since the pearls cover 100 million, these diamonds are for the entire crew then, right?" Luffy said reaching out for them and she immediately hid them away inside her shirt.
"Don't you know that it's frowned upon to request of return of diamonds from a girl?"
"I'm pretty sure it's not"
"Maybe not, but it's very unwise," Nami smirked and Luffy chuckled grabbing her and going back to the Baratie.
———
Luffy quickly made Nami, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku get to the Merry along with the unconscious Zoro and prepare to set off while he took care of things at the Baratie (After Nami extracted all the pearls, of course).
Gin was looking down at the battered form of his captain and just couldn't believe his eyes. Sanji sighed feeling pity for Gin. "You chose to follow the wrong man, Gin," he said just as Gin hauled Krieg over his shoulders.
"I guess so. He was the only one who saw my value and gave me a place in his crew… I was indebted to him…"
"Doesn't mean you have to become his slave, man," Luffy said eyeing Sanji too. "Let me just say this, Gin," Luffy sighed, "Pirate crews aren't slaves for their captains. All your unworthy captain did was collect random fodder he could use. He isn't strong in the least… and you're all too blind to accept that"
Gin nodded solemnly, "I can see that… I think I'll steer my own course in life from now on… Thanks for the kindness, both of you"
"Sure, never come back," Sanji said before telling Patty and Carne to get Gin a boat.
"I hope to meet you again on the Grand Line someday," Gin said as he hauled all the Krieg pirates on the boat along with Krieg.
Luffy hummed but knew he never showed up in the story again. Did he go to the Grand Line again and die? "Hey Gin," he called out before he set off, "If you're really serious about going to the Grand Line, don't half-ass it, okay? You guys used underhanded tricks to win battles in East Blue of all places. You can't even fight head-on in the weakest sea, so if you think any sort of underhanded tactics will help you in the Grand Line, you won't last for more than a battle there"
Gin gulped nodding his head and gave a bitter smile. "We really are weak huh?"
"Yeah. Take care, Gin" Lufty waved at him as he sailed away.
Luffy then turned his attention to Sanji who was sitting down with a thoughtful look on his face. "So, coming with us?"
Sanji glanced at Luffy, then at Zeff, who just stared back at him giving nothing away, before sighing deeply and nodding his head, "You have yourself a cook"
"Shishi welcome aboard!" Luffy cheered, "I would like to give you some time to say your goodbyes, but we have somewhere to be, so make it quick. Don't worry about your stuff. I already packed it all and moved it to the Merry this afternoon. Just get your stuff from the kitchen"
"You did what?!" Sanji snapped but sighed in defeat when Luffy just laughed in response. "I'm already regretting joining you…"
Sanji didn't say anything more as he got up and went to the kitchen under the watchful eyes of the other cooks to fetch his remaining stuff.
Zeff then came beside Luffy. "Hmph! Thank god you're taking away that useless wa-"
"I promise I'll look after your son, old man." Luffy cut him off with a knowing smile and Zeff coughed into his hands before giving a small nod.
"They're such children huh?" Moodie came up to Luffy, having heard the conversation. Zeff quickly left knowing the two would start diagnosing him, which only caused the two to laugh.
"I'm gonna miss you, Luffy," Moodie said with a sad look on her face.
"Yeah, I would offer you a role on my crew, but I don't think you're fit for life on the seas"
"Yeah, you're right. Still, it would've been fun," she said as she hugged him tight.
"I'll pass on your information to the Revolutionaries in a week or so and ask them to call you," he whispered.
"Okay, I should be able to write up a compelling article with all the proof… Thanks, Luffy. Looks like taking you up on your offer to eat with you turned out to be a turning point in my life"
"Shishi, Good luck!"
He was about to separate but Moodie pulled him closer again and whispered mischievously into his ears. "You know, I got an idea for another book"
"Hm?"
"Yep. A book where the protagonist is a devil fruit user with the power of stretchiness"
Luffy's face slowly lost colour, realizing what she was implying. "N-no… Please don't…"
"Hehehe I already have more than half the plot in my mind already," she smirked separating from him and Luffy gulped. 'I-It should be fine right?' From what he had seen, only classical works were really widespread in the world, but any recently published novels were only locally popular and on top of that, fictional genre books didn't spread too much either. 'Yeah, it should be fine…' He concluded but at the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think that fate would play a cruel joke on him.
Sanji finally came out, bringing him out of his thoughts, and walked towards Luffy without looking at the other cooks, who were all gathered and watching him. Patty and Carne suddenly tried to attack him behind, but a leg sweep took care of both of them.
Sanji continued on silently until he reached Luffy. "The ship's not coming here?" He asked when he noticed that the ship was moving away from them.
"I can walk on air"
"…Right, gotta get used to this reality now…"
He then noticed Moodie and twirled around her, "Oh heavens! How cruel you are! We were so close yet we cannot be together!"
Moodie giggled before saying goodbye to him and Sanji turned to Luffy. "Alright, let's go"
"Not gonna say goodbye to the others?"
"It's fine. Let's jus-"
"Sanji," Zeff's soft voice cut him off, "Don't catch a cold"
That stopped Sanji in his tracks and he tried holding it back for a few seconds, but ultimately, the dam broke and the waterworks began.
Sanji faced Zeff and fell down to his knees bowing down deeply as he cried. "Owner Zeff! Thank you for taking care of me for all these years! I owe my life to you! I'll never forget about you! THANK YOU!"
That broke the dam for all the other cooks too and they also started crying.
"You bastard!" / "We're gonna be lonely without you here!" / "Really lonely!" / "I'll miss ya!" / "Damn bastard, making us cry. Dammit!"
"Damn sentimental idiots… Men should say their goodbyes quietly," Zeff sighed while crying himself.
"Well, look at that. Maybe they're not so unemotional after all," Moodie said wiping away a tear.
The ones on the Merry were close enough that they could hear the whole thing too, and Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku were sobbing too while Nami looked on with a warm smile.
"GOODBYE, YA GOOD FOR NOTHING CRAPHEADS!"