A loud and obnoxious voice woke Luffy up and his brows furrowed, recognizing the voice. He sat up with a yawn, realizing he was back in the patient ward on a bed and the two others occupying the room were also up.
"Luffy! You're finally up!" Nami greeted.
"You guys good?" Luffy asked, looking at both their conditions.
"Are you good?" Nami asked back. "I didn't even know you were sick until we woke up here."
"Poisoned, not sick," Luffy corrected before glancing at Vivi, who was making it a point to not look at him. "Oh c'mon, you're still thinking about the 'incident'?"
Vivi blushed and covered her face. "I want to forget it ever happened!"
"It's okay, Vivi," Nami patted her shoulder, enjoying her shy reaction too. "I made him lock the doors so it's just the three of us who know about it. I'll charge him a hundred thousand berries if he ever tells anyone about it… and you, mister," she eyed Luffy, "I'm charging you a million for seeing us naked."
"Why? I'm the victim here. I'm the one who had to clean your shit and chan-"
"Stop being so blunt!" Nami cut him off with an embarrassed blush while Vivi whimpered, recalling what had happened on the first day they had fallen sick. Their bodies had become so weak that they couldn't go to the restroom themselves, so someone had to take care of their regular bodily functions. And the responsibility had fallen to Luffy.
"Alright, alright, pact to never talk about this again?" Luffy asked, holding a hand up.
"Seconded!" Vivi raised her hand up immediately.
"Aye!" Nami followed.
"Good. Now, you found out about the rebel forces yet?"
"Yes…" Vivi deflated. "Nami told me about it."
"Sorry for not telling you before. You were too sick and I didn't wanna burden you with this too."
"That's alright. I understand why," Vivi nodded but bit her lip anxiously. "But the war has entered a critical stage. I have to be in Alabasta as soon as possible!"
"Don't worry. We'll leave here soon and head straight to Alabasta."
"There's a problem with that, though," Nami sighed. "That old lady is saying that we have to stay here for three more days to recover!"
"Nah, it's fine."
"Really?" Vivi said worriedly. "She said your condition was the worst and you need a couple more days to re-"
"Vivi, it's fine. Whatever happens, we'll leave tonight," Luffy reiterated and the princess' tense posture relaxed slightly. "Why are you still so wound up?" He then asked Nami, noticing that she was still highly agitated.
"There's a bigger problem than that!" Nami grit her teeth in anger and frustration. "That doctor bitch is asking for forty-nine percent of my treasure as payment!"
"Excuse me?!" Vivi looked offended. "That's a bigger problem than my entire nation being in peril?!"
"Shut up!" Nami hissed at her, causing the young princess to lose all her resolve to retort and she just averted her gaze. "We are not paying a single berry to that old crone!"
"She did save our lives, Nami." Luffy pointed out.
"And if she named a price, we would've paid it! But she's clearly ripping us off by demanding half of my treasure!"
"She's clearly not ripping us off, though," Luffy argued.
"Y-Yes, Nami," Vivi bravely joined in, knowing Luffy was on her side. "We could be dirt poor for all she knows, and statistically, pirates usually are, so she might be getting nothing by asking for a percentage of our treasure… She's being considerate… in her own way."
"I-That-…" Nami's anger fizzled out as she couldn't come up with a rebuttal.
Vivi and Luffy glanced at each other and grinned, silently exchanging a high-five at having turned Nami speechless.
"So what did I miss?" Luffy asked her as he still heard Wapol and more people's yells in the background.
"Not much. We woke up, Sanji made us food, we met Chopper, and we were just talking about him with Kureha when he came running in saying something about a Wapol… They immediately left after that."
He later learned that he had been asleep for almost six hours during which Usopp, Dalton, and some soldiers had come up along with some victims of the avalanche, and had even set up camp near the courtyard.
"Alright," Luffy nodded and started heading out.
"Wait, I'm coming too," Vivi got up and followed. "That name sounds familiar for some reason but I just can't put my finger on it…"
"He's the former king here."
"Hm? The King…? King Wapol… Oh, that's right!" Vivi snapped her fingers in realization before her face scrunched up, recalling the exact circumstances in which she had met him. "I remember him, yes…"
"Former king?" Nami joined them too. "We got embroiled with more royals?"
"Yep."
"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE DOWN DOCTOR'S BANNER OF FAITH!" Chopper's loud declaration rang out in the air just as Luffy stepped out into a balcony overlooking the front courtyard of the castle.
Wapol, Chess, and Kuromarimo were on the left side. Dalton and a squad of soldiers with guns were standing to the right, with Usopp standing at their forefront. Zoro, Sanji, Kureha, and Chopper were standing right in front of the castle entrance just below them.
"Maahahaha! Banner of faith?! What nonsense are you spouting?!" Wapol laughed. "This is good! Very good! Dalton! You annoying Strawhats! The monster! The doctor witch! All the people standing in my way are gathered here! My Bro-chan is cooking up the Fatal Bomb as we speak! You're all gonna be dead soon along with all the ungrateful citizens of this country!"
"Wapol!" Dalton growled furiously. "What kind of King does that to his own people?!"
Wapol started mocking him when Sanji down below asked Kureha what a Fatal Bomb was, their voices reaching the balcony too.
"Musshuru has eaten a devil fruit that lets him create deadly poisonous spores. Every ten years or so, the buildup of spores in his body becomes too much and he has to release it," Kureha had a dark look on her face as she took a swig from her flask. "All he has to do is burn off the excess spores and the problem wouldn't exist but no, the sick bastard decided to drop it on the island just for his own amusement and wiped out a large portion of the population a couple of decades ago… He was banished to the Fire Country for that crime, but looks like he's been brought back now."
"That's right!" Wapol jumped in. "I'm feeling really generous right now, so if you all agree to die here, maybe I'll consider leaving the rest of the populace alive!"
"You still need the Bilking canon in this castle to launch your Fatal Bomb," Kureha countered. "As long as we don't let your brother inside, he won't be able to launch it."
Wapol only grinned savagely. "Sure the Bilking cannon is the biggest one and will have the most reach… but I have plenty of other cannons that are more than enough to wipe out a few towns and villages. And Bro-chan has already set them up!"
Luffy looked around at the various groups present there. Dalton looked downright thunderous but just as frustrated, the soldiers behind him were scared, Usopp was nervously shifting, Kureha was silently seething, and Chopper was glaring at the tyrant.
Next to him, Vivi was gritting her teeth furiously. "That's horrible! And he calls himself a King?'"
"How despicable!" Nami scoffed before turning to Luffy. "You sense that guy?"
"Nope."
She bit her lip wondering how they could find him when Zoro and Sanji down below looked up at Luffy.
Luffy saw the question in their eyes and nodded, which had the both of them grinning as they turned back to Wapol.
"What will it be, Dalton?! Tell your men to drop the weapons and you all surrender or I'll signal my Bro-chan to start wiping out towns down there!"
Dalton seethed as he took deep heavy breaths before looking back at his men. "D…Drop the w-"
"Don't," Usopp cut him off with a pat on his shoulder. "Didn't you say you wanted to fight? You really think he will let the people live after you give up your life here?"
Dalton grit his teeth, not knowing what to do.
"No?" Wapol smugly smiled. "Kuromarimo! Let's make an example! Start with the witch doctor!"
"Yes, King Wapol!" The boxer grinned as he pulled out clumps of hair from his head and threw it at Kureha. It was intercepted by Zoro though, and the hairballs clung to his swords.
"What the heck?" Zoro mumbled as he tried to shake off the hairballs in annoyance but they didn't budge.
"Ahahah! This is my Marimo Static Cling!" The boxer said throwing more hairballs at Zoro, who cut it with his swords. But the cut strands of hair just clung to his body, covering him with small clumps of hair all over which irritated the hell out of him.
"Shit! What the hel-"
"Hey look! It's our Marimo versus Kuromarimo!" Luffy loudly commented, grabbing everyone's attention.
"PFFTHAHAHAHAHA!" Sanji and Nami instantly burst out into raucous laughter.
"GYAAAH! It's you again!" Wapol, who only looked up at the balcony then and spotted Luffy, screamed. "You're still alive?!"
Luffy and the others ignored him however, more focused on making fun of their swordsman.
"Look! Marimo is covered in black marimo now! Hehahahaa!" Nami guffawed.
"Go, Zoro! Show him who the original Marimo is!" Usopp yelled, snickering.
"You do it too!" Sanji added on, banging his fists on the ground as he laughed. "Pull out hair clumps from your algae-infested head and you two have a battle of hairballs! Green versus black! Dahahahaha!"
"Shut up, you crap-cook!" Zoro cursed as he tried to pull off the hairballs but it only got stuck to his hands, which only amused the others more.
Usopp fell to his knees while clutching his stomach, Nami doubled over, Sanji fell on his back laughing like Christmas had come early, and Vivi tried not to join in on roasting their swordsman, but couldn't help but let out giggles.
Anyone who was not a Strawhat, however, had a very different reaction as the atmosphere had been very tense and heavy until that moment. Chopper and Kureha were wondering if they had missed diagnosing brain damage in the entire crew while Dalton and the soldiers were dumbfounded.
"Agh!" Zoro got fed up with the sticky hairballs and locked eyes with the one responsible. He lunged at him and before the confused Kuromarimo could even react, cut him right across his chest, leaving a deep wound and taking him out of the fight.
Wapol and Chess backed off in fright as the swordsman irritably used Kuromarimo's hand to remove the hairballs off of himself, then looked at the still laughing crew, then saw the terrifying straw hat-wearing young man who had somehow made them faint twice already, and gulped in fear.
"S-S-STAY BACK! OR I-I'LL SIGNAL MY BRO-CHAN!" Wapol screamed bringing out a transponder snail. "I just have to hit this call button and he will launch a bunch of poisonous spore cannonballs into multiple towns!"
Zoro, still clearing the hair off himself, looked up at him and rolled his eyes. "Go ahead."
"What?!"
"Oi brat!" Kureha blew up while Chopper gaped. "You gotta death wish?!"
"Relax, old lady," Sanji got up, having had his fill of laughing at the swordsman, and lit a cigarette. "Pretty sure Luffy already killed that guy."
"What?"
"Pink hair? Head looks like a mushroom? Stupid outfit?"
"Ah! The spores!" Chopper yelled in realization. Musshuru was banished well before his time so he hadn't ever seen him but he recalled that the guy Luffy was fighting had created a large cloud of poisonous spores from his hands. "That was Musshuru!"
"I-Is that really true?!" Dalton cried hopefully.
Luffy nodded in affirmation when multiple sets of eyes turned to him. He was trying to create Red Hawk, so he had held nothing back. Gear 2, armament coated fist, and a stretched arm had landed square on the guy's face, and he was pretty sure he had felt the guy's neck crack. Even if he had somehow survived, he had still been launched somewhere far where the avalanche would have definitely buried him.
"LIAR!" Wapol spat with hate. "There's no way Bro-chan lost!"
From his perspective, after suddenly falling unconscious, he had woken up beside only his two soldiers, and given how Luffy had been dying to the poisonous spores, they had assumed he had been killed by Musshuru. And considering how an avalanche was surrounding them, they also thought that Musshuru had saved them from being buried. Finding him nowhere though, they assumed he had either gone to get help from their army or gone ahead to the castle. Thus, they had flipped a coin and decided to come to the castle. Still not finding him though and finding Dalton and his army, Wapol had tried to bluff his way to a victory, but well, it didn't work out.
"Call him then," Zoro taunted and that only made the tyrant sweat.
"Hey hey!" Nami perked up and caught Kureha's attention. "You want those guys gone right?" She cattily grinned. "We can do that! In return, you waive off the medical bill!"
"Ah," Kureha scoffed with a grin. "Clever little girl… Alright, deal."
"Yes!" Nami cheered as she scaled down the castle wall like a cat and landed below. She then took out her shock staff and started walking towards Wapol and Chess. "Let's make this quick."
"C-Chess! Kill her!"
"Yes!"
Arrows whizzed by as Nami dodged them all and ran straight at them. Seeing her small frame though, they of course underestimated her and when she launched the grappling hook from her staff at Wapol, Chess caught it. He was about to mock her for the meaningless attack when Nami turned the dial up.
A literal shocking display of electricity silenced everyone as they stared at the sad jester being thoroughly electrocuted for five seconds before Nami decided to stop and Chess' electrocuted and burnt body fell over.
Nami panted, just the short sprint having winded her out. Looked like she needed more time to recover but she still turned to Wapol next to give him the same treatment, only to find him running.
Wapol was dashing towards the castle in a panic, hoping to enter and reach the Bilking cannon or the armoury, but Sanjiwas there at the entrance, ready to intercept him. A kick right under his chin made the tyrant go flying back.
"Ow!" Sanji held his already fractured foot in pain. "The hell is the guy made of?!"
From the despair-filled situation to now where all their enemies were down had left Dalton and the rest a bit befuddled.
"You guys are awesome!" Chopper breathed in awe, but his attention was taken away when Wapol sat up, rubbing his chin in pain.
"All you bastards…treating your King like this…"
"Wapol!" Dalton interjected. "Surrender now! Your two strongest fighters are done for! Your army has already surrendered! Ther-"
"My army surrendered?!" Wapol yelled in shock. "What did you do to my army?!"
"This young man here subdued them!" Dalton said patting Usopp's shoulder.
"H-HAHA! THAT'S RIGHT!" Usopp yelled, crossing his arms while puffing his chest out, pretending like he was full of bravado. "THEY WERE NOTHING IN FRONT OF THE MIGHTY USOPP!"
What had really happened was that Usopp was with Dalton when news of Wapol's army attacking Bighorn had reached them. Usopp had tagged along as they travelled there, but once there, he hid behind a building while Dalton exchanged words with the enemy soldiers. They were apparently ordered by Wapol to take over, find if any doctors were left as the Isshi-20 were kidnapped by pirates, and basically kill any opposition.
Dalton had tried to reason with them, but gunshots and screams had soon rung out. A shivering Usopp had peeked from behind from safety only to see that Dalton was tanking all the bullets and pushing people out of the way, protecting his civilians.
He had resolved himself then and announced himself with a loud yell, grabbing the attention of everyone present in the area while getting ready to employ hit-and-run tactics to take them on… But as soon as the enemy soldiers had seen Usopp, they had screamed pointing at him in fear.
Apparently, the Conqueror's blast had left a deep impression on them and not knowing what it was, they had assumed it was some kind of chemical weapon. And seeing one of the crew members who could deploy such fear-inducing chemical weapons, they were scared.
Usopp had quickly noticed and capitalized on it, threatening them to throw away their weapons if they wanted to live. A few did protest, however, but a well-placed rotten egg shot right into the mouth of a soldier, which made him immediately faint, put out any embers of protest.
Well, Usopp obviously told it differently.
"THEY TREMBLED AND GROVELLED BEFORE ME AS SOON AS THEY HEARD MY FEARSOME NAME!"
"He subdued the entire army?!" Chopper exclaimed.
"You have nothing, Wapol!" Dalton continued. "Surrender now."
The tyrant glared at Dalton and Usopp, and then at Luffy with eyes filled with hate before his emotions finally burst. "I'VE HAD IT! I'LL SHOW YOU ALL THE MIGHT OF THE MUNCH-MUNCH FRUIT! EVERYTHING I EAT BECOMES A PART OF ME! MUNCH-MUNCH-MUTATION!"
Everyone watched in bewilderment as he grew and grew and transformed into a small house with cannons for arms, a chimney on his head, and a door right in his chest. "WAPOL HOUSE!"
"That's actually kinda cool!" Luffy cheered.
"No, it's not!" Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Usopp rebutted.
"YOU'VE DISRESPECTED ME FOR THE LAST TIME, YOU PEASANTS! THIS IS MY KINGD-"
"Hey hey!" Luffy cut him off, excitedly jumping up and down on the balcony as a thought struck him. "If you eat more things, you'll be able to fuse them into yourself and transform further, right? Then go ahead," he grinned pointing his thumb at the castle. "There's an armoury inside, right? Eat up all you want!"
"DON'T BE STUPID, YOU BRAT!" Kureha snapped.
"STOP PLAYING AROUND!" Nami added.
"DON'T LET HIM DO THAT OR WE'RE ALL DOOMED!" Dalton cried.
"I WON'T LET HIM STEP ONE FOOT INSIDE THE CASTLE!" Chopper declared with conviction, and Luffy deflated.
He didn't care about the others' protests but if Chopper didn't want Wapol to desecrate Hiruluk's resting place, then he wasn't gonna insist on it.
Oh well, not like there are many strong weapons here… it would've been cool if there were lightsabers and all though,Luffy thought, imagining a cooler version of Wapol who could transform his hands into cool weapons.
"I intend to do just that!" Wapol continued. "The first article of Drum Kingdom's constitution states, 'Whosoever denies the King's wishes shall die!' This is the foremost law of the land! This is my Kingdom! This is my castle!" He raised one of his arm-cannons up at the pirate flag at the top of the castle. "First goes that unsightly flag! It ruins the whole look!"
Chopper stared in horror as a cannonball was fired from his arm and it flew straight at his beloved flag and exploded right on it. He watched the fire and smoke as anger rose up in him before he whirled on Wapol.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO DOCTOR'S FLAG?!" He yelled as he ran towards him with surprising speed and jumped right up to his face. "Doctor even tried to save you!" Chopper got ready to punch him but Hiruluk's words of not hating all humans came to the forefront of his mind. "He even… saved you…"
Chopper looked conflicted and held himself back from punching the tyrant in the face. "I won't hurt you! But leave this country forever!"
"What are you saying, Chopper?!" Kureha screamed in anger. "You can't reason with him!"
"B-But…"
"Get off me!" Wapol yelled as he smashed Chopper in the face with his cannon arms and he fell to the ground.
"Oi Chopper!"
The reindeer looked towards the voice only to find Luffy standing atop the roof of the castle right next to the completely unharmed pirate flag.
"What…?"
"You annoying bastard!" Wapol yelled and pointed his arm cannons and shot at him. "Die! Die! Die!"
Luffy punched the cannonball away and it exploded in the air, far away from the flag. But Luffy didn't look away from Chopper and the latter also stared at him in wide-eyed wonder.
"You said it yourself, this is a banner of faith!" Luffy said pointing at the flag. "People like that idiot won't understand but you do, don't you?!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT?!" Wapol raged as he fired a couple more cannonballs, but Luffy punched each one away, still keeping his eyes solely on Chopper, who stared at the spectacle in awe.
"You understand the meaning behind this flag, right?!"
"Meaning behind the flag?!" Wapol yelled in frustration. "Don't make me laugh! It's just a stupid rag! I'll bring it down no matter what!"
Luffy didn't even acknowledge him while Chopper recalled the time when Hiruluk had talked about the master-thief who was miraculously saved by cherry blossoms.
'That means there's no such thing as an incurable disease!'
'No matter what anyone says, I will save this country as a doctor!'
'That's why I raised this skull and crossbones against all diseases! This is a symbol of belief that nothing is impossible! By raising this, I'll fight just like pirates would!'
"You don't fly this on a whim!" Luffy's words cut right through his thoughts. "Once you decide to fly it, it's a pledge! AND NO ONE," he grabbed one of the cannonballs, redirected it 180 degrees, and threw it right back at Wapol with double the speed, "SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO MOCK IT OR DESTROY IT!"
"GYAAAH!" The cannonball exploded right in Wapol's face, pushing him and making him fall on his back.
Chopper's eyes shone. Wow… so this is what a pirate is… Amazing!
Wapol growled as he sat back up, blood leaking from his mouth. "I'VE HAD IT! DIE! DIE! THIS IS MY KINGDOM! ALL OF YOU, DIE!" He yelled as he randomly started firing cannonballs all over the place.
"He's acting like a cornered animal!" Zoro cursed as he pushed Chopper out of the way just as a projectile whizzed past him.
His tantrum didn't last long, only five more cannonballs were fired before he seemed to run out of materials to produce any more, so apart from a wall getting destroyed and displacing some soldiers, not much came of it.
"So, are you gonna stand around and watch," Zoro said sternly looking at Chopper, "or are you gonna fight?"
Chopper looked back and forth between Zoro, Luffy, Wapol, and himself before finally looking at the tyrant with resolve in his eyes. "I will fight!"
"Good man," Zoro smirked and crossed his arms, interested in seeing what this new crewmate of theirs was capable of.
"That bastard! Those cannonballs might have hit the ladies! I'll kill him!" Sanji said but before he could take a step, someone kicked him right in his broken bone, making him fall on his face. "Who the fu-"
"Just sit this one out, will you?" Kureha said sitting on top of him. "I want to see what my snot-nosed brat can do." She then ignored his grumblings and focused on Chopper who held something up.
"I only need three minutes to take care of you!" Chopper declared as he bit into a Rumble Ball.
"Three minutes?! Don't make me laugh! You won't be able to beat me even if you had your whole life!"
"Walk Point!"
He ran up to him and just as he reached him, Wapol swung his arm at him.
"Jump point!" Chopper's physique changed and he jumped high up, reaching a staggering height well above the castle.
"Woah! Is he flying?" / "No! He jumped so high up!"
Shouts of exclamation rung out as everyone watched the battle unfold.
"Doesn't matter! I'll eat you!" Wapol yelled as he opened his mouth wide just as Chopper's downward descent began.
"Arm Point!" He transformed again where his arms buffed up and just as he reached Wapol's maw, smashed his hooves right on his upper jaw that had the tyrant reeling back on his feet while Chopper used the attack as a launching pad and jumped off of him.
"GYAAA!" Wapol screamed holding his mouth in pain while Chopper got ready for the next attack.
"Heavy point!"
He straight up punched the tyrant, his large human fists landing on his jaw again.
"H-How the hell do you have so many transformations?!" Wapol cursed as he panted. "There's supposed to be only three!"
"It's the power of my Rumble Balls!" Chopper said as he transformed into his Arm point and jabbed his hooves at him, this time in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. "It's a special drug that distorts the wavelength emitted by each form. After five years of research, I have discovered four new additional forms!"
"Whatever, who cares how many forms you have?!" Wapol spat as he wiped the blood leaking from his mouth before suddenly opening his maw wide and a cannon came out from his throat.
A cannonball was fired but Chopper shrunk down into his Brain point, dodging the projectile completely.
"Bastard!" Wapol cursed. "This is not working, I have to be able to move quickly! Munch-Munch Factory!"
He then began eating himself.
"Self-cannibalism!" Usopp screeched.
"H-Hey stop!" A concerned Chopper couldn't decide what to do.
He ate his whole body up until only his large mouth was left.
"He… He turned into a bucket!" a shocked and confused Nami pointed out.
"Haha! That's so cool!" Luffy cheered, enjoying the fight from above.
"It's weird, not cool!"
Sounds of munching came from his mouth and soon, his entire body came out, his physique having undergone a transformation.
"Slim-up Wapol!"
Wapol, now slimmer and taller, stood before Chopper. "Maaahahaha! Now you won't be able to land a single hit on me!"
He ran straight at Chopper, his speed being much faster, but Chopper was still able to dodge his charge. He whirled back, predicting his next move but Wapol just kept running.
"He's aiming for the castle!" Chopper realized before transforming into his walk point and chased him.
"You won't be able to cat-" Wapol was saying before he turned his head to see Chopper right on his heels.
"Horn Point!" Chopper's horns grew and became sharper, his hands became larger, and his speed increased. He rammed straight into his back, lifting the tyrant with his powerful horns, and launched him away. Wapol screamed as he fell face first into the snow, his back experiencing tremendous pain.
Chopper's three minutes were running out, so he quickly changed back into brain point and brought his hooves together to form a small hole and looked through it. "Scope!"
"Gah! I'll kill you!" Wapol cursed as he stood back up, groaning in pain. He spit out blood before charging at him, this time transforming his hands into chained maces and swung it at him. Chopper got hit a couple of times but he dodged most of the attacks, still looking through his hooves, his brain working overtime as he analyzed his opponent.
"Got it! The head!"
"What are you on about?!" Wapol spat as he abandoned his attack seeing the agile reindeer and ran to the castle again.
"I won't let you go inside!" The reindeer declared as he transformed into Jump point and lunged at Wapol.
He transformed into Arm point just as he reached Wapol, and bashed him right in the head. "Carving Hoof, Roseo!"
A sakura-shaped hoof print got imprinted on his head and Wapol fell face first into the snow again.
"G-Gah!" Wapol groaned in pain but he still wasn't down for the count.
Only ten seconds remained in Chopper's transformation, so he ran to him and delivered another Roseo right in his head.
Wapol became disoriented but was still mumbling.
"Roseo! Roseo! Roseo!"
Chopper kept bashing his skull in again and again while Wapol mumbled "Stop… I'll… make you… Vice… King…" in between smashes.
With only three seconds remaining, Chopper jumped high up again and came straight down with his arms outstretched for one final attack.
"Carving Hoof, Roseo!"
That seemed to do the trick.
Chopper shrunk back and panted hard as he finally took a breather. Thankfully, Wapol had passed out, with blood leaking from his head. "Phew!"
Luffy was in his face the next instant and picked him up with a crazed look in his eyes. "That. Was. So. Cool!" He cheered swinging the little reindeer around.
"I'm getting dizzy~" Chopper's eyes spun while Luffy happily danced.
"THANK YOU SO MUCH!" A loud shout rang out and Luffy finally stopped. Chopper followed the voice to see that it was Dalton, kneeling and pressing his head to the ground while some civilian-soldiers behind him were cheering.
"Shishishi look, Chopper. They're cheering for you!"
The reindeer was a little shell-shocked to say the least as he hid his eyes under his hat, not knowing how to respond to gratitude from people who had hurt him before. His body did sway happily though.
"Damn, this guy was something," Zoro said, looking down at Wapol, and Luffy, still holding Chopper in his hands, went to him.
"I know right?" Luffy nodded with a bit of respect. "He wasn't all that much in combat but he definitely has an insanely high durability."
"Yeah," Zoro nodded, seeing that the ground had even cracked.
"Nice!" Nami came up next to them and looked at Chopper. "Good to see that you're a fighter. That was great!"
Luffy let him go as he swayed and danced around. "Hehehe! I don't need praise from a human, you jerk!"
"Luffy! Good to see you up and about!" Usopp came up next and Chopper froze before beginning to slightly fidget while Usopp awkwardly looked at him.
"What happened between them?" Luffy whispered to Zoro.
"He yelled 'Monster', screamed, and ran away when he first saw Chopper in his Heavy point," Zoro whispered back.
"Ah…"
Zoro had smacked and told him that he was their new crewmate after his little mishap, and Usopp had been looking for an opportunity ever since to apologize, but the little doctor had avoided him.
Now that he finally had a chance though, he got closer to him, awkwardly meeting Chopper's wary gaze. "Uhh sorry about before. It was just a reflex… I-I had been vanquishing great powerful enemies during the entire way up, so I was on guard, that's all!"
"R-Really?!" Chopper asked seriously and an encouraged Usopp nodded as he began narrating how he had lassoed and tamed a huge vulture to get up the mountain and the gullible doctor believed every word.
—)(—
"What are you doing?" Chopper asked as he climbed up to the roof of the castle where his pirate flag was proudly flying.
"Hm?" Luffy, sitting next to the flag, smiled. "Just paying my respects to the old quack."
Chopper's eyes widened. "You knew Doctor Hiruluk?!"
"I knew of him, that's all."
"Oh…"
They stayed silent for a while, the sounds of celebration by the soldiers wafting through the air. Nami was again taken to the patient ward by Kureha as the short fight she had had with Chess had actually tired her out, and so was Sanji as his leg had also broken more. So they had a bit more time to kill.
Chopper hesitantly spoke up. "E-Earlier… you were… you were about to tell me what kind of monster you think I am…"
"Oh right," Luffy grinned turning to face him. "You're a really cool monster who can transform into seven amazing forms! And can even shoot laser beams out of your eyes!"
"I-I can't shoot beams!" He rebuked, a bit disappointed by the answer. He was expecting something mor-
"You're also a lonely monster."
Chopper's head snapped towards his face. "Lone…ly…?"
"Yeah. Lonely monsters are sad… They don't really fit in anywhere, get rejected by g-" Luffy paused. "Well… I suppose you know all about that, don't you?"
Chopper gulped, his eyes becoming glassy as he looked away and slowly nodded.
"The monster part?" Luffy continued and Chopper slowly turned his eyes towards him again. "Coming to terms with it, or changing yourself so that you're not a monster anymore, that's something you're gonna have to figure out on your own… But the lonely part? That has an easy solution. You just have to make friends!"
"F-friends? … You really think I can make friends?"
"Idiot," Luffy grinned flicking his forehead. "You already have! I'm your friend!"
"Y-You want to be… my friend?" Chopper asked with wide eyes.
"Yep! So does everyone on my crew! And when you travel with us, you'll meet so many new people and can have so many more friends too!"
Chopper looked down. "I-I can't join your crew…"
Movement down below caught Luffy's eyes and he stood up. "C'mon Chopper, being a pirate is so much fun! You travel and get to see so many interesting things and meet so many interesting people! You're gonna love it! Think about it."
Luffy jumped off, giving Chopper some time to think, and landed in the courtyard where Kureha, a bandaged-up Dalton, and Vivi had gathered around the now chained-up body of Wapol.
"What's up?" Luffy asked popping up next to Vivi.
"Ah, we were just discussing what to do with him," Dalton answered pointing at the former king.
Seeing the questioning look on Luffy's face, Vivi clarified. "No matter what, he was still the King and the citizens here have overthrown him. It will be seen as an attack on the World Government if the situation is handled poorly."
"Hmm." Luffy wanted to offer to send him flying away so that they could simply claim that he ran away, but that would mean Wapol would probably create the Black Drum Kingdom. Who knew how the citizens of that country would suffer under his rule, so he really didn't want to.
"Don't worry about it," Dalton said with a smile when he noticed Luffy in thought. "You have done more than enough for us already. We will take care of the rest. We'll imprison him and send a detailed message to the World Government of what transpired here. We will keep your names out, of course."
Luffy nodded, glad that the Black Drum Kingdom was butterflied away into non-existence.
It also meant that Wapometal would get butterflied away which was an important material in Franky's creations but Luffy didn't think it was a big deal if it was never created. Wapometal was basically a shape-memory alloy and the Vinsmokesalready had such a powerful alloy, so Reiju could easily help Franky out when the time came.
"Wouldn't he just eat the chains and break out if you put him in a normal prison? Do you guys have sea-stone cuffs?" Viviasked.
"No." Dalton sighed sadly.
"I'm sure I can keep this guy on a leash until we decide what to do with him and make sure he doesn't just eat his way out. Kak kak kak kak!" Kureha cackled with a wild look in her eyes.
"Leash?" Vivi questioned.
Kureha just grinned taking out and showing her a few syringes that were filled with a vile purple liquid and Vivi's eyes widened.
"I want to say you're planning to… keep him sedated?" She asked hopefully.
"Sure. Let's say that that's what I'm doing," Kureha smirked, unnerving the others.
"… Don't you have that oath as a doctor?" Luffy asked.
"Eh," Kureha shrugged dismissively. "It's not like I'm planning to kill him or refusing treatment. Just… keeping him down for a while."
"You're definitely more a pirate than a doctor, old lady," Luffy said shaking his head.
"Who are you calling old lady, brat?!" Kureha jabbed him while Luffy laughed.
"Have we met before?" Dalton suddenly asked and Luffy saw that it was directed at Vivi. "You look familiar."
"O-Oh?" Vivi nervously fidgeted. "I don't think so. Anyway, gotta go!"
She hastily walked away and Luffy left with her.
"Phew, that was close," Vivi sighed, but Luffy was a bit confused.
"Wouldn't that have been a great opportunity to build a relationship with this Kingdom?"
The Princess stopped in her tracks. "What?"
"I'm not that good at politics," Luffy said crossing his arms. "But you could have revealed yourself as princess of Alabasta and built a friendly connection with this kingdom right?"
"But I'm still in hiding."
"Does it matter anymore?"
Vivi opened her mouth to answer but paused, realizing that her secret was already out and known to Crocodile, so there wasn't much of a point to it anymore. She was supposedly dead in his book too, and Dalton and Kureha didn't seem like they would spread information about her if she just asked them not to, so there really wasn't a reason to hide from them.
"Wait, you're right. I suppose it doesn't matter now… Saving my kingdom from Crocodile is all that's on my mind right now, but I must think about the future too after we're freed from Crocodile…"
Luffy nodded in understanding. He had a unique perspective where he could already think about the situation in hindsight, but all she could probably think about was how she could save her Kingdom from Crocodile's clutches.
Vivi nudged him with a smile. "You say you're not good at politics but that was a good idea. I didn't even think of that but you did!"
Luffy smiled back. "Yeah, I don't know about that. My first thought to a problem is always if I can punch my way out of it. Diplomatic thoughts are like fourth or fifth in line."
Vivi chuckled and now that the topic was brought up, her mind suddenly went on a thinking spree about the future. She had heard that Dalton would probably be selected as the next King and if so… "At the next Reverie, I will be revealed to him anyway, so we can still form a friendly relationship with this Kingdom."
"The next Reverie huh? Right…"
Vivi saw a sudden serious expression on his face and became curious. "You could also claim this island as yours, can't you?"
Luffy chuckled. "Nah. They got a good thing going already with Dalton and all."
"So you don't plan on bringing islands under your name like some pirates do?"
"Hm… I'm not gonna force anyone but if they need my protection, sure."
"Then you're going to have to learn how to govern a Kingdom!" Vivi said adamantly. She had a good enough understanding of Luffy that she could say that he wasn't someone like the Yonkos who forced islands under their control. She had read many an article in the newspapers about how pirates had killed ruling families and taken over Islands and Kingdoms, only to abandon them soon, leaving them in ruins after stripping them of resources.
The papers also mentioned how badly they governed the islands, which appalled her, and she hoped that Luffy and crew wouldn't turn out like them too.
"Hm," Luffy nodded, thinking about Wano. Food was there in the the capital, so he easily stole and got it for Tama and the rest of their poor town. But if there was no food on the island or if an island had no way of sustaining itself for a long period of time, wouldn't he have to step in and do something? "Guess I'll have to look for a diplomat of sorts when the time comes…" Luffy mumbled.
"Oh, yes, that would be one way!" Vivi nodded happily.
I can be your diplomat! She was about to say but her mind froze as soon as the idea formed. What am I thinking? The Strawhats are escorting me to my country right now. I'm not exactly a part of the crew. After they drop me off and I convince the Rebel side of the real enemy, will I still be with them? Will I go with them on their future adventures…?
Luffy was also having an internal debate. Maybe I'll recruit someone who's well-versed in governing and all? Or I can just call up the Revolutionaries too and see if they can help? Or maybe… He turned to Vivi, thinking she would be a great choice when he saw that she was lost in her own thoughts and her face was scrunched up in slight distress.
Slap! Slap!
Luffy slapped his own cheeks, causing Vivi to break out of her musings.
"W-what?"
He let out a long sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. "You know, sometimes I get so lost thinking about the future and long-term goals, that I lose sight of the present."
He had messed up earlier too by forgetting to reassure his crew that Kureha could definitely cure them. And now too, Viviwas still worried about her country and here he was, thinking about her role in something that would happen so far into the future. My original self had it right, taking things as they come. Here, the story's memories are messing with me… But… But I also can't not think about the future… Haaahh…
Vivi started giggling, bringing Luffy out of his musings.
"What?"
"Was having a similar thought, that's all… My father used to tell me that as a ruler, I must be able to strike the right balance between focusing on short-term as well as long-term goals, considering both actions and consequences… I thought I understood at the time. But only now am I truly grasping the weight of those words."
She turned towards Luffy only to find him staring at her with a knowing look, before both broke out into matching grins.
Luffy looked away and turned to stare up at the moon. "Pirate King and the Queen of Alabasta… Guess we still have a ways to go before we grow into those roles."
Vivi smiled wide as she stared up at the moon too, liking how that sounded. "Yes, we do."
The two future rulers shared a quiet moment atop the snow-covered mountain bathed in the delicate moonlight as snowflakes began to gently drift from the sky.
"C'mon, let's get out of here and go save your kingdom."
"Yes!"
—)(—
"We made a deal!" Luffy heard Nami say just as he and Vivi walked into the patient ward.
"That was only for the medical bill," Kureha countered. "You all are not going anywhere until I say so! My patients leave my care in only two conditions- Fully healed or Dead!" Kureha then noticed them and pointed at Luffy. "Especially you! I'm not letting you out of my sight until I de-" She suddenly paused and looked at everyone in the room which included all the Strawhats plus Dalton, before looking back at him. "You're coming with me," she said as she walked towards the exit and grabbed Luffy on the way out.
Luffy mouthed 'Meet you outside' to his crew and they nodded as he let himself be dragged.
"Where are we going?" He asked as they walked along a corridor but she didn't answer. "Chopper is coming with us, so he'll take care of us. You don't have to worry."
Kureha sighed. "The two girls, yeah, he can take care of them. You, on the other hand…"
Luffy's brows furrowed. "What's wrong with me?"
"Physically, nothing. You should heal in a couple more days."
"Okay?"
"Psychologically though…" she trailed off with a sigh.
"Huh?"
They reached a window then and Kureha stopped, staring out at the scenery for a moment before turning to face him.
"I'm not able to get a read on you, kid. The state of your body indicates that you're putting yourself through hell. I can't tell if its because you're punishing yourself or something else."
"Punishing myself? Why would I do that?"
"I've met people who had that brand. Slaves they threw away because they were deemed useless… I know how they break you down, drill into your head that you're not human and don't deserve rights or any reason to live… and that persists even if they're 'released'. Most kill themselves cause they can't handle it anymore, and the strong ones who do survive have a deep seated trauma in them…" she trailed off rubbing her eyes before looking back at him. "Right this instant, you want to sleep, don't you? You abused your body so much that you shouldn't even be up for at least 36 hours, and yet here you are, waking up every three or four hours. And now, you're even forcing yourself to stay awake."
"Hmm…" Luffy took a few moments to gather his thoughts before answering. "I can see how my actions seem like a trauma response to you, but I'm really not punishing or abusing myself. It's stamina training, nothing more. Ever since I was like four, my grandpa threw me in deadly jungles that had carnivorous four feet tall beasts in the name of making me stronger, so training that looks like abuse isn't anything new to me."
"… Okay."
"As for the rest, well… it's a long and complicated story."
Kureha sighed. "Fine, I won't pry if you don't wanna talk. But understand that I have practiced medicine for over a hundred years, including psychology. So I'm the best bloody psychiatrist you'll ever find."
"That's honestly super impressive! Too bad I don't need any psychological treatment."
Kureha rolled her eyes at the rejection.
"I would still love to hear about your life some day though. I'm sure you have great stories to tell!"
"Whatever," Kureha dismissively waved. "Chopper's good but he still has a long way to go before he's able to psychologically treat someone, so I wanted to keep you here so I can do it, but if you're not ready-"
"It's not needed."
"- there's nothing I can do." She then patted his back. "You want something done about this, at least? I can graft skin to cover it up if you want."
"Nah, it's fine. I promised someone that I'd change the world such that no one would be ashamed or scared to walk around with this brand exposed. And I think I'll need this to prove it."
Kureha flipped her glasses up and stared at him with incredulity. "Boy, you don't do things in moderation, huh? That's one of the wildest promises I've ever heard in my life! I hope you understand the severity of that promise. You'll have to bring down the Gods of this world for that to even remotely come true."
Luffy smiled. "As I keep saying, you've read me wrong. I'm not scared of them. And I'm not angry or looking for revenge either. It's just that they're gonna stand in the way of my dream, and so, I'm gonna destroy them."
Kureha's eyes twinkled. "And what's your dream?"
"To be the freest man alive. I'm the man who's going become the Pirate King!"
Kureha cackled.
"Looks like my reindeer is joining up with someone really dangerous."
Luffy could see the conflict in her eyes despite her jolly words. "I can't promise 'always safe'," he said before she asked, "but I will give him a place he can call home while he chases his dream."
Kureha's features softened and she nodded. "Make sure you do."
"Honestly, it'll be more like he's keeping us safe. Zoro and I, especially, will be a handful for him."
"Hah!" Kureha scoffed. "I have no doubt about that… Now shoo! Go convince that little idiot to go with you, already!"
"See you, granny," Luffy waved goodbye and before she could pull out scalpels, he jumped out of the window.
Kureha leaned on the window sill, watching him in wonder as he kicked off the air and land safely on the ground below.
"So The Will of D. lives on…" she breathed wistfully. "What an insanely terrifying kid. He's definitely going to bring the storm down onto the world. Kak kak kak kak!"
Around a corner, Vivi hid behind a wall, her mind abuzz with everything she had heard. When Kureha had dragged Luffy away, she thought that she was pulling him aside to tell him that his condition was much worse than they thought and that he had to stay to recover. So, she followed them, intending to tell Luffy that it was okay and that they should wait if needed, but the conversation was completely different from what she imagined.
Luffy is punishing himself? Brand? Luffy has a slave brand?! His grandpa abused him? …what are they talking about…? Promise to not be ashamed or scared? …!!… He's going to have to take down the Gods of this world…? They don't mean the Celestial Dragons, do they?! … The Will of D. lives on…?
Kureha moved and Vivi quickly left the area, replaying and trying to make sense of the whole conversation.
—)(—
"I can't co-"
"Shush!"
"B-but I'm a reindeer! I can't jo-"
"Shush!" Luffy again cut Chopper off as he tried to say his goodbye. "Stop using the word 'can't' and use 'won't' instead, and I'll stop pestering you."
"I-I won't… I-I…" Chopper tried but he couldn't say it. "No! I w-want… I want to be a pirate!"
Luffy grinned, triumphantly raising his arms up. "THEN JUST SHUT UP AND COME ALREADY!"
And finally, Chopper came to his decision while trying to hold back happy sobs but ultimately failed and bawled his eyes out. "OKAY!"
"Shishishi good!"
"Now it's just 'shut up and come'," Sanji shook his head with amusement as he and the rest came out of the castle.
"Looks like your recruiting methods are getting more and more outrageous," Zoro commented.
"It won't be long before he just kidnaps someone and then tells them that they're a part of our crew," Usopp added and the others didn't think it was that wild of an idea.
"That would be a fun way!"
"You're not doing that!" Nami rebuked. "Anyway, you talked things out with Kureha?"
"Yeah, we can leave."
"Great!"
Chopper sniffled and calmed down as he walked up to them. "G-Give me some time. I need to say goodbye to Doctorine."
"Right," Luffy said grimly as he patted the doctor. "Go on, Chopper. And be brave!"
Chopper nodded and went inside while the rest looked questioningly at him.
"Why?"
"Because that old witch is crazy," Sanji answered.
"She got to you?" Luffy chuckled.
"Yeah," Zoro nodded with an annoyed expression. "Before you woke up, she chased us around the castle when we made just a little noise."
"While throwing knives, axes, spears, scalpels…" Sanji added, a haunted look in his eyes.
Luffy patted the two's backs in understanding while the rest gulped, glad to not have been on her bad side.
Ten minutes later, they truly understood what they meant when they saw a hysterical Chopper come running out and Kureha, with a crazed look, chased him while throwing anything sharp she could get her hands on at him.
"AHHH!" / "THE HELL IS THAT OLD HAG DOING?!"
"GET IN! HURRY!" Chopper yelled frantically as he passed by them, not even slowing down, and the rest scrambled to jump into the sleigh that he had attached to himself.
Luffy laughed as he grabbed the back of the sleigh and let his hand stretch so he would essentially be parasailing as they went down the ropeway.
"HO-HO-HO!" he bellowed and people below saw the sight of a flying sleigh in the sky with a human hanging off of it.
—)(—
Reiju discarded her bloodied clothes before quickly taking a shower and settled into the tub for a nice and long relaxing bath. She had finally finished her mission in Paradise - it being a hunt for a few stragglers from a company takeover.
There was a new tech company that was trying to encroach on Germa's customers in North Blue, so Judge had decided to take out the competition. Reiju and her brothers had already extracted relevant information and assassinated most of the major players in the company but a few had managed to escape into Paradise. Hence, her presence in the area to track down and kill them all.
She had finally tracked down the last of them, only to find that they had hired a few mercenaries to protect them, and thus, she had to fight a large group.
She usually would have assassinated them quietly with the use of poisons but the frustration of seeing Luffy's Vivre card burn out while not being able to do anything had made her use non-poisonous ways of dealing with her enemies, which was bloody. Only after Sanji called and told her that they had successfully met a competent doctor did she come back to her senses, and found herself beating up an already dead man.
At least it wasn't innocent families and children this time… Reiju sighed. Not that she or her family had any right to talk about inhumane practices but the men she had killed weren't saints either. They had performed illegal human experimentation which had resulted in the deaths of hundreds, so at least she didn't feel guilty for killing them.
Such thoughts were plaguing her mind a lot ever since Luffy came into her life. As much as he liked to say that he wasn't a hero, if he saw injustice right in front of his eyes, he was someone who would do something about it. Especially if little kids were involved. If he ever saw her inciting a civil war or helping a royal family eliminate their undesirable citizens, he would definitely fight against her…
But then again, at the back of her mind, she knew that Luffy already knew and still didn't judge her. She had never directly asked, too scared to hear what he would say, and Luffy had never broached the topic either.
She shook her head, emptying her mind and just let the scalding hot water, which she barely felt, wash away her exhaustion.
Not long after, she heard a transponder snail ringing and hastily jumped out of the bathtub to pick it up.
"You're okay n-" Reiju began to ask about his condition when Luffy cut her off.
"Hush. Watch this."
The snail started projecting the video feed onto a wall and Reiju saw one of the most beautiful and picturesque sights she had ever seen in her life.
Cherry blossoms against the backdrop of a snowy, wintry landscape during the night was certainly a sight to behold. Said cherry blossom being as huge as a mountain was something else entirely.
The delicate pink mist slowly spreading and filling the sky at the top of a mountain, the full moon up in the night sky, the slowly falling snow… All of it contributed to creating a serene and magical atmosphere.
"So beautiful…" Reiju breathed as she sat down on the bed, silently taking in the view.
She could see the crew too as Luffy seemed to be sitting behind them and they all had similar awed looks as they stared up at the sky.
"OOOAHHHH!" A bit further, a strange creature was bawling its eyes out as it cried into the night sky.
They stayed there, sharing the beautiful moment in silence for a few minutes before the strange creature turned back and came to them.
"Let's go," he said and Reiju wondered if he was a Mink.
"Alright," Luffy said and faced the camera. "Call you later… Also, you should dry off and wear some clothes before you catch a cold."
Only then did Reiju see that the transponder snail had one eye trained on her and she waved with a smirk.
"WHAT?! SHE'S NAKED?! LET ME SEE!" Sanji yelled, his voice desperate.
"No."
"I just saw one heavenly sight and there's another right there?! Give me that pho-"
The call got cut before she could say anything and she just laughed, shaking her head in amusement.
They had two lines of communication between them - A visual transponder snail and a normal voice transponder snail. Luffy knew the numbers to both but called the visual snail only when it was just the two of them, but the rest of the time, they used the voice snail, which was the only number known to the rest of the crew. The snails also had an attachment that modified her voice, so there was no chance of Sanji ever figuring out her identity, and she couldn't wait to meet him one day and reveal everything.
Her mood only dipped after that thought as she laid back on her bed, wondering when that would happen.
God, I want to be with them so bad! She whined, hitting the bed a few times in frustration. She wished she had Luffy's optimism of everything turning out right but unfortunately, she was a cynical person by nature. Dark what if? scenarios plagued her mind and stopped her from going to him.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a transponder snail rang again, only this time, it was the one she used to stay in contact with her family. Father is probably expecting me to be done and is calling me back.
It was a voice transponder snail, so she received the call and dressed herself while hearing her father talk. Judge first asked her if the mission was done and after she answered in affirmation, he began rattling about some of their other projects and missions, which Reiju paid half-hearted attention to.
At least until he brought up a completely new mission that was for all four siblings, which grabbed Reiju's full attention.
Ten minutes later, she 'accidentally' disconnected the call as she fell to her knees and had her first-ever panic attack.
——][———][———][——
A few hours later, the Merry was sailing away from the newly dubbed Sakura Kingdom and Chopper's celebration party was finally winding down, the highlight of the night being Chopper when he said, "This is the most fun I've ever had!" which had only made everyone cheer and party harder.
At the end, Sanji finally brought out the strange duct-tape-wrapped box.
"What's in the box? What's in the box~?!" Luffy cried as everyone gathered around, curious as to what it was too.
"If I didn't wrap it like this, I was afraid you would mistakenly inhale this too while eating," Sanji said tearing the tape. "And well, you would have exploded."
Luffy perked up in surprise just as Sanji pulled out a strange-looking fruit. It was dark purple in colour and loosely resembled a mushroom with a flat head, with a bunch of smaller mushroom-like protrusions all over it.
"I've only seen pictures but this is a devil fruit right?"
"Yeah." Luffy and Chopper confirmed.
"Wow! Is this what they look like?" Nami took and inspected it.
"Where did you get it?" Luffy asked as the fruit got passed around.
"It was in my coat."
"It was in your coat?" Usopp repeated, confused.
"Yeah. Before we went up the ropeway the first time, I didn't know if the castle would have food, so I bought and stuffed some items inside my coat just in case. When I pulled them out later, this was just there."
"These things sell for millions! And you bought it for the price of a normal fruit?! Good going, Sanji!"
"Oh Nami-swan! I'm so blessed to be praised by you!" Sanji swooned happily but flipped back to serious again. "But I inspect each and every ingredient I buy, so I'm a hundred percent sure I didn't buy this from a vendor."
"So what? It just grew out of you?" Zoro asked semi-seriously.
"Devil fruits do manifest randomly," Vivi added.
Sanji shrugged.
"I think I know what happened," Luffy said thoughtfully. "There's a theory that when a fruit user dies, the nearest normal fruit available will transform into the person's devil fruit. I don't think it applies to all devil fruits but some actually do… Judging by the look alone, I'm guessing this is the Shroom-Shroom fruit."
"Oh," Sanji nodded, understanding what had happened. Luffy had killed that guy and he was close when that happened, so one of the fruits in his coat must have been the closest one and transformed. "So? What do we do with it?"
"It's yours."
"I'm not eating this," Sanji firmly denied before looking at the others. "Anyone wants it?"
Nami hummed staring at it. "If it was one of those logias, maybe. But shrooms don't seem like that good of a power."
"Quack!" Carue squawked and Luffy understood him. "Poisons don't sound good."
"Carue says that poisons don't sound good," Chopper translated.
"Wait, you can understand animals?" Nami asked.
"Yes. I was an animal originally, so I can understand them."
"Wow, that's so amazing, Chopper!" Vivi praised.
"Hehe don't think that makes me happy, you stupid jerks!"
"So you're a doctor, a transforming reindeer, and an animal translator," Nami said appreciatively. "That's incredible."
"Don't forget emergency food supply," Luffy added.
"Ah yes, of course," Sanji nodded sagely, causing Chopper to fidget nervously.
"Don't scare the poor guy!" Nami bashed their skulls together.
"You're called Chopper?" Carue said after introducing himself. "That's a scary name for a healer. Makes it seem like you'll chop someone up instead of healing them…"
"Pffft-" Luffy choked on nothing and collapsed to the deck in a laughing fit while Chopper gasped.
"Hey, take that back!" Chopper angrily transformed into his Heavy point, scaring the shit out of Carue who ran away and hid. "That's the name a great doctor gave me! Don't make fun of it!"
"H-He isn't wrong!" Luffy managed to say in between wheezes. "How did I never think of that?! The Chopper! It doessound like a doctor serial killer's name! Hahahaha!"
"Hey!" Chopper jumped on him and started punching him while Luffy continued laughing, but paused only a second later. "Wait, you understood Carue too?"
"Is that what happened?" Usopp said, him and the rest having no idea what had transpired.
"Ah yeah," Luffy wiped away tears as he sat up and Chopper reverted to his brain point. "I can kinda understand some animals too. Not all of them like you, but some intelligent ones at least."
"Really?! How?"
"I was raised by ducks when I was young and thought I was a duck too. By the time I figured out I wasn't a duck, I had already learned their tongue."
"Wow!" Chopper gaped while the rest rolled their eyes.
"Anyway," Sanji interjected. "I'll lock this up somewhere."
"Not in the kitchen," Nami warned. "Someone might eat it by mistake."
"Yes, Nami-swan~" he sang as he went to the men's room.
The rest dispersed too, Vivi and Nami going to bed, Zoro was already dozing off against the mast, and Usopp dragged Chopper to the figurehead saying, "There's still one more crew member you haven't met yet." Luffy chose to go with the last group.
"I didn't know pirates talked to their ships!" Chopper exclaimed after Usopp explained.
"I don't think anyone else does but we do," Usopp grinned as he patted the figurehead. He had one night found out that Luffy talked to Merry, and he loved the idea. And since then, every time they left an island, he would join Luffy in telling Merry about all the stuff that she had missed.
"Also, this is my spot," Luffy said patting the figurehead. "No one else sits in my spot."
"You're the only one who would think a place where you can easily slip and fall into the sea is a spot to fight over," Usopp rebuked. "Especially since you're a devil fruit user!"
"Eh. Still my spot."
"Right. Anyway, go ahead. Introduce yourself!"
"Hello, Merry," Chopper bowed to the figurehead and Usopp began telling Merry about their adventure on Drum—an embellished version, of course.
—)(—
Late at night, Luffy was lying in the crow's nest thinking about the next steps, still refusing to fall asleep for a little while longer, when Koala called.
"Hey, Cuddly."
"Hey, just checking up on you. You good now? Gave quite a scare back there."
"Yeah. l just overdid it a bit, that's all."
"Overdid it? I heard you were poisoned though?"
"Ah, that," Luffy sheepishly laughed before telling her how most of what happened was due to his own recklessness.
"You goddamn idiot!" Koala suddenly yelled making Luffy flinch. "I can't believe you! What made y-"
"I already know. I was stupid."
"You're goddamn right you're stupid! What is wrong with you?! God, you're just like Sabo! Reckless and stupid and-"
Luffy waited for her to finish venting before explaining himself.
"Well, I guess I have been a little frustrated."
"About what?"
"I'm not progressing fast enough in Haki. I'm only now able to do Hardening properly." With all the pointers the Kujagave me, I should have been much faster, he added in his mind.
"Oh… Well, you truly grow stronger in Haki in the middle of stressful battles… Ohhh, I get it now. You pushing yourself while being sick gave the effect of you being in a stressful battle."
"Pretty much. I realized when I was fighting the Giants that my haki hadn't gotten that much stronger for a while now. Like I was in a bottleneck. So this turned out to be a great opportunity to train. And it worked!"
"Did you just say you fought Giants?"
"Yeah. A couple of Elbaf warriors on Little Garden are locked in a never-ending duel with each other for the past hundred years."
"Wow… and you didn't get a good fight from them?"
Luffy crossed his arms thoughtfully. "How do I say this? Hmm… I guess the best way to describe it is to say they were rusty."
"Rusty?"
"Yeah, you know how it's always better that you fight different types of opponents to grow?"
"Yes. Fighting the same kind of opponent for a long time stagnates your growth."
"Exactly. Forget fighting the same kind, those two have been fighting the same opponent for the last hundred years. They had fallen into routines and patterns which were tailored mostly for each other, so they had trouble suddenly facing another strong opponent like me. They were way too easy to read and I'm very fast, so I didn't let them hit me all that much. Plus, they were already heavily injured and their weapons also broke… So even though I enjoyed the fight, it wasn't enough for me to go all out and push myself."
"Ah okay."
"After that fight, I took an objective look at my growth and I felt like I was stagnating too because I haven't faced a challenge in a while. So, I pushed myself when I saw the chance."
Koala sighed, still thinking it was too reckless to fight a disease and Mother Nature, but understood where he was coming from.
"Okay, I get it… So what's next for the future pirate king?"
"Mm… Gotta stop the civil war in Alabasta," Luffy said staring off into the distance.
"You're gonna take down the King there?"
"No, Cobra's good. As a man and as a King too. It's Crocodile who's manipulating everything and soiling his name."
"Crocodile is responsible?!"
"Yeah," Luffy nodded when a sudden thought crossed his mind. "Umm… you guys aren't, you know, pouring oil into the civil war, right?"
"Uhh… no."
"Why did you hesitate?"
"No no… I just… I don't know everything that happens in the Army. I kinda remember hearing something about Alabastaa while ago though, but I'm not sure. Let me check."
"Alright."
"Speaking of war, I think it's about time you tell me about whatever huge war is gonna take place soon that will reveal your relationship with Dragon to the world. You keep avoiding this topic…"
"Hmm… okay, I guess now is as good a time as any," Luffy said and gave her a brief rundown on how Ace going after Teach dominos into the Paramount war.
"Ace's parentage is also a bit special, so they reveal that. And I'm also there to save him, so they reveal mine too, saying both of us shouldn't have been born."
"Damn those bastards!" Koala raged a bit but soon sighed, calming herself down. "Okay, so the main trigger for the war is Ace going after Teach, right? Isn't it simple then? Just tell Ace about all this and he'll stop. Do you need help getting in touch with him?"
"No, I'll meet him soon, so that's not the issue. You don't know Ace. There's no way he'll stop going after Teach."
"C'mon, if he learns that it'll start a war where many of his crewmates might die and even you participate, won't he stop?"
"And let Teach get away with killing his crewmate?" Luffy shook his head. "The Whitebeard crew is like a family. They call their captain as Pops and consider each other as sworn brothers. Ace liked Teach enough that he took him under his division, and he turned out to be a lying snake who killed a brother just for a devil fruit? That all the time that they spent together was nothing but a facade? The bastard pretty much pushes all of his trigger buttons! The thought of doing nothing while Teach is out there bolstering his forces wouldn't sit well with him."
"Hmm… yeah, I completely get it, sure… But still, if someone tells me that my revenge path leads to my precious friends and family getting embroiled in a brutal war, I would definitely reconsider. Maybe wait for the right moment instead of chasing after him?"
Luffy thought about it. Really thought about it.
Ace, the big brother that he knew, who had a fiery temper, definitely wouldn't. But Ace never really showed any weaknesses in front of him. Always presented himself as the reliable big brother who never wavered.
But the Ace in the story in Marineford who's watching his friends and crew sacrifice themselves for him, the Ace that's struggling with his own self-worth, the part of himself that he never showed to his little brother…
Luffy's fists clenched just thinking about how Ace still didn't think he deserved to live…
"I'll talk to him."
"At least tell him to have a good escape plan so that he can run if it looks like he's losing."
Luffy laughed. "That's the one thing he'll never do. Ace doesn't run… Honestly, if I tell him he loses a fight, he'll first beat me up for looking down on him, and then he'll be even more motivated to hunt down and defeat Teach just so he can prove that future wrong."
"… No offence but your brother sounds like a real pain in the ass."
"Yeah, well," Luffy chuckled, "everybody's got issues… Anyway, enough about that. I'll see how it goes when I meet him."
"Alright."
"You got any updates on the Zoan devil fruit I asked for?"
"Yes, actually. We have options too! We got the Dog-Dog Fruit Models - Greyhound and Basenji. Which one do you want?"
"…" To say that Luffy was underwhelmed was an understatement. "Uh… you got anything better?"
"Oh, do you have a specific fruit in mind?"
"Not really. I was… I guess I was just looking forward to some amazing mythical Zoan fruit."
"Why didn't you just say so sooner? They were having a two-for-one sale on Mythical Zoans at the grocery store last night, and I just walked right past it."
"Okay, okay, I get it."
"Idiot," Koala giggled. "So which one?"
"Uhhh, keep it with you for now. I'll have to think about this."
"Sure, no problem."
"So… how's your day going?"
"Oh, you wanna know about me? Sure!"
Luffy was expecting to hear about what a person's life in the Revolutionary Army sounds like, but Koala began talking about her struggles with teaching her students. He tried to be attentive, but when she started talking about how one student was more focused on finding a boyfriend rather than training in Fishman Karate, he dozed off.
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Hey everyone!
Initially, I started uploading chapters here for my own convenience, never expecting that others would find this story or leave such positive reviews. This fanfic has always been one of my favorites, and I'm thrilled that many of you enjoy it too. In just a few days, I connected with a group of readers who appreciate the original author, and I'm sure he would be pleased to hear that. Thank you all!
Now, for some unfortunate news:
The author has faced some difficulties and disappeared for a year, leaving the story unfinished at Chapter 19. He returned briefly to release Chapter 20 but has since gone silent again. It's been more than six months, and I'm uncertain when the story will be updated. Let's hope the author comes back soon!
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I also wanted to ask for some advice. I've noticed that many fanfics go unnoticed. This is my first time uploading stories here, and I kind of enjoyed it. Do you think it's dishonorable for me to upload another author's work? Even though I'm crediting the original author, does it still count as theft?
If the response is positive, I might upload more stories in the future for the convenience of audiobook listeners. Otherwise, I'll just keep the stories to myself. :)