Logia Brothers Chapter 14 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of The Logia Brothers! Time for the Consequences of the Straw Hats actions in East Blue! Bounties! Epithets! Reactions to said Bounties! We might even make it to a certain Marine Captain’s town! One with a ‘smoking’ habit…heh!

As always Patrons get all chapters early and all one-shots are Pat re on exclusive.

If you’d like to become a patron and get access to these chapters earlier, just head on over to Pat re on and add a /Kairomaru after the com.

Make sure to thank the patrons that make these stories possible by checking out the Patron Plaque on my profile!

So without further delay, please enjoy.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 14 – Bounties, Epithets, Reactions

It had been three days since the death of Arlong and the massive party on Cocoyashi had finally wound down. People were waking up past noon with hangovers or just stumbling out of bed from not having slept properly in three days. But there was cheer in the air as people started to clean up and talks about rebuilding Gosa Village were spreading. The Straw Hats would be departing today and all of them had their fill of the three day party. Zoro had drunk every man on the island under the table at least once. Usopp had led cheers, shanties, and who knows what else throughout the party. The Gunman had even demonstrated his trick shooting for the people of the Conomi Archipelago. Sanji had disappeared, multiple times, with a rather buxom brunette woman and always came back smiling like a fool. Nami and Luffy, well they’d been ‘enjoying’ each other on multiple occasions throughout the multiday party. Nojiko had joined in almost as often and the tan, bluenette woman was smiling as she fondly rubbed her flat stomach.

“Bye everyone! I’ll miss you guys!” Nami waved as the Going Merry departed from Cocoyashi Village. The entire Village waved back at the orangette, none more so than Nojiko and Genzo. Only when the Going Merry disappeared over the horizon did the villagers stop waving.

“So, you think you’re expecting?” Genzo asked Nojiko quietly as he and Doctor Nako stood beside the tattooed woman.

“I think so, but it’s too early to tell.” Nojiko smiled happily her left hand caressing her exposed stomach.

“Come by the clinic in two weeks and I’ll check you out.” Nako smiled at the young woman. “No alcohol from now on and no smoking either.”

“I know, I know…” Nojiko playfully rolled her eyes. “I would never do anything to harm my baby.”

“The midwife is going to be ecstatic in the next few weeks, I’m sure.” Nako laughed. It had been eight years since there had been a birth in the Conomi Islands after all. The various midwives of the Archipelago would most likely become very busy over the next several months.

-Going Merry-

“Hey Sanji, who was that woman you kept disappearing with?” Usopp asked the Chef as the crew had lunch.

“Was she a brunette with a set of curves on her? About my height?” Nami questioned from beside Luffy.

“Uh…yeah.” Usopp nodded to the Navigator.

“That would be Yuzu; she has a ‘thing’ for blonde men.” Nami giggled and Sanji sighed with a dopey grin at the memory of the last few days.

“Yuzu-chwan~” Sanji sighed as he performed a twirl and sat down to eat his own lunch.

“Perverted Cook.” Zoro snorted as he drank from a bottle of booze. They had raided Arlong Park of everything of value, including food and booze, along with the residents of Cocoyashi. The Archipelago had stocked the Merry in thanks and used the rest for the party. Nami had told the villagers to split the money Arlong had hoarded among the islands again. She loved money, but she would never steal from her home and her people; at least nothing that they’d miss. The orangette grinned as she wondered if Genzo had noticed his wallet missing yet.

“What was that you Moss Head?” Sanji growled at the Swordsman.

“You heard me Dartbrow.” Zoro retorted with a glare.

“You want to go, Marimo?” Sanji questioned as he stood up, a glare on his face too.

“Sit down, don’t ruin lunch!” Nami snapped at the two, appearing to have shark-like teeth, as she punched both of them in the head.

“Yes, Nami-swan~” Sanji agreed, even with the lump on his head.

“Witch.” Zoro grumbled as he held his own lump.

“Shishishi!” Luffy laughed at his crew’s antics while sneakily taking food from Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji’s plates.

-Navy Headquarters of the East Blue-

A group of Marine Officers sat in two parallel lines across from each other. Each Officer had a prepared meal in front of them as they attended the emergency meeting that had been called today. Apparently a new Pirate Crew had caused quite a stir in a fairly short amount of time. Each Marine in the meeting was ranked Commander or Captain, except for the man doing the debriefing, who was a Lieutenant Commander.

“So these Pirates, you’re saying the Local Branches can’t handle them?” One Captain asked of the green-haired man, with a prominent receding hairline, that stood in front of a board at the front of the room.

“Yes, it has been a non-stop string of Incidents with this crew since they first appeared.” The man, Brannew, informed the Officers. “Even before they raised their flag, they struck out against several of the Big Names of the East Blue. All but one of these crews was wiped out completely.”

“That’s troubling.” One of the Commanders agreed. “To come out of nowhere and upset the established ‘pecking order’ of the East Blue Pirates in such a short time. That speaks of a level of strength not often seen in the East Blue of all seas.”

“Exactly.” Brannew nodded as he gestured towards the Bounty Posters on the board. “Buggy ‘the Clown’, with a Fifteen Million Beri Bounty; the Buggy Pirates were crushed by only three people and are the only crew that are still active.” He then pointed to the next Poster. “Kuro ‘of a Thousand Plans’, a man thought long dead; with a Sixteen Million Beri Bounty. He and the entire Black Cat Pirates were wiped out down to the last man; including Jango ‘the Hypnotist’ and the Meowban Brothers.” Brannew turned to gesture to the next Poster. “‘Pirate Admiral’ Don Krieg, with a Seventeen Million Beri Bounty; the entire Krieg Crew was also wiped out to the last man; including both Gin the ‘Man-Demon’ and ‘Iron Shield’ Pearl.”

“All of these Bounties exceed the East Blue average of Three Million.” A female Captain spoke up. “How did such people go unnoticed for this long?”

“As they were Civilians, or a lone Bounty Hunter in Roronoa Zoro’s case, they were never under any scrutiny.” Brannew shook his head before tapping his fingers on the last Poster. “Arlong ‘the Saw’, with a Twenty Million Beri Bounty, though from what we’ve received from Cipher Pol 1’s interrogation of Nezumi it would seem this Bounty would’ve been closer to Thirty Million if it had been correctly reported.”

“He LIED and COVERED for a Pirate?! For money?!” A bearded Captain roared out, a vein pulsing on the man’s forehead. Several of the other Officers had looks of anger on their faces as well. Only a few had a different look, one of shame and disappointment in a traitorous Officer.

“That is what the report states.” Brannew confirmed. “Naturally Nezumi, as a Traitor, has been sentenced to death. He’ll be hung at this very Headquarters in two weeks’ time.”

“As he damn well should be.” The bearded Captain growled out through gritted teeth.

“Continuing on, Arlong and his crew of Fishmen were also killed to the last man, except for a single escapee, Hatchan the Octopus Fishman and Swordsman for the Arlong Pirates. As Fishmen can travel underwater indefinitely we have had no luck trying to track him down. But Kuroobi and Chew both were slain by members of this group.” Brannew finished going over the Arlong Incident. “Seeing how quickly these established Pirate Crews were wiped out and with such a small crew doing so; we believe that each member of this new Crew requires a Bounty. The Captain’s may seem especially high, but we have confirmation of him possessing a Devil Fruit. In the East Blue a Devil Fruit is rare and an immediate Bounty of suitable scale will always be applied to a Pirate with one. With that being said, this is the ‘Straw Hat’ Pirate Crew and their Bounties!” The green-haired Lieutenant Commander stated as he flipped the board to reveal five new Bounty Posters.

-Three Days Later ~ Going Merry-

Did you raise the prices again?” Nami stared down the News Coo that had landed on the ship to offer newspapers for sale. The various News Outlets of the World all used a massive number of these fairly intelligent birds to fly across the oceans to sell papers. This bird species was even used by the World Post, the World Government run Postal Service, to deliver letters and packages to Sailors on long voyages. Many larger islands had mail sent to them to be picked up when Sailors, Pirates, Merchants, Bounty Hunters, or Civilians were on voyages or trips between islands. Going into any Post Office would let you see a list of names that the Office was holding mail for. If said mail wasn’t claimed within one year though, it was disposed of or became the property of the World Post.

“It’s only a paper, Nami, cut the bird some slack.” Usopp spoke up in the News Coo’s defense.

“If I buy one a day that starts to add up!” Nami retorted as she placed the Beri required into the News Coo’s pouch and then took a paper. The frightened bird took off shortly afterwards and was soon across the horizon. “Reading is good for the brain, plus it’s good to keep up with what’s going on in the World.”

“But we still have, what, like fifty million Beri down in the holds, right?” Usopp questioned. “I’m sure we can afford it.”

“Fifty one million three hundred twenty two thousand seven hundred fifty five, to be exact.” Nami rattled off, much to Usopp’s bug-eyed shock, as she went to recline in her lounge chair on deck. The orangette’s eyes were practically sparkling as she recalled how much money they’d gathered from Krieg’s Flagship and everything that they’d collected throughout their voyage through the East Blue.

“Again!” Zoro’s voice called out as he and Sanji sparred with Luffy. A loud ‘thud’ came from the back of the Merry a second later.

“Take this!” Sanji yelled a second later. The resulting silence was only broken a moment later by Sanji again. “Damn it, shitty Captain! Stop moving!”

“Shishishi! Why would I do that?” Luffy laughed loudly from the back.

“Oni Giri!” Zoro roared out, this was quickly followed by expletives and curses as Luffy had apparently dodged again.

“Man, I’m still worn out after training every morning, yet those two keep throwing themselves into it over and over again for hours!” Usopp shook his head at Zoro and Sanji putting themselves through so much extra sparring. He went back to filling some of his Trick Stars with Tabasco when he was badly startled by Nami.

“What the hell!” The Navigator exclaimed as several pieces of paper fell from within the newspaper. Usopp dropped the Tabasco and covered his hand in the spicy sauce. This was how he found out he had a small cut on his hand that he hadn’t noticed earlier.

“Ow!!!” Usopp hollered as he waved his hand around in pain and stumbled towards the kitchen to try and get some of the milk in the refrigerator. The whole time his hand felt like it was on fire, the Gunman could swear he saw flames leaping form his palm!

“What’s up, Nami?” Luffy asked as he dropped down next to her. Zoro and Sanji came walking down the stairs to the back of the Merry a few moments later.

“Look at this!” Nami yelled as she pointed to the papers that were laid out on the deck. The orangette looked a bit blue in the face as she looked at them. Curious, Luffy looked at the papers only for a wide smile to overtake his face a second later.

“Dead or Alive!” Luffy slapped his hand down on the Bounty Poster with his face on it. The laughter that followed made Nami bonk him over the head with her fist.

“Why’re you happy about this?!” Nami demanded. “This can only mean that Headquarters is involved! We might be deluged by Bounty Hunters AND Marines because of this!” The Navigator flopped back in her lounge chair with crocodile tears running down her cheeks.

“Heh.” Zoro smirked at seeing his face on a Bounty Poster.

“Why the hell is the Marimo’s higher than mine?!” Sanji complained as he looked at the differing amounts between his and Zoro’s Bounties.

“They didn’t even get my best shot.” Nami pouted as she looked at her picture.

“What’s going on?” Usopp asked as he walked up to his nakama with his hand bandaged. “Holy crap!” He cried out at seeing his face on a Bounty Poster.

“‘Straw Hat’ Monkey D. Luffy, Sixty Million Beri!” Luffy laughed loudly. He’d beaten Ace’s starting Bounty by five million! He couldn’t wait to see his brother again to rub it in! The large smile on his Bounty Poster picture showed Luffy in his most natural, a carefree and fun-loving Pirate. Not exactly intimidating, but Luffy didn’t much care.

“‘Santōryū’ Roronoa Zoro, Twenty Five Million Beri.” Zoro read off his own Poster with a smirk. His picture was taken after the fight with the Krieg Pirates, as far as he could tell. It captured him from the front and was a shot from chest upwards. He’d be easily recognizable to anyone that looked at his Bounty Poster. Though his Epithet was good, in his opinion, his unique sword style would gain recognition around the world because of this.

“‘Cat Burglar’ Nami, Sixteen Million Beri.” Nami sighed as she looked over her Poster. The picture did capture her, while fighting Pearl judging by the outfit, and her body from hips upward. It was ‘flattering’ to her figure at least, even if she had a look of concentration on her face. Though that look totally removed her natural cuteness!

“‘Black Leg’ Sanji, Twenty Million Beri.” Sanji nodded as he lit up a cigarette. He was still annoyed that the Moss Head had a higher Bounty than him, but he’d deal with it for now. The picture captured him from an angle, his blonde hair covering his eyebrows and only getting about half of his face in the shot. Still identifiable without much trouble, but it did cover up his most ‘distinctive’ facial features.

“‘Quadruple Guns’ Usopp, Fifteen Million Beri!” Usopp cheered happily as he read off his Bounty Poster! The shot was pretty clear, showing Usopp from the front and getting his four holstered pistols in the picture too. Kaya, Pepper, Carrot, and Onion would freak when they saw this! He was a Real Pirate now!

“All totaled up, the Straw Hat Pirates are worth One Hundred Thirty Six Million Beri.” Nami exhaled as she picked up the Bounty Posters. “That easily makes us the crew with the highest Bounty in all of the East Blue.”

“Let’s party!” Luffy exclaimed happily and was met by cheers from Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji.

“Sure, why not, I could use a drink.” Nami shrugged as Luffy put an arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. She was fairly certain she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone in the East Blue suddenly attacking them right now. For Pirates a Bounty was a sign of strength. High Bounties offered a Pirate more clout amongst other Pirates, and weaker Bounty Hunters wouldn’t bother them. Civilians were often far more likely to not antagonize a Pirate with a large Bounty too. All in all Nami felt her Lover’s Bounty might actually repel more danger than it brought; at least for a while.

-Whitebeard’s Ship ~ The Moby Dick-

“Ugh, I’m not going to hear the end of this.” Ace ran a hand down his face as he looked at his little brother’s first Bounty Poster. Luffy had apparently been making quite a stir in the East Blue since he’d set out on his adventure. Luffy always did say he was going to have the highest Bounty of any of the three brothers. Now he had topped Ace’s own starting Bounty. “Oh well, at least he’s doing well for himself.” Ace grinned while also looking over the four other Bounties marked with the same Jolly Roger as his little brothers. “Straw Hat Pirates, huh? Seems he’s made some good friends.” Ace chuckled as he reached up and ran his fingers over the brim of his orange, wide-brimmed hat. “Hey Pops! Look at this! It’s my little brother’s first Bounty Poster!” The Mera Mera no Mi user cheered as he waved Luffy’s Poster over his head and walked towards Whitebeard.

“Gurararara!” Whitebeard chuckled as he took the Bounty Poster from Ace. “So this is the little brother you’ve told us about, the Lightning Brat?”

“That’s Luffy!” Ace smiled. “Kind of goofy looking, I know, but he’s my little brother!”

“Hmm, isn’t his starting Bounty higher than yours was?” Marco, the Commander of the First Division, asked with a teasing smirk.

“Only by five million, it’s not ‘that’ big of a deal.” Ace retorted and the rest of the crew started chuckling too. “Hey, shut it, you lot!” This only prompted more laughter from the crew and Ace quickly joined in as well.

-On a Revolutionary Army Ship-

“Hahahaha!” Sabo laughed as he stared at Luffy’s big grin on the Bounty Poster. “He actually did it!”

“Who did what?” Koala questioned, her head tilted to the side curiously.

“My little brother got his first Bounty, and it’s higher than Ace’s starting Bounty!” Sabo held out the Poster for Koala to take and look at. “Luffy did always say he was going to have the largest Bounty of all of us! I can’t wait to send Ace a letter about this! Oh I’m going to rib him good for this!”

“You’re certainly pleased; it’s nice to see you laughing like this.” Koala giggled as her partner continued to laugh. The young man in the picture had a very wide smile; and even through the photo Koala could tell that the straw-hatted teen was the carefree type. It was odd to think a man with such a smile could have earned himself the largest Bounty in the East Blue so quickly.

-Unknown Island ~ Somewhere in the Grand Line-

“Boss! We got company!” A Pirate yelled as he came rushing up to a large umbrella set up to shade the Captain of his crew and the higher ranked Pirates next to him.

“Hmm, calm down, it’s too early and I’ve got a hangover.” Shanks waved the man off, clearly not realizing or caring that it was past noon.

“Still acting so casual, I see.” Mihawk commented from behind the panicked pirate.

“Oh, Hawk-Eyes, long time no see.” Shanks greeted the Warlord. “I’m not feeling my best at the moment; did you come for a match?”

“I have no interest in challenging you when you’re drunk.” Mihawk declared. “I happened to come across some interesting Pirates not too long ago. One of them reminded me of something you told me a while back. The story of an amusing trio of brothers from a small village in the East Blue.” With that he brought out the Bounty Posters of Luffy and his crew.

“No way.” Lucky Roo smiled as he caught sight of the large grin. Shanks’ eyes widened and a large grin came to his face.

“So you’ve made it, Luffy.” Shanks smiled at the Poster. “Well, Hawk-Eyes, I can’t let you go after bringing something like this to me.” Mihawk’s eyes widened just a fraction as he looked at Shanks. Within seconds a flagon was placed in front of the World’s Greatest Swordsman and filled with booze.

“Of course….” Mihawk trailed off with a small sigh.

“Hahaha! Come on, Hawk-Eyes, drink up, drink up!” Shanks laughed as cheer and levity spread throughout the Red Hair Pirates. “We’re gonna party today!”

“Didn’t you have a hangover already?” Mihawk inquired as he picked up the full flagon.

“This is a time to celebrate!” Shanks laughed. “Come on, come on, come on, drink up!” Mihawk sighed before downing the flagon in one go; much to Shanks’ cheer and good mood! “Man! Who would have thought?! Luffy with Sixty Million on his head right from the start! Hahahaha!”

-Party’s Bar ~ Fuusha Village-

“Luffy’s got a price on his head!” A villager exclaimed as he held up the Bounty Poster.

“Sixty Million already?” Another villager whistled. “Our little village make actually get known for producing such an infamous Pirate!”

“Shut it, all of you!” Mayor Woopslap yelled at the celebrating villagers. “What’s so great about a criminal coming from our village?”

“Calm down Mayor.” Makino smiled softly as she handed him a drink. “Luffy looks so happy.” She smiled at the Poster.

“A pirate is a pirate!” Woopslap shook his head before sipping his drink.

-Going Merry-

“Hmm, where’s the next island Nami?” Luffy asked the Navigator as he sat on his ‘special seat’ atop Merry’s figurehead. Nami grinned up her Captain/Lover and showed him the map.

“Well, since you want to go to the Grand Line, we’ll have to head to Loguetown.” Nami explained. “It’s also known as the town of ‘the Beginning and the End’. It’s where the Pirate King was born, and where he died.”

“That’s cool!” Luffy exclaimed with stars in his eyes. “How long will it take us to reach it?"

“Since the Conomi Archipelago is literally in the opposite direction it’s going to take a bit of time. About a week from now before we get there based on our current speed.” Nami informed him. “If we’d been able to head for Loguetown from the Baratie we’d have made it there in about four days, maybe five, depending on the weather.”

“I’d go to the other side of the East Blue to take that bastard out for you, Nami.” Luffy smiled at her and Nami smiled brightly back at him. “If it takes us a little longer to get there, then it takes a little longer, no big deal.”

“Come here.” Nami smiled at him as she stepped up onto the bottom of the figurehead and pulled Luffy downwards by his cardigan. Their lips met and the two enjoyed a gentle kiss for several seconds before parting. “Thank you, Luffy.”

“Shishishi, any time Nami.” Luffy laughed.

“I’m going to check on my mikan trees.” Nami informed him as she let go of his cardigan. “I’m so glad we had space to plant a few of them, they’ll give us all the Vitamin C we need!”

“Can I have one?” Luffy asked with a grin as he jumped down to follow after the orangette. 

“Sure, I’ll pick you out a ripe one.” Nami smiled as she took Luffy’s hand and the two walked up the steps to the back deck and then leapt up to the top of the large ‘planter’ that they’d added onto the back of the kitchen/lounge/helm cabin. Nami looked over the mikan trees for a bit. Checking their condition and looking out for any pests that might have tried to come along for the voyage. Once she was satisfied she found a nice, large, ripe one and picked it for Luffy.

“Thanks, Nami!” Luffy grinned as he followed his Lover back to the deck where her lounge chair was already set up.

“Just make sure you peel it first.” Nami teased him, knowing how fast Luffy ate sometimes.

“I know how to eat fruit.” Luffy playfully whined at her as he sat next to Nami and started peeling the mikan. He popped one of the sections he’d separated from the citrus fruit into his mouth and chewed it. Luffy took his time savoring the sweet, but slightly sour, taste for a moment before he took another slice and ate it. “These’re good.” He praised and Nami grinned at him.

“They’re a hardy breed that’s been grown in the Conomi Islands for a long time.” Nami informed him. “They can even handle drops in temperature that would kill most citrus trees. But they’re still susceptible to pests, so I’ll have to be vigilant with them.”

“Do you think Sanji could use them in the kitchen?” Luffy wondered as he’d grown up on fairly simple meals, since Dadan made the boys get their own food. Though Makino did, on occasion, make the brothers something special with local fruits.

“He’s already asked.” Nami informed him. “I believe we’re having a citrus fruit tart for dessert tonight.”

“Ooh!” Luffy grinned brightly at the thought of the dessert. He wasn’t much for an excess of sweet things. But he did enjoy them every now and then.

“So what are our plans until we get to Loguetown?” Nami questioned her Captain while she lay back on her chair and relaxed.

“Training.” Luffy replied instantly.

“Should have expected that.” Nami sighed fondly at her Lover. “Anything else?”

“Depends on if anything else happens.” Luffy shrugged as he tossed the peel of the eaten mikan overboard.

“Like what?” Nami asked curiously.

“An enemy Pirate Crew, or the Marines, or even some Bounty Hunters hoping to get lucky.” Luffy counted off on his fingers. “We could get in a fight with any of them if we run across them. It would be good for experience at least.”

“I’d rather not, but that could potentially mean more Beri for us to raid from the enemy.” Nami hummed thoughtfully, weighing the options between getting into a fight with another ship and the Beri they could potentially gain from it.

“If it happens, it happens.” Luffy shrugged as he tilted his head back and gently rested it against Nami’s toned stomach.

“I guess.” Nami grinned down at him as she gently pulled his treasured hat off his head. Luffy didn’t even flinch at the removal and Nami felt a warmth in her chest from it. She knew how much his hat meant to her Captain, the fact that he’d let her remove it without argument showed a deep level of trust. She gently ran her fingers through his hair as the two of them lazed about on deck. These quiet moments may well become a rarity once the crew entered the Grand Line.

-Unknown Location-

“Nanashi, did you see the newest Bounty Posters?” A rugged older man asked a younger man in plain grey clothes.

“What about them, Mienai?” ‘Nanashi’ asked the older man. Not like the two of them knew each other’s real names after all.

“Thought you might be interested in making some extra Beri.” ‘Mienai’ shrugged as he pulled the cork out of a bottle and took a swig. “Sixty Million on this new Pirate’s head; bring in the rest of his crew too and you’re looking at One Hundred Thirty Six Million.”

“I could get that much without the extra hassle.” Nanashi shrugged. “Besides I accepted that Job a while back. My Broker finally came in with a location too, so I’ll be heading out in a bit.”

“Finally tracked the guy down, huh?” Mienai chuckled as he set his bottle down.

“Yeah, guy has been doing ‘work’ for some illegal underground group masquerading as a Bounty Hunter Organization; so it took a while.” Nanashi yawned.

“That’ll stall ya.” Mienai nodded. “What’s the name?”

“Baroque Works.” Nanashi twirled his index finger in the air. “Sounds dumb to me. Though there are whispers that it has ties to a Warlord.”

“Careful that you don’t get caught up in that then, wouldn’t want you to get killed.” Mienai chuckled.

“I highly doubt any of the Warlords I’d be worried about are involved.” Nanashi dismissed. Mienai suddenly blasted a huge spray of colorless liquid at Nanashi. The liquid quickly covered the corner of the darkened room they were sitting in and dissolved everything to liquid.

“Damn.” Mienai tsked as he turned and saw Nanashi heading towards the door without a care.

“Not even on your best day, old man.” Nanashi waved back as he exited the darkened building, briefly revealing it to be night time outside.

“Another day of not getting that Bounty, or that Devil Fruit.” Mienai lamented as he took another swig from his bottle. “I could retire and live like a damn King with Three point Nine Billion Beri.”

“Such is the life of a ‘Shadow’ Mienai.” A man just as old as Mienai stated, appearing from the gloom of the room without a sound. “Your bill for the damages.” He said as he handed Mienai a piece of paper.

“Ah, damn it.” Mienai grumbled a he pulled out his wallet. “He might be one of the best, but no one is ever one hundred percent safe in the Kuro Kari; not even its members.”

-Outside-

“So…Alabasta, huh?” Nanashi mumbled to himself as he looked at the message that had just been passed to him, too fast for most people to ever hope to notice, from a completely forgettable ‘face in the crowd’. “But not for long. Heading…all the way out to Cactus Island? What the hell for?” Nanashi grumbled at the distance from his current location. “That’s a trip that’ll take a bit. Oh well, just have to deal with it.” With that Nanashi became just another person in the crowd, completely unremarkable and forgettable. “The things I do for a payday. At least the client is paying triple for the Fruit.” He flicked his thumb, launching a small rock he’d picked up, into the face of a drunken man that was being way too forceful with a ‘lady of the evening’. The man collapsed to the ground, appearing to have passed out from inebriation. “Supposedly he’ll be travelling with another Fruit User; guess I’ll be picking up some extra merchandise too. Never hurts to make some extra Beri.” He’d leave the island first thing in the morning, when he wouldn’t attract any attention to himself.

-End Chapter-

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Bounties and Epithets have been revealed! Some are the same! Some are new! Now we’re headed for Loguetown! But what’s this? Seems we have some movement in the dark. What will happen? Who is Nanashi and who is he looking for? Will he and Luffy cross paths? Will they miss each other entirely? Who knows what the future will bring? Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!