Logia Brothers Chapter 18 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of The Logia Brothers! Whiskey Peak! How will the Straw Hats handle the situations that arise? Will things change or stay the same?

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So without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 18 – Whiskey Peak, Grand Line Dangers

“What is with these pirates?” Miss Wednesday blinked as she watched the Straw Hat crew. It was the morning of the second day of their voyage to Cactus Island and the town of Whiskey Peak. The crew had relaxed and taken it easy for the rest of the day from the Twin Capes. She was given a ‘room’ in the female quarters, the accordion wall system was rather ingenious in her opinion, and Mr. Nine had been given one in the men’s quarters. Both had been given the warning that any nefarious or hostile actions would see them tossed overboard. She’d behave though, especially after being able to take a hot shower for the first time in days!

Shortly after daybreak the next day, where she'd been rudely awoken by the crew’s noise, every member of the Straw Hat Pirates had been doing some form of training. Even she and Mr. Nine had been dragged into it, though that was ostensibly so that they’d never be out of the crews’ sight. She sighed, “I mean, really, don’t they know the meaning of the word moderation?!” Miss Wednesday exhaled heavily, she thought she trained herself pretty well, but she didn't think she could do half of what she’d watched them do. At the moment she was resting from the forced training. The green-haired swordsman, Zoro, and the blonde chef, Sanji, were still sparring with the Captain! She could barely feel her legs!

Usopp, the Gunman of the crew, had downed his breakfast and headed up to the crow’s nest to keep watch as he rested from the training. She’d seen pirates strapped with multiple weapons before, but she’d never gotten the feeling that she could be shot with every gun they had on them before she hit the ground. That, however, was the feeling she got from the long-nosed teen.

The Navigator, Nami, was a surprise in and of herself. At first, she had assumed, just from the orangette’s figure, that they’d have similar strengths. They were both, curvy, feminine, and sexy. So she expected the woman to probably be a mid-range or long-range fighter. Maybe even a non-combatant at all. But the orangette had not only made it through the training, she’d even taken up an extra spar with the Captain too! The way the Navigator moved in combat was so fluid, it was like she almost knew where the next blow would come from! She was also very adept with the staff she wielded too. Miss Wednesday had never seen such skill with a simple staff!

Zoro and Sanji did double the amount of training that Usopp or Nami did. The two were clearly part of the combatants for the small crew. Watching the insane amount of weight the two used for workouts made her feel phantom pains! Then they went for double or even triple rounds of sparring with the Captain on top of that!

That left the Captain himself, Luffy, and he had Miss Wednesday just shaking her head in disbelief. Not only could he outdo the weight that either Zoro or Sanji used for workouts, by a considerable margin at that, he did so with a smile! The straw-hatted young man was fast, agile, strong, and also had the fluid movement that Nami showed in her spars. The man clearly had the respect of his crew and Miss Wednesday wondered what kind of Bounty he might have on him. She also suspected he was holding back. She couldn’t be sure, but the way he seemed to always be just a bit faster than his sparring partner, or just a bit stronger, led her to her hypothesis.

“This is what it takes to be strong.” Nami shrugged at the bluenette from where she was looking between the map and the Log Pose. “If we didn’t do this, then we probably wouldn’t make it on the Grand Line.”

“What’s with the meditation that you guys do?” Miss Wednesday questioned the Navigator. It seemed odd to her that a crew of Pirates would practice meditation of all things. Though this was also her first time meeting Peacemain Pirates. Out of every ten Pirate Crews, you might get one crew of Peacemain Pirates. The other nine crews would be the typical Morganeer Pirates; the type that pillaged, raided, raped, murdered, and burned down villages and towns.

“Don’t worry about it.” Nami glanced over at her with a grin that screamed ‘it’s a secret’ on her lips.

Mr. Nine huffed and puffed from his position leaned up against the edge of the ship. The orange-haired man looked as if he was barely keeping conscious. It almost seemed like the Captain was making sure her partner would be too exhausted to do anything untoward while on their ship.

BAM

A loud crash came from the rear upper deck and Miss Wednesday flinched at the unexpected noise. Two blurs landed on the main deck and rolled to a stop. They were revealed to be Sanji and Zoro. Both men were panting and had sweat pouring down their faces. They also had bruises forming on their visible skin and Miss Wednesday was amazed they were still able to get back to their feet.

“Shishishi, good job Zoro, good job Sanji! You two are definitely getting better!” Luffy chuckled at them. The black-haired young man barely looked winded!

“One of these days, Luffy…” Zoro panted threateningly. “One of these days…”

“Don’t think you’ll be able to take me lightly forever… Shitty Captain…” Sanji breathed heavily.

“I just don't get it!” Miss Wednesday waved her arms around at the crew. “I thought East Blue was supposed to be full of weaklings! It’s literally called the ‘Weakest Sea’ in the world!”

“Hey!” The entire crew shouted.

“Well it's true!” Miss Wednesday retorted, though she did feel bad about indirectly insulting the people that were helping her. “There are only a few Bounties from the East Blue over ten million! The other three Blues’ Bounties average in the ten million Beri range!” The bluenette cringed as she noticed the looks on the crew’s faces. Perhaps pressing the comparison hadn’t been the wisest choice.

“I guess I can see where she’s coming from,” Nami grinned at the bluenette. “We moved through the strongest Pirates in the East Blue without too much trouble. Hell, Luffy didn’t even need to try.” Miss Wednesday blinked at the new information. “Still, you are talking down on us, aren't you? You want to have a go?” She assembled her staff and held it at the ready.

“No, no, I’m fine!” Miss Wednesday turned pale and shook her head furiously.

“Well that’s no fun.” Luffy commented; he almost looked like he was pouting!

“I’m still pretty sure I’ve heard those odd codenames before.” Zoro eyed the two ‘Agents’ closely.

“Uh…” Miss Wednesday started to sweat as he eyed her. She was saved from any further questioning when the weather suddenly changed.

“What in the hell?!” Nami exclaimed as the weather went from warm, sunny, and calm spring day, to heavy winter in an instant. It was like they had crossed an invisible line and a new season was on the other side! The two girls started to shiver due to their thin, short clothes; Nami in a skirt while Miss Wednesday was wearing her shorts. A heavy snowfall began and it was just short of a blizzard in a matter of moments! To the crew’s shock, the snow was already starting to pile up on the ship as they watched. “How the hell?! I've never seen weather change like this before!” She wrapped her arms around herself as the wind began to pick up.

“That's the Grand Line for you! We’ve passed outside of the Twin Capes’ stable climate. The sea between Reverse Mountain and the first islands is especially crazy!” Miss Wednesday explained while rubbing her arms, her frosted breath appearing as white clouds. Both of the women ran inside to get into warmer clothing. Nami was gracious enough to loan the bluenette some of her things. When they came back outside, Luffy and Usopp were already building snowmen.

“Oh, Sanji~!” Nami called out with a grin.

“Yes, Nami-swan~?” Sanji practically pirouetted to them. "What may I do for you, my lovelies? A nice hot chocolate, perhaps?”

“Please, a warm drink would be lovely right now.” Nami smiled at him. “Make sure everyone gets one.”

“Yes~!” The blonde zipped into the kitchen with hearts pouring off his form.

“There wasn't even time to cover up my precious trees! They can survive cold snaps, but I don’t know about ones this fast! Crocus was right! This stupid weather defies logic! Was that thunder? Great, now we have lightning too!" Nami grumbled out, she was already not a fan of the weather of the Grand Line!

“Hey, shouldn't you be keeping an eye on the Log Pose?” Miss Wednesday questioned the orangette. “I haven't really seen you steering much.”

“What do you mean? I've been checking our course regularly. The wheel is locked too.” Nami informed the bluenette.

“You might want to check again. You're really underestimating the Grand Line!” Miss Wednesday winced.

Nami cocked an eyebrow at the other woman. But, Miss Wednesday was a Grand Line native. Nami didn't get to be the best Navigator in the entire East Blue by not learning from those who came before, so she raised her arm to look at the Log Pose. “See, we’re right on…WHAT THE FUCK?!”

Luffy and Usopp stopped their snow fight at hearing Nami’s scream.

“What's wrong Nami?” Luffy asked his Lover curiously.

“Luffy! Unlock on the wheel! Now, hurry! We need to turn the ship around, one hundred and eighty degrees!” Nami grabbed her head, “This is crazy! I just checked like five minutes ago and we were right on target! The seas were smooth! How the hell did we literally turn around?”

“The sea is having its way with us.” Mr. Nine sneered while walking over to them.

“The Log Pose is the only thing you can trust on these seas.” Miss Wednesday told her, in a more gentle tone, “Nothing else makes sense here! Not the currents, not the weather, not the clouds, the waves, or even the sky! Everything is treacherous and in flux!”

“Are you sure you're the Navigator?” Mr. Nine questioned pompously. Nami’s eyebrow twitched and she slowly turned to look at him.

“Get off your ass and help then, you damn freeloader!” Nami yelled while tossing him over the railing and to the main deck “Start shoveling snow!”

“Ow!” Mr. Nine whined as he stood up from his fall. He then was clocked in the chest with a snow shovel that Luffy threw to him.

“There’s a shovel, hurry up!” Luffy ordered as he leapt into the cabin and unlocked the wheel.

“Take the wind from the starboard yard brace! Turn us a hundred and eighty to port! Usopp, watch astern! Sanji, thank you for the hot chocolate!” Nami yelled instructions and thanked Sanji as the Cook handed her and Miss Wednesday the warm beverages. Sanji twirled away with hearts in his eyes to hand out the rest of the drinks. Everyone enjoyed the warm drinks as the Going Merry turned around in a wide half circle.

“Why is my hot chocolate kind of gritty?” Mr. Nine questioned Sanji.

“Be thankful you even got any.” Sanji replied to the crown-wearing man. “It’s gritty because you got the dregs from the bottom of the pot.” Mr. Nine cried crocodile tears at the callousness Sanji continued to show him.

"Hold up! The wind just changed!" Usopp yelled out from the crow’s nest.

“What! No way!” Nami groaned as she read the winds again.

“Ahh, the first winds of spring!” Mr. Nine and Miss Wednesday smiled as they faced the new wind. Miss Wednesday happily sipping from her hot chocolate.

“Why?! This doesn't make any damn sense!” Nami began to grind her teeth at the nonsensical weather.

“The waves are getting bigger!” Usopp called out.

“Hey look! There are dolphins over there! Let's go see them!” Luffy yelled out gleefully, the large dolphins leaping from the sea quite a distance away.

“There’s an iceberg at ten o'clock!” Usopp yelled again, “Oh shit, we're headed right for it!”

“Luffy!” Nami screamed at Luffy and the Captain vanished in a spark of blue-white light. The next instant he was directly above the iceberg. Then he cocked back his fist and punched the titanic piece of ice! The iceberg exploded into snow, even the hidden mass below the waves! The sea exploded upwards as the water rushed in to fill the void. The spray of the waves didn’t even make it to the Going Merry before they were blown away by the winds.

“What the?!” Miss Wednesday and Mr. Nine’s eyes bugged out of their heads at the display of strength! Luffy reappeared on the deck next to Nami as if he’d never left the ship at all!

“There's fog up ahead!” Sanji yelled out. The massive bank of fog was so thick it looked like a solid mass!

“What kind of ocean is this?!” Nami yelled, holding her head in between her hands. Luffy chuckled as he gave Nami a side-hug.

And all the while, Zoro and Sanji were being run ragged trying to keep up with all the rigging changes Nami was yelling out! The swordsman and cook dashed across the deck, while yelling at Mr. Nine to hurry up with the shoveling as the snow was starting to accumulate again. The green suited man was given a lump on the head from each of them until he picked up the pace.

When the weather finally calmed down again, the crew let out sighs of relief. Mr. Nine looked exhausted from the constant snow shoveling, Sanji and Zoro were leaned up against the mast, both catching their breath. Usopp was half dangling from the crow’s nest, his voice almost shot from yelling out the next danger approaching the ship. Nami looked more than a little frazzled, as did Miss Wednesday, who’d been trying to help the Navigator keep up with the weather changes. Luffy was still all smiles as he’d retaken his special seat atop Merry’s figurehead.

“Alright, listen up! We have to stay alert! Who knows what will happen next! Everyone needs to be ready for more bat shit crazy weather at all times!” Nami held her fist up, an almost manic gleam in her eyes. “I understand now! We all know how dangerous this ocean is now! And I know now how the Grand Line got its reputation! All of the navigational skills I've honed for the last decade-plus seem useless here!”

“You’re not exactly inspiring confidence here. Are you sure we'll be okay?” Usopp groaned from his position in the crow’s nest.

“Of course!” Nami growled out. “Other crews have braved these waters before! ‘Hawkeye’ Mihawk sailed it in a goddamn coffin boat! The Pirate King even reached the end of this sea! I WILL learn how to read this damn sea like a book, just like I did back home! I WILL get us through this journey safely! We. Will. Not. Fail!” Every one of the crew was smirking at the fire their Navigator spoke with. Nami pumped her fist once into the air. “For our Dreams!”

“YEAH!” The replying shouts of the small crew sounded much louder to Mr. Nine and Miss Wednesday.

It was still another day and a half of sailing with random ‘Hellscape Weather’ popping up without warning before they got to their destination. The weather and sea seemed to calm down and stabilize a bit. Usopp called out that he’d spotted something on the horizon not long after. As they sailed closer Nami smiled as she looked over the map. Luffy, sitting on Merry’s figurehead again, was practically bouncing in excitement! This was their first island of the Grand Line!

As they neared the island they all noticed how it got its name.

“Are those really cacti?!” Usopp exclaimed as what looked like MASSIVE cactus plants loomed over the island.

“Whoa!” Luffy grinned widely. “It's Sake Summit!”

“Whiskey Peak.” Nami corrected him with a grin, standing at the base of the figurehead.

“We arrived safely!” Mr. Nine exclaimed joyfully. Miss Wednesday smiled as well, it was good to be back. She needed to speak with Mr. Eight too. She could honestly say she liked this crew, but she needed to go. So, for now, she just went along with her partner and jumped onto the railing of the ship. “We'll be taking our leave now.” Mr. Nine declared loudly.

“Thanks for the ride, darlings! We'll meet again, fate willing!” Miss Wednesday slapped a smug grin onto her face. She had a part to play, even if it meant turning these friendly pirates in. She had to do it for her country, until they could save their homeland.

“Bye, bye, baby!” The two agents then back-flipped off the ship and into the water below. The Straw Hats just watched while blinking at the eccentric duo.

“Okay…” Luffy shrugged as they watched the pair swim towards the island, perpendicular to their own course. “Well whatever! Let's land!” He grinned brightly. “I wonder what kind of island this is. I hope it's a fun one!”

“Your idea of ‘fun’ isn’t the same as everybody else’s, Luffy!” Usopp yelled at his Captain. “What if this island is full of monsters or something?!”

“Well, that certainly is a possibility. This is the Grand Line after all.” Sanji chuckled as he took a drag from his cigarette.

“Hey! Shut it! I don’t want to hear that!” Usopp pointed at the Cook with a glare.

“It doesn’t matter what’s on this island, we have to stay here until the Log Pose records this island's magnetic field and picks up the next one on our path.” Nami spoke up as she looked at the Log Pose strapped to her wrist. “According to Crocus, the time that it takes for the pose to record the magnetic field varies from island to island, so we may be here for a while. It could be hours, or could be weeks. Just keep that in mind.”

As they sailed further into the island, sailing right into a river that had a wide bay. The bay held a large dock that could fit almost any size ship. Only a few small fishing boats currently occupied the large dock though. The crew heard voices in the mists that surrounded the coast of the island. All of the crew tensed, just in case they needed to fight. Luffy closed his eyes for a moment to ‘listen’. A few moments later he grinned widely as he opened his eyes. When the fog finally cleared completely, it was to the sight of seemingly the entire town cheering for them.

“Welcome to the Town of Celebration – Whiskey Peak!” The crowd roared, doing everything from cheering to literally throwing confetti at them. “Welcome to our town, Pirates! Hurray for the heroes of the sea!”

“Wow, so Pirates are heroes here! Awesome! What a welcome!” Usopp was immediately taken into the townspeople’s pace.

“Wow! So many cute girls!” Sanji’s visible eye turned into a heart and he started ‘noodling’ about the deck. Nami and Zoro deadpanned while Luffy was chuckling to himself.

“Oh yeah, this isn’t suspicious at all.” Nami commented, while stopping herself from rolling her eyes at the display.

“This should be fun.” Luffy laughed, he wasn’t the type to turn down a free party.

“In more than one way.” Zoro smirked and briefly grasped one of his swords.

“Hem-hem!” A tall man with blonde, ridiculously over-curled hair, holding a saxophone in his hand greeted them when they finally docked and disembarked. He had broad, thick shoulders, a barrel chest, and oddly skinny legs too. “Mi-mi-mi!” His odd throat clearing almost made Luffy laugh by itself! “My name is Igarappoi, and I'm the Mayor of Whiskey Peak! Welcome, brave Pirates!” The crowd let out another deafening cheer. “Welcome to Whiskey Peak! I know this might come as quite the surprise to you all. But we're a bustling town of music and ale brewing! We're very proud of our ale and have an ocean of it! Would you care to join us in a celebration and regale us with the tales of your adventures?”

“You bet we would!” Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji cheered, their arms thrown over each other’s shoulders.

“Say, how long does it take for the Log Pose to set on this island?” Nami questioned the mayor curiously.

“Log Pose?” The mayor blinked at her sharp stare. “Mi-mi-mi! Not very long at all, young lady, only about six or so hours, eight at the very most. But please, set aside such trivial matters and enjoy yourself!” He tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but a glare had him pulling back with an apologetic smile. “Come on everyone! It's party time!”

From that moment on a huge party was underway! Zoro and Nami got into a drinking contest with a Fifty-Thousand Beri prize. Sanji was surrounded by twenty women and Usopp was regaling a seemingly enraptured audience with his tall tales while downing multiple flagons of booze. Luffy was eating through enough for a dozen men easily. The cooks in the kitchen started to drop from exhaustion as they couldn’t keep up with Luffy’s voracious appetite! All the while, laughter and cheer were in the air along with the ‘famed’ music.

“Bwahaha!” Igarappoi laughed loudly. “Marvelous! I'm so glad you're having fun! Continue enjoying yourselves!”

Miss Wednesday sat on one of the buildings above the party, several hours later, just staring at the moon. Mr. Nine sat a bit away from her on the ledge. They’d written up their report for the Boss, but they’d have to send it through the normal mail since the Unluckies were dead. She looked down when the door opened as the sounds from within had died down. She eyed the town mayor as he exited the building.

“Tonight… The cactus rocks seem to dance… So beautifully in the moonlight.” Iggarapoi mused as he looked up at the moon.

“You’re a poet, Mr. Eight.” Mr. Nine declared as he and Miss Wednesday jumped down from the roof.

“Hmm, if it isn't Mr. Nine and Miss Wednesday, how did your mission go?” He asked, turning to face the duo.

“Badly.” Miss Wednesday gave him a look, as they locked eyes for a moment. Unknown to Mr. Nine, there was much more in that gaze than he realized. “The Pirates in there are incredibly strong. You better have put more than just booze in those drinks. I wouldn't want to have to fight them directly.”

"I sent one of the others to go check the latest Wanted Posters a bit ago.” Igarappoi, or Mr. Eight, replied. “Mi-mi-mi! We’ll have an idea of how strong they are shortly.” He informed them.

“Oh my,” A new voice called out from the door. It was a woman dressed in the habit of a nun. She’d been Nami’s final opponent of the drinking contest. She ripped off the ensemble revealing an incredibly muscular body, dark skin, and pink hair styled into two little puffs. “Damn, I was just drinking carbonated barley tea and even I feel buzzed.” She cracked her neck as she stretched. “They sure can put away the food and booze. But was this whole charade really necessary for such a small crew? We should have finished them at the port. As it is, there’s a food shortage. And no whale meat is headed this way.” She glared at Mr. Nine and Miss Wednesday.

“Don’t say that!” Miss Wednesday yelled at the other agent.

“Yeah! We did our best!” Mr. Nine declared; his hands on his hips.

“You failed, is what you did.” Miss Monday retorted.

“Ohohohoho!” Miss Wednesday's ‘Queen Bitch’ laugh returned as she held her hand over her mouth. “Aren't you getting a bit too big for your britches, Miss Monday? I'd like to have seen you take down that whale with that crazy old doctor protecting him.” The two women glared at each other fiercely, one could almost see lightning shooting between their eyes. Their argument would have continued, if not for a rank-and-file subordinate practically falling over himself in front of them.

“Big trouble, Mayor!” The man panted out.

“Steady yourself, man,” Mr. Eight ordered the subordinate. “Did you get the information I requested from the ‘office’?”

“Y-yes sir!” He nodded, though his eyes were still wide in panic. “I don't think we should try anything with this crew! Look at this shit!” He held up five Wanted Posters to show them, the first one visible being Luffy’s.

“S-Sixty Million!” Miss Wednesday gaped in shock; her eyes shooting wide open at the number!

“One-Hundred-Thirty-Six Million for all five of them?!” Miss Monday’s jaw was almost on the ground.

“I knew it had to be pretty high, but I had no idea it would be that high! They're from East Blue of all seas! This is insane!” Miss Wednesday replied in shock.

“Only a fool judges a Pirate by their appearance, Miss Bunbay…” Mr. Eight coughed to clear his throat. “Mi-mi-mi! Miss Monday.”

“Holy! I'm so ashamed.” Miss Monday rubbed the back of her head ruefully.

“Tie them up and take everything of value from their ship! We'll be able to make a very good report to the boss!” Mr. Eight ordered the other agents.

“Try it and I’ll kill every last one of you myself.” A voice that Miss Wednesday and Mr. Nine recognized immediately rang out. All four agents mechanically turned to look up at the roof of the building next to them. Nami stood, with her staff in her hand, on top of the roof glaring down at them.

“Dartbrow and Usopp are still pretty tired from the party and the voyage too.” Zoro was up on the roof too, grinning like the devil himself, one of his katana drawn and resting on his shoulder.

“Oh man,” The nameless subordinate panicked. “We should call it off, Mayor!” He turned to look at Mr. Eight. “Let’s just be super polite and let them leave!”

“Shishishi,” Luffy laughed and all four agents realized they hadn’t noticed himsitting between his two standing crewmates. He was sitting crossed-legged and he had his right elbow on top of his right knee. His chin rested in his palm and the wide grin on his face did nothing to ease the agents’ nerves. “You can do that if you want. You treated us to a good time, so if you don’t do anything else, it’ll be no harm, no foul.”

All four agents blinked in shock at the Captain. A Pirate with a Sixty Million Beri Bounty; was willing to let them go without trouble, so long as they didn’t try to capture the crew. This option had never come up before and the agents tried to weigh both options in their minds.

“I still want to take whatever Beri they have lying around though.” Nami grinned down at the agents. “Now where could they keep their money?” She pretended to look around the town with a grin. “Hmm, maybe in that building over there?” She pointed to a building at the base of one of the cactus-like mountains. “It’s built differently than the rest of the buildings in town. It has thicker walls, small windows, a metal door, and it’s built into the mountain.” All four agents’ eyes widened as Nami gave them a Cheshire grin. “Bingo!” The square below them began to fill with all of the Bounty Hunter residents of the town. It was only natural when three of their targets went missing. Every Bounty Hunter down on the ground started drawing and cocking weapons, aiming right for the trio of pirates.

“Oh, it looks like there’s going to be a second party after all!” Luffy chuckled and Zoro smirked. Nami grinned down at them all.

“About a hundred of you guys, from the looks of it.” Zoro commented with his smirk growing. “This should be a nice test for my new swords.”

“Shishishi, have fun, you two.” Luffy encouraged his nakama. He was still sitting there without a care.

“Well, I know where I’m going.” Nami smiled as she leaned down and pecked Luffy’s cheek. “I’m hoping for a good haul.”

“That settles it then.” Zoro grinned devilishly. “We'll be your opponents tonight… Baroque Works!”

“EEEH?!” In an instant, every single bounty hunter there reared back as if Zoro had slapped them across the face with a raw fish. “Impossible! How do you know the name of our secret society?!” Several of them demanded.

“Why? You idiots tried to recruit me long ago. Back when I was in your line of work. Naturally I turned you down, with the stupid need for secrecy, the dumb code names, and how none of you knows what your boss even looks like, his whereabouts, or even what your real goal is...it didn’t appeal to me. Ended up having to kill your recruiter, he didn’t want to take ‘No’ for an answer.” Zoro shrugged with a smirk.

“Unfortunate for you!” Mr. Eight declared with a glare. “Everyone who knows of our organization must perish!” They all took aim at the three pirates. “A few more tombstones to adorn the cactus rocks!” The group of Bounty Hunters all fired at once, plumes of smoke and unburned gunpowder obscuring their vision for a few moments. Mr. Eight noticed Nami leaping across the rooftops towards the treasury building and grit his teeth. “Some of you; kill that woman! She’s planning to raid the treasury!” That got almost two dozen of the Bounty Hunters to panic and chase after the orangette.

“You’ll need more than that.” Luffy laughed and the Bounty Hunters all stared bug-eyed at him. He hadn’t moved a muscle! He was still sitting in the exact same position as before! In fact, Zoro had disappeared too!

“You’ll need a lot more than a ‘few’ new tombstones.” Zoro spoke up from behind Mr. Eight, the blade of Wado stabbed through the ridiculously curled hair. The large blonde man’s eyes were wide and sweat rolled down his face.

“There he is!” Several Bounty Hunters cried out as they turned their guns on Zoro, and Mr. Eight by extension.

“Don’t shoot you fools!” Mr. Eight ordered his subordinates. “You’ll hit me too!” When he heard the cocking of pistols and rifles he panicked. “Don’t do it!” The man grabbed his saxophone and blew into it strongly. “Igarappa!” A blast went off and several of the Bounty Hunters in front of Mr. Eight went down to a spray of pellets. Zoro disappeared again in the confusion of the attack.

“Was that a shotgun?” Zoro wondered to himself from behind a nearby building. “You could hurt someone with that.” From there Zoro drew Yubashiri and Kitetsu III. Luffy watched on as Zoro tested his new swords, running through the town and beating the Bounty Hunters one after another. A few had stayed to try and take Luffy down. After they realized that their guns wouldn’t work, they tried to scale a ladder to the top of a building. Luffy, not really wanting to deal with them, had blasted them with a burst of Conqueror’s Haki and sent them all collapsing unconscious. That left Zoro free to deal with the Bounty Hunters after him and Nami to deal with the ones that ran after her.

-With Nami-

“Man, you guys kinda suck.” Nami mentioned as her shock staff impacted the stomach of a large man and sent him to the ground; the spasming of his body showing the voltage being passed into him. That was the sixth Bounty Hunter she’d taken down in her trip to their treasury. She spun and dodged a pistol shot, swinging her staff into the woman’s head took her out of the fight. Another man with a sword came at her from behind and took an electrified jab to the chest. She dashed away again, ducking around corners to break their line of fire, backtracking to catch other pursuers unaware. Nami was swiftly dealing with the Bounty Hunters that had been sent after her.

She cracked her staff over the head of another Bounty Hunter as she approached her destination. She couldn’t help but chuckle as she peeked around a corner and saw the last four Bounty Hunters, which she could sense in the area anyway, standing in front of the treasury.

“Well, at least a few of them were smart.” Nami mumbled to herself. With stealth born from years of thieving, Nami slipped through the shadows of the buildings. She was close enough to strike before the four even realized she was there!

“Ah!” The first Bounty Hunter went down to an electrified jab to the head. As he collapsed the other three turned towards the scream. Nami was already moving though. The second Bounty Hunter, a thin man with pale skin, was folded in half by her staff slamming into his stomach. She dropped low to avoid a rifle shot and the ‘crack’ she heard as her staff broke the ankle of the rifleman was satisfying. The man jolted from the electricity coursing through him and collapsed. The last Bounty Hunter, a woman with dark black hair, thrust her spear at Nami.

“Die pirate!” The woman spat at Nami as she thrust the spear rapidly at her. Nami sank into her Observation and weaved around the thrusts. The Bounty Hunter got more and more frantic as Nami seemingly dodged her attacks with no effort! Seeing an opening through her Observation, Nami swung her staff and clocked the woman in the side of the head. The woman jerked as the shock staff did its work and crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Done and done.” Nami smiled as she left the almost trance-like state she fell into when focusing on her developing Observation Haki. “Now, let’s see what you guys have in here!” The orangette opened the heavy metal door, which to her surprise wasn’t locked. She made good use of the strong steel lock herself though! The thief chuckled as she bolted the metal door behind her. “What kind of safe do you have?” Nami asked as she lit a lantern on a nearby desk. The glow of light illuminated a large safe, easily a meter and a half tall as well as wide. Looking over the safe, noting the manufacturer and the model, Nami huffed. “Well, at least they protect their money well. But not well enough~” She grinned to herself. This safe would take a bit of time, but she’d cracked one very similar to it just a month before she met Luffy. “Just need a little bit of time!” With that, Nami set to work on claiming the crew’s haul!

“Hmm?” Luffy blinked as he turned his head to look over toward one side of the town. Two new voices had just sailed in under the cover of night. The duo had malicious intentions, violent ones. They were also a good deal stronger than anyone on this island, barring his crew, of course. An explosion went off, close to where Zoro was fighting, in fact. “Well, this may have just gotten interesting after all! Shishishi!” In a spark of blue-white light Luffy vanished and reappeared on top of a house behind Zoro. What he saw confused him slightly. Zoro was standing between Miss Wednesday and the two new ‘voices’. The bluenette looked a bit roughed up and the two new people seemed to be the reason.

One was a tall black man with short, spikey dreadlocks. He wore a zipped up, brown trench coat, a pink cravat, and sunglasses. On the coat was a white '5' encased in a square. Beside him was a young, platinum-blonde haired woman with bright green eyes. It seemed she really liked lemons, because her earrings were shaped like them and her yellow sundress had images of them as the pattern of the fabric. She also carried a bright green parasol with blue stripes.

The guy’s sunglasses and the woman’s parasol confused Luffy a bit; considering the fact that it was the middle of the night. Both items were either no longer useful, the parasol, or an outright detriment, the sunglasses.

“Hey Captain.” Zoro greeted Luffy.

“What’s going on, Zoro?” Luffy questioned the standoff.

“The Mayor guy asked me to protect Miss Wednesday,” Zoro shrugged, never taking his eyes off the new arrivals. “Apparently she’s actually a princess. Since I didn’t know what your call would be, I decided to keep her alive until you got here.”

“Oh, that’s neat.” Luffy grinned as he jumped down and landed beside the bluenette. “Are you finally ready to be honest with us, and yourself?” He questioned the young woman with a smile.

“M-my name is Nefeltari Vivi, I’m the crown princess of Alabasta Kingdom on Sandy Island.” Vivi confessed and involuntarily smiled when Luffy gave her a bright smile of his own.

“Nice to meet you, Vivi!” Luffy chuckled as he stood up and stepped between her and the Officer Agents from Baroque Works. “So yeah, I’m not one hundred percent sure of what’s going on; but Vivi is under our protection for now. If you want to challenge that,” Luffy leveled a cold and deadly glare on the two agents. “Then you’re welcome to try.”

“Kyahaha,” The platinum-blonde woman laughed. “Can you believe the confidence of this rookie, Mr. Five?”

“He’s a fool that doesn’t know who he’s messing with, Miss Valentine.” Mr. Five replied as he pulled his hands from his pockets. The man then began to pick his nose and Luffy was confused. Mr. Five then flicked his booger at Luffy. With a raised eyebrow, especially at the considerable speed the nose gold was flying, Luffy smacked the projectile high into the air with a small amount of Haki. He wasn’t quite expecting it to explode high in the air. Luffy blinked as he looked up at the fading explosion.

“You have a booger exploding Devil Fruit?” Luffy looked perplexed at Mr. Five. He walked forward and cracked his knuckles. “Zoro, protect Vivi while I deal with this.”

“Yes, Captain.” Zoro nodded, moving to stand directly in front of the bluenette. You didn’t argue when Luffy used his ‘Captain’ voice.

“I don’t know how the hell you did that, but it won’t happen again.” Mr. Five stated as he dug in his nose again. The man flicked another booger at Luffy and the straw-hatted pirate slapped it right back at him this time. Mr. Five stood still, taking the blast head-on without a care. Miss Valentine, Luffy noticed, leapt into the air and opened her parasol. The force of the explosion carried the platinum-blonde woman high into the air. Even Luffy easily realized the woman shouldn’t have flown that high up from the blast.

“I ate the Kilo Kilo no Mi! I can change my weight from anywhere between one to ten thousand kilograms! Don't think that just because you have some trick to deal with explosions that you'll win against us! Ten Thousand Kilo Press!” The platinum-blonde dropped like a meteor, aiming right for Luffy. In response, Luffy pivoted on his right heel and then held out his arms. Miss Valentine was caught and Luffy’s legs cratered the ground, sending spider-web cracks through the rocky soil he was standing on.

“Are you done now?” Luffy asked, looking Miss Valentine in her green eyes while holding her in his arms in the classic Bridal Carry.

“Yeah…” Miss Valentine nodded even as she went blue in the face. “You do know I weighed ten metric tons just now, right?”

“Grandpa threw boulders heavier than that at me and my brothers for training.” Luffy shrugged and Miss Valentine could only blink at him in shock.

“You son of a bitch!” Mr. Five yelled as he pulled out a revolver, much like Usopp’s, and flicked open the chamber. The man blew into it and flicked it closed. He aimed directly at Luffy, and Miss Valentine by proxy, and prepared to fire.

“Wait, wait, I’m still here!” Miss Valentine panicked as she flailed in Luffy’s arms. Before he could pull the trigger Luffy’s Observation picked up on something new. The young man’s head snapped to his left and a fairly non-descript man froze mid-step. The two looked at each other without blinking. Even Mr. Five stopped as he just now noticed this man being so close to their fight.

“Well…” The new man, clad in a grey outfit blinked. “I thought I was being pretty ‘quiet’,” He grinned at Luffy as he looked the younger man up and down. “How did you ‘hear’ me?”

“You got this close without me noticing,” Luffy replied already wary of this new person. “How’d you do that?”

“I asked you first.” The man replied with a grin.

“Who the fuck are you?!” Mr. Five, obviously tired of being ignored, aimed his revolver at the interloper. The grey-clad man’s eyes slid over the Officer Agent’s form before he answered.

“Just the Shadow of a Nobody.” Nanashi smiled at his target. Luffy’s eyes widened and he unconsciously pulled the woman in his arms closer to himself. Those words, those names, those titles, just like Benn had warned them about!

“Fuck.” Luffy whispered and only Miss Valentine heard it. The platinum-blonde looked up at the pirate that had just no-selled her strongest attack and wondered what had gotten such a reaction out of him.

“What the hell does that mean?” Mr. Five’s finger was on the trigger as he prepared to shoot the man.

“I’m just here to pick up some merchandise, that’s all.” Nanashi held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Once I get what I came for, I’ll be on my way.” No one, aside from Luffy, knew what to make of the man’s words. “Lucky me that a second piece of merchandise happens to be right here with my target merchandise.” Nanashi looked over at Miss Valentine and the woman felt goosebumps all over her body. Every instinct she had was telling her to run! To run and run, and keep running until she couldn’t anymore.

“Stay out of my way!” Mr. Five declared as he fired six times, emptying the revolver. Six explosions rocked the grey-clad man and everyone stood there in shock. Only Luffy, with his highly-developed Observation, saw what happened next.

From the smoke Nanashi blurred forward. In less than a blink his right hand glowed brightly. The glowing hand stabbed straight through Mr. Five’s chest without slowing down. In the grey-clad man’s hand was the still beating heart of Mr. Five. In an intense flash of light and heat the Officer Agent’s body was reduced to ashes. The only thing left of the man was the still beating heart in Nanashi’s grasp. The non-descript man opened a metal box that he pulled from within his grey jacket and tossed the beating heart inside. The lid was then closed and locked.

“Alright, merchandise secured.” Nanashi smiled at the box as he held it by the built-in handle. The man then turned his eyes towards Miss Valentine. “Bonus merchandise next.”

“Zoro!” Luffy yelled as he tossed Miss Valentine to his First Mate. The green-haired swordsman blinked in shock as he quickly sheathed the swords in his hands so he could catch the green-eyed woman. Luffy’s electrified hand clasped around the outstretched hand of Nanashi, while his other lightning fist had been blocked by the Kuro Kari member’s intensely hot palm. The two were deadlocked as a shockwave exploded from their position.

“Well damn, you’re fast.” Nanashi sighed as his hands dispersed and he leapt back from Luffy. The man’s hands reformed from the intensely hot substance and he reassessed the situation. “Look, I don’t know the whole deal of what’s going on here; but wasn’t that woman your enemy not ten minutes ago?”

“So what?” Luffy questioned, his eyes never leaving the Kuro Kari member.

“So why defend her?” Nanashi asked rhetorically. “Just let me collect my extra merchandise and I’ll be on my way.”

“I’d rather not.” Luffy sparked and bright blue-white bolts leapt off his skin. Nanashi grinned at the rookie as heat began to pour off his body and a bright glow came from him. The ground underneath the man’s feet was quickly reduced to molten rock.

“Do you think this wise, boy?” Nanashi questioned as the two continued to call upon their Devil Fruits. “Engaging against a Shadow like this?”

“You said you’ve already got what you want, so leave.” Luffy retorted; lightning arcing off his body and getting dangerously close to Nanashi.

“But you’re costing me One-Hundred-Fifty Million Beri by standing in my way.” Nanashi informed the rookie as a flare of the bright substance he was seemingly made of liquefied the ground it touched and scorched everything near it black. “That’s a lot of money.”

“Leave.” Luffy directed a bolt to strike the Kuro Kari member. The electricity hit the man, but seemed to almost flow around him instead of doing any damage. A line of Nanashi’s body was now the bright, flaring material he was emitting. The man grinned at Luffy, seeing the young man’s confused look. “What kind of Devil Fruit is that?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Nanashi shook his head. “How about this? You answer my questions and I’ll leave without collecting the Kilo Kilo no Mi, sound good?”

“What questions?” Luffy’s arcing lightning had driven Zoro, Vivi, and Miss Valentine further back away from the two of them.

“Only three,” Nanashi assured Luffy. “If your answers are what I think they are, then I’ll be on my way.” Luffy nodded to the man, though neither had stopped using their power. Trust wasn’t going to be found between the two. “First, is that the Biri Biri no Mi or the Goro Goro no Mi?”

“Goro Goro no Mi.” Luffy answered and Nanashi chuckled at the answer.

“You’re going to break a lot of members’ hearts, kid.” Nanashi laughed at Luffy. “So many of them were hoping to find the fruit itself, or at least find it in the hands of some overconfident fool they could take it from.”

“Why?” Luffy asked his own question.

“Because, it’s considered damn near invincible, that’s why.” Nanashi shook his head. “But in the hands of someone competent, like yourself, it’s not worth even its’ Two Billion Beri price tag! The difficulty of getting it from you makes it ‘Not worth the money’ you see?”

“Okay.” Luffy blinked at the Kuro Kari member.

“Next question, are you a Haki Master?” Nanashi questioned.

“Grandpa said I was advanced a few years back.” Luffy answered. Nanashi mulled that over and shrugged.

“Fair enough,” Nanashi tilted his head as he asked his final question. “Last one, where did you get that Fruit?”

“From a guy.” Luffy replied and Nanashi’s grin became a smile.

“Brown hair, plain-looking, wearing dark blue clothes, barefoot, goes by the name Umino Akuma?” Nanashi chuckled when Luffy’s eyes widened. “Figures. Well, from one pawn to another, let’s end this here.” Nanashi’s body reformed completely from the flaring hot substance and the glow and heat faded away.

“What’s that mean?” Luffy questioned the older man, his own powers receding.

“Nothing major, kid.” Nanashi shook his head. “Just do whatever you want; you seem like the kind that’ll shake up the world a bit. Being entertainment is the only reason we were given these Fruits. If you’re entertaining enough you might see him again. The Devil is a real pain in the ass, since all he cares about is himself.” The Kuro Kari member rummaged around in his cloak, Luffy subtly prepared for an attack. What he didn’t expect was to have a book tossed at his feet. “I don’t plan to get involved with another pawn. Flip through that before you piss off the wrong person and get yourself killed. This world is a lot more complex than you think, that book will tell you things you wouldn’t know otherwise. It’s the Underworld’s version of the Bounty List. Find out who you should avoid, or don’t, it’s not my problem if you end up dead.” With his piece said the Kuro Kari member walked away, on the fourth step he vanished from sight leaving everybody blinking. Luffy’s Observation quickly covered all of Cactus Island, but there wasn’t a trace of the man’s ‘Voice’ to be found.

“Luffy?” Zoro spoke up as he, Vivi, and the visibly trembling Miss Valentine approached. “What the hell was that?”

“Get everyone and get on the Merry, Zoro.” Luffy’s ‘Captain’ voice was in full effect. “We’re leaving, now!”

“Yes, Captain.” Zoro ran off to the large building where the party was held to collect Usopp and Sanji.

“Now about you two.” Luffy turned to face the two women. “What are you doing from here?”

“Luffy?” Nami called out before either woman could answer. The orangette was carrying a large sack over her shoulder. “What is going on? Who the hell was that guy?”

“One of the people I warned you about.” Luffy responded and Nami’s eyes widened. She quickly walked up to him and wrapped her left arm around his shoulders. She held him close for a moment before looking at Vivi and Miss Valentine.

“Who is she and what’s Miss Wednesday doing here?” Nami looked between the new woman and Vivi.

“Miss Wednesday’s name is Vivi, she’s apparently a princess.” Luffy answered and Nami looked at the bluenette with a sparkle in her eyes.

“You don’t say?” Nami smiled at Vivi. The princess suddenly felt like she was in the eyes of a hunter.

“The other lady is Miss Something-or-other. I wasn’t paying attention, another code name thing.” Luffy explained and Miss Valentine gained a small tic mark over her left eye. Nami looked the platinum-blonde up and down before raising an eyebrow.

“Princess Vivi!” Mr. Eight showed up, dressed in drag for some reason, and Vivi ran over to him.

“Igaram!” Vivi called out to the large man.

“Monkey D. Luffy,” Igaram looked at the Pirate Captain. “I beg of you, please take Princess Vivi with you on your ship! Our country, Alabasta, needs her to safely return! But with Baroque Works after her now, I realize I can’t protect her alone! You’re powerful; you have the highest starting Bounty I’ve ever seen from the East Blue! Please, I’ll ensure that you are rewarded for your troubles!” The man bowed low to Luffy as he begged for his assistance.

“Igaram, what are you saying?” Vivi exclaimed as she grabbed the man. “What are you going to do?”

“Princess, I will leave first and head directly for Alabasta.” Igaram explained as he hefted up some dummies he’d made as well. “I’ll be the decoy for anyone that is currently pursuing you. Please hand me the Eternal Pose.” He held out his hand to the bluenette.

“Wait a second!” Nami spoke up and Vivi stopped handing something to Igaram. The two looked over at the orangette curiously. “First off, we haven’t even agreed to take her with us. Secondly, what kind of reward are we talking about? Third, what the hell is an Eternal Pose?”

“Ah, yes, you’re new to the Grand Line.” Igaram remembered. “An Eternal Pose is a special Pose that always points to the island it was made for. No matter where in the world you go, it always points to that particular island.”

“Sounds useful.” Nami nodded, she made a mental note to look into Eternal Poses later. They wouldn’t be staying on Cactus Island much longer. “If we agree to take Vivi under out protection, how’s One Billion Beri sound as a reward?” The Navigator’s eyes were practically Beri Symbols as she made her offer. “Surely that’s not too much to pay for a princess’ safe delivery to her homeland, right?”

“A B-Billion Beri!” Igaram choked on air. “I couldn’t possibly promise such a sum!”

“Huh, that’s too bad.” Nami sighed with a shrug.

“I’m sure if you talk with the King, he’ll work out a suitable reward for you!” Igaram waved his hands in front of himself.

“Don’t worry, we’ll protect her.” Luffy promised and both Vivi and Igaram looked at him with smiles. Nami pouted a bit, but made a second mental note to negotiate a good price for helping the country of Alabasta out! “Do what you need to do though, we’re shipping out immediately.” Igaram nodded as he and Vivi walked a bit away from the group to chat and say goodbyes.

“That just leaves you.” Nami eyed the green-eyed woman. Miss Valentine flinched slightly at the orangette’s tone. “What’s your story, are you an enemy?”

“I’m part of Baroque Works, an illegal Underworld Bounty Hunter Organization.” Miss Valentine spoke up, her arms wrapped around herself and her parasol closed and held limply in her right hand. “I was almost killed twice tonight, once by my own partner and then by that Kuro Kari guy. I’m just done, leave me here if you want; I won’t come after you.”

“Your ‘Voice’ isn’t that bad.” Luffy spoke up and Miss Valentine blinked at him.

“What? My voice?” Miss Valentine was confused. Did this powerful rookie like the sound of her voice?

“Don’t worry about it,” Nami waved the woman off. “How about you tell us your real name to start?”

“Sure, why not, it’s not like I’ll be using the code name anymore.” Miss Valentine sighed. “My name is Mikita; I’m originally from West Blue. I was young when I lost my family to a war that tore through our country. Alone and without much to support myself, I joined up with a small Bounty Hunter group. I ate the Kilo Kilo no Mi a few years later. When I went solo as a Bounty Hunter I was making more money, I thought I was on my way to accomplishing my dream. Eventually someone recognized how useful my power was for transporting light packages discreetly.” The platinum-blonde exhaled heavily.

“It was illegal,” Nami spoke up and Mikita flinched. “What they had you transporting discreetly was something highly illegal, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Mikita bowed her head, looking at the rocky soil they stood upon. “I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t ask, I was making more money per delivery than I usually made from a successful Bounty Hunt. Then the Marines caught wind of the operation. I was photographed and my name was known. A few weeks later I saw my own Wanted Poster. ‘Courier’ Mikita, with a Seven point Five Million Beri Bounty on my head.” Mikita shook her head slightly at the memory. “Since I now had a Bounty of my own, I couldn’t Bounty Hunt anymore, at least not legally. The money was gone and I was on the run. Eventually I found myself in the Underworld and joined up with Baroque Works.”

“You said you had a dream?” Luffy’s eyes were wide and had a gleam in them.

“Luffy…” Nami looked at him.

“She said the word, Nami! She said the word!” Luffy looked excited and Nami pinched the bridge of her nose. “What’s your dream?”

“Before war destroyed our country, my family owned a Sweets Shop.” Mikita smiled at the memory. “We were loved throughout the country, especially our chocolates. I learned all the recipes from my parents. I was so excited to help make them. My dream was to use those recipes and make our chocolates the most famous in the entire world! I wanted to make the best chocolates the world had ever known…but then the war took everything away. I thought I’d be able to start my own shop, but then I got duped into being a smuggler and got my Bounty. I’ve pretty much given up on my old dream now.”

“Don’t.” Luffy’s hands were on her shoulders. Mikita blinked as she looked up into the serious eyes of the straw-hatted pirate. “Never give up on your dreams! Our dreams are what define us! Without dreams the world wouldn’t be fun! People would spend their lives just going through the motions! We dream because we live, and we live because we dream! If you give up on your dreams then are you really even living?”

“What?” Mikita stood stock still as her eyes locked with Luffy’s.

“Join my crew!” Luffy stated and Nami sighed while shaking her head with a fond smile. “We’re all dreamers! Come chase your dreams with us! If we have to sail every sea in the world to make your dream come true, then that’s what we’ll do!” Luffy’s wide, bright smile was almost blinding to the platinum-blonde that had given up on ever following her dream again.

“But, I was your enemy, just a little while ago!” Mikita looked at Luffy like he was crazy.

“Are you our enemy now?” Luffy tilted his head.

“Well, no, I guess not anymore.” Mikita admitted.

“Then it’s fine! Join my crew, Mikita! Let’s chase our dreams together on the seas!” Luffy beamed at her and Mikita felt herself slowly smile reflexively. Her heart felt warm, the memories of her childhood, the happy times spent in the Shop and learning from her parents, they were bubbling up! She felt the joy again! The drive of her discarded dream was returning!

“Yes, please,” Mikita felt tears welling up in her eyes. “Please, Captain Luffy, please let me join your crew!” She bowed to him and Luffy cheered with his fists in the air!

“Of course!” Luffy exclaimed and Mikita looked up at her new Captain in wonder. “Welcome to the crew, Mikita!”

“Thank you, Captain!” Mikita felt the tears fall, but there was nothing she could do to stop them. She was being accepted again, her dream supported and recognized! How could she not be emotional?

“Welcome aboard,” Nami smiled at their newest nakama. “It’s a fun crew, full of laughter, but training is hard and Luffy doesn’t take no for an answer.”

“Huh?” Mikita blinked as she wiped her tears.

“You’ll see!” Nami winked at the green-eyed blonde.

“Oh yeah,” Luffy reached down and picked up the book that had been tossed at his feet. “That guy said I should look through this.”

“Later, Luffy, we should go.” Nami reminded her Lover and the Captain nodded. He held the book and it opened in his hand. All three of them blinked at the open book. Nami noticed that the page it had opened to was dog-eared, explaining why the book had opened to this specific page. What the trio saw on the page made all of their hearts skip a beat.

There on the page, this was black with white writing, instead of the usual white with black of regular Wanted Posters. Was the picture of the man that had come to Cactus Island.

“Nanashi ‘the Nobody’, Bounty is Nine-Hundred Million Beri…” Nami trailed off as she looked at the plain face. She blinked as she realized the bottom of the Poster had different information than usual. “Devil Fruit: Hoshi Hoshi no Mi (Star Star Fruit): Offering Th-Thr-Three B-Bi-Billion Beri for acquisition?!” The orangette almost dropped the book in shock. The guy’s head was worth Nine-Hundred Million Beri, but if you could somehow acquire his Devil Fruit you could get Three Billion Beri for it?! What the hell kind of book had he given Luffy?!

BOOM

The three startled at the sudden blast and looked out towards the ocean. Igaram had apparently set sail while they were talking, but now all that was left of the boat was driftwood floating in the blazing waters!

“Igaram!” Vivi screamed at the sight.

“Damn it!” Luffy growled at seeing what had happened. “We need to get out of here, now!” He quickly ran over to Vivi, the bluenette was practically unresponsive. Luffy didn’t have time to waste! He picked the princess up and threw her over his shoulder! The pirate Captain then grabbed Nami’s hand and they ran towards the ship with Mikita following closely.

“Luffy!” Zoro yelled, dragging Sanji and Usopp behind him, both men screaming at him to stop dragging them. The Merry was in sight and the crew was quick to board. In the haste and confusion, no one questioned why a huge duck with a saddle was on their ship. The Going Merry disembarked from Whiskey Peak with Nami expertly plotting their course with the newly set Log Pose.

None of them could have known they’d be receiving a new visitor very soon.

-End Chapter-

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Luffy and crew have a new nakama, or two technically! Mr. five is dead and his Devil Fruit has been harvested! This is what the Kuro Kari does! Operating in secrecy and shadows, they acquired and sell Devil Fruits throughout the world of One Piece!

New crew member! Mikita, the former Miss Valentine, has joined! Maybe the crew won’t be as much of a sausage fest this time around?

How will things continue to change, as the butterfly flaps its wings?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!