"RAISE THE ANCHOR!"
Nami's scream cut through the noise of the harbor like a whip.
Luffy turned.
She stood apart from the villagers, chest rising and falling, fists clenched at her sides. Around her, people were still crying, still calling her name, still begging her to stay just a little longer.
She didn't look back.
Luffy smiled faintly.
Then he turned and shouted so the whole ship could hear him.
"You heard her! Set sails! Raise anchor!"
"Sanji—take the helm!"
Chaos erupted instantly.
Usopp and Johnny scrambled up the rigging, hands moving fast as they unfurled the sails.
Zoro and Yosaku hauled on the anchor chain, muscles straining as the iron links rattled free.
Sanji spun the wheel, the Going Merry groaning softly as she began to turn with the current.
Nojiko sprinted across the deck to help secure the ropes, moving with practiced ease.
Luffy stood still at the center of it all, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the pier.
Zoro stepped up beside him.
"You didn't really think she'd just wave goodbye, did you?" he asked.
"…I was hoping," Luffy replied honestly.
They watched.
Nami broke into a run.
She weaved through the villagers, dodging grasping hands, ignoring shouted pleas. The pier rushed beneath her feet as the ship began to pull away.
At the very edge—
She jumped.
A long, reckless leap.
Luffy's eyes widened for half a second.
She landed hard on the deck, rolled once—and popped up immediately.
The first thing she did was tug open her shirt.
Sanji inhaled sharply.
Dozens of wallets spilled out, clattering across the deck.
Gold. Bills. Coins.
The villagers stared in stunned silence.
"THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" Nami shouted back, waving brightly.
Luffy burst out laughing.
"That's my navigator," he muttered.
The island began to shrink behind them.
The Going Merry cut cleanly through the water.
Luffy lounged back on a throne formed from condensed cloud and lightning, one leg crossed over the other.
Zoro sat atop the mainmast, resting but watchful.
Sanji worked in the kitchen, already cursing at imaginary customers.
Usopp tinkered beside Luffy, muttering calculations.
Johnny and Yosaku played cards nearby.
Nami and Nojiko finished tending the orange trees and carried beach chairs to the aft deck.
Nami unfolded hers with a satisfied sigh.
"I think I'm going to relax for a bit."
Luffy laughed.
She blinked. "What?"
"You committed treason on a pirate ship," Luffy said casually. "Came back like nothing happened."
Her eyes widened.
"Under normal circumstances, that crime is punishable by death."
The air froze.
"…But," Luffy continued, "you never officially joined my crew. We were cooperating."
She exhaled sharply.
"That said—" his smile sharpened, "you stole my ship while it still flew my Jolly Roger."
He raised his voice.
"Punishment!"
Buckets overturned.
Mud flooded the deck.
Sanji burst out of the kitchen. "WHAT THE HELL—"
Luffy shoved a mop and bucket into Nami's hands.
"You clean. Alone. Until I say otherwise."
Nojiko smiled.
Sanji clenched his teeth and backed off.
Three hours later, the deck gleamed.
Nami collapsed onto a chair, exhausted.
Sanji arrived with drinks.
Luffy took his whiskey just as a shadow passed overhead.
A News Coo landed.
Coins exchanged hands.
Paper unfolded.
"…Tch," Luffy muttered. "The world's noisy today."
Then something slipped free.
A poster.
Usopp screamed.
Everyone froze.
Marine Headquarters — New World
The room was tense.
Vice Admirals sat around a long table.
Brannew stood before a board covered in reports.
"East Blue is no longer quiet," he said flatly.
"Buggy. Kuro. Krieg. Arlong."
"All defeated by the same pirate."
Murmurs spread.
"He possesses a Logia-class Devil Fruit," Brannew continued.
"Lightning-based."
Silence.
"A confirmed Conqueror's Haki user," he added.
Shock.
"And—" he paused, "he has ties to Red-Haired Shanks."
The room went dead still.
"He is heading to Logue Town."
Chairs scraped back.
"Alert Smoker," a Vice Admiral ordered.
"No one stops this storm easily."
Back on the Going Merry, Luffy stared at the poster.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"So," he said quietly, folding the paper,
"they finally noticed."
The wind picked up.
Logue Town waited.