Kra-kow.
As the raging thunder gathered, Luffy's rubber foot swelled to the size of a hill and came crashing down, cleaving into the massive wreck of Don Krieg's flagship!
Screams tangled with crackling current, weaving a dirge of ruin across the sea.
Flames roared skyward. Smoke billowed. The end of the East Blue's "overlord," the Don Krieg Pirates, was declared.
A lone figure dropped through the lightning-lashed air. Gin, who had lived through Hawkeye's one-sword annihilation, gaped—this spectacle was even more outrageous.
"Just who is that Straw Hat?!" Gin murmured.
In giant form, Luffy's foot stamped the hull, ripping the keel apart. Lightning swallowed the waters ahead. When it was over, he acted as if he'd done something ordinary.
After barely dragging back the remnants from the Grand Line, Krieg's men were wiped out again.
This world wasn't the one he knew.
Was this still the East Blue?
Gin's face went pale.
"Hey—Zoro! Usopp! Sanji!"
Second time's easier than the first; the giant-form backlash was gone. Grinning at the shattered hulk, Luffy called out, "That guy Krieg called himself the East Blue's overlord—he should've stashed plenty of treasure. Heh-heh! Let's go take it!"
"Huh? That's grave-robbing—wait, why me?" Sanji shot back the instant he was named.
"C'mon, we're pirates. You do it a few times, you get used to it."
Zoro clapped Sanji's shoulder. "Cook, you're aboard now. Time to pull your weight. Luffy just saved your restaurant."
Sanji's expression twisted. He didn't want to admit it—but facts were facts.
Plenty of pirates had made trouble for Baratie over the years. The crew drove them off, or Zeff and Sanji sent them flying with a single kick.
In a pirate world, running a restaurant also takes strength—otherwise you get bled dry by freeloaders.
This is a world where strength rules.
"Hold up," Luffy said, smile fading as he fixed his eyes on the calm southern sea. "We've got more guests."
His sensing was sharper and sharper.
Almost as soon as he spoke, an invisible pressure settled over the restaurant and the waves.
Silence.
The wind's moan, the crackle of flames—even the slap of the sea—vanished.
Every gaze was drawn, as if on a string.
At the horizon where there'd been nothing but blue, a single black speck had appeared.
A raft.
It drifted toward Baratie, unhurried.
Upon it stood a tall, solitary figure.
A wine-red, lace-edged coat—a gentleman out of an old oil painting. On his back, a massive black cruciform blade taller than he was.
"Hm?" Luffy blinked. The look rang a bell—had someone described him before?
While Luffy searched his memory, the raft bumped alongside.
Dracule "Hawkeye" Mihawk stepped onto the deck with measured tread.
"Straw Hat, what is your name?" His hawk's eyes swept over Luffy and stopped on the hat.
"Monkey D. Luffy. I'm the man who'll become the Pirate King."
"Pirate King, is it? Bold dreams—but you did give me a decent battle to watch," Mihawk said, almost amused.
Monkey D.?
An interesting name. He'd heard that one more than once on the seas.
"But the East Blue no longer suits a man like you. Go to the Grand Line—that's the pirates' playground," Mihawk said.
"Eh? Old man, you a pirate too?"
"I was. You could say I still am."
Luffy's instincts felt the beast coiled within him. "You're strong."
"Heh. That animal sense—you've the beginnings of Observation Haki," Mihawk smiled.
Sharp kid.
Even on the Grand Line, only a few masters wielded Observation and Armament Haki.
This was what genius looked like.
He'd come to see for himself why a man like Red-Haired Shanks would lose an arm in the East Blue—and what kind of existence he'd stake that arm and future upon.
Observation Haki?
Honestly, Luffy knew little about Haki.
"Care for a bout?" Mihawk asked. He hadn't come for nothing.
"A fight? Sure!" Luffy grinned.
An icy prompt flashed before Luffy's eyes.
[Notice: Target has moved beyond five nautical miles. Execute at once. Executor failed to follow plan; switching punishment mode—entering Phase Two… randomizing.]
[Punishment countdown: sixty, fifty-nine….]
At the same time Johnny and Yosaku sprinted up, shouting:
"Bad news! Nami-sis—!"
Luffy looked.
The Golden Merry, moored at Baratie moments ago, had somehow already set sail.
She was fleeing at full speed, racing for the horizon.
Nami, if you go, what am I supposed to do?!
Blow the barrel now?
"Leave this to me," Zoro said, stepping to Luffy's side, the situation clicking into place.
He bore a promise and a dream—to become the world's greatest swordsman. He'd trained for this very day.
He'd thought he'd have to reach the Grand Line to meet Hawkeye.
Zoro untied the bandanna from his arm and took a long breath. "That woman's run into trouble. She's a handful in a dozen ways, but a navigator is indispensable."
"You're the captain. Helping your crew is only right. Just like you saved this curly-brow's dump."
"This man is mine. I'll meet you later with Krieg's treasure—and with Usopp."
His voice was iron.
"Heh. Zoro—then he's yours," Luffy said.
"Yeah. Leave him to me."
Trust between crewmates is everything. Luffy felt Hawkeye was strong. But Zoro was strong too.
"Usopp! Sanji! See you in a bit!"
Before the words had faded, Luffy drew a huge breath, whipped his arm into a tornado spin, and fired it outward.
"Gum-Gum Jet… Pistol!"
His hand latched the sail, and his body slingshotted after it.