"I seriously never saw that one coming" Naruto said as he gawked at the newspaper in Rayleigh's hands alongside an equally shocked Roger.
It has been three days since they left the beginners island. With the berries they were able to buy enough food to last a while and fix up their ship. Things had been looking good. And this few days has been quite peaceful for them.
However, this morning Rayleigh had bought a newspaper from a passing newspaper seagull. And what they saw came as a complete shock to all of them.
After that Rayleigh immediately called for a meeting.
"I thought he was kidding when he said that their pirate crew was a famous one" Rayleigh sighed when he saw a headline in the newspaper that reads.
'The infamous gorge pirates defeated by an unknown pirate crew with just three members.'
"I can't believe we got famous overnight just from beating a group of weak pirates. Will we be given bounties now?" Roger laughed as he started imagining how he'd look like on a wanted poster.
"You are taking this too lightly, Roger. With the marines now aware of us, it's going to be difficult operating undercover while building up our crew. With just the three of us it's only a matter of time before we get caught" Rayleigh explained. He needed Roger to know just how severe their situation was.
Having a wanted poster doesn't necessarily mean good thing. At this point it just gives them unwanted attention.
Naruto and Roger fell into silent when they heard Rayleigh's words. As the saying goes, the wind howls against the highest peak. Or in a pirates case, fame without power only brings destruction.
"You are right, Rayleigh. With just the three of us it's going to be difficult if not impossible to resist capture once the marines start coming after us. I think it's about time we start looking for more crew members" Roger said after contemplating for a while.
"As much as I support that idea. Finding trustworthy people in the grand line is not going to be an easy task" Naruto said. Rayleigh also nodded expressing that he agreed with his words.
"Naruto is right, Roger. There's no need to be hasty"
"No we can't afford to wait any longer. We'll cross that bridge when we get there" Roger said seriously.
Naruto and Rayleigh exchanged looks before shrugging.
"If you say so"
Roger grinned when he got the two to agree with him before he turned to Rayleigh and asked.
"How much longer until we get to the next Island?"
"Since it's my first time using the log pose, I can only make a rough guess of about a day or two" Rayleigh said completely uncertain since he was still new to the whole log pose of a thing. However Roger nodded and said
"Then let's not waste anymore time. We'll go full speed ahead"
"Aye aye captain" Naruto gave a mock bow before they all returned to their stations.
However, after Two days of sailing they didn't come into contact with any island. They had been worried since their food supply was running low. Moreover, the ship had been damage to the point that it was already leaking in some places.
Fortunately on the third day they finally came into contact with an island.
"Is this for real?" Naruto gasp in awe. The island before them was a huge one and on it are several rock mountains. The shape of the mountains along with the graves give the mountains the appearance of giant cacti.
Moreover, there was a river flowing through the island allowing ships to dock inland.
Even Rayleigh and Roger were amazed by this scene. This was the first time they were seeing something like this.
After a while of sailing across the river, they finally found a dock to leave their ship.
"That took longer than expected" Naruto said when he got off the ship. Rayleigh's estimate had been off by a whole day. It was kinda scary since their boat already started leaking. If they had spent another day at sea, they might end up swimming with fishes.
"The first order of business should be getting ourselves a new ship before we drown in our sleeps. With the amount of berries we have left, we can't afford to buy a new ship. But we can at least steal one" Rayleigh said. With the amount of damage their ship had taken. It was already a miracle that it was still afloat.
"Also while we are at it. Can we do something about that jolly Roger?" Naruto asked as he pointed at the sorry excuse of a jolly Roger waving above their ship.
"What's wrong with it?" Roger asked. It had taken all his artistic talent however little it was to draw that flag. It was his pride and joy.
"Sorry to say Roger but that jolly roger is an insult to pirates all around the world. And I don't plan on sailing under a jolly Roger that looks like a kid's drawing" Naruto replies seriously. If they were going to do this. Then they have to do it right.
"He is right, roger. Nobody would want to join a crew with a jolly roger like that" Rayleigh added. He had been meaning to get rid of it since the day he first set his eyes on it.
"But, you guys did" Roger said with an innocent smile. However, his innocent remark only earned him the ire of his crewmates.
"NOT EVERYBODY IS LIKE US!" Naruto and Rayleigh hit him on the head in anger, berating him.
"Alright, alright." Roger eventually relented while rubbing his throbbing head. Those two punches hurt a lot. He could still feel his vision twirling.
After hearing him agree, Rayleigh nodded and said. "Good. Now let's go"
The three of them unhurriedly left the dock and walked into the town on the island.
However they noticed something odd as they walked on the street. For some reason everyone was sneaking glances at them, and were trying not to make it look obvious. Some were even openly staring at them while whispering among themselves.
"Roger, did you do something while we weren't looking?" Rayleigh immediately turned to the troublemaker of their group.
"I didn't do anything. I haven't left the group since we arrived on this island" Roger said with a perplexed look. He was just as surprised as the others.
"I don't think Roger was responsible this time, Rayleigh. Look" Naruto pointed at a wall of a building not far to their left.
Roger and Rayleigh turned to the indicated wall and what they saw there surprised them. On the wall was three wanted poster with their faces on it and a starting bounty of twenty thousand berries each.
"Are you for real" Rayleigh was at a lost for words as he looked at his bounty poster. He couldn't believe his eyes. His wanted poster was of him looking at the camera with a serious expression.
"I look good" Roger laughed joyfully when he saw his wanted poster. His picture was of him putting his straw hat on his head with a goofy grin on his face.
"Doesn't this mean that we are already being hunted?" Naruto groaned as he glared at his wanted poster in frustration. His poster picture was of him holding up a badly beaten pirate with a mean look that could kill.