Somewhere in the East Blue
The summer sun was brutal.
Out on the open ocean with no shade, the three of them were baking under the sun.
"So hot… I'm so hungry…" Luffy whined, his tongue lolling out as he lay sprawled on the deck.
"Zoro, is there any food left?"
Zoro shot him a dirty look. "You're the one who threw a fit a few days ago, saying you didn't want a big send-off and that we had to sneak away. You're the reason we didn't take any supplies, and now you have the nerve to complain?"
"What kind of pirate captain does that?!"
Luffy grumbled and started to push himself up to argue, but Ray suddenly held up a hand, his eyes fixed on the sky.
A seagull with a white cap was flying in a perfectly straight line toward their boat.
Ray put a finger to his lips.
Luffy and Zoro immediately got the message.
The three of them froze like statues, not even breathing.
The second the News Bird swooped down to drop its newspaper, Ray's sword was out in a flash.
Swish!
....
Half an hour later, Luffy was happily chewing on a roasted bird leg.
"Is this really okay?" he asked with his mouth full. "I've never heard of anyone eating a News Bird before."
Ray, busy eating the breast meat and reading the paper, didn't bother to answer.
Zoro just rolled his eyes at Luffy and reached for the other leg—only for a rubbery arm to snatch it first.
The swordsman's eye twitched as he glared at his grinning captain.
"I'm gonna kill you, you rubber bastard! Three-Sword Style—!"
…
After the fight was broken up, Ray pointed to their wanted posters in the newspaper.
Luffy took one look and flopped face-first onto the deck.
"Its not fair!" he wailed. "I'm the captain! Why is my bounty half of Ray's?!"
Zoro had zero sympathy for Luffy. "The difference in strength is pretty obvious. What's there to complain about?"
He had a point.
After just a few days of Armament Haki training with Ray, both Luffy and Zoro had a much better idea of how ridiculously strong he was.
"But," Zoro started, "since we all agreed Luffy is the captain…"
He trailed off, turning his gaze toward Ray.
Ray knew exactly what Zoro was thinking and offered a slight smile.
"Don't worry."
Hearing that, Zoro let out a quiet sigh of relief.
He had been worried that Ray, being the strongest, might not follow Luffy's lead.
If they ever got into a tough spot and Ray disagreed with the captain's orders, the Straw Hat Pirates would fall apart before they even got started.
Luffy, of course, was completely oblivious to all this.
He was still sulking on the deck, drawing circles with his finger and muttering about his bounty.
After a few minutes, he suddenly shot up and stared at Ray with a serious expression.
Zoro tensed, wondering what his captain was about to do.
Luffy pointed a finger at Ray.
"I'm gonna work my butt off and get a higher bounty than you within a year! So you better keep training me!"
Zoro let out another sigh, this time in genuine relief.
If Luffy had let the bounty thing cause a rift between them, he would've known he'd picked the wrong captain.
Ray just nodded. "Get ready for a beating, then. You too, Zoro."
And just like that, Zoro's relief vanished.
.....
The training began.
"Iron Fist! Ow, ow, ow, that hurts!"
"Steel Body! Dammit!"
By the time the sun started to set, Luffy and Zoro were both knocked out cold, snoring on the deck.
Ray on the other hand, was training his Haki while thinking about their next stop.
Orange Town.
That meant their first real enemy was coming up: Buggy the Clown.
Ray remembered him as a total weakling from the story, but something told him it might not be that simple this time.
....
The next day, when they were just a dozen miles from the island, Luffy started whining again.
"I'm starving! Is there another News Bird we can eat today?"
Just then, a bird even bigger than the last one flew overhead.
Before Ray could even move, Luffy launched himself at it with a "Gum-Gum Rocket!"… and got his head stuck right in the giant bird's beak.
The bird squawked and flew off with Luffy dangling from its mouth.
Zoro facepalmed.
Ray was speechless.
"After them," Ray said calmly to Zoro.
"Right!" Zoro grabbed the oars and started rowing like a man possessed, making the tiny boat skip across the water like a jet ski.
After a few minutes of furious rowing, Zoro was panting heavily.
He glanced back at Ray, who was just sitting there enjoying the ride.
"Hey, Ray! Why aren't you rowing?"
"This is your training," Ray replied without opening his eyes. "Now, try coating the oars with Armament Haki."
"You…! Dammit, arrgh!"
Ray leaned back, feeling the cool sea breeze.
"Nice," he said to himself.
Zoro just kept rowing.
…
On the streets of Orange Town
A young woman with short orange hair was sprinting for her life, chased by a group of scruffy-looking pirates.
"Give us the map, you damn thief!"
"Stop running! Captain Buggy will kill us if we lose it!"
Just as they were about to grab her—
"WAAAAAH!!!"
A scream came from the sky, and Luffy came crashing down, landing right on top of the pirates and knocking them all out.
And that's how Luffy met Nami.
…
Back on the shore, Zoro was gasping for air, looking like he was about to collapse.
Ray gave him a nod of approval.
"Your stamina is decent," he said, "but you only managed to coat the tip of the oar with Haki. You've got more work to do."
Zoro didn't even have the energy to argue.
He just lay flat on the sand, questioning all of his life choices.
At that moment, a massive explosion rocked the center of town.
They saw a flash of light as an entire row of buildings collapsed into rubble.
"That much noise… has to be Luffy," Zoro said, managing to find a bit of energy to stand up.
"Yeah. Go check it out. I'll catch up in a bit," Ray replied.
He wanted to look around the island and see if he could find any clues about this new, stronger Buggy.
"Got it!" Without another thought, Zoro took off running toward the explosion.
After he was gone, Ray started his own investigation.
Trusting his sharp sense of smell, he picked up the scent of a large group of people hiding out on the western coast of the island and headed that way.
....
Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, their new wanted posters were causing a stir.
The bounties weren't huge by Grand Line standards, but for the East Blue—the weakest of the four seas—they were a big deal.
In a random bar, a group of pirates were talking about the news.
"So they got bounties just for taking out a Marine captain?"
"They're pretty bold, picking a direct fight with the Marines. Then again, that Morgan guy was a real piece of work."
"Hey, Shells Town is pretty close to Buggy the Clown's territory. You think they're gonna run into each other?"
"Hahaha, now that would be a show! Can't wait for the next newspaper to come out!"