131
"More Icebergs, ahead," Sabo announced, and there were massive icebergs that were great in numbers surrounding the ocean in front of them. Even Momoo was scared of how he would cross them. It would have been easy if he was alone, then he could have dived under, but with a ship it wasn't possible. "Want me to help?"
Before Luffy could refuse Nami gave him permission. And of course, Sabo had to show off.
The revolutionary jumped into the air high and spun his large metal pipe around like a bo staff before doing a stabbing motion forward. "Dragon's howl!"
And like a canon a compressed wind-pressure came out, destroying any icebergs in it's path clearing the way.
Sabo smirked, while Luffy clicked his tongue. "Show off."
But it wasn't over, the weather shifted again. This time to an ice blizzard.
The ship descended into utter chaos as the full brunt of the Grand Line's randomness descended on the Going Merry, everyone panicking.
And after what felt like forever, the weather finally stabilized. The entire crew at this point had collapsed to the deck, panting in exhaustion. It was then Zoro and Sparky decided it was time to wake up.
"Huh, what a lovely day." He said, taking in his crew members laying around in disarray. "Hey, you guys should be paying closer attention. Things could go wrong at any moment."
"I'll kill him…" Gin hissed, reaching for the gun that he had for emergencies.
"Not if I do it first…" Nami growled.
After receiving a vicious beating at the hands of Nami, Zoro had quite a few welts on his head to deal with. Sparky had ran away when he saw Nami and hid behind Hatchan, so the monkey was saved for the moment.
"Listen up you idiots! This place is even weirder than I thought at first, so it's not going to be a cakewalk! I can't use my normal navigating techniques here!"
"We're toast then," Usopp reasoned, looking dead inside.
"Not at all," Nami replied as she gestured ahead. "After all, we've reached our first destination!" Looking ahead with everyone else, Gin could see that there was indeed an island out in the distance. It was the same place where his first journey ended.
Before anyone else could say a word, Mr. Nine and Vivi jumped up onto the railing.
"It seems we have to go now," Mr. Nine said. "But we thank you for returning us home."
"We will meet again if we're destined too," Vivi added. "Bye!"
With this the two leaped right off the ship, swimming like a pair of maniacs toward the island.
"Well, that happened?" Coby muttered before he looked at Luffy, trying to understand why he let them leave. But of course, Luffy gave no answer.
"Let's hope they're not indicative of the inhabitants here," Nami said. "It looks like there's a river to take us into port. Momoo can you swim through it?"
The sea king nodded at the question and Hatchan gave a thumbs up.
"What if this island is haunted or something?" Usopp asked weakly as he worked with Yosaku to keep the Merry on course.
"That'd be scary!" Yosaku agreed.
"Or big monsters?!" Bartolomeo added.
"Gah!" Usopp shouted. "Don't even make me consider that!"
Gin deadpanned, "So is the great king of snipers scared of some stupid Island?" And that fixed Usopp.
"Of course, not!" Usopp denied, puffing his chest, looking valiant now. "After all, I'm the great Captain Usopp!"
Bartolomeo's eyes shone seeing Usopp, while Johnny and Yosaku cheered. Coby deadpanned and looked back to Gin, who just shrugged.
"I'll protect my crewmates, with nothing but my pinky," Usopp said, boasting happily.
While this was happening, suddenly Coby could hear what sounded like someone speaking off in the distance.
"Do you guys hear that?" the boy asked. But then again only he had enhanced senses, Sparky did as well, but he wasn't bothering.
"Sounds like people," Luffy said. "I wonder what's going on?" he said, rubbing his chin.
Sabo wanted to point out that Luffy could easily use Haki and tell, but didn't. It seemed that he was just enjoying the journey and messing with his crewmates at the same time.
Luffy for his part looked at the cacti-looking island… fondly reliving the memories of his previous world. This is from when the real journey starts and he couldn't wait to start it.
The island did seem to be covered in massive cacti. The crewmates had never seen something so odd, and they'd only just gotten to the Grand Line.
Even Kuina was surprised, and she journeyed through all the four blues. What other amazing things would she see? The closer Merry came to the town in the fog, the more the noise increased.
Until what was really happening finally came into view.
The crewmates' eyes widened when they saw the inhabitants of Whiskey Peak cheering and screaming for them as they entered, confetti and other celebratory traditions flying everywhere.
"Welcome to the Grand Line, brave warriors!" A voice shouted.
"The journey here must have been strange for newcomers!" Another said. "You're welcome to relax here all you like!"
"There're so many cute girls!" Sanji shouted, noodling around.
The beautiful girls in question perked up. "We love you, Mario!"
Both Luffy and Sanji had their heads hung, but for different reasons.
"It seems these people love pirates," Bartolomeo surmised as Usopp blew kisses to the crowd like some kind of war hero. "If they're this close to the entrance, I suppose they make a lot of money off of pirates seeking to conquer the Grand Line."
"So we're heroes!" Usopp said, missing the point completely.
"Be prepared guys, the last time they tried to lure the Krieg pirates with good food and women, before jumping us. They are trying to do the same for us, I guess." Gin said. "They almost got half of our crew that way, by mixing stuff with our food. Don't fall for their tricks. They are Baroque Works agents… bounty hunters that don't particularly like pirates."
"Yup, they usually set up on Whiskey Peak so that they can get new pirates unfortunate enough to fall for their trap," Luffy said but he looked a bit confused. Because something wasn't adding up.
Once the ship had reached the docks, the crew got off onto land and were immediately greeted by a man. The man had very curly white hair, and a rather flat-looking face. Despite this, the smile on his face was quite warm.
"Welcome heroes!" He said. "My name Is Igarappoi, and welcome to Whiskey Peak, the town of music and liquor! We are very honored to welcome you! I am here to cordially invite you to a party, thrown for you!"
132
"Welcome heroes!" He said. "My name Is Igarappoi, and welcome to Whiskey Peak, the town of music and liquor! We are very honored to welcome you! I am here to cordially invite you to a party, thrown for you!"
"Wait, you do know that we are pirates right? And you aren't trying to scam us?" Luffy was surprised. With observation haki, he could read people's real intent a bit. Like how their heart beat, if they were lying or not. And as far as he could tell they weren't malicious, they were genuinely happy to see Luffy and the crew. Which made it more confusing.
Either they were saying the true, or his observation haki was playing tricks on him.
"We bounty hunters need to stick together. In one way or another, some of us were labeled unjustly by the government as well. And we know from our sources that the same thing happened to you… And besides, just by your bounty, we can tell, trying anything like that would be foolish." Igarappoi said, looking to Luffy and then back to Zoro and Kuina. "You are an inspiration to us… and even our boss has invited you to join our cause!"
Luffy blinked, while Sabo laughed in the background. Crocodile wanted them in the organization. Poor Croc!
"Baroque Works recruiting pirates… now isn't that ironic." Zoro said. "Back when I was a bounty hunter they tried to recruit me as well."
"Me too." Kuina seconded.
Gin for his part narrowed his eyes at the old man, "Don't try to pull anything old man, unlike the Krieg Pirates, my new crew has honor, try to cheat us. And we will finish you."
"I-I'm only in my thirties!" Igarappoi yelled, almost making Gin fall on the ground… "Just cause I have white hair doesn't mean I'm old."
It seemed that the people here were genuinely happy to see Luffy and the crew.
"Well, then what should we do captain?" Coby asked.
"Enjoy, I guess." Luffy shrugged.
"That's all you had to say!" Usopp, Bartolomeo, Johnny and Yosaku cheered together, dancing happily.
"Well, it looks like we will be able to enjoy this Island." Kuina said, "Hm… I want to taste the local sweet dish of the island."
"That was seriously all it took?" Nami asked weakly. "Ah, by the way, Igarappoi, how long does it take for a Log to store here?"
"A Log Pose you mean?" Igarappoi said, humming. "Three to four hours at max. But don't worry, we have a few eternal poses, if you need to leave early. Ah, now is not the time for work-related matters! It's time for you all to relax!" Nami was quickly caught up in the party atmosphere, along with the rest of the crew.
They were a bit hesitant at first, but Luffy and Sparky checked the food for any stuff mixed in, and found none. They really weren't trying to trick them.
If something was up with the inhabitants of Whiskey Peak, Gin had to admit they were excellent at hiding it. They had crammed the entire crew into a bar and supplied them with different kinds of food, and fun.
Luffy, Sparky and Sabo were eating to their hearts' content, the chef in disbelief at how much he could shovel in.
Zoro and Nami were doing their own thing. Sanji was surrounded by women and seemed to be fading off into heaven, while Usopp told stories laced with lies and had more women swooning.
"This sure is a big party," Yosaku said from his side, picking at the food they'd managed to sneak away from their Captain.
"Sure is," Johnny agreed. "They really do see us as heroes. Well, captain at least…" The pair remained silent for a moment.
"You know we really did luck out in getting into the crew," Yosaku said, while Johnny nodded.
"Yeah, we can actually improve ourselves here…" Johnny said. "With big bro Luffy personally teaching me, I'm sure I'm gonna turn out to be the best spearman in the world."
Yosaku nodded. His own training being monitored by Sabo, the second in command of the revolutionary army. The blonde boy seemed to be used to training recruits, so when Yosaku asked for a sparring match, he started helping.
Honestly, he was a bit skeptical himself about how he would train with his axe and shield, but with Sabo training him, Yosaku was trying to create his own style. But it was a work in progress.
Both of them had improved much over the few days, using their new weapons. So they were glad that they were able to join.
"I'm almost jealous of you guys." Both the former bounty hunters were surprised when Bartolomeo appeared behind them. "While you guys are making so much improvement, I'm mostly wasting my time creating random shields… I should have trained my powers."
"Don't worry, new guy," Johnny said.
"Yeah, both captain and big bro Sabo told you to focus on your devil fruit ability for a reason," Yosaku said. "Your power could really come in handy in case we get stuck in a sticky situation."
While Johnny and Yosaku comforted Bartolomeo, the party went on.
.
"Oi," Zoro said, smacking the trio on the back of the head to wake them up. "That mayor dude is making a move, we're following him. He seemed to be worried for some reason…"
"Five more minutes…" Bartolomeo said, getting smacked in the face and waking him up fully. "UWAH!"
"Do we have too?" Yosaku yawned out. "I'm too tired from all the dancing…"
"Ugh… my back hurts. When did we fall asleep?"
"Get up already," Nami said from behind Zoro. She'd already been ready to slip out and watch with him, so there would be five of them if something went wrong. "He's got to be up to something."
"Ugh, yes Ma'am." The three of them grumbled as they stood, grabbing their weapons. Together the troupe of five made their way out the back of the bar they were resting in, sneaking around the edges to see what was going on.
Zoro decided he'd had enough of looking around the edge of the building, so he climbed up the side of the building to get to the top, the others grumbling as they slowly followed him. Once they got to the top, they were given a full-frontal view of Igarappoi speaking with Ms. Wednesday and Mr. Nine.
He couldn't really hear what they were saying, but soon enough it became obvious something was up.
133
"You have to leave the island, they have already sent them." Igaram or Mr. 8 said in a panicked voice.
"Why? Why?" Mr. 9 asked, confused. He was still half drunk from the party and things for him were sobering up too soon.
"From my info they have already sent two of their officer agents here… Vivi, you have to leave from here now!" Mr. 8 warned, worriedly.
Mr. 9 blinked. "Wait, what's happening?" he asked, looking at his partner, the blue-haired girl called Miss Wednesday looking pale from the news. "Why would headquarters send officer agents to the first part of the grandline? No one comes to this shitty place. And who's Vivi?"
"That would be her," Igaram sighed.. "We are sorry for hiding our identity from you Mr. 8, but Vivi needs your help to getback home to Arabasta. Or else things will be very bad for her and the rest."
"Vivi… so that's your name." Mr. 9 said. "But did you betray the organization or something…" The girl shook her head, "So then what? And does Miss Monday know that as well?"
Igaram nodded, "Yes, she also decided to help us… she's currently looking out in case they come early, she will signal us, if that's the case. When me and Vivi joined the organization we didn't know if we could trust you or not. But now, please, you have to help Vivi…"
"Kyahahaha," a woman cut him off. She was at the end of the road, the moonlight clearing the view. And she wasn't alone either.
All the participants of the conversation moved their heads to see her.
The woman was on the shorter side of five feet and had straight blond hair cut short and covered in a yellow hat with an orange rim. She had a slim waist with assets accentuated by her lemon-themed dress, the outfit showing off her long legs. Pale skin flowed down her legs and arms, and her hands were covered in white gloves. Pale blue eyes shined with sadistic mirth as she twiddled with a yellow umbrella the same color as her lemon earrings. "Help her? It's too late for that, and it seems that we have a few moles in our organization, isn't that right Mr. 5?"
"Did you come here to laugh at us?" Igaram growled, stepping in front of Vivi. "And…" then his eyes glanced at the body in front of the agent's feet. "What did you do to Miss Monday?!"
"Nothing much, but this bitch tried to stop us. We just put her in her place." the man, Mr. 5, grunted in a smooth voice. The agent had wild black hair in a short sort-of afro and a closed, brick-red overcoat that went well with his darkly-tanned skin. The number 5 sat in a square on the left breast of his overcoat and a pair of sunglasses rested on his nose, hiding his eyes. "We're here to do our task, and be on our merry way. Laughing's just a bonus. And here's one baked nun, coming up."
Mr. 5 then kicked the nun's (Miss Monday), and the body of the muscular woman fell to the ground lifeless.
"Miss Monday!" All three frontier agents called.
Mr. 9 ran towards her, and checked her pulse. "W-Why did you kill her…"
"Oh, come on boy, she was already dead when she tried to stop us."
Igaram growled, glaring at the two agents. The man feeling guilty about sending her in the first place.
"You bastards… why did you even come here?!" Mr. 9 growled. "We will send a complaint to the boss."
"The boss sent us," Mr. 5 said, cutting the fake prince off, a finger idly trailing into his nose. "Said someone had learned his secrets. Don't know what secrets. Don't want to know. Obviously, someone else did. We've come to tie up all the loose ends and eliminate all of the intruders from that kingdom."
Mr.9 blinked. "You are after me? Now, wait a second!" Mr. 9 jumped, a bit panicked. "I'm not a king or anything. I just wear a crown because it's a hobby!"
"Not you, you moron," Mr. 5 growled as his partner laughed. "We're here for the princess of Alabasta, Nefertari Vivi ."
"She's here? Wait, Miss Wednesday is the princess!?" Mr. 9 yelled in shock, before looking back at his partner agent.
Karoo the duck made as close to a growling sound as ducks could, jumping in front of the apparent princess protectively along with Igaram.
Vivi still wanted to refuse the claim, but…
"You will not harm the princess!" Mr. 8 shouted as he shot to his feet, his thumbs laced through the bow around his neck. "Not as long as I, Igaram, the head of castle security, am still breathing! Igarrapapa!"
He pulled the knot, firing the guns still poking out of his hair. Only Ms. Valentine moved to dodge, jumping impossibly high and opening her umbrella. Her spot empty, the bullets raced for Mr. 5.
When the projectiles connected with the male agent, however, he literally blew up. The explosive force was caught by his partner's umbrella, carrying her higher into the air. She deftly maneuvered herself, floating as if weightless until she was over Ms. Wednesday. She closed her parasol.
"Kahaha… now isn't this fun. 10,000 Kilogram Press!" She dropped like a stone, Karoo and the princess fleeing, Igaram jumping to the side.
Even so, they were still knocked over by the shockwave Ms. Valentine caused when she landed, a crater forming with her at the center. The princess pulled out her weapon, the weird pinky rings she called her Peacock Slashers, and tried to retaliate.
"Kyahaha!" Ms. Valentine laughed, hopping out of the indent in the ground and floating ten feet into the air. "You're pretty quick, Princess Vivi, but our orders are to eliminate you. Nothing personal."
While the princess did her best to avoid the weightless woman and Mr. 8 and Mr 9. fought Mr. 5, who had not died from exploding like most would have.
"Thanks for helping me, Mr. 9." Igaram said as he laced his bow with new arrows.
Mr. 9 had two bats as his weapon, and while he looked brave, his shaking boots said otherwise. "What kind of prince leaves the princess in danger? And also… I can't forgive him for what he did to Miss Monday."
"Pathetic and useless… let's finish this fast." Mr 5 taunted, bored. His finger in his nose.
134
While this was happening a conversation was happening on a rooftop, one that was under a cacti, and the shadows hid the individuals in the conversation. It was Zoro, Nami, Johnny, Yosaku and Bartolomeo. All five of them were hiding, watching everything that was happening.
"You know I had my doubts that they were trying to set us up… but it seems that's not the case anymore." Nami said, "What do you think we should do?"
Zoro shrugged. "I was actually hoping for a bloody fight here… not this. Oi Luffy, what should we do?"
"I wonder…"
Nami and the rest blinked and moved their heads to the side, only to see Luffy and Sparky observing the situation with them.
"When… how did you get here?" Bartolomeo asked in shock, before his eyes sparkled, "That's so cool!"
Nami sighed seeing Luffy's sudden entry, why did he have to do it? Was it some kind of weird quirk of his? Honestly, it was kind of annoying.
"I think we should wait it out," It was Gin, okay, when did he get here? And he was with Usopp no less. The fuck… the moment one of them learns Soru, the rest follows. "We don't want to get dragged into any more trouble. Let them figure things out amongst themselves."
"Y-yeah, we don't want to get involved in any trouble." Usopp parroted, shaking a bit due to nervousness. "But that poor nun… she was so kind."
"But she's dead now. It's not like we could have stopped them, she was already dead when both of the agents dragged her here." Zoro replied nonchalantly. "And they are out to kill the blue hair as well."
"Hey! Don't say that, dumbass." And it was Sanji. "We can't just let them harm the beautiful lady… didn't you hear? She's a princess."
"Well, if she is a princess, we can get some money from her by helping her," Kuina suggested.
"Money!" Nami's eyes already turned into belies. "Yes, we should definitely help her." Her personality doing a one-eighty, almost half of the crew sweatdropped at Nami.
"Um… guys, I think we should help her. Mr. Boom-boom there has already finished off the other agents and the flying woman might kill the princess if we don't make a move." Coby pointed out.
And it was true, Mr 5 finished off both Mr 8 and Mr 9 while Vivi was in deep trouble against Miss Valentine.
Both Sanji and Luffy moved, trying to help them, but one was tripped by Zoro.
"Noooo! Why did you do that Marimo… now Luffy has her as well." Sanji cried, standing up, and glaring at Zoro.
The swordsman in question rolled his eyes. "Both of them were women, dumbass. And mind I tell you of your quirk of not fighting one woman to save another? And why do you even care… didn't you sleep with those brunettes from the bar…? You even stink like them." Zoro said, scrunching his nose.
"Oh, so that's why Sanji was smelling weird. It does smell like Ladies' perfume, now that you mention it…" Coby sniffed the air but then he turned green, "And with other stuff as well. Oh, god, why did I have to smell that, now I can't un-smell that!"
"Brunettes, huh. The blond cook definitely has a type." Gin smirked.
"At least I get laid, unlike you poor folks…"
Both Gin and Zoro got triggered… "You have something to say …"
*Bamm *Bam *Boom *Bam
All four men were on the floor, all because of a certain orange head who seemed to be fuming in anger. Kuina, Sparky and Usopp looked at them with a bit of sympathy, while Johnny and Yosaku were trying to revive their fallen comrade.
"Will you guys ever shut up?" Nami grumbled, pissed but not at them, but at Luffy who was flirting around with Vivi all the while beating the shit out of the enemies. Both Mr 5 and Miss Valentine were getting manhandled by Luffy.
.
"Now… where did the crew go?" Hatchan questioned as he scratched his head. Like the others after the party, he had fallen asleep, but after waking up he couldn't find anyone from the crew. So he went out looking for them.
The other bounty hunters were also fast asleep from the drinking and party, so he had no one to ask for directions.
But the problem is, unlike the Cocoyashi Village, here all the buildings and streets looked similar. Now, he wasn't like Zoro but it being in the middle of the night, with nothing but the moonlight and occasional street light to guide him. If only he could ask someone for directions… wait there was a woman with a cowboy hat sitting on one of the rooftops.
"Um… hey lady, have you seen my friends? They are a wild bunch. You know the pirate group that came here?" Hatchan asked.
The woman in question looked at him before pointing in a certain direction. There was some kind of commotion going on.
Hatchan nodded in thanks, the crew had a bad habit of creating problems, maybe they were there. With that, he took towards their direction, carefree.
"Now… would you stop being so spooky, Mr. Mask?" the woman questioned, looking at the plague masked wearing individual. "They call me creepy for spying on others, but you take it to another level, it took a full minute to find you."
"That's only because I let myself be found." The man in question was sitting on another rooftop, with a metal pipe by his side. "Well, I was just making sure… I don't want you to harm one of my friends and get into unnecessary trouble. Unlike the others, you are strong and dangerous. Anyway, appreciate the help with Hatchan, bye." With that, the man disappeared from his spot. Leaving no traces behind.
The woman didn't say anything, her face unreadable, but Nico Robin knew that things weren't as easy with the straw hats as she presumed. She didn't know the masked individual, but he was dangerous. Whoever he was, he was powerful and strong enough to scare her.
So she had to act carefully, as even with her devil fruit, Robin wasn't sure if she could take him by surprise.
Who was the unknown masked man who suddenly joined the straw hats? She was curious. The straw hat pirates… they sure are a wild bunch.
135
A few moments ago,
Miss Valentine, jumped up high and wanted to go for a kick, this time she wouldn't miss. And she would make sure to crush the princess under her heels. "Say goodbye, princess! 10,000 kilo press!"
Vivi was wide-eyed, dust in her clothes. Karoo, her duck, was also injured from one of Mr. 5's exploding bullets. The princess closed her eyes accepting fate, only for nothing to happen.
"You know, why do I always find you in troubled situations…? We should stop meeting like this," A voice said, and Vivi opened her eyes just to see Luffy in front of her, holding off Miss Valentine's weight with just one of his fingers, and he wasn't even struggling either.
Both Vivi and Valentine were wide-eyed.
Luffy then smiled looking back at the agent he was holding up "You sure are on the heavier side, aren't you?"
Vivi was awed, not only by his looks, but the display of otherworldly strength. He… he really saved her.
"Y-You.. How are you doing this, you bastard!?"
Of course, Luffy ignored her and looked back at Vivi and seeing her mouth wide open, he smiled. "I did say, I'm a pirate that saves the princess and beats the Croc!" Luffy winked as Vivi felt the blood rush up her face.
Miss Valentine was now pissed from being ignored, "Stop Ignoring me… How are you doing this bastard? I'm over 10,000…" but before she could finish her sentence, she was sent flying toward the explosive booger shot by Mr 5."Yuck! Who uses his nose boogers as weapons?" Luffy questioned, looking disgusted.
"Miss Valentine, are you okay?!" Mr 5 said running towards his partner, who he accidentally blew up.
While this was happening Luffy focused on picking up Vivi from the ground. "A princess like you should never be on the ground." He said smoothly, "Now, I have to ask, are you single by any means…?"
Vivi felt herself blush like a schoolgirl from Luffy's question. Not only did the young pirate have a great body, but he was also strong… It was evident by the fact that she was alive. And now suddenly he was asking this kind of question.
Vivi shook her head, answering his question, as Luffy's smile broadened.
"Well, just had to check, being royalty and all, you might already be betrothed, that wouldn't matter of course… since they don't call me Mr. steal-your-girl for nothing. Shishishi…"
"But… don't you have a thing for that miss navigator of yours?" Vivi squeaked out. This was not a conversation she was expecting right now, but her heart was pounding and she had to know.
"Yes…" Vivi felt a sting in her heart, but suddenly Luffy lifted her chin up while Luffy's brown eyes looked at her's. "Say the word and we could have a thing going on as well…"
"Nose Fancy Canon!"
"10,000 kilo press!"
"What a way to ruin the mood. Just one moment please…" Luffy then pulled Vivi's arm, and took her in a princess carry before jumping towards where the rest of the straw hats were. "Now, you should be safe here."
"Hey!" Miss Valentine shouted, "Where did the bastard go?" Both her and Mr. 5 searched for Luffy, only for neither to find him, they couldn't even see him move. One moment he was there, the next moment he and the princess were gone.
"Uh… thanks! But you can put me down now?" Vivi asked, a bit nervous from the look Nami was giving both Luffy and her. Of course, Luffy just smiled at Nami, before looking down at Vivi.
Vivi of course forgot to question how she was suddenly here in the first place. She didn't even see what happened, one moment she was on the ground, the next moment she was on the roof.
"Are you sure you're okay? Your heart rate and pulse says otherwise…" Luffy said, musing while the girl got embarrassed on his lap. "I can carry you all day, if you wish, my princess. These muscles aren't just for show, you know."
While Sanji was crying blood, and Nami was pissed, the rest of the straw hats were amused at the situation. But that was when another blond landed on top of the roof along with Hatchan, it was Sabo.
"What did I miss?" Sabo said, and raised his brow when he looked at Vivi in his lap, blushing and Nami looking furious. The revolutionary had his hands up in surrender, "Just so you know, he's adopted and I have no interest in getting dragged into this…"
Luffy gave a stink eye to his brother, before maturely sticking out his tongue. Of course Sabo returned the gesture.
"There you are, bastard?!" Miss Valentine said, "You scared!.."
Luffy tuned out the agents as he talked to his crewmates. "Johnny and Yosaku go handle Mr. 5 and the screaming potty-mouth down there, their fruit should be of great value… and just remember this might be your first fight, so it will be bad if you lose. I did train you personally Johnny, so don't lose. No pressure."
Johnny stiffened up, he could already feel the sweat on his neck.
"Same for you Yosaku, don't lose. It will look bad. But yeah, no pressure." Sabo said, giving a thumbs up, making Yosaku stiffen up as well. Both former bounty hunters gulped as Luffy and Sabo kicked them off the roof to fight the agents.
They had a lot in line for them, so they can't lose now.
136
"My money's on Johnny breaking a bone first!" Nami began betting.
"I say Yosaku will break first," Gin said, placing his bet. The rest of them sweat-dropped at their antics.
"That's not nice, guys." Luffy mumbled.
"Say that after putting her down, you rubber brain" Nami said totally forgetting about the money as Luffy still had Vivi in her arms.
"What? It's comfortable here, right?" Luffy asked while Vivi unconsciously nodded. She would be lying if she said otherwise. Luffy smiled before looking at Nami. "You wanna join? I can carry you as well," he questioned seriously.
Nami blinked, "Ye-no, I mean no. Stop flirting around, you baka captain. Baka!" She said, grumbling, biting her nail. But there was a certain blush on her face.
"Damn! My bro got some rizz."
Nami gave Sabo a stink eye, shutting the blonde up.
Nami sighed, before looking at Vivi. "And you… we will take you to your home… didn't you say, you were a princess?"
"Yes…" Vivi answered quickly not wanting to get on her bad side, Nami was a bit scary, even though currently the orange-haired woman looked like a tsundere trying to hide her blush with anger.
"We will save you, then. But… You're the princess of a big country, so… one billion Beris sounds about right."
"One billion?!" Usopp balked, having never considered an amount of that size. Such a price could buy his entire home island, after all.
"I don't know if I can give you that," Vivi answered truthfully as Luffy finally put her down, "See, my country is currently locked in a civil war caused by Baroque Works. They used the lack of rainfall and drought and manipulated events to frame my father King Cobra for the incident. Many people believe he is the one behind it and the resistance grows with each passing day, even though my father has drained our coffers trying to keep the people alive. Igaram and I infiltrated Baroque Works to get ahold of this information and I need to get it back to Alabasta. All I ask is that you take me there, and I'll give you everything I have."
"Then it's easy." Luffy said, putting his right fist on his left palm. "How about you?"
"Sorry?"
"I want you… didn't you say you are willing to give everything?" Luffy leaned in, making the girl blush again.
While Nami dragged the captain off of Vivi the others discussed the matter at hand.
"This seems risky," Gin commented, rubbing his chin as he watched the fight between Johnny, Yosaku and the agents. "There were a lot of agent guys back there, and it sounded like it was only one base out of many. Who's behind all of this?"
"No, I certainly can't tell you," the bluenette replied, a bit afraid. "He's one of the most fearsome men in this ocean, a man of cunning to the point of brilliance. His intellect is only rivaled by his evil, and he's been plotting how to take over the desert country of Alabasta for the past five years. If I told you his name, you'd also be put on his hit list. Everyone knows him as Mr. 0, and he claims his ultimate goal is to recreate Alabasta into a perfect paradise, with him as the unquestioned dictator on top. It's nothing but a lie, though."
"He don't sound tough to me." Bartolomeo said, flexing his biceps, "I'm sure captain can beat him just fine." As if that was a flex… well it was.
"Come on," Zoro yawned, completely unperturbed by the princess' rambling. "He can't be that tough."
"Not that tough?" Vivi demanded, spinning to look the swordsman dead in the eye. "You wouldn't be acting so tough if you knew Mr. 0 was Crocodile of the Seven Warlords, Mr. Bushido!"
"WHAT?!" Most of the strawhats panicked. The princess gasped in shame and covered her mouth, as if the action would take back the information she'd just given away.
"Crocodile!?" Coby demanded, his face rapidly switching between fury and panic.
"You mean the warlord, Crocodile!?" Johnny and Yosaku gasped.
"A Warlord..?" Gin whispered in shock, falling against the wall. His eyes grew unfocused, his mind no longer in the present. He almost felt a shiver run down his spine the previous time they managed to escape from one.
"The man who challenged Whitebeard and lost his arm." Hatchan said a bit afraid, himself. "I heard he is a logia user. Like Captain Smoker, but he has the ability of the sand."
"Y-Y-You can't be serious?" Bartolomeo stuttered, gulping down, before puffing his chest. "But I'm sure captain won't back down."
"Well, of course, I won't," Luffy said, putting his feet on top of a box, leaning in. "I will become the man that will be the strongest. The King of the Pirates, the man who will conquer the seas. I won't back down from some backwater crocodile. Shishishi…"
.
While this conversation was happening, no one noticed the two animals that had taken the picture of the whole crew from hiding under the shadows. The Unluckies.
But before they could leave, they suddenly felt two hands on their neck, it was Sparky.
"Stew…" the monkey said, before smashing both of their heads together knocking both of them out.
The six-armed monkey nodded to himself, he was sure Sanji could make a stew out of them.
137
Marine Headquarters,
Vice Admiral Stainless yet again sighed due to the commotion that was happening in the headquarters.
New pirates arriving making trouble, old pirates scheming, these were the common things of this world. And all of this brought paperwork to him.
As a Vice Admiral you usually don't get duty off if your last name starts with Monkey, but other than him, everyone had their duties.
And his happened to fall under giving pirates new bounties that were on the grandline. Which was a very stressful job, increasing or giving new pirates appropriate bounties.
Too much, and they might gain too much fame too soon, give them too little and nearby marines might underestimate them and get themselves killed.
Still giving out bounties was the easy part, doing all the paperwork to get that bounty to paper was just a hassle. In his office he was alone doing late-night duties, most of his subordinates retired for the night.
So he was doing a bit of extra for his part. But then again, as a marine he took his job seriously, his passion for justice won't be beaten by his laziness.
"Trafalgar Law… the first thing he does after entering the grandline is kill a king. Pirate these days, getting wilder and wilder." Cancer, who was by his side, read out the reports whistling at the deeds.
Stainless tried to ignore him, and continue his duties. He wasn't in the mood for this.
"Well, the supposed king was a tyrant, the only reason we weren't able to do anything was because of the Heavenly Tribute… so in a way, he did our job for him." Bogard said, putting a cup of tea on Vice Admiral Stainless's desk.
Making the middle-aged man look up in appreciation. After that Bogard took a seat near Cancer —after giving him his own cup of tea— who was looking over the reports.
"Straight as ever, Bogard-san." Cancer smiled, taking a drag from his cigar, before taking a sip from his cut. "Anyway, I think we should give him a bounty of 50 million, especially with that fruit of his… Ope Ope no mi… it's quite versatile, even more so when we add in the fact that the boy has medical knowledge."
"Fifty would be an understatement, but giving too much would be foolish," Bogard nodded.
"Cancer, you do know it's my job to write out bounties? And if you are here to help, help me with this damn paperwork, not the bounties." Vice Admiral Stainless said.
"Nah, I'm sure you got that handled." Cancer said, casually picking up another report. "This one is a bit concerning… 'Mad Monk', Urouge the captain of the Fallen Monk Pirates. Destroying a complete marine base alone without any help, killing one of the marine captains in the process. He was also able to free a few of the prisoners that were on their way to Impel Down."
"This is quite bad," Bogard said. "But didn't the man suddenly go off the radar a few years back…? A pirate of sky island descent, we thought he died. It seems that he was hiding in the grandline. These kinds of pirates are the reason we need the marines."
"But then again, Bogard-san. Captain Striker wasn't the most honorable of the marines… if so he wouldn't have helped with hiding the 'Mad Monk' Urouge's location in the first place." Cancer said. "Our intelligence says that Urouge had a deal with him, he was paid a hefty sum while Urouge hid near his territory, and the pirate didn't have any use for him anymore. That's why this incident happened. Honestly, why do we get news of bad apples only after they die or switch sides?"
"I wonder that myself," Bogard answered, the Marines, as a big organization, had a lot of corruption in them. And oftentimes it was found out too late.
Of course, X Drake was an exception to that rule. But few knew of his original goals of being undercover.
"Well, what worries me isn't them… it's this." Stainless said as he gave a report to Bogard, Cancer picking in from the side.
The report was about a former pirate of Whitebeard that had attacked Drum Island. And he was even able to take over the kingdom in one day.
Due to the pirate having a relationship with a Yonko and the island being at the start of Grandline the Marines were scratching their heads on what to do.
"The bastard calls himself Blackbeard… we knew of him since he was a child. Marshall D. Teach… he joined the Whitebeards since he was a boy… but now, he suddenly gets the idea to kill one of his crewmembers and flee from the old legend's crew. It's quite worrying what the guy has plans for." Stainless said. "After taking over Drum Island the man didn't stay long and opted to change location again, it makes his moves unpredictable…"
"Hm… what's his bounty?" Cancer asked.
"He doesn't have one."
Both Cancer and Bogard looked at Stainless. "In all his years on Whitebeard's crew he made little effort on gaining fame and opted to hide behind the old man's shadow… that kind of man. Who knows what he's up to. The headquarters have decided to wait for a while before giving him a bounty."
"Why?" Cancer asked.
"Some of the elders deem him a good candidate for the warlord system…" Stainless said, while the others nodded. There was much to be said on that part, but there could only be seven warlords at one time.
Meaning one of the current warlords might get replaced. And almost all of them knew it was most likely Gekko Moria. He wasn't that useful like the rest of the warlords.
Also if a former Whitebeard pirate were to join the ranks of Warloard then the marines would be able to get a lot of info out of him. There were roumers that Fleet Admiral might be retiring soon and taking down a Yonko would be a very good way to do things.
"There are still other things… oh… it seems that the new pirate Eustass Kid has some brass balls." Cancer said as he read the report. "The boy really killed the old dog Helmet Jack… and he even didn't let one of his crewmates live. Sick bastard, but we need more pirates killing each other, it makes the job easier."
"There's also Scratchmen Apoo, his crew is also causing a lot of trouble in the south-islands… even escaped from a Marine Commodore. Quite skilled with his abilities… he seems to be getting a bounty to raise as well." Bogard said.
"Anyway, we still have to discuss our star boy. 'Fallen Hero, Straw Hat' Luffy." Cancer said, whipping out the latest report. "That's a long ass epithet. But other than that, the kid's pretty strong. Not only did he fight off both Smoker and Hina at once, without getting a single injury, he also made it out even while being surrounded by six marine ships. And it seems that his crew also knows the Rokushiki techniques as far as our intelligence knows. I can already see them being a headache in the future."
Stainless grunted. "Yes, White Lady Kuina and the cook that joined them, Sanji was seen being able to use geppo. And our previous judgment of Luffy having a wind-based fruit is in question now."
Bogard coughed and said nothing. He wouldn't be revealing Luffy's devil fruit anytime soon. He was one of his students. But then again having the ability of rubber wasn't that dangerous in the first place.
138
Cancer hummed, "Didn't this Sanji… work under 'Red Leg' Zeff? The pirate turned goodie two-shoe informant after he opened a restaurant in East Blue. I remember the old man, it's said his legs were always dyed in blood red from his opponents. Was quite the cook actually."
There were some pirates who were given freedom in case they helped the marines in some way. Zeff was one of them. A man that only had traveled to the first part of the grandline, but had a lot of information of the underground organizations, with his info the marines were able to catch a lot of illegal activities, which was the reason his current bounty was on hold.
"Uh… huh, I got it, 'Black Leg' Sanji… this should work great with his black-themed suit." Cancer said.
Stainless rubbed his head. "Very thankful for your suggestion," he thanked sarcastically. "Anyway, when we looked a bit inside the boy's file the Sanji kid is quite skilled… being easily capable enough to take down small sea kings that are near the east blue. And for his crime of having secret knowledge of the marines, a bounty is due for him. Not much, but thirty million should be good."
There were others that were notable, like Coby, and then there's Bartolomeo, but they weren't as much of a threat to have their own bounties as far the marines knew.
Cancer looked at Bogard and frowned. "Bogard-san you have been awfully silent… is something on your mind?"
Bogard looked down at Luffy's bounty poster. "I trained that kid."
Both Cancer and Stainless were wide-eyed, and looked around the office, and going as far as to use their observation haki to see if there were any outsiders listening in.
"You really have to be careful with your words, Bogard-san…" Stainless said, actually feeling a bit nervous for his senior. "There are often loyal dogs amongst our ranks."
And that wasn't a surprise, he was talking about dogs that worked directly under the World Nobles.
Bogard sighed. "Don't worry, I only said this because I believe in you both. But Luffy… I would be lying if I said I didn't see him as a pirate when I trained him."
"How long did you train him? Does Sengoku-san know?" Cancer was the one to ask, he even took off his glasses because of the serious conversation.
"Only a month actually… taught him how to use his naginata." he said, fondly, "And yes, he already questioned me and Garp-san if we could train him in Rokushiki?" Bogard said. "But we didn't… the boy already had a great physique back then. And somehow got his hands on the techniques." What was left unsaid was that the boy was like his father, not only does he have strength but also intelligence.
"Wait, the boy taught the techniques to himself?" Cancer questioned in astonishment.
Bogard nodded. "He really was talented when it came to combat, often finding weird ways to push himself… and also he didn't even complain once when I was training him. Even Garp-san often said how much Luffy loved training… it's just sad seeing him on the opposite side."
Cancer and Stainless looked at each other and questioned just how strong the boy was. In the marines after Zephyr, only Bogard was known for his strict training. Even some of the current young Vice Admiral in their ranks were trained by him. But all of them complained about how tough the training was and how they barely survived. So this was quite the news.
"No wonder the kid's strong… sheesh… Bogard-san you and Garp-san really created a monster, didn't you?" Cancer stated, puffing out smoke from his mouth.
Stainless nodded. "Is that why Luffy's bounty was already due? Did Sengoku sign it?"
Bogard shook his head, looking a bit irritated. "No, it was Akainu… he isn't liking how the marines are looking up to a pirate so he gave out the bounty. Even went as far to inform the Warlord Crocodile of Luffy, in case he takes the Arabasta route."
Both Stainless and Cancer were surprised yet again. But then again they knew how Akainu was, but him informing or even making contact with a pirate —even if he is a warlord— was too much of a stretch, unless it was an order from above. Which they could see happening.
Luffy's step to piracy in the first place was unjustifiable, he was framed. Not to mention his fight against Aramaki, a bounty hunter known for getting away with killing a lot of marines and civilians and never getting charged with it.
Only now because of Morgan's news of Aramaki's fight with Luffy could the marines put a bounty on his head and officially declare him a criminal.
"But… sending a warlord like Crocodile… the poor boy might lose his life if he isn't careful." Stainless said.
Cancer shook his head. "No… did you forget after Crocodile lost his hand to Whitebeard, according to reports he was never seen using Armament Haki after that… the most he has is his devil fruit and Observation Haki."
Bogard nodded. Losing a limb sometimes makes you unable to use Haki, mainly Armament Haki. Even golden lion Shiki lost his ability to use Haki after getting out of Impel down by cutting his legs off. Though the old pirate was not seen for years so it could change.
Even former Admiral Zephyr after losing his arm lost his ability to use Armament Haki for a few years. He had to regain the ability and mastery over it.
"Still… fighting a sand logia, mainly such as Crocodile in a country in Arabasta, which is a desert country… it would be better if Luffy doesn't use that route to go to the grandline." Cancer said. "I don't know the boy personally, but the fact that none of the marines that tried to stop him at Logue Town was killed is a good reason why he's in my good books. Heck, there's even news that he saved one of the marine ships from a pirate attack."
Bogard smiled, shaking his head. "Knowing Luffy, he might challenge Crocodile just to get a challenge out of it. The boy has a hunger for strength. He always used to say he would be the strongest in the world before claiming the title of Pirate King. Bold dreams… he could have been a great marine if things were different."
The other two vice admirals didn't say anything, remaining silent.
But they knew Luffy being a marine would be impossible. Even with Garp's reputation the fact that his father Dragon had betrayed the marines once wouldn't sit well with the authorities.
Maybe that's the reason why Garp didn't push Luffy into the ranks.
139
Johnny and Yosaku again separated when Mr. 5 shot a booger bullet at them. It exploded creating a dust cloud, and destroying the road as they fled to safety. But with one of his revolvers out Mr. 5 was giving no breaks to the bounty-hunting pirates.
The fight was going nowhere. They had been fleeing from both agents for quite a while now. It was more like a game of chase, rather than a fight.
"Is that all you can do? Unlike that straw hat, we won't even have to make an effort to kill you. Kyahahaha," Miss Valentine laughed while she was in the air, throwing large chunks of debris at them.
With her powers, she was able to change her own weight along with the things she was connected to, which included her clothes and umbrella.
So she used her powers to grab the large pieces of stone that weighed at least a ton, and made them all weigh under one kilo, so she was easily able to jump really high with them. And the moment she let go of the stones they returned to their previous weight crashing down on her opponents.
Johnny and Yosaku had to scatter yet again as the flying agent threw large rocks at them, while the male agent shot explosive boogers.
They were on the run. And it pissed them off. They came here to fight, not be on the run.
Neither Johnny nor Yosaku said anything, trying to catch their breath. After getting kicked out from the roof, they barely had any time to react before they were bombarded by attacks from both agents.
"Oi, Johnny you take the potty mouth and I'll take the booger-man." Yosaku said from behind a wall, loud enough for his partner to hear. "Distract her for me, while I deal with him. I think I can take him on alone."
Johnny wanted to refuse, fighting a lady, but not because of chivalry. In the world of piracy this wouldn't be the first-time he was fighting against a female opponent. He had a lot of sparring matches with Kuina, and even before that there were times he had to put down female criminals.
Both him and Yosaku had fought against the Alvida pirates, it was way before they had met Luffy. Of course, they had lost pretty badly, Alivda was out of their league back then, but now it wasn't the same.
He personally wanted to fight Mr. 5 because of his powers, as fighting a stronger opponent would help him grow. But he knew Yosaku wanted to test his new fighting style with Mr. 5. So he complied.
Unlike him, who was able to get down the basics and even some skills directly from Luffy and Sabo. Yosaku had to develop his own style with his new weapons that he was using for only over a week.
"Ugh, fuck it, you owe me one. Hope, Sanji doesn't kill me for this…" Johnny reluctantly agreed, before coming out of his cover, "Oi, Blondie! Look here, I will be your opponent, fight me one on one! Or are you scared? I'm sure half your power comes from you being dense. Not only are you fat, but you are ugly!"
"There's no way that will-" Yosaku beganonly to be cut off by her screams.
"I will kill you, you bastard! How dare you call me fat!" With that Miss Valentine chased after Johnny, leaving Yosaku and Mr. 5 behind to face each other. There was a silence between them.
"Well, that happened. Women right?" Yosaku said, putting up his shield just in time for a booger shot to explode, the force dragging his feet back a few inches. "Eh… at least I tried to be friendly."
Mr. 5 snorted, running towards Yosaku, who also charged ahead.
Just when both of them neared each other, Mr. 5 kicked the ground with an explosion, creating a cloud of dust and making the bounty-hunting pirate yelp back. The agent used that chance to take out his revolver loaded with explosive booger bullets and fired at Yosaku.
"Gah! I will have to sanitize my equipment after I'm done with you!" Yosaku yelled as he jumped back, using his shield to protect himself. Getting pushed back by the force of the attacks.
Rather than shooting directly at Yosaku, Mr 5 started shooting near him, creating explosions that might hurt the pirate. But even with that, other than getting a bit dusted, Yosaku looked completely fine.
It was all due to the tough conditioning both him and Johnny were put through. They were not bulletproof, but damage like this won't make a wound on their body anymore.
Mr. 5 fired once more…
*bang *bang *bang *click *click
Running out of bullets, the agent wanted to get a bit of distance between him and his opponent but Yosaku didn't let him, charging right at him.
"Like hell, I will let you go after all that!" With a war cry, Yosaku charged, bashing his shield against the agent. Or at least tried to, but he couldn't make it as the agent created an explosion around his body, pushing Yosaku back.
Both the agent and the pirate were thrown in opposite directions due to the explosion.
The bounty-hunting pirate clicked his tongue, but saw a chance and threw his battle axe toward the agent.
"Ahh!" the agent screamed in pain when the axe was embedded into his leg. He wanted to blow the axe out of his wound, but to his horror, his powers didn't work. He also suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion. "What the…"
But before he could say anything else Yosaku's shield was also thrown at his chest, caving it in, as the agent flew out. Going through one of the buildings. Leaving both of the pirates' weapons on the floor. It seemed that that last attack yanked the axe out of the wound.
"That's why Big Bro Sanji said, not to rely too much on your devil fruit." Yosaku said, picking up his shield and axe.
With so much sea stone powder, Usopp had used his ingenuity to good use and put some of the sea stone patches on the weapon. It looked like a tribal pattern, but was laced with sea stones, being able to drain a devil fruit user of his or her powers.
He wanted to go and see if the agent was out yet, but before he could another shot came out of the building, catching Yosaku off guard.
The bounty-hunting pirate rolled to his side with both of his weapons. If it was a few months ago, this kind of attack would have devastated him, but now they were just a nuisance.
From the building, Mr. 5's bleeding figure emerged, and he had two revolvers, they were laced with blood. And coupled with the fact that how angry the agent was, the fight was far from being over.
"Bring it on," Yosaku said, putting his shield in front of him, with his axe in his dominant hand. "I can do this all day."
"Woohooo! Go Yosaku!" Someone cheered from above the roof, of course, it was Luffy.
140
"Take this! 10,000 kilo press!" Miss Valentine screamed as she fell heel-first toward Johnny.
The man ducked by only an inch, before he tried to stab the female agent.
The agent in question parried Yosaku's spear with her own umbrella, which was made from some good metal, being able to withstand the blade. But still the woman was pushed back.
Yosaku charged, attacking with his spear and the female agent countering them.
"Take this, Spear thrust!"
"Kyahahaha!" Miss Valentine laughed maniacally, "You are too slow, bastard!"
Both of them used their weapons, clashes happening, sparks flying. Miss Valentine used her powers skillfully along with the umbrella, while Johnny used his own strength with his spear. Both of them were at a standstill, but Miss Valentine got the upper hand when she was able to hook the spear.
"Kyahaha… your friend with the shield over there should have been my opponent. At least he could have defended against my powers with his shield, but you… you're dead."
Johnny was wide-eyed when the agent suddenly yanked his weapon out of his hands along with the umbrella, and flipped acrobatically over him, spinning and slammed her leg down with an axe kick. "Without your weapon, you are useless. I'm not. Now die! 5,000 kilo axe kick!"
Johnny had no choice but to cross his arms over his head, and yell. "Tekkai!"
*boom
A large explosion occurred and Miss Valentine was wide-eyed seeing her attack get blocked for the second time. She wondered how he was able to deflect her kick, normally it would have killed any lesser man. But then again any lesser man wouldn't fight her. It felt like she was kicking steel.
"What are y…" She wasn't even able to finish the sentence as Johnny grabbed her by the leg, and with momentum, smashed his opposition into the ground, creating a crater and knocking the wind out of her. Before she could even do anything, Johnny attacked again.
"Shigan!"
Miss Valentine was barely able to roll to her side as the ground bore a hole, smoke coming out of it as Yosaku finger dug inside.
Johnny clicked his tongue, before standing up and dusting his clothes. He would be lying if he said he didn't feel that last attack from Miss Valentine, his arms were still shaking.
In this small time he only had managed to learn Tekkai, Shigan. He was almost there at learning Kami-e paper art and Soru, but even if he can't use them right now, his speed had improved quite a lot along with the control over his body.
"You! What are you?! What kind of devil fruit did you eat?" It didn't make sense to her. Super strength could be explained with training, but being able to withstand her kick and make a bullet-like-hole in the ground with just a finger. She had never heard of that before.
Johnny didn't say anything and walked near his spear before kicking the umbrella toward her. Miss Valentine caught it with ease.
"My powers don't come from any fruits but my friends. And you! You wanted to hurt them… so get ready to be hurt!"
"Go power of friendship!" Someone cheered from the roof.
Miss Valentine snorted. "Don't get in over your head… I will kill you even with your weird technique."
While the fight was happening, it was creating a lot of commotion. Enough to wake up the resident bounty hunters from their sleep.
At first, they thought it was just some small scuffle amongst them, but with the sounds of explosions growing, they knew this wasn't the case anymore.
So a group of bounty hunters around thirty in number came towards the plaza where the fight was happening.
"Hey, Bill… is that Mr. 8 and Mr. 9?" One of them asked, as they ran towards their bodies, luckily they were breathing. Only knocked unconscious. "Hey, splash some water… we have to wake them up. Shit, someone beat them up pretty badly."
"Hey, we found Miss Monday… she-she isn't breathing." One of them stuttered as the female bounty hunters checked over her body. The muscular nun wasn't breathing.
"Ugh…" Igaram grunted groggily.
"Hey, I think Mr. 8 is waking up!" One of the bounty hunters announced to the others, splashing more water on the man's face. "Hey! What happened here…?"
The first thing Igaram did after waking up was to try and remember what happened. Before he got knocked out from the pain, he saw Johnny and Yosaku, friends of the straw hats, fight off Mr 5 and Miss Valentine. And he was shocked.
"It's them…" Igaram tried to say, but coughed. He was promptly given some water by the nearby bounty hunters.
"Who? The straw hats? Did they attack us?" One of them questioned.
"They really are bad pirates…" Another lamented. The surrounding group also felt betrayed by their hero… but.
"No, it's not them." Igaram said, shaking his head. He had seen Luffy take Vivi to safety. "In fact, they are the ones fighting off the intruders…"
"Then, who attacked us, in Whisky Peak? In our home turf?" One of them asked. Now all of them were enraged.
"Ugh… It's the Mr. 5 pair… they have abandoned our cause." Igaram lied, coming up with something. "The organization has put a bounty on their head… they were already criminals when they joined… they want to take over the town. You guys need to stop them!"
Rather than saying anymore, Iagaram faked falling unconscious. With his state, he wouldn't be fighting any time soon. By acting unconscious, he could avoid the questioning.
The surrounding bounty hunters froze, a bit of fear in them… could they stop them? They were numbered agents… but with all of them combined… it shouldn't be so tough.
"Hey, we can do this." One of them said. "It's just two. We can stop 'em if we work together! We even have the hero Luffy by our side…"
"Yeah! Didn't you hear Mr. 8 say that his friends were already fighting them? Let's go and help them, we will protect our own town!"
With a resounding cheer, all of them took their weapons in hand, wanting to help the brave straw hat heroes fight off the bad agents.
So all of the bounty hunters gathered and went to the plaza together, only to see the fight coming to an end.
Yosaku leaned on his shield as Mr. 5 fell to the ground, the fight wasn't as tough as he first thought. Especially, after separating the two agents.
Yosaku walked over to Mr. 5's body and pulled his axe out of his chest. Luckily for the agent, the wound was not that deep and was on the right side. The man beneath Yosaku winced when the bounty-hunting pirate yanked his axe out and coughed up blood.
"Just finish me." The man growled. With this many injuries, he didn't have the strength to use his powers anymore.
"Shut it." Yosaku said, bashing him on the side of his head and knocking him out. With that the fight was over, and the bounty-hunting pirate looked to his side.
Johnny's fight was still going on, but it was about to end.