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The Going Merry was going alone, floating with the sails. Because of the icebergs that littered the area, Nami found it more practical if Momoo didn't help. Sure the cow seaking could push faster than the Going Merry's sail. But it was quite the hassle, even with all of them, clearing so many icebergs was getting a bit bothersome.
Also, Momoo was a bit exhausted. It seemed that the Cow sea king wasn't adjusting well with the cold weather.
So Hatchan untied Momoo and told him to get some rest and get adjusted to the cold. Hatchan himself wasn't liking the cold water either. Something about his octopus physiology and whatnot.
So, Momoo was out and about in the waters. But Hatchan said not to worry as Momoo and almost all sea-kings had a good sense of direction, he could easily find the Going Merry after it adjusts to the water.
The cold weather was also bothering White Fury. The snake liked the cold but she was more used to the heat from the volcano, so she was curled up in the storage room to get some shut eye. And maybe hibernate, the crew didn't know if ancient species of snakes hibernated or not.
"You know even I'm hating the cold weather." Nami said, "Good thing we brought clothes for the winter back in Logue Town." Like most of the people in the crew, she was also wearing heavy clothing.
"Well, it's just the cold. I don't like it either, but at least there's no problem." Vivi cheerfully said.
"We might have a problem!" Usopp's voice called from outside, immediately proving her wrong. The group, once again, moved out onto the deck. The temperature had dropped considerably since the start of their endeavor, though some of them seemed unaffected.
In fact, Luffy, Sabo, Zoro, and Gin were just wearing pants, leaving their upper body bare naked, while they were doing some light training. It was as if the cold wasn't a bother to them, well, at least for Gin it was but the man was trying to hide it.
Zoro also got up, and wanted to go to his room for clothes. It seemed he was feeling a bit cold as well. Funny considering it was his idea.
Now, Nami would have protested if not for the fact that almost all of them looked damn fine. Especially Luffy, he was not only muscular, but also shredded.
She didn't know that many muscles existed with how ripped he looked. She felt her face heat up just thinking about it.
"Heh, didn't know you were a pervert, miss Navigator~~~." Vivi mused, but she also had an equal amount of red on her face like Nami.
Nami's lips twitched, "Say that after wiping the blood from your nose, you leaking some royal blood there…"
Vivi blinked before quickly trying to wipe her nose, but she found nothing. That's when she realized that Nami had fooled her.
Smiling smugly, Nami walked over, "What is it now?" Nami asked.
"Well, there's no sane way of saying this, but someone is standing on the water?" he asked, his teeth chattering. Usopp also seemed to not be getting along with the cold weather. Of course, the long-nosed sniper was on the crew's mast.
"Well, that's not something you see every day." Luffy said as him and the rest of the group came along.
"Yeah, might be some devil fruit ability though," Coby offered, pointing at the man. Said man was dressed like a clown from a circus, a bow and a quiver of arrows resting over his shoulders. His mouth looked like a zig-zag line, his teeth chattering as he hugged himself for warmth.
"H-Hello," he muttered. "It's q-quite cold, d-don't you think?"
"You think so?" Luffy asked, but then again he was bare-chested. And he flexed his muscles showing the clown his flexed biceps "Nah, it's for skinny little wimps like you. Food, try eating some. Shishishi…"
The man's lips twitched as he saw Luffy showing off his muscles, like a male peacock showing off his feathers. His crewmates on the other hand mostly ignored his antics.
"Oh, I… uh… I will keep that in mind." The man shuffled, suddenly put on a spot he didn't seem ready for. He lapsed into silence, he and the pirates on the deck staring at each other awkwardly. What now…?
"Huh, why are you guys, half-naked," Kuina asked, stepping out of the women's quarters.
"We are showing off our muscles, join us Kuina," Luffy said, flexing in another bodybuilding position with his sparkling teeth out.
"You know what, forget it… I'm gonna go back and study." Kuina then went back into the quarters. A wise choice before her captain's stupidity infected her.
While the crew was looking at Kuina, the unknown clown took the opportunity to tap his foot on the water. A sound echoed like he was hitting a hollow box of metal. Water surged from below, a whole submarine rising beneath his feet. It rose its own pirate flag, though the skull had a metal jaw.
Faster than anyone on the ship could react to this unexpected surprised, the metal ship pulled up alongside the Going Merry and disgorged the men inside, each dressed in what seemed to be a cold-weather uniform. Each was armed with a gun or sword, everyone aimed at the Straw Hats who did not react.
"We've been boarded," Luffy mused. "Oh, this is our first sea-fight… I'm so excited."
All of them were musing at the foolish pirates that now boarded the ship. Vivi even felt a tad bit of pity for them.
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Coby sighed. "I just got my laundry done." He mumbled, he didn't know why, but when he fought most of his clothes got soaked in blood. And even when training because of his fruit's ability, he really had to frequently wash his clothes. Now it was getting a bit bothersome to him.
"Speak for yourself, I'm damn right excited." Gin grinned evily, a bit shaky from the cold. "Maybe I can finally get a good warmup from these fools."
The soldiers that surrounded him took a step back when they saw Gin's grin. It looked downright evil.
"Ha! What a tiny pirate boat!" a grating voice commented, a fat man stepping onto the Merry's deck. Much of his body was covered in metal, including his chin and jaw, which were plated in a single sheet of shiny iron or steel. A cape made of the skin of a fuzzy white hippo was tied around his neck and a sword with a hunk of meat skewered on its blade was held on one hand. "Well, it's made it this far, so that's something. Whatever. You there!" – he pointed at Sanji with the sword-and-meat – "Do you have an eternal pose to the Drum Kingdom?"
"Never heard of it," the cook lied. "I'm just asking cause it's polite, how do you want your ass kicked. Well done or medium rare?"
"How dare you speak to King Wapol that way!" one of the soldiers near Sanji growled, shoving his sword to the blond's chest, trying to push it in. "Disrespecting our king is punishable by death!"
Sanji caught the sword, with his bare hands, and frowned when he saw that his shirt got punctured. "You ruined my shirt"
The soldier seemed to unconsciously take a step back when Sanji gripped the sword, bending it like paper, before taking it from the pirate's hand and making a ball out of it. "Don't point pointy things at me next time. Play with this instead." With that, he handed over the round object.
And the soldier frantically nodded.
"Boarding our ship isn't cool either," Luffy commented, shaking his head. "But as this is our first Navy battle with an actual pirate, I will make an exception."
"Excuse you?" Wapol demanded, taking a massive bite out of both the meat and the blade of the sword. "I am a king and you will treat me with the respect I am due by my birthright! Now, if you don't have an eternal pose to Drum, then give me all your treasure and food as compensation for wasting my time." Swallowing, Wapol tossed the rest of the sword, handle and all, into his mouth.
"That makes my jaw hurt," Coby shuddered, listening to Wapol chew on the sword.
"You'll never get my treasure!" Nami denied, her bo out and formed in a single moment. In a second, she bashed the soldiers around her in the head, knocking them to the ground with new welts.
"Then we'll take it by force." Chess said, the clown who previously stood on water. But he was swiftly kicked in the back of the head and knocked out.
"Don't try to hurt Nami-swan, you stupid Clown!"
"Chess!" Kuromarimo said, but he had other things to worry about when a certain monkey bashed him on the skull with his fist, promptly taking him out.
The other soldiers aimed randomly at the strawhats intending to fire, when…
"Wait!" Luffy said, with a whiff of conqueror's haki, making all the soldiers shudder and listen to his commands. "I have one question?"
"A-ask?!" Wapol said. Either the man was stupid or had the balls of steel.
Luffy seriously looked at him. "What do you… poop?! How do you poop? Seriously, with the stuff that you eat, I kind of sympathise with your ass hole. No wonder all that shit comes out of your mouth. It has to come out from somewhere."
Wapol was wide-eyed and it felt like someone had stabbed a sword in his ego, genuinely taken damage from the verbal assault, he unconsciously took a step back. And before he could do anything everyone —even his own soldiers— burst out laughing.
"Stop it!" Wapol shouted, pointing at his crew. "I will not tolerate disrespect, kill them!"
"Woah woah woah," Usopp gulped, a soldier holding onto a rope at the top of the mast holding him at gunpoint, said gun making the sniper's nose bend. "C-Can't we j-just t-talk about th-this like c-civilized p-people?"
"Eh, ok," Wapol sighed as if the suggestion was an expected but incredibly boring alternative. "Man, I'm hungry." Without preamble, the self-proclaimed king expanded his mouth like a snake, his oversized teeth clamping down on a piece of the Merry's railing. Or at least tried to, but he was shot on the mouth, three times, knocking at least half a dozen of teeth out.
And it was done by none other then Usopp, who was glaring at the fake king.
"Y-You shot the king?!" the soldier that was holding Usopp at gun point said. "I will shoot you."
Usopp's eyes narrowed just a little, "Just try me bitch! You're lucky I didn't kill him for hurting one of my crewmates."
Deep down, Luffy felt proud of what he made out of Usopp, and sincerely shed a tear. "I raised that boy." he said mostly to himself, but the other crewmembers sweatdropped at his antics.
The soldiers gulped and pulled the trigger but Usopp swatted the bullet away —as if it was a fly— with his own revolver. "You started it." With that Usopp smacked the man with the back of his revolver, knocking the soldiers off of the mast.
Luckily Coby was able to catch him. But it seemed the shock or impact had knocked the poor man out.
"One thing!" Usopp said. "No one hurts Merry!" he said, more so demanded as all the soldiers nodded like a headless chicken.
Luffy whistled. "Man, you pissed off our John Wick. Hey, now that I think about it. Usopp the Babayaga does have a nice ring to it. But Sogeking works as well."
Wapol promptly got up, and looked in horror as he found his missing teeth in the ground. But he quickly picked them up, and ate it. Regrowing them back.
"You dare to shoot at a king—" Wapol choked as a man walked in front of him from behind the mast without stopping to show respect. Zoro blinked, turning around in confusion.
"Honestly, how did Usopp reconfigure the insides of the Merry?" Zoro questioned without noticing the invading army all around him. "I can't even find my shirt."
"You… are you blind?" Wapol asked.
Zoro blinked unconsciously and touched his left eye. Eh… why did he do that? "No, why?" he said. "Okay, Who the heck are you? What's going on?"
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"We've been boarded," Luffy answered once more. He blinked. "Oh, right. Don't eat our ship! Everyone, kick them out! Everyone except the King, I will bring him as a small gift."
"Get them!" Wapol ordered, seemingly ignorant of what Luffy meant. But of course, Captain's orders were to be followed.
Both sides jumped into action, Usopp dropping to his knees to avoid the bullets that passed through where his head had just been before he impressively jumped and holstered his revolvers and took out his slingshot, along with a special round bullet. And shot way too fast for the other soldiers to react. "Take this, Usopp special chewing gum bullet barrage!"
Gotta give where credit is due, the single shot somehow exploded like a grenade and all of Usopp's shots hit right at the front of each soldier's barrel, rendering their guns useless. A few of them tried to shoot, but their guns exploded in their face.
"Leave the Merry alone!" the sniper growled. It seemed for some reason the whole of Wapol's army viewed the sniper as threat, and only focused on him.
"You don't order me!" Wapol frowned at the order, before jumping towards the railing, just behind Luffy, going for another bite just to taunt the irate Long-Nose. In response, Usopp retaliated.
He quickly whipped out his gun, and shot. All the crewmates were amazed —of course, Luffy was grinning— that the bullet curved around Luffy, finding the target, going directly to his mouth. "Curve shot: Tabasco Star!"
"My tongue!" Wapol screamed, the fire coming from his mouth forcing Zoro and Luffy to jump away from the invading monarch. Usopp can handle him. The king's mouth expanded, clenching his teeth together even as flames still snuck their way out from between his teeth. Without his screaming, however, the fire quickly died out. The king swung his arm toward the mast, the limb transforming into the barrel of a cannon. "How dare you make me eat something I didn't want! Wapol Cannon!"
"Usopp!" Vivi shouted, wide-eyed.
But to his surprise, the cannon exploded before it could shoot. "Dual Shot: Exploding Star!"
Usopp then promptly appeared right in front of Wapol with the only rokushiki technique he knew (soru) "Usopp Hammer!"
The force sent Wapol flying into the distance, a couple of teeth left behind on the deck. And taking a page out of Team Rocket's book, he became a star. Luffy whistled, Usopp was always quick on his feet, no wonder he was able to learn Soru.
But it seemed Luffy's training also brought quite the strength out of him. The sniper just yeeted the King away. Now, wasn't that just interesting?
Also, Merry was their crewmate, Luffy was ready to move in before any random bullets made a hole in the wall, but it seemed that wasn't needed. He felt so proud of Usopp. He shed another manly tear.
"King Wapol!" the army screamed, abandoning their attack as their jaw hit the floor when Wapol suddenly shot off like a rocket into the sky.
Luffy frowned, oh he couldn't just let the bastard Team Rocket away. He cocked his fist back. "Gomu gomu no… catch!" with that he shot at the small sight of where Wapol was, grabbed him by his hair, before pulling him back… into his knees. "That's for trying to harm Merry, Asshole mouth!"
Again the soldiers were dead silent with their jaws on the floor. And finally one of them spoke.
"I-I thought it was just a coincidence… but that straw hat. It's the Fallen Hero, Straw Hat Luffy!"
Several gasps were amongst the audience, as everyone threw their gun down, not wanting to anger a pirate with that high of a bounty.
"Really? Took you long enough." Nami giggled. "At least you didn't call him Mario."
To that response, Luffy crossed his arms and pouted.
"W-We are sorry, oh, esteemed hero. Please let us go!" another soldier said. It was the weird-looking joker who seemed to be standing on water.
"Oh, ho ho… they seem to have heard of you, little bro," Sabo said.
"Oh, stop it. You are making me blush." And of course, Luffy was blushing like schoolgirl. He was also happy that no one called him Mario… yet.
"Now, now… why the haste," Nami said sweetly, cooing, pulling out a bag from nowhere, she had a scary glint in her eyes. "You were the one that boarded the ship. So… hand over everything of value in the bag. NOW!!!"
The rest of the crew sweat dropped as Nami made sure to rob every one of them blind, weapons, and clothing, even went to their ship with Johnny and Yosaku and took everything from them, and only after that did she kick them off the Going Merry. They were robbed so bad, that they forgot to bring Wapol with them. But then again, Luffy wasn't going to let him leave just yet. He was their ticket after all.
"That was weird," Coby blinked as the door to the women's quarters opened, and Kuina came out.
"What did I miss?" she asked.
"Oh, asshole mouth here…" he pointed at the knocked out Wapol. "… tried to board the ship. But Usopp beat his ass, I kneed him in the face and Nami robbed them blind." Luffy said. "You know, the usual."
Kuina nodded, before walking back right into the room. It seemed she wasn't needed.
"Anyway, guys. My adventure sense is tingling. We are going to reach an island soon." Luffy said seriously. "Now, we build a snowman."
"Yes, we know. It's right there." She said flatly. They could see the outline of the island. It was the reason why it was snowing.
But Luffy wasn't listening, he along with Gin and Bartolomeo were trying to create a snowman with otherse joining in. Some of them were thrilled as they never saw snow before, and promptly started having fun.
And funnily enough, in a few seconds Usopp was able to make a snow sculpture somehow.
So, Luffy called, "Hey, Usopp, what's the difference between a snowman and a snowwoman?"
Uslpp blinked. "Um… what?"
"Snowballs." Luffy said, throwing a snowball to the long nose's face before he could dodge, promoting a snowball war amongst the crewmates.
The commotion was so much that Kuina thought something serious was happening and promptly came out. And unfortunately someone shot a large snowball at the Ice user which Kuina wasn't able to dodge.
A cold atmosphere down the crewmates, and Kuina unsheathed her Wado Ichimonji and rained a volley of snowballs on the Going Merry. And like headless chickens Luffy, Usopp and others were running about trying to escape the snow.
Before long, they were turned into a pile of snowmen. With that, Kuina went back to the cabin to return to her study.
Nami shook her head.. She looked at the only sensible member of the crew. That was Sparky, who was now, tying up Wapol with a thick rope and a sea stone cuff, and digging him out of the gathered snow.
The orange-haired navigator sighed. The only member of the crew that was somewhat sane was a six-armed monkey. But then she shrugged. She wasn't completely sane either, and so she looked at the collected loot and almost wet herself. She loved being a pirate!
"Yes, What's the phrase again? Land ho!" Coby shouted ignoring Nami as she swam around the gold and other loot she stole from Wapol's men.
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The orange-haired navigator sighed. The only member of the crew that was somewhat sane was a six-armed monkey. But then she shrugged. She wasn't completely sane either, and so she looked at the collected loot and almost wet herself. She loved being a pirate!
"Yes, What's the phrase again? Land ho!" Coby shouted ignoring Nami as she swam around the gold and other loot she stole from Wapol's men.
As the Island got near, Nami quickly shouted out orders. Making Luffy and Usopp come out of their snowmen, and run to the steering wheel, correcting the Merry's course to approach the island. The saltwater of the ocean prevented the water from freezing at large, but the closer they got, the more the water below seemed to turn to slush. Finally, after some time of sailing through a sideways wind, the Going Merry entered the mouth of a river and began following its flow deeper into the island.
Everyone stood scattered over the deck, looking for signs of life while some others tried to quickly fix their clothes to explore the new island.
Signs of life did appear after only a few minutes, islanders rising out of the snow on either side of the Merry in a disorganized – if well-timed – band. Unlike the bounty hunters of Whiskey Peak, these people were outright hostile, more than a few guns already aimed at the crew.
"Zoro," Luffy muttered, locking eyes with the biggest guy of the pack, a man with a green coat and a matching hat. "Drop the anchor."
Zoro eyed the islanders, raising his hands casually, so they could see his fingers, even if he wasn't going to relinquish his swords. Being sure to make no sudden movements, Zoro stepped over to the anchor, lifted it with one hand, and dropped it into the water. The Merry jolted as she came to a stop.
"Leave now," the man in green ordered, glaring at the pirate with eyes that seems to radiate contempt. "Your kind is not welcome here. I will not give you a second chance."
"Oh, our kind?! This is blatant discrimination. Sure, we have Pirate Hunter Zoro in our crew but that doesn't mean you can just kick us off!" Luffy said, while the green headed swordsman frowned.
There was a joke in there, somewhere, but he wasn't getting it. Maybe it was a trick question, who knows.
The man with green —not Zoro, but Dalton— twitched, but said one word. "Leave!"
"Eh… I was thinking, no." Luffy said casually, before holding on Wapol's unconcious body. "But friends worry not… I even brougth gifts."
And like that everyone went silent, looking at Luffy.
"Is-Is that King Wapol?!" one of them finally asked.
"Funny that you asked. He's one of you guys, cause this bastard wanted to eat our ship. Our small caraval ship. But dont' worry, Usopp right here took care of it just fine." He said gesturing to the long nose, who everyone was looking at with a sense of respect. That seemed to make the long nose shy for being in the spot light. "Hit his face with a hammer, and bam, knocked quite the few teeth out. He's quite the hero, isn't he?"
"Wait, hero!" one of them said, looking carefully at the flag. "Y-You guys are the Straw Hat pirates."
Luffy grinned.
"Wait, that means, he's…" another one said, pointing at Luffy. "The Fallen Hero, Mario."
And like that Luffy fell to the floor within a pool of his own blood.
Bartolomeo gasped, running in circles around Luffy, "Medic! Medic! We need a medic!"
"Wait! Is he all right?" The man in green asked, a bit concerned.
Coby helplessly shook his head. "Don't call our Captain Mario. He's a bit sensitive to that. Call him Luffy instead."
"Do you expect us to believe that bullshit?" one of the other islanders demanded. "We weren't born yesterday. Of course we know the government is lying. And his actual name is Mario. He's one of the good pirates… huh, never thought I would say that. For us, he's Mario!" The man declared as if that was Luffy's actual name.
"Yeah, it's unbelievable. I heard he's the son of marine hero Garp! Monkey D. Mario. Now that's a name one can't forget."
There were a few face palms and groans amongst the crew, and it seemed Luffy was weeping. "It's times like this, I want to grill Morgan's ass."
"Anyway, what is a big-time pirate like you guys doing here?" the islanders seemed a lot less hostile now, that they knew who Luffy… eh, who Mario is.
"We actually don't want anything. Okay, maybe we might need to resupply a bit, taste the local dishes, and even find a doctor for regular check ups. Nothing else." Luffy said standing up. "Also, you can even take Wapol with you, we have him in sea stone cuffs. Just return those cuffs after you are done with him. I heard he did quite bad to his own people."
"You have no idea. You are just like the rumors… a hero. Man, we are glad you came here. What are you waiting, come to the Island." There was a few nods and cheers of affirmation.
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"You are just like the rumors… a hero. Man, we are glad you came here. What are you waiting, come to the Island." There was a few nods and cheers of affirmation.
But…
"Wait" It was the man in green, "You really don't intend to attack us?" the man questioned, though he didn't give the pirates time to answer. "My name is Dalton. We will help you, though I can't promise you anything. This island doesn't have that many good places to dine in either, and we are kind of in the process of rebuilding our home. I hope you guys wont' mind. Also, we only have one doctor and her assistant in the Island but now that we have Wapol, I think they will come back pretty soon. "
"Sure thing, Dalton." Luffy responded, jumping off the ship, along with a few others. "Lead the way."
With their new guide, the pirates collected their things and made their way on land. A few stayed, Kuina was much too focused on her new techniques to leave the ship. She was trying to practice her new tehcniques, and the island was best for training, so she would stay. Sparky and White Fury also didn't want to go, they weren't taking a liking to the freezing temperatures.
But it was also the reason Hatchan could get a break and go out with them to explore the Island. As an octopus Fishman he didn't like the cold, but this was honestly his first time seeing snow. And he was way too excited, that excitement fueling his adventurous spirit as Hatchi went along with the other straw hats.
So along with Luffy and Hatchan. Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Johnny, Yosaku, Bartolomeo, Gin, Coby and Usopp were going out to explore the Island.
Luffy didn't mention it to anyone else, but he did notify Kuina and Sparky to be careful. Wherever that Cipher Pol agent was, he might already be on the Island.
And he wasn't sure if that ghost agent would come along —like Morgan suspected— or bring agents with them. That's why it was good knowing that some capable fighters were on the ship.
Even though Hatchi was a combatant, and a Fishman, he wasn't that strong. He was by no means slacking on training, Zoro and Kuina made sure to keep his skills sharp. But the problem was Hatchi wasn't as motivated to gain strength.
Well, no big deal. Not everyone in the crew needed to be strong. They were the Straw Hat Pirates, not the Beast Pirates. Still, if put in a tough position, Luffy trusted his octopus friend to push through.
"Hey, old guy," Luffy began, drawing curious looks from the natives. "What did you mean when you said there's only one doctor on this island? That sounds like a stupid idea to me." Of course, Luffy knew, but it's better that the man himself explained it to the crew. And with how messed up the world was, he was of course expecting some changes.
"Captain Luffy, you can't just-" Coby began.
"We didn't have a choice in the matter," Dalton explained, his eyes on the snow-covered road ahead. The only way the road could be differentiated from not-road were the trees that lined either side. He was also pulling a tied-up, unconscious Wapol with them. "The former king put out a decree several months ago when he assumed the throne. He gathered the 20 best doctors in the country and forced them to work for him and him alone. All the others… Well, the ones that didn't escape the country were all killed."
"Pretty fucked up when you know that this Island was called the Island for doctors," Luffy said. And the man sadly nodded.
"That's horrible!" Vivi raged. "No monarch can call themselves a true king if they slaughter their own people!"
"You have no idea, you poor girl," Sabo said, mostly to himself, but others heard it just fine.
Even Coby was angry with the situation. How could the marines allow that? Being a pirate or a revolutionary was better than being a white collared scum. Those hypocrites.
"Indeed," Dalton agreed. "The 20 doctors didn't have much of a choice in the matter. If they chose to leave, they would have been killed like all the rest."
"What about the people?" Coby asked. "The population can't just stop getting sick."
"Sure they can," Zoro shrugged, nearly every eye turning on him.
"People don't just not get sick because they want to, Mr. Bushido," Vivi told him.
"It worked for me," Zoro responded. "I got sick once during training and I hated it, so I swore to not get sick again and I haven't."
Sanji deadpanned. "Zoro you are already sick." He said, "Sick with that sense of direction… why the fuck are you going left, you moron."
"Huh, the road suddenly changed… wait, did you just call me a moron. You wanna piece of me, you ugly dartboard!"
"Oh, bring it, marimo!"
*Bam! *Bom!
"Anyway," Coby said, seemingly ignoring their antics and Nami's threats to stop their in fighting, "What did the people do when there was no doctors?"
"When that happened, we were forced to grovel at the king's feet and beg for treatment," the green-clothed native muttered, shaking his head. Before glancing deadly at the unconscious king. "It was truly the worst time of the country's history. And this man is going to pay."
"Was?" Vivi noted. "What changed? Wait, didn't your Island get attacked by pirates?"
"Yes. The island was attacked by pirates. They were a small crew, even smaller than you all, but their strength was beyond anything the army could deal with. There were five of them, and their leader called himself Blackbeard. The king, like the coward he was, fled with the 20 MDs and his loyalists into the sea, abandoning us to the pirates' mercy."
"That…!" the princess fumed, trying to form words through her haze of anger. "That mot*** **** **8** *** **f**"
Luffy patted her on the back. "Hai, hai… let it out… no need to hold those words in."
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"That…!" the princess fumed, trying to form words through her haze of anger. "That mot*** **** **8** *** **f**"
Luffy patted her on the back. "Hai, hai… let it out… no need to hold those words in."
She even shot a glare at Luffy, that made the heroic pirate back off in a mock surrender.
"I don't know what you just said, but you really have a sailor's mouth don't you?" Nami giggled and winked. "I never knew you had that sort of mouth on you."
"Can you blame her?" Coby questioned, Vivi, covering both her mouth and the embarrassed blush across her cheeks. "You know how she feels about people who don't fulfill their duty."
"While I don't understand the language, most of them were bleeps for some reason… I do agree with the sentiment," Dalton offered. "Currently, we are without a king and are flourishing better than we ever did with him in charge. Now, that he has returned, we just have to make sure that he doesn't become a permanent problem."
"Didn't you say the asshole-mouth took all the doctors?" Luffy asked. "Who's gonna check my crew if there's no one here who can?"
"We do have one doctor still on the island," the native reminded him. "She avoided all the soldiers who came to kill her and has since taken up residence in the king's old castle. That said, many think she's gone crazy and is nothing but a witch considering she was never officially licensed. No normal person can reach the castle, so she comes down whenever she feels like it and treats whoever she finds."
"How lovely," Sanji muttered with hearts in his eyes, his brain conjuring the image of a beautiful woman on a broomstick, a pointy hat waving in the breeze. "I bet she has a heart of gold!"
"Once whoever she'd treated is healed, she'll take whatever she wants and leaves," Dalton finished. Sanji's mental image cracked and shattered, reforming into a monster with green skin, a hooked nose, and warts.
"Sounds like a pirate to me," Luffy laughed. "Eh… maybe, will invite her into the crew. Shishishi…"
"Having a witch as a doctor would be cool." Gin said.
"Eh… we already have a witch navigator. Don't bring any more of her kind on the ship."
*Bam!
Dalton wondered with how roughly the lady was treating them; he was almost sure they might need an actual doctor by the time they reach the town.
He also glanced back at the Fishman of the crew. He's actually rarely seen any kind of Fishman, so it was odd seeing one on Luffy's crew. He just started out, he questioned how he got a Fishman to join so far back from their home.
He did remember Mario… er Luffy, handling some fishman back when he started out. Maybe that had something to do with that.
"Oh, by the way Dalton, if Wapol was so bad, why didn't people try to stop it? I heard the revolutionaries made an attempt to do so… but someone stopped them." It was Sabo who spoke.
Dalton looked at the masked man, before speaking. "Not many people know of that…" he said, before sighing. "Honestly it was my fault. I was eager and hopeful back then, thinking that Wapol's behavior would be fixed with time… but can you blame me? I knew him since he was kid, I also did serve the previous king so I didn't want him to be killed."
Vivi and the others could sympathize with him.
"Dalton-san we don't blame you." One of the other locals that were with them spoke. "We all were hopeful that he might change. But things got worse…"
"Didn't the marines try to help?" Vivi asked.
Dalton shook his head. "No, the islanders have been wary of outsiders for a long time. There is a reason why there is no Marine base on this Island. It was also the reason why I was reluctant to take aid from the revolutonaries."
"But what changed your mind? Now you are all too eager to kill him." Sabo asked. It seemed Sabo knew something about the Island. If there weren't too many people Luffy would have asked but for now kept quiet.
"You will see… not even I was blind after he made our people suffer. And he will face justice…" he said with venom in his voice, looking at Dalton. "I want nothing more to kill the asshole myself, but I want others to get a chance to see his sorry ass one last time before publicly executing him."
Sabo nodded, others didn't say anything and walked behind him.
Time passed and soon, Dalton stopped, forcing the rest of the group to pause. They were very close to town, roofs rising in the distance through the falling snow.
"I can't stay with you people for long. The old king's lackies might be back. But before that we have to work fast and execute the bastard." the local hissed.
"Uu… an execution. I always wanted to see one." Luffy cheered like a fan girl that was going to a concert. "Sanji, make some popcorn and snacks, we can't miss that."
Sanji just nodded, looking for the nearest restaurant, and going in. Maybe he could convince the chefs to give him the kitchen for a few mintues. Who knows? But he needed popcorn.
"I will introduce you to the locals and we will have to deal with our former king fast, before his forces come in. Many people deserve their justice." Dalton said as he pulled the unconscious body of Wapol along with the other locals that came with them.
The show might have glossed over Wapol's crime, but man, people hated that ugly fucker. How he remained unconscious while his execution platform was getting ready was beyond him.
But anyway, he looked back at Coby and nodded. They had already identified which fruit the Munch Munch fruit appears in. The Baku Baku no Mi or Munch Munch fruit is a purple plum-shaped fruit that is split in a jagged pattern in the center, giving it the appearance of a set of jaws. It has a green, curly stem at the top and the typical Devil Fruit swirl patterns spread throughout.
So along with the plum fruits that they had in stock, Sanji was also going to buy any and every plum fruit he can find and keep an eye on them. It worked out for Coby's fruit back in the Goa Kingdom, he was hoping for it to work this time as well.
The Munch Munch fruit could be used really well, if put into the right hands… or mouth. The ability to combine metals was somehting that could really be useful, espically for gun users like Usopp and Sparky. Heck, even Nami's staff could be upgraded with that kind of metal.
177
Things started to slow down a bit. It seemed people from all over town wanted to gather and see Wapol's execution. They were way damn happy to see their old king's death. It just showed how much they hated that asshole.
It seemed that Vivi wasn't liking it, and was fuming from the horror story she was hearing about Wapol's deeds. So, along with other things, Luffy found it better that Vivi wasn't there when Wapol get executed.
Not everyone wanted to see blood and gore, so with that he made an excuse of wanting to vist the only doctor on the Island.
"So… you want us to go, there?!" Nami asked. "Why? We are not even sick!"
"Yes, I know." Luffy said, gesturing at Vivi with his eyes. "But it's better to get checked by a professional. We might miss the execution. But hey, at least we would be sure no one is carrying any viruses."
Nami blinked, before glancing at Vivi. The princess in question wasn't paying attention that much, but she seemed to be a bit off. "Y-yeah, let's meet the witch doctor."
"But Captain, the doctor stays on the top of the mountain… how are we going to go there?" Coby asked.
"Oh, you are not actually." Luffy said. "While I wouldn't mind getting everyone checked by a professional. I do need some guys to stay down here for the fruit."
Coby was a bit wide eyed and got what he meant. "Oh-oh, yes, I will stay."
Luffy nodded. "And with your fruit, you should be mostly immune to most normal diseases, but we will make sure you have a check up as well. Don't worry. Who knows, we might even find our own doctor up there. Shishsishi…"
"So, will I also go with you guys, Captain?" Gin asked.
Luffy shook his head. "No, you, Coby and Bartolomeo will stay. In case if anything happens, I'm sure you guys will be able to handle it."
Gin nodded, but Bartolomeo questioned. "But… why me? I'm not as strong as big bro Gin or Coby."
Luffy shook his head, patting him on the shoulder. "You are the shield of the straw hats, Barto… don't forget that. You have to protect the innocent if anything happens. A hero needs to protect the innocent right?"
Bartolomeo's eyes shined and eagerly nodded.
"What about me?" Usopp asked, "I don't really wanna climb the mountain… the cold is already killing me."
"Well, a hero has to have tales, right?" Luffy grinned, while Usopp's eyes widened.
"You can count on me, Luffy. The great Sniper King Usopp will spread the tales of our adventure to the whole Island." he said, with puffed chest. "By the end of the day, everyone will know the might of the Straw hats and their heroic tales."
"But you guys are pirates," Hatchan said, flatly.
"No." Coby said, puffing his chest. "We are heroic pirates."
"Yeah, what pinky said." Zoro said. "Let's start going uphill as it will take some time to get there."
"That's the wrong, way Zoro." Hatchan said, as Zoro started walking towards the town square. "Also, why isn't he wearing anything on his upper body?"
"Apparently, he forgot where he put his shirt." Nami said, before he looked at Luffy. "This is your fault by the way. But honestly forget him, I'm pretty sure not even a witch doctor can fix his sense of direction."
Luffy nodded. "Yeah, leave him be. We have enough man already." With that he picked up both Nami, and Vivi on his shoulders like bags of potatoes.
"Hey!"
"What the-?!"
But of course, Luffy ignored their protests. "Let's use Geppo, and see who can get there fastest."
Sabo had a glint in his eyes, before he picked up Johnny and Yosaku, putting them on his shoulders. And lastly pulled Karoo on top of his head. "I can beat you with three persons on me."
"Oh, yeah?" Luffy glared at his brother, before he gave him a grin. "Then try to keep up." With that he was gone.
Hatchan looked at them go, before shrugging. He walked towards where he last saw Sanji. He was eager to try out the local dishes anyway.
And while the other islands he visited feared a Fishman, it seemed that the people on this island didn't mind seeing an octopus fishman as while they did give him a curious glance, they didn't look wary.
Also, him wearing a T-shirt, that said, 'I'm a straw hat!' along with the pirate logo of he straw hats also made him quite the celebrity. Heh, it seemed Luffy's reputation was quite good.
Now, where was the restaurant? They weren't even afraid of a fishman. He kind of liked it that way…
178
Tony Tony Chopper was worried, he could smell that Wapol was back. He was back on the Island, and he knew that the man might come to the castle at any time.
Unfortunately, Dr. Kureha was not here. But he didn't need her. Wapol and his army mostly let her be, so he wasn't worried. But they might want to reclaim the castle.
But he wouldn't let them. Though he knew it would be quite tough for him alone.
Chopper looked up, the sun was setting, the moon was still not out. Good. He didn't want to transform now. But he knew in a few minutes, maybe around a half an hour the moon should be out. Then, he would easily be able to take out Wapol and his army.
Chopper was also out of the castle himself, as he knew for a fact that Dr. Kureha would kill him if the battle damaged any of the medical equipment. But that didn't mean that the little humanoid reindeer wasn't nervous.
He was, that was the reason why he was pacing back and forth, worrying about what to do.
That was when his ears perked up, he could hear voices, so he looked up only to see a boy with a straw hat coming down from the sky carrying two ladies. The boy might be in his twenties, but had a well-built body, he was wearing minimal clothes in this cold. He also had two spear-like weapons crossed on his back. Chopper wondered who he was.
"Um, hello." The boy said. "Name's Monkey D. Luffy. Who might you be?"
Chopper blinked, flabbergasted. "Um… Chopper. Wait, how did you come out of the sky?"
Before Luffy could answer, one of the girls that Luffy was carrying spoke. "Put us down Luffy!" Vivi said.
But Luffy ignored her, and kept talking with the awkward Chopper.
"Let us go!" the other one demanded, biting into Luffy's neck.
"Ugh! She bit me." Luffy said, gently putting Nami and Vivi down, before he dramatically held his wounds. "Ugh! I'm bleeding! Doctor! Doctor! I need a doctor!" with that he spun around and fell on the ground.
Vivi glanced at Nami. "Why is he so dramatic? No one will fall for that."
Nami was going to say something, but another voice came out.
Chopper promptly took to Luffy's side. "Ahh! We need a Doctor. We need a doctor!" with that the reindeer humanoid started running around, panicking. Before he stopped with a realization, "Wait, I'm a doctor."
With that he promptly took out a stethoscope out of nowhere and held Luffy. But…
"Wait? You're a doctor?!" Luffy said, coming out his presumed coma, "Then join my crew. We are the straw hat pirates, and we have candies."
Both Nami and Vivi face-palmed at Luffy.
"Wha—" before Chopper could say more. Another person landed from the sky, giving Luffy a dirty look.
"You tricked me." The blond-haired human said, he also had two humans with him, and an oversized duck?
Luffy pulled out his eyelid and stuck out his tongue. "I'm a pirate. That's what we do. Isn't that right, eh, Chopper?"
"Uh… yes?"
"See? He agrees." Luffy said, as if it solved all the problems.
Sabo didn't say anything and grumbled something about 'stupid Luffy' before putting down Johnny, Yosaku and Karoo.
"Anyway, Chopper," Luffy said, bringing the reindeer humanoid's attention back to him. "You are a doctor, right? Can you do a check up on me and my crew? We had a long journey and I don't want any of them to get sick."
Chopper dumbly nodded, as he guided all the humans into the castle. For the check up, of course. He wondered… its as if he had forgotten about something. But he shook his head, he needed to do the check up, and then think about anything else.
.
The Cipher Pol agent looked through his binoculars, he could see the pirate ship from his hidden spot.
He would have usually worn black, as white uniforms were only meant for the Cipher Pol Zero unit. But with this being a snow island, he wore, pure white clothes that made him easily blend in with the surroundings.
He looked down pocketing out the small object. And he held it between his fingers. It was a very small container with pink liquid, and inside a round-shaped object was floating in it. Of, course the size shouldn't be this small. But it was, due to his powers.
A dyna stone. A very dangerous weapon. For a rookie pirate, it should be an honor to be killed by this item. He had modified it a bit, and even set up a small detonator in it.
His only mission was to place the object inside the Going Merry, and wait outside, the moment the Straw Hats would go in he would blow it up.
Kon couldn't see that clearly because of the snowstorm, even with his binoculars. Still, he counted the heads, of people that went out. He was sure that most of them, if not all went out of the Going Merry. Now, after all the Straw Hats left the Going Merry, he stood up from his spot.
He was a tall man standing around eight feet tall. He has flowing blond hair that was combed back, with a few strands of gray in between. He had a small goatee of the same color. He had a serious and sharp-looking face, wearing black sunglasses. He is also wearing a white suit, a white shirt underneath with a matching handkerchief and white gloves.
Honestly, if he wore a mask, he would be called one of the Zero unit's members. He internally chuckled to himself. But if he could fulfill the mission, then he was sure he would get that.
Camael-sama had promised him a seat in the Zero unit, but if he failed… Kon shook his head. He didn't want to think of the horrors if he did.
Now that most of the Straw Hats left he made his way near the ship. His body shrinking down to a smaller size.
His fruit, the Size Size fruit, allowed him and anything he touched to become any size. He could even use it on other people changing thier size. And with its size he could also decrease and increase their weight.
A very useful fruit, made him quite the feared assassin amongst the Cipher Pols. They called him the ghost agent. No one feared an ant, and if you are of that size then you can be anywhere and hide anywhere, no one would suspect it.
179
Kon had to keep quite the distance because he knew that at least one of the members of the Straw Hats knew Haki. Aramaki had underestimated the boy, and he paid dearly. He wasn't going to make the same mistake.
He would know of course. Because he saw the fight from the front seat. Though, towards the end, the fight became so chaotic that he had to keep a lot of distance between them.
That was also the reason he didn't know how Aramaki got defeated. He was too far from the fight. But he couldn't get any nearer, or Luffy might detect him.
That was also the reason why the ghost agent didn't know about Sparky and his abilites. Or as to how the six armed monkey contributed in beating Aramaki. For all he knew, the monkey was just the crew's pet. A case of misinformation, which the poor man would pay dearly for.
But now that Luffy left, he closed in on the Going Merry. But he didn't board the ship immediately.
He calmed his nerves and spread out his observation Haki. He wasn't that good at using the color of Observation, but well enough to detect humans from animals and structures.
But when he opened his eyes, he smirked. Those fools, they didn't leave anyone to guard the ship. He did sense some animal life forms in the ship. But it could just be rats for all he knew.
With finding no danger, —still in his ant like size— he jumped up, using Geppo to board the Going Merry.
He looked around one last time, no one was on the ship. He didn't look around the ship that much. He only had one job, and that was to plant the Dyna stone where the Straw Hats would never look.
He looked around a bit and found the storage room. Kon grinned, and slipped into the room from the underneath the door. And honestly, he was surprised by the amount of gold they had. Also this room seemed a bit warm, like it had a heater inside. But he didn't pay attention to that.
'What the fuck?! How can some no name pirates have that much treasure? Gold, weapons, sea stone… They haven't even been on the grandline for a month!' he thought, before a smirk appeared on his face. Maybe he could liberate all of the gold. Dead men didn't need gold. 'There's at least half a ton of these… hehehe, I'm rich!'
Because of his greediness, Kon, unfortunately, didn't see a six armed monkey that was looking at him from the side.
Kon greedily made his way towards the gold, and with his hands touched it, shrinking all the gold to the smallest size. Before pocketing them in his suit. He also took out the dyna stone.
'Now where to put the bomb.' He thought, 'Not there near the table, if someone gets to the ship, before I can get my distace they might find the stone. Also, not near those weapons and swords. How the heck did the crew get that many weapons…? Must have looted some other big crew. Also, definitely not near the big ass white snake, it might accidentally eat it. Eh… wait!'
Kon's eyes widened and at the last moment he jumped to the side to avoid getting bitten by White Fury.
"What the fuck is a big ass Snake doing here?!" he questioned. He clicked his tounge, "Sorry buddy, but I have to kill you…" with that he moved, with one of his fingers out. But to his surprise his speed slowed down. "What the-!?"
Before Kon could do anything Sparky grabbed him mid-air, "Puny man." With that, he smashed the man on the ground, hard, on the head. Knocking him out. But just to be sure he repeated the process a few times more.
And it also seemed to deactivate his powers. As all the gold and dynastone turned big to their original shape, along the agent. But at a slower pace, because of Sparky's slow slow fruit powers.
"Hey, what happened?" Kuina said, entering the door, "I heard a commotion down here? Wait, is that…"
After promptly stripping the agent butt naked, and tying him down with sea stone ropes, and force-feeding him a few grams of sea stone, all three members of the Straw Hats looked at the Dyna stone.
"Is that a bomb?" Kuina asked, she found the detonator inside the, now knocked-out, agent's pocket. Along with the large glass container that held it. She was in her room looking into the Germa tech that could turn you invisible.
She was looking into it, as the technology was behind it as the tech used water around the body to turn invisible. And while her element was ice, she was trying to think of ways she could use it. And that was when the commotion happened.
Sparky shrugged. "Maybe?" he said, his words were getting more clearer now, that was good. But having a bomb in the ship was no good. "I ws here, case warm. Uw-ah!" the monkey said.
Kuina nodded. Actually both Sparky and White Fury wasn't liking the cold. And Nami had bought a heater when she was in Logue Town.
So they set up the heater for those two. White Fury mainly chose the room 'cause she wanted to sleep with the shiny stuff. And Sparky was here because he was trying to learn the old language from the notes Sabo and Vivi left them. For a monkey, she definitely was academically inclined.
"So, um… want to check if the log book mentioned anything about it?" Kuina asked. "I don't know how far you are on learning the old language, but it wouldn't hurt to check if there's any mention of it."
"Oke," the monkey shrugged going near the books. Opening up a book that was titled 'Weird and Dangerous Stuff we found on the Journey' by Rihan. With a few page flips and skimming through it, the monkey's eye comically widened.
He looked at the Dyna stone and then back at Kuina, and gulped.
"It's not good is it?" Kuina said, with a sigh already rubbing her head as Sparky shook his head. "So what should we do about this?"
"Duno know…" Sparky said, before reading through the old book and looking at Kuina. "Freez it." He wanted to say more, but his speech reverted back to monkey sounds, but the instructions were clear.
Kuina nodded, before touching the glass container and freezing it with the most powrful Verf she could muster. But to keep it in ice, she had to constantly be in contact with it. "Well, now… Who's gonna tell the captain?" she asked.
White Fury, Sparky and Kuina looked at each. Before long, both White Fury and Sparky were gone, leaving Kuina alone with the agent and the frozen bomb.
Well, at least Sparky was kind enough to get the books on Verf down here to the stroage room. "This is going to be a long day."
180
Chopper was about to start the check up when one of the humans spoke.
"By the way, guys. This is the doctor. He's pretty cool right?" Luffy said as all of them walked into the medical ward of the castle.
"Wait, are you a tanuki? A tanuki doctor, that's so cool." Yosaku said with sparkles in his eyes.
"Shut up." Johnny said, "He's obviously a fishman. A fishman doctor."
Before Chopper could speak, Luffy spoke. "Eh… why do you think he's a fishman?"
Again, Chopper wanted to speak, but he was a bit late.
"Well, he's like Hatchi… so…"
Nami shot him a dumb look. "Just because someone looks like a humanoid animal, you can't just throw them into the fishman category. That's kind of racist. "
Vivi nodded. "He could be a zoan user for all we know."
"Or he could be a stuffed teddy bear?" Luffy said looking at Chopper.
The little man had enough. "I'm a reindeer mink, you jerk!"
Everyone, even Luffy, was surprised.
"Wait, what's a mink?" Johnny asked.
Sabo was the one to answer. "A kind of race like Fishman. So, he's kind of like Lindbergh." He said, promptly kneeling down the Chopper's level and putting on of his hands forward. "Shake."
Chopper stupidly took the handshake, before he blinked. "Wait! I'm not a dog!"
"See, he even acts like Lindbergh!" Sabo grinned, ruffling Chopper's hair. "I'm Sabo, by they way."
The small sized mink slapped his hands away, before he pointed at Sabo. "Wait, you know one of my kind?"
Sabo blinked. "Um… yeah. Minks are quite rare unlike fishman, but the Revolutionary Army has a few members that are of your race. You guys are pretty strong." He said waving of his hand.
"Your praise doesn't make me happy, you idiot~~~!" Chopper cooed, while his form danced around.
Luffy, who was a bit dumbfounded, smirked. He was surprised by the change, yes. But it wasn't too dramatical. So who cares.
Luffy also kneeled down to Chopper's level. "So, you are a mink?"
Chopper stopped his dancing and stared warily at Luffy. "Yeah…"
Luffy then smiled, widely, "Cool. Join my crew!"
"That's not how someone joins a crew!" Chopper said.
Luffy shrugged, "Eh… worked out till now. But if you have any questions, then shoot."
"So…" Chopper began. "You guys are pirates, right? With a flag?"
"And a ship," Luffy confirmed. Chopper eyed him for a moment. "It's not that big though. So… Now, do you want to join the crew?"
"No, that's stupid! And I only asked one question. And even if I wanted to! I'm a monster! I'd never be able to sail with humans."
"Who said we were all human?" Luffy countered, his crewmates and Sabo silently watching the back-and-forth. Convincing people to take a leap of faith, only few people could do that. "Some of us are downright abnormal."
"What do you mean?" Chopper tilted his head, his curiosity overtaking his fear.
"For one, I can turn into rubber," Luffy offered, stretching his cheek, by hooking his finger into his mouth. "See, and you have heard of Hatchan right? Well, he's a fishman. He has six arms and can make the best Takoyaki!" he then leaned towards Chopper, whispering, "Also, between you and me, he thinks that he isn't part of the crew, but he has no idea. Shishishis…"
Chopper blinked, "A fishman? Really? In your crew?" he asked.
"Yup. Then we have Sparky. He's a monkey also with six arms. And White Fury, a giant snake with wings on it's back. She looks like a dragon when she flies. She's pretty cool too." Luffy explained. "Anyway, any more questions left before you join the crew?"
The rest of his crewmates deadpanned. Luffy was a persistent one, isn't he?
Before Chopper could answer the castle door slammed open. And an elderly woman that was not so elderly-dressed came in. "Who did you bring in, Chopper?" she said, she had a bit of edge in her voice, and had a bottle of wine in her hand.
"Wait, who's that?" Nami asked.
"Uh… that's Dr. Kureha." Chopper said, warily looking at the older woman.
The woman in question an old woman with graying hair and a hooked nose dressed in clothes unbefitting of her age. She had two pairs of glasses on her, one a pair of sunglasses and the other for reading. Her gaze settled on Chopper first, eyeing him for any injuries before she looked at the other humans.
"Who are you folks?" She asked.
Luffy grinned widely. "We are pirates!"