271
Usopp looked at the Going Merry and a smile stretched out on his face. She was looking gorgeous and ready for the sea. He touched the haul of the ship, "Soon, you will get proper treatment in Water 7."
The ship almost seemed to vibrate in response, but Usopp shook his head. 'Me and my wild imaginations.'
Even though the shipwrights of the Alabasta Kingdom weren't good, you had to give them some credit. They were still far better than anything Usopp could do. And add in the fact that Anchor was working with them, the Going Merry was getting a lot of defensive upgrades.
The Going Merry's size would stay the same, making more rooms on the ship was possible, but it wouldn't help that much. Most of the men on the ship could sleep anywhere on the ship, and there was already a dedicated room for the females, so most of the upgrade that was done was to make the ship sturdier.
Replacing the damaged wood with better ones, adding metals to make it strong, and putting layers of protection were the notable upgrades on the ship.
The sound of hammering stopped, "Oi, Usopp… I might need some help with things…" Called out Anchor, in his gruff voice.
"Coming…"
With Kuina,
"Ice Sword Style: Freezing Moon!"
An epic white sword slash parted out from Kuina's blade, with its insides pure white and it's borders black, it showed off her mastery over her frost manifestation that was now empowered by her Armament Haki.
"Flaming Tempest!" Sanji shot back with his own attack, as both wind slashes clashed mid-air. Fire against Ice.
But unlike other times, Ice got the better end of the clash, overpowering the flames before making its way towards the chef.
Sanji was of course fast enough to dodge the attack in mid-air, easily able to maneuver with his fast use of Geppo.
But while Sanji avoided the ice slash, Kuina appeared right behind him with Soru intending on stabbing him. Sanji didn't need to look back as his eyes glowed red for a second, easily angling his body out of the sword's path
Sanji spun using the close distance to deliver a spinning kick laced with flames. Kuina just held her hand forward and blocked it with her forearm. Said arm was covered in a thin layer of ice and Haki.
After that Kuina delivered her own strike as Sanji fell back. If this was a few months back, Sanji would have been very reluctant to fight against Kuina. As mostly he had self-imposed a rule to not fight women.
But when the said woman was someone like Kuina, you had to either flee or fight back. And Sanji knew for a fact it would be mocking Kuina's skills as a swordswoman if he didn't fight back.
And with that now he was a bit comfortable in fighting against her.
Now that Kuina had got her sword fixed she could train again. Even though she needed to be careful with Wado Ichimonji. She could use most of her abilities with it and that's all that mattered for now.
Her training with Sanji was mainly for her to get a hangover on her Armament Haki.
And what better way to train than with Sanji? Who was getting used to his speed powers and Observation Haki. His Speed Speed Fruit had a lot of potential, but he needed to get it under control first.
At the same time, Kuina's frost power didn't give her any boosts in the speed department like fire did. So she had to gain speed the old-fashioned way. Training.
And Luffy was a prime example of how that was possible, so she kept up on the grind.
Both of them had new tools in their arsenal, and both were eager to sharpen them up. That was also the reason why they weren't learning new types of Haki, as getting better in what they already had would be better.
And Luffy's previous statements were true. Haki blooming during a battle was a thing. Thus a battlefield was the best way to learn and advance Haki. The sense of danger, the sense of emergency was the key to bringing out willpower.
Still, training was the best way to manage and learn to hone in Haki, controlling it.
Both Swordswoman and chef clashed in the open desert, creating quite the fire show around as they didn't hold back.
Something had come up, and Luffy had told them to prepare. This was much more serious. Even when facing a Warlord, Luffy didn't look serious. And so both members of the Straw Hat pirate threw themselves into training trying to get better at their skills.
With Coby,
Coby grunted as the large sandworm, —one that could rival a sea king— came out of the sand wanting to swallow the young pirate up.
"Wanna eat me, ugly?" Coby grunted before he jumped, right over the sandworm's mouth as it slammed its face into the ground. "Not happening." He said as his three-foot-long arm blades dug into the beast's side as he ran through its body, creating a line that cut through its thick body.
The sandworm roared in pain as it flung its body trying to get Coby off of him. Blue blood spraying out of its wound. The young pirate had used the claws on his feet to hold him in place as the sandworm moved.
"Head's up!" someone called as Coby could feel the air vibrate dangerously, he jumped away barely missing the flaming arc that decapitated the sandworm's body.
Coby had jumped away but still got some of the blue blood from the creature splashed onto his body. "Ugh! This stinks!" he grunted, shooting a glare at Zoro. Only for him to widen his eyes as he used Geppo to sidestep multiple arcs of fire-laced wind blades that targeted him.
"Keep your eyes sharp, pinky!" Zoro grinned. "I never said Sandworms will be your only challenge!"
"You are enjoying this more than you should!" Coby grunted before he flicked his arm forward, multiple small bone blades popping out from his arm as they targeted the green-haired swordsman.
272
"You are enjoying this more than you should!" Coby grunted before he flicked his arm forward, multiple small bone blades popping out from his arm as they targeted the green-haired swordsman.
"Nah, you are just imagining it," Zoro grinned, holding onto his Nozarashi, "One Sword Style: Blazing Tatsumaki!"
A flame-laced tornado shot out from Zoro's attack that only grew larger, making it's way toward Coby. The young pirate had moved with his fast speed, running in the air to avoid the attack. Still, the young pirate cringed as the flaming twist grinded up the sandworm's body, killing it.
Two large sandworms came out of the ground, reminding Coby of the old legend of the Hydra. "If a head is cut off, two more shall take its place," he mumbled and got ready.
The two beasts wanted to jump Zoro first, as that was the most dangerous target. But a wave of Haki washed over everyone, even Coby felt the Will of the King. The sandworms stiffened and eyed Zoro cautiously as they knew doing anything would result in their death.
"I ain't the target, shit face," Zoro said, before pointing at Coby who was still in air. "Pinky is… if you eat him before you get killed, I won't kill you.."
And that was the exact motivation that the sandworms needed as they shifted targets to Coby.
"I freaking hate you, Pirate Hunter!"
"Heh, keep telling yourself that, hero." He cackled like a villain, before pointing at the worms, "Now, onwards my minions!"
Coby could only grit his teeth as he faced the sandworms, though it would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy this.
Zoro was also trying to get control over his Armament Haki, and along with it, he was also trying to learn more about Conqueror's Haki. It would have been better if he trained with Kuina or Sanji.
But no, Luffy wanted Coby to be trained up as well. As Zoro was already stronger than Kuina and Sanji. And at their level, gaining strength from training was very rare. Only control could be improved, which he could do easily while training Coby.
Coby needed to polish up his skill. The young pirate needed to better his skill with his claws, and make them sharper. And to hone in on his fighting style as well.
Now that the pink-haired pirate was getting called the Hero of the Navy port incident, Coby was fully pumped to better himself in any way possible. It seems that his growing reputation only helped him fuel more oil into his burning hero complex. Even though outwardly he complained about training, in truth, Coby didn't mind the hard work if it brought results.
While Coby was training with Zoro, they weren't fighting against each other. No.
With Coby's enhanced sense of smell, they were looking for any dangerous animals in the desert of Alabasta and were testing their skills against them.
Coby was trying to tank their hits with Iron Body, —other then Zoro's sword slashes and well the giant ass sandworms— but he was more or less failing. But due to his regenerative abilities, it wasn't much problem. At the same time, he was trying to learn Tempest Kick or any wind slash variants.
Now that he knew how to cut steel, it should be easier to do so. But still, things were going pretty slow on his part.
Zoro on the other hand was training with his his control over Haki. Mainly Armament Haki with Conqueror's Haki on the side.
Alabasta had quite powerful animals on the island, and one of them was large sandworms. Some of them equaling the size of sea kings. Some areas of Alabasta were filled with them.
They were quite the problem, mainly if any of the sandworms decided to attack any of the cities. When Crocodile was the Warlord he was keeping an eye on them.
Before that the kingdom would spend resources to cut down the numbers of the beasts, but due to the crisis on hand that couldn't be done.
But then again, Zoro and Coby were more than willing to reduce the numbers of the big creatures.
"Ugh, these are disgusting," Coby said, wiping his body of the blue color mucus. Or Sandworm blood. "And my shirt is ruined… again!"
Around them were multiple large-sized sandworms, and their cut-up bodies. But even then their numbers weren't reducing.
From the ground five sandworms came out, as towering as the sky as they glared at Zoro and Coby.
"Back to hunting it seems," Zoro said, taking out Yubashiri. A small smile on his face, he then looked at Coby and pointed his finger at the targets, "Pinky, use Razor Wind!"
Coby felt his brow twitch at Zoro's command, "For some odd reason, that pisses me off!" he said before dashing towards the sandworms with his arm blades extended.
Zoro just grinned.
273
With Bartolomeo,
The green-haired barrier user screamed as he shot down from the sky, tears leaking down his face due to the wind resistance. But rather than looking terrified, the man was thrilled, "Yeah! Barrier Bullet!" he crossed his arms along with making a hand sign as he fell from the sky towards a pirate ship.
A green barrier took form, morphing into the shape of an artillery shell. With Barto inside, the green construct dug into the ship, almost sinking half of it due to the weight.
"Agh! We have been hit!" One of the pirates screamed as they ran.
"Who's attacking?" Another one asked. "The Navy? I didn't hear a canon being shot."
"Nope… it's something worse." A voice said bringing all of their attention to the crow's nest where two people were looking down at the pirates. They were Johnny and Yosaku, who looked cooly down upon their targets.
"They aren't much, do we really get paid 50 mil for these cheap shots?" Johnny asked.
"I suppose," Yosaku shrugged putting his axe and sheild back, before cracking his knuckles. Seeing this Johnny raised an eyebrow. "Don't wanna poke them with pointy things, you know."
"Uh, my mistake," Johnny said putting his own spear on his back.
"Oi, don't look down on us." One of the pirates said.
"Who are you guys and how did you get here?" A pirate asked as he unsheathed his sword, and pulled out his gun.
"Well, we are part of the Straw Hat pirates…" Johnny said dramatically, musing at the horrified reactions of the pirates. "And consider your lives forfeited."
"G-Get them!" said one of the pirates, who had two hooks for hands, both of them made out of gold. Either he was trying to copy Crocodile or he really was into hooks.
But it didn't matter, Johnny wasn't one to judge people based on their kinks.
"You will regret setting foot on this ship." The captain of the ship said.
"Yeah, you will face the wrath of the Hook Pirates!" said the person by his side.
"Eh, I thought they made a cream for that." A voice called out from behind.
"It's wrath you buffoon, not rash!" All of the pirates said at the same time looking behind. Only for them to blink, seeing the green-haired barrier user.
Barto picked his nose, "Eh, same difference." He shrugged.
"No! It's not!"
"Ugh, just get him!" One of them said, "Kill them!"
"Heh, now we are talking!" Johnny said jumping down as shots were fired, knives were thrown. The Straw Hat in question did nothing to stop them as the bullets and knives hit his body. Johnny came down and dusted off his clothes the bullet beads dropping from his body without drawing a single lick of blood. "Finished yet?"
"Show off," Yosaku said dropping down and stomping his feet on the dock of the ship, making large cracks on the ground as the whole ship shook.
The pirates looked with dropped jaws at both of them, were they even human?
Yosaku cocked his fist and punched his open palm. "Let's dance bastards." With that, he jumped onto the nearest pirate breaking his jaw with one punch. He kicked the already concussed pirate and threw him to a group of pirates that were about to jump him.
"And you call me a show off!" Johnny snorted, as he didn't stay behind and moved along with his fellow crewmate, easily dodging the swords, knives, and bullets that came his way. Of course, he could tank them with Iron Body but it would limit his movements, so he opted to dodge the subpar blows and attack his opponents.
On the other side of the ship, Bartolomeo was rushed by multiple pirates.
But before they could jump on him, "Wait!" Barto said, halting their movements, by creating a wall barrier that multiple pirates, comically, smashed into.
With a pleased expression, he crossed his arms and made cross-hand signs, before pushing forward "Bye bitches!"
"Ah!" the pirates screamed as they were pushed away by the barrier into the open sea. With that Barto cackled like a madman.
"Surround him!" The pirates said, holding their weapons as they surrounded him. And like a team all of them attacked at once, only to get stopped… "Not again."
"Hehehehe." Bartolomeo laughed as an egg shaped barrier stopped the pirates from harming him. With that, the pirates tried to harm him as they uselessly bashed their weapons on the barrier.
Bartolomeo seeing this, pulled his eyelid down and stuck out his tongue, enraging the group. At least a group of twenty were now trying to break into Barto's barrier, he could have dealt with it in other ways, but this was a fight where he needed to improve so with that, the Straw Hat pirate brought his hand forward as he concentrated.
All the training with changing shape was paying off. And now he could do much more with his barriers than he could do previously. Though only down side of complex builds was that they were fragile and would break from a strong attack.
Bartolomeo's barriers, if used to their maximum potential, couldn't even be broken by Luffy with his Armament Haki-enhanced strike. Only using Advanced Armament was he able to break the barriers, but with time Barto knew he would be able to stop them as well.
But rather than only making his barriers strong and being a one-trick pony he wanted to use his fruit in a creative way.
With his concentration on a new construct, the egg-shaped barrier started flickering, making the pirates stop as they observed what the green-haired guy was doing.
Suddenly a new shape took form around Barto's hand, the barrier molding it into a shape that many were familiar with. "Meet my ultimate creation." Barto said holding up his new green construct, "And your doom!"
"Is that…"
"No… way…"
Bartolomeo pulled on the lever as the construct made a buzzing sound. "Hehehe… now." He held the green up-and-running chainsaw in front. "Who's up for a party!?"
"Run!"
"You can hide but you can't run!"
And like headless chickens, the pirates started running.
Yosaku rolled his eyes at the scene, "Who brings a chainsaw to a fistfight?" he asked kicking one guy in the nuts and making him bend down, before he grabbed his face by the side and smashed him into another pirate's head, breaking both of their skulls. "That's just unethical."
Johnny gave him a flat look, "We are pirates." He pointed out.
"I said unethical…" he said, rolling his eyes, "I didn't say wrong. Playing unfairly is what is 'right' for a pirate."
By the ten-minute mark, the pirates in the ships were either dead or knocked out.
"Well, I call it a job well done," Yosaku said while he crossed of one of the bounties on his list, while Bartolomeo and Johnny nodded. "Onto the next target… but first!" he whistled and after some time a large sea king appeared.
It was none other than Momoo.
"Take the ship back to the port…" The sea king gave a goofy salute, grabbed the ship by one of its flappers, and started pulling it towards the mainland.
274
With Luffy,
"Is that the best you guys can do?" Sabo asked musing at both of his brothers who panted heavily. He spun his metal pipe lazily as they caught their breath.
"Easy for you to say… you aren't the one in cuffs." Ace shot back, wiping away his sweat. The chains around his arms clacking as he moved. "Stupid devil fruit weakness…"
"Heh, speak for yourself," Luffy said grinning, "I'm having the time of my life." Wiping away the blood from his busted lips. The wound shutting off by the use of his powers, it wasn't fully fixed it, but given time it would be good as new. Life Return's the best, baby!
"Yeah, Ace. You can always start with one sea stone cuff at a time." Sabo said, leaning on the metal pipe, "Luffy has built up a tolerance over many years, it's impressive that you are even able to stand with that much sea stone on your body."
"Yeah, and let him get one up on me? Never." Ace said pushing himself up and resting Enma on his shoulders. Even standing still took a lot out of him.
On Ace's hands were Sea stone cuffs, thick ones that were the bane for Devil fruit users. One set one each hand, the clacking as he moved. The same was seen for Luffy, but unlike him, Ace looked very uncomfortable.
Sabo on the other hand didn't have any devil fruit so he didn't have any sea stone cuffs, but his task was to fight against the two of them. The main goal was to improve their Haki in some way.
And also to get used to fighting with each other. This needed to be done.
The previous night Morgan had called and he gave some very troubling news. Not only were the Black Beard pirates in Jaya, two other people were seen with them. One was Aramaki and the other was Shiryu.
How the imprisoned mad Jailer came to Jaya that fast was anyone's guess. But the newspaper birds of Morgan were able to confirm that he and Aramaki were with Blackbeard's crew.
Someone had planned this. Someone that might be trying to take him down.
Teach wanted the Warlord position, so he could see a certain World Noble giving him that opportunity. When Luffy had caught the Cipher Pol Agent Ken, —who tried to blow up the ship— he had told him about Saint Camael. He should have asked Dragon about that bastard, but with all the things going on, he forgot.
Luffy was half expecting the World Noble to stop attacking him now that he was a Warlord, but it didn't seem like it. Now he was using backhanded means to attack him.
But it didn't matter. He was making preparations for this.
This was also the reason why he was delaying the journey as much as he could, with the excuse that their ship needed more time to repair and he wanted to spend a bit more time with his Vivi.
Even though some might think that his crew was ready to take them on, he knew better. He would rather be over-prepared than to take useless risks.
In Blackbeard's crew, there was Doc Q he needed to worry about, Luffy didn't know if the man already had his overpowered fruit or not. And not to mention Van Augur and Laffitte were also wild cards as one of them had the Warp Warp fruit. Another had some kind of wing or bird devil fruit, it might possibly even be a Mythical Zoan for all he knew.
From the info he knew previously and from Morgan's research they weren't easy targets either.
Jesus Burgess and Shiryu might be strong but at least they didn't have devil fruit abilities he needed to worry about.
Aramaki on the other hand was a different story, last time he was toying with him. Now that he was strong, he was sure he could fight one on one with him. But his fruit was another story.
Aramaki was stupid for not utilizing his fruit's ability. But this time, what's stopping him from attacking his crew? The Chemical Chemical fruit was an overpowered fruit.
That's why he wasn't going to underestimate his foes.
Ace's body flew in like a rag doll skipping across the sandy ground a few times, before he stopped himself by stabbing his sword into the ground.
Luffy was also thrown near him with multiple wounds on his body, but he was a bit better than Ace, as he landed on his feet, drawing a trench in the ground.
"The heck, Sabo!?" Ace grumbled, before shooting a look at his brother, "Why do you guys know the Marine Techniques? First Luffy and now you… We are pirates damn it." He was pretty annoyed at getting his ass handed to him due to the restrictions. Not used to fighting without his flames. It also showed him how much he relied on his fruit's abilities.
"Well, for one, they are quite useful." Luffy said, "Just Geppo and Soru alone should give you enough reason. Not to mention Tekkai and Rokuogan."
"And second, not all of us have broken devil fruit powers to save our ass in an emergency." Sabo finished, of course, he was using Dragon Fist as well, "Why? Is the heat getting to you, Ace?"
The Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates felt his brow twitch, "I can understand Sabo being able to learn those, but how did you learn them?" he asked Luffy.
The boy in question shrugged. "It doesn't matter," he said, not wanting to answer that question. "But then again, it just shows that I'm better. Unlike you, I haven't been slacking off on my training. Same for Sabo." He then gave Ace a mocking grin of sort, "Be careful brother, your seat as the strongest is on the line here…"
Ace felt his brow twitch from his younger brother's comment, but this time he didn't say anything. But then again, who the fuck actually thinks of training with sea stone cuffs on? The Sea and sea stone cuffs were the bane of devil fruit users, most Devil Fruit users made a note to stay away from the sea for a reason.
But it seemed common sense was something that his brother didn't know. And his said brother had found a way to work around the problem that plagued most devil fruit users for most of their lives.
And that wasn't all, Luffy was strong, as in physically he doubted even Jozu could wrestle and win against him. That level of strength just showed how intensely he was pushing himself.
On one hand Ace felt frustrated, on the other hand he kind of felt proud of his little brother. It also showed that he was slacking off in his training compared to his brothers.
Yes brothers as in, while Sabo was weaker than him without any restraints. He wasn't the Second in Command of the Revolutionary Army for nothing.
Even without a devil fruit, with skills alone, he could give a good fight against Ace. And that was saying something.
Thank God, Rayleigh had found him before he entered the New World and drilled some training into his younger self. Without that training, he wouldn't have been the strongest among the three brothers.
Ace might be prideful, and borderline arrogant sometimes but he knew he needed to step up his game if he wanted to keep his place at the top.
"Heads up…" Sabo said before dashing towards them with his pipe coated with Armament. But his Haki glowed golden for a moment, signifying the use of Advanced Armament Haki.
Luffy was the first one to charge ahead and stop the blond with his own naginata coated with Advanced Armament. "You know, you are a blonde with a long pipe. No wonder Koala fell for you…"
Sabo blinked, "Wait, what?!" and he got distracted, Luffy used the moment to send him flying. "Can't believe I fell for that shit! You are in for a beating for that one, Luffy."
"Huh!? That's a pipe dream!"
"Your sense of humor sucks!" Sabo said again clashing with Luffy, both of their clashing against each other, not fully touching with a slight gap due to the use of Advanced Armament Haki. "And stop it with the pipe-puns!"
"And what? Ruin the chance of annoying you?" Luffy mused falling back after a clash. "You underestimate me, brother! Shishishi"
"Oi, don't forget about me!" Ace said as multiple wind slashes imbued with Armament Haki were sent both of their ways.
Both Sabo and Luffy had to jump away as they saw Ace charging at them.
"Oi, I ain't the enemy here!" Luffy said, ducking a kick from Ace and jumping back as the flame user —without his flames— engaged Sabo in close combat.
It seemed Ace had gotten a sort of second wind and was quite annoyed after getting ignored.
"Shishishi… this looks like fun!" Luffy said, "Free for all~!" Luffy said, jumping into the fight with his skills and Haki.
And with that the three brothers fought for hours on end, mid-fight Luffy and Ace removed their restrictions, and the match between them intensified. The fight only ended after all three of them were knocked unconscious.
Training to failure took a whole other meaning when you had brothers like these. All in all, this was a good day of training indeed.
275
Night fell in the kingdom of Alabasta,
The day had ended and for many people, it was time to return home and settle in for the night. But it wasn't the same for the Straw Hat Pirates.
Sparky, the six-armed monkey, looked at Masked Deuce. All around them, chunks of rocks, rubble, sand, and destroyed buildings floated mid-air. Sparky had a look of concentration on his face as he focused.
If one looked closely, not all of the rocks were staying still in the air. Some of them were falling but very slowly, while others didn't move at all.
They were in the destroyed Rainbase city. The city was in pretty bad shape after the fight with Crocodile, and so it made a good training ground. Mainly as in the city was already destroyed, so some of them could let loose.
Masked Deuce nodded, "You are doing very well…" he said, looking around, clearly impressed. "I needed a lot of time to make that trick up. I didn't think that would have worked."
Sparky just nodded. The rocks around them dropped, or at least half of them dropped, those that were controlled by Sparky. While Sparky's fruit was the Slow Slow Fruit, Masked Deuce's fruit was the Stop stop Fruit.
"Well, I already wanted to do something similar." Sparky admitted, "But couldn't figure out how… good thing our powers are a bit similar."
Masked Deuce just nodded. He then rubbed his chin, "You know, a question has been bugging me. It's about your aura… when we first met you, my Observation Haki didn't deem you as anything noteworthy and only now it's seeing you as a threat." he said, rubbing his chin. "Why is that? Don't take it the wrong way, people would very much underestimate you with that kind of aura. And you could take advantage of that."
Sparky just scratched the back of his head, "Well, you are right on that one… my theory is most Observation Haki users don't see my aura as anything other than that of an ordinary monkey's. I still don't know why it works… but it just works." he shrugged. "Heck, we were able to surprise Aramaki with this. Most Observation Haki users don't deem me as a threat until I become one."
Masked Deuce blinked, clearly surprised. "That's… wow, he's no easy bounty hunter. I'm impressed." he said, nodding. "I only know one other person that is able to hide from Observation Haki… but well, he's in a totally different league. Speaking of Haki… one thing that I forgot to mention about my powers… While it's not common, devil fruit powers can sometimes be negated by the use of Haki."
"Wait, so… some can break free from your stop ability by using haki?" Sparky asked. "I have used my powers on Luffy and others before and they weren't able to break free from it."
"Well, it's uncommon for a reason. And you have to have really strong Haki." Masked Deuce said. "We first discovered that when we visited Wano. Let's just say you need to be careful on that front. That's why, against stronger opponents, it's better to focus your ability on one single individual rather than spreading it around."
Sparky thought over his words for a moment before he nodded, "Let's go back to training…"
"Sure," Masked Deuce said as he snapped his fingers, his shadow moved as if it was alive. And stretched outwards, making arrow-shaped heads before stabbing into the destroyed chunks of buildings and rocks, and throwing them upwards.
Masked Deuce's Stop-Stop ability lets him stop anything for a limited time if it can be stabbed with his shadow arrows. The shadow can also be used like extra limbs to move and attack without the use of his ability.
The moment the rocks and debris started to fall, Sparky clapped all six of his hands together. A universal wave of slow beam came out of his body, that slowed down everything around them to a crawl. A look of concentration was showed on his face.
Masked Deuce had jumped back so that the wave of the slow beam didn't affect him.
Unlike the others, Sparky wasn't doing combat training, rather, he was trying to improve his devil fruit ability first. They were going to stay for a few more days so it would be better to improve his fruit abilities as physical training can be done anywhere.
A bit away from them, towards a clearing in the desert, one could see a battle taking place.
Large strikes created sonic booms, with white sparks of electricity that could be seen buzzing in that area.
"Is that the best you can do?" Gin asked in his half-zoan form, his weighted tonfas resting on his shoulders. They were a bit larger, matching the size of his half-zoan state. "I thought you were supposed to be some kind of wild beast." He said with a grin.
The only response he got was a loud roar before his opponent tackled him, the opponent was almost twice Gin's half-zoan size. But Gin held off against the tackle, even as the electricity burned off his scales. With a flip, Gin sent his opponent flying behind, crashing into the desert sand with a loud thud.
Gin looked at his own body as the white sparks of electricity went away, leaving behind a few burns. "You know, the first time it hurt quite a bit. Now it just tickles…" Gin said grinning, the passive recovery of an ancient zoan was no joke. "Come on. I know you ain't dead, doc!" he cackled.
The beast in question stood up from its place before it roared. The beast in question was around 26ft tall (around 8 meters) its white fur crackling with electricity. It took a step forward before it fell on its knees, its dark eyes finally regaining a red pupil for the third time of the night.
"I-I'm back!" Chopper panted in his Sulong form, as he could finally take back control over his own body.
Unlike other minks, he didn't need a full moon to transform, just being exposed to the moonlight was enough to make him transform. He didn't even need to see it. That's why his control over the form was very necessary.
So far, when he was in the Going Merry, he always used a raincoat to cover his body from the moonlight at night so that he didn't accidentally transform.
But that wasn't the solution, there had to be another way. That's why they were training to gain control over the form. At the same time, Chopper was doing research on his rumble balls, one of them so that he could keep his sanity while transforming. Another one so that he could take on his Sulong form in the day.
The first rumble ball had already been developed and now was in its testing phase. And it was working for only a few minutes or so before he returned back to his berserk state. Though it seemed beating him up made him gain back his sanity.
Gin was helping with that.
Chopper would have liked to write down his findings in his reports, but couldn't as he could only transform once a day. The transformation took a lot out of his stamina. That's why he was keeping his Sulong form while trying to increase the time where he could stay in control.
"Can you fight?" Gin asked, walking towards him in his half-transformed state.
Chopper nodded, "I need to get this under control." he said, a small smile on his face, "And now that I'm back in control, I really want to get back at you for the cheap shot."
Gin shrugged, "You weren't the one guarding." he said, grinning, spinning his large tonfas. "Come on then!"
With that, both of the Straw Hats threw themselves at each other.
276
A few days passed and the Going Merry was ready to set sail, along with her, the crewmates of the ship were now prepared to face the storm that would come their way.
The small ship looked quite bold in its design, having a black colored metal coat, most of its areas boosting its defensive capabilities. Along with that, it now supported a few well-built cannons and a few other weapons.
The ship had gained a lot of weight due to the modifications but with Momoo pulling the ship, it wouldn't be much of a problem. And speed also wasn't an issue when you had a Speed-based devil fruit user on the board. Also, they had rarely used the sails on the ship.
Only when Momoo was resting or having his chow time did they pull on the sails to continue the ride. Speaking of the sea king, he also had gotten an upgrade.
After seeing so much improvement being done to the ship for its defensive purpose, Nami had raised a very good point.
Most of the time, Momoo would be pulling the ship. Wouldn't the sea king need protection? Sure, stray cannonballs or attacks could now be tanked by the Going Merry to an extent, but what about Momoo?
Meaning, the sea king needed armor, a good set of armor at that.
And so Anchor had made a giant-sized armor that fit the sea king. The blacksmith was very much up for the challenge, and did as best as he could. An armor for a sea king, even one that wasn't as large as other sea kings would need a lot of metal.
But it seemed Anchor was able to put the pieces that were left unused for the Going Merry to make the armor.
Previously the adorable and cute sea king now looked utterly badass. The upper part of the armor covered his back and chest, with chainmail dragging down the lower portion in a way that wouldn't make any difficulties for his swimming abilities. The armor was black in color, matching the Going Merry, making him look menacing.
Though the most impressive design was the large helmet that Momoo had. It had covered most of his face, along its horns, and given them a sharp edge.
The sea king got used to added weight. And underwater the added weight didn't matter much, and Momoo rarely left the sea, so it didn't matter.
Momoo loved the design and had worn it since it was made. The sea king also wanted a large trident for some reason, but that couldn't be made now. Anchor needed his sweet time when he got into making a weapon.
And time was a bit of an issue as the hunt for Teach couldn't be delayed any longer. Luffy hadn't revealed that he knew exactly where Teach was. Ace would have gone then and there to avenge his crewmate.
Instead, he played on the bought time and trained with his brothers, while his crew sharpened their own skills.
But now it was time to leave.
With the Going Merry ready to set sail, the Straw Hats started undocking the ship. It was late in the night. Other than the Straw Hat crew, only a few people knew that the new Warlord was leaving Alabasta.
It was for the best. Most of the pirates didn't want to get anywhere near the desert island due to Luffy being there. And Luffy wanted to ensure the peace for a few more days.
His new bounty hunting organization (CDS, old Baroque Works) was still setting up things. With Mr. 3, Galdino, being in charge along with a few others, Alabasta should be relatively safe.
"Be careful, okay?" Vivi said as she sniffed, hugging Luffy. The girl is already missing him. "And be sure to call… and… and… be careful."
Luffy separated from the hug, and gave her a smile, "I know… I know… you have said that a few times already." He said, cupping her face, "Don't worry about me, princess. I… I'll miss you. So… just be careful?"
Vivi snorted, wiping away her tears, "I will miss you too…" she said, before looking behind him. "You and the rest of the crew…"
Behind them, most of the Straw Hat crew were either crying or were silent. Heck, even the giant sea king was crying. Which really didn't match his new intimidating look.
Luffy stepped to the side as Nami gave Vivi a hug, whispering something into her ears. Both girls gave a small laugh as they wiped away their tears, easing the mood a bit. Vivi then looked ahead and gave a small nod to Kuina who returned it.
She then looked at Robin and also gave her a nod. Robin nodded back with a small smile on her face. Both women had made amends with themselves in the past few days. A very good development on their part.
A large snake rubbed Vivi's cheek, making the princess look at her. White Fury also looked sad as she was going to miss the crew.
She wasn't going to continue the journey, rather she was going to stay with Vivi. White Fury really had bonded well with Vivi, and as she was staying in Alabasta the snake would be staying with her as well.
Vivi was the first human that the large snake appreciated as a friend and she didn't want to leave her. It was a very hard choice for the snake as she also wanted to continue the journey, but she wanted to be with Vivi. In a way, White Fury viewed Vivi as her most treasured friend and didn't want to leave her as a result.
The princess had appreciated it. Having another friend around would help her. And while Karoo had some thoughts on that matter, the super spot-billed duck kept those to himself.
After the tearful goodbyes, the Going Merry finally sailed upon the ocean once more.
Luffy looked at the island as it shrunk into view. Vivi was worried but she had reasons, she was there when Morgan had called, and she knew what Luffy would be doing.
The captain of the ship looked at his crew, most of them were still sad. But as time went on, the crew fell into place.
Zoro had started going through his night drills in the sky, while Kuina had decided to just enjoy the breeze for the night. Sanji was back in the kitchen, setting things up there, while Hatchan helped the cook.
Sparky was hanging off the crow's nest along with Usopp as they looked around. Coby was with the newest member of the crew talking about his time when he was in the marines.
Gin was fishing with Bon Clay as a tied-up bait for kissing him, while Barto was warily keeping an eye on them.
Bon Clay was joining the journey with them temporarily as Sabo would take him to the Revolutionaries. So for now, the energetic okama was journeying with them.
Johnny and Yosaku were still sad that they had to leave two crewmembers back for the journey. Robin was in the crew's storage room where she was going through all the various books the crew collected back on Drum Island, Nami was also helping her with that.
Sabo and Ace were talking about some stuff, while Masked Deuce was scribbling down something in his book.
'It's time to tell them.' Luffy thought, with how fast Momoo was pulling the ship, by Nami's estimation it would take a day and a half to reach Jaya. 'They need to be ready.'
277
The next day,
The Mock Town of Jaya was as unruly as ever. A common place for pirates, criminals, and bounty hunters alike.
People were either fighting, drinking and killing or doing anything as they liked. No one stopped them, it was a lawless island after all.
The port near the town had a small gathering as an odd-shaped ship had risen up from the sea. A modified submarine ship, only the upper part of the yellow submarine was visible. The ship also flagged the Heart Pirates' Jolly Roger, marking it as a pirate ship.
The ship, however, looked very out of place with the other pirate ships, and many pirates were eyeing the ship with interest. Malicious interest.
The door on the upper portion of the ship opened and a man walked out, followed by his crewmates.
"This place is a rough house, so don't go picking any unwanted fights. And if you do, be sure to win them," Law said as he eyed the area, "Penguin, Shachi, and Uni you guys are on resupply duty. Bepo, you are also coming along."
The three of them pumped their fist in the air. Very eager to get to land after their rough journey into the Grand Line. The other nine members slumped as they knew they were on ship guard duty for now.
They would need to fully turn the ship to the other side of the island and dock there before they could set foot on the island. Because there was no way Law would let their ship stay here. The Polar Tang was a very unique ship and the crew knew how pirates wanted unique things.
"Heh, don't be a bad sport eh?" Penguin said, grinning at the other three. "You guys will get to set foot out of the ship first next time."
The other nine grumbled and complained. While Shachi and Penguin laughed at their misery. Uni just shook his head naturally at their antics. All the while Beppo apologized to anyone and everyone that made eye contact with him.
Law mused at his crew's antics a bit before he jumped down from the ship. The other four hurried to catch up with him as he walked into the Mock Town. Law didn't even look back as the Polar Tang sank back into the ocean, docking somewhere else from the port.
Law didn't need to look for their ship, as he had a special compass-like device that pointed to his ship's location.
The Heart Pirates didn't need to come here, their own log pose didn't lock onto this island, it was still locked to another island that was in their route. But they had come to Jaya for a reason.
The Island of Jaya was a common spot for a few routes. They came from Harlot Island, but one could also come from the Alabasta Kingdom or some other islands. It also had a history of many famous pirates taking over from time to time.
Meaning this was a good place to get information. Of course, this place was also Joker's unofficial territory. And Law knew who Joker was.
The Captain of the Heart Pirates had mainly came here wanting to get some information on the new Warlord along with a few other things. Newspapers only offered him praises with little to no info other than exaggerating his feats.
So Mock Town should be a good location to get that info. As Law was pretty sure the new Warlord had already crossed the island beforehand. It had almost been two weeks since Crocodile had lost his seat, the New Warlord should have moved on from there now.
Law needed some info on him, he would have liked to get some info on Doflamingo as well.
But Law knew better than to ask here, that would just be asking for trouble. But that was if he was caught in the act. The death surgeon knew a few ways to get information out of unruly patients.
With the right amount of pain, most people would start speaking like a parrot. And also, Law wasn't worried if things came to it.
Unlike other ships their Polar Tang moved very fast due to its engines, so he wasn't all that worried if they had to leave immediately. And of course, he was confident in his abilities to fight off any Paradise-level pirates.
A few people eyed them, some recognizing him due to his bounty, others just out of curiosity. He was a sixty million bounty after all.
Law might have fully skipped the island if they heard any big commotions going on Mock Town, but things seemed to be pretty mild right now so he didn't care.
While Law and his group left none of them noticed a tall slim man that was watching him. A man that had a dangerous glint in his eyes and most of his face covered with bandages. The man was about to stand up and confront the group when another man grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Yo! Found something of interest, Green Bull?" Asked the round man with a cheerful voice, while he bit into his pie. "Agh! These pies out here are the best! You should try some…" he offered.
Aramaki grunted, "Get your hands off me, Teach!" he said, glaring at him, before looking for his newest target only to find them missing. "Ghh… I finally found something worth hunting and you ruined it."
That brought Teach's curiosity to the situation, smiling with his teeth missing. "Well… someone wants to hog all the fun for himself." And he still didn't remove his arm. "But be sure to not create an incident…"
Previously a few days back Aramaki had busted up one Bellamy after the pirate had said some words that got under the Green Bull's skin. He would have killed him if Laffitte didn't stop him.
Bellamy was under Joker's rule, and Teach wanted to have at least some good relations with the underground king.
Teach also knew who Doflamingo was and over the years he did have some dealings with him. Good thing that the small fight between Aramaki and Bellamy happened in a secluded area, so damage control was a bit easy.
As a Warlord Doflamingo was territorial, and he was also nearby as far as his sources told. No need to bring his attention here.
Aramaki swatted the hand away, "Go fuck yourself weirdo…" he said, "I fucking hate all of this…" he said getting away from Teach as he walked the other side towards the jungle. "I will find some new prey…" he said after a click of his tongue.
The various people of the island parted as the tall man left.
As Aramaki left, Teach's smile dropped down. 'Aramaki is a bit hard to get a read on… but I need to get him to join the crew. Shiryu was way easier compared to this… but Aramaki's tough… if it doesn't work out, getting his fruit for one of my crew would work as well.' He thought to himself.
Teach was about to leave for the nearby bar when somebody started walking towards him. He looked back and saw it was Van Augur.
"Captain, I have come to inform you of something…" the man said politely, his large rifle on his shoulder. The gun's safety was off, making Teach realize that the man was out for a hunt. Van Augur was a man of few words so Teach had to pick up on the small stuff with him. But nonetheless the man was very loyal like Laffitte.
"You want to hunt someone as well?" Teach asked, "Sure go ahead, you don't need to ask my permission or anything. Just be sure its none of Joker's men, that's all…" Mock town was a town that got destroyed and rebuilt on a daily basis, so most of his crew could let loose on unfortunate losers that crossed their ways.
The sniper sighed, "Captain, don't tell me you haven't noticed one of your targets entering the town?"
"Huh, the new kid's here?" he asked, snapping his head from one side to another looking for the new Warlord.
The sniper sighed again, but rather than replying, Van Augur pulled out a bounty poster from his pocket and pushed it right in front of his face. Teach blinked as he got a look at who it was.
And his eyes widened with glee, he almost squealed like a kid. "He's here? Where? We have to catch him. Like right now…"
"Yes," Van Auger cut him off, "And we will have to get him before Green Bull does… good thing you distracted him away from the kid." He said in a so-and-so manner.
Teach opened and closed his mouth, "I did? Of course, I did …yes, that was always part of my plan. Show the way… "
Van Auger flatly nodded, "As you say, Captain…"
————
A/N: They are 21 members in Law's crew. But at the start, I only had given him a few members, only the named ones and a few others. Excluding Law, the Heart Pirates have around 13 members. Anyway, it shouldn't matter much.
278
Law leaned back in his chair as he looked at the knocked-out form of all of the pirates. He was inside a tropical hotel which was also not too crowded, so he could have some good conversations here and not be bothered.
In his hand was a pink cube-like object that was beating, "So, are you willing to talk now?" he asked, squeezing the man's heart which he now had in his hand.
The pirate grunted holding his chest, huffing and coughing. Bellamy didn't look good, like his crewmates he had a few bones in his body broken and was bleeding. "I already told you we don't have any solid news on the new Warlord!" The pirate said, gritting his teeth. "What more do you want?"
"Tell me about… Doflamingo."
"A-Are you mad…?! H-He would kill me if I told anything about him!"
Law gave him a flat look, giving another squeeze to his heart. "And you think I won't?"
The pirate grunted again, as he held his chest. He gritted his teeth, before looking up, "Go fuck yourself." Bellamy grunted.
Law sighed, a small smile on his face, "The hard way it is then…" he said.
"…now why would you want to torture the poor lad?" asked a voice, bringing both of their attention.
Law saw a large man, twice his height and the Death Surgeon recognized him immediately. It was Teach, a former member of Whitebeard's crew and one that had caused quite a bit of comotion a month ago on Drum Island. And he wasn't alone either; there was a thin man with a large rifle along with him.
"How did you get in here?" Law asked, on guard, as he palmed his sword's hilt. He hadn't seen them enter the room, and the room only had one entrance.
Teach showed him a dark grin and Law saw the shadows in the room shift.
An explosion destroyed a good chunk of the tropical hotel, bringing people's attention towards it.
"Wait? Isn't that where Captain Law was?" Penguin asked.
"Yeah…" Shachi said with a frown. By his side, Uni and Bepo were also wary of the situation. "Law wouldn't have caused that kind of scene…"
Their talk was suddenly cut short when they saw Law appearing outside the tropical hotel. The Death Surgeon stopped and teleported towards them.
The four Heart pirates were shocked when they saw Law's bleeding form. He was panting and blood was coming down from his head.
"W-What happened? Boss?" Uni asked.
"No time to explain… we need to get to the ship, now!" Law said, looking back only to widen his eyes, "Room!" he said before expanding his room and switching all five of them away with rocks.
And he did that just in time as five bullets whizzed past where the five members were previously.
Law didn't stop using his ability to teleport all five of them away, multiple times. And with that, all of them appeared a few hundred meters away at the border of the Mock Town, near the jungle.
"What was that?" Shachi asked. "Who was that?"
"No, time to explain…" Law said, looking at his crew. "You guys have to leave. Now. Their target is me."
"But Law, we can fight!" Penguin protested.
Law shot him a glare to shut him up. "Even I'm not sure if I can take them on… they are New World level pirates…" he coughed with gritted teeth, the last hit from that fat bastard had hurt quite a lot. "You guys get to the Polar Tang… I can always follow through with my ability. But you guys can't."
Both Penguin and Shachi wanted to protest and Bepo looked helpless, but before they could speak, Uni spoke for them.
"We will do it, Boss." He said, "Just be safe." As the responsible and older one, he grabbed Penguin and Shachi and gave them a look before they could say anything. Beppo just accepted it as it is.
Law gave them a nod. "Just be safe…"
But then all of them heard a voice, "Coming Through! Coming Through!" And suddenly the building in front of them suddenly broke apart as a large-sized man that looked like a pro wrestler ran through it like a juggernaut. And he was charging at them, "Found the chicks stashed here, captain!" shouted Jesus Burgess as he ran towards them with his arms crossed.
Law expanded his room and with a flick of his fingers teleported his crewmates away while he unsheathed his blade. "Amputate!"
A large slash appeared out of his blade in a quick manner and a few houses in front of him suddenly split apart, along with a few unfortunate pirates that were in his way. But his target was missing.
"And that is why I say, you shouldn't run into your opponents like that Burgess." Van Augur said in a reprimanding tone. On his side was Burgess who was looking at what Law's attack did, and he grinned. "You have to learn to hunt your prey from a distance, with silence and accuracy."
Law clicked his tongue, "That sniper guy was the main problem. What kind of fruit does he have…? He's not switching places like me. A Teleportation ability, maybe?" he muttered under his breath.
"Young man, you should be aware of your surroundings."
Law was shocked but before he could do anything he was kicked in the side, as his body caved in around the strike.
His body flew through the air, going through multiple trees before the Death Surgeon was able to steady himself. By then he was bleeding out and his vision was blurry. That kind of attack… it was out of his league. He grunted from the pain and anger as he eyed the small group that were attacking him.
"Zehahaha! I love it when they struggle…" Teach cackled with his missing teeth. "The Blackbeard Pirates are out for a hunt, baby!"
279
Another day had passed for the Straw Hat crew and they could already see the island of Jaya from their ship.
The crew was ready, the explanation of what was going to occur had made all of the crewmates on the ship prepare.
Ace had been pissed that Luffy had hid information from him. But surprisingly his older brother was being understandable for once. Luffy didn't know why, but it was welcomed.
It seemed that while Ace was looking to drag down Teach to Whitebeard for his crimes, he was actually okay with Luffy's plan to stall and prepare. Ace was still as brash as ever, but it seemed that some training from Silver Rayleigh really paid off in the long run.
Luffy looked at his crew and all of them seemed prepared. Their ship would be on standby on the sea with Bartolomeo, Johnny, Yosaku, Nami, Robin, Anchor, and Chopper on board. Hatchan and Momoo would stay at the sea as well.
With what he knew about Blackbeard, there was a good chance that Teach might try to flee after seeing all of them. That's why he kept a few people on the sea that could potentially stop them.
The rest of the Straw Hats would join the fight against the Blackbeard Pirates. As far as Luffy knew, they had the numbers advantage here. With Morgan, he was keeping a good eye on the crew and what they were upto in the past few days.
"Uh… hey, Luffy!" Usopp called out from the crow's nest, "There's some fighting going on on the island… I can see fire and a bunch of destruction from here. I also see some houses and trees floating for some reason."
Luffy frowned at what was happening in Jaya. It was still too far for them to see or jump, but he had a bad feeling about this.
.
"Room!" Law called out, just in time as the room expanded around, and he used it to switch away as Teach reached his location, slamming his fist on the ground the darkness cracking up and destroying the ground below.
Law had little time to catch his breath however as Van Augur took multiple shots at his locations. Luckily, Law was able to slow down the bullets as they were under his Room ability and throw them toward the muscle man that had tried to jump him.
"You guys are annoying," Law grunted. The young pirate was panting from the constant use of his ability but he had to jump forward when 'Demon Sheriff' Laffitte appeared right behind him and tried to stab him with his cane.
He had to move again when Doc Q threw multiple explosive apples at him, riding his sickly horse. Law was also careful from all the fumes Doc Q released from his hand, and made sure to avoid that as well.
All of the pirates that were against him were strong, and they were too fast and powerful for Law to use his abilities offensively against them. Heck, most of them knew Haki.
'The crew should have reached the Polar Tang by now.' Law thought as he again opted to run and jump from the five pirates and into the forest. He took a small compass-like device out of his pocket that pointed where the ship was, and with that, he moved towards that direction.
"You won't get away from me!" Blackbeard yelled, jumping out from a nearby shadow when Law wasn't paying attention to grab him.
But Law had a better idea, "Counter Shock!"
"Agh!"
Teach fell on the ground twitching from the electric shock, and Law used that chance to get ahead.
What Law didn't see was Blackbeard absorbing the electricity with another hand that glowed a light red. With that done Teach stood up, appreciating himself.
Law had to run from gunshots and attacks that were constantly being thrown his way. But he was stopped when another large man came out of the trees and stopped in front him.
This one looked more like a jailor rather than a pirate and even had a white coat similar to the Marines.
"So, this is the brat that we are chasing?" Shiryu of the Rain said unimpressed as he unsheathed his blade, Raiu, "Well I can help with th…"
But he was cut off when Law teleported behind him as rather than fighting, he tried to flee. But that was a mistake as Shiryu slashed behind him at where Law was with his Observation Haki.
"Ugh!" Law fell forward with his back bleeding. The young pirate had little protection as a sword slash dug into his back and threw him against multiple trees. Law bit his lip at the pain, before he quickly looked back at his opponent as he tried to stand up.
"That's why you always let me finish my talk, brat," Shiryu said, grinning from the sick satisfaction at the pained expression on Law's face. He took a drag from his cigar, "Don't worry, the pain only gets worse from here…"
280
"That's why you always let me finish my talk, brat," Shiryu said, grinning from the sick satisfaction at the pained expression on Law's face. He took a drag from his cigar, "Don't worry, the pain only gets worse from here…"
The other five pirates, with Teach at the front, came out from behind Shiryu, all of them looking at Law.
"Good job stopping him, Shiryu." Teach grinned, he then looked at Law. "Though, I really was enjoying the cat and mouse chase…" he cackled, while Burgess joined in on the laugh. Doc Q started only to end up coughing.
"Just stop fighting already, you are as good as dead." Laffitte pointed out politely, "This will make it easy for us…" he then grinned, "And it's not like you will have a crew to return to…"
Law frowned, "What do you mean…" His speech was cut off when an explosion rang off behind him, Law snapped his head back in that direction.
He only saw green flames exploding beyond the tree line along with some yellow metal that he was sure was part of the Polar Tang. With that, Law didn't care anymore and expanded his room and teleported away. This time the Blackbeard crew didn't chase him but rather fired off their attacks at him.
Sword slashes marked his back, while two bullets dug into his thigh, but Law kept moving. The nearby trees passed him as he used his ability in quick succession, draining his stamina to very low levels. But he kept at it.
"Please everyone be alright…"
But when he got there, Law saw something that made him horrified.
"What did you do to my crew?"
On his opposite side, a tall man that had bandages over his face grinned as he held Beppo's unconscious form. His crew's lifeless and unmoving forms on the ground and in the sea. Even the Polar Tang was in green flames, pieces of it floating in the sea.
Aramaki grinned, "Oh, them? They're dead, I wanted to act civil but honestly they attacked me first…" he said, grinning, "Don't worry, your bear-buddy here will be kept alive and sent as a gift for Saint Camael later. Bear Minks are quite popular as slaves you know."
"AHhhhh!" Law had lost it in pure rage as he jumped forward, "Room! Amputate! Counter Shock!"
"Ugh!" Aramaki said, before his body was thrown to the side as he fell into multiple pieces as electricity ran over his body. The attack did a good amount of damage as the bounty hunter was incapacitated for a few seconds.
"Shachi… Penguin… guys talk to me!" Law said trying to grasp at their body with his bleeding form. Their pulse and heart rate were very low, he needed to do something… He generated some electricity before pouring it into their body to do immediate shock therapy. Hoping it would do something.
His back still hurt from the slash wounds and bullet wounds but it didn't matter. "Uni, Ikkaku, Clione, Hakugan… anyone! Respond damn it!" All of his crew, they weren't responding.
"I-I'm sorry!" Beppo said the words weakly with teary eyes as blood poured down from his head. "H-he was just too strong…"
When all hope seemed to be lost the body of Penguin coughed, gasping for air, but choking on blood. The same happened to Shachi.
But they were still in bad shape, with one of them having nasty chemical burns while the other had his guts on the floor.
"Room!" he said, trying to do anything and everything to stop his crewmates from dying.
But behind Law Aramaki had reformed his body after turning into liquid Chemicals, and the man was pissed. "Oi, what's the big idea!" he grunted, making Law wide-eyed.
"How did you?" Law growled, "Logia…" he cursed, readying himself and putting his body in front of his near-dead crewmates. He wouldn't let anyone die.
"We aren't done yet, punk." Aramaki grunted his hands turning into green chemical flames.
"No, you are done!" Said a voice appearing right in front of Aramaki. "Red Hawk!" A flaming fist clad with Advanced Armament Haki smashed right into Araramaki's face before his form turned into a blur.
And he burst like a drill, destroying anything in his path. Law recognized that figure.
"Hey, you! Tra-guy," Luffy said, looking at him. "Get your crew to the ship. Chopper's our doctor he will help you with your crewmate." From the side, Law saw a few more people jumping in the air and dashing into the forest with their weapons drawn. "Get out of here, this place is going be a warzone, pretty soon." With that, he left with a burst of speed.
Law looked at it for only a second before his head snapped towards the small ship that had an armored sea king in the front.