[Chapter Size: 1653 Words]
Monkey D. Luffy POV
On a stolen Marine ship in the middle of the sea, East Blue.
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It didn’t take them long to ransack the Marine ship’s storage and kitchen to prepare their first of many banquets to come.
“Let’s celebrate!” Luffy announced with a smile as he gathered with everyone else.
“Celebrate!” Yamato immediately agreed, expressing her happiness.
“Tsk, the Marine’s stash is pretty weak.” Zoro grumbled as he drank a bottle he had taken from the ship’s storage.
“You’ve become an alcoholic after 11 years?!” Kuina teased beside him, expressing some surprise at how the young boy had turned into a young man who loved sake.
“Is that good?” Shirahoshi asked curiously about the drink.
“That’s not for you; you’re only 18. Here, take this, orange juice for you, Princess.” Luffy immediately intervened and handed her something healthy.
Meanwhile, he picked up a bottle next to Zoro, who looked at him with some surprise.
“But aren’t you younger than her?” Zoro asked, surprised because Luffy had mentioned he was only 17, just like the original.
“Hahaha. That’s true, but I’m the captain!” I said, drinking a new type of alcohol that I had never tasted in my life, but I didn’t even grimace at the sake.
“What kind of logic is that?” Lami asked beside him, in a bad mood.
“Should I call you ‘captain’ now, captain?” Bepo was still lost since his captain had said they would be part of Luffy’s crew.
“I believe you can call him ‘captain’ now…” Lami muttered, and she was quite proud, which didn’t surprise Luffy much.
“Anyway, what’s the plan now, Captain?” Zoro asked curiously, drawing everyone’s attention to him because Luffy had so far only recruited them and hadn’t talked much about his future plans, other than wanting to head towards Orange Town with Megalo pulling the ship at high speed at the moment.
“Well, first, before I want to go to the Grand Line, there are some things to do in this sea, and one of them is to recruit some members with high potential. As powerful as we are here, in the Grand Line, things change…” He said, looking at everyone and continued.
“At the moment, the most powerful member of the group is Yamato, the vice-captain of the crew. But even though she is powerful, we can’t fight against the world with our current strength, so my top priority is to get stronger and recruit new crew members, which includes stealing a lot of money as we sail this sea. I need to gather as much money as I can to improve the crew, and the best way to do that is by taking everything we can along the way.”
“Most of you have no idea where we’re going and what the true powers of this world are, but there are people in the Grand Line who can wipe out an entire island. For example, Zoro and Kuina, your dream is to become the world’s greatest swordsman, right?”
“Yes!”
“For sure!”
“I’m not saying this to discourage you, but to increase your determination. Mihawk, currently the world’s greatest swordsman, could cut the island of Shell City in half. Look at that possibility; you have a long way to go, and you’ll never get stronger if you stay here in the East Blue or avoid great dangers that may even threaten your lives.”
“What?!”
“Cut that island? That’s impossible!”
Both expressed disbelief, and I sighed.
“As I said, that’s his level and the level of several monsters in the second half of the Grand Line. I want you to bear in mind that you’ll have to become powerful at that level if you want to survive and achieve that dream.”
“Scary! Scary!” Bepo shouted.
“Bepo, don’t worry, and I have faith that everyone will become powerful here.” Luffy wanted to encourage everyone with a confident smile.
“Do you think I can become strong enough to protect the Fish-Man Island and fulfill my mother’s dream?” Suddenly, Shirahoshi asked timidly, believing in Luffy’s smile.
“I know you can, and I’ll protect you until that time, Princess, because I have faith in you. That’s why I summoned you, as well as everyone here.” I told her and the rest of them.
“Yeah, thank you, Luffy-Sama,” she said, a little teary-eyed and touched.
“I think I can become strong enough to protect the island of the Tritons and fulfill my mother’s dream?” She asked with a little smile.
“I have no doubts about that,” I answered, which made her very happy.
“Zoro is right; I’m going to become strong enough not to lose to Zoro or anyone else!” Kuina said as well.
“Hehehe, then I’ll get stronger to beat that old man with my own hands!” Yamato said confidently, referring to her father.
“I’m going to get my revenge. So, I’ll get stronger too!” Lami said, still bandaged, but she was now swept up by the group’s atmosphere.
“I want to get strong too! Um… I’m sorry.” Bepo didn’t get out of character; he shouted, and everyone paid attention to him just for him to become embarrassed and apologize, but Luffy could see his determination.
“Now let’s continue our feast because today marks the beginning of the infamous pirate group’s journey, the Straw Hat Pirates!” Luffy announced, laughing and happily creating a bond with several of their dreams and goals here.
For the rest of the day, the group celebrated, drinking and eating until night fell.
It didn’t take long for the night to grow in the sky and dawn, on the deck, there was a Zoro and Bepo sleeping on the floor. The girls were in the cabins. Megalo had shrunk again to rest and was sleeping with Shirahoshi in a room. Meanwhile, Luffy was the only one awake this night, standing outside alone. He was experiencing his first night in this world with a great sense of satisfaction for everything he had achieved on this day, looking up at the stars.
He couldn’t help but savor this moment while he took a bottle of rum and gazed at the stars.
“I still can’t believe I’m in this world. What’s more, I’ve become the protagonist. Naturally, the future won’t end well without the original Luffy, so I’ll live my own adventure… I just don’t know if the result will be good or bad for this world, but I’ll help all my allies achieve their goals and live my own way without regrets. In any case, I have powerful people with me now. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have Yamato, Law, or Shirahoshi at the beginning of the journey, and now I can experience all that.” Luffy was talking to himself with a great feeling of satisfaction swelling within him at this moment.
While he was lost in his thoughts and muttering to himself, he heard footsteps. Even without his Observation Haki, his enhanced senses as a Mythical Zoan user gave him much sharper hearing and smell, and he knew whose footsteps they were and even recognized their scent.
“You seem unable to sleep.” Luffy commented to no one in particular as he continued to gaze at the stars.
“I could say the same for you.” The female voice replied and continued to speak.
“But I really can’t sleep; it’s hard to sleep when you knew you were dead until recently. Besides, Yamato snores too much! Hahaha.” She laughed at her own joke.
“Zoro is the same; look at him over there.” Luffy pointed to his new friend, who was snoring on the floor, still holding a bottle of sake.
“That’s true. HAHAHA.” She laughed but soon turned melancholic.
“But you know? I’m glad to see someone from my past, even with my memories still fresh from that boy who was smaller than me.” She said nostalgically.
“Hehehe, when I brought him to you, I thought Zoro would hand over your old sword, but it seems he still has it. Is there something special about it?” Luffy asked, curious.
“Well, he tried really hard, but I refused. Since my father gave it to him, I have no right to take it back.” She explained.
“Anyway, we’ll get you an even better one later.” Luffy looked at her with a smile for the first time.
“Are you serious? Do you really want me on your crew? Do you believe I can pursue my dream?” She stared at Luffy, who was illuminated by the moonlight.
“I have no doubt about that, Kuina. But I can believe that Zoro can become the greatest as well. Now, this battle is between you two. HAHAHA.” He said sincerely, believing that both she and Zoro could become the character known as the world’s greatest swordsman.
“Well, I certainly won’t lose to that idiot in the end!” She said with determination.
“Then I believe in you,” he simply said those words.
“Oh, looking at it that way, I think you’re hitting on me.” She joked, but she could see her face turn a bit red.
“Ah, about that, you might have the body of a 22-year-old woman, but you’re still a stinky brat. Why would I be interested in a child? HAHAHAHA.” Luffy laughed as he spoke to her while drinking from a bottle he held in his hand.
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CHILD?!” She shouted in frustration and walked away angrily, her mood now ruined.
“Haha, in about 7 years, maybe I can be interested in you…” He couldn’t help but mutter.
Hearing that, she stopped for a moment, but soon continued walking away, still in a bad mood.
“Luffy, you idiot…” She muttered and went on.
And Luffy returned to drinking under the stars and thinking about his future plans.
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