Chapter - 54
East Blue
Somewhere in the middle of the sea, en route to Loguetown
“Hey, Bubblegum, you didn’t forget to bring my Skyline with you, right?”, Luffy asks, changing the topic to something lighter.
“Oh, the hostage? He’s here, safe and sound. So, do you think you’re stronger than me now?”, Reiju asks, joining in the banter.
"If I was already giving you trouble three years ago, it's easier for me to ask if you're strong enough to deal with me now, because the me from back then doesn't even compare to the me now", Luffy says, boasting.
"Getting a bit full of yourself, huh? We’ll have to see if you’re really up to that cim", Reiju says, raising an eyebrow.
The crew then continues talking for a good while, with Reiju integrating easily into the group.
And so, a week goes by. During this time, Reiju calls daily to talk with the crew, deepening her friendships, especially with Nami, Nojiko, and Kaya.
Throughout the week, Nojiko joins in the training, dedicating herself intensely to becoming stronger, especially after Nami kept bragging about being stronger than her. And with all her hard work, she reached a level of strength simir to Kaya's in just one week.
Meanwhile, Kaya asked Usopp to help her make another weapon, as she no longer wanted to use daggers, feeling they didn’t really suit her style.
So, at her request, Usopp made some simple brass knuckles for her to use for now, while he researched and developed a series of more powerful equipment for her to use ter.
And overall, the routine on the ship flowed normally, with everyone dedicated to their training, and during their free time, they took the opportunity to socialize, rex, or dedicate that time to their own personal projects.
After a week, the crew is now approaching Loguetown, getting steadily closer to the isnd.
“Alright, everyone, meet in the kitchen”, Luffy says, calling everyone for a meeting.
After everyone had gathered, Luffy began, “When we arrive, Usopp, Sanji, Chouchou, and Kaya will be in charge of gathering all the supplies we need. With Usopp’s fruit abilities, we now have infinite money and enough space to fit everything, so we don’t need to worry about those things. By the way, don’t forget to buy equipment and medical supplies, and a bunch of bug spray too. Nami, I assume you’re going to buy clothes, right?”
"Yes, now that we have infinite money, I want to see if they have anything that interests me", Nami says, eagerly looking forward to being able to buy clothes without limits.
“Okay, go ahead and buy clothes for everyone. Buy for all types of weather, like cold, hot, desert, and snow, got it?”, Luffy says, expining to Nami what he wants her to do.
“Got it. By the way, after I buy clothes, I’ll take the opportunity to buy cartography and navigation supplies as well”, Nami says, informing Luffy.
“Oh right, you talked to Bubblegum about navigation on the Grand Line, right?”, Luffy asks, remembering.
"Yes, Log Pose and Eternal Pose. She expined how the weather and navigation work on the Grand Line. I'll check if they have any for sale. Besides the Log Pose, which destination do you want me to buy an Eternal Pose for?" Nami asks, wanting to know which destination he wants to go to with the Eternal Pose.
“No need for an Eternal Pose. We wouldn’t use it even if you bought it; just the Log Pose is enough”, Luffy says, turning down the idea of using an Eternal Pose.
‘I’ll follow my own path; if destiny wants it, and it probably does, it’ll send me the same way as the original’, Luffy thinks to himself, stubbornly deciding to let chance choose which isnd they’ll go to, even if he might regret it ter.
What Luffy didn’t know was that Nami would end up buying an Eternal Pose for Whisky Peak just in case her Log Pose took longer than a few hours to lock onto an isnd once they entered the Grand Line.
“Hey, Luffy, I’ll need money to buy new swords”, Zoro says, catching Luffy’s attention.
"Do you need money, Zoro? I can lend you some, but then you'll owe me, and the interest is three hundred percent, for every minute that passes", Nami asks, whispering the st part so that no one can hear.
“We have infinite money; why are you trying to put me in debt?”, Zoro asks, confused.
“Do you want the money or not?”, Nami says, getting straight to the point.
Zoro then turns to Usopp, ignoring Nami, and asks, “Hey, Usopp, can you use that magic of yours and give me some money?”
Seeing the look Nami was giving him, Usopp replies, “Sorry, Zoro, but I’d rather face you than face this witch.”
“So, Zoro, how much do you want?”, Nami asks, teasing Zoro.
“Ugh, just give me a hundred thousand Berries”, Zoro says, irritated.
As Nami hands over the money to Zoro, Nojiko says, “I’ll need some cash too. I want to buy an axe and a shield for myself.”
“Do you think ten million will get you something decent?”, Nami asks Nojiko, separating a few palm-sized gold pieces worth ten million that Usopp had previously cut from a bar he’d expanded.
“Yeah, that’ll do, sis”, Nojiko says, taking the gold Nami handed her and storing it in a pouch.
“Wait, why do I have to pay interest and she doesn’t?”, Zoro asks indignantly.
“She’s my sister; why would I charge her?”, Nami asks, not understanding the fuss.
“Damn nepotism! And why the hell are you handling the crew’s money?”, Zoro asks, irritated.
“Because even though we have infinite money now, someone responsible has to manage the crew’s finances, and I’m the one who knows the most about money here”, Nami says as if it were obvious.
“But—”, Zoro starts before being interrupted by Luffy, who says, “Drop it, man. Capitalism’s tough.”
“What are you talking about? What does capitalism have to do with nepotism?”, Zoro asks, confused.
“I don’t know either, I just thought it fit”, Luffy says, scratching the back of his neck.
With Zoro giving up on compining, Luffy returns to the main point, “Alright, you have your orders. While you’re doing all that, I’m going to see the square where Gol D. Roger was executed.”
“Fine, just don’t start any trouble, Luffy”, Nami warns him.
“Nami, you know very well that it’s not me who causes trouble; trouble just finds me”, Luffy says with a smile, giving Nami a kiss on the cheek and then dismissing everyone.
As they dock in the city’s port, Luffy mutters to himself, “Loguetown, the city of the beginning and the end. I wonder if Sabo is here with my dad?”
After they dock, everyone goes their separate ways to carry out their tasks.
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(AN: 1,148 Words)
Chapter - 55
East Blue – Loguetown
Before heading to the square, Luffy wandered around the city, trying to find signs of the revolutionaries' presence.
While walking through a shopping mall full of restaurants and cafes, he suddenly spots Sabo sitting at a table in the corner of an outdoor cafe, trying to go unnoticed as he watches a middle-aged man in a suit sitting outside of an outdoor restaurant across the street.
Unable to hold himself back, Luffy runs over, jumps over the café's low wall, and sits down in front of Sabo with a huge smile on his face.
“I missed you so much, Sabo! You have no idea how happy I was to find out you were alive”, Luffy says with a big smile, his eyes welling up with tears.
“Who... ugh”, Sabo begins, about to ask who this person is talking to him like they know him. Then, as he sees Luffy’s face, a mild headache comes on as a flood of lost memories resurfaces in his mind.
Meanwhile, Luffy simply watches happily as his brother begins to cry, realizing that he’s regained his memories.
“Luffy, it’s really you? How could I forget?”, Sabo says, tears streaming from his eyes as he looks at his younger brother with a complexity of emotions.
“Shishishishi, yep, I finally became a pirate, and I’m heading to the Grand Line. I’m so gd I got to see you so soon”, Luffy says, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall from his own eyes.
“I... I’m sorry I didn’t remember sooner”, Sabo says, standing up and hugging Luffy tightly, feeling guilty.
“It’s okay, what matters is that you’re alive and well. Ace will freak out when he finds out you’re alive”, Luffy says, comforting and reassuring him.
“How’s that idiot? What’s he been up to? Has he gone out to sea?”, Sabo steps back from the hug and asks, holding Luffy by the shoulders.
“He went out to sea about three years ago and ended up joining Whitebeard’s crew. He’s the second-division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates”, Luffy expins, telling him where Ace is.
"Wait, Fire Fist Ace is Ace? Our Ace?" Sabo asks in surprise, having never seen a photo of Ace in the newspaper, only having heard about him.
“Yep, same name, so it’s him”, Luffy says as if it’s obvious.
"Man, how time flies. I wish I’d regained my memories sooner. And look at you, you’re huge, all muscur, you don’t even look like the crybaby from before", Sabo says, wiping his tears and smiling as he looks at Luffy.
“Ha ha, very funny. Listen, Sabo, my dad’s in Loguetown, right? I want to talk to him, I have some information I think the revolutionaries would be interested in”, Luffy says seriously.
“Your dad? Who’s your dad?”, Sabo asks, confused.
“Man, are you serious? Are you sure spying is really your thing? Monkey D. Garp, Monkey D. Luffy, who else in the Revolutionary Army has the name Monkey D.?”, Luffy asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Wait, Dragon is your dad? And I’ll just ignore the fact that you just called me an idiot”, Sabo asks, surprised.
“No, I didn’t call you an idiot, maybe a little slow; they’re two completely different things”, Luffy says, not wanting to hurt Sabo’s feelings but also not wanting to lie.
“…Sabo, hey, Sabo”, a female voice suddenly calls Sabo’s attention through his earpiece.
“Oh, hi, Koa, is something wrong?”, Sabo asks, putting a finger to his ear to adjust the Den Den Mushi earpiece.
“You tell me. Did something happen? Do you want to call off the mission?”, Koa asks, concerned.
“No, no need to cancel. Something important came up, and I need to go talk to Dragon. Cover for me while I do that”, Sabo says, reassuring her.
“Alright, but tell me what happened and who’s that guy with you ter”, Koa says, curious.
“Sure thing”, Sabo replies before moving, with Luffy following him. As he leaves, Koa takes his pce in surveilnce.
“Who was that? Your girlfriend?”, Luffy asks with a pyful smile.
“Stop being an idiot; Koa’s my friend. We’re here on a mission, and Dragon decided to tag along for some reason”, Sabo says, blushing slightly.
“Shishishi, so what’s the mission?”, Luffy asks after bursting out ughing at seeing his brother embarrassed.
“We’re investigating a businessman with deep ties to the World Government. We believe he’s involved in the sve trade. That guy I was watching is one of his trusted employees, and we were waiting for him to slip up or show us something”, Sabo expins, describing what they’re doing there.
“And if he really is a sve trader, you’ll dismantle the operation, right? But will that make a difference? Wouldn’t it be better to focus on the World Government?”, Luffy asks, uncertain.
"No, we don't think it will make a long-term difference. What we really want is to annoy them, disrupt them, cause problems to divert their attention while we move around on the board. We suspect that this businessman is currently one of the main sources of sves for the world nobles, so dismantling his operation will cause a lot of problems for the World Government", Sabo says, expining their true objective.
"That's actually a good pn. You guys are fighting a guerril war, just on a global scale. If I were you, one thing I’d do is systematically attack the food supply going to Mary Geoise, trapping them in a siege by cutting off the incoming of food and water. They would still have stockpiles, so the next step would be to attack and destroy those reserves. That’s one idea. You could also carry out multiple simultaneous attacks in different pces to grab their attention while secretly completing an important mission elsewhere. That way, even if they find out, they won’t be able to mobilize reinforcements properly because they'll be too busy with the other distraction attacks", Luffy says, musing as he shares his ideas.
“We’ve thought about things like that and pn to use these strategies at some point. But changing the subject, since when did my idiot little brother get so smart?”, Sabo asks, finding it strange to see ‘Luffy’ and ‘smart’ somehow associated.
“Three years ago, something happened to me, but I’ll expin it better when we meet my dad. It’s reted to the information I have that I think you guys will be interested in”, Luffy says, not wanting to talk about it there in the middle of the street.
The two then walk for a while, navigating through the city's alleys and narrow streets until they find themselves in a dark, deserted alleyway facing the back door of an establishment.
Sabo knocks on the rusty metal door in a specific pattern and then waits. After a moment, a middle-aged man opens the peephole and, seeing Sabo's face, says, “A lovely morning, right?”
“Definitely, a great day to take my dog for a walk”, Sabo replies with a smile.
“Sorry, but did it rain today?”, the man asks as if it were a completely normal conversation.
“Not yet, but it looks like it might rain soon”, Sabo replies casually, not noticing the strange look Luffy is giving him.
The man then closes the peephole, and after a few seconds, he opens the door and lets the two in.
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(AN: 1,224 Words)
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