#16-17

Chapter 15: East Blue Part 2

"Hey" - Speaking

'Hm?' - Mental

[ ] - Scene/POV Change

___

After Shiro bolted out of his room, Jeremiah stood up and got out of bed, taking care not to wake up Diane and/or Ryoko, before he went to the bathroom and quickly took care of his hygiene. With that done, he left the room to go after Shiro. With the help of haki, it didn't take too long to find her.

"Shiro." Jeremiah called out as he knocked on the door to her bedroom. The fact that she was actually in her own bedroom was enough to tell him just how bad she was feeling.

He received no response, even after waiting a full minute.

"Come on, Little Vamp. I'm not mad." Jeremiah said, and he really wasn't. It's not like he never knew she liked to pleasure herself with his body. With his enhanced senses, along with his observation haki, he was always at least vaguely aware of things happening to or around him, even while he was sleeping.

Again, silence.

Sighing, Jeremiah said "I'm coming in, Shiro." With that said, he turned his body completely into wind and went under the door.

As his body reformed inside the room, Jeremiah's eyes gained a sad glint as he saw a lump under the cover on Shiro's bed, while also hearing the sniffles and whimpers.

"Shiro..." Jeremiah began, only for Shiro to come barreling towards him, bawling her eyes out as she hugged him as tightly as she could, which would be more than enough to break a normal man's spine.

"I'm sorry! P- Please don't hate me, I- I just love you so much, I-!" Shiro's rambling was put to a stop when Jeremiah suddenly grabbed the back of her head, before he leaned down and pulled her into a kiss, making her eyes widen, so shocked that she couldn't even respond to the kiss. There was also the fact that this was her first kiss.

"I'm really not mad, Shiro. How could I ever be mad at you?" Jeremiah asked after breaking the kiss, cupping her cheek with his large hand, and she instinctively leaned into it, basking in his warmth.

"B- But, I-"

"You really have no idea how much I love you, Shiro." Jeremiah said with a quiet sigh, before he pressed his forehead against hers, gently rubbing her head as he gained a wistful smile.

"That's something I'll rectify now." After saying that, Jeremiah scooped Shiro up in his arms like a princess, before he walked her over to her bed, and gently laid her down on it.

"J-" Again, Shiro wasn't able to speak as Jeremiah began kissing her, pinning both of her arms on either side of her head as he dominated her mouth, and she couldn't help but to wrap her legs around his waist, loving how his body was pressing against hers.

Slowly breaking away from the kiss, Jeremiah said "I love you, Shiro. Truly."

"Your long white hair." A kiss.

"Your big red eyes." Another kiss.

"Your bright personality." Another.

"Your beautiful smile." And another.

On and on it went, Jeremiah continued to list off all the things he loved about Shiro, with each one being punctuated with a kiss.

"I love every single part of you, Shiro. I-" This time it was Jeremiah who didn't get to finish, as Shiro - whose face had long since turned a startling shade of red - leaned up and began passionately kissing him, allowing her instincts to guide her.

Pulling away from the kiss, Jeremiah lowered his hands down to the hem of the loose tank top Shiro was wearing, before he began slowly pulling it up.

"You're so beautiful, Shiro. My Shiro..." Jeremiah whispered once he finished removing her shirt, the blush on her face only serving to enhance her beauty.

Leaning down, Jeremiah took one of Shiro's erect pink nipples into his mouth, using a hand to massage her other one, getting a moan of pleasure from her at the new sensations she was experiencing.

After a few more minutes, Jeremiah finally removed his mouth from the heavily panting Shiro's nipple, before he reached down and grabbed the waistband of her white leggings, and she instantly raised her hips to help him get them off of her easier.

A few seconds later, Shiro was lying completely naked on the bed, and Jeremiah just stared, marveling at the sight of her.

"Y- You have to get naked, t- too." Shiro squeaked out with a blush after almost a full minute of being stared at, with her voice seeming to finally break Jeremiah out of his trance.

"Ah, you're right." Jeremiah replied, before he got off the bed and began undressing, with Shiro watching intently the entire time.

As he finally pulled his pants off, Jeremiah smiled a bit when he saw Shiro's eyes widen. While she had seen his cock multiple times, she had never seen it at full mast.

"Don't worry, Shiro. I promise it won't hurt." Jeremiah assured her as he climbed back onto the bed.

"I know you would never hurt me." Shiro said with a smile, getting one in return from Jeremiah as he lined himself up with her wet, bright pink slit.

"Are you ready?" Jeremiah asked, getting a somewhat nervous nod in response. "I'll be gentle."

With that said, Jeremiah began slowly inserting his large rod into Shiro's small slit, gritting his teeth at how tight she was, while her eyes widened as he continued to slowly push inch after inch inside of her. Despite this being her first time, her hymen was already long gone, due to all of the training she'd done over the years.

'W- What... What is this?' Shiro thought with wide eyes, moaning as Jeremiah gave her long and slow thrusts. She had heard that it usually hurt during the first time, but all she felt was pleasure. So much pleasure, that she couldn't help but wrap her arms and legs tightly around his neck and waist.

"D- Deeper..." Shiro unconsciously moaned out, her own hips bucking lightly as she tried to get more pleasure. This was much better than just rubbing herself against him while he was asleep.

Wordlessly accepting the request, Jeremiah began giving deep, slow, yet powerful thrusts, with each one kissing the entrance to her womb, getting a throaty moan from her as her toes curled. It only got better when he began kissing and sucking on her neck, something that would no doubt leave marks on her pale skin.

'Shiro...' Jeremiah thought, almost entering another trance as he made love to the woman beneath him. It was insane how tight she was. He had taken the virginities of Ryoko and Diane a few years ago, but not even they were this tight. This was on a whole different level, which he guessed was to be expected, considering how small she was. At this rate, he'd probably end up cumming soon.

"I- It's coming. It's- It's-!" Shiro alerted Jeremiah, her breaths coming out ragged.

"Let it out, Shiro. Let it all out..." Jeremiah whispered into Shiro's ear, loving the way she moaned his name.

When Shiro finally did reach her release, Jeremiah had to grit his teeth at how tightly her walls clamped down on him, the pleasure almost bringing him to his own release.

'T- This...' Shiro was barely able to think as her body shivered with pleasure, her juices gushing out in a way that they never had before.

"How was your first time?" Jeremiah asked after she seemed to finally come down from her orgasmic high.

"A- Amazing." Shiro replied with tears of joy running down her face, her arms and legs still wrapped around Jeremiah.

"That's good. Then, let's continue. I'll be going harder this time." Before Shiro had a chance to form a reply, Jeremiah began pounding into her at a slightly faster pace than before, but still just as deep.

"AH! M- More!" Shiro moaned out, her mind clouded with pleasure.

"You sure?" Jeremiah asked, slowing down his thrusts as he looked into Shiro's eyes.

"Please!" Shiro begged, desperately wanting more of this- more of him, the man she loved with every fiber of her being.

"Okay." After saying that, Jeremiah pulled out of Shiro, getting a whine from her as she unwrapped her legs from around him (something she did very reluctantly), before he grabbed the backs of her knees and lifted her legs up, pushing them until her knees were touching her shoulders, leaving only her head and shoulders on the bed.

With that done, he then gave a powerful thrust into Shiro's wet pussy, and she let out a scream of ecstasy as he reached all the way to her womb, the outline of his cock very visible in her stomach. Her pleasure only increased when he began jackhammering into her, making her eyes roll back as she had a shuddering orgasm, and even then he didn't stop.

"I'm about to cum, Shiro. Take all of my love." Jeremiah whispered right into her ear as his hips sped up to the point that they were a blur, unable to hold back anymore with how tightly Shiro's walls were clamping down on him.

After a few more thrusts, Jeremiah finally released his load deep inside of Shiro, which was enough to trigger her own orgasm, with her eyes widening and her mouth locked in an 'O' as she felt herself being filled to the brim.

It took almost a full minute for Jeremiah's orgasm to finally come to an end. As he pulled out (which was hard to do with how it kept trying to pull him back in) and let go of Shiro's legs, he was treated to the sight of her entire body twitching sporadically as their combined juices came gushing out of her, her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she moaned for more.

His lust spiked.

In a blur of movement, Jeremiah grabbed Shiro's ass cheeks and stood up, with her instinctively wrapping her legs back around his waist, before he began drilling into her small pussy like a man possessed, her screams of pleasure only being muffled by him locking his lips with hers, dominating her mouth with his tongue.

A puddle began forming beneath the two of them as Shiro's nectar came squirting out of her, and Jeremiah grunted as he came inside of her again not long later.

"Amazing! I love you! I love you!" Shiro exclaimed deliriously, her words barely understandable as Jeremiah continued relentlessly pounding into her. Her entire body shuddered when he repeatedly hit her sweet spot, making her drool as she had another squirting orgasm.

Deciding to switch up the position, Jeremiah turned Shiro around in his arms, before he then proceeded to wrap one arm around her abdomen, leaving her limp arms and legs dangling as he held her up with the one arm. With that done, he began pumping his hips at an even faster pace than before, the new position allowing him more freedom to move.

Unable to even form proper words, Shiro just let out a string of lewd moans as her pussy continued to get drilled, not to mention how Jeremiah's huge balls would come up and slap her clit with each thrust, sending extra shocks of pleasure through her body.

Looking down at Shiro's small body and beautifully pale skin, Jeremiah couldn't help but lick his lips, the conqueror in him demanding that he totally dominate her. Taking his arm from around her abdomen, he instead held her up with his telekinesis, which allowed him to reach around and play with both of her B-cup breasts, vibrating his fingers as he tweaked her hardened nipples. The effect was immediate.

"AAAAHH!!!" Shiro screamed in pure ecstasy as she had a mind numbing orgasm, her nectar shooting out of her like a fountain. This also triggered Jeremiah's own orgasm, and his eyes glowed bright gold with a feral look in them as he shot his load inside of her womb, the amount of it being enough to inflate her belly a bit.

As he slowly pulled out of her, Shiro let out a whining moan when his semen came dripping from her pussy in thick clumps, not wanting to lose the feeling of being filled with his essence.

"Don't worry, Shiro..." As he said this, Jeremiah pulled Shiro's body into his arms, before he walked over to the bed and threw her on it, and her eyes lit up with lust and joy when he lifted one of her legs up and lined himself up with her slit, his brightly glowing eyes only serving to increase her pleasure.

"I've still got a lot more love for you to receive." And with that, he slammed into her pussy with a thrust so powerful that a small shockwave passed through the room, and her eyes rolled all the way back as she had a nearly mind-shattering orgasm.

The pair would not be seen by the rest of the crew until two days later.

[ East Blue - 1512 ]

On a bright, sunny day in the Goa Kingdom, loud voices and merry laughter could be heard coming from inside of a bar that was located in Foosha Village. The sign above the door read, 'Party's Bar'.

"I'm not afraid of pain! Take me with you! I wanna be a pirate, too!" The high pitched voice of a young boy came from inside.

The little boy had short and somewhat spiky black hair, fair skin, and a bandage under his left eye. He was wearing a white t-shirt with a blue anchor design in the middle, blue shorts, and a pair of sandals.

"No way, Anchor! You can't even swim, and that's a pirate's greatest weakness." The man replied with a laugh as he sat on a stool at the bar.

The man's most notable features were his red hair, and the three scars he had over his left eye. He had tanned skin, and stood at about 6'6 (199cm).

As long as I stay on the ship, I'll be fine! Besides, I'm stronger than I look! My punch is as strong as a pistol!" The boy exclaimed as he thrust his fist out in front of him.

"Heh~... A pistol? Really?" The red haired man asked with a bored tone.

"What kind of tone is that?!"

"Luffy! You seem unhappy!" One of the othe other men in the bar yelled with a laugh.

"You've gotta be happy to face anything! A pirate's life is great!"

"The sea is vast! You can find an adventure anywhere you go!"

The little boy, now known as Luffy, listened to all of this with a big smile growing on his face, while the red haired man let out a sigh. "Don't give him any dumb ideas."

"Captain, why don't you take him with us one time? It's not a big deal, right?" One of the pirates asked.

"I agree!"

"Then, one of you get off the ship and let him take your place." The captain said as he drank from his mug of sake.

"We've said enough, let's drink!" The pirates yelled as they all clanked their mugs together.

"What kind of friends are you?!" Luffy yelled with bulging eyes.

"The problem is that you're too young, Luffy. Wait at least another ten years, then I'll consider taking you out to sea." The pirate captain said to the excitable little boy.

"Darn it, Shanks! I keep telling you, I'm not a kid anymore!" Luffy yelled.

The red haired man - Shanks - was about to reply, only for the hairs on his neck to suddenly stand up. Quickly turning his head, he saw someone sitting on the stool on his left side. They were wearing a black cloak that completely covered them, so he couldn't see how the person looked, but he could see that they looked to be the size of a child, maybe a little taller than Luffy.

'What's with this familiar feeling?' Shanks thought, his eyes narrowing slightly as he stared at the mystery person, watching as Makino - the kind woman that ran the bar - set out some tea for the kid(?).

Although he was very curious, Shanks chose to ignore it for now, deciding instead to shift his attention back to Luffy. The moment he turned away, however, his eyes widened when he heard the child sized person speak.

"Looks like you've grown up well, Tomato Brat." Eyes widening, Shanks quickly turned back to the child sized person, only to see that they were gone, an empty tea cup being the only evidence of them ever being there.

In total disbelief, Shanks quickly downed the rest of his sake. He hadn't been called that in a long time.

[ A Few Days Later ]

"Did you really have to let it bite your arm off?" An annoyed male voice asked.

"Ehhh, it's fine, Benn. I can still fight with one arm." Shanks replied to his vice captain, a man named Benn Beckam. They had just left Foosha a while ago, and were now back out on the open sea.

"You're a dumbass, Captain. You know that, right?" Benn deadpanned after a few moments of silence, with Shanks just laughing in response as he drank from the bottle of sake he was holding.

"He never was very bright."

Benn instantly whirled around with two pistols drawn at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, his eyes narrowing at the sight of a man sitting on the upper railing of the ship. It was hard to make out his appearance, due to the bright light of the sun shining behind him.

"Who are you?" Benn asked with a sharp glare, inwardly wondering how he hadn't sensed this person until now.

As the person floated - actually floated - down from the railing, his features became easier to make out, and Benn reeled back in shock when he finally got a good look at the man's face, his guns automatically lowering. Even if he were to shoot for some reason, he highly doubted that it would be very effective, if at all.

"Yo, Tomato." The man, Jeremiah, said as he silently landed on the deck, a small smile on his face as he walked up to Shanks.

"Jeremiah! So it was you back on Foosha! What are you doing here in the East Blue?" Shanks asked with a bright smile, happy to see the man for the first time in over a decade.

"That should be my line. What exactly were you thinking, letting a weak sea king from the East Blue take your arm?" Jeremiah asked with his smile becoming just a little tighter, making the red haired captain sweat a bit.

"B- By the way, this is my vice captain, Benn Beckam." Shanks said as he gestured to his right hand man.

"Nice to meet you, Benn." Jeremiah said as he turned to Benn, his nose scrunching a bit at the smell of the man's cigarette smoke.

"Likewise." Benn replied as he shook hands with the most wanted (in more ways than one) man in the world.

Shanks tried to sneak away while the two were talking, only for Jeremiah to suddenly appear next to him and place a strong hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be borrowing him for a bit." Jeremiah said as he turned to Benn.

"E- Eh? Wait a-"

"He's all yours."

"Eh?!"

"I'll have him back soon." And with that, Jeremiah flew up into the sky, pulling Shanks along with him as he blasted off, ignoring the red haired man's screaming.

[ Two Weeks Later ]

"Who are you, old man?" Luffy's high pitched voice rang out, his stretchy leg wrapped around the branch of a tree as he hang upside down, staring curiously at the man in front of him.

"I'm not an old man. That's a pretty rude way to address someone." Jeremiah said with a quiet sigh. He had intended to approach Luffy a while ago, but he'd had to wait because Garp had come to the island to check on his grandson.

Shaking his head, Jeremiah asked, "What's a little kid like you doing in a big forest like this by yourself? Don't you have any friends?"

"Nope. There's not really any kids in the village." Luffy responded, looking a little downcast.

"Well, why don't you come with me? I know a few kids that you might get along with."

"Eh?! Really?!" Luffy exclaimed, a bright smile on his face as he dropped to the ground, looking up at Jeremiah with excited eyes.

"Yeah. I'm Jeremiah, by the way." Jeremiah introduced himself, inwardly frowning at just how trusting Luffy was. He was only seven years old, but still.

"I'm Luffy! I'm gonna be the king of the pirates!" Luffy yelled with a smile, following behind Jeremiah.

After a little while of walking deeper into the forest, they eventually reached the clearing where the Portgas family's house was located. Rouge could be sitting on the porch, a smile blooming on her face as she spotted the two, her eyes briefly widening when she saw the straw hat on the little boy's head.

"Hey, Jeremiah. Who's this?" Rouge greeted them as she stood up, looking curiously at the little boy standing next to Jeremiah.

"I'm Luffy! I'm gonna be the king of the pirates!" Luffy yelled again with a big smile as he threw his hands up in the air.

"Oh? I guess you're strong then?" Rouge inquired with an amused expression.

"Yup! My punch is as strong as a pistol!" Luffy exclaimed, smiling widely as he punched the air in front of him, getting a giggle from Rouge.

"Luffy, the other kids should be around back. Why don't you go meet them?" Jeremiah suggested, getting an excited nod from Luffy as he ran away.

"I haven't seen that hat in a long time." Rouge said, a soft smile on her face as some old memories resurfaced.

"Are you sad?" Jeremiah asked, idly using his telekinesis to float in the air in a lotus position.

"No... I've moved on from Roger's death. He gave me two beautiful children, and he will always be important to me for that, but I don't get sad when I think about him anymore." Rouge said, looking up at the sky as a gentle breeze passed through the area.

"I see." Jeremiah replied with a small smile as he reached over and rubbed her head, and her cheeks turned a light shade of pink at the contact.

"How about we go inside? Saeko made some lemonade and snacks a little while ago." Ryoko proposed after a few moments of comfortable silence, smiling when Jeremiah nodded in response, before she led him into the house.

[ With The Kids ]

"What should we do today? A treasure hunt?" Anne asked while doing a handstand.

"Let's go hunting." Ace replied, twirling a pipe in his hands.

"Ehhh, but we did that yesterday." Anne whined with a pout.

"We have to get stronger if we want to finally land a hit on the old man." Ace said, frowning at how easily they were always beaten. He wanted to at least make the 'old man' put the book down while he was training them.

"Sabo?" Anne said, looking at the third member of their group.

"I'm okay with either." Sabo said with a smile, sitting on top of a boulder.

Sabo was a boy the twins had met back in 1508, and they had all been good friends since then. He trained with them, slept at their house, etc. Of the trio, he was the youngest, with him being 10, while the twins were 11, nearly 12.

As Ace walked over to his sister, she balled one of her hands into a fist and held it out in front of her, with Ace doing the same.

"Rock-paper-scissors, shoot!" Both siblings said at the same time, and Anne pouted again when she saw that she lost. How does paper beat rock, anyway?

"Fiiiiiiine." Anne said unenthusiastically as she dropped from her handstand into a sitting position. It wasn't that she didn't like training, she just really felt like doing something else today.

Before any of the trio could say anything else, they all turned when the heard a loud voice, and their eyebrows furrowed in confusion when the saw a little boy in a straw hat running up to them.

"Who are you?" Ace asked with narrowed eyes. Strangers never even got close to their house, so he was confused about how this boy was here.

Naturally, Luffy gave his usual introduction, "I'm Luffy! I'm gonna be the pirate king!"

It was silent for a moment.

And then:

"Hahahahaha!" Ace broke out into laughter, getting surprised looks from Anne and Sabo.

"What's so funny?!" Luffy yelled, annoyed.

"C- Can you even fight?" Ace asked between his laughs.

"Of course! My punch is as strong as a pistol!" As he said this (yet again), Luffy punched the air in front of him, only for his arm to accidentally stretch, just missing Ace's cheek as it went past his head.

"You ate a devil fruit?" Ace asked, his laughter coming to a stop as him, Anne, and Sabo all looked at Luffy in surprise and interest.

"Yup! I ate-" Luffy was cut off when his arm snapped back, making him fall to the ground when his own fist hit him in the face.

This time, Ace wasn't the only one that laughed.

[ Grand Line - 1514 ]

"It's peaceful."

"Yeah."

"Yup.

"Mhm."

These four voices came from (in order) Naruto, Souma, Asta, and Jeremiah as they sat on a railing on the top deck of The Big Dipper, with each of them holding a fishing rod in their hands.

The women of the crew were all training together in the training room, which occupied the entirety of the 25th deck, the lowest deck on the ship.

As the four men were fishing, Jeremiah blinked when some images suddenly flashed in his mind.

'So, today is the day...' Jeremiah thought as he rolled his shoulders.

"You alright, Jeremiah?" Naruto asked as he, Souma, and Asta turned to their captain.

"Yeah. Just need to go take care of something." Jeremiah said with a sigh, before he turned into wind and disappeared.

Looking at each other, Naruto, Souma, and Asta just shrugged and went back to fishing.

[ East Blue - A Little While Earlier ]

How did this happen?

It had been such a normal day. Children laughing and playing, adults fondly watching over them, etc.

It all happened so fast.

How were humans supposed to fight creatures like this?

100,000 belli for one adult human, and 50,000 for one human child. That was the price that these fishmen were trying to make them pay. Why should they have to pay for the right to live their lives?

"Alright, let's pull back for today, my brothers!" The captain, a shark fishman named Arlong, yelled to his crew as he began walking away, getting sighs of relief from the civilians.

"Arlong! There seems to be a house a short distance away from the village!" One of the fishmen shouted, getting Arlong's attention.

The villagers' eyes widened in terror.

"Over there. That smoke must be coming from someone's house." The same fishman said, pointing to where smoke could be seen a fairly short distance away.

'No!' Two little girls thought with horrified expressions.

"We almost missed it." Arlong said with a grin, showing off his sharp teeth.

"By the way, have you found any sea charts?" Arlong asked as he walked with his crew toward the smoke, leaving the villagers to themselves for now.

"Not a single one." One of Arlong's top underlings, Chuu, replied with a shake of his head.

As for the other villagers, they could all be seen with panicked expressions, some even going so far as to pray.

"This is bad! The pirates are headed to Bellemere's house! Even we barely managed to pay them off, so how would she be able to come up with enough money?! What do we do?!" A villager yelled, gripping his hair in worry and frustration.

"Doc, we've got trouble!" A man in a brown police uniform yelled. Most notably, his hat had a pinwheel on it.

"What is it, Genzo? And where are the children?!" The village doctor asked the panting man.

"They should've been in the forest, but they're not there! They must've taken the back way to get home!" Genzo hurriedly explained.

"Shit! We've gotta find them!" Doc replied, quickly informing the other villagers of the situation, before they all went looking for the little girls.

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

Back with the fishmen, they had just reached their destination, and Arlong smirked as he knocked on the door.

"It should be open! Come in!" A womanly voice shouted from inside the small house.

Opening the door, Arlong was barely able to take a step inside before he was tackled to the ground, and he found himself staring down the barrel of a rifle, which was being held by a human woman on top of him.

The woman had red hair that was styled into a chelsea hawk, gray eyes, and fair skin. She had an athletic, toned build, and stood at 6'1. This woman was Bellemere.

"Unfortunately for you, I used to be a marine. What's a pirate from the Grand Line doing out here in Cocoyashi Village?" Bellemere asked, the barrel of her gun actually going inside of Arlong's mouth.

"SHAHAHAHAHA! SHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Arlong laughed loudly, clearly not the least bit bothered by the gun being aimed at him.

"What's so funny?!" Bellemere shouted with anger and annoyance, pushing the gun further into his mouth, but her eyes widened in disbelief when he simply bit through the gun with his sharp teeth.

"The incompetence of your inferior race." Arlong responded to her question, before he grabbed her and threw her off of him as he stood up.

With a toothy grin, Arlong raised his leg to attack Bellemere, just as the other villages came upon the horrifying sight.

"Bellemere!" The villagers yelled in concern, the loudest voices coming from two little girls. One had blue hair, blue-green eyes, and tanned skin, while the other had orange hair, dark orange eyes, fair skin.

'Nojiko... Nami!' Bellemere thought, her eyes watering as she saw her two daughters.

As Arlong brought his foot down to crush Bellemere's left arm, a strong wind suddenly blew through the area, making everyone present have to shield their eyes, while some almost lost their footing.

(Play: Bleach - Ulquiorra Theme)

"Looks like I made it just in time." An unfamiliar voice said as the wind began slowing down.

As the villagers and fishmen opened their eyes, their were multiple gasps of surprise when they saw a man holding Bellemere securely up against him.

'I accidentally brought the fishing rod... Actually, it fits pretty well with this situation.' Jeremiah thought to himself with a nod.

Jeremiah had been waiting for this day for a while. This was an event that he definitely wanted to change. He would deal with trying to figure out how to get Nami to still join Luffy's crew later. He refused to let a great person like Bellemere be murdered.

As for how he had known that today was the day, it was because he had spies pretty much all over the world. He'd created hundreds, if not thousands, of robotic creatures, ranging from tiny bugs, to various types of animals (mostly birds). With the use of his tech power, he was able to receive any new information they gained, and could even see through all of their eyes at the same time, but he rarely did the latter. He could do other things with them as well, but those weren't important at the moment.

"You alright, Miss?" Jeremiah asked the redhead he'd just saved.

"W- Who...?" Bellemere trailed off with wide eyes. Due to the way she was being held, she was unable to get a good look at the face of her savior, and she didn't recognize the voice.

Before Jeremiah could say anything, Arlong spoke "How dare you save that scum?" He asked with a glare.

Ignoring Arlong, Jeremiah gently pushed Bellemere behind him and said, "Why don't you go to your friends? They all look like they might faint from worry at any moment."

"R- Right. Thank you." Bellemere said gratefully, before she ran over to the other villagers, immediately being tightly embraced by her daughters, both of whom were crying.

"One chance, Arlong. Leave. Now." Jeremiah said with a neutral expression, resting his fishing rod on his shoulder.

"A filthy human dares to tell us what to do?" Arlong snarled, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Hey, Arlong, is it just me, or does this human look familiar?" Kuroobi, one of the strongest members of the crew, asked while scratching his chin.

"All trash is the same to me." Arlong responded, and Jeremiah was actually starting to get a little annoyed.

Just a little.

'Hmm.... About 20 in total.' Jeremiah thought to himself after looking over the group of fishmen.

"Allow me to take care of this filth, Arlong." Chuu said as he confidently strode forward, stopping when he stood about 10 feet away from Jeremiah.

Wasting no time, Chuu's cheeks puffed out as he readied his attack. "{Water Gun!}" He shouted as a ball of water shot out of his long lips. This ball of water hit with the same force as being shot by a pistol, so he was sure this would be enough for a mere human.

As the attack neared him, Jeremiah simply held up his left hand, and the sphere of water harmlessly splashed against it, drawing gobsmacked expressions all around.

"Too weak." Jeremiah said with a bored tone, angering the pirates.

"How about this, then?! {Hundred-Shot Water Gun!}" Chuu yelled, before he began rapidly firing balls of water from his mouth like a machine gun.

Jeremiah simply used his tremendous speed to get rid of the 30 or so balls of water, going so fast that no one present could even see him move.

"You suck." Jeremiah said as he reeled back his fishing rod, before throwing it forward, managing to hook Chuu's lips, before he pulled him close and kneed him in the stomach, immediately knocking him out.

The area fell silent.

'Just who is he?!' Bellemere, Genzo, and pretty much every other villager thought, looking at the scene in front of them with wide eyes. This man had come out of nowhere, and just took out a fishman with one hit like it was nothing! They were unable to see his face, due to him having his back towards them.

"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY KIN, YOU DISGUSTING HUMAN?!" Arlong roared with a furious expression, his anger mirrored by the other fishmen. "KILL HIM! KILL THIS TRASH!"

'Guess I shouldn't kill them.' Jeremiah thought as the fishmen charged at him with battle cries. When one finally reached him, he swung his fishing rod like a baseball bat, sending the pirate flying back into a few of his comrades. He then began using the fishing rod like a bo staff, using it to redirect the fishmen's attacks, and make them hit each other, further angering them.

"Nyu~! My six sword style should stop him!" Hatchan shouted as he ran up to Jeremiah, who began easily deflecting all of the sword strikes with his fishing rod. This rod was as strong as steel, which was necessary for people fishing on the Grand Line.

After taking a few 'hard' hits, Hatchan jumped back. "Nyu~! Take this!" He yelled, before he shot a stream of ink from his mouth.

Before the ink could hit him, Jeremiah simply used his telekinesis to make it turn just enough to hit one of the other fishmen instead.

"What are you doing, Hachi?!" The fishman that got covered in ink screamed.

"Nyu~! I didn't mean to do that!" Hatchan exclaimed, waving his hands in front of him.

Figuring he'd played around enough, Jeremiah decided to go on the offensive.

About ten seconds later, he had all of the weaker fishmen unconscious on the ground, leaving only Hatchan, Kuroobi, Chuu, and Arlong himself.

"You know, I'd expect more from the Sun Pirates. Did Tiger not train you guys?" Jeremiah asked, absently twirling his fishing pole like a baton.

"I'LL KILL HIM MYSELF!" Arlong roared, his eyes becoming like that of a sea king as his anger reached a boiling point. How dare this piece of human filth speak the name of Tiger?!

As Arlong neared him, Jeremiah saw that he was trying to use his saw-like nose to stab him.

"I'll show you the difference between our races, humans! I have more power in my nose alone than- AH?!" Arlong's ranting was cut off when Jeremiah brought his hand up to the fishman's face, grabbed his nose, and easily broke it by jerking it to the side, making him stumble back in shock.

"Arlong!" Kuroobi, Chuu, and Hatchan yelled with worry, their eyes as wide as dinner plates at the fact that Arlong's nose had actually been broken.

"You're not strong, Arlong. If you were, you wouldn't have chosen to come to the East Blue of all places. It's pitiful that a pirate from the Grand Line has to try to rule over people in the weakest sea in the world." Jeremiah said as he shook his head.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Arlong yelled as he charged at Jeremiah again, his mouth wide open with the intent to take a bite out of him.

When Arlong got close enough, Jeremiah hit him in the chin with his fishing rod, making him bite his tongue, before he swung it again and hit the top of the shark's head, making him drop to his knees, before he finished him off with another strike to the top his head, knocking him out.

"Well, there goes your leader." Jeremiah said, looking at the three wide eyed fishmen. "Now..." He trailed off as he suddenly appeared between Kuroobi and Chuu, before he knocked both of them out with swift strikes from his fishing pole.

With all of the other fishmen knocked out, Jeremiah and Hatchan stared at each other. Just as the octopus tried to say something, he was knocked out by a swing of the fishing rod.

Looking down at all of the unconscious fishmen, Jeremiah gained a small frown. Truthfully, he had been wondering for a long time about if he should just kill them or not. The only reason he didn't, was because he had placed Fishman Island under the protection of his crew's flag, and he knew killing Arlong's crew would probably put a strain on that relationship. Plus, he didn't want to make the queen sad.

Jeremiah was taken out of his thoughts when he heard clapping from behind him, before it turned into loud cheering, and he let out a quiet sigh as he heard it. This was part of the reason that he didn't like to fight in front of people, specifically civilians.

As he turned around, the applause came to an abrupt stop when the villagers finally got to see his face.

"Y- Y- Y- You're...!" Bellemere brought up a shaky finger, barely able to speak as she stared with bulging eyes at the man in front of her, while more than a few people fainted.

"Well, I'm gonna go ahead and take these guys somewhere else. I'll be back to check on you all later." And with that, Jeremiah lifted all of the fishmen up with his telekinesis, before he took off into the sky, leaving the villagers with gaping mouths at the sight.

'I'd say that went pretty well.' Jeremiah thought with a satisfied nod.

[ East Blue - 1522 ]

"Are you sure you've got everything, Luffy?" Makino asked as she and a crowd of villagers gathered to see the young man off.

"Yup!" Luffy responded with a smile.

At 17 years old, Luffy now looked pretty much like he did in canon, save for slightly longer hair, and maybe an inch or two taller. His devil fruit made it practically impossible for him to put on extra bulk, so he had thin, yet athletic build.

Over the past ten years, he had been trained hard by Jeremiah (or Rouge whenever New Dawn wasn't on the island), and he was definitely stronger than his canon self had been at this point in time. In terms of sheer physical prowess, he was probably on par with Nightmare Luffy. As for haki, he wasn't very skilled with it yet.

It wasn't only his body that had been trained. Jeremiah had done all he could to beat some sense into the boy's thick skull. While he wasn't a super genius or anything like that, he did at least have common sense now.

"We'll miss you, Luffy!" The villagers shouted as Luffy boarded the modest ship Diane had put together for him. It wasn't anything special, certainly not anywhere near the level of 'The Big Dipper', but it would get him where he needed to go safely.

"Don't worry! I'll be back one day! And you'll see me in the newspapers!" Luffy yelled as his ship got further away, turning around so that he could wave to all of the villagers.

As he got further out, the ship suddenly started shaking, and Luffy looked up when a sea king came up out of the water.

"I've been waiting for you! I'll show you what I've learned these past 10 years!" Luffy yelled with a grin as he cocked his fist back.

"{Gum Gum: Pistol!}" He shouted as his fist rocketed forward, sending the sea king flying off into the distance when it made contact. "Take that, you giant fish!"

"Guess I should find some friends to join me. Ten people should be good. And then I'll make the flag!"

Hopping up on a railing, Luffy threw both of his arms up in the air. "Ace! Anne! Sabo! Sensei! Rouge! I swear I will become the king of the pirates!" He yelled with a big smile for all to hear.

Unbeknownst to Luffy, New Dawn and Rouge were floating above him on one of Nana's clouds, all of them smiling as they watched him go.

The world was about to get a whole lot more interesting.

...

[ Grand Line - Year 1522 ]

"So, this is the Grand Line..." Luffy said to himself with a smile as he looked out at the vast sea surrounding his ship. Him and his crew had just left Twin Capes, which was a lighthouse that they arrived at after crossing over Reverse Mountain. There had been a sudden bout of snow, but they got through it easily enough.

It had been a few weeks since Luffy departed from Foosha Village, and he was pretty happy with how things had been going so far. He had managed to get some good people for his crew, and they were able to get to make it to the Grand Line pretty quickly, not that he was trying to rush. If there was one thing that did bother him, though, it would be that he hadn't been able to have a good fight yet. The East Blue simply didn't have anyone on his level.

Luffy broke himself out of his thoughts when he saw an island in the distance. "Island ahead!" He yelled to his crew with a smile.

"So this is Whiskey Peak!" His cook - a young man named Sanji - said with a smile, holding a cigarette between his lips as he looked at the giant cacti on the island, some even being as big as mountains.

"Thank God we've actually made it here!" A young man wearing a crown on his head yelled, standing next to a blue haired young woman. These were two weirdos that the crew met back at the lighthouse. They even had weird names. Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday.

"Now then, we ask that you please drop us off here!" Mr. 9 exclaimed as him and Miss Wednesday jumped onto one of the ship's railings.

"If fate wills it, then we shall meet again!" Miss Wednesday said as the two weirdos struck a pose.

"Bye-bye, babies!" The two yelled in unison, before they suddenly jumped off the ship, and started swimming towards the island.

"Seriously, just what is up with those two?" A girl with orange hair and a curvy figure said, sweatdropping as she watched the two swim away. This girl was Nami, Luffy's navigator.

"Ignore them, Nami. We've got enough weirdos on the crew as it is." A girl with lightly tanned skin, blue hair, and blue eyes said as she shook her head. This girl was Nojiko, Nami's older sister.

"It looks like we can dock inland." A man with green hair said. This was Zoro, the vice captain of the crew.

As the ship continued moving forward, Nami went on to explain to the crew how the log pose worked.

"Everybody be prepared for a fight. Just in case." Luffy said as they got closer to the island, getting nods from his crew.

[ On The Island ]

"Huh? Are those pirates?" A man on Cactus Island said, squinting his eyes as he tried to get a good look at the ship coming towards them, which was hard because of how foggy it was.

"Hm?... Hey, you're right! Hey, everyone, pirates are coming!" Another man shouted.

[ With The Strawhats ]

"I can hear people's voices, but I can't see them because of this thick fog." Sanji said, taking a puff of his cigarette.

"Eh?! People?! Are you sure?!" A young man with tanned skin and a long nose yelled nervously. This was Usopp, the crew's sniper.

As the crew sailed through the fog, they were all surprised when they saw the people on the island actually cheering and yelling greetings to them with happy looks on their faces.

"Oh! There's even some lovely ladies cheering for us!" Sanji said with hearts in his eyes as he saw some of the pretty women on the island.

"What is going on?" Nami muttered, a confused look on her face. Next to her, Nojiko and Zoro shared similar expressions.

"Talk about a warm welcome! Looks pirates really are popular!" Usopp shouted as he leaned over one of the railings of the ship, basking in all the cheers.

After the ship was finally docked, the crew stepped off, and were approached by a fairly tall man with pale blonde hair that resembled a powdered wig.

"We- *ahem* Ma~ Ma~ Maaa~ Welcome. My name is Igarappoi. I'm sure you're all probably shocked at the warm welcome, but this is Whiskey Peak, a town of liquor and music. Hospitality is our middle name." Igarappoi began with a pleasant smile. "If it's fine liquor you want, we have enough fill over one hundred barrels. So please, allow me to cordially invite you all to our wonderful banquet. We'd love to- ma~ ma~ maaaaa~ We'd love to hear tales of your adventure." He finished, still smiling pleasantly.

"Gladly!" Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp shouted in unison, hooking their arms around each other's necks as they started doing a weird dance.

Ignoring the 'Idiot Trio', Nami turned to Igarappoi and asked, "How long does it take for the log to set on this island?"

"Log? Ah, no need to worry about that right now. Now is the time to take a break from your long and no doubt difficult journey." Igarappoi answered her, before he turned to the other people around them. "Everyone, prepare the banquet! Let these brave adventurers party to their heart's content!" He shouted, eliciting another round of cheers.

The party lasted well into the night, with everyone eating and drinking as much as they could, until the Strawhats all started to slowly doze off one by one.

"O', how beautiful the cacti are in this moonlight." Igarappoi said, his hands folded behind his back as he stared up at the full moon.

"Quite the romantic, aren't you, Mr. 8?" Mr. 9 asked, sitting on top of a building.

Igarappoi, A.K.A. Mr. 8, gave him a sideways glance and said, "Oh, it's just you."

"The pirates?" Miss Wednesday inquired as she and her partner dropped to the ground.

"They've already fallen deeply into the trap. They will not escape." Mr. 8 said, his face taking on a dark look.

"That damn bunch sure know how to drink." A dark skinned, muscular woman with pink hair said as she walked out of the bar they'd all been partying in. "Still, I don't get why we needed to put on this whole charade in the first place. They're just a bunch of weak looking pirates."

"Miss Monday." Mr. 8 greeted the woman stoically.

"Why didn't we just crush them at the harbor? The town is already running low on food, and it's not like we can count on getting any whale meat. What exactly are you two good for, anyway?" Miss Monday asked as she glared at Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9.

"Stop talking to us like that!" Miss Wednesday yelled, stomping her foot as her face turned red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"That's right! At least we tried our best!" Mr. 9 shouted as he glared at Miss Monday.

"Everyone calm down. Now, I've done my homework on this crew. Take a look at this." Mr. 8 said as he reached inside of his coat, before he pulled out a wanted poster.

"What?! 25,000,000 for that brat?!" Miss Wednesday, Miss Monday, and Mr. 9 exclaimed in unison, looking at the poster with wide eyes.

"Indeed. We can't judge them off looks alone." Mr. 8 said as he rolled the poster up and put it back in his coat.

"I see... My apologies." Miss Monday said with a nod.

"For now, let's take whatever valuables they have, and tie them up. We'll lose 30% of the reward if we kill them. The government prefers doing public executions." Mr. 8 said, getting nods from the others.

"I'd appreciate it if you guys didn't attack my crew." A new voice said, making the quartet's eyes widen in shock. As they turned around, their shock only grew when they saw the captain of the pirate crew leaning against a building, casually eating a big piece of chicken as he looked at all of them.

"Wha-?! How are you awake?! I saw you passed out!" Miss Monday yelled in surprise. "I even added something to your drinks and food when I saw that you all were taking too long to pass out!"

"Oh! So that's why this meat tastes so weird!" Luffy said, before he shrugged and continued eating the large piece of chicken, still staring at the group.

"Same goes for the booze." Another voice said, making Mr. 8, Miss Monday, Mr. 9, and Miss Wednesday all turn and look up, and their eyes widened even further when they saw Zoro sitting on top of a building.

"You, too?! I saw you pass out from all the drinking you did!" Mr. 8 yelled.

"Fools. A true swordsman never lets alcohol control him, especially around strangers." Zoro said, smirking as he stood up. "Looks like this place is a den of bounty hunters, and you make your living by luring in newbie pirates that have just entered the Grand Line."

While Zoro was talking, the bounty hunters all began pulling out weapons, all of them looking up at him with glares, not liking their plan being caught on to so easily.

"Looks like there's about one hundred of you, maybe a little more... Hey, Luffy! I'll take care of these guys! All of them together should make a fine opponent for me!" Zoro shouted to his captain, his smirk growing as he noticed the bounty hunter's glares increase in intensity.

"Sure!" Was Luffy's response, before he jumped on top of a building and sat down, his legs dangling off the edge.

"So, shall we get started... Baroque Works?" Zoro asked, getting gasps of shock from the bounty hunters.

"How do you know that name?!" Mr. 8 yelled up to him.

"Back when I was in a similar line of business as you lot, I was approached by a certain organization. Clearly, I refused. I remember that this organization's members didn't know anything about each other's true identities, and are required to address each other by their code names. Naturally, the boss' identity is even more protected. The name of this organization is Baroque Works." Zoro said, a fierce grin on his face. "Was it supposed to be some great secret?"

"You know too much." Mr. 8 said, sporting a heavy frown. "Kill him." And with that, the battle began.

What followed was nothing short of a one-sided beat down, with Zoro barely taking any damage from the bounty hunters, save for when Miss Monday used her impressive strength to chokeslam him. A few tried to sneak up behind Luffy, but he easily dealt with them.

As he was watching Zoro's fight, Luffy wondered if the swordsman may be ready to start learning haki. Ever since he had gathered his crew, he had been wanting to help them train, so he always paid close attention to their fights, trying to get a good idea of their skill sets.

With that said, he wasn't sure if he even could actually help them begin to learn about haki, seeing as he hadn't even mastered it himself yet. His armament and observation haki were both streaky, and he could only safely use his conqueror's haki once a day. Any more than that, and he would end up effecting people he didn't mean to, such as his crew mates.

As Zoro finally cut down Mr. 8 - who seemed to be the leader of the people here - he let out a sigh and sheathed his swords, before he jumped up onto the building Luffy was sitting on, and gained a small smile when his captain handed him a bottle of sake.

"You're strong, Zoro." Luffy said after the two had been sitting in comfortable silence for a bit.

"Not strong enough." Zoro said, absently running a hand over his torso. "They aren't even close to the level of the one I'm aiming for."

"Mihawk?" Luffy easily guessed, getting a nod from the swordsman.

"I got arrogant because I was so strong compared to most people in the East Blue. Then I fought him, and... he completely destroyed me." Here, Zoro paused as he took a swig of his sake, before he continued. "As embarrassing as my defeat was, I'm glad it happened when it did. It showed me that I can become even stronger than I am now. Much, much stronger." He finished with determination shining in his eyes, surprising Luffy a bit. In the time he'd known him so far, Zoro could be called a man of few words, but here he was openly sharing what was on his mind.

"Then, I guess we'll just have to get stronger together." Luffy said with a smile as he looked up at the stars in the sky, getting a nod from his vice captain.

"Hm? Did you hear that?" Zoro suddenly asked after a few moments of silence, looking around with a confused expression.

Luffy was silent for a bit. He didn't hear anything, but he did just barely sense someone with his haki. "What did it sound like?" He decided to ask.

"Thought I heard a scream... Maybe I just imagined it." Zoro said, shrugging as he continued drinking his sake.

All of a sudden, the temperature in the area rose, making both of the pirates have to wipe their foreheads to get rid of the sweat, and Luffy turned his head when he realized the person he'd sensed was now on the ground below them, standing near the downed Mr. 8. It turns out there were actually two people.

One was a woman with fair skin, wearing a yellow hat that had an orange brim, a yellow summer dress that had lemon designs on it, white high heeled shoes, lemon earrings, and was holding a bright green and purple striped parasol over her head. Because of the angle he was looking at her, it was hard for Luffy to get a good look at her face.

Next to her, there was a tall, dark skinned man wearing a brown trench coat that went all the way down to his ankles, along with black shoes, and a pair of black sunglasses.

"How pathetic. All of you lost to a single swordsman?" The male of the newly arrived duo said to Mr. 8, who looked up with wide eyes at the sound of the voice.

"Mr. 5?! Miss Valentine?!" He exclaimed with shock.

'More agents, huh?' Zoro thought, also observing the exchange.

"You all don't seem to be taking your job very seriously. Do you have an excuse for this pitiful display?" Mr. 5 asked coolly, with Mr. 8 gulping at the question.

"Kyahahaha! Give them a break, we can't expect them to be on the same level as us!" Miss Valentine said, letting out another laugh after she finished speaking.

"Did you really come all this way just to mock us?" Mr. 8 asked, blood running down the side of his face from his fight with Zoro.

"That's one reason." Miss Valentine said with a giggle.

"We've obviously come here to take care of some business." Mr. 5 said.

"N- Now I see..." Mr. 9 managed to get out, shakily trying to push his bruised and battered body up of the ground. "With the two of you here to help us, those pirates stand no chance!"

"That's r- right..." Miss Wednesday said, managing to push herself up onto her knees. "There's no way that swordsman will beat you two!"

The area fell silent for a bit.

"Stop joking with us." Mr. 5 said coldly, getting the three injured agents to look at him and his partner with wide eyed looks of confusion. "You seriously think we would be backup for the likes of you?"

"You three honestly think that the boss would order us to come all the way out here, just to help you beat a single swordsman? Kyahaha! That's hilarious!" Miss Valentine laughed, wiping a tear from her eye.

"T- Then, why...?" Mr. 8 hesitantly asked, suddenly getting a bad feeling.

"The boss' direct words were when he gave us our orders were, 'My secret has been found out.' Our organization is built on secrecy. No one is allowed to even try to figure out the identities of their fellow agents." Mr. 5 said, and Mr. 8 could feel his heart begin to beat faster.

"After a bit of investigating, it seems that a member of a certain kingdom has infiltrated our ranks." Miss Valentine said with a calm smile, and now Miss Wednesday also had a feeling of dread come over her.

'They've found out!' Mr. 8 thought in a panic.

"The spy we're talking about, is none other than-" Mr. 5 was cut off as Mr. 8 got a sudden adrenaline boost, allowing him to push himself up to his feet.

"Die!" Mr. 8 yelled as he began shooting at Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, both of whom looked unbothered by the miniature cannonballs heading towards them.

"I will not let you harm her! I swear it on my duty as the head of the royal guard of Alabasta!" Mr. 8 shouted as the mini canonballs exploded.

"Igaram!" Miss Wednesday yelled in concern.

'Igaram? Just what is going on?!' Mr. 9 wondered with no small amount of confusion. Who was Igaram? And why the heck was Mr. 8 attacking Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine?! And what was that about Mr. 8 being the head of a royal guard?!

"This sure has gotten interesting." Zoro said to Luffy, both of them still sitting up on the roof as they watched all of this happen.

"You two really are pitiful." Miss Valentine said, laughing as she floated in the sky, unharmed by the explosion, before she dropped down towards Miss Wednesday, and delivered a kick to her head, breaking the band the was holding her (Miss Wednesday's) hair up in a ponytail.

It was then that the temperature in the area skyrocketed, and multiple sets of eyes widened as Mr. 5 walked out of the explosion cloud, with the ground around him melting as he went.

"The spy's name is Igaram, head of Alabasta's royal guard. And the second spy... is none other than Nefertari Vivi, the princess of Alabasta herself." Mr. 5 announced, holding up a picture of 'Miss Wednesday', making the two revealed spies grit their teeth at being found out.

It was while all of this was going on, that a half-asleep Usopp came stumbling down the road, with his presence instantly being noticed by the bounty hunters, making both Zoro and Luffy facepalm.

"Oh? And who's this one?" Miss Valentine asked, giggling behind her dainty hand as she watched the long nosed young man stumble around, not looking to have any actual destination in mind.

"An unfortunate soul." Mr. 5 said, the area heating up again as his body gained an orange-ish glow to it, while his partner turned to Igaram and Vivi, both of them cursing at not being able to get away while their would be assassins were distracted.

Zoro and Luffy watched as Mr. 5 bent down and grabbed a few rocks off of the ground, before, to their surprise, he threw them in his mouth and began chewing on them, the sound of the crunches being heard even from where they were sitting.

"{Molten Gun}" Mr. 5 announced calmly, aiming his right hand in front of him like a gun, and those gathered watched as three balls of what looked like molten lava were shot from his index finger, all of them being about the size of a golf ball.

Eyes widening, Luffy quickly stretched his arm out and grabbed the dazed Usopp, pulling him away just as the molten bullets were a few inches away from him.

Naturally, this got the attention of the Baroque Works agents, who had not taken notice of them until now. It also seemed to get the attention of the Alabasta spies, if their surprised looks were any indication.

"One nuisance after another." Mr. 5 muttered, eating a broken sword off the ground, before he turned and started firing off more molten bullets, these ones being around the size of baseball's, with Luffy and Zoro jumping off the building to avoid all of them.

"Urgh... Wh- What the-?! What's going on, Luffy?!" Usopp panicked as he woke up, eyes wide and darting around nervously.

"Just a fight. Go back to sleep." And with that, Luffy threw the young sniper on top of a random building, while him and Zoro landed on the ground, both glaring at the Baroque Works agents.

Without any preamble, Luffy threw a punch at Mr. 5, the force of it being enough to make his hair sway. As his fist got closer, he frowned when he noticed Mr. 5 not trying to dodge at all, and he quickly realized why, when his hand was lightly singed after coming into contact with the stoic agent, making him pull his fist back with a frown.

"You won't be able to touch me. I ate the Smelt-Smelt Fruit, making me a blast furnace human. With how hot my body can get, you won't be able to safely touch me without getting burned." Mr. 5 said, a small smirk making its way onto his normally stoic face.

Hearing the description Mr. 5 just gave of his devil fruit, this is where most people would probably begin to get worried. Luffy, however, actually had a wide smile grow on his face. He had grown up fighting against multiple people that had heat/fire based devil fruits, so he was more than used to it. A few burns were nothing to him.

Which was why he threw his right arm back, letting it stretch out to about one hundred feet.

"{Gum-Gum:.... Bullet!}" Luffy yelled, his fist creating a strong gust of wind with how fast it came rocketing back, knocking all of the air out of Mr. 5 when it impacted with his stomach, before he was sent flying down the road, only managing to not go flying off the island thanks to crashing into one of the large cacti.

Igaram, Vivi, and Mr. 9 had their jaws drop and their eyes bulge out at what they just saw. Miss Valentine was even more shocked than them, not believing that her partner had been beaten so easily by a newbie pirate. They weren't best friends or anything like that, but she had come to respect his strength in the time they'd been working together.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Miss Valentine looked down at Zoro from her position up in the sky, annoying him to no end with her incessant laughing.

"What's wrong, Mr. Swordsman? Mad that you can't slice me up from down there?" She taunted him with yet another laugh, getting a scowl from him.

"Stop being a coward, and come fight me!" Zoro yelled as he held up one of his swords, fed up with this irritating woman.

"Well, if you insist. {10,000 Kilo Press!}" Miss Valentine shouted, and Zoro quickly rolled out of the way when she began plummeting towards him. This turned out to be a good decision, beacuse he felt the ground shake when she landed (crashed, really), not to mention the crater that formed beneath her.

"Smart boy. I ate the Kilo-Kilo Fruit, making me a 10,000 Kilo woman. I can freely change my mass to anything between 1 and 10,000 kilos. I'm sure you can guess what would happen if I landed on you, right?" As she was explaining this, Zoro charged at her with intent to finally shut the annoying woman up, only for her to laugh as she floated back up into the air before he could reach her, making him grunt in frustration.

"{Special Attack: Tobasco Star!}"

To Zoro's immense satisfaction, the woman was shut up when something was suddenly shot in her mouth while she was laughing, and she coughed as she involuntarily swallowed whatever it was.

Eyes widening, Miss Valentine let out a scream a few seconds later, her mouth feeling as if it was on fire. Unwittingly, she increased her weight and dropped to the ground, screaming for somebody to get her a bottle of water- anything, really, that would cool her mouth.

Not wasting the opportunity, Zoro quickly knocked her out with the pommel of his sword, before he turned his head.

"Nice one, Usopp!" Zoro shouted over to the building Luffy had thrown Usopp on, sheathing his sword. While he normally hated when people interfered with his fights, this was one time he was willing to make an exception.

"Haha! O- Of course! The great Captain Usopp always looks out for his subordinates!" Usopp exclaimed with a smile, making Zoro roll his eyes as he shook his head in amusement.

As he was about to walk over to his captain, Zoro frowned when his shoulder was suddenly grabbed, and he half turned his head to look at the person that dared to do such a thing.

"You again?" He asked, lightly glaring.

"Mr. Swordsman... After seeing you and your captain's impressive strength, please allow me to make an unreasonable request!" Igaram began, swaying on his feet. The adrenaline was beginning to wear off, and his injuries were now starting to really hit him.

"And what would that be? Don't think we'll automatically help you if you suck up to us."

"It's my duty to protect the princess! However, in my current state, I fear that I would only end up getting both of us captured, if not outright killed. I don't want to ask pirates for help either, but I cannot allow the princess to die! I must not- no, I will not fail my mission! I beg of you, please protect the princess in my stead!"

Zoro stared at him for a while, taking in the injuries the man had, before he let out a sigh.

"I go where my captain goes. If you want our help, you'll have to ask him."

A little while later, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Igaram, and Vivi had all moved to a different area where they could talk. Nami was also with them now, apparently having only pretended to be drunk.

"So, I heard what Zoro said earlier, but what exactly is Baroque Works?" Luffy asked, sitting on top of a wooden barrel.

"To keep it simple, they carry out tasks ranging from gathering intelligence, robbery, assassination, bounty hunting, and everything in-between, all under the orders of the boss." Igaram informed them.

"Why do the organization's members listen to the boss if they don't even know his identity?" Nami asked, standing on Luffy's left side with her arms crossed.

"From what I understand, the final goal of Baroque Works is to create an ideal nation. Those who bring success to the organization, will supposedly be given high-ranking positions in this 'ideal' nation." Princess Vivi said with a frown.

"The boss goes by the codename, 'Mr. 0'. Apparently, the lower an agents number is, the higher their ranking will be in this new nation. This also represents a person's strength. In Baroque Works, the lower an agents number is, the stronger they are. This is especially true starting for the numbers 5 and lower, whose strength is considered monstrous. I've heard that Mr. 5 once sunk an entire island by himself with the power of his devil fruit, though I don't know if this actually true or not." Igaram told them, making Usopp nearly have a panic attack. Mr. 5 wasn't even the boss, and he was (possibly, at least) capable of something like that?!

"Why did you two start spying on them, anyway?" Zoro asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Have any of you ever heard of a kingdom called Alabasta?" Vivi asked, getting head shakes in the negative from the pirates. "It used to be a peaceful place, but it's been mired by revolutionary activities for the past few years, making the country slowly fall into a state of chaos. One day, I so happened to hear the name of an organization, which was none other than Baroque Works. I'd heard that they had been the ones instigating the revolutionaries. But other than that, I didn't know anything else about the orginization, nor did I know how I could anything to stop them." Here, Vivi paused as she let out a sad sigh.

"And so, even though I knew that what I heard may have just been a rumor, I asked Igaram if there was any way for us to infiltrate Baroque Works... That was the only thing I could think of to get rid of the dark shadow that looms over Alabasta, and determine their goal once and for all."

"Well aren't you a brave princess." Zoro said, smirking in approval.

"This 'ideal nation' that Baroque Works is working towards... Is it..?" Nami let her question trail off.

"It's as you suspect. They plan to take the kingdom of Alabasta. And if I don't hurry to stop the revolutionaries, and let them know what we've found out about Baroque Works, then my home will be lost, along with millions of innocent people's lives!" Vivi said, quickly wiping her watery eyes.

"You two know who the boss is, right?" Luffy asked, getting wide eyes from Vivi and Igaram.

"What?! No, you can't ask that! If you learned his identity, you and your crew would be hunted down by Baroque Works!" Vivi shouted, frantically waving her hands in front of her.

"She's right, Luffy! I mean, a guy who's planning to take over an entire country has to be dangerous! Ah, I think I'm coming down with a case of, I-can't-learn-the-boss'-name-or-I'll-die disease!" Usopp exclaimed, falling off his seat in his panic.

"That's right! No matter how strong you all may be, none of you are a match for Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords!" Vivi tried to warn them, only realizing her mistake a moment later.

Everybody fell silent for a few moments. Then:

"AAAAAAHHH!!! Why'd you tell us?! Now we're all gonna get killed! Luffy, we have to run!" As expected, Usopp was the first to panic, screaming as he ran around like a headless chicken.

"I'm so sorry!" Vivi said quickly, holding her hands over her mouth.

Suddenly, Luffy snapped his head to the left, getting the attention of the others, and they all saw two animals sitting on the ledge of a building. One was a vulture wearing a hat and sunglasses, while the other was an otter, which was wearing a white and purple polka-dot onesie, and a pair of shades.

A few seconds later, the otter hopped on the vultures back, before the two flew off into the night.

"Wh- What were those animals just now?!" Usopp asked frantically.

"I'm afraid those were the Unluckies. They're messengers for Mr. 0." Igaram explained, grimacing. "Miss Friday - the otter - is a great artist, despite being an animal. If they've seen your faces, then the boss will also know about you soon enough."

"Hey, Luffy, don't you see how bad this is?! We've only just entered the Grand Line, and we're already making an enemy out of a Warlord!" Usopp shouted with waterfalls of tears pouring from his eyes, shaking Luffy back and forth by his shirt.

"This is pretty dangerous, Luffy." Nami said, looking worried. Like Usopp said, it was pretty early for them to be facing someone at the level of a Warlord.

"It's fine, it's fine!" Luffy said with a smile, placing one hand on Usopp's shoulder, while placing his other hand on one of Nami's shoulders. "We'll go to Alabasta, I'll kick Crocodile's ass, and then we'll continue our adventure!"

"Besides, there's no point complaining about it now. Even if we did decide to not do this, Baroque Works has already seen our faces, not to mention the fact that we were seen talking to the princess that they're trying to kill, meaning they would still come after us. At this point, we have to fight them." Zoro added, with both Nami and Usopp having to admit that he had a point.

"So, what now? Do you two just want to sail with us, or...?" Luffy trailes off with a questioning expression.

"I act- ma~ ma~ maa~ I actually have an idea about that."

Around twenty minutes later, Igaram was standing in front of the others, dressed in an outfit that was siimilar to Vivi's. He even had his hair dyed blue and tied up in a high ponytail, and had red lipstick on his lips. He was also holding four dummies under his right arm.

"I- Igaram? What's with that outfit?" Vivi asked, not quite sure what she should feel about this.

'How did he dye his hair that fast?' Is what Nami found herself wondering.

"Once Baroque Works learns of what happened, they'll be sure to send some of their agents after you all. Especially if the Unluckies report that you even managed to defeat Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine." Igaram said, before a thought crossed his mind. "By the way, although his bounty has been frozen now that he's a Warlord, Crocodile had an 80,000,000 bounty back when he was an active pirate."

"Ehhhh?! That's almost four times as much as yours, Luffy!" Usopp shouted, his panic renewed.

"Now then, Princess, please hand me the eternal log pose." Igaram said as he held his hand out, and Vivi did as requested. "I shall use this to make my way to Alabasta dressed up as you, while also using these four dummies to act as decoys for the pirates. This way, I'll have the Baroque Works agents chasing after me, while you all can take a different route to get the princess home. If you take the normal route, there should only be about 2-3 logs to record along the way. Take care, and may we meet again in our homeland."

"I hereby leave the princess in your care." Igaram said to Luffy, getting a nod in return, before he turned back to Vivi. "The journey ahead will no doubt be dangerous, so please try to be careful, Princess."

"You as well, Igaram." Vivi said, before the two shared a hug. She was honestly very hesitant to let him risk his life like this, but she knew there was no swaying him.

A short while later, Igaram was sailing away from the island.

"He seems to really care for you." Nami said with a smile.

"He does. Ever since I was a little girl, I've always been able to depend on him." Vivi said with a smile of her own, albeit a somewhat sad one.

'Farewell for now, Princess Vivi. I have complete faith that you will save our country!' Igaram thought passionately, looking back at the island as he sailed away with a small smile.

BOOOOM!

The Strawhats and Vivi's eyes widened in absolute shock as Igaram's ship blew up, nearly knocking them off their feet with how powerful it was.

"No... No way!" Usopp yelled.

"Y- You're kidding... They're already here?!" Nami shouted, water raining down on her and the others from the large wave that had been created by the explosion.

With a serious look on his face, Luffy put his hat on his head. "He was a good man!" He yelled as he turned around, and began walking away.

"Nami! How's the log?!" Zoro asked quickly, turning to the navigator.

"I- It's finished!" She replied after taking a look at the log pose on her wrist.

"Then we need to hurry up, and get going!" Zoro shouted, running to catch up with Luffy, with Usopp doing the same.

"Vivi! We have to go! If we get caught now, then Igaram's sacrifice will have been in vain!" Nami exclaimed, before gasping when she saw the other girl's face. Although she wasn't crying, she was biting her lip so hard that she drew blood.

"It's alright! I promise that we'll get you back to Alabasta!" Nami said, pulling the princess into a hug. "I've known Luffy for years, and he's never gone back on a promise. If he says he's gonna do something, he'll do it. Trust him. Trust all of us!"

"Zoro, Usopp! Go get the ship ready to set sail! I'll go get Sanji and Nojiko!" Luffy ordered, getting nods from the swordsman and sniper, before they all went to take care of their assigned tasks.

Once everybody was on the ship, they finally set sail, and Usopp let out a loud sigh of relief.

"Say, Vivi, do you know how many people they'll send after us?" Luffy asked once they got a good distance away from Cactus Island.

"I can't say for sure, since Baroque Works has thousands of people in their organization." The princess responded, trying to push past her sadness at seeing Igaram die in front of her.

"Then, we could have over 1,000 people after us?!" Came Usopp's panicked voice.

"It's possible, considering how big of a deal it is for anyone to know Mr. 0's identity." Vivi told them, making Usopp gulp.

While they were talking, Nojiko stumbled over to the side of the ship, before she leaned over the railing and puked. She had never been very good with alcohol, unlike her sister. She knew this, yet she always allowed herself to get drunk, anyway.

Off in the distance, a woman sat on top of a sea creature, watching the as the Strawhats' ship sailed away.

"How silly... Thinking a decoy like this would work." She said, looking at the fiery remains of Igaram's ship.

"Silly, indeed..."

...