Chapter 6: The Meaning of Not Doubting
“You’re both even in sync,” I laughed heartily at the exaggerated angry looks Nami and Zoro were giving me.
I ignored the dumbfounded stares the Marines and Helmeppo were sending my way, all of them still looking unsure whether they should fire again after seeing their bullets bounce off me.
Tiche was simply giving me a fond look, completely unconcerned, while Koby looked both relieved and nervous as he glanced at the Marines surrounding us.
That was when another presence made itself known.
A giant blond man with a metal jaw and a massive axe for a right hand stepped forward.
Axe-Hand Morgan.
“What the hell is going on here!?” he boomed loudly, immediately causing the Marines to stiffen nervously.
Before any of them could answer, the onion-headed idiot rushed over to him with a pathetic expression.
“Daddy! They’re criminals trying to free Roronoa Zoro! I want you to kill them!” Helmeppo whined loudly.
A second later, Morgan backhanded him hard enough to send him crashing to the ground.
“Quiet, you useless son!” Morgan barked angrily.
Helmeppo froze on the floor in shock, staring at his father like he was seeing him for the first time.
Morgan then turned toward the Marines, causing several of them to pale.
“Tell me, why have you not killed these trespassers yet?” he demanded. “I also heard a rat snuck into the execution yard earlier today. Have you dealt with her?”
“B-But she was just a little girl…” one of the Marines muttered in confusion and fear.
“Anyone who disobeys my orders is a traitor who deserves death,” Morgan said coldly. “Even little brats.”
While all of that was happening, our group watched silently with varying expressions.
Koby in particular looked openly disgusted as my earlier words continued being proven right before his eyes.
“You see?” I muttered softly, catching everyone’s attention as I lowered my hat slightly over my eyes. “Just like I said… it doesn’t matter what flag someone flies or what they claim to stand for.”
“There are rotten people everywhere.”
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Nami quietly turn away with her arms crossed, silently agreeing with me.
Zoro merely grunted while Koby nodded sadly.
Only Tiche remained silent as she stepped closer beside me with her dagger ready, already sensing things were about to turn ugly.
“Haah… looks like no matter what choice I make, I’ll end up branded a criminal after today anyway,” Zoro suddenly said.
That got my attention immediately.
Turning toward him, I felt a grin slowly spread across my face.
“I’ll join you.”
“But I’ll tell you this right now,” Zoro continued while shooting me a determined glare. “I’m going to fulfill my ambition! I’m going to become the world’s greatest swordsman!”
His determination only made my grin grow wider.
“And if I end up having to give that up because of you, then you better take responsibility and apologize to me!” he declared with a glare that didn’t deter me in the slightest. “I’ll spread my name throughout the entire world!”
“Shishishi, like I told you earlier, I wouldn’t expect anything less from my first mate,” I laughed happily, earning a small smirk from him before I turned toward a surprised-looking Nami.
“Nami,” I called out, snapping her out of whatever she was thinking.
I gave her a playful wink.
“Why don’t you stand back for a bit and let me, Zoro, and Tiche handle this? That way you can get an idea of how strong we are.”
Nami blinked before huffing and turning her head away with crossed arms.
“I wasn’t planning on getting on the Navy’s bad side anyway,” she grumbled, though she still backed away alongside Koby.
“Alright then, let’s kick their asses!” I declared with a grin while cracking my knuckles and stepping forward fearlessly.
“Hey, you assholes!” I shouted toward the still arguing Marines, catching all of their attention. “You guys are ruining Koby’s dream, so prepare for an ass kicking!”
Morgan’s face twitched angrily before he roared—
“Kill them!”
The moment he pointed his axe-hand toward us, the three of us moved at once.
Within seconds, Marines were dropping all around us from punches, kicks, and sword strikes, leaving behind only a gobsmacked Morgan and his annoying son.
“Y-You have a Devil Fruit!” Morgan exclaimed while backing away nervously, sweat pouring down his face.
“Yep,” I replied carelessly.
Then I disappeared.
A second later, I reappeared directly in front of him with my fist buried deep in his stomach.
Morgan’s eyes instantly rolled back before he groaned and collapsed unconscious.
Letting his body hit the floor, I casually dusted off my hands before turning toward the others and flashing them a peace sign.
“And easy does it~”
Zoro’s eyes had widened slightly, probably because he hadn’t even been able to follow my speed.
Nami’s reaction was even better.
Her eyes were wide, her jaw hanging open in complete disbelief at what she had just witnessed.
A moment later though, Zoro’s body finally gave out after days without food or water and he collapsed onto the ground.
“Zoro-san!” Koby yelled worriedly, snapping out of his own shock.
“Don’t worry, he just needs some food in his belly,” I said while waving off his concerns.
Walking over, I easily lifted Zoro onto my shoulder before turning back toward Nami with a teasing grin.
“So~ what do you think, Nami?”
Nami blinked once.
Then Berry signs immediately appeared in her eyes again.
“I think we’re going to become very rich~”
“Shishishi~”
=====
Several Hours Later
Word quickly spread throughout the town about our defeat of Morgan and, instead of panicking like one would normally expect after a pirate and his crew beat up a group of Marines, the townspeople broke into celebration instead.
Little Rika had apparently watched the whole thing and immediately invited us back to her mom’s restaurant.
After hearing the full story, her mother even let us eat for free.
That was where we found ourselves now.
Me, Zoro, and even Koby were shoveling food down our throats at frightening speeds while empty plates kept stacking higher and higher around us.
Only Tiche and Nami were eating at a normal pace while calmly talking amongst themselves, with Nami probably striking up a conversation because Tiche was another girl close to her age.
Slowing down my eating a bit, I finally focused on the three notifications I still had waiting for me.
[Feat Achieved! Met and Got Nami to “Join” Crew]
+1 Gold Random Ticket
[Feat Achieved! Met Helmeppo]
+1 Silver Random Ticket
[Feat Achieved! Met and Defeated Axe-Hand Morgan]
+1 Silver Random Ticket
Three tickets at once. Nice.
‘Still… I wonder if the parenthesis around “Join” means there’s still a chance things could play out like canon and Nami leaves later,’ I thought curiously before shaking my head.
That was future me’s problem.
Right now, it was time to gamble.
[Rolling…]
[Inventory]
|Rare Ability|
You have access to an inventory subspace that you can store inanimate targets inside in a statis. By default, you can store 100 tons inside of it, the maximum weight of what your inventory can hold scales with your physical stats. To store something inside of the inventory you must will it inside while touching the target. Any stored target can be taken out of storage within a distance of at most 1 meter from your body.
[XV - The Devil]
|Rare Item|
Tarot Card — Summons infernal chains capable of restraining and weakening a target. Strong enough enemies can break free.
48 Hour Cooldown.
[Impulse]
|Uncommon Ability|
Allows you to accelerate the electrical signals in your body, proportionally increasing your reflexes and speed. Excessive use may result in nerve damage.
Reading through my rewards, I couldn’t stop the grin spreading across my face.
‘Now all I need is some kind of item or ability that gives me unlimited money and Nami will never want to leave the crew.’
My eyes lingered on the Inventory ability with obvious satisfaction.
Not only do we no longer have to worry about food spoiling or running out of storage space, but nobody can steal our stuff anymore either since I can just shove everything into my inventory.
Definitely one of the best pulls so far.
Then my attention shifted toward the final ability.
At first, I only raised a curious eyebrow.
Then my eyes widened.
Wait a second…
Since I’m immune to electricity because of my rubber body… doesn’t that mean I can use Impulse without suffering the drawbacks?
Immediately interested, I made a mental note to test it out later once we were back at the ship.
I was interrupted from my thoughts by a loud belch.
Turning toward Zoro, I saw him leaning back in his chair while letting out a satisfied sigh.
“Phew, that really hit the spot,” he muttered while patting his stomach now that he looked fully recovered after finally eating properly.
Then he turned toward me.
“So, what’s the plan, Captain?”
His question caused everyone at the table to pause and look toward me expectantly.
Leaning back after finishing my last plate, I wiped my mouth with a napkin before grinning.
“The main goal is heading to the Grand Line,” I replied calmly. “But before that, I’m hoping we can get ourselves a bigger ship and recruit at least two more crewmates.”
“One of them definitely needs to be a cook.”
The others nodded at that since it was a pretty sensible idea.
“Though,” I added with a grin, “I also wouldn’t mind getting a musician.”
That immediately earned me either glares or deadpan looks from Nami and Zoro.
“A musician?” Nami repeated with a twitching eyebrow. “A cook I understand and even agree with, but why the hell is a musician on the same priority level?”
“Because pirates love to sing, obviously,” I answered simply like it was the most natural thing in the world.
That only caused them to stare at me like I was an idiot.
Well, everyone except Tiche.
Seeing Nami open her mouth—probably to yell at me again—I rolled my eyes and rested my cheek against my hand.
“Think about it,” I explained calmly. “We’re going to spend weeks at sea sometimes before reaching another island. Having someone like a musician around would make those long boring trips way easier to deal with.”
Nami blinked at me in surprise, clearly not expecting an actual explanation.
…Okay, maybe she really does think I’m an idiot already.
To be fair, I probably give off that vibe sometimes.
“…That actually makes a surprising amount of sense,” Nami admitted reluctantly before quickly shaking her head. “But I still say a cook and a doctor should be the top priorities.”
“I’m sure we’ll find a doctor eventually,” I shrugged casually.
That earned another eye twitch from her.
“Besides, I’ve never been sick a day in my life, so it doesn’t really feel urgent.”
“Huh. Me neither, actually,” Zoro chimed in thoughtfully.
Nami and Koby stared at us like we were some kind of freaks.
To be fair… they weren’t exactly wrong.
“That’s because you two are monsters!” Nami yelled while pointing at us with shark teeth showing. “Don’t compare normal girls like me and Tiche to you idiots!”
Tilting my head, I looked at her in confusion.
“Huh? But Tiche has never gotten sick either from what I know.”
Nami blinked.
Slowly, she turned toward Tiche.
Tiche silently nodded in confirmation.
Nami’s expression immediately became hollow.
“Shishishi~ Guess that means you’re the weird one here, Nami~” I teased with a grin.
A second later, her fist slammed into my cheek.
Not that it hurt at all.
“As if!”
Unfortunately, our good mood was interrupted when the doors to the restaurant suddenly opened.
The entire bar quieted down as several nervous-looking Marines walked inside and headed directly toward our table.
Zoro and Tiche immediately became alert while Nami tried to subtly hide behind me and Koby attempted to make himself look as small as possible as the Marines stopped in front of our table.
Getting straight to the point, they nervously asked if we were pirates.
Before anyone else could answer, I casually confirmed it, completely ignoring Nami’s glare.
Looking even more nervous now, the Marines thanked us for taking down Morgan before awkwardly asking us to leave town, which several people in the restaurant immediately protested against.
Not wanting to create problems for Koby though, I calmly agreed.
We stood up, thanked Rika and her mother Ririka for the food, and began heading toward the exit.
Just as we were about to leave, however, one of the Marines hesitantly spoke up again.
“W-Wait… is that boy with you?”
Seeing Koby tense nervously, I was about to recreate the canon scene before suddenly tilting my head as another idea popped into my mind.
“You got some paper?” I asked curiously, taking everyone by surprise.
A moment later, Rika quickly ran over with a piece of paper and a pen, earning herself a thankful headpat from me.
Under everyone’s curious gazes, I quickly wrote a short message before handing it to the Marine in charge.
“Here,” I said casually. “I want you to give this message to Garp the Fist. I have it on good authority that he’ll probably visit this place sometime in the near future.”
The entire restaurant gasped the moment I mentioned Grandpa’s title.
“G-G-Garp the Fist!? The legendary Hero of the Marines!?” the Marine stammered while shakily accepting the note. “How do you—”
I ignored the question completely.
“Anyway, about the puny kid over there,” I continued while jerking a thumb toward Koby, “I fished him out of the ocean on the way here. Apparently he wants to become a Marine or something.”
Shrugging, I started walking again with the others following behind me.
I ignored Koby’s watery-eyed look of gratitude as he loudly declared his intention to join the Marines.
As we walked through town, Nami eventually caught up beside me with a curious expression.
“How exactly do you know such a high-ranking Marine, Luffy?” she asked suspiciously.
“I’ll give you a hint,” I grinned while looking at her sideways. “His full name is Monkey D. Garp. Ring any bells?”
Nami’s eyes widened in shock while Zoro, who had also been listening, blinked in surprise.
“Y-Y-You’re related to the Hero of the Marines and still decided to become a pirate!?” Nami practically yelled, drawing several confused looks our way.
“Shishishi, yep~” I nodded casually while continuing to walk.
“Don’t just answer so casually!” Nami exclaimed before letting out an exhausted sigh a moment later. “Aggh… okay, that actually explains why you’re such a monster.”
“Oh yeah, Grandpa’s training was brutal,” I nodded seriously before shuddering slightly as old memories resurfaced of being thrown into ravines and jungles.
Quickly shoving those traumatic memories aside, I focused back on the present.
Once we reached the docks, we ran into another small problem regarding which boat we would use moving forward.
Thankfully, the issue solved itself quickly.
Nami’s small boat was even worse than ours, so she sold it for some extra Berry before joining us aboard our own ship.
As we slowly sailed away from Shells Town, I spotted Koby standing near the shore and pointed him out to the others.
“Luffy-san! I’ll never forget everything you’ve done for me!” Koby yelled while saluting us from the docks.
More surprising to everyone else though…
…was when the Marines behind him also raised their hands in salute.
Zoro raised an eyebrow while Nami slapped a hand against her forehead.
“Marines saluting pirates… this entire day has been one giant headache,” she groaned quietly.
I just chuckled.
Then, placing my hands on my hips, I suddenly spoke loudly enough to get everyone’s attention.
“Alright!”
Zoro and Nami both looked toward me curiously.
“If you’re going to be part of this crew, there are a few things I want to teach you guys that’ll definitely come in handy later.”
My serious tone immediately caught Zoro’s attention while Nami crossed her arms skeptically.
“And what exactly is that?” she asked.
Grinning widely at the question, I pointed dramatically at the both of them.
“I’m going to teach you the meaning of not doubting!”
“…Hah?”