Happy New Year! 2025 is officially over, and now we're officially into 2026! Best way for me to start it off is by releasing a new chapter. I'm not much for new year's resolutions but I can at least resolve to increase my rate of releases.
Shout out to Angel Zamora and Joshua Scott for staying in the Advanced Tier of my Patreon. And Welcome to Robert Clegg for becoming the newest member. Thanks guys I love you!
If you want to read all new and available chapters, you can join my patreon at patreon.com/TheWorldForger.
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Chapter 7
Luffy has Several Talks with His Crew
"What?" Luffy said, confused as to why Nami was asking who Yuki was. She currently had his face trapped between her hands. "Why are you asking?"
"Do you not remember?" Nami asked, her face cold and unreadable. He couldn't tell if she was angry or something else. "That Angel guy said he was going to kill me because I was in the way of you and a girl named Yuki. Now, who is she?"
"Um," he said dumbly. He wasn't sure why he felt so anxious right now. It was a simple enough question, but the vibe Nami gave off made him feel if he didn't give her an answer she liked, he'd regret it. "Yuki's Yuki. What else is there to know?"
"I need more than that. I was going to get killed because of the two of you. I deserve an explanation on what you two are to each other. Don't you think so?" She asked, smiling in a very scary way. Weirdly, it was not the first time he'd seen a girl smile in such a scary way.
He wanted to run, but Nami still held his head in her hands. It didn't matter he was much stronger than her (When did it ever matter?) he was stuck. His heart was beating fast as he stared into Nami's eyes. Was he scared?
Nami felt how Luffy's heart raced, and felt a little proud of herself. So, even Luffy could react like a typical guy? "Well, Luffy? I'm waiting."
He swallowed. "Yuki is my mom's student."
"Her student. As in she teaches her to fight?"
"Yeah. Mom picked her up from somewhere when she was off doing her marine work and brought her to our home at Dawn Island. She's my friend."
"Your friend, huh?" Nami sounded skeptical. "Are you sure about that? Keep in mind Luffy. I was nearly killed because of you two. Now, be honest. What is your relationship really like?"
"She's my friend. I guess you could say she's like one of my best friends! Like Kyosuke and Sona!"
"Luffy, I don't even know who those two are. You never told me about your past. Not about Ace, or your Grandpa, or that you have six sisters. All that's a problem I want to discuss later, but for now tell me this. How does she feel about you?"
"Yuki…? We're friends, so I guess she feels the same way you do about me…?"
That only made Nami look scarier. "I bet so."
"But you know, maybe not. When we're together, she gets all quiet and barely talks to me, so maybe she doesn't like me. What?!"
Nami's face looked so cold, Luffy thought he actually might freeze the same way he did when he fought Aokiji.
"I see…" she said chillingly. She finally separated from him and sat beside him under her mother's tangerine trees. She looked up and sighed. She wondered if her mother ever had to deal with these sorts of feelings when she was young. "Basically what I expected. And? What are your feelings for her?"
"Um… I think she's awesome. And strong. Honestly, she's even stronger than me."
Nami looked surprised. "You're kidding!"
"Nope. I've fought her a few times, but I always lose. She's super strong. Even Ace lost to her."
Her jaw dropped. "Come on, you're exaggerating! There's no way she could be that strong. I mean, it's Ace!"
"It happened just before Ace left to become a pirate. Yuki came up to him and said, "The Grand Line is filled with strong pirates and marines. As strong as you are Ace, it's dangerous if you leave home without knowing defeat at least once." Then they fought and she won."
Nami stared incredulously at Luffy, who had imitated Yuki by making his face the impression of a serious and elegant girl. Nami had the picture of a pretty and competent young girl in her head now.
"I see. I guess she's pretty incredible then."
"Oh, yeah!" Luffy said excitedly. "She's super strong! You'd like her, Nami. She's awesome. Something wrong?" He asked, noticing her souring mood.
"Oh, nothing," she sighed. "I'm just realizing that I really don't know much about you."
"That's not true."
"I know the important things. Your dreams, your likes, and the kind of man you are. But I don't really know anything besides all that. I didn't even know you had a mom until that creep came here. That makes me feel a bit sad."
"Sad?"
"I know it might just be simple trivia to you, but I would like to know some things about you. Your childhood, your family, your friends… not all at once, of course. I mean it sounds like it'd be a long story if you did. But if you occasionally told me a few things, I'd love to listen. I mean we are friends, aren't we? What are friends for if not to listen to each other's stories? And I'd really prefer not to learn more about you from the mouths of psycho's like Angel."
Luffy was taken aback. It never occurred to him that any of his crew would even be interested in his life before becoming a pirate. It wasn't as though he was hiding it all, but perhaps he could be a little bit more open about it.
"All that aside. How are you doing right now?"
"What?"
"Today was a lot," Nami said, looking at him with empathy. "For you most of all. Angel threatened your sisters and your mother. That must be weighing on you."
Luffy frowned, remembering it all. "Yeah, it is."
"Remeber what I said this morning before he showed up. You can talk to me if you need to. I want to be there for you when you need it."
Luffy actually felt strangely touched by Nami's concern. "Nami… when did you get so nice?"
"I'm always nice, you idiot!" Nami shouted,hitting him hard on his head.
"How can you call yourself nice and then hit me?!" He shouted angrily, holding the newly formed bump on his head.
"You deserved it," she said.
"I feel frustrated." Luffy admitted. "Frustrated like a guy like that can so easily threaten my family. That he could have killed all of you, too. My sisters are strong, but if a guy like that goes after them when I'm here in the Grand Line… I'm afraid of what will happen. I can't even be there if he decides to go after them. Worse than that, I don't think I could protect them even if I could get there. I hate to admit it, but that guy was incredibly strong. Until I get stronger, I can't hope to beat him. And that's so frustrating!"
Nami stared empathetically. Memories of Arlong threatening to murder Nojiko and the people of Cocoyashi Village if she ever ran away and the fear she always had of returning there to find them all dead surfaced in her mind. "That's something I can relate to all too well. I'm sorry you have to feel that way."
"I want to get stronger. Strong enough that I can beat a guy like that with one punch. I want to protect my family and my friends, but that's probably impossible on my own."
"Who said you're on your own?" Namis asked. "Remember what you told Vivi back at Alabasta. She didn't have to go it alone, and neither do you. I mean, it isn't as though you are the only person who cares about your sisters, right? Your grandpa, your mom, and it sounds like even your dad is still keeping an eye on all of you."
Luffy gaped as if just realizing all of that.
"Oh, yeah! Them. I forgot about them."
"You didn't even think to consider your other relatives?" Nami asked dryly. "Well, if even they aren't enough, then I'm sure we can do something too, can't we?"
"You're right, Nami! You know, you can be pretty smart sometimes!"
"Sometimes? I have to be smart all of the time! Otherwise, this entire ship would have capsized if only you made the decisions!"
"That's true!" Luffy laughed. Nami found herself thinking that she rather preferred his laughter, than his self doubts, even if it could be annoying sometimes. "I'm glad you're my navigator."
Nami looked surprised for a moment, then smiled with her cheeks red. "Honestly, me too. It certainly hasn't been boring."
After finishing talking with Nami, Luffy went to the kitchen. Sanji was there staring at a pile of ingredients, which included a big red fish, which incidentally, Luffy and Usopp had fished up the day before.
"Hey, Sanji!" Luffy said. "What's up?"
"Oh, hey Luffy," Sanji said in a distracted voice as he kept his eyes on the ingredients. "You're up, huh?"
"Yeah! Whatcha' doing?"
"I'm trying to recreate that jerk's recipe'
"Ryuuhei-Ji? His food tasted really good!"
"Yeah, it did. I saw how he prepared it, but if I just go through the motions, it won't turn out as good. He was a master level chef."
"Aren't you a master, too?"
"Sure. It doesn't mean I can imitate another cook's recipe without understanding it first."
Luffy didn't get it. He loved food, so it all tasted great to him. "You know, Kyosukue is a really great cook, too."
Sanji stared at him with interest. "He's that guy's son, right? And Vice Admiral Axel's grandkid?"
"Yup! He's one of my best friends. He's super strong and a really great cook, too! I used to eat at his house everyday."
"I bet he loved that," Sanji said dryly. He sympathized with the guy. It was his job as the ship's cook to feed the crew, but if he had to grow up satisfying Luffy's appetite, he might've lost his mind.
"No. He used to say if I kept coming over all the time, he'd poison my food one day."
"Did he?"
"I don't know. It all tasted good!"
"So, what is he doing these days? Is he a pirate?"
"I'm not sure. He left home six months before me to go on a journey, but he wasn't really sure what he wanted to do back then. But I hope he's having fun."
Luffy smiled fondly at the memory of his friend. Sanji suddenly found himself thinking about Patty and the other cooks at Barate. He frowned. Seriously, why were those crappy cooks entering his thoughts all of a sudden?
"So, you grew up with Vice Admiral Axel, too?" Sanji asked, if for no other reason than to get his old coworkers out of his head.
"Yeah. More or less. I was surprised to hear you met him before."
"Yeah, he and Zeff apparently fought each other once when he was a pirate. And I guess that Ryuuhei guy was there at the time."
"Old Man Zeff is stronger than I thought, if he could go toe-to-toe with Grumpa Axel and still live," Luffy laughed. "Although, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He did train you, after all."
Sanji nodded. "I can tell you for a fact, the old guy was a beast in his prime. Even today, it would take a lot to take him down."
"I bet!"
"When I Axel first came to the Barate, I was prepared to fight to protect Zeff and the restaurant, but when I laid eyes on him, I felt afraid in a way I never had before."
"I know the feeling," Luffy said, looking anxious. "Grumpa Axel is defintely really scary. I really hope we don't run into him on the sea. I'm pretty sure he'd kick my ass with a smile if he found me."
"Don't you think that's because you call him Grumpa?"
Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Never mind…"
"Still, he isn't all bad." Luffy said, his expression looking softer. "He helped me learn how to fight better, and get better at using my devil fruit. I respect him a lot more than my grandpa!"
"I get the feeling Garp would throw cannon balls at you again for saying that."
"That's true…" Luffy grimaced at the thought. "Well, later, Sanji. I'm going to go see Robin."
"Why?"
But Luffy already left before Sanji could get an answer. He made a beeline for the girls cabin and knocked on the door.
"Hey, Robin. Are you there? Can I come in?"
"Hello, Luffy. Yes, please come in."
Luffy entered the girl's room. In contrast to the guy's room, it was certainly more feminine, and just better over all. For starters, the women had beds in their rooms, while the guys had wooden hammocks. And they had a make up table, larger closets, and even a little tea table with plush seats. It was his first time coming to the lady's dorm, and if it were someone besides Luffy, they might have complained at how different it was compared to the guys' room.
Robin was looking through a book when Luffy came in. "Hi, Robin. How are you?"
"I'm actually feeling pretty good. I'm glad to see you awake after all of that. Ryuuhei seemed to take it pretty rough on you."
"Yeah, I nearly died," Luffy laughed. It was no exaggeration, either. Luffy didn't tell Nami, but when Ryuuhei used Dragon Fang on him, purposefully missed at the last second, but the sheer power of it knocked Luffy out just from being near it. If it had actually connected, he would have been killed without a doubt.
"Well, I am glad you weren't brutally killed," Robin said with her typical humor. "Did you need something?"
"I just thought we could talk. Nami told me what happened after I was knocked out."
"I see."
"I didn't know Grumpa Axel's wife was from Ohara."
"I wouldn't know why the vice admiral would not tell you, but I can at least imagine."
"It probably never came up. Or if it did, I probably didn't listen."
"That does seem likely. Tell me, Luffy. What kind of man is Vice Admiral Axel? I heard things about him, but I never encountered him in my travels."
Robin thought it felt wrong to call her life on the run just 'travelling', but it was the cleanest way to describe it.
"He's scary for one thing. And grumpy. I fear him way more than grandpa."
"I see. That makes sense. I've heard Vice Admiral Axel is a marine as feared as any admiral. More, even. They call him the Black Hound of the Navy. Once he sinks his teeth into you, he won't let you go until you're dead."
Of all the marines and Government agents out there, Robin always feared encountering him. The same could be said for Lilia. But now that she knew their connection to her and Ohara, she wondered if she could have been saved if she let herself be found by them. Although, she was glad how things ended up in the end, no matter what she had to endure.
"That definitely sounds like Grumpa!" Luffy laughed. "But he's a good man. He helped me learn how to fight. Grampa used to just put me through scary training and beat me up. Grumpa Axel actually taught me things, although he also beat me up."
"I see. If you don't mind, I'd also like to know about his grandson. He's your friend, right?"
Luffy's eyes lit up. "Kyosuke's one of my best friends. We grew up together, trained together, and played together! He's a really good guy…"
Luffy began telling her stories of his childhood with Kyosuke and also his friend Sona and others, such as Ace. He had such a happy look as he spoke of them, and Robin listened to it all with a motherly smile. She was honestly quite interested, too. Kyosuke, who was the grandson of Vix Serena, could also be considered another echo of Ohara. Although, that might just be a selfish thought of hers.
"It sounds like you all were very close," Robin said with a wistful. "I have to admit, I'm jealous. I didn't really get to have that growing up. Even before my life of running from the World Government, I didn't have any friends my age. The other children thought I was creepy."
"Yeah, I can see that," Luffy said bluntly, which made Robin laugh. "But I bet you were a really interesting girl, Robin. Those kids missed out."
"You think so?" She thought about the kids who bullied her, who even tried to condemn her when the island was being evacuated for the Buster Call and keep her from evacuating with them. She then thought of her aunt, who exploited her, and her uncle and cousin, who neglected her. Everyone who lived in Ohara was now dead, killed by the Government in their zealous attempt to prevent the true history from being revealed. They weren't all good people, but as the last survivor of Ohara, she carried the wills of all of them. "Maybe you're right."
"Did you have any friends from back then?"
"Yes. The scholars of Ohara practically took me in and taught me about archaeology. It's not an exaggeration to say they were the closest thing I had to a real family back then."
"That sounds like how it was for me and Shanks's crew. I looked up to them and wanted to be like them and sail with them. But Shanks would never let me. Said I was too small."
"Sounds like Red Hair was just looking out for you, Luffy."
"I guess so… but I could have handled myself."
"I'm sure," she smiled. "The scholars were my family, but I would say my true first friend was someone else. He washed up on Ohara before its destruction. He taught me things that I couldn't learn in books, including how to laugh. And when the day of Ohara's destruction came, he sacrificed his life to protect me. It's because of him I had the strength to continue on for the past twenty years."
Luffy stared at her deeply, then flashed a grin. "He sounds awesome! And I'm glad you met him."
"He was. And so am I."
Saul truly was her first friend. She was honored to have known him and missed him terribly. 'Saul… would you praise me if you knew what I had to do to keep living? I wish you would, even if it's selfish.'
"Say, Robin?" Luffy said, looking unusually nervous. Robin looked at him curiously, wondering what he was thinking. "I heard Ryuuhei-ji asked you to join the Revolutionary Army, but you said no."
"Technically, he said I would say no. He didn't let me answer."
"What would you have said if he didn't answer for you?"
Robin's lips curved. "Why, Luffy? Are you afraid that I'd leave the crew for your father?"
"I didn't say that, but even I can imagine how you feel. The World Government destroyed your home, you must want payback."
She considered her words carefully. "Honestly, for a long time I didn't have time to feel any sort of anger or hate towards them. I was just trying to survive, which wasn't easy given my age. But yes, I do hate them. And I will be one of the biggest celebrators if your father and the Revolutionary Army succeed in overthrowing them, but I don't think I want to devote my time on simply getting revenge. Or rather, I believe a better use of my time would be following my dreams and carrying Ohara's will and finding the Rio Ponyglyph, which the Government has always hoped to prevent. I believe that would be the best revenge."
"Sounds good," he said, although he honestly didn't understand everything completely. He never really understood Robin's dream or what she wanted to find by reading the Rio Ponyglyph. Nor did he understand why the World Government destroyed her home and made her a wanted girl when she was just a kid, but he could see that it meant a lot to her and that was enough for him.
"Anyway, Luffy, let me show you something." Robin held the book she was reading to his face. It was an old history book with a red leather cover. "This is a history book written by Vix Serena."
"Wow, really? It was written by Kyosuke's grandma?"
"Yes. It's one of my treasures. After the World Government wiped Ohara off the map, they devoted every resource to procuring all texts and research connected to Ohara's scholars. Starting with public institutions and all the way to run down book shops, they confiscated every book written by an Oharan scholar or even something they just offered advice on. They were zealous in their attempts to completely wipe away Ohara's legacy. It didn't matter if the books they destroyed had no connection to the Void Century that they feared. After several years, there were no public ways to acquire any books from Ohara, and they became as rare as gold."
Robin spoke with a mournful look as she spoke about the destroyed books. It broke her heart to even think about such valuable books of knowledge being destroyed or hidden away from those who wanted to learn.
"That sucks Robin. So I guess that book you have there would be one of the ones the Government wants to destroy?"
"Yes. The World Government certainly did its best to wipe out everything related to Ohara, including me, but that isn't always an easy thing to accomplish. Every once in a while you can find books written by great scholars of Ohara in black markets. Sold at exorbitant prices, of course. I found this book written by Vix Serena five years ago, by chance."
Back then, it felt like a work of fate to finally encounter a book from her lost homeland. Even more so when it was a book written by one of the scholars she most looked up to. It was actually a book she had already read cover to cover back in her childhood and something that was still firmly in her memories. Honestly, that was the case for at least a tenth of the destroyed literature. If she devoted some time to it, she might be able to recreate some of them. With her ability, it could be done quickly.
"It cost me an amount that would make our dear navigator furious, but it was worth it." Fortunately, she was able to steal the money from her former employer before Crocodile. Also luckily, that organization she was a part of was destroyed just a week later, so she didn't have to deal with the consequences of that decision. "I'm lucky to have managed to have kept a hold of it. Especially after I had left the crew before."
She opened the book up and showed him an image of a woman. "This is Vix Serena. Have you ever seen a picture of her before?"
"No," Luffy said, studying the picture. The picture was in black and white. It showed a beautiful woman dressed in formal dress with a cool and intelligent smile on her face. Sanji would definitely fall for her if he met her. "So, that's Kyosuke's grandma? She kinda looks like Kyoka."
"Kyoka?"
"Kyosuke's big sister… who I guess is Ryuuhei-ji's daughter. Now that I think about it, those two did look alike, too. Weird."
"So, you're saying that Serena has other grandchildren?"
"I guess I am. There's Kyoka, Kyosuke, and their little sister Hiyori."
"So, there's three of them, is there?" Robin had a dreamy, happy look. To his surprise, Robin puts her treasured book down and embraced him tightly.
"Robin!" Luffy said in surprise.
"Sorry, Luffy. I'm just really happy I joined your crew."
For a moment, Luffy wasn't sure what to do in this situation, but then he recalled his mom saying he should comfort girls when they're sad, so he hugged her back. Suddenly, he started remembering his mom and two big sisters and started missing them, which made him feel embarrassed.
"I'm glad, too, Robin. Things wouldn't be the same without you." They let go of each other, and he said, "You know, Kyosuke's grandma's grave is near his house. I've seen it."
"Really?" That made her feel happy. There were no graves for anyone who died at Ohara for her to visit. If at least one of Ohara's scholars had a proper burial, she was grateful for that. She wouldn't nitpick that the one who is buried wasn't involved in the massacre. "I'd love to visit it one day if that's okay. She was one of my favorite scholars growing up. Her research is simply insightful!"
"Sure, I don't think anybody will mind that. The thing is, I never knew she was killed. I just assumed she died naturally."
Ryuuhei had told them his mother was killed. When people like them said someone was killed, there was no mistaking it for anything else. He definitely meant she was murdered.
"I see. So, you didn't know. Ryuuhei said that it happened long before what happened at Ohara, so I suppose it wasn't the Government, although it certainly isn't outside of their nature to kill someone if they think a crime has been committed."
Serena was an Oharan scholar. They must've studied the Poneglyphs even back then. Although, she had no idea what she was doing living as a wife and mother, so any theory she could formulate would just be mere speculation. In any case, she didn't think it was them. She had a feeling something else had killed her, but she didn't have enough information to really know.
Vix Serena was the wife of Wolf D. Axel, who was on par with the likes of Garp. Whoever killed her has to be either foolish or fearless.
Luffy left the girls room and moved towards the dock stations of the Sunny. Franky was there, working on a project.
"Hey, Franky," Luffy said.
"Hi, Luffy," Franky said, looking somewhat awkward. The last time the two properly talked, he had basically accused Luffy's mother of enslaving his master.
"What's up?"
"Oh, nothing. I heard that Ryuuhei-ji told you that your master was on my mom's ship, and that he's safe."
"He did," Franky said, his face beaming for a moment before lowering his head in penance. "Listen, Captain. I'm sorry for bad mouthing your mom earlier. That was out of line."
"You don't need to apologize, Franky. I get it. Sure I was mad at first, but I think I get it now. Your master means a lot to you. If I heard that someone I loved and thought was dead was actually alive and didn't tell me, I'd be really worried, too."
"Thanks for understanding, but I was still out of line. You told me your mom wasn't like that. I should've believed you."
"Please get up, Franky. You already apologized. This is enough." Franky obeyed, and lifted his head. "Listen, Franky. I'm glad your master is alive on my mom's crew. Also, I feel a bit bad for him, too. Mom's a scary lady!"
Franky smirked. "I know Tom can handle her."
"…Whatever you say," Luffy said dryly, clearly not believing it. "So, Franky. What sort of guy was your master? He built Gold Roger's ship, right?"
Franky began telling him about his mentor. About how he took him in after his pirate parents abandoned him at Water 7. How he taught him and Iceberg how to be shipwrights. How he always smiled and treated him like family, encouraging him to pursue his own style of shipbuilding. He probably gave him too much freedom, honestly. He was the best shipbuilder in the world.
"Your master sounds like an amazing guy!"
"He really was. Or… he is. Goddammit! I can't believe he's really alive!" Franky started crying and wailing dramatically as tears fell from his eyes.
"From the sound of it, he really sounds like the sort of guy my mom would like."
"Huh?"
"I don't really know anything about mom's crew besides Yuki and my cousins and my godmother and godfather, but my mom loves to meet interesting people. It sounds like Tom fits the bill."
Franky dried his tears. "Well… there's no shipwright more fun or interesting than Tom, I'll tell you that! Your mom's got good taste if that's what he picked him for.
"Yep." Luffy noticed that Franky seemed to be building something. "What are you working on, Franky?"
"I'm experimenting with a sort of anti-intruder security system. After everything that happened today, I think it's warranted."
"I'll say. Make sure you build something that can fire guys out of the sky."
"It's the first thing I plan to do."
Luffy's next stop was the crow's nest, which was also the training room, which was primarily used by Zoro. Although, the others also used it, too, but Zoro was the primary user.
"Hey, Zoro!"
"…Hey, Luffy. You're back up, huh?" Zoro murmured, not looking at him as he entered the crow's nest. He wasn't lifting a crazy amount of weight as he usually did. Instead was staring at one of his swords. The one with the white hilt.
"What are you doing?"
"I was trying to see if I could unlock my Haki, but, of course, it's not a simple thing. I haven't been able to unlock anything. That Ryuuhei guy said Haki is activated through hard training or life or death situations. I train hard and I've certainly been through my share of life or death situations…"
"Me, too. I'm sorry sorry, Zoro. I don't think I can help you with it right now. I don't really understand Haki myself yet."
"I figured," he sighed. He stood up and stared at his captain. "So, what do you know? Did anything stick after your fight with that guy?"
Luffy thought about it. "Hard to say. I might've touched on something, but I don't think I can use Haki yet."
"I see. What about that other thing? Your inherited devil fruit power?"
At that, Luffy smirked. "See for yourself!"
His eyes turned red and the dark miasma exuded from his body like a sinister aura. It didn't look quite as strong as when he first unlocked it and fought against Angel, but it
still looked formidable. Zoro smiled with approval.
"Nice. But you know? I don't really get it. What's it supposed to do?"
"For one thing it makes me stronger and faster. I should also be able to make things with the darkness, but…" He held out his hand and focused. The darkness seemed to be moving in a deliberate way and taking the form of something, but the would-be construct crumbled before completion. "I can't yet."
"I see. So you could make swords and stuff?"
"I could. I wanted to make a big bat and smack Kyosuke's dad with it. But I couldn't."
"I get the feeling if you had, he'd make you pay," Zoro said dryly.
"That's probably true," Luffy groaned, as the darkness disappeared. "Oh, yeah. I can only use the darkness for around 10 seconds."
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Then it's useless right now."
"I'll get better at it," he assured
"I hope so. Anyway, Luffy. I noticed you've been going about the ship and checking on the others," he said, staring at him with concern. "Is it out of guilt? Do you think it's your fault Angel attacked us?"
Luffy eyes widened. Then he looked down guiltily. "Isn't it? He came after us because of my mom. He almost killed Nami today. The only reason he left is because he's weird. If he actually wanted to kill any of you, I don't think anybody could have stopped him."
"That's true," Zoro admitted. "But that doesn't mean it's your fault. And it isn't your mom's fault, either. That guy's a freak. There's no understanding a guy like that. If he's, then our paths would have crossed even if he wasn't obsessed with your mother. Everybody is alive because of you, Captain. Remember that."
"Zoro…" Luffy said in awe. "You sound so smart."
"I'm always smart!" He shouted angrily. "Why do you feel so bad, anyway? You put us all in danger every day and you never feel bad about it. What makes today any different?"
"Well, today there was actually a chance of some of you dying. I don't mind doing crazy stuff normally because I know you guys will survive it."
Zoro furrowed his brow in annoyance. "That's your reasoning?"
"Plus, I never thought my mom's stuff would affect us. She has her adventures. I have mine."
"Well, that was short sighted. From the sound of it, she's a pretty big deal. And so are we. Our paths would still intersect whether we like it or not. Parent or not, that's just how it is. Don't overthink it. It isn't like you."
"Guess you're right. But you know, that guy will probably come back."
"Then, we just have to get stronger in the meantime, right?" Zoro smirked. "The only way to do that is to train to our utmost. So, wanna go?"
Zoro grinned provocatively, holding out his Wado at Luffy in challenge. Luffy sighed.
"I just woke up from my last fight, you know?"
"Is that a no?"
"Of course not. Just don't get embarrassed when I win."
"Hmph. As if. Let's go outside."
"Okay!" They both climbed down the crow's nest. "You know, you and I haven't fought each other since Whiskey Peak when I thought you cut up those guys because you didn't like the food."
A vein throbbed on Zoro's forehead. "Don't remind me of that, idiot. That was so stupid."
"And then Nami stopped us."
"Remind me of that even less…"
…
Somewhere on the Grand Line, Ryuuhei and Sairo were rowing back to the Revolutionary Army's headquarters in the midst of the night. Well, Sairo was rowing. Ryuuhei was just laying back.
"Ryu-chan, why exactly am I the only one rowing?" Sairo complained.
"Cause I'm tired," he said casually.
"But I swam from Water 7 to find you…"
"That alone wouldn't tire you out, would it? Anyway, I'm feeling pretty after useless after expending that much Haki."
"As if," he said. No way only that much would exhaust Ryuuhei. He was just being lazy. Sairo looked up thoughtfully at the clear night sky. "So, Ryu-chan. About that Angel guy."
"What about him?"
"You said he's been after Lia-chan for a decade now. And he's been aware of us-all of us-for over 20 years."
"That appears to be the case. Although, who knows what goes on inside the head of a guy like that?"
"Right… but it seems like he was connected to Titan."
"And?"
"He's after both Dra-chan and Lia-chan for bringing him down. That's what I'm thinking."
"It's possible, but we're working with too little information to know for sure. I'll work on it and figure it out when we return."
"If I'm right, what will we do?"
"Ideally, nothing. This is Lilia's problem. Let her handle it. Getting involved in a fight with a Pseudo-Emperor is beyond our bandwidth at the moment."
"I suppose. But what will Dra-chan do if it's all true?"
"He isn't exactly ignorant of Lilia's situation." Ryuuhei has always kept Dragon up to date on the status of the family. Although, he didn't keep track of the children who left the island, reasoning that if they choose to live uncertain lives, then there was no reason to keep an eye on them anymore. That included his own children. "Dragon won't interfere with her business unnecessarily."
"Yeah, he's a bit cold like that," Sairo smiled. "But I bet he wants to."
"Probably."
"Still… if it was just Lia-chan, I could leave it alone, but that bastard went after the kids! Including Sona! Can we really just let that go?"
"Sairo," he sighed. "That creep crossed a line. I want to make him pay, too, but like I said, we do not have the bandwidth to be revolutionaries and pick fights with a Pseudo-Emperor. Or really, challenging him would be a mistake on our end."
"Is he really that strong?"
"Being labeled a Pseudo-Emperor isn't really that special to me. Lots of upstart pirates get called when they gain a little success in the New World and gain some territory, but they are swiftly crushed once they challenge one of the actual Emperors. The Angel Pirates are different in that they've been around all this time and have yet to even attempt to take on any of the 4 Emperors."
"So, what? They're cowards?"
"The opposite, I'd say. Based on their actions, they just don't seem to care. Or at least, their captain doesn't. I've analyzed the Angel Pirates fighting strength and resources, and I'll say this. Their chances of winning against one of the 4 Emperors isn't zero."
"Okay, they're strong." The blonde man said, stroking his chin in a thoughtful way. "So, why not take on any of the Emperors? Isn't that what pirates do?"
"Not every pirate has the ambition to become conquerors. And it isn't exactly the dumbest thing to avoid facing off against one the Emperors. Even if somebody actually managed to win it wouldn't be without cost. The thing about the Angel Pirates, though, isn't mere pragmatism. It's total indifference to the power structure."
"They're indifferent? What does that mean?"
"They don't pick fights with any of the Emperors, but they also don't run from them. If any of the Emperors try to take them on they face them head on and actually manage to push them back. That also includes the Navy. The Angel Pirates never seem to actually instigate anything… except with the Demon Unit. The only group ever to make moves on is them. They've got the strength to conquer the sea, but the only thing they seem to do is antagonize them. They're obsessed with them. Or rather, they're captain is obsessed with Lilia."
Sairo stared with wide eyes. His blood chilled as he fully grasped the magnitude of the Angel's obsession.
"I feel foolish for not realizing it all earlier. Of course a guy would threaten Lilia's home to get to her. Of course, he'd do anything to break her. Well, at least the kids and them aren't at Dawn Island anymore, so he at least can't get to them that way. Not that I particularly like how that came about, but it is convenient."
"Ryu-chan!" Sairo yelled, suddenly jumping onto his feet. "Don't you think-OH!"
Ryuuhei kicked him in the groin.
"Don't jump up so suddenly. You'll capsize us. Get back to rowing."
"Aye…" Sairo slowly collapsed onto his rear.
"I keep telling you, we don't have the bandwidth to pick fights with both the World Government and the Angel Pirates. That said… Angel did come after our kids. It was stupid pranks, but you don't break that code. I will discuss it with Dragon. If he decides to take action against him, I'll bring down the hammer myself. That guy can mess with Lilia all he wants, but mess with all of us? He'll find out quickly why we're the most dangerous family in the world!"
His expression was filled with icy cold resolve. One way or another, he would make sure Angel received his own brand of divine punishment.
…
The end for now. If you want to read ahead without waiting for my arbitrary releases of the free stuff, you can join my patreon at patreon.com/TheWorldForger.
I hope everyone enjoys this fic. I put a lot of heart into it and I hope I am always able to honor the canon while making something unique and interesting.
All in all, Happy New Year! May 2026 be a great year for everybody!