Luffy stepped forward, his Conqueror's Haki erupting.
The terrifying crimson aura instantly knocked out the thousands of female soldiers chasing him.
Only a few Amazon warriors at the level of a marine captain barely managed to remain conscious, yet even they knelt on the ground, cold sweat streaming uncontrollably down their bodies.
The deterrent power of Luffy's Conqueror's Haki was no longer comparable to when he had first awakened it; it had grown stronger alongside his overall power.
Greater strength and confidence brought a further enhanced Conqueror's aura.
He had only left a few people standing because he was holding back.
After dealing with the female soldiers, Luffy spoke helplessly, "I didn't fall into the women's bathhouse on purpose. Stop chasing me; I still need to find my crew. I don't want to hurt you now, but that doesn't mean I'll be gentle when I'm angry."
With that, Luffy turned and walked toward where Zoro, Robin, and Nami were.
As he left, he received a praise from Zoro.
"Not bad, Captain. You've learned to intimidate enemies instead of just punching them now."
Luffy grinned. "Well, I did learn a thing or two from Ray. We can't let these women keep harassing us forever."
Thus, the four of them departed, using Robin's Flower-Flower Fruit ability to search for their lost companions.
Six hours later, the Straw Hat Grand Fleet completed their assembly.
A massive force of about a thousand people gathered in the jungle valley on the western side of the island.
The Straw Hat crew members expressed their gratitude one by one to Mikita, Bartolomeo, Bonney, Kuma, and the others.
"On the Sabaody Archipelago, if you hadn't helped, hmm... then there would've been a thousand fewer people here," Luffy struggled to form a complete sentence of gratitude, making everyone feel quite awkward.
'Don't make it sound like it wouldn't have mattered whether we were here or not!'
At this moment, Zoro stepped forward to ease Luffy's embarrassment.
"Bartolomeo saved Luffy. Bonney saved me. The floating pirates worked together to hold off the Pacifistas while we fought against Admiral Aokiji. The other members of the Grand Fleet joined forces to rescue the mermaid Camie. You helped us tremendously."
Following Zoro's words, Usopp also stepped before the crowd, shouting loudly.
"Most importantly, when you saw the Admiral and the Five Elders coming to eliminate us, you didn't choose to run away. Instead, you faced the powerful enemies together with us. For that alone, I, the cap... pirate warrior Usopp, acknowledge all of you as my brothers and sisters!"
Sanji, Robin, Nami, Chopper, Franky, and Brook expressed similar sentiments.
While some of the more rational members had been hesitant when these people first pledged allegiance to them, things were different now.
Having weathered hardships together made them true companions.
Then, all eyes turned to Luffy.
If he agreed, the Straw Hat Grand Fleet would be officially established.
Unexpectedly, Luffy pursed his lips, looking utterly reluctant.
This made Bartolomeo, Mikita, and the others extremely nervous.
'What should we do? The boss doesn't seem to want to acknowledge us.'
Although the other Straw Hat members very much wanted to accept these subordinates, they wouldn't press the matter since Luffy hadn't spoken.
Even Usopp, who loved being in the spotlight the most, remained silent.
As for Rayleigh, Shakky, Kuma, and Bonney, they simply watched the scene unfold calmly.
Time passed minute by minute, and the entire valley was unusually quiet.
Finally, Luffy stood up.
The evening sun's afterglow shone upon the platform where Luffy stood.
At this moment, everyone was eagerly waiting him.
The straw hat, illuminated by the sunset, was dazzlingly bright.
Such a scene was perfect for a sworn brotherhood ceremony!
But then Luffy sighed.
'Damn, is he still going to refuse?' the others thought, feeling somewhat displeased.
They had risked their lives to help the Straw Hat crew; was such a pledge of loyalty still not enough?
The other members of the Straw Hat pirates also frowned.
Even if Luffy wanted to refuse, he shouldn't have used such an attitude.
It was really rude to those people that help them!
...
On the platform, Luffy looked helplessly at Franky.
"The.... the Sunny can't hold this many people. This is so painful for me!!!"
"Pfft—!"
Hearing Luffy's words, all one thousand people fell over in comical disbelief simultaneously.
A few seconds later, wild laughter erupted throughout the area.
Even Rayleigh and the others couldn't hold back.
As expected of Luffy—he was always full of surprises.
But at least he was willing to accept comrades who would live and die together with him, which showed his growth.
Finally, Mikita and Bartolomeo explained, "As your mere followers, we cannot board the Sunny."
But Luffy immediately rejected this. "No, you're my nakama, not followers."
'Hmm...'
After thinking for a long time, Luffy turned to Franky. "Is it possible to modify the Sunny into a big ship that can carry a thousand people?"
"Huh?" Franky immediately stated that it was impossible.
"Unless we got a lot of Treasure Tree Adam!"
Luffy thought for a moment, then suddenly had an inspiration.
"Alright, brothers! Stay on your own ships for now. After we find Ray, we'll carry out our next goal: cut down the Treasure Tree Adam to build a big ship!"
The officers nearly choked to death hearing this, while the ordinary members went wild with excitement.
"Wow!"
"Captain Luffy is so cool!"
"Let's cut it down!"
"I used to be a carpenter; I'm good at cutting trees!"
And so, the matter of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet was settled.
The Straw Hat crew drank the sworn brotherhood wine with Bartolomeo, Mikita, and the others.
As for where the wine came from—it was simply replaced with river water.
After drinking, Luffy immediately started clamoring for a feast, shouting for everyone to go hunt wild beasts.
Anyway, the Sunny, which had now gained Franky's soul power, was still on its way.
It needed to reach Franky on its own, which would probably take at least a day.
They might as well have a good meal first.
The battle with the Five Elders had completely exhausted the energy Luffy had stored up over several days.
Just then, thousands of arrows suddenly flew into the valley from above.
The ordinary pirates of the Grand Fleet panicked and scrambled for cover upon seeing them. But someone had already taken action.
"360 Phoenix!"
Three massive green sword slashes swept through the air, knocking down all the arrows.
"Wow, Zoro-senpai is invincible!"
"Truly worthy of being the Straw Hat crew's third-in-command."
In less than half a second, the burly man who said this was kicked to the ground by a black foot.
"Look carefully, I'm the third-in-command!!!" Sanji yelled. "Hehe, Sanji-senpai, you're more like the third ass, hehe," the man teased.
Wham!
After kicking the cheeky subordinate, Sanji took a drag of his cigarette and looked in Zoro's direction.
There, a woman in a cheongsam and high heels, with long black hair and a nearly perfect face, reflected in his pupils.
Crack.
Sanji instantly turned into stone.
Hearing the cracking sound of stone behind him, Zoro turned his head and immediately showed extreme disgust at Sanji's petrified state.
But his own expression soon turned serious.
Even he, a man who rarely showed interest in women, felt his heartbeat quicken at the sight of the woman before him.
Her charm was overwhelmingly powerful, likely related to a Devil Fruit ability—he had to stay on guard.
At the same time, Hancock moved.
Standing on a stone platform above the valley, she curled her lips into an enchanting smile.
Nearly every man and woman in the valley who saw that expression turned into heart-eyed admirers.
"Mero Mero Mellow."
The Pirate Empress formed her hands into a heart shape, and a pink, heart-shaped aura emanated from them, quickly covering the entire valley.
Cracking sounds echoed as the Mero Mero Mellow spread.
Moments later, only about ten people remained active out of the thousand-strong team!
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