Keeping the Shikon Jewel fragments on his body was far too dangerous. It would be better to merge them into the ship.
That was what Usopp thought. This way, they could hide the Shikon Jewel fragments and avoid enemies on the level of the Four Emperors.
Although his teammates were no weaklings, they were all pirates from the small East Blue. There was no way they could stand against the Four Emperors, who made waves across the entire Grand Line.
Luffy had not thought that far ahead. He simply felt that Usopp made a good point, so he handed over the Shikon Jewel fragment he was carrying.
It was the fragment that had flown out of the Sea King's body after Luffy defeated it. Until now, he had not known what it was.
Usopp placed the two Shikon Jewel fragments inside the ship's bow. Although the ship looked unchanged on the outside, Nami ran several tests and discovered that its performance had improved several times over.
They should have needed a long time to sail from the West Blue village to the sea restaurant, but aboard the Going Merry, they reached their destination in a little over half a day.
"Sanji! Uncle Zeff! We're here!"
Luffy happily jumped off the ship and landed in front of the sea restaurant.
He happened to see Sanji smoking outside. Sanji was sitting beside the front door and looked somewhat worn-out.
"Why are you here again?" Sanji asked unhappily as he looked at Luffy.
He took a deep drag from his cigarette before saying, "Do you want me to save you again?"
"I came to invite you to join us!" Luffy said directly. "Come on! Set sail with us and help us find the finest ingredients in the world!"
"..."
Sanji gave Luffy a long look. He was about to say something when a bundle was thrown out of the restaurant.
Zeff stepped through the doorway and leaned against it with his arms crossed. He said calmly, "Go with him. You possess the power of a devil, so you should be heading out into a wider world."
"What are you talking about, old man? You stayed in the East Blue too," Sanji replied.
"But I was in the New World when I was young. When you reach my age, you can come back to the East Blue and retire." Zeff glanced at him. "A man who can't even support himself is utterly useless. Whatever you're thinking, you shouldn't put your life in danger. Do you remember the vow we made together? We must never let anyone starve to death in front of us! Everyone deserves a full meal!"
"Do you expect me to stand by and watch you starve to death? You ungrateful student!"
"But haven't I already found suitable food?" Sanji said quietly. He did not dare argue loudly with Zeff.
Zeff acted as though Sanji had said nothing and continued scolding him. "Go find the All Blue. Isn't that your dream? Don't let me see you again until you find it!"
Sanji was moved. He picked up the bundle and looked at Zeff, who was about to turn and return to the restaurant.
"Will you be all right by yourself?"
"Who do you think you're talking to, you brat?" Zeff said with a teasing laugh. "Get lost already. First, eat enough to make up for all the years you've gone hungry!"
"Straw Hat, don't let this guy go hungry!"
"Yeah! We'll definitely eat the best food!" Luffy declared loudly.
"I give up. Do you even know what the best food is?" Sanji shook his head and rubbed his face. Then he looked calmly at Luffy. "Let's get one thing straight. I'm only joining you temporarily. If you don't have what it takes, I'll leave whenever I feel like it."
"Why does that sound so familiar?" Luffy said, touching his cheek.
Come to think of it, wasn't that more or less what Zoro and Ben had said too?
"I'm going to become the Pirate King, so my crew should include the world's greatest chef and the world's greatest swordsman!"
Luffy said this with complete confidence.
"Really? But I've already saved you twice in the past few days, haven't I? Pirate King?" Sanji had barely finished speaking when Luffy stretched out his arm and wrapped it around him.
With one hand, Luffy grabbed Sanji. With the other, he reached toward the Going Merry and seized one of its raised fittings. Then he suddenly pulled his body tight and sent himself and Sanji flying toward the ship!
"Hey!"
Sanji was caught completely off guard by the sudden pull. He felt sick as Luffy dragged him away, and then Luffy failed to control his momentum. The two of them crashed onto the deck.
Thud!
Sanji hit the deck face-first, and his vision immediately went black. He got to his feet and shouted, "I'm going to kill—!"
Before he could finish, his expression suddenly changed. Red hearts appeared in his eyes, and he vanished from the spot.
When Luffy stood up, he looked around in confusion. "Huh? Where's Sanji?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Sanji suddenly appeared again. This time, he was carrying a fruit platter made of various sliced fruits. He appeared beside Nami and said gently, "Beautiful Miss Nami, would you like some juicy fruit beneath this warm sunlight?"
Sanji had seen Nami at the sea restaurant before, and he had also saved her once in Orange Town, so he already knew her name. He had not expected her to really be one of Luffy's crewmates.
"I want some too!" Ben hurriedly said as he looked at the fruit Sanji was holding.
"Huh? A child?" Sanji stared at Ben in surprise. Luffy rubbed the back of his head and laughed. "Don't underestimate Ben. He's really strong!"
Nami smiled, picked up a slice of watermelon, and handed it to Ben. Then she said to Sanji, "I'll gladly accept it."
"That's not fair! I want some too!" Usopp rushed over, but Sanji nimbly dodged him. The ship immediately became lively.
"Can we really trust this guy?" Zoro leaned against the ship and watched them, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"Relax," Luffy said with a grin. "Now that we're together, everyone should talk about themselves! I'll go first…"
"My name is Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm the man who will become the Pirate King!"
After finishing, Luffy looked at Zoro. Feeling awkward under his stare, Zoro said, "Do we really have to do this?"
"We have to!" Luffy insisted.
Everyone else stopped what they were doing and looked at Zoro as well.
That was right. From now on, they were real crewmates and companions. This was the moment when they should introduce themselves.
Zoro blushed as all those people stared at him, but his eyes soon became firm.
"Roronoa Zoro. I'm going to become the world's greatest swordsman! That's the promise I made to my best friend and my teacher!"
"Your teacher is the swordsman who frightened Muzan, right?" Nami asked.
Zoro said nothing. He simply nodded.
Himura Kenshin was not especially famous, and not many people knew of him. Even though he had once badly wounded Muzan Kibutsuji, Nami only knew that he was a swordsman.
Nami then spoke seriously. "My name is Nami. I'm going to find a way to turn demons back into humans, and I'm going to draw a map of the entire world!"
"Miss Nami is so cool when she's serious!" Hearts shot from Sanji's eyes as he hurriedly flattered her.
Next was Usopp. "I'm Usopp! I'm going to become a brave warrior of the sea and find out where those black monsters come from!"
The black monsters were, of course, Hollows.
Usopp had realized that all those Hollows were coming after him, but why? Why had they targeted him? Was it because he had suddenly gained the ability to control spirit particles?
And why had he suddenly gained that ability in the first place?
That was why he had decided to go out to sea. He believed that, somewhere in the ocean containing all the world's secrets, he could find the truth behind everything that had happened to him.
"My turn, my turn!" Ben said while chewing on a slice of watermelon. "My name is Ben. I'm going to find and record every rare and powerful creature in the world!"
"That's a wonderful dream," Sanji said approvingly. "I want to find those rare and powerful creatures too!"
The only difference was that Ben wanted to record them, while Sanji wanted to turn them into food.
After that, Sanji spoke again. "As for my name… Never mind. Just call me Sanji."
In the end, he still did not say those four words. He had already left that family, and he no longer considered himself one of them.
He had nothing to do with the Vinsmokes anymore. Vinsmoke Sanji was dead. That person no longer existed. Now, he was simply Sanji.
Still, if he went with them to the Grand Line, he might have another chance to meet that family.
If they tried to capture him then, he would leave the crew so he would not get them involved.
Sanji thought this to himself in silence.
"All right! Let's set sail for the Grand Line!" Luffy shouted, raising his arm.
"Don't forget that we have to pass through Loguetown to reach the Grand Line," Nami said. "And that smoking man is still waiting for us there. He's a Marine, so he'll definitely try to stop us."
Nami had fought alongside Smoker against Muzan for a while, so she knew exactly how strong he was.
Luffy had fought Muzan for a long time after unleashing his final burst of strength, but before that, Smoker had carried most of the fight. What was more, Loguetown was Smoker's territory. It could turn into another brutal battle.
Meanwhile…
In Loguetown.
Smoker and Uta stood atop the tallest building in Loguetown, looking down over the town. Both of them were completely focused.
Uta suddenly said, "Looks like he'll be here soon."
Smoker raised an eyebrow. "Your Observation Haki is pretty good."
Uta shrugged. "I only need enough to stay in contact with Fleet Admiral An. Most of it is thanks to Fleet Admiral An's Observation Haki."
Both of them deeply admired Fleet Admiral An's power. It was hard to imagine just how terrifying her Observation Haki was.
She could sit in Marine Headquarters while her Observation Haki reached over nearly half the world. She could detect countless events, and she could even use herself as a medium to send information into someone else's mind from thousands of miles away.
To put it bluntly, An had used her Observation Haki to weave an intelligence network that only the Marines could access. Once someone's Observation Haki reached a certain level, they could connect to An's network on their own and receive, from anywhere in the world, the information she had gathered with her Observation Haki.
The current strongest person in the world was certainly no fraud!
Although An had rarely acted since becoming Fleet Admiral, the sea had nearly forgotten her reputation by now. Because of that, many people believed Whitebeard and Kaido were the strongest people in the world.
People across the sea called Whitebeard the strongest man and Kaido the strongest creature. But many powerful figures knew that the strongest person in the world had been confirmed long ago as Marine Fleet Admiral An.
Of course, Makima, the Fleet Admiral of the Black Order, was also a mysterious woman. Because she was so secretive, very few people knew her true strength. In the eyes of some, she might actually be the strongest person in the world.
As senior Marines—or perhaps semi-senior Marines—Smoker and Uta knew An's true capabilities. But the more they knew, the more shocked they became. They felt that even if the former Pirate King Roger came back to life, he might still be no match for her.
"The person coming is Rob Lucci. He was one of the two great prodigies of Pandora Island, so he's more than we can handle." After finishing his sigh, Uta continued relaying the information An had sent them.
"Him?" Smoker frowned. He knew Rob Lucci's reputation, of course, and could not help feeling that this was extremely troublesome.
"Why would someone like him come to the East Blue?"
Not many people knew that Rob Lucci had joined Wano Country. He rarely went out after joining them, yet now he had traveled all the way to the East Blue. What could he possibly want?
What could have made him take action? Could it be…
He suddenly remembered the dragon disaster in Mary Geoise. Back then, Kaido had summoned wind and rain and destroyed the Holy Land with thunder and heavenly fire. His ultimate goal had been to take the Shikon Jewel fragment held by the World Government.
And the only thing that could make Wano Country send Lucci out…
Could it also be related to the Shikon Jewel fragment?
"If this is about the Shikon Jewel fragment, the two of us won't be able to handle it." Cold sweat broke out on Smoker's body. He hurriedly said, "An event at this level requires one of the Admirals from Headquarters to take action!"
"Don't worry. Fleet Admiral An has already made arrangements." Uta grinned. "There happens to be a Warlord of the Sea nearby. With him here, there shouldn't be any problems."
"A Warlord of the Sea?" Smoker raised an eyebrow. "Can they be trusted?"
The Seven Warlords of the Sea were seven unusual pirates. They cooperated with the World Government, but their cooperation was only superficial.
In reality, they were all lawless criminals. Not only did they refuse to help the World Government deal with pirates, they secretly attacked the World Government instead.
That was why Marine Headquarters was deeply unhappy about the creation of the Seven Warlords. However, they could not openly refuse to recognize the World Government's law.
"Relax. This Warlord is different from the others. He should be fairly reliable."
Uta thought for a moment before saying helplessly, "There's nothing we can do. The Admirals are all watching the situation in the New World right now. They can't possibly come all the way to the East Blue over an unconfirmed report…"
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