Leo's body was a landscape of deep purple bruises and half-clotted wounds. The adrenaline had worn off, replaced by the heavy, leaden ache of exhaustion. Every slow, dragging step was a deliberate act of will. He kept his right arm—the one that had worn the black armor of Armament Haki—close to his chest, still marveling at the intense, raw power he now possessed.
It took him nearly an hour to reach the central training clearing where he had last seen Luffy. He emerged from the dense foliage, leaning against a tree for support, and the sheer chaos unfolding before him was enough to make him sigh, his earlier pride instantly deflated.
The Jungle Lion he had nearly died fighting, was merely a territorial beast. The monsters Luffy was battling were on an entirely different level.
There was the familiar Gator-Dragon, its scales deflecting normal strikes, but now Luffy was meeting its charges head-on.
Gomu Gomu no Rifle!
Luffy's black, Armament-coated fist twisted like a drill, slamming into the Gator-Dragon's thick skull. The beast roared in pain and confusion, its scales cracking where they should have been invulnerable.
Luffy didn't stop. He instantly pulled his arms back, stretching them across the clearing.
Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!
His black fists launched, hitting the Wild Boar and the Rock Gorilla simultaneously. The creatures—who had driven Luffy to a state of near-madness just a day before—were sent tumbling through the air like discarded toys, hitting the trees with destructive force.
"Man," Leo mumbled, shaking his head slowly. "This is what happens when you compete with the protagonist. I just spent a day in the abyss to scratch out a Level, and he's over there casually wiping the floor with three high-level bosses."
He watched Luffy, now laughing with pure, joyful battle lust, chase the surviving Wild Boar deeper into the jungle. It was a terrifying, beautiful display of innate talent meeting hard-earned power.
Luffy returned a few minutes later, completely clean of blood, his chest heaving only slightly. He was radiating energy, his focus already shifted from the fight to the evening meal. That's when he finally saw Leo, leaning against the tree, looking like he'd been pulled out of a meat grinder.
Luffy's wide grin vanished instantly. "Leo! What happened to you? Why are you so injured?" He rushed over, ignoring the deep puncture marks and gashes. "Did you fight the Rock Gorilla? Did you lose?"
Leo winced as Luffy slapped him lightly on the shoulder in concern. "H-hey, careful there, buddy. No, I fought a Jungle Lion in the deep end. I didn't lose, but it cost me every ounce of strength I had."
Luffy's eyes lit up, not with pity, but with excitement. "A Lion? Did you beat it? How?"
Leo managed a weak, proud smirk. He slowly pulled his Kukri knife from his belt. He fixed his gaze on the blade, and as he concentrated his will—even in his exhausted state, with Luffy watching—a thin, black sheen flowed over his arm and the small knife. The Kukri instantly became a tool of terrifying, inky power.
"I figured out the problem," Leo said, his voice husky. "I needed to stop punching and start concentrating. I finally learned how to armor myself."
Luffy's reaction wasn't jealousy or surprise, but pure, unadulterated joy. He jumped up and down like a child who just got a new toy.
"Whoa! You finally learned Haki! That's awesome, Leo! Now you can hit the Logia guys! That means you're strong enough now!" Luffy suddenly grabbed Leo's hand, the black sheen disappearing instantly under the distraction.
Luffy looked Leo straight in the eye, his expression completely earnest, just as Leo knew he would eventually.
"Hey, Leo," Luffy said, his voice warm and straightforward. You're brave and you're tough. Would you join my crew and become my Nakama?"
Leo felt a small lump form in his throat. He had known this moment was coming since he first saw Luffy, but hearing it, feeling the genuine weight of Luffy's trust, was different. It was a choice that would define his life.
If I join, I get guaranteed protection, a guaranteed path to the highest points of the New World, and the best life insurance policy available. If I strike out on my own, I might fail and get deleted from the world.
But... my own crew. My own destiny. The chance to use my summons without the baggage of the Straw Hat crew's insane destiny.
Leo managed a tired but firm look. "Luffy, thanks. That means a lot. But I can't answer that yet. We both have two years of hell ahead of us. Let's get stronger first. After the training is done, and you've gathered your crew, I will give you my answer then."
Luffy pouted instantly, stretching his lips out for emphasis. "Why? Just join me now! We need a cool guy who yells at Admirals!"
Leo chuckled, the pain forgotten for a second. "Let's discuss it next time, okay? Right now, I need to clean up these injuries before they get infected."
"Oh, okay!" Luffy said, his mood instantly restored by the suggestion of food. "Then let's start cooking! I caught three massive birds today! Rayleigh should be back soon!"
Rusukaina Kitchen
As the sun began to set, painting the sky in fiery oranges and deep purples, the central clearing was filled with the sizzling aroma of roasting meat. Leo, having reluctantly patched up his own wounds with some military-grade field bandages he still had tucked away, sat by the fire. He was absolutely starving, and the smell of the massive chunks of bird and Lion meat Leo had prepared was intoxicating.
"You know, I never thought I'd say this, but my body feels... wrong if I don't eat half an animal after a fight," Leo confessed, pulling a skewer of steaming Lion meat from the fire.
Luffy, who was already halfway through a mountain of food that would have fed a small battalion, paused just long enough to speak around a mouthful. "Shishishi! That's how you get strong! Meat is the best!"
"I know, I know," Leo muttered, ripping into his meat. "But before this island, I preferred, like, a salad. Now if I don't feel the primal urge to gnaw on bone, I worry I'm losing HP."
Luffy grinned and then stretched his arm across the flames, grabbing Leo's last piece of roasted bird.
"Hey! That was mine!" Leo yelled, lunging forward, but was too slow.
Luffy swallowed the piece whole. "You didn't say you wanted it! You hesitated! If you hesitate, you lose the meat!"
Leo glared, momentarily forgetting his pain in his anger over the food. "That is the stupidest rule I have ever heard! You're a bandit, not a captain!"
"No, I'm the one who will be the Pirate King!" Luffy said proudly, before immediately offering Leo a massive, greasy leg of the Jungle Cobra he'd caught. "Here, you need this more. You look like you got punched by Akainu!"
Leo sighed, accepting the offering. He's infuriating, but he means well. I guess this is what true camaraderie looks like.
The stars began to pepper the dark sky, and the silence was broken only by the crackling fire and Luffy's continuous, happy chewing.
Two years. I have two years to level up, find that Katana, and decide if I'm building my own empire or joining his.
The first day of serious power felt like both a victory and a warning.
Note:
Hey everyone!
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