High in the tyrant's office, the remnants of the feast lay scattered across the grand desk.
Luffy had finished giving his orders, each one a precise, calculated move in a game only he understood. The shell of Axe-Hand Morgan absorbed them with the flawless, robotic clarity of a machine receiving its code. He gave a final, stiff bow, his vacant eyes fixed on his new master.
"It will be done," the puppet stated.
With a turn, Morgan exited the office, the door clicking shut behind him. His footsteps, heavy and rhythmic, echoed down the empty corridor as he began to pull the strings of the entire base, a ghost in his own machine.
Luffy, satisfied, walked over to the plush couch in the corner of the office. He lay down, tilted the straw hat over his eyes, and in seconds, was fast asleep, conserving his energy for the night's work.
The spider could rest; the web was being woven for him.
__________
Down in the dusty, sun-baked courtyard of the base, Roronoa Zoro stared up at the sky, his body aching, his stomach a hollow pit of gnawing hunger. The deal had been for one month. He was a man of his word, and a man who believed, foolishly perhaps, that even a Marine's son would honor a bargain. He would endure. He would survive. He would be free.
His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar, grating voice.
"Well, well, look at the big, bad pirate hunter," a foppish, blonde-haired young man taunted, flanked by two armed Marines. It was Helmeppo, strolling towards him with a cruel, self-satisfied sneer on his face.
"Still thinking you're going to survive the month?" Helmeppo chuckled, stopping just out of kicking range. "I have some fantastic news for you. Daddy got tired of looking at your ugly face. He's decided that your continued existence is an eyesore to his perfect base. So, he's moved up the schedule."
Zoro's eyes, half-lidded with exhaustion, narrowed into sharp, dangerous slits. A low growl rumbled in his throat.
"Your execution," Helmeppo declared with a burst of joyous, sadistic laughter, "is set for tomorrow at dawn! Guess our little deal is off! How's that for a surprise?! Have a nice last day!"
He cackled, turning to walk away with his entourage, basking in what he believed was his ultimate victory.
Zoro watched him go. The world seemed to fall away, the sounds of the base fading into a dull roar. The deal is off. The words echoed in his mind. He hadn't been defeated in a fight. He hadn't lost to a stronger opponent. He was going to die because he had trusted the word of a spoiled, sniveling fool.
His promise to Kuina, his dream of becoming the world's greatest swordsman... all of it was about to end here, in a dusty courtyard, without a sword in his hand. For the first time since his capture, a look of cold, horrified shock crossed his face.
He had been played. He was going to die.
__________
Meanwhile, aboard the Miss Love Duck, the atmosphere was thick with a different kind of tension.
Coby and Nami sat in the main cabin, the massive, iron-bound chest of Beri between them like a silent monument to their strange situation. Nami was methodically counting and stacking the bills, her movements precise and automatic, but her eyes were distant, haunted by the memory of the contract's brutal punishment.
Coby, for his part, couldn't sit still. He was buzzing with a nervous energy, his mind replaying the sheer insanity of the day's events. He needed to talk, to process it.
"Nami-san," he began, his voice a nervous whisper. "Something... something strange happened back there. When we were on the docks. Captain Morgan, he was yelling at Luffy-san, threatening him... and Luffy-san didn't even flinch."
Nami grunted, not particularly interested in the details of her captor's bravado. She was more concerned with the invisible chains that now bound her soul.
"He just... looked Morgan right in the eye," Coby continued, his own eyes wide with the memory, "and he said that his grandfather wouldn't be happy. He said his grandfather was Marine Vice-Admiral Garp."
Nami's hands froze mid-stack. Her head turned slowly, her eyes locking onto Coby's. The name was like a thunderclap in the quiet cabin.
"What did you just say?"
"Vice-Admiral Garp," Coby repeated, a tremor in his voice. "The Hero of the Marines! That's what he said! And then Captain Morgan just... backed down. He took Luffy-san right up to his office without another word. Nami-san... who is he? Is it possible? Is Luffy-san really the grandson of a Marine hero?"
Nami stared, her mind racing, the pieces clicking into place with a horrifying clarity. The impossible strength. The cold, tactical mind. The utter lack of fear in the face of a Marine Captain. She thought he was just a monster who had stumbled upon a Devil Fruit. But a monster with a pedigree, with connections to the absolute pinnacle of the Marines.
That was something else entirely. That was a predator who knew he was at the top of the food chain. The invisible chains of the contract suddenly felt a hundred times heavier, forged from a metal she couldn't even comprehend.
"Coby," she said, her voice grim and low, all the air seeming to leave her lungs. "It means we're in more trouble than I could have possibly imagined."
Before he could ask what she meant, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of heavy boots on the gangplank. They both froze. A platoon of Marines, led by the base's stern-faced second-in-command, Lieutenant Ukkari, had boarded their ship.
Coby yelped and tried to hide behind the treasure chest. Nami instinctively stood in front of it, her body a shield.
"Coby-kun," the lieutenant announced formally, his gaze finding the terrified boy. "I have come on the direct orders of Captain Morgan himself."
Coby and Nami both stared, stunned into silence.
"The Captain was... profoundly impressed by your courage and dedication in the matter of the Alvida Pirates," Ukkari continued, his voice stiff and official, reciting a script he clearly didn't understand. "He believes you possess the spirit and conviction of a true Marine."
"He... he does?" Coby stammered, his mind reeling.
"Therefore," Ukkari concluded, "he has extended a personal invitation for you to enlist in the Marines, effective immediately. You will be placed under my direct supervision for training. The Captain has made it clear that your development is a base priority."
Coby was speechless, his dream unfolding with a speed that was both thrilling and utterly terrifying. He looked at Nami, his eyes wide with a mixture of hope and fear, silently asking what he should do.
Nami just gave him a tiny, unreadable shrug, her expression grim. "Well," she said dryly, "looks like you got your wish. Don't forget us little people when you're an admiral."
Her sarcastic words were lost on Coby, who was swept up in a whirlwind of official procedure and escorted off the ship and into the fortress, his new life beginning under the shadow of a lie he didn't even know had been told.
__________
Time crawled by. The sun set, casting the base in the long, deep shadows of twilight. A tense, waiting silence fell over Shells Town.
The pieces were all in position.
In the captain's office, Luffy slept soundly, the only sign of life the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest. He was a predator at rest, his work done, waiting for the trap to spring.
Knock. Knock.
The soft, hesitant sound echoed in the silent, food-strewn room.
In the darkness, Luffy's eyes snapped open, instantly alert.
___________
Author Here :
Hello Ghost readers, hope you people are doing fine.
Look i am sorry, I know the chapter before was an Info dumb mostly and this one is short.
But i promise this is the shortest chapter.
i am improving and refining the story more and more
just finished writing chapter 11
If you be so kind to let me know my mistakes or maybe i wish praise me.
Let's be clear i want you to give me review.
but if it is negative, remember to change it when i improve later ✌️