Zoro, his three swords now firmly in his grasp, felt a surge of familiar power return to his limbs. His moment of satisfaction, however, was cut short.
His keen hearing registered a heavy, unnatural sound approaching from the base's rear entrance. He immediately dropped into a defensive stance, the Wado Ichimonji clenched between his teeth, expecting a Marine patrol.
Instead, a massive, imposing shadow emerged from the darkness, resolving into the form of Alvida. She wasn't fleeing or panicked. She was strolling forward with a purpose, her giant iron mace resting on her shoulder. A wide, predatory smile split her face, a look of triumphant confidence that was deeply unsettling.
Zoro's eyes narrowed in confusion, his stance unwavering. "What is that?" he muttered, his body tensing, recognizing the sheer size and raw power of the approaching figure. "And why is it smiling?"
Luffy, however, hadn't moved. He simply stood there, his arms crossed, watching the scene unfold with a small, knowing smile of his own. The moment he saw Alvida, the brief, genuine spark he'd shown Zoro was extinguished, and the cold, calculating gangster was back in full control.
"Don't worry," Luffy said calmly, as Alvida came to a stop beside them, her own confident smile mirroring his. "She's one of us."
The statement hung in the air, thick with questions Zoro didn't know how to ask. Alvida simply looked at Luffy with a new, profound sense of awe and fear. She didn't know how he had arranged her escape, only that a silent phantom had freed her on his behalf.
Luffy gave a sharp, decisive nod. "Let's go," he said, turning not toward the dark backstreets, but directly toward the imposing, dimly-lit main gate of the Marine base.
"The main gate?" Zoro grunted in disbelief, falling into step behind Luffy, his hand never leaving the hilt of his swords. This was insane.
The trio walked in a tense silence, Luffy leading the way with an unhurried, almost casual stride. Zoro's senses were on high alert. Although visibility was low, he scanned the rooftops, the alleyways, the windows.
But there was nothing. No alarms rang. No patrols rushed to intercept them. The entire base was as quiet as a tomb.
They rounded the final corner and saw it. The main gate—a massive, iron-bound barrier—stood wide open, a gaping maw leading to the town beyond. The guard posts on either side were empty. The torches that should have been lit were extinguished, leaving the entrance eerily dim.
Luffy didn't break his stride. He walked right up to the gate, then stopped, signaling to the deep shadows just inside the entrance. "Carry them," he ordered.
Zoro and Alvida looked and saw them for the first time: two massive, burlap-wrapped bundles, each the size of a grown man, sitting just inside the gate.
"What is it, Captain?" Alvida asked, her voice filled with curiosity.
Luffy's lips curled into a smirk. "Beri."
"All of it?" Alvida's eyes went wide, her jaw dropping a little as a stream of drool escaped the corner of her mouth.
Luffy didn't answer. He just turned and walked forward, out of the gate and into the freedom of the night. As he walked, a strange sense of nostalgia washed over him. This is just like the old days, he thought, a ghost of a memory flickering in his mind. The silence after the job. The weight of the score. Me, and my traitorous friends, back when everything was good...
He glanced back over his shoulder. The sight was absurd. Alvida was practically hugging one bundle, dragging it along like a beloved pet. Zoro, with a look of pure disgust on his face as he watched Alvida, had another bundle thrown over his shoulder. Well, Luffy thought, a flicker of amusement in his cold eyes, this isn't so bad either. A fleeting, phantom craving hit him. I so wanna light a cigar.
After some time, they arrived at the docks. Luffy saw her immediately: Nami, half-asleep in a deck chair, her body slumped with exhaustion. As they approached, she jolted awake, her eyes going wide with a familiar, fearful look as she took in the three monstrous figures approaching.
Seeing the garish, heart-themed ship, Zoro's disgusted face returned. "Is this our ship?"
Hearing the sarcasm in Zoro's tone, an angry glint passed through Alvida's eyes. "You got a problem with it, pretty boy?"
"Yes!" Zoro shot back. "I don't want to be seen sailing on such an ugly piece of shit."
Before Alvida could start beating the new recruit up to show him his place, Luffy spoke up, his voice cutting through the tension. "I know, right? But for now, we have to manage."
Hearing her new captain agree with the insult, Alvida just stood in place, fuming. "Captain..." she began, but seeing him ignore her completely, she just let out a loud "Hmph!" of disapproval.
Luffy strode forward as Nami, seeing them approach, wearily lowered the gangplank.
Luffy just smiled. "Did you restock the supplies?"
Nami blinked, then nodded dumbly. "All... all done."
"Good," Luffy said, boarding the ship. "Then prepare to set sail."
All three boarded. Alvida and Zoro let their heavy bags hit the deck with two earth-shaking THUDS that made the whole vessel groan.
"Next destination: Orange Town," Luffy announced to the night, a wide, predatory grin on his face. "We're going to hunt for the Grand Line map. Shihahahah!"
RIIIIIP!
Alvida, unable to contain her greed any longer, had torn a corner of her bundle. A river of treasure spilled out onto the deck—not just neat stacks of Beri, but the sparkle of jewels, the glint of gold goblets, and other priceless riches.
Nami, who had been standing listlessly nearby, flinched at the noise. Her first, weary thought was, Great. Another mess for me to clean up.
She looked at the glittering pile with dead eyes. The sight should have been meaningless, just like the bounty money had been. It was their treasure, not hers. It was just another part of her cage. She tried to hold onto that bleak, protective numbness.
But then, a single, perfect sapphire caught the moonlight and seemed to pulse with a cool, blue fire.
Some older, more fundamental part of her stirred, an instinct forged over eight long years of blood, sweat, and desperate hope. It was a reflex she couldn't control. Her breath caught in her throat. Her hand, almost of its own accord, reached out, trembling, as if to touch something sacred.
For a moment, the conflict was visible on her face—the hollowed-out servant warring with the treasure-loving strategist.
The strategist won.
The exhaustion and fear didn't just vaporize; they were violently shoved aside by a raw, desperate, and almost painful surge of adrenaline. Her eyes, which had been dull with despair, dilated and then reformed into shining Beri symbols. It wasn't the pure, innocent joy of before. This was the manic, desperate glee of a starving person who had just found a loaf of bread.
"Kyaaah!" The scream that ripped from her throat was less a shout of happiness and more a release of every pent-up emotion. She dove headfirst into the pile, not with the cheer of a treasure-lover, but with the ferocity of a dragon reclaiming its hoard.
"Captain!" she yelled, her voice breathless and intense as she held a diamond necklace up to the light, its facets scattering the moonlight like captured stars. "Where did all this come from?!"
Luffy's smirk returned. "All the valuables the Marine base had."
The joy on Nami's face vanished, replaced by a mask of pure horror. Zoro, who had been quietly observing, froze. Alvida's jaw dropped. They all stared at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"They'll hunt us to the ends of the world!" Nami shrieked, the reality crashing down on her.
"So this was your grand plan," Alvida breathed, a new level of awe and terror in her voice.
Zoro just shook his head, a single thought echoing in his mind. Have I really made the right decision?
Luffy just smiled.
"HURRY! WE HAVE TO SET SAIL! NOW!" Nami screamed, her survival instincts overriding everything else. "YOU TWO! HELP ME WITH THE SAILS AND THE ANCHOR! MOVE!"
And soon, with a frantic, desperate energy, the Miss Love Duck was out of the docks and racing across the open sea, its small, monstrous crew fleeing into the darkness.
Once the course for Orange Town was set and the island had shrunk to a black smudge on the horizon, Nami's adrenaline finally gave out. She collapsed onto the deck, feeling utterly dispirited.
Luffy stood at the stern of the ship, watching Shells Town disappear completely. He turned around, a wide, reckless grin on his face. "Now that we're clear, let's have a feast! For after today, we will all be wanted by the Marines. I, for one, am looking forward to my bounty poster. Shihahahah!"
Seeing him laughing, his new crew could only look on warily. The feast began, a chaotic affair in which a full quarter of the rations Nami had painstakingly bought were consumed, mostly by Luffy. The ship drifted under the stars, a tiny island of noise and light in the vast, dark sea. And for one night, despite the fear, the confusion, and the unbreakable contracts, they enjoyed a moment of bliss.
__________
This was not the only feast happening that night.
Elsewhere, in a grand hall at Marine Headquarters, Vice-Admiral Garp was laughing, his booming voice echoing off the high ceilings. For the first time in many years, he was throwing a party.
"BWAHAHAHA! EAT! DRINK! WE'LL ENJOY THE WHOLE NIGHT!"
Seeing Garp so uncharacteristically happy and generous, his high-ranking guests were all smiling.
"Garp-san," Admiral Aokiji said, his voice a lazy drawl, "are you going to tell us the occasion for this generosity? It's quite rare."
Vice-Admiral Tsuru nodded, taking a delicate sip of her tea. "He's right. It's not often you spend your own money to throw such a large feast."
"BWAHAHAHA! Today is a happy occasion!" Garp boomed, slamming his fist on the table. "My stupid grandson! The one who always wanted to be a pirate! He's finally changed his mind!"
"Oh?" the former Admiral Zephyr grunted from a corner. "The boy corrupted by Red-Hair? So, he's finally going to join the Marines? Good. Let me train him. I'll beat that pirate nonsense out of him."
Garp suddenly started scratching his head, his boisterous energy deflating slightly. "Hmm... I'm not sure about that part just yet."
Fleet Admiral Sengoku, who had been enjoying a quiet moment, frowned. "Then what are you so happy about, you fool?"
"Well," Garp said, his cheer returning, "all I know is what was reported from the 153rd Branch! They said Luffy visited them and handed in a pirate crew, calling himself a bounty hunter!"
Sengoku frowned even more. "You're throwing a feast because of that? What if he was just pretending?"
"Oh, chill out, Sengoku! I know Luffy!" Garp roared. "If he decides something, it is very hard to change his mind! Him calling himself a bounty hunter and not a pirate means he has finally given up on that stupid dream of his! BWAHAHAHA!"
Hearing this, all the others in the room stopped. They looked at Garp warily, a shared, unspoken thought passing between them.
"It has been hard on you, Garp," Tsuru said gently, her voice full of pity.
"What are you talking about, Tsuru?! Now that he wants to play bounty hunter, let him! When he's done with the East Blue, I'll pay him a visit, tell him about the Grand Line, and with a little clever persuasion," Garp grinned, cracking his knuckles, "I'll make him join the Marines! How's that for a plan?"
Sengoku just sighed into his hands. "I never knew you could plan."
"BWAHAHAHA! OF COURSE I CAN!"
___________
Author here :
Hello people, how are you doing?
Stories gonna be multiple lead. But mainly we will be following our crew.
Hope you like this chapter.