“Morgan’s been defeated!” A wave of cheers rang out.
Zoro and the others turned toward the sound and saw the Marines who had just regained consciousness celebrating with wild excitement.
Helmeppo, now awake as well, was kneeling beside Morgan, weeping and wailing uncontrollably.
“Those guys are so weird,” Luffy muttered, adjusting the straw hat on his head.
“Probably been oppressed for way too long,” Zoro said, sitting on the ground in exhaustion and catching his breath.
“So everyone was just afraid of Morgan…” Koby looked at the cheering Marines, a look of delighted surprise spreading across his face.
“Onii-san, thank you all so much!
Come to my family’s tavern—I’ll treat you to a meal!” Rika stepped forward, tilting her face up toward Luffy and the others.
“Awesome!” Luffy broke into a beaming smile the moment he heard there was food.
A smile tugged at the corner of Lucian’s mouth too.
Today had truly been a day full of gains.
“How did you guys end up causing such a huge commotion?” Just then, a female voice came from the second floor.
Everyone turned to look and saw none other than Nami.
She was leaning out and peering down, and when she spotted Luffy’s group, she waved.
She then leaped nimbly out the window and landed lightly before them.
“Look, this is the crewmate I found,” Luffy said, pulling Zoro over toward Nami, then turned to Zoro and introduced her.
“That’s our other crewmate—Nami, the navigator.”
“Oh, the other crewmate.” The two sized each other up, and the exact same thought crossed both their minds: This one looks like trouble.
“Why are you here?” Lucian noticed the bundle on Nami’s back and asked.
“Ah, right, these are the clothes I bought,” Nami said, discreetly shifting the bundle further behind her back as she spoke.
“Did you come here to steal stuff?” Luffy asked with characteristic bluntness.
Bang!
Nami drove her fist squarely onto Luffy’s head.
“I came because I heard Morgan had stashed a chart for getting to the Grand Line, so I came specifically to check it out!” she declared righteously, her fist still clenched.
“So that’s still stealing…” Koby muttered quietly off to the side.
“Hmm?
What was that?” Nami’s ears were far too sharp.
She immediately whipped her head around toward Koby, who recoiled in fright and hastily ducked behind Lucian.
“Onee-san, are you Luffy’s crewmate too?
It’s getting late—let’s go eat together,” Rika spoke up quickly, seeing another argument about to break out.
“Let’s go, then,” Nami said, letting Koby off the hook for the moment as she vaulted over the outer wall of the Marine base first.
“I’ll carry you over,” Luffy said, scooping up Rika and leaping over after her.
Lucian adjusted the bundle on his back and cleared the wall in a single bound as well.
“Why are you jumping over the wall?
Isn’t there a gate right there?” Zoro and Koby emerged through the base’s main entrance, staring at the three wall-jumpers with baffled expressions.
“Can’t I just like jumping?” Nami’s cheeks flushed red as she snapped back.
“Heh, hehe,” Luffy chuckled, setting Rika down.
The group followed her toward her family’s tavern.
Once they were seated at the tavern, Rika dashed into the kitchen and chattered away with her mother for quite some time.
Not long after, Rika’s mother emerged carrying two large platters of food and warmly greeted them.
“Everyone, have something to fill your stomachs first—there’s still more coming.”
….
“Ahh, I’m full…” Zoro slumped back in his chair, rubbing his stomach.
“Three whole weeks without a proper meal.”
“You’re full already?” Luffy was still attacking the food with ravenous delight, the stack of empty plates already piled high beside him.
After just one bowl, he set down his chopsticks.
“How can you eat even more than me?” Zoro looked at Luffy in astonishment.
“Because the lady of the house makes it so good!” Luffy mumbled through a mouth crammed full of food.
“You eat way too much—at this rate we’re going to blow the budget!” Nami couldn’t help but say as she watched Luffy stuff his face nonstop.
“We have money,” Lucian said, patting the treasure bundle in his arms.
“Even if you have money, you can’t just waste it like this!” Nami rolled her eyes in exasperation.
“We’ll just earn more once it’s spent,” Luffy said, utterly unconcerned.
“Fine, fine, I can’t win against you guys.” Nami lowered her head and took a sip of tea from her cup.
Over at the bar counter, the lady of the house and Rika were watching them chat with smiles on their faces.
Koby sat beside the counter, scratching his head in embarrassment.
“I’m really sorry—I didn’t help out at all, and yet you’re still treating me too…”
“It’s no trouble at all.
You saved our whole town—this is the least we can do,” the woman said with a gentle smile.
Just then, Lucian, who had finished his meal, glanced around at Nami and, noticing she had no chart in hand, asked, “The nautical chart?”
“I got there too late.
The chart was stolen by the Buggy Pirates!” Nami clenched her fist in fury the moment the topic came up.
“Huh?
It’s not here?” Luffy was immediately disappointed.
“We’ll get it back,” Lucian said succinctly.
“Damn right!
I’m absolutely going to get it back—and while I’m at it, I’ll clean out their treasure too!” Nami said through gritted teeth.
“Why do we absolutely need that chart?” Luffy asked, puzzled.
“Without that chart, how are we supposed to know where to enter the Grand Line?
The East Blue is enormous—we can’t just blindly search around, can we?” Nami explained.
“Hmm, so that chart really is crucial,” Zoro said, nodding along as he listened.
“Then our next stop is to find the Buggy Pirates and take that nautical chart back!” Luffy suddenly shot his hand up and declared loudly.
“Yeah, get the chart back,” Lucian said, sitting beside him and clenching his fist as well.
Even in his somewhat hollow eyes, a spark of fighting spirit had ignited.
“Onii-san, you guys are so cool!” Seeing Luffy brimming with fighting spirit, Rika came over, her eyes full of admiration.
“Right?
We’re pretty cool,” Luffy said, settling back into his seat and continuing to eat, his words still garbled.
“And we’re gonna get even cooler, ’cause I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!” He paused, then looked at Zoro beside him.
“And I just found another crewmate, too.”
“So right now, besides you, how many have you found?” Zoro asked, in rather good spirits.
“You, me, Lucian, and Nami—four in total,” Luffy said, counting them off on his fingers.
“Hey, we’re just temporary partners!” Nami cut in at once.
Luffy ignored her completely and went on talking to Zoro.
“I want to find six more crewmates.
Ten in all would be perfect—and it’d be even better if we could get a musician.”
“Four people, huh…” Zoro swept his gaze over Luffy, Lucian, and Nami, a thoughtful look on his face.
“It’s a little low on numbers, but as far as strength goes, it’s passable.”
Nami curled her lip but didn’t argue further.
“Then what about our ship?” Zoro asked again.
“A pirate crew has to have a pirate ship, right?
Is ours a big one?” Get faster updates on g.com.
“Over there.” Seeing that Luffy was still buried in his food, Lucian pointed outside on his behalf.
There, at the harbor, a tiny little boat bobbed quietly in the water.
“That one?” Zoro walked to the window, stole a glance, and turned back with an expression of utter contempt.
“We’re gonna get a much bigger ship later,” Luffy said, completely oblivious to his disdain, still gesturing excitedly.
“Hahahaha!
And how exactly are you gonna do that?” Zoro couldn’t help but burst into laughter, his tone carrying a teasing edge.
“I’m gonna get a pirate flag too—it’s gonna be so awesome!” Luffy was entirely lost in his own fantasies and hadn’t heard a word Zoro said.
“We have treasure,” Lucian said, thankfully chiming in at the right moment as he patted the bundle in his arms.
“Oh?” Zoro raised an eyebrow and looked over.
Lucian lifted a small corner of the bundle, letting him glimpse the golden glow inside.
Zoro’s laughter promptly died, and he said nothing more.
“All that treasure of yours—at most it’s enough to buy a slightly bigger boat,” Nami said, casting a glance at the bundle in Lucian’s arms and mercilessly pouring cold water on the idea.
Lucian turned his head aside, not bothering to dignify that with a response.
The food on the table was at last swept completely clean by Luffy, like a whirlwind through a field.
“Everyone, it’s already very late—why don’t you stay here for the night,” the lady of the house said, coming over and speaking warmly to them all.
“Really?
Wouldn’t that be too much trouble?” Nami said with polite words, though her body had already stood up, honest as ever.
“Thank you, you really are a kind person!” Luffy said, patting his bulging stomach as he rose as well.
The group followed the woman into the inner rooms to rest.
Koby had been planning to go back and give the Marine base another try, but Lucian stopped him.
“Rest first.”
Early the next morning, everyone rose bright and early and gathered in the tavern for breakfast.
“Luffy-san, are you really going to the Grand Line?”
After breakfast, as Luffy’s group was packing up and preparing to set out, Koby, who had been quiet the whole time, lifted his teacup and took a sip.
He finally could not hold back the question any longer.
“Yeah!
To become King of the Pirates, of course I’ve gotta go to the Grand Line!” Luffy adjusted his straw hat and grinned with complete conviction.
“But the Grand Line is terrifying!” Koby raised his voice in urgency.
“They say that’s where the pirate Gol D.
Roger obtained everything the world had to offer—in his final words, he said he left the one and only great treasure, the ‘One Piece,’ somewhere in the Grand Line.
Ever since then, pirates have been flooding in like madmen!
It’s long since become a terrible battlefield—they even call it the ‘Graveyard of Pirates’ now!”
The lady of the house chimed in with worry as well.
“I’ve heard the same from customers.
Once you enter the Grand Line, not many ever come back alive…”
“But the One Piece is there,” Luffy said, his voice light yet utterly unwavering, as if he had not heard a single one of those terrifying descriptions.
“Yeah.
I’ll get stronger if I go there,” Lucian said, his fist tightening, his eyes brightening.
“Luffy-san!
Lucian-san!” Koby tried to persuade them further.
“Looking at them now, there’s no talking them out of it,” Nami said, waving a hand at Koby from the side.
“Even Nami-san says so…” Koby’s shoulders drooped, and he sat back down at the table in silence, his face full of helpless resignation.
“Alright, let’s go.” Luffy waved at the three inside the tavern, then led Lucian and the others toward the door.
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