The morning mist draped the harbor like a veil of gossamer, waves lapping gently against the little boat moored at the shore and sending up delicate ripples.
Luffy and the other three were checking off Nami’s supply list, steadily loading their provisions, before stepping aboard one after another.
At the harbor’s edge, Rika, her mother, and Koby stood watching them, waving farewell with all their might.
Just as Luffy and Zoro gripped the oars and prepared to set off, a unit of Marines suddenly filed out in formation from a side alley.
They had clearly been observing for quite some time—Lucian’s terrifying ability that had turned their own comrades against each other still filled them with deep wariness toward Luffy’s group.
“Hold it!” the Marine lieutenant commander barked out sharply.
He pointed at Koby.
“That pink-haired kid—isn’t he your comrade?
Why isn’t he leaving with you?”
Hearing this, Luffy and the others stopped what they were doing and all turned to look.
“I-I’m…” Koby’s legs were already trembling with fear.
Luffy lowered his head and fell silent for a moment.
Then, with a single leap, he jumped ashore and deliberately jabbed a finger at Koby, loudly declaring, “You mean Koby?
This guy’s no comrade of ours.”
“Luffy-san…” Koby looked at him, his eyes wide with shock.
Luffy pressed on, undeterred.
“There was this super fat pirate lady—Alvida, I think her name was.
This loser worked as her errand boy for two whole years!”
Aboard the little boat, Lucian stared blankly at Luffy, completely failing to understand the act.
Nami and Zoro, however, exchanged knowing smiles and quietly watched the scene play out.
“Stop it!
Stop talking!” Koby’s face flushed crimson.
He hung his head under Luffy’s barrage of words, then suddenly lifted his eyes in fury and hurled a punch straight at Luffy.
“How dare you hit me, you bastard!” Luffy dropped his grin and swung his fist right back at Koby’s face.
The two of them instantly tumbled into a tangled brawl, Luffy pinning Koby down and driving punch after punch into him.
“Enough!” The Marine lieutenant commander rushed forward to stop them.
“It is now confirmed that you are not associates!
Leave this port immediately!” He glanced down at Koby, bruised and battered on the ground, then spoke with stern formality.
“We’re off!” Luffy leaped back onto the boat.
Lucian and Zoro pulled at the oars, and the little vessel slowly departed the harbor.
Only when the boat had grown distant did realization suddenly strike Koby.
He struggled to his feet, gazing at the receding silhouette of the boat, his eyes burning hot.
“So…
Luffy-san…”
“Sir!” Koby suddenly straightened his back and faced the lieutenant commander, the bruises on his face unable to conceal the resolve in his eyes. You are reading on novelping dot com, the official source.
“Please allow me to join the Marines!
I’m going to become a Marine officer!”
The lieutenant commander looked at this young man, still with fresh blood under his nose, and finally nodded.
“Enlistment approved!”
Aboard the little boat, Zoro rowed as he grumbled, “Your acting back there was absolute garbage.
Hope that doesn’t screw things up for Koby.”
Nami added dryly, “But given Luffy’s brain, it’s a miracle he even came up with that plan at all.”
“Oh, who cares~” Luffy pressed down his straw hat.
“Koby will figure it out!”
“So you were acting back there,” Lucian said, tilting his head.
When the two had started fighting earlier, he’d thought Luffy had suddenly gotten weak and had nearly jumped in to help.
“You didn’t know?” Luffy and the other two turned to him in unison.
“Know what?” Lucian gazed back at them blankly.
Just then, shouts suddenly rang out from the shore.
Everyone turned to look.
Koby was now standing among the Marine ranks, and the Marines lining the shore had formed up in perfect order, saluting.
Rika and her mother were off to the side, waving with all their might.
“All hands—salute!” The lieutenant commander’s command echoed across the harbor.
Every Marine raised their right hand in crisp unison, the click of their boots sharp and clear.
Zoro raised an eyebrow.
“Pirates getting saluted by the Marines—that’s a first.”
“See you later, Koby!” Luffy stood at the bow and shouted.
Lucian simply gazed quietly at the scene on the shore, hugging his treasure bundle tightly.
The little boat sailed slowly toward the rising sun, leaving the neatly saluting ranks behind them.
Once the silhouette of the boat had vanished completely, the lieutenant commander suddenly wheeled around.
“That salute just now was a violation of military discipline!
Everyone—three days without meals!”
“Yes, sir!” The Marines’ response rang out, loud and clear in the sea breeze.
…
Aboard the little boat, Luffy planted a foot on the bow, the sea wind lifting the strands of his hair.
He steadied his straw hat and threw his head back with a roar of laughter.
“Ahh—my pirate crew has finally set sail!”
“There’s bound to be some heart-pounding adventures waiting for us up ahead!” Zoro leaned back against the gunwale, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Yeah—adventures, and treasure,” Lucian said from the other side, clutching the treasure in his arms, his eyes glimmering with bright anticipation.
Nami glanced at the three of them, a look of mild disdain on her face—but the corners of her lips secretly curved upward all the same.
“I’m definitely gonna become the King of the Pirates,” Luffy said, staring out at the distant horizon, his eyes carrying an unshakable resolve.
Zoro raised an eyebrow and asked, puzzled, “You seem dead set on becoming the Pirate King.
Is there some special reason for it?”
“No particular reason,” Luffy replied, touching the straw hat on his head, his tone earnest.
“It’s just—I made a promise to a man once.
That one day, I’d gather a crew, find the world’s greatest treasure, and become the King of the Pirates.” He paused.
“This straw hat is going to witness all of it.”
“Is that so,” Zoro murmured, tilting his head up toward the sky, a thoughtful look settling on his face.
“The world’s greatest treasure…” A startling gleam blazed to life in Lucian’s hollow eyes.
“A dream, huh…” Nami gazed at Luffy’s back as he stood at the bow, her whisper soft, her expression tinged with something complicated.
….
The sky was a brilliant blue, seagulls dancing overhead, and the boundless sea stretched out endlessly before them.
“Man, what a haul today!” Three pirates stared at the chest of glittering gold aboard their ship, grinning from ear to ear.
“With this much loot, even Buggy-sama won’t be able to yell at us this time, right?”
“Look over there!” One of them suddenly pointed off into the distance, where an unremarkable little boat was bobbing lazily along.
“Pull up alongside and take a look!” another pirate said, rubbing his hands together, his eyes gleaming with greed.
“Who knows, we might even score another round!”
The target they had set their sights on was none other than the little boat carrying Luffy’s group.
At that moment, Luffy was slumped listlessly against the side of the boat, a huge lump swelling on the top of his head.
Zoro and Lucian rowed in silence, the boat swaying gently with their movements.
“You jerk!
You ate every last bit of the food I’d prepared—all in a single day!” Nami’s voice crackled with fury as she stood over Luffy, hands on her hips, scolding him mercilessly.
“I was hungry…” Luffy muttered, his voice weak and deflated.
“Even if you were hungry, you can’t just eat like that!” Nami only grew angrier, and she slammed several more fists down onto Luffy’s head.
“The route to the Buggy Pirates was supposed to take two days, and you ate everything on day one!
Are we supposed to just starve through the second day?
You idiot!” In an instant, several more lumps had sprouted across Luffy’s head.
Zoro and Lucian exchanged a glance.
Neither said a word.
They simply rowed faster.
Just then, a ship nearly twice the size of their own slowly pulled up alongside them.
The four aboard the little boat lifted their eyes in unison toward this uninvited guest.
Leaning against the gunwale of the other ship were three men with vicious, menacing faces.
Smug, contemptuous smirks curled at their lips, and their eyes were filled with brazen, undisguised appraisal.
They were clearly not the friendly sort, and they were staring at Luffy’s group with unmistakable ill intent.