Blue skies, white clouds.
Outside Cocoyasi Village, the skeleton of a "fortress" had already been built. Given enough time, it would grow into a structure capable of sheltering the area. But before that—
"Hey, Roman, where's Nami?"
Roman rolled his eyes at Luffy's question.
"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
"Don't you know girls need an hour to get ready before going out?"
"No." X3
"That just proves none of you have any luck with women. Look at Usopp..."
"Ah, no." Usopp shook his head. "Kaya never goes out."
...?
"Fine, just wait patiently."
Roman rubbed his temples.
"Without Nami, are you going to sail the ship? Aren't you afraid of steering the Golden Merry into a whirlpool?"
"You sail it." X4
Me?
I have something...
"Hey! Set sail!!"
The dock was packed with Cocoyasi Village residents seeing them off. Meanwhile, Nami came sprinting through the village at high speed, shouting for them to set sail as she ran.
?
"What did Nami mean?"
Roman shrugged at Usopp's question and looked toward Luffy.
"What do you say, Luffy?"
"Hahaha, she told us to set sail, so of course we set sail first."
Splash, splash.
As the anchor rose, the Golden Merry slowly began pulling away from shore, while Nami charged toward the crowd seeing her off!
"Nami, wait..."
"We still have so much to thank you for—"
"At least let us..."
But before the villagers could express their feelings of farewell, Nami had already nimbly slipped through the crowd. Amid a flurry of people stumbling everywhere, the girl kicked hard off the dock, her slender figure soaring into the air as she fell toward the already-departing Golden Merry!
"Roman~~~"
?
"Catch me!"
??
Whoosh—
In a flash, Roman, who had just been steering, had no choice but to shoot over and catch Nami, who had nearly failed to make it onto the deck. His face darkened completely.
"What are you doing?"
"You shouldn't have been unable to jump that little distance, right?"
"Could it be that you haven't trained enough..." Yet the girl in his arms merely laughed happily, leaving Roman baffled.
Splash, splash~~
Wallets fell one after another from Nami's arms, and she stuck out her tongue at Roman sheepishly.
"Sorry, I accidentally took a tiny bit too much~~~"
What was he supposed to say at a time like this?
Forget it. Just smile.
"Everyone~~"
Nami pulled some Beli from the wallets and waved at the villagers on the dock with a sly smile.
"Take care!"
—
"You little brat, you've got some nerve!!!" X N
"Nami really is different," said Usopp, his face full of envy.
"Be careful, or she'll sell you someday," said Zoro with a serious expression.
"Miss Nami has so much personality," said Sanji, giving a thumbs-up.
"Hahahahaha~~" Luffy laughed.
I've decided. I'll increase her training load by twenty percent. Roman looked thoughtful. —When in doubt, solve it with muscles!
Back on the dock, chaos erupted.
"My wallet~~"
"You Cat Burglar..."
"Get back here!!"
But as the Golden Merry gradually sailed away, all the furious shouting turned into:
"Take care—"
"You're welcome back anytime~~~"
"We're all so grateful to you!"
When parting, people should face it with a smile~~ Facing the homeland gradually receding into the distance, Nami let the sea breeze blow through her orange hair. She looked toward the Orange Grove.
"I'm leaving, Bellemere."
I've met the best group of companions, a...
Clap, clap, clap.
Roman clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the companions who were still savoring their farewells.
"Good. Starting now, we'll make up for the training we missed during this time."
With that, Roman began squatting, rising, jumping, squatting—his entire body moving so quickly it left a blur!
"Heh, Roman, let's see who can finish one hundred sets first."
Zoro raised an eyebrow, fighting spirit blazing in his eyes.
"Hahaha, no wonder these past few days felt strange," Luffy said with a grin, one hand holding down his straw hat while the other clenched into a fist against the ground.
"So I was missing Roman's 'encouragement.' Then I'm starting too!"
"123456789!!!"
Doing one-handed push-ups, Luffy became a blur like a high-speed pile driver. His features could no longer be seen clearly, and only his signature laughter echoed across the deck.
"Hahahaha, I'm definitely becoming the King of Exercise!"
...Just how many kings did you plan on becoming?
"You guys..."
The cigarette in Sanji's mouth fell onto the deck in shock. Looking at everyone training with blazing enthusiasm, he began to wonder whether he had boarded a pirate ship or accidentally wandered into some demonic muscle-training chamber...
"Ha, that was Roman's idea."
Nami, who had also begun working out, shrugged. "According to him, we're all too weak. So we have to hurry up and become stronger..."
"Is that so?"
Undoing his suit jacket, blond-haired Sanji also became interested.
"Then I'm joining too."
"Reporting, Vice Admiral."
"On the Marine Branch 16 warship number 16-1, from Branch Captain Rat downward, not a single person survived!"
On a highly "distinctive" ship, a Marine Headquarters colonel was solemnly reporting the results of the investigation. But the target of his report was:
An elderly man with a towering, nearly three-meter-tall body, a broad chest, and powerful muscles. He wore a dog-head hat that covered his face, making his expression impossible to see. Draped over his back was a Marine "Justice" cape with black-and-red shoulder pads, snapping loudly in the wind.
The aura of a powerhouse rushed at them!
And yet—
"Vice Admiral, Vice Admiral Garp, are you listening?"
"Vice Admiral... perhaps he's asleep?"
A newly arrived officer beside him asked cautiously. The reporting officer tugged at his hat and shot his colleague a stern glance.
"Be confident. Remove 'perhaps.'"
??
"What do we do now..."
Holding a stack of "evidence" in his hands, the colonel had a headache. —It wasn't that they couldn't find the culprit. Rather:
"Let me see."
A large, knobby hand snatched the papers from the colonel's hands. The old vice admiral named Garp had somehow already "woken up." He flipped through the materials, becoming more alert the further he read. Then:
"Hahahahaha~~~"
Amid his wild laughter, all the Marines felt an invisible pressure as if their bones were creaking and an enormous weight had settled on their backs.
"Excellent! I never expected the Marines at a branch to have such a 'head for business'!"
"Working hand in hand with pirates, splitting the profits seventy-thirty, and doing nothing while keeping the East Blue 'peaceful and prosperous.' They even managed to build up such a large estate! Brilliant..."
As Vice Admiral Garp spoke, an ever-heavier pressure descended upon the ship, filling the air with creaking sounds! The weaker sailors rolled their eyes back and fainted on the spot.
"Vice Admiral, Vice Admiral Garp!"
The colonel beside him helplessly raised his voice again and again until the towering old vice admiral finally came back to himself. He looked at the sailors who had been crushed by his aura and even fainted, then curled his lips in dissatisfaction.
"They can't even endure a little 'aura.' What kind of Marines are they?"
Well, you couldn't put it like that. How many people in this world could withstand your serious "aura"?
The colonel sighed helplessly, but this was not the time to discuss that.
"According to the intelligence we gathered, the person responsible was the former combat captain of the Silver Light Pirates, The Counterattacker Tokvich Roman. As for the reason..."
The colonel glanced up at the documents in Vice Admiral Garp's hands. They were all things the "culprit" had left at the scene, clearly explaining his motive.
"However, Roman has now joined the newly emerged Straw Hat Pirates, and the captain of that pirate crew..."
The colonel glanced at his superior again.
"Is named Monkey D. Luffy."
"Hahahaha, that brat has gone to sea too~~~"
Faced with the "proud" expression on his superior's face, the colonel only felt utterly exhausted.
"How should this matter be handled?"
"Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp."
Monkey D. Garp, Monkey D. Luffy. Even a blind man could see there was something suspicious there, right? As Vice Admiral Garp's direct subordinate, the colonel in the top hat naturally knew that his superior had come to the East Blue to visit his grandson. But:
Right now, he only wanted to throw the portrait in his hands at his superior's face. Why didn't you educate him properly? Look what your grandson had become!
Forget it, forget it. Life wasn't worth it...
Tokvich Roman?
Even with the fact that his grandson had run off to become a pirate, Garp still had the leisure to think about other matters.
That sounds familiar. Could it be...
"Hahaha, something like this was definitely ordered by that 'Straw Hat' Luffy. Just leave it to those people at Headquarters. Why should I care~~"
Mm, the old man casually waved his hand with the imposing air of someone who had just set his grandson up.
Grand Line, Marine Headquarters.
The Marine secretary who was always presiding over meetings, Brannew... ah, no, Marine Colonel Brannew slapped three Bounty Posters onto the table.
"Buggy the Clown, 15 million;"
"Krieg the Commodore, 17 million;"
"Arlong of the Fish-Man Pirates, 20 million..."
"These three pirate crews with bounties exceeding ten million were all taken down by this—" His palm slammed against the brand-new Bounty Poster hanging on the wall behind him. It showed Luffy grinning brightly beneath his straw hat!
"The newly emerged Straw Hat Luffy! The branches were helpless against this group."
"His first bounty is thirty million! While the amount isn't high, it already shows that pirates of the new generation are emerging one after another."
"Therefore, we must nip evil in the bud..."
Following Colonel Brannew's impassioned speech, the gathered officers responded in unison!
"Justice!"
The Marines on the Grand Line at least looked somewhat like what "justice" ought to be.
Except—
The officers all fell into thought as they looked at that strangely familiar name.
Monkey D...?
PS: These are today's two chapters. I'll make up for yesterday's later.
Before you continue