The Legend Begins

"That might not be the case!" A mysterious man suddenly pressed down on Smoker's weapon-holding hand. From Smoker's expression, it was clear that despite being a Logia Devil Fruit user, he had been completely suppressed. His body could not turn into smoke.

"You?" When Smoker saw the man's face, he said bluntly, "The World Government has always wanted your head!"

"Who is that?" Luffy and Buggy asked curiously at the same time, but neither could see the newcomer's face.

"The world is waiting for our answer!" The mysterious man did not waste words on Smoker. Instead, he used his power and said to the retreating figures, "Go. If this is how you choose to live!"

The smoke Smoker had used to restrain Luffy and Buggy was instantly scattered by a sudden gale, sending both of them flying away with the wind. Although Smoker unwillingly watched the two major pirates escape from his grasp, there was nothing he could do. The mysterious man who had saved Luffy and the others was far beyond what Smoker could handle.

"What a fierce storm!" William and the others, walking ahead, were nearly blown away by the wind. When they saw Luffy get blown over as well, they asked curiously, "Luffy! What happened?"

"I don't know. Just run!" Luffy had no idea what had happened. He only knew that a gust of wind had saved him. He knew he had no way to deal with Smoker's ability right now. If he got caught again, he might not be so lucky next time. This was also Luffy's first encounter with a Logia user, and he finally understood how terrifying they were.

"Why are you helping these pirates?" Smoker asked in confusion. Although the man before him was the World Government's most wanted criminal, he was not a pirate, so there was no reason for him to help pirates. Besides, his appearance here in the East Blue was a mystery in itself. No one knew why he had come.

This mysterious man was Luffy's father, whom Luffy had never met—the son of Marine hero Vice Admiral Karp, the commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Army, Monkey D. Dragon. He was also William's master, though William had not yet recovered those memories and could not remember his connection to Dragon at all.

"What reason could stop a man from setting sail?" Monkey D. Dragon said. His gaze followed the backs of Luffy and William as they gradually disappeared into the distance. This was his farewell to his son and disciple before they entered the Grand Line.

"Princess Nami, we're back!" As they neared the Golden Merry, lovestruck Sanji immediately shouted.

"Hurry up, the rope won't hold much longer!" Usopp gripped the rope tightly to keep the Golden Merry from being swept away by the waves, urging them nonstop. "Stop dawdling! Get aboard, we're setting sail!"

"Who is this young lady?" Before he had even found his footing on deck, Sanji's eyes were drawn to a graceful woman.

"She knows William," Nami said. Earlier, several Buggy Pirates had tried to light gunpowder and blow up the Golden Merry. Fortunately, the storm had made the powder impossible to ignite. Then this woman had suddenly appeared, knocked out several of Buggy's men, and claimed to be William's friend.

"You are?" William watched the woman before him warily. If she had been someone Colonel William knew in the past, seeing her should have triggered some fragments of memory. But after staring at her several times without recalling anything, William could not help worrying about her identity and intentions.

"It's been a long time, William," the woman said politely. "Don't you remember me? I'm Koala!"

"Koala?" Upon hearing the name, William only felt that he had heard it somewhere before. There really was such a name in his memories, but he could not remember what she looked like. Because of his transmigration, many events in this world had already changed.

"You womanizer, I'm going to kill you!" Sanji glared at William with flames in his eyes, consumed by jealousy.

"You're even less qualified to say that. Get control of the ship first." Nami mercilessly punched Sanji on the head. They were in the middle of a storm; one careless mistake and the ship would capsize.

"We can catch up later. The ship's about to flip!" William also knew this was not the time to figure out her identity. Escaping the storm was what mattered now.

"Get Nojiko out here to help too!" Usopp shouted at William, only to discover that aside from Nojiko, three more people had emerged from the castle inside William's body. He asked curiously, "Who are they?"

"They're newly recruited crew members," William said. In this situation, he had no idea how else to introduce them.

"Don't include us!" The twin sisters, Mary and Anne, immediately objected when they heard William count them among his newly recruited members. Although they had spent time with Nojiko while trapped, they still strongly resisted the idea of becoming pirates.

"Then you can swim back," William said, pointing at the sea. Let alone Devil Fruit users who could not swim, even expert swimmers could not make it back to shore through such violent wind and rain.

"We're ability users! How are we supposed to swim back?" the sisters said in panic. Making them swim in the ocean was no different from throwing them into it. Devil Fruit users could not move in water.

"Then stop complaining. Don't you want to enter the Grand Line too?" William rolled his eyes at the sisters. Under these circumstances, there was no way their ship could turn back and take them ashore.

"Looks like I wasn't the only one who gained something," Zoro said smugly as he followed Nami's instructions and worked the sails. For him, the greatest reward from this trip to Loguetown was obtaining the two famous swords Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri without spending a single Beli. However, he still had to repay Nami ten thousand Beli with interest for the money he had borrowed earlier.

"Don't be afraid! Let me protect you!" Seeing how upset the sisters looked, Sanji immediately rushed over and shouted. His actions not only frightened them, but also made them think he was a pervert.

"Straw Hat brat, I'll settle the score with you later for what you did to me last time!" Alvida said rudely.

"Who are you?" Luffy, who suffered from face blindness, could not recognize Alvida after her appearance had changed from eating a Devil Fruit. Even if she had not changed, Luffy might not have remembered her anyway.

"Kid, are you looking to die?" When Sanji heard that Alvida had once been beaten by Luffy, his instinct to protect women immediately made him turn on Luffy.

"Stop messing around! See that light ahead? That's a navigational beacon." Seeing the distant lighthouse, Nami pointed at the light ahead and said, "The entrance to the Grand Line is right beyond it."

"What should we do?" William looked at Luffy and asked. Although he was the ship's strategist, Luffy was the captain. Where the ship went was entirely up to him.

"You're not seriously going to make us sail into the Grand Line in a storm like this, are you?" Sailing through this storm had already scared Usopp half to death. If they chose to enter the Grand Line now, he would be frightened pale.

"Set sail! Destination: the Grand Line!" Captain Luffy immediately gave the order.

On the coast of Loguetown, aboard Buggy the Clown's ship, Buggy said to his crew, "Prepare to enter the Grand Line!"

"Huh? Captain, you're not joking, are you?" Buggy's men could not believe their captain would make such a decision. To get revenge, he actually wanted to enter the Grand Line, known as the Pirates' Graveyard. And he wanted to set sail in this raging storm, when the ship could capsize at any moment!

"That's right. This is a perfect opportunity, and I still have to settle things with that bastard rubber man. Let's sail into that nostalgic Grand Line!" Buggy said with a thrilled, smug expression, completely unafraid of the terrible weather outside.

At the Loguetown Marine base, Captain Smoker actually ordered his soldiers to prepare a warship to pursue Straw Hat Luffy into the Grand Line.

"Captain Smoker, this sea is under your jurisdiction! If you do this, how are we supposed to explain it to the officers above?" Smoker's subordinates hurriedly tried to persuade him otherwise.

"Tell them this: don't tell me what to do!" Smoker did not care about the opinions of his superiors at all. That was why, despite being a Logia Devil Fruit user, he had been assigned to the weakest sea, the East Blue, and held only the rank of captain.