East Blue, Gecko Island, Syrup Village
Koby teleported to the biggest mansion in the island by using his Lightning power to zip in front of the gate. He left Zoro and Helmeppo in their new ship, the stolen Marine ship, to train to become stronger to become ready for the grandline.
After leaving Shells Town, Koby and his crew sailed to Gecko Island to recruit Kuro, a former pirate who is now pretending to be a butler to steal the money of a young heiress named Kaya.
Koby knew that even though he is smart, he is not good with tactics for war. Kuro is the man that will be planning the specific details of how to achieve each goal. He has a rough plan and goal to achieve which is to conquer all of the seas including the 4 blues and the whole grandline, the paradise and the new world. To do this, the first step is to lay some foundation of power and become the strongest man in the world.
Kuro is known for being smart and having a thousand plans for everything he does but sadly he was too strong for his crew and he was too scared of the marines and what lies in the grandline. Koby is gonna recruit Kuro to become his tactician.
As he zipped in front of the gate, the two bodyguards in front was shocked awake by what they saw. Ignoring their shocked expressions, Koby asked them a question.
"Hello there, can you tell me where to find Klahadore?"
"You mean, the butler?"
"Yeah, the butler Klahadore."
"He's inside the house taking care of the young miss."
"Can you tell him that Koby is looking for him."
"Yeah, sure, wait for a moment" said a guard as he went inside the mansion to tell the butler that someone is looking for him.
After a while, a man came out with the guard, who then pointed at Koby saying, "That's the guy that's looking for you, he said his name is Koby."
"Oh okay thanks."
The man had a slick back black hair with a suit and gloves. He wears glasses and pushes his glasses back up using his palm with his fingers all pointing in the sky like there are blades attached to them. This man is Kuro the former pirate, now fake butler.
He looked at Koby intently as he sensed danger from Koby's presence.
"You're the one looking for me." He said.
Koby just grabbed Kuro and zipped backed into his ship in response. He didn't want to waste anytime and just took Kuro with him to make him part of his pirate crew.
Zoro and Helmeppo looked on in shock as Koby appeared all of a sudden with another man.
"I'm Koby and I kidnapped you to ask if you want to join my pirate crew."
Kuro pulled out his signature cat blades, a glove with blades that are extended from each of his fingers, out of nowhere and sliced Koby into pieces.
As Koby elementalized his body back together, Kuro looked on in horror as he was electrified and paralyzed in place.
"I didn't bring you here to hurt you, like I said, would you like to join my crew" said Koby as he let Kuro adjust his body.
"Why should I join you, do you even know what lies beyond the grandline" asked Kuro terrified of what just happened.
"To answer your questions, I need a Strategist to help me accomplish my goal. And I know exactly what lies beyond the Grandline, it's my goal to Conquer the world, not just the Grandline" said Koby in a domineering manner like it's just a matter of time until that happens.
Zoro, Helmeppo, and Kuro looked at Koby in shocked as they heard his goals. They were all able to imagine Koby on top of the World with a mountain of skulls and corpses under his feet.
Zoro just smirked with his hand on his sword as his goal was in line with Koby.
Helmeppo started admiring Koby and even forgot for a second that his father was killed by him.
While, Kuro was shell shocked that his hidden ambition that he discarded long ago started surging forth as he decided to follow Koby in his conquest. 'I must be crazy to be thinking of joining this madman.'
"What makes you think that you can do that" said Kuro.
"It's my goal and I know exactly who and what are the powerhouses that I need to overcome to achieve my goal, I just need to gather and build my power, nothing will stop me until I achieve my goal. You, Kuro is one of the people that will be needed to push my plans forward."
Kuro was even more convinced to join as he understood more about Koby. He wasn't just an idiot declaring that he will become the pirate king without even knowing what it takes to achieve his goal.
"Alright, I've decided, I will risk my life in helping you achieve your goal as I also had this same ambition. But after finding out a little of what's out there, outside of the blues, I was terrified, I hid my ambitions to live a rich and quiet life. After hearing your goals and conviction, my ambition started surfacing again." Said Kuro as his body started trembling out of excitement.
"That's what I'm talking about. I knew I didn't choose the wrong person." Said Koby smiling after recruiting Kuro.
Zoro just went with the flow as he trust Koby's decision after deciding to join his crew.
While, Helmeppo started rethinking his whole existence as Koby's speech wiped away his hatred replacing it with an ambition that he would never have even thought of, if he never met Koby, which is to conquer the world, igniting his motivation to get stronger.
…
As the whole world was doing their own thing.
Nobody in the world is aware that a crew of 4 people in the East Blue are planning on conquering the world.