When Vivi, Sanji, and Chopper arrived back at the ship, they were greeted by the sight of Ace, who was introduced to them by Luffy. While Sanji and Vivi were shocked to find out that his brother was a commander of the Whitebeard pirates, Chopper just stared at him in curiosity.
"Is Luffy's brother really famous?" he asked Sanji.
The chef blew out some smoke. "Yea, you could say that," he responded. "He's a living legend among pirates, a menace among marines, and an insurmountable goal to bounty hunters. He has a bounty of 550 million."
Chopper's eyes widened. "But that's over 10 times Luffy's! Is he that much stronger?"
Sanji shrugged. "Beats me. They're both monsters. All it means is that Ace is more of a threat according to the World Government."
While he was vaguely aware of the attention he was getting, Ace was still preoccupied by the revelation that his long lost brother was alive. As Sanji disappeared into the kitchen, Ace contemplated the many questions that had suddenly arisen. Luffy had told him that Sabo was with the revolutionary army. How had he ended up there? Well, Ace was sure of one thing. The object of his search has just changed.
"Hey, Luffy." The rubberman looked up from the food he was eating.
"Yea? What's up Ace?"
"I was going to ask you to join the Whitebeard pirates, but I'm guessing that would be pointless."
"You guessed right," Luffy said, grinning.
"Well then, I have another proposition for you. How would you and your crew like to form an alliance with us?"
Several of the Strawhats collectively gasped, and Luffy himself was intrigued by the suggestion. "Will old man Whitebeard be ok with that?" he asked.
"I'm sure he will," Ace said, not really stressing over it. "But will you be? I know you're aiming to be Pirate King. It would be a bit of a strange agreement, but considering the circumstances, I think it could be a good idea."
"I agree," Luffy said. "And I'm not really worried about our goals clashing. If Whitebeard wanted to be Pirate King, he'd most likely have found One Piece by now. Same with Shanks."
Ace's brow furrowed. He'd never thought of it that way, but now that Luffy mentioned it so matter of factly, that made a lot of sense...did Pops even want to be king? Questions for later.
"Well, in that case, take this," Ace said, handing Luffy a small sheet of paper, which he took. "It's my vivre card. If you ever need to find me, just follow it."
Luffy noticed that there was also something written on it. A number. "This is…?"
"The number to Pops' transponder snail. I'm going to call him later and explain that I'm going to be looking for Sabo instead of Teach from here on. I'll also get his approval for the alliance, and fill him in on...recent information."
Luffy nodded. They had agreed that Ace would tell Whitebeard about his situation, but no one else. They could only imagine the headache it would cause if word reached the wrong people, so for now, it was on a need to know basis.
"Well then...until we meet again, Luffy," Ace said as he hopped off the ship and into his devil fruit operated boat. "See you at the top."
As Ace sped off, Nami's mind finally caught up with her. "We're allies...with the Whitebeard pirates…" she mumbled.
"Guess so," said Zoro with a smirk.
"That's insane!" exclaimed Usopp. "We must be the only allies they have in this part of the Grand Line. Are we, like, really important now?"
"You're the crew of the future Pirate King Usopp," Luffy said confidently. "We're already important." He turned to Vivi. "So did you guys find any leads on the rebel army?"
Vivi gasped. After the excitement with Luffy's brother, she almost forgot to tell them about what happened. As she explained that she had met up with Kohza and that he would be conducting negotiations with her father, Luffy and Zoro listened impassively. When she finished, Luffy just nodded.
"Sounds like it went smoothly then," Zoro said. "I guess our next stop is Alubarna. We can supervise everything from there." Vivi nodded eagerly. She could hardly believe it. They had come so far, and finally, they were making progress. She quickly tied a note for her father to Caru and instructed him to deliver it to him. As Caru made his way across the desert, Sanji's voice came from inside the kitchen.
"Lunch is ready!" As the Strawhats filed into the ship, Luffy and Zoro stayed outside. Luffy spoke up.
"It won't be this easy, will it?" he asked.
Zoro grunted. "No, it won't. Especially not while Robin's working with Crocodile."
Luffy pouted. "We should have just recruited her back in Sake Summit."
"Whiskey Peak. And I don't think that would have worked too well," Zoro said, causing Luffy to pout more.
"I know. But it's really weird to have her as an enemy. Not to mention annoying…" He thought for a moment. "What do you think Croc's next move will be?"
"I'm not sure. But I wouldn't put anything passed him."
Luffy's thought process was suddenly interrupted by the growl of his stomach, and the two went inside to eat with the rest of the crew. After lunch, the Strawhats set sail to the north up the Sandora river. Their plan was to drop anchor closer to Alubarna, as Vivi had suggested, before they crossed the desert on foot.
In an underwater structure located in the center of Rainbase, Sir Crocodile of the Seven Royal Warlords sat in a comfortable looking chair. You wouldn't be able to tell, however, from the infuriated scowl on his face as he stared at the transponder snail across from him.
"You're sure about this?" he asked in a deceptively calm voice.
"Of course. I had a hunch to begin with, but I've just confirmed it for myself," said a melodic voice on the other end of the line.
Crocodile was silent for a moment. "Very well," he finally said. "I suppose I'll excuse your absence from the meeting if you don't make it in time, seeing as it would have been a minor setback had I not gotten this information."
"You're ever so kind, Mr. 0," the voice said. Crocodile grunted. "So then what are you planning to do about this?"
"That's for me to know," he said in annoyance.
"But of course. I suppose it wouldn't be my place to know if it happened to have something to do with a certain crossdresser."
"Goodbye, Miss All Sunday," Crocodile said before hanging up. He looked at the clock. 3:00 PM. The number agents would be meeting at Spider Cafe in a couple hours. Minus Mr. 3 of course. That coward was no doubt on the other side of the Grand Line by now. It suddenly made sense why he hadn't been in contact since his report. The report had been false. To think he would fail his mission, give a false report, and then run with his tail between his legs. Crocodile hadn't thought highly of him to begin with, but he definitely hadn't expected this. No matter. He'd find him once Operation Utopia was over.
5:00 PM, coast across from Alubarna
"What is this thing? A turtle? Or a seal?" Usopp asked as he stared down at what appeared to a seal in a turtle shell.
Vivi's eyes widened. "That's a kung fu dugong!" she exclaimed.
"A kung fu do-what now?" Usopp asked as he got into what he presumed to be a kung fu stance.
"No wait! It'll take that as a-" Vivi flinched as the dugong beat the crap out of Usopp in three seconds flat. "Challenge…" she finished. As it stood with its arms raised over its head in a universal sign of victory, Vivi closed her eyes and sighed, completely missing what happened next.
"Looks like we've got a winner over here," Nami commented as Luffy stood over the creature, posing in a manner that was very much similar to what the small sea mammal had previously been doing.
"No, that's even worse!" Vivi objected. The kung fu dugong suddenly got up and bowed to Luffy. "It's their custom to become the victor's disciple…"
Quite abruptly, the shore became filled with a swarm of kung fu dugongs who were all seemingly intrigued by one of their own losing a fight. One briefly communicated with the original dugong before they all looked up at Luffy with stars in their eyes. Luffy raised both eyebrows.
"Hmm, I think I can only take one disciple right now. Sorry."
"Who says you're taking any to begin with!?" Nami raged. The kung fu dugongs evidently took his words as a challenge, however, and all charged at him. In seconds, they were all defeated and bowing to Luffy respectfully.
Did this happen last time? Zoro wondered. Seems familiar…
"See? That's why I said I can only take one," Luffy told them. We can't bring all of you along." The dugongs sulked as Nami, Vivi, Usopp, and Chopper listened in shock.
He's actually going to bring one along?
After a quick group lesson that Luffy was persuaded into, as well as a tearful goodbye, the Strawhats set out across the desert on foot...along with their new companion.
"So, you got a name?" Luffy asked as he walked alongside the dugong that he had beaten first. He shook his head in a surprising display of comprehension. "Ok then...I guess I'll call you...Seal!"
"What kind of name is that?" Nami mumbled. Seal on the other hand, nodded enthusiastically, indicating that he was content with the name.
"Not to trample on your random and spontaneous decision making Luffy," Zoro began, "but can this thing even cross the desert?"
"Hmm, good question," Luffy said, before turning to Seal. "Can you?"
Seal nodding enthusiastically again, making punching motions with his arms that seemed to say I'm tougher than you think!
"Kung fu dugongs are sea mammals, but they're also fit to survive in desert climates due to their surroundings environment," Vivi said. "He'll need to go back to the sea eventually, but he'll be fine for now."
Luffy, satisfied with the knowledge, proceeded to drill Seal on various punches and blocks, as well as when to use them, as they continued their journey to Alubarna.