A few days later
On the Going Merry
Luffy was sitting down and scratching his head, "I can't read this…" Everyone else looked at him and rolled their eyes. A little reindeer read a book labeled 'Life Return' with fervor saying "Oh my! Yes! Amazing! HHAHAHAH!"
The rest were reading copies Nami had written, feeling that their strength needed to be increased! After experiencing Galan's oppression and seeing Ace's strength, they needed to get better, but they were walking in the dark… The books were detailed but it wasn't enough, they needed a teacher!
Suddenly, Luffy noticed a new person on the deck. He looked over and said "Oh! It's you!" everyone glanced over before turning back, then they froze and pointed at the intruder "YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
The woman revealed herself to be Robin, she smiled and snorted "So we finally left, huh?" the crew prepared for action and Robin sighed "Tell them what you did to me, Monkey D. Luffy." Luffy was confused and Sanji strangled him, shouting "What did you do to the beautiful lady?!" Luffy retorted innocently "Nothing!"
Robin leaned back on a beach chair and sighed, "Oh no. You've committed an unbearable act upon me… For which you must take responsibility." she was the epitome of calmness, as though everything was in her hands and not a problem at all.
How could she know that her every move was monitored?
Usopp shivered and said "Leave at once! Or we'll call the Marines!" the reindeer was stunned and said "But we're pirates!" Usopp swallowed and said "I know the Fleet Admiral!" Robin froze and glared at Usopp, a look of extreme hatred on her face, saying "What did you say?!"
Usopp was terrified and fainted directly, Sanji let go of Luffy as the rest stopped fooling around, staring at her flatly. Luffy held out his hand and said "If you want to stay, you can. You can join our crew if you want, but you better apologize for scaring Usopp." Robin frowned at him and said "I had this intention before."
Luffy nodded and said "Sure. But apologize first." Robin raised a brow and asked "If I don't?" Luffy frowned and replied "Then I don't want you on my ship. We're all friends here, if you don't want to be friends then get out of here." Robin looked at him in silence for a few moments before smiling "Okay." she squatted in front of Usopp and hugged her knees, saying gently "I'm sorry, Longnose-kun~"
Usopp whispered "Yeah… please don't kill me…" Robin rolled her eyes before catching a glimpse of a book, she picked it up and said "Hey! You have this too?" as she waved the book that said 'Haki' on it.
The rest of the crew showed her the books in their hands and Robin was stunned. Luffy frowned "But it's so hard to learn!" Robin smiled gently and clenched her fist, it turned black in an instant as she giggled "Not that hard."
The crew surrounded her in awe, saying "No way! You can do it?! Wow Robin, you're so cool! Can you teach me!? ROBIN-CHWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN~! Big sister Robin~ Hehe~ Can you teach me too~?"
Robin looked at the 6 pairs of eyes and was overwhelmed in an instant, waving her hands and sweating with a helpless smile "A-Alright!" The crew lifted her up and threw her in the air, cheering "Yay! Woohoo!"
Robin was stunned silly and suddenly felt these guys were really annoying. But she didn't leave!
Galan listened to a Buzzard speak through a snail "She's on the Strawhat ship." Galan raised his brows and Olvia was so glad, she nearly cried. She was so thankful that her daughter found people like them, she almost collapsed on the spot!
Galan thought for a moment and said "You can take off the rest of the Buzzards around her. There's no need for further surveillance." The Buzzard didn't complain at all, even he was infected by Luffy, that kid did more than the Marines could! Got him excited.
He even cried manly tears!
The Buzzards pulled back from Nico Robin and were delegated to other tasks.
However he kept a close eye on Luffy with a Vulture. This old man liked traveling and he didn't really do anything, so Galan put him in charge of watching Luffy's crew. He was ordered to never make a move, even if the kid was going to die.
It didn't take long for the old man to report in, "Boss, Blackbeard is in Mocktown. The kid got into an argument with him over pie." Galan was stunned and replied "You don't need to tell me every detail, Giovanni…"
Giovanni was walking along the street and humming to himself, "I like details, Boss. They let you make plans easier." Galan sighed and Olvia smiled gently, Giovanni was still reliable.
Galan nodded and said "Alright, let me know if anything else shows up." before hanging up. He had almost forgotten about Blackbeard, it reminded him to call Whitebeard.
That night, Galan was sitting in the bedroom saying "Newgate, what's this rat doing in Paradise." Newgate laughed and retorted "You questioning me, asshole?! Don't forget who saved your life!" Galan frowned and said "This is serious! He attacked a Government affiliated Kingdom and now he's causing a ruckus in Paradise. He's not a rookie, he shouldn't be there. What are you planning?"
Newgate snorted "Nothing! He's a traitor!" Galan furrowed his brows and said "What?" Newgate explained "He killed a fellow son before escaping. Over a Devil Fruit no less!" Galan was shocked, truly, saying "On YOUR ship!?"
Newgate sighed, "Aye… I can't believe it myself…" Galan shook his head and said "I should've told you to be careful. There's a lot of people like Rocks out there. Not everyone is like Roger…" Newgate shouted angrily "You think I don't know that?! What do you take me for!?"
Galan retorted "Listen! You saved my life and I owe you, but if your crew is evil I will hunt them. I'm telling you to be careful because I don't want another person like Roger dying for no reason." Newgate fell silent and Galan snorted, "Not to mention, you have his son with you. All the more reason to be cautious if he gets captured, I think you know better than me what they'll do!"
Newgate retorted "YOU are the Fleet Admiral." Galan rebuffed him, "Yes, but I'M not the World Government. I can't disobey orders and let a pirate run free. I just can't. Not yet. You know best how I see the world, it's not time." Newgate laughed, "It's a dangerous way of thinking, Galan. Maybe one day you won't even know who killed you."
Galan snorted "Maybe. But until that day, I will continue. So do me a favor, keep your sons in check. Ace is running around the world for whatever reason and the traitor is attacking innocents everywhere he goes! If I have to, I will kill him myself!"
Newgate said warningly "The problems of my family will be handled by my family! Don't forget that!" Galan retorted "Can you stop me? How are your injuries?" Newgate was silent and Galan continued "Exactly. You can't do it anymore. You gave up just like Roger, so please, don't tell me how to do my job when you gave up doing yours, okay?"
Galan hung up and didn't care how Newgate felt. He said what he said and he meant every word. This guy just decided to die like a coward! Galan felt that everyone had a responsibility to put themselves towards a greater purpose! If he had to die for no reason, he couldn't do it.
If he was really suicidal, he would rampage in Mariejois before blowing himself up just before he died. He would take as many filthy scum with him to hell as he could!
Newgate looked at the silent snail and fell silent for a long time. Unexpectedly, he didn't get angry or lose his temper. He just thought about what Galan said. For this kind of person who dedicates their entire being to destroying truly evil people, Newgate could never understand.
Didn't you have desires? Wants? Dreams? Aspirations?
How does someone choose this path in their life? Regarding Galan, Newgate was full of contradicting feelings. This guy clearly didn't see the world normally. There were no Pirates and Marines for him. Only good and evil.
Good pirates he would actually let go while he killed the evil ones! How insane was this?! He couldn't wrap his head around it. Newgate had seen many men in his life, however someone like Galan, never before.
This man threw away his sense of self and took it upon himself to be the judge, jury, and executioner of evil! How can he wake up everyday? What is his motivation?
Newgate thought about himself, he couldn't do something like this. He would lose his mind! He felt that he would most likely give up on the way and go crazy. All the shit that guy had seen, it was a wonder how he was still sane!
He held the title of the Strongest Man in the World, but he deeply felt that in terms of mental fortitude, Galan was leagues ahead of him. To leave behind your sense of self and take on a name becoming the embodiment of Justice…
He wasn't a human anymore, but an ideal.
Newgate sighed to himself, what a shitty way to live.