With Syrup Village behind them and a trip to visit Treasure Isle which didn't actually have treasure but had a man in a box looking over some rare looking animals, it became a more carefree cruise along the sea for the four new pirates on the crew; Zoro was taking a nap in the sun while Nami was sprawled out on a lounger and reading over some new maps that were included in the Going Merry and Morgan was doing….something? Usopp on the other hand was still fantasising about being the brave pirate captain even after he got accepted as a new member of the crew.
"Come on! This is meant to be a pirate's adventure, not a pleasure cruise!" Usopp grumbled as he noticed none of them looked up or even gave him an acknowledgement.
"Usopp, Someone has to keep an eye on where we're heading…We want to get to our next stop intact so I'm making sure that the ship is going right." Nami pointed out.
"I'm doing something that only a Captain should be focused on." Morgan added as Usopp's final retort was the sound of Zoro's snoring before he snapped awake.
"Speaking of which…what exactly are you doing, Ford? you've been sat in that corner for a while now." Nami said as she placed her maps down and peeked over at what it was he was doing.
"Good thing you brought this up, my dear Navigator….Because I'm just about done!" Morgan grinned as he unfurled what looked to be a giant flag; or at least what looked like a flag: it was very lopsided with one side of the teeth being longer then the other and the right eye was smaller then the other plus the yellow blob on top of the Jolly Roger was leaving almost nothing to the imagination.
"What…in the numerous seas is that?" Nami was the first to speak up about it as she was flabbergasted and unable to find any right words.
"It's our Jolly Roger, if we're gonna be the Straw Hat Pirates….Then we're gonna need a flag to match!" Morgan remarked proudly as the "Flag" fluttered in the breeze.
"Morgan…No disrespect but Jolly Rogers are meant to be a symbol of fear…A warning to other ships that they're facing danger." Usopp explained to Morgan while trying to keep a straight face about it.
"Honestly…The only thing that I fear is his talent in drawing that." Nami stated bluntly; "I mean, does it have to be that flag?"
"Well, I can always do a brush up…after all I was renowned in my village for being a graffiti artist for over 50 years." Usopp bragged as he picked up a brush.
"50 years, huh? so Usopp's actually a grandpa…he's less wrinkly then your typical old man." Morgan joked with a wide grin at Usopp's lie.
"Then that means he's got a few kids and grandkids already as well." Nami giggled as she got in on it; "You've gotta tell me your skincare routine~"
"I'M NOT AN OLD MAN!" Usopp finally rebuked them as he managed to work faster than Morgan did when it came to making the flag and unfurled it; "And here it is! A glorious masterpiece!"
While it looked many times better then Morgan's drawing, Usopp was still insistent on putting himself in the limelight as the Jolly Roger had a longer nose, along with Usopp's bandana and slingshot.
"We're supposed to do the Captain's flag!" Zoro and Morgan pointed out as they then rolled up the flag, with some complaining from Usopp; they managed to get a fully finished and better made version of Morgan's original Jolly Roger but with an extra addition: with an open palmed hand on one side and a closed fist on the other to symbolise Morgan's Martial Art.
"Gotta say Usopp, you talk a big game but you know how to step up when it counts." Morgan complimented Usopp as he pat him on the back before they began painting a larger Jolly Roger on the sails. "And look at that! We finally have ourselves a legit pirate ship." He said with a grin as he sat on the figurehead for the Merry.
Some time later, Morgan saw Usopp rolling a large box up the stairs and towards the deck; "Hey, Look what I found!" Usopp remarked as he cracked open the box with a crowbar; showing that it was stuffed full of cannonballs; "Cannonballs? Well…it is a ship, we should test it out!" Usopp suggested as Morgan who was equally as excited began to roll a cannon out towards the side of the ship.
"What is it with boys and wanting to shoot things?" Nami thought to herself but started to read the map nearby where they were; "If you really want to fire that cannon off, there's a reef nearby that you can get at." Nami directed as there was a reef that was the size of a mountain far off of the portside of the ship.
"Alright, I get to try first." Morgan would say as he aimed the cannon as carefully as he could; directing it towards the reef and then firing it off.
Both Usopp and Morgan used their hands to shield their eyes from the sun as the cannonball flew through the air and hit the water with a loud splash; "Looks like you missed." Nami bluntly mentioned as she peered up over her map and saw the reef was unharmed.
"Well, looks like I can try now." Usopp mentioned as he put more effort into aiming the cannon; accounting for Morgan's whiff and then fired it off, this time however it hit with a loud "KABOOM!" and part of the Reef had been blasted to bits. "HAHA! I GOT IT!" Usopp cheered as he did a little victory dance.
Rather then being upset about someone one-upping him; Morgan grinned; "Well Usopp, it looks like you're our new sniper with an aim like that….You think you're up for it?" he asked as Usopp thumbed his chest.
"You bet, I'll be the best Sniper Captain of the Straw Hats that there is." Usopp declared with Nami and Morgan both responding "Not Captain" with a deadpan look at him.
The resounding shock from the cannon fire wasn't what knocked Zoro out of his nap as much as it was the sound of a sword clashing against the woodwork of the ship's deck; "Hey, you got some nerve to attack our shi-wait….Johnny?"
The man named as Johnny made himself revealed after he took a swing at Morgan; "Hold up…Zoro-bro?" He would double take as he sheathed his sword and gripped hands with Zoro; "What are you doing out here? You become a pirate now?"
"Yeah, bounty hunting wasn't paying much and this guy helped me out." Zoro mentioned as he gestured to Morgan; "What about you? Yosaku hasn't come along for this?"
—A Few minutes, several limes and an explanation later—
Johnny brought a very sickly looking Yosaku on board with Nami, Morgan and Usopp looking him over; "So his teeth started falling out, his skin's off colour and old wounds started opening back up? He's not dying, he's just got scurvy."" Nami remarked to Morgan as he and Usopp munched on some fruit; "So we should probably be careful when it comes to food at sea."
"Yeah, that's why we should try getting a cook on board….and a musician too." Morgan mentioned as he leaned back on his chair, earning a confused look from Usopp and a bewildered look from Nami.
"I get the Cook part, but a musician? that's not exactly a pirate's job…Unless we're doing a side gig." Usopp said as Nami sighed before looking to Morgan.
"A musician is the literal LAST thing that we need on board this ship, we should be focusing on trying to prepare for the Grand Line." Nami groaned as she rolled out the map to look it over again.
"Think about it, a musician works in the long run…If we're gonna be at sea then who knows how long it'll be before we start going crazy." Morgan pointed out; "Having a little music isn't going to hurt plus it'll save us stressing each other out."
"Y'know, that's actually a good point…but Nami's right, if this whole scurvy thing is gonna be a problem then we either need a cook on board or we start learning how to properly preserve food for long outings at sea." Usopp agreed with Nami yelling "THANK YOU!" as someone was finally seeing reason.
"If you're looking for a cook or for food that's suited for long travel, me and Yosaku know a place where you can go for both!" Johnny suggested as they let Yosaku rest on a bunk and guided them up top so they could sail in the right direction.
It took some time but they were starting to see another ship in the distance; one that looked oddly enough like a fish with the words: "BARATIE" emblazoned on the side, though it looked like they weren't the only ones to visit this grand ship restaurant.
"And what do we have here?" An oily voiced, violet haired man in a suit would say as he peered over the railing with a woman under his arm who looked equally as gaudy and condescending as he was; "Pirates, huh? I don't recognise you or your flag…you got a bounty on you, new fish?"
"Nope, I'm the captain though." Both Morgan and Usopp said, with Morgan giving Usopp a side eye. "I'm the captain of this crew….but he helped to design the flag." Morgan reiterated but quickly got suspicious when he saw the familiar colours and logo of the Marines on the other ship; "We're not looking for trouble, we just want food and to move on."
The Marine Man ignored him as he saw Yosaku and Johnny peering from the door; "I know you two, you're a Bounty Hunter duo…you finally cash yourselves in as pirates? Seems only fitting that you stoop to working for a greenhorn." The Marine smirked as he started laughing raucously, bringing the two into a rage as they rushed forward with their swords drawn.
"Weak, are we?!" Yosaku yelled as he leapt into the air with Johnny following behind.
"We've taken bounties that you wouldn't believe!" Johnny finished as they brought their swords down…onto the wood floor as the Marine brought a large and ironclad fist down on both of them, knocking the two out cold with the bolted imprints of his knuckle.
"I am Marine Lieutenant Fullbody! I've earned my right to eat good food and surround myself with beautiful women…Don't think that we're on the same level because you could never be, fledgling!" Fullbody sneered as he turned to the soldiers standing guard; "They've ruined my mood, sink that eyesore of a ship." he ordered as a cannon were then trained on the Merry.
"T-This is bad, a shot from that kind of cannon will scuttle us, no problem!" Johnny would start to panic along with Yosaku and Usopp; it looked like the only ones who weren't all that worried were Morgan and Zoro.
"Hey, Morgan…think you got this?" Zoro asked as Nami looked at them both like they weren't being serious about a cannonball bearing down on them.
"Only one way to find out….Swift Style Kenpo!" Morgan would remark as he leaned himself low and was ready to jump.
"M-Martial Arts aren't going to stop a cannonball that big!" Usopp yelled as he tugged the steering down hard, lurching the ship hard to starboard.
"WHIPPING HORSE TAI-WHOA!" Morgan made a leap into the air with a backflip but the last minute jerk from under his feet threw him off balance; determined to keep the ship unharmed, he swung his leg upward as an overhead kick but the throw off balance scuffed his contact and bounced the cannonball off of his leg and hit the roof of the restaurant rather then splashing into the open water.
Everyone on the Merry who witnessed it was shocked that Morgan both deflected a cannonball with a kick and that he caved in the roof of the Baratie with his slip up, mostly it was the three newest visitors on the ship since Nami was still wondering if Morgan was human and Zoro had become used to it.
"Oooooh shit…." was the only thought going through Morgan's mind when he realised what had happened after he landed. "What just happened?! I could've reflected it, why did the ship get swerved?" Morgan yelled when he realised that he could've potentially hurt someone in the restaurant.
"We were being shot at fast and I wasn't expecting you to kick the cannonball out of the way like a ball!" Usopp yelled back at him as he still wasn't used to seeing Morgan doing the things he could.
"Usopp, I watched him fight a pirate clown that could split himself apart…you need to get used to stuff like this around him." Nami pointed out as she crossed her arms while surveying the smoking rooftop of the Baratie but quickly picked up one among many bounty posters that Johnny and Yosaku dropped.
"Sounds like you're getting pretty comfortable with all this, Miss "I'm not a pirate."! Why not just join up already?" Zoro teased her as he noticed her slacken a little with her reprimands since Syrup Village, earning him a dirty look from the navigator/thief.
"Well…damage done, I guess…I should probably head over and apologise." Morgan mentioned as he stretched himself out and steered the ship towards the restaurant.
"Whoawhoawhoa-Hold on for a minute there!" Johnny and Usopp both jumped in front of him to try and stop him; "Morgan, you just sent a cannonball flying into their roof…You really think that they're gonna be in a listening mood?" Johnny pointed out and Usopp nodded.
"Even if he has to talk to them, what he did was self defence so if anything they could point the finger at the Marines rather then at-"
"Yeah, he's gone." Zoro interrupted them as the two turned to see Morgan jumping down towards the door of Baratie; "Anyway, Morgan's not an idiot…Sure, he might be a little carefree or doesn't think things through but he's not someone who's going to ignore what's in front of him."
—A few minutes later; Inside the Head Chef's Room—
"So you're the little stinker who put that hole in our roof?" an injured looking peg legged man with a long moustache and a taller chef's hat glowered down at Morgan who was being detained by some other chefs.
"Not on purpose, we were attacked and a slip made our deflection of their cannon fire hit the restaurant rather than the sea." Morgan explained honestly, feeling that there was no need or reason for him to lie at this point, a quick glance at the Chef's name tag made him realise that he was the Head Chef Zeff.
"I appreciate your honesty, but answer me this…How are you planning on paying to fix something that big? you injured the head chef and probably more if things weren't careful." The chef would remark as he stroked his pigtailed moustache, drawing Morgan's attention to the peg leg.
"AH! I'm so sorry! I didn't realise it got that bad over here!" Morgan yelped in surprise as he thought the cannon did that but his assumption simply earned him a swift bonk on the head by the man's towering chef hat.
"That wasn't a recent injury! So back to my question, how're you paying for the roof?" Zeff asked Morgan again more pointedly.
"Oh…right, well; I don't really have any money to pay for that…but if I do chores here for a week then that should cover it." Morgan replied with a more than adamant look on his face but this only seemed to make the chef go from impressed at his honesty to angry at it.
"A WEEK?! That's barely enough to patch up the people hurt, you'll be working for a year!"
"Two weeks, then!"
"YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT ON THIS! CHORES FOR A YEAR!"
"Three Weeks! Take it or leave it!"
"ONE! YEAR! AND THAT'S THAT!"
At this point both the chef and Morgan were glowering at each other; "I waited 10 years to become a pirate, I'm not putting it on hold anymore!" Morgan would huff as he sat back down.
"Alright, if you don't wanna do chores and you can't pay then there's one other way that you can get out of it." Zeff murmured ominously as he then reached down and pulled out a gnarled looking saw; "Gimme your leg, then we can be square."
Morgan's eyes widened in horror as he noticed the dead serious look in Zeff's eyes; "I-uh….actually…I need this leg, so chores it is." He mentioned as the threat of losing his leg was now on the table.
"Good, we've run out of waiters and chore boys since things got hectic…You can start there…Patty and Carne will watch you and make sure you don't cause any more trouble…From what I heard; our sous-chef beat the tar out of a Marine a few minutes ago so try not to get funny ideas." Zeff warned Morgan as the chefs escorted the pirate captain down to the kitchens.
"ALRIGHT, CHORE BOY! These are the rules!" Patty barked at Morgan while he tied his apron on; "RULE 1! NO STEALING THE CUSTOMER'S FOOD, We're a restaurant…they eat the food but we don't…That's it, now stop standing around and get to washing dishes!"
—Day 1 of Morgan the Chore Boy—
Morgan was good at keeping active on his feet but working in a kitchen as intense as the one run by Fighting Cooks was a whole different wheelhouse; Taking orders was a mixed bag as he could get them to the tables fine but much like the fabled sous-chef: he got a little too heated when it came to people getting in his face, this managed to earn him dish duty and anything outside of waiting tables. This particular moment had Morgan taking out the trash out back when he heard quiet talking. After peering over the rail; he would see the sous-chef Sanji handing a plate of food to a raggedy prisoner that had come aboard the ship but was then pounded down by Patty for not having money.
"Thank…Thank you…." The starving Ghin would sob in between munches on the seafood and rice; having been on the sea for days had him thankful for the help, leaving Sanji grinning to himself as he picked up the empties when he finished. "Good, huh? it's my policy to make sure that anyone who comes here hungry, gets fed..money or not." Sanji remarked with a drag of his cigarette but noticed Morgan watching them with a wide smile; "Hey, chore boy…You might wanna get moving because Patty doesn't appreciate slackers."
"You know, we could use that kind of help…why don't you join our crew?" Morgan asked Sanji before throwing the giant bag into the dumpster; "We could use a cook on our side."
"Not interested Chore boy, besides…I can't leave this ship yet." Sanji mentioned as he helped the prisoner towards a boat; "Here, this should be able to help you on your trip."
"I can't thank you enough, Sanji…" The prisoner would say as he sailed off and thanked him.
"So you wanted a crew right? What exactly are you looking to do?" Sanji would ask Morgan curiously.
"Well, once I get my crew then we can make our way to the Grand Line….I'm gonna aim to be the first Martial Artist to become the Pirate King." Morgan admitted as he watched Sanji light up his cigarette.
"Pirate King huh….you've really got your work cut out for you with the hundreds of other pirates looking to get that." Sanji mentioned before remembering something; "Hey, if you're going to the Grand Line…you ever heard about All-Blue? It's this one part of the sea that-" He would ask Morgan and began to excitedly talk about going to visit the All-Blue some day to sample every fish there; but unbeknownst to them, Zeff was listening in on them and smirking a little as he watched Sanji grow excited about his passions before ordering them back to work.
—Second Day as Chore Boy—
Things were starting to get boring for the others who traveled with Morgan; Zoro and Usopp were both in the Baratie to grab breakfast while Nami opted to stay behind on the Merry while Johnny and Yosaku both elected to stand guard.
"Man…How long is he going to keep this up? We seriously aren't going to be waiting here for an entire….year?" Usopp bemoaned but quickly trailed off as he saw a giant galleon that looked like it was one or two breezes away from completely falling apart.
"Hey, that ship….that's Don Krieg's ship.."
"The East Blue Ruler?"
"Is this about that prisoner that was here yesterday?"
The sight of the battle scarred galleon was causing passengers on the Baratie to to worry and even more so once they witnessed the giant of a man lumber into the doorway with the help of that same prisoner to hold him up straight; gaunt and dead-eyed with a cloak covering him. "Water…and food…please…not eaten in…days…We have plenty of money" a hoarse and worn out voice echoed out of the strung out individual before he collapsed on the floor.