Outside Cocoyasi Village, the outline of a 'fortress' had already been built. Given time, it could grow into a protective structure, but before that:
"Hey, Roman, where's Nami?"
Faced with Luffy's question, Roman rolled his eyes.
"If you ask me, who should I ask?"
"Don't you know it takes girls an hour to get ready to go out?"
"No." X3
"Clearly, none of you have any luck with women. Look at Usopp..."
"Ah, no." Usopp shook his head, "Kaya never goes out."
·········?
"Alright, just wait patiently."
Roman rubbed his temples.
"Without Nami, are you going to sail the ship? Aren't you afraid of steering the Going Merry into a whirlpool?"
"You sail it." X4
Me?
I have something to say...
"Hey! Set sail!!"
The dock was filled with villagers from Cocoyasi Village seeing them off. Meanwhile, Nami was sprinting towards them from the village, shouting for them to set sail as she ran.
"Huh?"
"What does Nami mean?"
In response to Usopp's question, Roman shrugged and looked at Luffy.
"What do you think, Luffy?"
"Hahaha, she told us to set sail, so of course, we set sail first."
With the anchor raised, the Going Merry began to slowly move away from the shore, and Nami rushed towards the crowd seeing them off!
"Nami, wait a minute..."
"We still have many thanks to say—"
"At least let us..."
However, before the villagers could express their farewells, Nami had already skillfully weaved through the crowd. Amidst the chaos, the girl pushed off the dock with all her might, her slender figure soaring high and landing on the already departing Going Merry!
"Roman~~~"
"Huh?"
"Catch me!"
"Huh??"
In a flash, Roman, who had been steering the ship, had to dash over to catch Nami, who almost missed the deck. His face darkened.
"What are you doing?"
"You shouldn't have any trouble jumping this distance, right?"
"Is it because you haven't trained enough..." However, the girl in his arms just laughed heartily, leaving Roman puzzled.
One by one, wallets fell from Nami's arms, and she sheepishly stuck out her tongue at Roman.
"Sorry, I accidentally took a bit too much~~~"
What should be said at a time like this?
Forget it, just smile.
"Everyone~~"
Nami waved to the villagers on the dock with a mischievous smile, holding a stack of Berries from the wallets.
"Take care!"
---
"You little rascal, how dare you!!!"XN
"Nami is really something else," said Usopp enviously.
"Be careful, or she'll sell you off someday," said Zoro seriously.
"Nami-san is so charming," said Sanji with a thumbs-up.
"Hahahaha~~" laughed Luffy.
'I've decided, I'll increase her training by twenty percent.' Roman thought to himself. — When in doubt, solve it with muscles!
Meanwhile, the dock was in an uproar.
"My wallet~~"
"You little thief cat..."
"Come back here!!"
However, as the Going Merry gradually sailed away, the angry commotion turned into:
"Take care—"
"You can always come back at any time~~~"
"We're all very grateful to you!"
When parting, you should face it with a smile~~ Facing the gradually receding homeland, Nami let the sea breeze blow through her orange short hair. She looked towards the direction of the orange grove.
"I'm leaving, Bellemere."
I have already met a group of the best companions, a...
Clap, clap, clap,
Roman clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the companions who were still reminiscing about their farewells.
"Alright, it's time to make up for the training we've missed."
With that, Roman started squatting, standing up, jumping, squatting again—his movements were so fast that he left afterimages!
"Hehe, Roman, let's see who can finish 100 sets first," Zoro said, raising an eyebrow, full of fighting spirit.
"Hahaha, no wonder things felt strange these past few days," Luffy said with a grin, pressing his straw hat with one hand and placing his fist on the ground with the other.
"It turns out we were missing Roman's 'training.' Well, I'll start too!"
"123456789!!!"
Luffy, doing one-handed push-ups like a high-speed pile driver, turned into a blur, his features indistinguishable, with only his iconic laughter echoing on the deck.
"Hahahaha, I'm definitely going to be the King of Exercise!"
...How many kings do you want to be?
"You guys..."
Sanji's cigarette fell from his mouth in shock as he watched the enthusiastic 'training' of his companions, beginning to doubt whether he had boarded a pirate ship or accidentally entered some kind of devilish muscle training room...
"Hah, this is Roman's idea," Nami said, shrugging as she started her own training. "According to him, we're all too weak. So we need to hurry up and get stronger..."
"Is that so?"
Sanji, unbuttoning his suit jacket, also got interested.
"Then I'll join in too."
——————
"Report, Vice Admiral,"
"Marine 16th Branch, Ship 16-1, from the branch captain down to the lowest rank, no one survived!"
On a very distinctive ship, a Marine headquarters captain was solemnly reporting the investigation. But his report was directed to:
An elderly man with a tall, broad, and muscular build. He wore a dog-head hat that covered his face, making it impossible to see his expression. Behind him, a Marine "Justice" cloak with black and red shoulder pads flapped loudly in the wind.
A powerful aura emanated from him!
However:
"Vice Admiral, Vice Admiral Garp, are you listening?"
"Vice Admiral... maybe he's asleep?"
A newly arrived officer cautiously asked, and the reporting captain pulled down his hat, giving his colleague a stern look.
"Be confident, remove the 'maybe.'"
??
"What should we do now..."
Holding a stack of 'evidence,' the captain was also troubled. It wasn't that they couldn't find the culprit, but rather:
"Let me see."
A large, knuckled hand took the papers from the captain. The elderly Vice Admiral named Garp had somehow 'woken up.' As he read through the documents, he became more and more alert. Then:
"Hahahahaha~~~"
His wild laughter caused the Marines to feel as if their bones were creaking, as if they were bearing an invisible weight of a thousand pounds.
"Well, well, who would've thought the branch Marines had such 'business partner'!"
"Collaborating with pirates, splitting the profits 30-70, doing nothing and making the East Blue a 'land of peace and prosperity,' and even managing to amass a large estate! Brilliant..."
As Garp Vice Admiral spoke, the pressure on the ship grew heavier, and the air was filled with creaking sounds! The weaker sailors couldn't handle it and fainted.
"Vice Admiral, Garp Vice Admiral!"
The nearby colonel, increasing his volume, finally brought the tall Vice Admiral back to his senses. He looked at the sailors who had fainted under his aura and frowned in dissatisfaction.
"If they can't even withstand a little 'aura,' how can they become Marines?"
Well, you can't say that. How many people in this world can withstand your serious 'aura'?
The colonel sighed, but now wasn't the time to discuss this.
"According to the information we've gathered, the person responsible is the former combat captain of the Silver Light Pirates, 'The Counterattacker' Torkovich-Roman. As for the reason..."
The colonel glanced at the documents in Garp Vice Admiral's hand, which clearly showed the culprit's motive.
"However, this Roman has now joined the newly formed 'Straw Hat Pirates,' and the captain of this pirate crew is..."
The colonel glanced at his superior again.
"Named 'Monkey D. Luffy.'"
"Hahaha, that brat has gone to sea too~~~"
Seeing his superior's proud expression, the colonel felt very tired.
"How should we handle this matter?"
"Monkey D. Garp Vice Admiral."
...
Monkey D. Garp, Monkey D. Luffy. Even a blind person could see there's a problem, right? As Garp's direct subordinate, the colonel with the hat certainly knew his superior had come to East Blue to visit his grandson. But:
He just wanted to throw the picture in his hand at his superior's face and say, 'Look at what your grandson has become!'
Forget it, forget it, it's not worth it...
Torkovich-Roman?
Facing the fact that his grandson had become a pirate, Garp still had the leisure to consider other issues.
Sounds familiar, could it be...
"Hahaha, this must be an order from that 'Straw Hat' Luffy. Just leave it to the headquarters to handle. Why should I care~~"
The old man casually waved his hand, showing his Haki.
---
Grand Line, Marine Headquarters.
Marine Secretary Brannew, no, Marine Colonel Brannew, placed three wanted posters on the table.
"15 million for 'Clown' Buggy;"
"17 million for 'Admiral' Krieg;"
"20 million for 'Fish-Man Pirates' Arlong..."
"These three pirate crews, each with bounties over ten million, were all taken down by this—" His hand slapped the brand-new wanted poster on the wall behind him, showing Luffy with a bright smile and a straw hat!
"The newly emerged Straw Hat Luffy took them down! The branch was helpless against them."
"First bounty at thirty million! Although the amount isn't high, it shows the problem of the emerging generation of pirates."
"So, we must nip evil in the bud..."
With Colonel Brannew's passionate speech, the officers loudly agreed!
"Justice!"
Only the Marines on the Grand Line have a semblance of what 'justice' should be.
However—
The officers fell into deep thought as they looked at this strangely familiar name.
Monkey D...?
---
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