Chapter 12 - Ryugu Kingdom Trouble (Part 9)

A masacre, that's what Luffy expected to find in the Fishman District.

Luffy released a sigh, denoting his worried heart as they approached the town, this wouldn't be a fun experience for him. The Queen, Zoro, Jimbei, Brook, and Chopper who came with him, and the hardened soldiers. Luffy believed this experience would be vomit-inducing for most of them.

It was with a bit of a heavy heart that Luffy approached the killing ground, hoping that his observation picked signs of survivors…

Hody Jones at least had a grander dream. Vander Decken with his pure obsession and hatred committed the greatest sin today… Vander would pay for his crimes in hell. He was dead, after all his body was transformed into a paste by Shirahoshi's tail.

"I sometimes ponder… Zoro, could we have done better?" asked Luffy, his expressive eyes met his first mate.

"Done better, where?" his first mate asked for more information, within two years, his captain truly changed.

"In everything, if we were more prepared from the beginning, could the fate of those who died, change?" Luffy was speaking in incomprehensible terms. Zoro looked to the side while scratching his hair.

After a while, Zoro spoke. "...Kuina died in a way I couldn't comprehend if I knew how she would have died, could I have saved her? I sometimes have these thoughts… But they don't mean anything in the end, what's done is done." said Zoro firmly.

"Yeah… you're right… what's done is done, there can be no going back from our actions, and the actions of others..."

"...Do you have regrets Luffy?" Zoro, for the first time, saw how his Captain had grown. Luffy was reckless and kindhearted, that had not changed, but now there was an incredible depth to him. Of emotions, thoughts, and a lot more, to think he'd see the day Luffy would regret something. "Do you regret not saving your brother?"

Luffy nodded. "...Perhaps, if I had been more prepared, more powerful, things could have happened differently in that war."

He had already made up his mind about Ace, it was the choice of others that lead to his death. Luffy was only there for the end. But perhaps… if he was better prepared, then Luffy could have overturned the choices of others with his own power. And maybe his brother could have lived another day.

"He was probably very happy that you came to rescue him in the end, even if he was worried..." Zoro tried to reassure his captain in his own flawed way.

"Yeah. By the time I saved him from the scaffold his smirk was uncontrollable… You're right Zoro, he was pretty happy that I came to save him, but Ace is not the only thing I regret..." said Luffy, looking at the black city, they were almost there.

"And… What we will see down there, I'm sure it will add to the pile of regrets. Thanks, Zoro..." Luffy had resolute eyes.

The time was approaching, Zoro didn't betray any emotion, Luffy wondered what would Zoro feel when they see the tragedy of a killing floor.

Luffy only remembered the burning terminal, this time there would be no screams. Only unrelenting silence, in the middle of a dark sea.

Luffy approached Brook, Chopper, Jimbei, and the Queen, and they drew their strength from him. It felt unbearably cold, as they knew what they were approaching ever so slowly. The soldiers were old, almost in the retirement age, there was no way they could send fledglings here only to suffer.

XOX

They split into groups led by those with Observation Haki, Chopper went with Zoro, and Brook came with Luffy. The soldiers were divided between the Queen and Jimbei.

Luffy approached the warehouse, a bubble was around him as pressure made his naked feet firmly planted on the floor.

Luffy put a hand on the door, it was locked, perhaps even blockaded from inside. But it didn't matter to him his hands pressed against it. He applied a tiny amount of force crushing the door and the furniture blockading it.

There were people inside 50-60 survivors, a young merman of about 21 charged with a spear pointed at. "Die!"

The spear struck but it was crushed by Luffy's arm as the limb lunged outside of his personal bubble to grab the spear, the weapon was crushed by his fingers. The young merman reeled back from the shock of having his weapon so easily crushed. Yet his eyes held deep determination as he stared at the tall muscular human.

"W—why is a human here!?... That monster killed everybody and now this!"

The young merman warrior exclaimed as tears fell from his face. Kids and elders, adults and women sobbed and murmured from further in the warehouse. They saw the exchange and wondered how strong the tall human was, and how they couldn't escape if he turned his wrath onto them. The young determined merman was preparing to attack again. Even without the spear, he felt he was the last line of defense from the survivors.

"Leave us alone, leave us be human!" The merman prepared a fist, but Luffy's hand grabbed him in a handshake, Luffy's eyes were high with emotion.

"I'm here to save you, you idiot!" Luffy yelled.

"I don't believe you… to save us? Lies!"

The merman said with a weak voice. The people there looked at Luffy with fear and hope, yet the prejudice made them not step further and stay huddled in the back.

They felt that the black-haired straw-hat human was just lying to them, yet they wanted to immediately beg for the human to save them. That magnetic pull was the overwhelming charisma the tall human with a straw-hat boasted.

"Believe me… the nightmare has passed; I'll get you out of this place… nobody here has to suffer anymore!" Luffy said as he looked to the ground, all of the people held hope in their eyes. But the elderly had doubts. The children wanting to get out tried to run, but they were held by their mothers, as they shook their heads.

"How can we believe you?!" The merman and the other survivors in the warehouse wanted to believe him so bad because he had such a warm presence.

"That monster is dead! Shirahoshi, your princess killed him… this place can't be your home anymore. I came here at the Queen's behest, believe me...please." Luffy's hand as shaking, his emotions were bare, and it affected them all, the merman had a baffled face as he saw the tall human, holding his hand firmly…

The merman felt that this human was empathizing with their plight. The survivors wanted to believe him, their hearts were filled with hope, they now believed him.

Luffy loosened his hold and let go, he finally faced them. And people slowly started to approach the tall human in the bubble.

Their fear was turning into hope, and even more when the survivors that Luffy rescued from more than 75 homes and buildings appeared by the door. The young merman warrior who protected them sobbed when he spotted his wife outside. His hand was on his forehead as tears fell down like a waterfall. He hugged her deeply, crying in her hair, he never held his wife this tight before as he yelled her name repeatedly.

Luffy led them outside, more than 15,000 survivors that he already rescued. Their hope turned into gratitude as they followed his orders. Brook came in with even more survivors.The resulting number: 20,000.

Luffy walked with Brook as they led the group. Luffy looked to one building, it was an orphanage, Luffy's eyes grew heavy.

"...Brook, what do you feel? When you see how many people are dead, cleaved in half with that horrified expression, right on the street, innocent people...?"

Luffy looked at the road they walked, innumerable bodies, with the most horrific expression marking their faces. With the group of survivors behind them, covering their children's eyes and looking to the side.

"I… feel heavy, unlike me, these people don't have a second life… It feels like a hook is pulling me into the abyss, Luffy-san."

"I see… I feel the same… Brook take them out of town to that hill over there. We called in for more help… there should be a lot of ships arriving there." Luffy pointed to the specific hill.

"But… Luffy-san."

"We already saved most survivors; the other survivors are being rescued by the other groups…. Leave the orphanages to me, Brook, nobody should see this." Luffy struggled to say the last part.

Brook wanted to say something, but a determined glare from Luffy shut him up.

"I understand Luffy-san…..." said Brook, respecting the captain's order. But the skeleton was still worried. If nobody should see this, then Luffy shouldn't be seeing either. that's what Brook wanted to say.

"Tell Otohime-chan and Zoro that I will take care of the orphanages… And that if they disobey me, I will not forgive them for breaking my orders."

Brook stared at Luffy's back as he entered the door to one of the orphanages.

XOX

All of them were on the hill, waiting for Luffy to arrive. Otohime wanted to go with Luffy, and rescue the children in the orphanages scattered around the district. But Jimbei and Chopper blocked her.

She was still beaten up, and her mind had taken enough tragedy. seeing the streets filled with dead. Innocents dead, their bodies were torn, their faces helpless. They were her citizens, and yet, her government never touched them, they were her people and she never tried to rule them fairly. The place had become a cesspool of criminal activity for both Humans and Fishman. Eventually, the disagreements became too great. And a Fishman supremacy movement was birthed and festered here.

And yet most of the people living here never let their hate rule their lives, half of the people living in the district never committed a crime. There were children, young men, young women, elderly…

They were killed without mercy, unlike the fight that happened in the plaza, these people were killed without rhyme or reason. Vander did not have a grander ideology like Hody or a desire to protect the kingdom from malicious enemies like Luffy and the Straw Hats. The reason for the killing floor was just insanity caused because of the powerful drug. Addiction caused extreme violence and fueled his obsession. That was the motive… drug abuse which caused an extreme psychotic rampage, the truth was sadder than fiction.

And now Otohime had to take the brunt of seeing her citizens slaughtered by the masses, her blue eyes were just tired. She looked at the green-haired swordsman and he was fine if not for the slight frown and the slew of complicated thoughts swimming around his body. Jimbei was taking everything very well, he was very mature, he didn't let his emotions show on his face, yet she knew that he was suffering.

Her observation read people's emotions very well.

The skeleton was fine, he had a sinking feeling, but that disappeared fast, she noticed. Chopper had ruffled fur and focused eyes, he was working hard, despite almost crying after seeing so many dead people. She had to give it to the little reindeer. Seeing the little reindeer helping people despite the obvious sadness and rage.

Chopper was someone worthy of respect.

After a few minutes of waiting, Luffy appeared. He was carrying over 70 children and babies on his back, as ridiculous as it sounded, it was comical to look at. It was like he was carrying a pile, he was grinning at them, but his eyes were shadowed.

Soon the children were treated, and they swarmed their savior. Luffy was the charismatic leader, and the children adored to be by his side, it was a joyful occasion that lifted everyone's spirits. They gathered around and he expertly eased their worries. Luffy truly cared for them, he cared for her, it made Otohime's eyes just a little brighter.

"Go on, we need to collect the bodies for burial, work in groups of ten, we'll carry the survivors in four of those ships…. Good luck and stay strong out there." Luffy was talking to the 500 soldiers that arrived to help, he ordered their leader on how to tackle the problem.

"I gave my passing to the orphan babies and children under ten who died. I brought their bodies outside of the district, their bodies are now scattered ash" The commander gulped in anxiety. "They were orphans, so they don't have anyone… they won't even get a proper burial by their family because they have none… So I took matters into my own hands and gave them a passing that will clean all cruelty committed to them from their souls..." Luffy walked away from the commander, displaying tired grey eyes.

"May they have more luck in the wheel of reincarnation, they didn't deserve to end by the hands of a maniac…." Luffy muttered to himself, as his grey eyes lost their tired look and joined the survivors, their business was done here.

XOX

Otohime's eyes closed, she was dead tired, her head found Luffy's shoulder as she slept. Luffy couldn't blame her. The day was tiring, suppressing an uprising. And dealing with this tragedy… Not to mention all the wounds she sustained today. Luffy praised her resilience, she was truly a worthy ruler of her people.

"Hey Chopper… Good work out there today, I'm proud of you." Luffy praised Chopper, he did so much today for Fishman's island.

"He He, I'm not happy, shut up you asshole~" Chopper danced around. It was obvious that he was happy to be complemented by his captain.

"Well, let's take this cheeky Queen to a bed." Luffy lifted the mermaid and went inside the ship. The soldiers led them to a cabin where there was a bed, they were happy to lead Luffy about the place. He had gained their utmost respect for what he did to save their Kingdom.

Luffy put the 12-foot mermaid on the longer bed, and pulled the blanket over her. Her eyes, even closed looked dead tired, she deserved a long rest. Even after seeing her in this vulnerable state, she sure was stunning. But soon Luffy's gaze wandered off her body. And he removed himself from the room. Leaving Chopper inside to tend to her wounds and reapply some bandages.

Luffy posted a few strong warriors outside her room and went towards the deck, they were sailing again to the Fishmen's island. When all was done there were no human slaves down there in the district. All of the slaves were killed in the fight on the plaza, most of them died to the new Franky Shogun. Luffy was surprised, that mech was really powerful… and cool-looking.

"Luffy-san… what will happen to all of these people?" Brook was referring to the survivors of the genocide. Luffy looked at them, a lot of them cried for a lost one. Others searched the crowd endlessly, trying to find their family and friends in the crowd. Some gave up and started to cry, other wandered helplessly. With dazed eyes only focused on searching for their close friends and family. And never finding any of them… It was sad to watch. Others had a happier ending, their families were reunited.

"...What will happen to them, huh? That's a loaded question Brook, they probably will live on Fishman Island, following their laws. The children without parents will probably live on an orphanage somewhere on the island."

"It is probably a bittersweet ending for most people, I wonder, what will make those people smile again..." Brook was watching the people searching the endless crowd on the large ship, not finding anyone close to them. Brook could imagine the heartrending feelings very clearly.

"I don't know, but it will depend on what Otohime does for her people...probably."

"Probably...huh? Yohoho..."

Luffy laughed with him. "Yeah… probably, I can't read the future. But it's out of our hands now, this is not our problem to solve anymore, we cannot be the ones to ease their pain."

"Not ours to solve… that's a bit cold Luffy-san." Brook stared at him curiously, Luffy smiled, his grey eyes regained their brightness.

"You think? Ultimately, we are pirates, it's not our job to save everyone, we are selfish, we act on our desires and dreams... saving everyone. Leave that to real heroes like Shirahoshi, Otohime, and Fukaboshi… we—"

Luffy was interrupted by children and teenagers pulling his leg. Those cheek brats pushed him away. "Sorry Brook..." Luffy smiled at him as he was led away.

"Yeah, you're completely right, my Captain." Brook stared at Luffy's back as he walked away to play with the teens. Brook looked at the complete darkness of the district as it was fading from view. And the brightness of the world tree Eve giving light to the kingdom.

So, the district will be closed off, and the survivors will have to live under the Queen's direct rule. To think we would be embroiled in something so desolate right at the start of our adventure. It makes me think we will have unimaginable adventures waiting for us in the new world… But this is the ending you wanted isn't it Luffy-san?

In the end, we only entered this conflict to help Otohime and Shirahoshi who have been kind to us. It was the ending you wanted, right?

Luffy once more came to visit Otohime in her cabin, she was very affectionate toward him and he reciprocated in kind. She even invited him for a celebration, they saved their country, so a country-wide party was obvious. Luffy agreed for two reasons, to take Otohime's mind off the aftermath, and because he really liked the food.

They talked for a while. Chopper was dozing off in the chair as Luffy sat down on the floor beside her bed. Their flirting reached a point where she raised her head and pecked his lips, biting on it.

"Otohime, it's best if you don't go any further, I have my adventure to go on, I can't be by your side, also... I am not a monogamous person, I have sex with many women, and I also personally can't count on my hand the number of women I actually have feelings for. Hancock understood that but she still wanted to be with me, if you can't handle me loving other women then it's best to stop right here…." Luffy explained, before his sexual urges demanded to dominate this mermaid. She was dear to him so he didn't wish for her to suffe. Because he would be constantly 'cheating' on her if they did decide to go any further.

Otohime stared at him, her baby blue eyes glittered. "I don't care, I saw how you eye the women in your crew, the way you eye our mermaids, the way you eye my daughter. I don't care if you end up having sex with 1 or 100 women I just want your love."

Luffy was surprised, glared at her, then a grumble was heard from his throat. "As you wish… Don't regret this."

His lips met hers and he started kissing her making her whole body feel electric, it was like fireworks, and the way he explored her mouth made her tail curl. Otohime loved three men in her entire life. Neptune's older brother, her first fiancé. Neptune himself, her husband for the longest time. aAnd now her heart belonged to Luffy.

Luffy gently grabbed her golden wavy hair as he deepened the kiss. But both were separated after a while, their mouth having a trail of drool between them. "You're a good kisser Otohime."

"Why thank you." She grinned, that happy expression on her face was a sight to see.

"Stick out your tongue for me Otohime-chan." Luffy sucked on her tongue as his hands explored her breasts. They weren't as large as her daughter's boobs who were the size of a small hill, but they were pretty big. Otohime was a tall woman at 12', and her endowment was multiplied by her size, her boobs were the size of his head.

"Ahn~, you're playing with my chest, it feels so good~"

"Your chest is big Otohime, they feel like pillows," he whispered in her ear while attacking her neck.

Luffy removed her bikini that she always wore, and her pink nipples were revealed as her bosom jiggled. His hands grabbed them and started kneading them, up down and around, he loved playing with breasts. Otohime arched as she was feeling pleasure by having her boobs played with, she raised her head and started kissing the side of his head and his neck.

Finally, he grabbed her erect nipples and started playing around with them.

"Ahn~ my nipples, don't pull them~ else I~" Otohime cried in pleasure.

"Or else, what?"

"They're really sensitive~, if you continue, I'll cum, I'll cum from my nipples being played with~"

"Hum?" Luffy had a smirk and pulled both nipples, making her arch again, he traced the areola, and twisted both of them. He passed his thumbs over each of them, dragging them up and down. It was too much she was really sensitive, her back tensed and she orgasmed while moaning.

Otohime's hand grabbed his crotch, his cock was swelling from playing with her breasts, it was now a tube-like bulge straining his shorts. She undid the button and pushed the zipper and the underwear down, revealing his massive length. Luffy walked closer to her face, as she opened the foreskin, and started licking the tip. She licked the side and finally started bobbing her head up and down. Since she was 3 times the size of a normal woman she didn't have to struggle much to get his cock down her throat. Luffy was glad, there were a lot of women who couldn't suck him off.

She bobbed up and down while playing with her breasts. And finally he unloaded six jets of hot cum right down her throat. It rushed to her stomach and mouth, filling her with his precious semen.

As she swallowed his load, both grinned at each other. They had to stop here. Firstly, Chopper was sleeping nearby, secondly, her navel was still hurt. She still had a hole in her stomach so going all the way might cause problems for their health right now. He put a blanket over her and gave her goodnight in the form of a kiss on her forehead. She gave him a good night and went to sleep still tired of the events that happened, but now relieved and happy that the man she loves, loves her back.

XOX

"—Thank you for coming, Luffy and friends!" A soldier bowed to them. "We will speak inside, during the festivities!" He pointed at some flat giant fish. "Ride those long flounders to the ballroom of the Ryugu Palace!"

There were two of those long flounders. There were bubbles along the top of those fish that protected them from the water. They split up as Luffy boarded one with the Queen at his right and Jimbei at his left. They sat down and the scales had a leather-like quality, it was almost like he was sitting on a comfortable sofa.

They entered a dark room full of water that was too big for words.

"It's a pitch-black room full of water" Nami was surprised by the size of the room.

"Is this such a good idea? Now I'm getting a bit nervous."

"Nyu… I've never been to the palace." Hachi was already healed, he was enjoying himself.

Camie faced him with a smile "It's exciting right?" Hachi nodded, the nightmare was over, they could finally relax.

"What is this place?" Luffy looked down, seeing signs of a lot of people.

"This is the ballroom Luffy, it was used a lot when Neptune's father was still alive, I have a lot of memories in this place."

"Luffy-sama, I remember it was here, when brother reached 21 years old, there was a huge birthday party here." Shirahoshi was simply too big to sit on the fish, she was swimming by their side.

"I see, where is the meat?" All of them laughed at Luffy's single-mindedness.

"Look! The heroes are here!" Soldiers and party-goers who were on the ground cheered them.

"Shut up! Don't call us heroes, I want all the meat!" Luffy shouted at them and they just laughed for some reason. He was pretty serious too…

The floor was filled with people enjoying the party as the lights came on. The stage had even brighter lights as a 20-foot fish-woman walked onto the stage.

"The stage is right ahead, everyone!" Shirahoshi pointed at the singer.

"Stage?" Brook smiled.

"There's someone there!" Usopp said as he saw a classy-looking Fish woman with an expensive black dress and pearl necklace.

"That's the greatest diva on the seafloor, Maria Napole," Otohime massaged her throat. Her bandages were mostly gone as she healed fast, only a few gauzes remained close to the surgical wound.

"Hrm..." Luffy looked on with interest. Maria started to sing, with an orchestra of jazz behind her.

"Aaah!" Nami relaxed with the voice.

"It's like her voice is melting my ears," Usopp was dying of bliss.

"I can feel my soul trembling! Aww yeah!" Brook said as he brought out his guitar to complement the song.

All of the Straw Hats enjoyed the first song. But it was enhanced greatly when the mermaid cafe dancers appeared close to them and started to dance to the song. They only wore bikini bras on their bountiful breasts as they danced for the crew. Sora was especially happy about that, she was laughing and jumping around like a little girl, but her dark gaze told a different story.

Pretty mermaid servers came carrying small tables full of food. Some servers arrived with barrels of beer. As the Straw Hats consumption of alcohol was enough to cover 2000 people. Of course, the two gluttons for booze were Zoro, and surprisingly Nami.

Luffy was content with plenty of meat, food, and a little bit of drink, but especially meat. The plates at his side were increasing at a fast rate. While he deepened the connection with Otohime and Shirahoshi. He truly did like both of them and wished to make them his lovers.

The Straw Hats cheered and clapped as the festivities continued.

XOX

Otohime walked to the balcony with jolly eyes in her steps. Her legs were scaly as a goldfish, yet they were soft like a high-class woman. She already displayed the ability to shift between a mermaid's tail and human legs whenever she wanted. A big advantage above the sea.

Her face was flushed as she drank wine from a bottle the size of a human, she swayed side to side approaching a figure by the edge of the balcony. "What do you want to discuss, Luffy's crewmate, if I remember, your name was Robin, Nico Robin, was it?"

Otohime was about to collapse from drunkenness. But she was still somehow more dangerous than any person here in the palace except Luffy. Her wounds were already healed, her vitality was impressive.

"Pardon me, Otohime-san. I thought this was our chance to be alone and discuss," Robin faced her. Even while drinking 10 cups of sake, Robin didn't display any tipsiness.

"I see." Otohime faced her with cloudy blue eyes. The Mermaid Queen had a lot of booze because she was trying hard to forget. Or at least mitigate the feelings she had of the tragedy that happened today.

"...Joyboy, who is he?"

"…?! Where did you hear such a name?" Otohime focused , she was just startled.

"I read the Poneglyph in the forest of the sea. Who was he apologizing to?"

Otohime's face was grave. "So you are capable of reading that?" Otohime swayed, she tilted her head as her frizzy hair fell a bit on her face. Otohime faced Robin with a sad smile, "To think someone had the knowledge still. I can't begin to comprehend…." she murmured.

"I am a survivor of Ohara, You don't have to tell me if you don't want to say it." Robin had a calm countenance, yet a deep curiosity roamed her thoughts. Otohime caught that.

"Don't worry, you are a comrade of Luffy, I can trust you. I'll tell you anything you want to know, Robin." Otohime fell to the floor like a hammer and crossed her legs on the ground, as she took a gulp of wine.

"This is what I've gathered from my husband and his older brother, both are dead now. So I am the only one with the knowledge, I intend to pass this to my children as well someday, but I don't know the full story. The royal family always kept their secrets close. Neptune, the warring general wasn't different in that regard. Even if he denounced his family—"

"—Joy Boy was a person who lived on the surface during the void century."

"So, at least 800 years ago, was the time frame he existed…."

Otohime had her head down as if trying to remember what her husband talked about. "That message was meant for the daughter of the King at the time, in other words, it was the mermaid princess of that time. It was an apology, I think, an apology for breaking a promise made with the Ryugu Kingdom."

"Promise?"

"I don't know what the promise was. As I said my husband and his family were very cryptic and liked to keep secrets even from me… But according to hearsay… no that's not it. Let me remember…."

Otohime put her hand on her forehead as she furrowed her brows in an apparent headache. "Neptune's father told us that someday something shall be fulfilled, it doesn't have to be Joy Boy, I think… or was it…? Something—something is linked to Noah, it is the ship of the promise, so Joy Boy and the mermaid princess had something to do about it—"

Otohime truly was not knowledgeable about the subject, but she tried her hardest to pass this information forward.

The Royal family was mistaken in hiding this information because now... Neptune, his elder brother, and father were dead and took their secrets to the grave.

Something always is lost when it's word of mouth. Robin thought it was possible Neptune didn't have much knowledge to offer if he was still alive than Otohime was as well. Legends passing down from family member to family member always lost their veracity.

"—That's why the royal family protects Noah until this day, so some promise can be fulfilled, by someone else other than Joy Boy. I think — but perhaps I am inferring too much and making too many assumptions, perhaps the whole story was completely different, I—I don't know. I'm sorry." Otohime was truly regretful for not knowing more. Especially when someone who could read those stones appeared right in front of the Queen.

"After the conflict ended about the island, I heard that Noah was taken to the Sea Forest…. By Sea Kings, if Joy boy were meant to use Noah could he have had the power to control the Sea Kings?" Robin inferred, she was very smart and could piece together things very quickly. Unlike Luffy who moved based on primal instinct and impulsiveness.

"No, that's not it, the one who could control them was the Mermaid princess at the time. Yes, just like—" Otohime leaned, her eyes were unfocused. Her blush was overwhelming as she drank more and more.

"As I thought, meaning that Princess Shirahoshi has the same power, she can do the same thing the mermaid princess could 800 years ago… she can control the Sea Kings..." Robin's hypothesis was getting along as she thought more about the issue.

"Yes, you're right, yes…. I believe that ability came into her full control today. That doesn't bring me happiness, it is not something my dear daughter should be burdened with. Being a tool for a greater plot, one that could decide the fate of the world. I don't like it..." Otohime said with a sad tone as she took more swings with her bottle.

"I don't blame you. A tool you say… 2 years ago, I read a Poneglyph on an island in the sky that contains the location of an ancient weapon. And that location was here." Robin tilted her head and focused on the almost passing-out-drunk Otohime. "Could the mermaid princess who lived in the time of Joy Boy, have a name?"

"A name..." Otohime chuckled while depreciating herself, she knew exactly what Robin would say next.

"A name that princess Shirahoshi, who has the same power will now inherit as her own… Her other name is in fact." Robin was about to reveal it, with her cold eyes. "The ancient weapon… One capable of world upheaval, Poseidon."

Otohime closed her eyes while frowning hard, her daughter shouldn't have this fate. Shirahoshi shouldn't become a tool for someone else to use. But that fate was sealed and Otohime didn't know what could be done.

Shirahoshi was already dead set on becoming useful to a certain someone. Her eyes, her baby blue eyes that were inherited from her mother looked at a man with a Straw Hat approaching her bed. She looked at him with pure obsessiveness, her fate was set from the moment she met Luffy.

XOX

Luffy spent most of his time after the party talking to Shirahoshi. In fact, right now he was in her bed. She was laying down, with an interested face as he recounted the tales above the sea. Of adventure and discovery, of wild sceneries and animals. Everything he encountered on the Grand Line.

LEMON WARNING.

Luffy kneaded her giant breasts. They were like small hills of pudding.

She moaned in surprise but also in pleasure. Luffy's meaty but small hands in comparison to her body traveled the small hill. Unleashing her right bosom to the cold air of the room. Her perky pink nipples were the size of a dinner plate, serving the most luxurious dish. He attacked the perky erect nipples with his mouth, all the while her hands caressed his back. Her other hand was stroking her other breasts. The nipples he was licking was so soft and so big, it smelled like honey. And tasted so sweet, so this was the advantage of having sex with a 60 feet tall woman.

He continued leaking it until he saw it trembling, she was already excited. He removed his pants, revealing his monster cock. He passed his mushroom head against her nipple. His cock left a lot of slick precum on top of her nipple before he ordered her to suck on his cock. She nodded with a lustful look. Shirahoshi wanted to suck on his cock.

Shirahoshi grabbed him and brought him closer to her face. Her soft and large tongue enveloped Luffy's monstrous cock. It was like he was riding her tongue. It made a strange pressure as she sucked. His cock was feeling every bump in her large tongue due to the size difference. And the amount of force as she was sucking made him almost blow his load right then and there.

But not before thrusting for the 20th time. He had to burn this sensation to the brain, even if it was Shirahoshi first time sucking someone. This was the best blowjob he received, another pro to having sex with a giantess.

Luffy sighed in pleasure as his load exploded in her mouth. Shirahoshi gurgled and sucked all the tasty white liquid down her throat. Having no problem in doing so. Shirahoshi commented on how his cum tasted and that she was happy she pleased him so.

Luffy enjoyed the size difference between them but if they were going to have sex it was time he took on a bigger form. Using his powers over exponentials. He exponentially increased his size until he was only a few feet taller than her. She looked at him in surprise and love. As they embraced. He kissed her in earnest as his now huge hands stroked her breasts and pulled her nipples. All the while Shirahoshi closed her eyes and screamed in pleasure. His body was a furnace as it touched hers. She was in love.

He pointed his now giant cock to her entrance. In the area between her soft flesh and soft scales again. He felt the exotic pleasure of rubbing his cock on her scales. He pointed his tip at her entrance, thrusting in. He felt her cherry pop, his cock broke her hymen as his huge cock pierced her womb. Her eyes rolled back, as her tongue extended. Luffy sucked on her exposed tongue as he relentlessly thrust inside of her. In and out, without respite.

Her pussy was leaking female juices like a river, every time he'd thrust her pussy squeezed hard. Trying to milk him out of his cum. Yet he kept hitting the back of her womb, bulging her stomach. Needless to say, she came every time he thrust inside. His hand pushed her head down, and he bit hard on her neck, not drawing blood but making a huge hickey. He kissed her body aggressively like a savage animal as his hips kept increasing in strength. This princess could take it.

What was hot was her tail hitting his back, constantly, as the rough sex continued, with a force to blow an entire town. He didn't even flinch as his balls kept scrapping her soft scales.

Soon a huge orgasm overtook both of them and they arched. A bright pink light enveloped Shirahoshi. As his cum overflowed her womb and came out of her pussy like a small waterfall. He came enough to fill water tanks, but it was a side effect of resizing his whole body. After the high, clarity came into the conqueror Luffy. As he stared wildly at his lover with love. A pink light covered Shirahoshi and as it faded, her tail transformed into two legs. Just like her mother, her legs had parts of it covered by pink scales, so she couldn't be denoted as a human or a giantess. Shirahoshi scales would mark her as a mermaid, but now she had soft and plump legs.

Luffy smiled an evil smile as she saw Shirahoshi looking at her legs. He flipped her so that her back was facing him and thrust inside of her ass without notice. The conqueror's side of him had no intention of letting her adapt to her legs. No, in fact, she would wake up with sore legs with how much sex they would be having tonight. Luffy loved hearing her moans and screams as she tried moving her knees for the first time in her life. As he pounded her from behind was exquisite to his more sadistic side.

After fifteen orgasms from him and many more for her. He finally let go of his power, returning to his original size and finally falling asleep on her left breast. Her right hand held his entire back as they showed a content smile on their faces.

XOX

Zoro woke up in a large bed.

He groaned and yawned awake. He walked over to the foot of the bed and put on some clothes. He looked to the bedding, and there were some odd 11 mermaids all splattered around.

He didn't remember much of the night, other than copious amounts of booze he'd drunk, so he yawned once more and grabbed his blades, and walked out of the room, leaving the naked mermaids behind in his bed.

The same situation was happening in Sora's room. Filled with the desire to bed as many mermaids as possible, she woke up to more than 50 mermaids splayed across her room in various stages of undress.

Sora rubbed her gorgeous face in every mermaid's chest before leaving the room, unlike Zoro, who was indifferent back at his own bedroom.

It was courtesy to give them her affection before the day started, in her opinion.

She entered the kitchen and opened the giant freezer. The Kraken was already comprehensively cut into pieces. It was time to make a light breakfast with a bit of white fatty meat.

The Kraken was full of protein and minerals for his size. It was quite nutritional. She smiled as she expertly handled the chef's blade, her curly eyebrow twitching.

Sora remembered spying on her captain having sex with Shirahoshi last night. She blushed at the thoughts. No, she was Sora, and she was a proud lesbian who was once a man. She couldn't think of her captain that way. But she took extra care of making her captain's food, the same attention given to Nami and Robin's food.

The crew met at breakfast with Jimbei accompanying them. They ate breakfast while praising their chef Sora as usual. But their chef's ability really soared in the two years they've been separated, and Luffy noticed, giving Sora more praises in which she bashfully accepted.

"What? Akainu and Aokiji had a fight?!" Luffy pointed a fork at Jimbei and ate the 500 kg octopus' meat that was on it.

"So it's just like I expected, Rayleigh-san really withheld a lot of what was happening in the current times," Jimbei commented. Zoro, Sora, Nami, and Usopp had no clue that this massive event even happened just like Luffy.

"I knew about it, I did!" Chopper cutely pointed out. Robin, Franky, and Brook were well informed. Seems like they were sent to places that information came easily to them.

"Following the war two years ago. Fleet Admiral Sengoku stepped down from his position," Jimbei told as Luffy filled his stomach even more with copious amounts of food.

"And to take over his empty position as fleet admiral, Sengoku endorsed Kuzan, who had widespread support from his own subordinates. But higher dignitaries within the government felt that Sakazuki was better fitted for the job… As you all know, Aokiji is not one to show motivation of any sort, but he strongly opposed Akainu. The tensions culminated, and there was a confrontation between the two of them, a duel for the position."

All of them were paying attention to what Jimbei was saying.

To say that Luffy had a grudge against the Navy and World Government for his mother and hatred for Akainu for his brother was an understatement.

The hatred was so enormous and cold that if a Navy soldier crossed his path, that navy soldier would be dead.

His hatred for the government couldn't even be measured and was still growing inside, a cold and patient hatred that took no prisoners. He told his crew of this when they were navigating towards Fishman island, so they were already well informed. Akainu…

Similarly, most of the crew encountered Aokiji and had tense exchanges with the one who controlled ice. Robin, who was already in the know, had a distant look as she was the most connected to Aokiji.

"This unthinkable tension between two of the most powerful forces in the world led to a duel between two admirals on an island since dead men tell no tales. The loser would have no quarrel with the outcome of the fight...the winner would seize control of the Navy as the new Fleet Admiral!" Jimbei said with a serious look.

"The battle raged on for a whole month, the talk of the world, they were evenly matched, meeting blow for blow, until finally… Akainu emerged victoriously!" Jimbei glared at Luffy's cold grey eyes. He saw as the Straw Hat reached for the small cross scar on his chest.

A scar that would never heal because it was before Luffy gained his insane healing factor. "And thus, Sakazuki is the new fleet admiral of the Navy!"

"Akainu..." Luffy's eyes smoldered as an ozone smell started filling up the room, his fingers grasping his scar. "So is the Iceman dead? Did Aokiji die?" Luffy picked up more fatty meat as Sora eagerly served him.

"They both suffered grievous wounds in the battle. At the sight of his longtime comrade at this mercy, even the man who preached absolute justice couldn't bring himself to finish the job, Akainu did not kill Aokiji. As for Aokiji, unable to bear serving under Akainu's Navy, he made the decision to leave his post."

"So, Aokiji isn't even a marine anymore, huh?" Usopp said.

"Indeed. Who can say where Aokiji is and how he feels? It was certainly a very costly battle for the government. The scars of this conflict will surely affect them deeply in the future." Jimbei said as he took more sake. "...But the plan the government enacted to fill that hole...granted the navy an unexpected boost. Listen carefully, keep in mind these changes in the new world that have taken place in the last two years will affect your crew Luffy-kun."

"I'm listening." Luffy gave him a charismatic smile.

"Under Sakazuki's leadership, the Navy has grown far more powerful. While it's true that the destruction of the old marine HQ by your hands, Luffy-kun, has affected them. It was not an important event on the grand scale because the majority of their power now stays in the New World. And the rebuilding process is quite simple. Your actions have only given new Pirate Rookies more chance to enter the New World. The new Navy in the New World is not to be taken lightly even by someone of your power Luffy-kun."

They gathered in a living space with sofas and chairs, and they all centered towards Jimbei. Luffy sat on the floor as mermaids served him and everyone else booze. Even after a day, the festivities continued.

The mermaids arrived and sat closer to the males of the group. And the woman of the crew all sat near Luffy. Including Sora. "Then, there are the Blackbeard Pirates. They have made fearful strides of their own in the new world."

"Blackbeard, the ones we met at Mock town," Nami commented.

Zoro twitched his brow as he slept.

"As a veteran of Pop's crew, he knew the new world in the back of his hand. Teach conquered the entire stretch of the sea that was Pop's old territory, using the powers over quakes that he stole from Pop's body back in the war, now...The rest of the world labels him as one of the four emperors...alongside Red Hair, Big Mom, and Kaido; the despicable pig!" Jimbei said in a grave voice as his large bottom fangs grated on his teeth in rage.

"According to rumors, they're now putting their efforts into devil fruit hunting. They kill those with power and collect their devil fruits. Somehow they possess the means to kill power-users and loot their fruits and their abilities! Blackbeard is in search of more devil fruits to expand his crew and his sphere of influence in the new world."

"Oh no, I'm in danger!" Chopper cried out. "Uh, nobody's looking for a human-human fruit..." retorted Usopp with his eyes hidden at the stupidity. "Why not?!" Chopper yelled at him for demeaning the power of his fruit.

"Blackbeard's dangerous, and I hardly need to remind you of your own score to settle with Blackbeard, Luffy. I ask you not to..."

Jimbei opened his eyes to see Luffy devouring the food. Not paying attention anymore, the women around him affectionately placed their hands on his arms and back.

"Luffy-kun! Are you listening to any of this!? And you call yourself captain, oh how great your 600+ million Beri bounty must be, when you remain such a clod and don't inform yourself!" Jimbei fumed.

"Huh? You mean a captain isn't one who ignores all this stuff?" Chopper asked.

"Oh, you poor souls," Jimbei lowered his head, a depressing aura overtook him, the crew agreed, Luffy took them from one reckless adventure to the next.

"Don't worry, Jimbei-san, Luffy properly listened to you, didn't you, captain?" Sora asked, smirking with her pretty lips.

Luffy cleaned his mouth. "Yeah, I was listening, grudges, and what else, I'm not going to actively seek them. But Akainu and Blackbeard will inevitably stand in the way of my dream of being the Pirate King. We'll settle everything then there. This is mine and my comrades' adventure, I'm not going to let anybody interfere, Jimbei, don't worry!" Luffy was eating the sweets the mermaids prepared for them.

"Whoa, hey guys try out these fish-man island sweets! These candies are great!" then the crew and Jimbei went to taste them, with Jimbei looking worried about something. "Relax Jimbei! I'll take all the chances when it counts. I'll become a man who is strong enough to protect my crew's dreams! That's my second dream, you know."

Everybody was bashful, except Zoro and Robin, at Luffy's wholesome comment and hit Luffy with slaps as they tried to deflect his commentary. The Straw Hat crew was really weak in these types of situations.

"Hey, Camie, did Shirahoshi and Otohime wake up?"

"No, both are still in bed. Shirahoshi is strangely sore this morning, must be all the commotion yesterday."

Sora twitched at that comment. Luffy had a proud look as he didn't feel any guilt whatsoever. Sora should have realized his whimsical attitude would blend into other parts of his life, one of them being his sexual life.

XOX

In the afternoon, the festivities paused as the crew, and the Queen went to an undisclosed location deep within the Sea Forest.

200,000 men were there to be executed.

They committed the crime of attacking the royal family, which was greater than treason and bylaws. They were to be summarily executed.

Luffy was on top of the railing on the ship while the crew was by his side. "You know, saving kingdoms and island we visit, we did that a lot in the past." his conquering self surged from deep within as a deep voice rumbled in their bodies. This was their captain speaking, not the usual whimsical man.

He spoke as he watched the proceedings. It would be an hour until Otohime, who was now healed, would execute 200,000 men by decapitation.

"I've fought and toppled cruel regimes not by some sense of justice, or if it was the right thing to do, I'm not a hero, not at all, those weren't the reasons..." He faced them with a smile, a charming smile that would conquer the world.

The tall, muscular member of the Monkey family looked at the criminals locked in the cage. Many of them, full of rage and dementia from the power drug, others fearful with scattered movements, the rest, unresponsive and drooling due to overdosing a dangerous chemical that ravaged their bodies and minds for a quick power boost.

"I, like many here, witnessed cruelty from a young age, so I have a sense of justice too. But that's not the reason I fought yesterday. And a sense of justice was not the reason for going up against so many terrible villains in the past."

"Let me say this upfront, I don't want to become a hypocrite! If I went spouting my sense of justice to anyone who hears. I'd have to uphold my values in every situation I come across. Having your sense of justice dictate your actions restrict your being… I hate being restricted." Luffy said with a great voice.

"So what was the reason I went up against Hody and the others yesterday? Was it because I want to stand for what's right in racism? Wanting to protect the Fishmen people? No...I only helped because I wanted to, my selfish desire to keep Otohime and Shirahoshi happy. Otherwise, I wouldn't really care." He looked piercingly at them.

"Ever since I was a child, I did what I desired, didn't bother with complicated stuff like politicking. I've always been reckless and did what I wanted to do. You guys should all follow this advice, don't go acting for some sense of self-righteousness—fight for what you desire! I wanted Otohime and Shirahoshi happy, so I stormed that guy's little uprising, and now I'm going to do what I want!"

He concluded as he jumped towards the distance, arriving near Otohime, who had trembling hands. The Queen was about to execute each and every single one of those 200,000 men.

The crew and Jimbei digested his words. This was the words of the man who wanted to become the Pirate King.

Always doing what you want to do, not caring about morality and repercussions, the reckless way of living of the tall Straw Hat-wearing man.

The execution ended sooner than everybody expected, that was because Luffy forcefully took the part of the executioner. Not letting Otohime on such a cruel job of executing her own people and seeing her failure to protect and change their minds.

Thus with great reluctance, Otohime returned to the ship. With a big sigh of relief and a growing affection for Luffy, who was so sympathetic towards her.

Instead of a full day of executions, a wide spark of electricity was felt. By the man who controlled the Fruit of God: Model Indra.

Killed all 200,000 men.

It was a parasitic spark that clung to every prisoner.

And stopped all of their contractions and muscles, including the heart.

This was the power of the incarnation of Indra, a spark too fast to react, who could without notice, kill you.

Just like that, Luffy ended 200,000 lives with just a pointed finger.

This man was the incarnation of the God of heaven. Therefore ruled lightning.

Luffy walked back, leaving the criminals dead in their cages.

He reunited with Otohime and the rest of them. He did what he wanted. He saw how sad Otohime would be if she had to go through the execution herself so he took her place because he wished her to be happy, nothing more, nothing else, living by his desires without hiding that fact from anybody, that way he would be free and not be considered a hypocrite for upholding some sort of moral code.

It was always this way.

He fought the World Government for Ace and Robin, not for some sort of revolution for their oppression. He fought Enel because he hurt his crew and because he was hiding the gold bell he wanted to ring, not for the Angels or Shadorians.

He fought Crocodile for Vivi and the old man in the desert, not for the people of the land who were suffering from the extreme drought.

He fought Arlong because of Nami, not for the people in her village.

Other people can have their own sense of self-righteousness about their actions, about saving the world. But Luffy didn't care about that, he only cared about his selfish wishes, and thus he was free to do whatever he wanted in this world, a truly free person.

Some might consider him to be evil, but he didn't really care about what others thought of him.

He would continue to follow his own heart and not lie to himself.

"Hey, Luffy-kun... about what you said, don't you think it's wrong to push your values onto your crew?" Jimbei asked with curiosity as both had their privacy.

"No, people say it's wrong to push your values onto someone else, but I don't care. They're my crew. I can push any values I want to them. We're as close as a family after everything is said and done," Luffy responded with a smile.

"Just as you influence them, they influence you as well..." Jimbei concluded with a smirk.

"That's right." Luffy grinned as he pushed his hat, hiding his handsome face.

XOX

In the afternoon, Shirahoshi was already awake.

Shirahoshi and her brothers were in the courtyard. As she learned how to walk with two legs instead of a tail.

Shirahoshi could seamlessly switch between a mermaids tail and two scaly legs, ever since she had sex with Luffy yesterday. But now, it was time to see what it could do.

Otohime arrived and went on explaining how to control her new legs as she also could change between a set of legs and a tail. It would be a while until Shirahoshi got to a good level of dexterity, but she made great strides.

"Hey, Luffy-kun, you displayed great prowess with lightning, since the event where you destroyed G5 a year ago, most of the world has a faint grasp of your new devil fruit, but what is it? Did you eat a Logia Fruit that can control lightning?"

"No, that's not right Jimbei, I don't control lightning, I am not like Enel with his Fruit of Lightning!" Luffy said with his mouth full of sea king meat, as the festival would be continuing throughout the week, this was merely the second day.

"Then, how does Luffy-sama power work?"

Shirahoshi asked, curiously with her soft and cute voice as they naturally gathered around Luffy.

He lifted his leg up and down as he sat on the grass in the garden at Ryugu's Palace making noise as his powerful and muscular thighs hit the soft grass. His eyes scrunched and his face red as he used his brain to think of an easy explanation. "Hrmm, how do I explain this, Hrmmm, Oh!" He opened his eyes, and his first met his palm as a light bulb lit up.

"I don't control lighting as a Logia user can. I become a God who rules the heavens, therefore, rules lightning. My powers are rough, and that's why Nami can compliment me so well by amplifying anything I create and having finer control over my creations. Lightning isn't the only thing I can create…"

Luffy put his hand forward as a great concentration took place. His face was red with effort and sweat as two drops of water dripped from his index finger. He let go of his concentration and heaved hard. It took a lot of effort.

"I can create water. I can create clouds. However, they take too much effort because of the devil fruit's inherent weakness. It inadvertently weakens me even though it's not supposed to since I don't get weakened in rain. The only thing I can create is small mists. Otherwise, the effort is too great."

Creating something that has water was infinitely more difficult and taxing than learning how to swim. He doubted controlling water could go further than making a small stream of water. It was a failed power a complete flaw on his devil fruit, he had no talent and the limitations were too large to bear.

"I can also control winds, but I can only handle a small breeze. If I try to put more power into it, the wind transforms into electricity instead. So my offensive power from this fruit is 50% lightning. The other offensive power is... Since I'm the ruler of heaven, I also control the Sun. And the Sun is plasma, superheated gas. I can superheat gas with my lightning and form the plasma and control it. It's basically a thick soup of hotness that's at the same time airy and heavy."

His powers were rough and hard to control, and most of the fault could be attributed to having two fruits. No, it was best to be described as one new mutated fruit. Since the Fruit of God, the red apple he ate, cannibalized the Fruit of Exponentials, both fruits were enough to destroy the world on their own.

What happened next was, the more powerful the Fruit of Exponentials became, the base powers of the Fruit of God kept increasing without control. And Luffy had no way to stop it. So he had to keep restrictions on him, as the three concentrated sea stone armlets on his bicep.

Since the Fruit of God kept ever increasing in its ridiculousness, his control of it wasn't optimal either. So his lightning was deadly no matter what, and his plasma was a danger to those around him because of how hot the heat irradiated was. That's why he was glad he was trained to be a tank of massive physical destruction. His basic foundation of Haki was well built. He had endless potential in that area. And if things turned for the worse, he could always boost himself or other things with his fruit of Exponentials.

The point was, relying on his lightning powers was dangerous to the highest degree.

The most important part, though, is that the fact that he had ingested two fruits was kept a secret. His powers over exponentials worked behind the scenes always…

The world was better off knowing that he had some lightning powers and that he lost his rubber powers. And that was it, discovering he had the Fruit of Exponentials would be inviting unneeded trouble for now…

Byrnndi World was hunted down mercilessly because of the world ending reputation the Fruit of Exponentials had along with the Fruit of Quakes.

XOX

The second day continued as day turned to evening.

This time he drank too much booze. So he was a bit disoriented as he dragged both Otohime and Shirahoshi with him and dominated both of them roughly on the same bed.

Mother and daughter were forced by the conqueror into a threesome that both of them enjoyed until they blacked out from being fucked silly.

He took to the outside with just shorts as he found more mermaids around the castle and pushed them into a nearby room as they eagerly pleased him. His conqueror's desire for lust was too great for words. The night continued until he found Robin as he walked around the castle. He smirked as she turned around to face him with an innocent adoring look on her face.

"Robin..."

"Luffy, what are you doing…?"

"Oh, just playing around."

He sat near her as his larger muscular body filled the couch he was in.

"To think our childish innocent captain from two years ago would become such a playboy Casanova..." Robin joked with a small smile.

Luffy grinned as he scratched his neck. His smooth black hair, falling down on his face, so he had to pull it back. "Well...nobody told me back then that sex was so fun."

"Hmm...I guess spending so much time on an island of beautiful and strong women has changed you a lot, in terms of innocence at least."

Robin arrived on his couch and gave him a lap pillow.

"Robin giving me a lap pillow, this is heaven"

Luffy murmured with his deep and roguish voice, so unlike the voice. She heard two years ago, Robin blushed as she stroked his hair, her Captain had changed. It didn't sink in until now, but she didn't know how to make of it. When she looked at his changed self, the love she felt for him was still there. In fact, her love had grown.

"I love you, Captain..." she whispered with her mature voice on the edge of his ear. His eye pierced her, making her a bit anxious about what he was to say next.

He raised himself, pushing his body against her on the couch. Her boobs pressed against his hard chest. As his face and hers were separated by a few inches. He stared at her blue outlined eyes with his own grey ones. He then stared at her lip.

"What, what are you doing, Luffy?"

"You know already Robin..." His hands encircled her waist as both of their noses touched. "Do you truly love me, Robin?"

"Yes"

"Even when I'm such a 'playboy' like this? A man who finds sex on the daily fun?" he stared with open eyes, with all his seriousness placed firmly on his stare. His tipsiness was nowhere to be seen.

"Yes, I still love you, Luffy...but with so many women at your disposal, I feel anxious that if I try to go further, you'll just forget me. I'll just be another faceless woman you had sex with."

Robin looked at his lips like he did with hers. She wanted to kiss him so badly but was afraid of that type of relationship with him.

If he was going to treat her like another mindless woman to have sex with. Then Robin would prefer to be his most faithful crewmate and have her love forever unrequited.

"You are my precious comrade. You'll never be that, Robin! More importantly, I love you! Do you think I went to war with the government for shits and giggles? not at all, now two years later, I understand! Why I was so desperate back then, my immature self might have not understood, but I was saving someone who I loved from the bottom of my heart!" He said that as he closed in.

"Robin, I love you, be mine...forever." both kissed as tears came down Robin's face. Both hungry for each other, a light electric current made Robin tingle with pleasure as he pushed her down. That night he took Robin for himself, all her body, it was his to keep.

XOX

On the third day of their stay, Luffy was back at the shop, to gather even more clothes for the crew while Franky's friend coated their ship for departure.

Since the Fishman working on it wasn't as proficient as Rayleigh, it would take more time to depart, rather than the three days.

Luffy was thinking about it. For over two years now, he went basically without a shirt, but to go topless would be a waste. So he ordered a tailored shirt with a wide V-neck, it was dark blue. As for his feet, he didn't wear anything anymore. His old flip flops, even if they survived, would not serve his now 16' sized feet. So his feet would be naked for now.

Perhaps he could make it his style.

Luffy noticed his crew also enjoying themselves in new clothing, and he smiled. Zoro was looking critical at any green, white or black shirts, suits, and kimonos. When he found something he liked, he would always smirk.

Nami has always liked to bring the majority of clothing and bargain for a more reasonable price. It didn't matter how cute or how beautiful the clothing was.

What mattered was if the navigator had the clothing or not.

Usopp when with what was cool. He was very critical in the mirror when choosing his outfit. Luffy thought that Usopp didn't need to be so critical. Most clothing fitted the sniper just fine.

Sora was interesting. She would now choose black and red, and all her clothing was formal and business-like. The female chef had a serious and rapid approach when choosing new clothing. However, the dark skirt and black pantyhose ever changed.

Chopper had clothing tailored for him. What was funny was that Robin, who was a bit sore for reasons. She always intervened and made the choices for Chopper, which kind of infuriated the little reindeer.

Robin chose inconspicuous clothing that fitted her curves well. The female archaeologist was always choosing darker colors.

Franky would choose what was rebel and cool in his eyes, and he only chose clothing for his top. The bottom clothing was always speedos with the shipwright robot, which made that part unchanging.

Brook on the other hand was like Sora. The skeleton musician chose formal clothing but what he differed was the flamboyant nature of his formal clothes. Of course, he was flamboyant. The skeleton musician had a huge gold crown on top of him.

"Now, let's go and see what's this Mermaid Café is all about!" Luffy shouted the crew cheered.

XOX

"Minister of the Left!"

"Hm, what is it?" The Minister, with his formal attire, cane, and lens on one eye, turned around to see a soldier calling for him.

"A message from Big Mom, it said that we can expect Pekoms and Baron Tamago tomorrow… But the sweet factory..."

"The factories are destroyed; we can't produce more candies for a long time..." The Minister concluded.

"Yes, they were destroyed by Hody and his band of traitors...And the sweets we did have in hands were given as thanks to the Straw Hat Pirates. They were enjoyed at the festivities the day before..." The soldier had a cold sweat.

"The Queen doesn't want to have more relations with Big Mom anymore, perhaps because of that we were lax, but the country isn't ready for a confrontation with Big Mom just yet. Especially since Baron Tamago is arriving here, his 400 plus bounty worries me."

"But can't the Queen just deal with him."

"Yes, she can, but we must take caution and not invoke Big Mom's wrath. Big Mom is one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, and our army doesn't stand a chance against that monster, or even her family. She would destroy a whole Country just for the sake of those sweets. Calling her sane is plain wrong," The Minister discussed.

"Yes, I understand. I'll warn the army to be careful!"

"We shall welcome them in the palace. I'm hoping with The Straw Hat and his crew there, along with the Queen. The scales might shift to our side. Perhaps a deal can be made. We can only hope," the Minister revealed his plans as the soldier nodded.

XOX

After visiting the amazing Mermaid Café and seeing the dancers again, the group went to the coral beach to have a blasting party on the coral dorms along with every dancer on the Mermaid Café.

Luffy made a point to have a lengthy visit with the matron of the Mermaid café, Madam Shirley, suffice to say it was a very enjoyable visit for him. And a very painful and pleasurable visit for her, she was thoroughly punished in the afternoon.

After visiting and having a great snack at the dorms with the mermaid girls, one thing led to another and led them marching over to the great beaches across the island when the sun was about to go out. There, on the beach.

The crew had an ocean-side grand barbecue, with the royal family joining them, as it was the first time Shirahoshi went to the beach in over 10 years.

Of course, the main meat was the Kraken that Sora butchered in the kitchen. It was an inexhaustible supply of food, but with Shirahoshi's size and Luffy's appetite, as well as how many people actually accompanied them into these wild parties.

Luffy watched the dusk with his crew on a swimsuit as they played on the grand beach, so different from the coral reefs yesterday.

It was an open sea full of native life.

He saw Shirahoshi playing with Sora in the sea, as she was the only one in the crew who could keep up with the mermaid princess' ludicrous speed in the water. He took a giant bite out of his meat on a spike as night fell, and the party continued strong on the beach.

This was the good life.

Of course, he dragged Robin, Shirahoshi, and Otohime to the royal palace later for some private fun.

XOX

Luffy was looking serious. Because in front of the crew. And in front of the royal family was a lion with sunglasses.

And a big human with his torso in the shape of an egg, his hat was a teacup. The Ministers were arguing with the strange duo.

The lion growled. Sending shivers through the royal knights, the lion was a dangerous opponent. That's what his presence announced.

Nami, Chopper, and Usopp were sweating, The other members of the crew prepared themselves, but Luffy, Zoro, and Sora were still non threatened.

"Can't you overlook it just this once? The factory was destroyed by terrorists. It was an unforeseeable disaster!" The Minister of the left argued.

"If it was destroyed by foreign attacks, we'd even make a deal, but your civil unrests are not our problem, fool!" The lion said. "I was expecting to have a great snack! I arrived hungry, dammit!"

"Well, calm down, Pekoms-san! We might not have the promised sweets, but we can help you with some food." The Minister said to the lion, only to be growled at.

"You give us a month's worth of sweets every time...and we let you use Mama's name and flag for protection. That was the deal we've made with your Queen! It pains me to say this, Minister. But you know what happens if you make Mama angry? Don't you, you fool?"

Luffy approached the lion standing on his two feet. Luffy was significantly taller than the lion but very small compared to the long-legged man.

"Hey! Who are you?"

"Who are you, bastard?"

Pekoms said, as he stared at the new arrival, it was a man who looked half-competent, but that hat. He removed some wanted posters from his tuxedo pocket.

"You are… Monkey D. Luffy, The Straw Hat Pirates, weren't you missing for two years… to give a wet-behind-the-ears rookie like you more than 600 million as a bounty, the government must be mad!"

Pekoms said as he paged through the bounties of rookies that would be passers in the Ryugu Kingdom. "What do you want, bastard?"

"Didn't I say previously? Who are you?!" Luffy narrowed his stormy eyes. They glowed with promised pain.

Pekoms was oblivious or underestimated the threat in Luffy's glare. "Tch! Rookie… it feels like you need to be taught a lesson!"

The man with the long legs walked gracefully and sat on the steps to the throne. "Pekoms! Glaring at every royal guest isn't going to solve business here. Let us explore more peaceful means. Le tea party is in quatre weeks. If we can leave on le morrow, we should return in time."

The man took a teacup off his hat and drank it. He cleared his throat. "Bonjour… to you, half-boiled pirates, Je m'appelle Baron Tamago, my amie is Pekoms, we're from the Big Mom pirates, at your service. Do remember the name s'il vous plait."

"I see, my name is Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will become the Pirate King. As for the sweets, I ate them all!"

Luffy announced without shame. Pekoms looked like he had his life almost sucked out of him, and Tamago almost had his cup drop.

"I—I see you ate them all. Pas Bon. Not good, the lack of sweets is our current problem, the factory needs to produce 10 tons every month for the quota you see, amour. The logo you see around the city. And the factory is the jolly roger of our captain Charlotte Linlin. This is a sign that the island is le territory of the pirate emperor Big Mom. Understand now, half-boiled pirates soar?"

"It means that fish-man island is under the protection of an Emperor," Nami responded.

"But we didn't see anything of the sort in the grand line until now," Sora pondered.

"Yes, but I hear they are very prevalent in the new world," Robin said. Zoro considered everyone's words and looked down in thought. Usopp and Chopper were very frightened of going to more emperor territories.

"Pirates lording territories and kingdoms in the sea, like great emperors, with their fully-fledged armies capable of facing even the World Government," Brook commented.

"You've seen that two years back, didn't you? Luffy?" Zoro asked.

Luffy looked at them and remembered the war. "Yeah, even as an old man, the pirate forces the old man Whitebeard amassed was awe-inspiring. That old man almost ruined the old marine ford... One year later, I finished the job though and sank the G1 to the ground." Luffy said.

"Grrr! There is no way that story is true." the lion told them.

Luffy disregarded Pekoms, earning more rage from the stubborn lion. "So Big Mom protects this island. I sure want to meet her!"

"I'm afraid you don't comprendre. This is a contract. If it's not fulfilled every month. She brings out her own incredible might and destroys the Kingdoms with unfulfilled promises, jour." The Baron glared behind his dark glasses, making a very dangerous promise.

"Hrm?" A dark cloud of ozone surrounded Luffy's body faintly. He just saved this Kingdom. He took the time of his day to save this Kingdom. There was no way that he'd let some disgruntled woman with a sweet tooth just destroy it.

"Grrr! Rookies like you are so full of themselves. We are in the crew of an emperor. You seemed to have possessed a rubber fruit two years ago, but now it's a Logia, lightning, isn't it?" The lion rushed him; the lion closed the distance faster than expected by the Straw Hat crew.

"People like you put so much stock into your devil fruit, but the new world is not so soft!" the lion's hand turned black. Pekoms struck his enhanced fist right into Luffy's stomach.

Pekoms had a moment of triumph before it was shattered because his fist failed to even make Luffy flinch. The captain of the Straw Hats looked down on him as the smell of ozone got stronger.

"It seems you have a misunderstanding… My devil fruit is not a Logia."

Pekoms was still reeling from the fact that his Haki enhanced fist did nothing to the soft, unprotected skin of the Rookie. Yes, Luffy had not used a single speck of Armament to protect himself, and yet even after the hit that would have demolished anyone worth less than 300 million. Luffy barely felt it.

In fact, there was no wound, no trauma. No bruise at all.

"And what are you doing?" Luffy put his hand on his hat and backhanded the lion across the room.

"Pekoms!" The Baron called, as the lion slowly got up with bruises all over his body while growling in pain. Tensions were running high, Zoro readied his blade for a draw, the Baron almost drew his blade.

"What is happening in my throne room?!"

The mermaid Queen arrived.

Otohime sauntered in with a glare directed at the new arrivals, with her corrupted trident, with eyes looking at the Baron, and barbed tentacles flailing. The trident was now black from the color of Armament. Luffy was glad. It seemed Otohime had healed and even gotten stronger. As impressive as that sounded.

It was true she did little in the conflict, but that was because she was on the breaking point after forcing herself to fight her own people, even if they were criminals. But now she displayed her true strength against the members of the Big Mom Pirates.

She was not a doormat, despite her overwhelming kindness.

"Bon..." "Grr!" yet even after her entrance the tension was still there.

The Big Mom pirates were not so weak as to go without a fight.

Both still had the power to wreck a lot of things and people before they went down.

At that moment, there was a lone ring from a Transponder Snail, a snail with the characteristics of Big Mom. It rang loudly and cut through the tension and added terror into the hearts of the two visitors.

XOX

"Brrring, Brrring…!" The transponder snail rang.

Pekoms started sweating. "It must be Mama, Grr! I just phoned in our situation."

Usopp widened his eyes at the snail. "Huh? You mean that super scary Big Mom, an emperor is calling?!" Usopp ran for the hills. "What are we going to do?!"

"Big Mom, so she's a lady, huh?"

Sora was imagining a hot mature noble lady.

The other occupants were getting tense, with Chopper also cowering, Nami was crying in fear, even Otohime had a trickle of sweat come down her face.

"Hey, Pekoms..." The Baron pointed at the snail as to suggest Pekoms take the snail and answer it.

"You answer it! I don't wanna get yelled at." Pekoms immediately shouted his answer. Luffy's naked feet walked confidently.

Every step felt like the step of a titan.

He brushed past both intruders.

They were no match for him.

And even if they attacked, Zoro and Sora had them trained in their eyes.

He lazily picked up the speaker on the snail and put it against his mouth. With his stormy eyes looking elsewhere, he answered the call. "Hello? is this Big Mom?"

The lion and the Baron were shouting at him from behind, but he ignored them completely.

"This isn't Tamago… Or even Pekoms. Who might you be?" An old lady's voice, who boomed with unseen terror, sounded.

Luffy matched her confidence, and his tone of voice was charismatic as was intimidating. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy, the future King of the Pirates."

"Monkey D. ?" She smiled. "Garp's grandson, now I remember. The little brat who stirred up the war two years ago… I also hear you were responsible for G1's complete annihilation a year ago."

Luffy smirked with confidence as he thought of his next words. "There are no more sweets for you, you old hag. I ate everything."

"... So the news was true? There were supposed to be ten tons of it!" The terrible voice complained with rage in her heart.

A smell of ozone permeated within the palace. As lightning danced through Luffy's grey stormy eyes. "I ate all ten tons of them. What are you going to do about it?!"

"…Silly brat, you're trying to cover for the Fishmen are you? Your sense of justice is just like your grandfather!"

"It seems your age is failing you old hag. I'm a pirate. I do whatever pleases me. I would have eaten the candy no matter what. It seems that you are trying to shift the blame to the Fishmen since they seem an easier target… since you can't go after me, because you're too scared."

"Scared…?! Who's scared of you, little brat?! They had to drag your dying corpse from that war after you failed to save your brother because you were too weak. It seems you haven't learned your lesson! You haven't learned the true horrors that await you in the new world!"

The battle of words continued. "...Hahaha, you're a cheeky brat that's for sure… Sure I'll go along with your little plan… I'm changing my target from Fishman island to you! Monkey D. Luffy, grandson of Garp, now I know your name! Come here. To the New World!"

"Yeah, I'm coming, just you wait! I always pay my debts, It's dangerous to leave this kingdom in your hands, so when it's the time, I'm going to rip your head off and offer it to the sharks… and then I'll make this kingdom my territory!"

Big Mom on the other end twitched her eye. Her smile widened. "I'll serve your head on my plate, Monkey D. Luffy. You'll be a great dinner." came her cannibalistic threat that put everyone on edge. Big Mom sent a chill down everyone's spine except Luffy.

This was a declaration of war. Luffy had antagonized one of the most powerful forces in the world.

But he didn't care one bit.

He was going to be the Pirate King.

If he didn't defeat every single emperor before that, his rule might come into question. His journey is all about proving himself to be the top dog of all oceans and destroy all enemies that might challenge his freedom.

Ignoring the challenge between pirates, the Queen approached the Baron.

"With the factory destroyed. The sweets will only be shipped next month, concerning our agreement. I am willing to pay 300 million berries to the emperor Big Mom. With this money, I hope she can forgive this little passing. If not, don't you think this kingdom won't go out without a fight. I promise half her sons will be dead at my feet if you attack..."

"You…"

Tamago almost burst a vein.

The threat remained.

The Queen of the Ryugu Kingdom was a fierce opponent. Not even the strongest pirates dared to challenge. However, the Emperors of the Sea were a different class of monsters, prideful eldritch horrors, the four of them.

Big Mom was one of them.

Fortunately, her subordinate, the Baron saw the value in the Queen's proposition and dared to bow down and negotiate with his Captain. With the losses they incurred while facing the impudent supernovas like Kid and others, they were in dire need of replacing warships. And with the money she was offering, they could build more than twenty of them, replacing the ten they lost.

Convincing Big Mom not to target Fishman island was easy. Her rage was focused solely on the brat with the straw-hat. Convincing her to accept the money and forego her pride was a hard task that took thirty minutes. She was not someone who wanted to accept the money.

Luffy sat down with his crew outside. Nami and Usopp were chastising him for making the biggest enemy they had so far aside from the World Government.

Robin was by his side, not caring at all that he just made himself the enemy number one of an emperor. Franky was the same. Zoro had the eyes of an excited predator, waiting to fight the army of an emperor and see where he stood on the world. Chopper was just panicking with Usopp. Brook was as calm as a leaf, just chugging his tea. Sora was smiling and calming down an angry Nami.

At that moment, the baron and the lion arrived outside, they walked with a large sack of treasure, and on the hands of the baron was a small ornate box.

The lion glared harshly at the Straw Hats, especially their tall Captain. The Baron just bid them goodbye with his normal manners, though he was paler than normal.

Nevertheless, who could blame him when he was the target of Big Mom's ire for more than thirty minutes.

They were escorted out by the guards as esteemed guests, it was a tense moment, but now the enemy was gone.

XOX

"How things are going on your end, Jimbei-san? How are the Big Mom pirates treating you and your crew?"

"I cannot truly describe her as reasonable, my Queen, but we are managing."

"As a powerful man such as yourself, I didn't think you would serve another captain other than Fisher Tiger-san."

"Not at all. Being a leader isn't an alluring prospect to me if affiliating myself with an Emperor of the Sea will give safety to my men and bolster your relationship with Big Mom. However, I think I'll soon be leaving Big Mom's wing."

"Oh, meaning you will be accepting Luffy's invitation? He is a powerful man that will shake the world," she said with admiration in her tone.

"Yes, I've thought about it for these two years. However, I am a man bound by honor. If I am to cut ties with that ancient destroyer. I would be going back on my word, and it might incur her wrath upon this island once again, just as Luffy-kun managed to focus that wrath upon himself."

"Your sense of responsibility must be commended, but it might be your greatest weakness Jimbei-san. I am honored to have you as my close friend during my rule," she praised him. One of the greatest warriors to have ever existed, the man in front of her must surely be on the same level as Fisher Tiger once was.

"No...No, it is you, my Queen. I am grateful to have lived and have great existences, such as you, Whitebeard, Tiger-san, and Luffy-kun as dear friends. I have led a very blessed life."

"Jimbei, you needn't worry about this kingdom losing Big Mom's favor. As of right now, most of the male survivors of the fish-man district massacre wanted to join the military. They don't want another Vander Decken to frighten their families. 120.000 men want to prove themselves and become stronger than the two horrors that plagued the insurgence.

"Should we lose the protection of Big Mom's jolly roger. We have another, a jolly roger with a Straw Hat upon its skull. Luffy was kind enough to let us use his name and flag should we face a dire situation."

"Ha Ha, the man worth 600 million, now that's a formidable flag indeed."

XOX

"Madam Sharley? Luffy-chin is about to leave the island so…"

For the past week, the Straw Hats have been visiting with frequency the incredible bass and the mermaid café.

All Mermaid Café dancers have been in Luffy's bed every day. He even paid a visit to Camie and Shirley, their time with him was so wonderful so it was a bit sad that he was leaving the kingdom so soon.

Not only Camie, but all the girls wanted to go see him say goodbye. "All of you? I suppose only to shut down the cafe for a bit... all those customers we lost because of that idiot Hody will be trickling back. I'll need your help to get the cafe buzzing again, girls." she said with a smile as she took a puff of her pipe.

"Of course Madam!" The mermaids replied with a smile and wink. Camie looked over the ground and saw a crystal ball broken and shattered.

"My crystal ball? I'm done with it … for good this time. No more fortunes. I never wanted to see a future as terrifying as Fishman island brought to ruin by Straw Hats. They are our saviors and nothing can say otherwise. Our people are strong-hearted, even after the tragedy week ago we are slowly but surely rebuilding. People look happy now, they aren't anxious anymore. They can look forward to another day with a bright smile and it's all thanks to that crew and our Queen."

Shirley concluded her speech, even if her predictions were 100% correct she believed, no… she was certain that this one was false.

But it's the fact that she's never made a false prediction that had her so terrified. what she saw might be a year or more off. there is no proof yet that she was wrong… Camie however was still worried about what could happen that would make Luffy…

"Still worried? Forgive me for initially doubting your friends. I understand how foolish I was, the Queen even berated me in public. I now know that we can trust that man In the Straw Hat, don't you think so?"

"Y—Yes!" Camie said with a happy smile.

XOX

"Waaah! must you truly leave, Luffy? And just when I had finally encountered my true love! can't you stay just one more week? No, one more month…? No, one more year?"

Luffy consoled her about leaving. He was sitting on her hands, wearing an expensive short and an open shirt. Sure enough, she was a mess crying over him leaving. Shirahoshi was important to him. She was one of the two women in the world that truly—truly loved, strangely he only just met her and just spent a week with her.

"Ah, To think the day would come when the mermaid Princess would shed tears at our departure. Don't worry Princess, I wish I could live here for a year," Sora said with a sultry smile as Brook was singing another song by her side.

"Actually, that's a good idea. You should stay here for another year shitty cook," Zoro started badmouthing her again. Their rivalry never truly over after two years.

Sora's eyes turned dark. "You should know better than to insult your cook. Perhaps the next meal you'll find will be your last."

"Actually, I do want to see what happens. I want to know if I can ingest poison or razor blades. It will be a good training exercise." Zoro boasted as he evaded a kick that would decapitate a normal man as he slashed towards her with one of his blades, and she easily avoided it. Their bout continued uninterrupted on the ship.

Meanwhile, Nami was marveling over the new type of log pose the minister of the left gave to her. "It's a log pose type used in a new world. Please take it. You simply can't travel up there with only one needle to follow."

"There are three needles. Why is that?" Nami asked. Usopp, Chopper, and Brook were also listening to the explanation, as they also zeroed on the new compass on Nami's hand.

The old log pose wouldn't work, the minister of the left pointed at her old compass on her wrist and the needle wasn't settled even after a week of use, the process shouldn't have taken more than a day, the needle was swaying like crazy.

On the grand line, they used the log pose to read the unique magnetic field emanating from the next island, so that it may serve as the compass through the treacherous waters. but on a new world not only do the currents and weather patterns change immediately so do the magnetic fields that were the only means of navigation on paradise. Some islands will even lose their fields abruptly right in the middle of a person's voyage. that was the explanation of the minister of the left towards the group of pirates, they were quite shocked to hear that especially Usopp and Chopper who were a bit scared of the thought.

"You must be joking! How can you ever get to the next island?!" Nami prodded the minister.

Navigators chose a simple solution, if with only one needle the log pose would be ruined what would happen if they had three instead? He pointed at the new log pose on Nami's hand. Only one needle was jiggling just like the older log pose, however, the other two were stable and pointing towards different directions. each of the needles is tuned to a different island, in short, you can choose your route through the new world, the one with the broken needle this pointing at an island that suffered a catastrophe and became unstable so a navigator needs to choose a safe path throughout the new world. the rule of thumb was—the more abnormal the movement, the more dangerous the destination. Thus a talented navigator can determine the safest route based on the movement of the needles.

Otohime was quite sad that Luffy was leaving them so soon, however, the reverie was coming closer, it was time to make preparations to meet the world head-on and to finally start the fight for what she believes in. Therefore she gave a tearful goodbye to him and a gentle kiss on his lips, After the death of Neptune she finally found a man worth loving again. A man who would lead them to a new age. She truly believed this without question. By his power and by his ambition the world would bow to him, however now it wasn't the time there were many obstacles. Insurmountable obstacles in his way even.

Luffy, meanwhile, heard the minister of the left explanation from faraway even when he was with Otohime, Shirahoshi, and Fukaboshi and smirked with evil intentions. A mysterious needle that leads to dangerous islands…

Usopp and Nami wouldn't be ready for the next captain's orders, he thought. Even so the more perilous the path the better they would become as a group, and as individuals. They needed to see everything that this world had to offer especially the bad parts, If the way were easy then the adventure would become predictable and boring and he couldn't let that pass.

"Hey gang, we're ready to sail, I've got the hang of the surface in controls too for the past few days, shall we?!" Franky announced on the top of the sunny for white green And a cocky attitude towards his own skills, but of course he was the talented Carpenter one of the best in the world, that sailed on the Straw Hat ship… he was exceptional, Was even able to learn how to do coding work for future endeavors, Luffy was proud of course he would be boastful about his own abilities and Franky was the best in the last civil war they fought, Franky and his weapons bulldozed over many lives that were there in the Plaza killing more than 100,000 scoundrels, Franky had returned as a beast.

Luffy nodded and gave a manly handshake towards Fukaboshi, the proud fearless warrior prince of the sea… There was no doubt in Luffy's mind, this warrior prince would surpass his mother in the future, there was no doubt! They exchanged a respectful farewell.

"Yeah, it's just about!"

Luffy answered Franky and jumped on the railing of the ship with his impressive tall body. The Straw Hats followed into the ship, giving their goodbyes to the friends they met, to the mermaids of the café, and various citizens that had come today to say goodbye. Even Camie and Hachi came to say goodbye and he was swamped with work back in the city, he and various fishmen were rebuilding the factory that had been destroyed, it seems in the meanwhile they would still send some candy towards Big Mom as reparations.

"—Don't forget about us, Luffy-sama! Sora-sama!"

The mermaids at the cafe Luffy had spent so many precious moments with his bed called the two crew members who they spent the most time with on the ship, Luffy and Sora… They were the most addicted to sex on the ship, so it was only natural.

Luffy took a long-lasting look at Jimbei and the ex-warlord nodded with a fierce gaze. Luffy responded with a smile belonging to a king, that was all the goodbye they needed, they would be seeing each other again in their journey.

Shirahoshi wasn't satisfied yet, she was still obsessed with Luffy and that obsession was growing steadily… It was Luffy who showed her all these things, Luffy was a special light in her world. She grasped the side of the ship and stared at Luffy while crying, tears weren't fit for her stunning face. She had the last word and made him promise her when they meet again, he will take her to the surface and they would visit a real forest this time. Luffy swore pinky promise with her large fingers, his hands were so warm kind… she will never forget him ever, he was her special person… there is no doubt there was no error in her judgment—he was her destined partner.

The boat left port with a tearful farewell. Luffy was looking forward, his heart ripe with excitement the thought of reaching the new world, this is how adventures should be.