Things in the palace were going well. Luffy coordinated with both the old kingdom people and the little tribe of Tontattas to bring up a comprehensive plan to rebuild the district they lost. The majority of the damage was widespread by both Pica and Doflamingo, while the underground was destroyed by Trebol and Usopp and the other Straw Hat fighters. Right now, Luffy and the others needed to go to Zou. However, there was no way they could leave with things like these, so they spent a whole week in Dressrosa sorting out the stuff. With more and more spies arriving, Luffy was quick to murder each of them with care. Right now, CP0 knew he was eradicating their lowly spies, so they dared not send one of their higher-ranking operatives. As much as the government is ripe with corruption, some agencies are actually sound in planning for risk management.
Still, there was not much else here other than sorting out the alliances between the Straw Hats and the new-old King Riku. The man was grateful for the Straw Hats presence. Luffy also sorted out the tension between him and Law over the whole aspect of Doflamingo. Luffy couldn't understand why Law had left Doflamingo alive after it all. Law thought it would have been best if the government handled Mingo and gave him hell to pay. However, Luffy and his comrades had helped Law reach this land. His crew had killed so many of Mingo's family, and to see the main boss of the oppression here being left alive would leave a bad taste. Zoro and Robin concurred with Luffy's opinion. Usopp and Franky could see both sides of the argument but ultimately fell on Luffy's side because they had worked so hard to get Law to a position where he could defeat Doflamingo.
With all this said, it was only fitting that Luffy, the horny dog he was, had approached both princesses during that time. Since Rebecca was a rebel who had fought for a full five years, she wanted to unwind a bit from all the struggles. Still, life in the castle was stifling for her a bit. Especially the expensive dresses. Which was something that he was only willing to take off for her. So one of the nights, he suggested the favor, and the pink-haired princess smiled, leading him to her room.
Riku felt weirded out that his daughters weren't coming for lunch. They had already skipped breakfast. Perhaps they were attacked? Riku rushed towards Rebecca's room with the worried look of a grandfather. He had too much debt towards Kyros and loved his daughter too much to let Rebecca suffer one day more than she had already suffered. Viola also had suffered under Doflamingo, being forced to act as his agent back then in order to survive.
Riku opened the door, and right in front was the big royal-sized bed with an expensive wooden canopy. Riku had shouted his granddaughter and daughter's names, and there they were. Right on the bed, hugging the Straw Hat, naked with only the expensive blankets to cover their nude forms. Riku paled, but more than that, he was enraged at this pirate's insolence. How dare he take advantage of his two charges.
"Monkey D. Luffy, you will pay!"
Luffy gave a lazy look and groaned. He walked naked and grabbed his clothes as Rebecca and Viola sheepishly watched the drama unfold. He took a good look at Riku, the soldiers behind him with weapons. Riku raised an executioner's axe. Luffy nodded and yawned, rubbing his eyes and staring hard. Luffy thought of a fun idea. He always wanted to play the playboy thief who got with the daughters of the lord in the stories and made a dashing escape. Baby 5 yawned as her head popped out of the expensive and heavy blankets. Not only one or two, but three women shared his bed.
"Alright, gentlemen, this stay in Dressrosa has been very entertaining, and the accommodations were great. However, my adventure calls to me. So goodbye!"
Luffy's massive hands gave his goodbyes to everyone. And he picked his clothes and jumped off the window naked. The people below all covered their eyes as the massive man fell from so many stories up. As he landed, he already had worn his shorts, and he rushed out towards the port. On his hand was his Transponder Snail, passing the message towards his crew. What he did not know was that there were some pirate crews on the other side of the line, pirate crews who had a vested interest in him after that showing back then.
As he passed by the ceramic paved roads and the restaurants, the waft of olive oil and grilled sea kings. The dancers of Dressrosa and the rustic music. This place was a very good kingdom indeed. The people he had saved from dying all looked at him and waved, grateful that they survived such an ordeal. Luffy was the one who had destroyed the birdcage without trouble and had, with the help of Baby 5 and the princess Mansherry of the Tontattas, healed the kingdom. Mansherry had a healing power that relied on quantities of vitality from the user. Luffy had gladly sacrificed his own to heal their injuries. People in critical condition would not be alive today if it wasn't for the synergy between him and the little princess he saved.
Speaking of them, they jumped fast through the roofs, and four of them arrived on his shoulder. Warriors followed by their princess. Wicca, the blue one he had met first, was here as well. They snuggled up to his shoulder as they talked about their adventures. Luffy smiled at these little warriors—he had made so many good friends here.
"We followed your orders to search for the things you asked."
"You could have thrown them out, you know."
"No, sir, we know that if they are in your possession, then it is better for everyone. We admired the work you did for us and this kingdom."
"You should praise Usopp and Robin. They fought extremely hard for you all."
"They helped with the burial of the soldiers who fell against Trebol and Sugar. We won't forget that debt for as long as the Tontatta tribe lives."
Luffy felt for them. They were outcasted for ten whole years, their comrades enslaved and forced to work alongside the toys in the factory. They presented him with two fruits.
"I'm sorry, we only found two fruits even after a few days of searching."
They were devil fruits. The fruit of ripples and the fruit of strings. They were Diamante's and Doflamingo's fruits. Luffy calmed them by explaining that it was really hard to hunt for devil fruits, they need the exact shape, and some fruits only grow in certain lands across the globe. This means if you kill a devil fruit user and you have bad luck, the fruit will shape itself on the other side of the world. The devil fruit always chooses the fruit with its exact shape closest to it to reincarnate. However, the closest shape might be thousands of miles away. Still, he would give the same choices to his crew. There was still the fruit that controlled the element of gas. That fruit was extremely powerful. Still, he did not know if his crew wanted to eat any more fruits. As always, the decision stayed with them. Luffy was only glad to give them a choice.
Luffy gave his goodbyes to Dressrosa.
oOo
The marines dragged the corpses of the Doflamingo family with them, which meant Doflamingo's decapitated body was there. Tsuru looked over at the headless body with a bit of grimness on her face. This was her usual look when confronting pirates, which usually led to one side killing the other. This wasn't a pretty line of work as always, and collecting bodies was the least favorite part of it all. Of course, serving the celestial Dragons, everyone was awful for her mental health and always stressful. Then again, serving the government was more painful than handling bodies, which clarified that the world government wasn't perfect. But, of course, the alternative wasn't really better, and an anarchist world would only plunge itself into even more chaos.
Well, the marines justified their statements and their positions by saying that everything would have been worse without the celestial Dragons, which wasn't a good argument by any metrics. Still, it was what justified the higher-ranking marines who knew the horrors of the celestial Dragons. Honestly, the Navy would be better off without the government. Many a marine had thought of this. Many say that Akainu making a military coup would cause much better yields for the world. If the world needed tyrants to function, then a very competent one would be better off than 20 useless families who only live off to gorge like pigs. Then again, you wouldn't be able to know that the ones who actually cared about the world affairs were the five elders, five celestial Dragons placed by that family, as the administrators for the entire world itself.
Every one of the five elders was unbelievably competent, but that competence doesn't always equal the benefit of the public but themselves instead. This what's the state of the world, competent tyrants that only looked to their self-benefit. While the family left off at the world itself, Tsuru and Sengoku were more privy to the elusive Stuart-Griffin family. However, the new admirals suffered to their whims. Ryogoku, the new admiral, had already suffered under Isadora's whims. The woman who loved mystery more than anything.
When Tsuru looked at Luffy, she saw a mix between the savage Monkey D. family. Garp's blood and need for violence had been passed down perfectly, and then the insanity and cold ruthlessness of the Stuart-Griffins also passed down.
Tsuru never really raised her grandson, never really visited. She was a woman married to her job. She didn't even raise Dragon right. Maybe that was why things got this bad. She left both her son and grandson to fend for themselves. At least Garp tried to raise them somewhat through his rough means, but at least he tried. Dragon had also inherited that desire to see the ideology and not raise children, especially after what happened. There was an inevitable rift, Tsuru had sneaked out and had a secret meetup with her grandson, and the ensuing conversation was enlightening to his views on things. The scary thing was that she was almost convinced to join his side instead.
Donquixote Doflamingo influenced the world and the future, yet he was too caught up with being stagnant. He joked around often, making the impression that he was always in a superior position, having known the truths of this world. However, he misused his arrogance, and in his last moments, not even his life could save his life. He often said that he was too important to die, that he knew too many secrets, that maybe he could hold control over his enemies, be it emperors or the Government. Yet, he faced an enemy that held no morals in human life, nor cared about the benefits of keeping him alive.
The world wouldn't miss Doflamingo as much as he arrogantly thought they would. The showing of his headless body made Tsuru realize that. Sengoku had spoken to his brat over the days as well, and the marines were careful in avoiding the Straw Hats, who still were on this island. Fujitora and the rest were very stressed they could not fight and kill the Straw Hats, but Luffy here spelled trouble for anyone in the government.
The marine ships left after helping the Dressrosa's new government establish themselves, and a ship with supplies to rebuild would head here soon.
It was hard to say who was more of a threat to the government, her son or her grandson. So, with these thoughts in mind, she and the others headed back to the new Marineford.
oOo
The Straw Hats were homeless, with Sunny going to Zou. First, the two samurai, Kikunojo and Kin'emon, were dutiful in flowing after Luffy, almost as if they were his personal retainers and bodyguards. Robin has grown more powerful with Luffy's teachings, while Zoro coached both Usopp and Franky. Now, Chopper, Nami, Brook, and Sora went on ahead to try and escape the Big Momo pirates, and it was time for them to unite. IT was then that Luffy pressed Law again. Now that his revenge was more or less complete, did he still want to search for the truth and to find One Piece? And his answer was simple, he still wanted to find the ones responsible for the annihilation of the White Town, his hometown that was slaughtered during that crisis. He wanted to find them and put the resentment of those who died to rest. His town wouldn't have their retribution otherwise.
With a new purpose, Law was now perfectly willing to go against the world, its government, and the pirate emperors that were in their sights. Luffy did not want Law to lose heart after Doflaimingo died, but it seems the worry was for naught. Often, those who only have one enemy in life lose heart after that enemy is defeated and don't have any plans on how to live afterward. Law was much stronger of heart than Luffy realized, and that was why Luffy spent a lot of time discussing things with Law, about his past, his sister, and his family. To Corazon and how he affected Law. Luffy smiled as both pirates above a billion bounty now we're kindred spirits. Luffy had also faced the disgrace of oppression of governments when they burned the Grey Terminal. Luffy still could hear the screams of the destitute and of families who lived off the trash of the rich. Similarly, White Town also burned for the greed of the world.
That was right. The new bounties had arrived, placing Luffy with a billion bounty. Law was already 900 million, but after defeating Doflamingo all by himself had his bounty at 1.25 billion.
Luffy only had a higher bounty because he murdered Mingo after and faced down Sengoku, Tsuru, and Fujitora to kill it. Even after they mounted their resistance, they still could not protect Mingo from dying right there on the spot. Also, the news that he killed Burgess, one of Blackbeard's operatives, was a big blow to the balance. Though he did not care for his own numbers, he was proud of his crew members ' notoriety.
Similarly, there were some increases to the Straw Hat crew's bounty. Zoro was now 600 million, which he was previously at 520 million after murdering a Vice Admiral. Nami was at 166 million, Usopp was now 330 million, and with a new title of 'God Usopp.' Luffy couldn't be more proud of Usopp than he was now. Chopper was only 1000. Robin, however, had a healthy bounty now with 350 million, more than he had 2 years ago. Franky, for his showings in the colosseum, had raised to 237 million, and Brook was now 183 million.
Sora, who was trailing behind Zoro, had a 377 million bounty. However, something was wrong. There was the name and 'alive' bounty. Vinsmoke Sora, Luffy knew about her situation. She told him a while back about her true family, the Vinsmokes, if the government found out her blood ties, then something was deeply wrong here.
Though he did not care for his own numbers, he was proud of his crew members ' notoriety.
They had borrowed the ship of Yonta Maria, Orlumbus was deeply grateful for the presence of God Usopp and Straw Hat there, Luffy had truly healed everyone, even those with a critical condition, and he wasn't even phased. Mansherry was appreciative of that as it led her to restore the Dressrosa kingdom in the aftermath.
Bartolomeo wanted to see Luffy conquer the world. Don Sai was grateful for Luffy and Usopp and wanted to use their army to bring justice to the world. Hardjurin was the giant who wanted to rebuild the Giant Pirates and shake the foundations of the world. Orlumbus wanted to explore the entire world and had a fleet of 56 ships. Leo and his battle-hardened warriors of the Tontattas. The boxer Ideo and the martial artist Blue Gilly, as well as the terrorists Abdullah and Jeet, wanted to overthrow the government. Cavendish and Suleiman wanted to conquer the New World. They all made their appeal towards the unbelievably powerful and seemingly invincible Straw Hat. They were caught in his charisma and wanted to join his crew, or rather, make an alliance and make the Straw Hats grand fleet. Seven leaders wanted to exchange the cups of father and son with him.
Luffy sat with Robin in his lap and Zoro by his side. Franky and Usopp had surprised looks, but Zoro just grinned, and Robin giggled. Luffy, however, wasn't enjoying the idea.
"I know you guys want to sail under my flag, and I don't have any weird pride not to accept such an offer. However, the problem comes with sailing under my name. when you sail under my name, we will never really take the blame for the actions I take in the future." Luffy used his charisma as the seven leaders kneeled in front of him. They had exchanged stories and connected, which led to this situation that they were pledging themselves to him. "The government and the people will shun you for using my name. I have a lot of powerful enemies as well. When things come to a head, they will hunt anyone who ever says my name in goodwill."
He was making enemies with the government and the world itself. He would truly use everything to destroy the foundations once he found the One Piece and helped accomplish his friends' dreams. After that, he couldn't even guarantee his crew's lives. He wanted these guys to understand the simple truth, if you sailed under him, the chances of dying are greater than if you just didn't accept. However, the chances of glory were even greater.
This was why, even as Luffy made a whole scary speech, the seven leaders still smiled and had bright eyes, leading into the future. They had green and pride and wanted for glory. They were not ordinary, and Luffy felt defeated. Nothing he'd say would impede them.
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
Robin picked up the massive sake cup and gave it to her Captain. The seven sake cups were distributed all across, and then they drank it. With Luffy sharing it with his crew, Zoro was especially greedy. Luffy put the cup down to the deck of the ship with a massive noise. Now he had almost 6000 men sailing under his name. He now felt like a proper challenge to the emperors. Now all he needed to do was find them and kill them all. Then, find the One Piece, and fulfill his comrade's dreams. And then end his grudge with his family and the government, once and for all.
oOo
The man claimed he searched for a place to die. His aura made sure those around him felt discomfort in even opening their lips. For Urouge, he kept watch but did not speak towards the man approaching the edge of the ruined sky island. For the rest, it was for the gods to know. To tell more of this insane man is to peer through the cracks of the world itself. One could say he, as a pirate, knew the taste of defeat on seven different occasions. Wars of massive proportions that had shaken the entire new world. He's been caught by the Navy or his enemies repeatedly thirteen times at this point. You could say it was all a game to him. He was tortured repeatedly, and as he lived life as a prisoner of this mortal world of boredom, he wished to attempt suicide by jumping off a sky island.
Urouge prayed as the man descended to his death.
This was a man who challenged the Navy and the emperors several times. He spits on the faces of his captors and hates the government above anyone else. He was then sent to death a hundred times by the government. The Navy hanged him, yet the rope snapped. They placed his body on a wheel to torment him with blows for three weeks, and yet the hands of his executioners fractured. A hail of bullets from pistols bounced off his skin. They tried to poison him with gases, metal, radiation, and all kinds of toxic liquids, to no avail. When put in the guillotine, the hardened blade was molded to his neck before splitting in half. Skewering him or drowning him had no effect. Burying him deep in the earth and pouring lava to cool it down over several weeks, then digging him again, had no effect. In fact, he was so bored he slept for those days. The pleasantly cool sheet of lava on top of him acted as nothing but a blanket.
He fell from the heavens and struck at the earth. The island felt the tremors of his body crashing like a comet.
The people who were using this island as a base got a rude awakening. The pirates rushed outside—though they were less like pirates and more like rookies who didn't know how the world really worked. These rookies had invaded the new world and occasionally caused trouble on the news and fringe territories this man controlled. Children playing with toys needed a proper punishment. Which was why he had jumped off. One of these pirates was a trader and was working with this man, and he led him here.
Which was why the other two were now at the precipice of their death.
The man rose from the crater he made when he fell from the heavens.
Kaido's arms were thicker than pillars of stone. His torso was filled with muscles, each mass of fibers weighing a ton. His back was more monstrous than ever, its powers forming the face of a demon. His body was tattooed with the scales of a dragon, and he wore metal bands with spikes in his arm. His head was a mass of black onyx hair. And his horns were pure white and pointing to the sky.
"So the fall didn't kill me. How disappointing, it's tough for me to die. But, damn, Joker, get my fruits ready, so I can start them already. If you will not take part in the war, there's no need for you to be alive, is there?" his voice boomed so loudly that those hearing it had their ears explode, the ones closer died on impact with the sound waves of his speech. It was almost like a shock wave that rocked the entire island with dust. The castle crumbled, destroying the base of these lowly pirates before they could even guess at what happened.
His voice was enough to destroy a ruined fortress.
Kaido, the most strongest being on the land, sea, and air, faced these three upstarts. The one in the center was the most important one of them. It was Kid. The brat had been an annoyance forever.
The one at his side was already trembling with fear. Kaido could not remember the name of this one. However, the other one with the long arms was familiar. He was his inside man in this little alliance of theirs. Kaido wanted to get rid of pests. What more could he do than spend the time crushing these minor bugs that swarmed around his businesses and his lands.
It was pretty funny seeing the long-armed idiot go up to his side and gloat about his alliance with Kaido of the 100 beasts. And how he had led his leader towards this meeting. The outrage on Kid's face was a bit amusing. However, Kaido was already tired of this whole conversation.
"There is one chance. Join me or perish right here and now."
The one that was trembling looked at his cards. He likes playing with cards. He was searching for probabilities of some kind. He appeared to be a strategist, though Kaido never wanted them with elaborate plans and pitiful traps. This one came up with the chance of survival at 0% if he ever faced Kaido, which was an excellent indication of how outmatched they were.
Finally, he came to the conclusion he must lay down his weapons and follow suit. Although Kid's crew was outraged at that betrayal, the little bratty captain raised his arm and, with the power of magnets, created a very intricate-looking machine that was more like a vehicle of combat than anything else.
"Your power is fascinating. You should reconsider your position and join me. If you and your crew attack me, then that is the end of negotiations, and I will kill you right where you stand."
Kaido scratched his mustache as he stared at the tiny vehicle of combat made of metal of all assortments. Haki was going through the metal and enhancing its claws. One swipe would be enough to crush bodies of flesh. However, he now stood in the presence of the strongest creature, and his two allies deserted him completely.
"Don't joke around. I'll never bow down to an Emperor, not in my life nor in the next."
"Disappointing. If only you could see the error of your ways, pride without power is often treacherous. If you worked under me, you could have lived past today and achieved greatness under my name."
Kid would never bow down—his land was ravaged by both the government and pirates alike. So when he was little, he decided he would find one piece and use that treasure and its influence to eradicate the system. He wanted brats like him to lead a good life after that. However, his trail of blood had often led to many enemies, had killed many civilians now, and was quite used to punish people for just laughing at him. But that's the kind of land he grew up in, where the common man would kill a child just for a piece of bread or a portion of clothing. To Kid, there was no distinction between civilians and soldiers. For him, what mattered was the attitude they had. To Kid, the attitude you had is what distinguishes you from being innocent or being harmful.
That was the stupid code he lived by, and he was proud of it. Which was why it was such a blow when his allies betrayed him, and it all led to his death...
Kaido faced the battlefield, dead corpses of the Kid pirates all around. The one with the mask was below Kaido's boots, and then, like a bug, his legs and stomach were stomped and crushed. His blood and organs existed through his dislocated mouth, filling the holes of his mask with fountains of liquid.
Kaido held Kid by his stomach. His whole palm had grabbed the insolent brat. The brat had a sunken crater on the left side of his face, and he was bleeding from his chest. His legs were bent sideways, and still, the man glared through his distorted skull. Kaido looked unfeelingly at Kid and simply closed his palm even more until, just like a piece of bread, the seams of his stomach ripped by the pressure until the chest was separated from the legs at the stomach.
Soon, Kid's legs fell to the floor, disembodied from the upper half, while the stomach-less upper-half bled right there on Kaido's closed hand. Kaido threw that piece of upper body meat away, not caring now that Kid was dead, and walked away.
Basil Hawkins looked at the dead Kid and paled even further. It was then that the magician knew that Kaido was much more powerful than they ever could have imagined. If this was an emperor, then there was no chance for any rookie to ever challenge any of them.
Luffy slept like a tree surrounded by women. Robin was at his side, with her red and black tears of space fluttering with flowers. She was getting used to having a second fruit power, the power was Vastly different from the user who had died previously, it was already fine. Fruit users from different eras often have different styles of fighting and powers even though they consumed the same fruit as the previous user. It wasn't weird at all.
They were heading towards Zou, 11 of the fleet's ships. Luffy still had terrible taste in his mouth as he had accepted this alliance of sorts with other pirates. However, Luffy was willing to carry his crew's dreams and lives forward, and he was responsible for it all. All his crewmates knew who he was as a person and knew of his actions as well. They knew his hell and knew his heaven. Similarly, he also knew their hell in their heaven. Which was why this close knitted group could go to the absolute lengths, and this group knew that there was no future other than their adventure and their confrontation with the systems controlling this world.
They knew their future was short. The Straw Hats knew and headed towards adventure and death alike. The Straw Hats Would willingly go against the government in a war for all the ages and generations ahead of them to remember.
The Straw Hats were like a big firework that would rock the world for all eternity, and yet the life of that firework would soon lose its shine.
Which was why Luffy was uncomfortable with vassal pirates who didn't know what they were getting into. 5,000 lives Pledging themselves to his name was a very terrible decision on their part. His name was cursed by the government itself—he had made many enemies in the past and he would make more of them in the future. Half-heartedness would only get these pirates killed without knowing why.
Luffy wasn't in the least bit interested in raising territories and governing over them. He helped his friends' countries and placed them under his protection but that was it, that was the extent of it. Luffy only wanted to destroy the government and the family and the ghost of ages past behind it. There was no golden riches at the end of his road. He wanted this fleet to understand that notion. The Straw hats intrinsically knew, and he passed that information, even so these idiots still wanted to follow him towards their own deaths. Well, fine then, he won't complain about it anymore. He made it exceedingly clear of this point.
It was then that a cannon-like impact rained down on the ship, a big man jumped from the enemy ship and dropped towards here like a cannonball. his feet were so massive that it broke the place he landed. Luffy gave a lazy eye towards the new arrival, with a skull with horns this new group was quite exciting. These pirates were their enemies, a rival emperor's pirates.
"So they won't let us go to Zou so easily." Law arrived with his weapon at the ready, his arm already attached and sewed by his medics.
"So you're the one who killed Joker. He was an important pawn to us. Kaido wants a little revenge." The new voice was incredibly deep, with blond hair in locks and an iron mask, he was one of Kaido's All-Stars. A trio of incredibly powerful pirates of their own right who could challenge an admiral to an even fight.
"So what's your name?" Luffy sighed and lazily stared at the man.
"My name is Jack."
His pirates all swarming around the ship, and they boasted about the arriving All-Star.
"Bow down before Jack-sama, he's worth a billion."
"What a coincidence, so am I." Luffy spoke with the laziest voice possible. Whoever cared about numbers really, all that mattered was if you could kill the opponent or not. If tomorrow Luffy's bounty was raised to a trillion or dropped to zero he would have no reaction to it. He did not care in the least.
Barto arrived, spouting the same boasting about Luffy, the two crews faced each other. Robin by Luffy's side smiled cruelly. Zoro who was sleeping at the deck now had a bloodthirsty look. Luffy lifted and sat, with a darkened look. Finally, he would kill a member of an emperor's crew. He was quite saddened he couldn't kill Fujitora back then, but this time, there was nothing in the way of killing.
"Zoro, Robin, we're killing them all."
"You're welcome to try, brat." Jack the Drought raised his weapon imbued with his terrifying Haki.
He had brought only a small army which was a bit disappointing. The three most bloodthirsty members of the Straw Hat crew head more than 100 members full of creatures and animals to kill, the three members smiled as their need for violence would be sated with the blood of Kaido's army.
The troubles of Zou had just started.