Chapter 13 - 13: Training and A Declaration in Logue Town!

The crew had been traveling for about a few hours now since they found out about Luffy's bounty. Luffy was sitting on his throne watching the crew as they all are doing their own thing. Usopp is standing off to Luffy's right cleaning one of the cannons on deck, Nami and Nojiko were behind Luffy relaxing on lawn chairs, Zoro, Johnny, and Yosaku were at eh front of the ship exercising while Sanji was in the kitchen. Luffy then stood up from his throne and began walking down towards the main deck.

"All of you, come here!" he shouted causing all of them to stop what they were doing and make their way towards Luffy to see what he wanted. Soon Luffy stood on the main deck with everyone surrounding him.

"What is it, captain?" Sanji asked while holding a spoon in his hand. Luffy looked around at each of them before he looked up at the sky causing all of them to do the same. They all saw a thundercloud coming down from the sky. Sanji and Zoro immediately recognized it as the cloud that had all of the money they stole from the marine base.

"Before we beginning," Luffy said getting all of their attention as he walked towards Nami and place his right hand on her shoulder puzzling everyone. "Need to add on to Nami's punishment," he said before ropes of lightning sprang out of his wrist and bound her in place.

"AHH!" she screamed as they wrapped around her. "WHAT THE HELL LUFFY!?" she yelled/asked. Luffy chuckled evilly he pushed her back causing her to fall on his thrones which seem to have followed him. Nami tried to break free of her bonds but found it impossible. She then tried to stand up but also found it impossible. Apparently, the lightning that was binding her and the lightning in the thundercloud throne connected to each other effectively holding her in place.

"Luffy is there a reason you tied up Nami?" Usopp asked with a curious look on his face. Luffy turned away from Nami and faced him before he replied.

"Yes...this," he said before snapping his fingers causing the cloud to let go of all that it had stored in itself. Everyone's eyes were as wide as dinner plates when they saw it was literally raining money and all sorts of treasure. Nami look like she was at the gates of heaven but as much as she tried to open the gates to heaven they would not open for her. All she can do was watch from the outside.

"So this is why you tied up my sister," Nojiko said as she walked over to the large pile of treasure. "You're very evil you know that captain?" she asked while looking at Luffy with a smirk. Luffy smirked at her before he started laughing. He turned to check on Nami and saw her trying everything she could to break free of her bonds.

"Its no use," he said getting her attention. "It won't come undone until I undo it," he said getting her to stop struggling and just look on dejectedly at everyone else. "Alright listen up," Luffy said before walking into his captain's quarters and coming back out with a few large bags. "Place all of the money in this bag," he said before tossing one of the bags over to Sanji. "After that take all of the gold and other precious stones in these and store them below deck," he said tossing the rest of the bag to Johnny, Yosaku, and Nojiko. "We will store the cash in one of the clouds and keep it in the sky where it is safe. The rest of the treasure will be held here on the ship," he said earning a nod from all of them. Luffy then turned towards Sanji and spoke. "Sanji we are a few days away from Louge Town. I want you to check out inventory for the kitchen and make a list of everything you are going to need for the kitchen," Luffy said earning a nod from him. "Okay all of you hurry up and put this stuff away so I can begin your training!" he yelled out puzzling all of them.

"Ummm Luffy," Nami said from behind Luffy. "What kind of training?" she asked.

"Your Haki training," Luffy said before he walked over to Nami and leaned against the throne.

"And what is Haki, Big Bro Luffy?" Johnny asked with a confused look on his face along with Yosaku. Luffy just sighed before he spoke.

"I'll explain all of that when you are all done," he said before summoned a new cloud for him to sit on as he watches the rest of the crew hurry to put everything away. It took about 45 minutes for them to clear everything, but once they did all that was there was a large bag of money.

"All done Captain!" Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku said as they stood in a straight line while saluting Luffy. Luffy shook his head in amus.e.m.e.nt before getting up from the cloud. As he stood up the cloud he was sitting on moved closer to the throne holding Nami in place before it fused with it creating a bigger cloud. He then snapped his finger as he walked towards the bag causing the lightning holding Nami in place to disappear. Nami immediately sprang to her feet and began running towards the large bag that Luffy had just grabbed hold of. Just as she was inches away from reaching the bag it disappears along with Luffy causing everyone's eyes to widen. As they disappeared Nami tumbled herself forward landing on top of Sanji with his face buried in her c.h.e.s.t causing Sanji to rocket back with a large nosebleed. When everyone turned around to see where Luffy had gone they all saw him standing in front of the throne with the bag in his hand. While Nami was picking herself up from the ground Luffy held up the bag and dropped it into the throne made of clouds causing it to disappear into the cloud.

"Good now that we are all done let's get started," he said as he sat on the throne. "Before I teach you Haki I will first explain to you all what it is. I had already told Zoro about it so he has a general idea of what it is and what it does, but he doesn't know how to use it," he said earning a nod from Zoro. Sanji who finally got his nosebleed under control walked over next to Nojiko and spoke while sticking tissues in his nose.

"The old geezer had told me once about haki," he said surprising Luffy. "Well, more like he mentioned the name not really explaining what it is," he said causing Luffy to nod his head in an understanding way. Luffy had heard rumors that Zeff did enter the New World but only for a short period of time before he found it too difficult and turned back to paradise. So, he could understand how Zeff came to learn about Haki. "He said it is a power that every pirate in the Grand Line has, and the power itself is that which could rival devil fruit users," Sanji said scaring Usopp, Nami, Johnny, and Yosaku. Luffy chuckled at their reaction.

"Not everyone in the Grand Line knows Haki," Luffy said getting their attention away from Sanji. "Only those in the New World know about Haki. The pirates in Paradise don't really know about it," he said earning a few confused looks his crew.

"Umm, Luffy," Nojiko said causing Luffy to look over at her, "What is this New World and Paradise you are talking about?" she asked causing the rest of them to nod their heads letting Luffy know they didn't know either.

"The Grand Line is split into two parts, the first part which we will be entering in about three days time is called Paradise while the second half is called the New World," he said supervising all of them. "It is a common mistake people make in thinking the Grand Line is just one continuous sea but in fact, it is two halves separated by the Red Line," He said as he reached into his coat and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a glass and began pouring himself a drink.

"Paradise?" Nami asked in a scared voice causing Luffy to smirk. "I think we all have head stories about the Grand Line and none of them would suggest that it is paradise," she said earning nods from Usopp and the bounty hunting duo. Luffy smirked deviously scaring them even more before he replied.

"The first half of the Grand Line is called Paradise because when compared to the New World it is paradise," he said causing their eyes to widen. "But don't worry about that now. I will get all of you stronger by then," he said calming all of them down. "Now back to Haki," he said causing all of them to pay close attention. "Haki is a power that lies dormant in all the world's creatures. It is not that different from the typical senses. However, most people do not notice it or fail to awaken it," he said before he took a sip of his whiskey.

"So everyone can learn this Haki thing?" Johnny asked with a look of pure awe on his face. Luffy nodded his head before taking another sip of his drink. "That's so cool," Johnny said while staring at Luffy. Everyone else nodded their head in agreement of what he just said.

"There are mainly two types of Haki that anyone, given the right training, could achieve. The first is Observation Haki," he said before pausing and looking around making sure everyone is paying attention. After seeing everyone is listening closely he continued. "It grants users a sixth sense of the world around them and limited precognitive abilities. I have heard rumors of people honing their observation Haki to such a degree that they could see a tiny bit into the future," Luffy said causing all of their eyes to widen.

"Seeing into the future?" Sanji asked in a disbelieving voice. Luffy nodded his head before he replied.

"Yeah, just about a few seconds into the future," he said before taking a sip of his drink. "I haven't reached that level as yet, I can only predict my enemy moves and sense the life force of everything in my range," he said before turning towards Usopp and spoke. "You as a sniper Usopp could use Observation haki shoot targets that are at an extremely great distance away and hit them with precision accuracy," Luffy said causing Usopp's eyes to widen.

"Wow!" he said before he started jumping up and down in excitement. Luffy shook his head before he spoke again.

"The next type is Armament Haki," he said before he held out his right hand for everyone to see. As they stared at Luffy's hand they were all surprised when they saw it suddenly turned from its usual color to pitch back. "It allows the user to use their spirit as armor to defend against attacks or to make their own attacks more potent," he said before the blackness on his arm seems to recede back into his skin. "If you are fighting against someone else who uses Armament haki it comes down to who has a stronger will or wants to win more and in that case, the weaker one always takes more damage," he said before he finished his drink and looked over to Zoro. "You can use them on your sword to make your attacks more powerful," he said causing Zoro to grin. "There are two important things about Armament Haki you need to know," he said causing them to pay closer attention to what he is about to say. "Firstly, it is something that you can run out of during a fight if you oversure it," he said surprising them once more. "And secondly This type of Haki also has the ability to bypass the powers of a Devil Fruit user whose body has been altered by their fruit in any way," he said causing everyone's eyes to widen.

"What do you mean bypass their powers?" Nojiko asked.

"For example, I am a lightning Logia type user meaning I can turn my body into lightning and make my body intangible against certain attacks," he said causing her nod her head showing she understood so far. "If you were to punch me right now your arm would pass right through me not hurting me and you would get electrocuted, but if you punched me with your fist covered in Armament Haki your fist wouldn't pass through me, it would hit me and it would hurt," he said.

"Wow...so it is extremely useful against Devil fruit users?" Nami asked in an astonished voice. Luffy nodded his head before he spoke again.

"Those are the main two that everyone could awaken," he said causing all of them to nod their heads except for Nami who looked at Luffy with a puzzled look on her face before she spoke.

"Main two?" she asked causing Luffy to nod his head. "So there is more?" she asked. Luffy smirked at her question before he replied.

"There is one more that only a certain group of people could unlock," he said surprising them. "It is an extremely rare type of Haki that only one in several million people could unlock it. It's called Conqueror's Haki or The King's Spirit," he said.

"One in several million?" Usopp asked causing Luffy to nod his head.

"What does it do?" Sanji asked.

"It allows the user to overpower the wills of others. Zoro, Nami and Usopp saw me use it before," he said causing those three to take on a puzzled look on their face trying to think about when they saw him use it. "Usually when someone uses it they can make a group of people just pass out from their presence," he said causing the three of them to finally figure out what he was talking about. "Although those who have strong wills can resist the effects of your Conqueror's Haki," he said before getting up from his throne and walking into his Captain's Quarters and coming back out with a few strips of black cloth. "First I will teach all of you Observation Haki before anything I teach you Armament," he said as he walked forward towards them.

"Any reason why that one is first?" Zoro asked.

"I think it would be best for all of you to learn to predict your enemy's movements in a fight before we strengthen your attacks," he said as he began handing out the blindfolds to Johnny, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji. "And it is way more fun to learn...well more fun for me anyway," he said with an evil smirk causing everyone to become nervous. "Now pair up! Sanji you're with Zoro," he said causing Sanji to w.h.i.n.e about not being with the beautiful ladies. "Usopp you are with me," he said getting a Nodd from Usopp.

"So, what are we supposed to do, captain?" Nami asked causing Luffy to chuckle.

"One of you is going to be blindfolded while your partner won't be. The person who isn't blindfolded has to hit you in the head with one of these sticks," he said as he reached into the cloud and pull out five sticks.

"Why the hell do you have sticks in there!?" Nami yelled. Luffy shrugged his shoulders before he replied.

"I picked them up while we were at your hometown," he said as he tossed a stick to each pair while keeping one for himself before tossing the extra one overboard. "The main goal of the person who is blindfolded is to dodge the incoming hit. Do not simply guess and move your head, clear your mind and try to expand your senses, try to feel the life forces of those around you," he said earning nods from all of them. Soon every pair went to a different part of the ship to begin their training. One thing was clear to everyone except Luffy, the next two days were going to be extremely painful.

**Two days Later**

The entire crew was currently standing at the front of the ship staring at the Island they were fastly approaching. The past two days had been very painful for every member of Luffy's crew, the training was a success for the most part. Everyone could predict where most of the hits were coming from and dodge it, but they were still getting hit sometimes. Luffy did not expect them to completely master Observation Haki in two days, so the progress they all have made please him. He knows the best way to learn haki is when your life in danger, it is then your will is at its strongest dues to ones d.e.s.i.r.e to live. So, all they needed was some real-life experience in combat to take their Haki to the next level. While everyone could simply dodge the attacks, Usopp surprised Luffy when he told him that he can sense a faint outline of Luffy. Luffy had explained that was the life force he was sensing and explained how he could use it to pick out his targets.

"So that's it huh?" Nojiko asked was behind Luffy knocking him out his thought. He looked behind him and saw she was staring at the island in front of them. He turned back around and stared at the island with a serious look on his face before he replied.

"Yeah, that's it," he said in his usual monotone voice. "The town of the beginning and the end," he said before pouring himself a drink. He then turned around and walked back to his thrones. "All of you follow me," he said as he walked by. When Luffy reached his throne he sat down and stared at everyone as they gather around him. He then reached into the cloud and pulled out a small bag of money and tossed it to Sanji confusing him.

"What's this for, captain?" Sanji asked.

"That's 1 million berries," he said causing everyone's eyes to widen. "Use that money to buy whatever supplies and food you need for the kitchen and whatever is left over is yours to spend," he said earning a nod from Sanji. He then reached back into the cloud and pulled out another bg this time a bit bigger and tossed it to Zoro before he spoke. "That's 5 million berries, buy yourself two new swords and buy does two whatever weapons they want," he said while pointing to Johnny and Yosaku. Zoro nodded his head while the bounty hunter duo saluted at Luffy before they yelled out.

"THANK YOU BIG BRO LUFFY!" they yelled in unison causing Luffy to chuckle. Luffy then reached back into the cloud and pull out another bag smaller that Zoro's but bigger than Sanji's and tossed it to Nojiko before he spoke.

"That's 2 million berries," he said surprising her. She was about to tell him she didn't need that much but he held up his hand stopping her before she could speak. "Before you say you don't need that much the money in there is for you and Nami," he said causing her to smirk while Nami's eyes changed into berry signs. "Nojiko is in charge of the money," Luffy said causing Nami's eyes to change back to normal and her face took on a shocked look. "I feel she may be a bit more responsible with it," he said causing Nami to pout. "You two could buy whatever you want, but I have some requests that you need to buy. First Nami I want you to buy more charting supplies cause I don't know when we will get to buy them again," he said causing her to nod her head. "And secondly, find yourselves some weapons," he said causing them to nod their head in agreement.

"Aye, captain!" they said in unison. Luffy then reached into the cloud and pulled out a bag the same size as Sanji's and tossed it to Usopp before he spoke.

"That's 1 million berries, buy whatever you need for your inventions or whatever you else you want," he said causing Usopp to nod his head excitedly. "But be warned a lot of people in this town are going to try and sell you knock off equipment and claim it to be from the Grand Line, or it belonged to Gol Roger. Do not be fooled," Luffy warned causing Usopp to nod. Luffy then looked around at everyone before he spoke. "Good, you all have your orders ow let's dock the ship someplace where the marines won't find it," he said getting nods from everyone before they ran off to get ready to dock. Just as they were about to walk down the stairs Luffy spoke again getting their attention. "One more thing, there is a marine captain here called Smoker. A lot of pirates have stopped her on their way to the Gand Line but none of them ever got a chance to leave the Island," he said scaring all of them except for Zoro and Sanji. "He has caught ever pirate that has step foot on that Island and will likely come after me. So, none of you worry about that. I am his target, he doesn't know about any of you but if you hear of a commotion involving me hurry up and finish what you are doing and head back towards the ship," he said causing all of them to nod their head before running off to get ready to dock. Luffy poured himself a drink and took a sip before looking u to the sky with a smile on his face, he was going to achieve his dreams and no one was going to stop him.

After the ship docked near the end of the island everyone got off and began making their way towards town. While they were walking Luffy kept his eyes out in search of any Marines who may have spotted them entering the island. He was quite surprised when he saw no one there. He had figured that with a bounty like his the Marines would do everything in their power to try and stop him from re-entering the Grand Line, but it would seem that even though they sent more Marines to the island they are doing a poor job patrolling said island. Luffy wasn't complaining, after all, he didn't want to start trouble just YET. As the crew reached the entrance of the main shopping area Luffy turned to his crew and spoke.

"Alright, I'll see you guys later. I'm going to find out where they kill me around here," he said before walking away leaving his entire crew confused. Luffy's main goal for to this island was to see the place where Gol Roger died, but before he goes to the execution platform, there was something he needed to do. He was currently walking down the main street looking at all of the stores trying to find the store he was looking. After walking for a few more seconds he finally spotted it, 'Rita's Tailored Clothing,' the sign read causing Luffy to smile before making his way over to it. As he entered he saw manikins with suits and coat of all designs, shelves with different color fabrics and in the corner near the very back of the store he saw a counter with a small register on top of with and an elderly woman standing behind of the counter staring at him.

"What can I do for you today, young man?" she asked in a kind tone. Luffy smiled right back and began walking towards her.

"I was wondering if you could add something on to my coat," he said as he took his coat off and placed it on the counter. The woman looked at him with questionable eyes before she asked him a question.

"Are you a pirate?" she asked. Luffy looked at her and smiled widely before he replied.

"That I am," he said causing the elderly woman to match his smile.

"It has been a while since I had I pirate in my shop," she said as she held up the coat and began to examine it. "I was beginning to think I would die before I get to see another one enter in here. Let me guess, you want me to add your jolly roger to the back of your coat seeing as how you already have a coat," she said as she turned away from the coat and looked at Luffy. He smiled at her and reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of his jolly roger and handed it to her.

"I do," he said as he handed it to her. She looked at it and had her eyes widen.

"That's one scary jolly roger you there, young man," she said causing Luffy to chuckle.

"I'm glad it is doing its job," he said as he looked around the store. "how long is it going to take for you to add it on?" he asked.

"Not long just give me a few minutes," she said before she turned away from the counter and sat down in front a sewing machine she had right there. Luffy began walking around the store browsing at the clothing that was there. As he was browsing he was talking to the old lady.

"So, you used to have a lot of pirates as customers?" he asked while looking at the number of shirts that were there. From her position in front of the sewing machine the woman answered.

"Yes, I did," she said as she worked on Luffy's coat. "Pirates used to come to this island non-stop on their way to the Grand Line, but all that change when Marine Smoker came to this Island. Since then any pirate who stepped foot on here would be captured and executed," she said distastefully. Luffy chuckled before he replied.

"That's good," he said surprising her. The moment he said that the sewing machine stopped and her head whipped around and looked at him with wide eyes. "I mean today everyone with a boat claims to be a pirate. If they can't make it past one Marine Captain they got no right to even try and enter the Grand Line," he said before looking over at her with a smirk on his face. She smiled at him and went back to her sewing.

"You're a strange one, young pirate," she said with a chuckle. Luffy walked back over to the counter and leaned against it before he spoke.

"The name is Monkey D. Luffy," he said while staring at the woman as she worked on the sewing machine. Without looking at him she spoke.

"Ah, I see. So, that is why you look so familiar, you are that rookie pirate with that big bounty on your head," she said before she stopped the machine and held up the coat to get a good look at it. "You've been making the marines around here extremely nervous you know," she said with a chuckle before going back to working on the coat. Luffy laughed a bit before he replied.

"Not my fault they're all wimps," he said causing the old lady to laugh. After waiting for about another minute before the old lady finally finished his coat.

"Here you go all done," she said as she handed the coat over to him. He held it up and took one look at the back and immediately smiled. Sewed on to the back of his coat was an exact image of his jolly roger, a Japanese demon skull wearing a straw hat with two lightning bolts replacing the usual crossbones.

"It's perfect," he said before he put it on. "How much?" he asked. The old lady walked over to the register pushed a few buttons before she replied.

"2000 berries," she said. Luffy nodded before he reached into his pockets and pulled out a stack of cash and counted a few bills before handing it to the lady.

"Here you go and thanks," he said as he handed her the money and turned to leave. As he was walking out of the store the old lady spoke to him one last time.

"Good Luck young man," she said as he walked out of the door causing Luffy to sigh.

'Why won't she use my name?' he asked himself before ducking into one of the allies. He did not want to walk around the street with his jolly roger on his back for everyone to see. It was still too soon to cause trouble and he had yet to go to the execution platform. So, he began making his way to the said platform by using all of the connected allies that Logue town had. As he was walking through ally after alley and twisting and turning Luffy came to a realization.

"I am lost," he said with a sigh as he began looking around trying to figure out the right way to go. It was then as he turned around he saw something that made him raise an eyebrow. It was a bar's sign that said 'Bar Gold Roger' causing Luffy to raise his eyebrow in curiosity. He decided to investigate the bar and walked inside. It was completely empty and run down. There was dust everywhere, the chairs were overturned on the tables, and there were cobwebs everywhere. The only person in there was a short elderly man sitting at one of the tables with a skull in front of him along with two glasses of booze, one from him and one for the skull.

"Excuse me, do you work here?" Luffy asked as he walked inside. "The sign outside said this place is called the Gold Rover, How did it get that name?" he asked again before the man could answer his first question. The man looked at Luffy through his sunglasses with a calculating eye before he replied.

"Scram," he said in a grumpy voice. "this isn't a place for a kid like you," he said causing Luffy's eyebrow to twitch. "Besides we are closed for good starting today," he said as he poured himself a drink.

"You're going under?" Luffy asked as he walked over and took a seat on one of the bar stools.

"I am not going under, I decided to shut it down myself," he said before placing the bottle of booze back on the table in front of him. "I'm retiring," he said with a sigh.

"Sorry, I just wanted to know about the name," Luffy said before he pulled out a glass of his own along with his bottle of whiskey and poured himself a drink. "I'm looking for the execution platform, but I am lost. Could you tell me the way?" he asked before his eyes focused on the skull that was on the table. It looked like a human skull but it was way too large to be a human. "Better question, Where did you get that skull?" he asked.

"Killer Giant, one of the most feared villain to have haunted the waters of the Grand Line," he said before cl.i.c.k.i.n.g his glass to the one in front of the skull. "He had sent hundreds of pirates to their deaths over the course of his life, but it only took Gold Roger a single blow to put the behemoth down for good," he said with a smile causing Luffy's eyes to widen.

"Gold Roger killed him?" Luffy asked in a surprised voice. The man threw his hands in the air before and yelled out.

"With lightning speed!" he yelled before bringing his arms back down. "You see Killer Giant was known for using this massive blade but it didn't matter, the whole fight was over before he could even raise it," he said causing Luffy to grin widely as he was listening to a story about his idol. "And here is the wound that did it," he said while pointing to the missing part of the skull. "Killer Giant was a terrible waste of human flesh anyway, but he proclaimed with his dying breath, 'Gold Roger I take my hat off to you. You will forever be the King of the Pirates,'" the old man said causing Luffy to get goosebumps and grin widely.

"Awesome, tell me more," Luffy said in an excited voice.

"Eric Dowd, the man known as king; Silvers Silver, the world greatest gunman; the giant Grounds Brothers, they were all famous for their strength, indestructible demons feard by everybody, but not Gold Roger," he said with a sigh before looking down. "Nobody ever wants to hear my stories anymore," he said in a sad voice. Luffy's entire body was shivering with excitement.

"I want to hear them, come on tell me more," Luffy said excitedly. His usual cool calm and collected attitude was gone and was replaced with the attitude of a little kid.

"Don't rush me," he said while swirling his glass of booze. "Gold Roger, he is the only man I knew back then and maybe even now, to not be afraid of entering the Grand Line," he said as he stared at his drink. "Back then the Grand Line was a mysterious place. Boats that chose to venture there were never heard from again. It was a sea of evil that people feared which few ever considered approaching. Gold Roger came in here the day before he set sail to the Grand Line and drank the entire place dry, before setting out the next morning as though he was going sightseeing," the old man said. Luffy could barely suppress all the fun he was having just listening to the old man's story. "Then when I had heard he conquered the Grand Line I wasn't surprised. I was happy he had been the one the conquer that evil sea. On this day 22 years ago Gold Roger died on that platform and that is when it all began, the so-called Great Pirate Era, where everyone with a boat claims to be a pirate. But look around this once great town, I bet you couldn't find a real pirate, nothing but cowards and sc.u.m," he said before he downed his drink. Luffy downed his drink as well before he regained his emotions and spoke.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," he said agreeing with the old man's analysis of the Great Pirate Era.

"Men brave enough to venture into the Grand Line have all disappeared from these waters. There are no real pirates left in the world that is why I am closing the bar," the old man said with a sad look in his eyes.

"I'm going to the Grand Line," Luffy said causing the old man's eyes to widen. "Or I should say going back to the Grand Line," he said causing the man's eyes to widen further in surprise. "Gold Roger is the perfect example of how a pirate should be. That is why I am going to the Grand Line, find the One Piece, and become King of the Pirates!" Luffy proclaimed causing a look of recognition to flash across the man's eyes.

"Those are some pretty big words," he said as he stared at Luffy. "Even more so because you are in this bar,"

"I only said what I mean," Luffy said causing the old man to laugh.

"Young man, if there are still people like you out there should I close this bar?" he asked Luffy.

"I don't know, it could just be me," he replied. The old man got up from his seat and began walking towards Luffy.

"That's right, it could just be you," he said as he walked towards Luffy with a huge smile on his face. "In that case let's have a drink, I haven't been in this good a mood in some time," he said before walking behind the bar.

"I only drink whiskey," Luffy said as he spun around to face the old man. The man chuckled before bringing out two glasses of whiskey.

"The how about this," he said as he places the glasses down on the counter. "Let's raise our glasses and drink to the eternal King of the Pirates," he said as he took off his had. Luffy smiled and took off his straw hat as well before he spoke.

"Heres to the King of the Pirates," he said as he cheers with the old man before they downed the glass of whiskey. Luffy reached into his coat and pulled out a small bag of money and placed it on the counter before he spoke. "Thanks for the drink," he said before he got up and walked towards the back of the store. His observation haki had warned him that someone was coming their way. So, he decided to leave before he caused the old man any trouble. The old man was puzzled as he saw Luffy leave through the back door wondering why he didn't use the front entrance. As he was about to ask him why he heard someone enter through the front door, when he looked he saw it was Marine Captain Smoker. He immediately took the money Luffy left and place it in his pocket before he scowled at Smoker.

Luffy exited the bar and began walking in the direction of Main Street with only one thing on his mind.

'Time to cause some trouble,' he thought to himself with a smirk. As he walked out of one alleyway and began walking down Main Street he could hear people murmuring behind him after they saw his jolly roger on his coat. Luffy ignored it all and set his sights on the execution platform that was in the town plaza. While walking towards the plaza he could sense he was being followed by Marines who were hidden in the shadows while some of them were running around trying to find Smoker. Luffy was hoping his crew had finished doing what they were doing because it was about time for them get off this island. When he spotted the platform he turned his body into lightning and teleported himself to the top of the platform and stared out at the plaza.

"So, this is what the King of the Pirates saw before he died," Luffy said to himself while looking out. He could see a crowd gathering around the base of the platform and they were all looking at him in confusion. Luffy could also sense the Marines were circling the plaza, none of them was really powerful and told Luffy that Smoker had yet to arrive.

"GET DOWN FROM THERE IMMEDIATELY!" a man in a police officer's uniform yelled while holding a megaphone.

"Why?" Luffy asked innocently.

"You are standing on an execution platform that belongs to the World Government. Now get down from there right now!" the man yelled. Luffy shrugged his shoulders before he spoke again.

"I'm not that big a fan of the World Government, so I'm gonna stay right here," he said causing a few people to gasp in shock. The man was about to yell something back at Luffy but before he could he was smashed in the head by a giant metal club wielded by a woman who Luffy did not recognize.

"It's been a while, Luffy," the woman said causing Luffy to raise his eyebrow in confusion. "I've been looking for you," she said as she swung her club over her shoulder.

"And who might you be?" Luffy asked.

"How rude," she said with a devious smile on her face. "You mean to tell me you of all people forgot my face?" she asked in a sweet voice causing all the men around her to lose their minds.

"Sorry, you don't have that pretty a face for me to remember it," he replied before smirking when he saw the woman's smile vanished and was replaced with an angry look.

"How dare you!" she yelled before turning to the people in the plaza and asked them a question. "Listen up everyone, Who is the most beautiful woman in all the East Blue?" she asked causing everyone's eyes to change into hearts before they all replied in unison.

"Why you of course!" they all said. Just then to police officers came and tried to arrest the woman, but just as they were about to the fountain exploded sending pieces of the fountain flying all over and causing mass panic.

"Great, who's the dumbass interrupting me now," Luffy asked to himself. When he looked down he saw a group of people wearing hooded coats walk forward and began speaking to the woman.

"Sorry about that, Alvida," the hooded figure who was leading the group said. Then Luffy's eyes widened, that woman was Alvida.

"You're Alvida?" he asked causing her to chuckle.

"That's right," she said in a sing-song like voice.

"What happened to you?" Luffy asked genuinely curious.

"I ate the smooth-smooth fruit," she said causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow at that. "Now no attack could hit me, they just slip right off," she said proudly. "And as you can see, because I ate the smooth-smooth fruit I lost my freckles," she said while rubbing her face.

'I think you lost a bit more than just freckles,' Luffy thought to himself. Suddenly Luffy's observation haki alerted him of a threat coming from above. Luffy took one step back causing his attacker to crash in front of him on the platform with a neck shackle that Luffy assumed to be made out of sea prism stone. He narrowed his eyes and looked at his attacker, the man looked familiar but Luffy couldn't remember where he met him before. The man was surprised when Luffy dodged but yet he smiled.

"Hey there you lightning freak," the man said causing Luffy's eyes to turn cold. "How's Roronoa doing?" he asked c.o.c.kily.

"He is doing a lot better than what you will be doing in a few seconds," Luffy said in an emotionless tone puzzling the man.

"Huh?" was all the man got to ask before he received a lightning speed kick to face sending him flying out of the plaza. Luffy looks down at the group of hooded people to see them no longer wearing their hoods. Now Luffy could see under those hoods were the Buggy Pirates and that man he had just kicked was Cabaji. Luffy chuckled and decided to mess with Buggy for a bit before he started to have some fun.

"Oh I know you," he said while pointing to Buggy. "What's your name again?" Luffy asked while he took on a thinking pose while at the same time summoning thunderclouds.

"You don't remember my name!" Buggy yelled out in anger.

"Give me a second, it'll come to me," he said while waving his hands at Buggy pissing him off more. "Ducky? no that's not it. Juggy? No not it either. Ugly? Buggy?! That's it" Luffy yelled out causing Buggy to smile proudly at the fact Luffy remember his name. "You're Ugly Buggy!" Luffy said while pointing at Buggy causing him to drop his smile and stare at Luffy with rage all over his face. His entire crew went pale when they heard what Luffy called their captain.

"You flashy bastard!" he yelled causing Luffy to smirk victoriously. Some people around started snickering at what Luffy called Buggy causing the Buggy pirates to pull out their weapons and point them at the civilians. Luffy could sense that Smoker had arrived and was watching from afar.

'So, they want me and Buggy to take each other out before they come and arrest us while we are all tired and worn out. Clever plan Smoker, but you are going to have to better than that,' Luffy thought as he ignores Buggy's angry ranting.

"You are going to pay Straw Hat!" Buggy yelled at the top of his lungs knocking Luffy out of his thought. "You will pay for getting me arrested with the rest of my crew and since we escaped I've been obsessed with exacting my revenge on you!" he said causing Luffy to remember something.

"Oh, yeah!" Luffy said stopping Buggy from continuing. "I forgot I had turned both you and Alvida over to the marines," he said causing Buggy and his entire crew to deflate a bit.

"He didn't even remember turning us in," they said as they began to sulk. The citizen of you Logue Town were looking at the interaction between the Buggy Pirates and man standing on top of the execution platform with a bewildered look on their faces. It was a strange interaction between two pirates that is if the man on top of the execution platform was a pirate. It was then a man from the crowd shouted out getting everyone's attention.

"HEY!" he shouted while pointing at Luffy getting everyone's attention including Luffy's. "T-That man...is the rookie pirate with the 100 million berry bounty on his head!" he yelled out causing everyone's head to whip around towards Luffy who was smiling. "I-It's The Thunder Demon: Straw-Hat Luffy!" he screamed with a lot of fear in his voice. People all around began to get scared and were wondering where the Marines were. It was then Luffy had decided to get the show started. He looked up to the sky and saw it was completely filled with thunderclouds, Luffy smiled before walking forward on the platform a bit before he stood on the edge and spread his arms out wide before he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"MY NAME IS MONKEY D. LUFFY!" he screamed getting everyone's attention to him. "AND I AM THE MAN WHO IS GOING TO BE THE KIND OF THE PIRATES!" he shouted and used his devil fruit to make the thunder boomed in the heavens and lightning to flash right behind him as he said it. Luffy then with his arms spread out wide looked up to the sky and smiled. The people in the plaza were beyond shocked at what they just heard.

"What..?" one civilian said in shock.

"He just said King of the Pirates..." another said in disbelief.

"In this town of all placed, that's a crazy thing to say," another said. Just when everyone thought crazy there were finished something beyond strange happened. From the dark thundercloud filled sky, a hole opened up in the clouds and through that hole, a beam of sunlight shone down on to the platform and Luffy. Everyone had their mouths hanging off their Jaws. Sanji and Zoro who was standing at the back of the crowd to see what Luffy was going to do had their eyes widen and their jaws on the floor. Smoker and every marine were beyond surprised and a tiny bit scared at what they were staring at. Smoker's cigarette even fell out of his mouth as he stared at the sight before him. Luffy was standing there with his arms spread out wide, looking up at the sky with a smile while a beam of light came through the clouds and shone down upon him. It was like a spotlight from heaven shining down onto Luffy right after he made his declaration. It was as though he was the chosen one, the Messiah, chosen by the heavens to become the next King of the Pirates.

Luffy was confused because he didn't create that hole for the light to come through and was a little creeped out by it. He took a glance down at everyone and saw everyone staring at him in utter disbelief while Buggy and his entire crew fell to their knees and were looking up at him in awe. It was then it clicked in Luffy's mind what the entire scene looked like. He couldn't stop himself from chuckling before looking back up to the sky and saw the hold was beginning to close. Thinking he should add a bit more dramatic effect to its closing, he made the thunder boom extra loud just before the hold closed and the light disappeared. As the light vanished Luffy brought his arms down and saw everyone still had their jaws hanging. He turned his body into lightning and teleported to the back of the crowd right in the middle of Sanji and Zoro surprising them.

"Close your mouths or you will catch flies," he said knocking them out of their bewilderment.

"Cap...that just now..." Sanji said incoherently.

"Don't ask me. I am as confused as you," he said surprising them. "Is everyone ready?" he asked causing Zoro and Sanji to nod. "Well let's go," he said before they started walking away. As they were walking away hundreds upon hundreds of Marines stormed the Plaza surrounding Luffy and every other pirate there. When the Marines showed up the civilians who were there still staring at the platform were knocked out of their stupor.

"Well, I guess the Navy really wants to catch you, captain," Sanji said as he lit a cigarette. Luffy and Zoro chuckled before Zoro spoke.

"There have to be at least 1000 of these marines," he said as he stared at them.

"Yea the entrance to the Grand Line is probably blocked by Navy Battlesh.i.p.s," Luffy said with a smirk. "Well boys, let's show the Navy why they shouldn't f.u.c.k with us," he said as he stared at the group of marines in front of him.

"Electro-Murder!" Luffy said as he stretched out his hands in front of him. From the tips of his fingers, ten ropes of lightning came out and wrapped around the ten closest marines before the lightning ropes continue to snake themselves around the marines behind those ten and to the side of them. When it was done the technique had 50 marines bounded and screaming in pain. Luffy then upped the voltage and held it for two seconds before he cut the technique off causing 50 marines to drop on the ground dead. He looked behind him to see how Zoro and Sanji were doing. The first them he saw was a giant tornado made of wind tossing marines into the air. When the tornado disappeared Luffy saw Zoro standing in the center with all three of his swords drawn. Then suddenly out of nowhere the body of a marine came crashing through Luffy's body startling him while electrocuting the already unconscious marine. He looked to see where it came from and saw Sanji spinning on his hands kicking Marines all over the place.

"Hey! Watch where you kick your marines!" he yelled.

"Sorry, Captain," Sanji said with a nervous chuckle.

"Come on let's go," he said before the three of them began running. As they were running a group of marines tried to cut them but they were easily disposed of by Sanji and Zoro. As they were running through an unknown street to head back to the ship they saw a large group of marines running their way. "They're mine," Luffy said.

"Lightning Vortex!" Luffy yelled before he jumped forward and started spinning rapidly while at the same time releasing lighting from his body creating a large vortex of lighting headed straight for the marines. [looks like Kiba's Fang over Fang only made out of lightning]. The vortex of lightning crashed into the marines and started drilling it's way to the back while at the same time electrocuting a lot of marines and sending the rest flying into nearby buildings. When Luffy cut off his technique and stopped spinning he was standing in front of a large group of marine bodies lying in front of him while off the sides were some unconscious marines who were blown back by the lightning. Zoro and Sanji were running towards him when they finally reached him the three of them continued their way towards the ship.

"That's was so cool, captain," Sanji said while Zoro nodded his head.

"Yeah, its one of my less destructive attacks," he said. As they were running they saw a girl standing in the middle of the road with a sword. Upon seeing her Sanji already started flirting with her. Luffy looked over to Zoro and saw that he was scowling at her. The three of them stopped a few feet away from the girl.

"I didn't know you were Roronoa Zoro and a pirate no less," she said to Zoro as she stared at him with hatred in her eyes.

"Girlfriend Zoro?" Luffy asked. Zoro unsheathed one of his swords before he replied.

"You two go on ahead I'll catch up," he said causing Luffy to nod and drag Sanji away as he was screaming at Zoro. The two of them ran a bit further down the road when they saw a man standing there in front of a motorcycle. Luffy saw him and immediately knew it was Smoker. The two of them stopped in front of Smoker and Luffy looked towards Sanji and spoke.

"Sanji you go in ahead, I'll catch up," he said causing Sanji to nod his head before running pass Smoker.

"I don't know about that," Smoker said with two cigars in his mouth. "This is the end of the line for you, Monkey D. Luffy," he said as white smoke started to rise out from his body. Luffy chuckled and stared at Smoke before he spoke.

"I don't think so. I kind of got an appointment with the Grand Line," he said before electric blue sparks started to surround his body.

"You are not getting to the Grand Line unless you beat me," Smoker said as the smoke increased around his body.

"Sounds easy enough," Luffy said. In the blink of an eye, Luffy was in front of Smoker with his fist reared back and covered with haki causing Smoker's eyes to widen.

'So fast!' Smoker thought before Luffy buried his fist into his stomach knocking the air right out of him and causing him to cough up some spit. Smoker then hunched over on the ground gasping for air. While he was hunched over on the ground Luffy delivered a haki infused ax kick to Smoker's head knocking him unconscious. When smoker was knocked unconscious Luffy sighed and began walking towards the ship, but he suddenly stopped when he sensed something.

"Are you going to come out or stay in the shadows...dad," Luffy said before looking off to his right and into a dark alleyway. Out of the shadows, a man wearing a hood walked out and smiled at Luffy.

"So you know who I am," Luffy's dad said with a chuckle. "It's nice to know your grandfather didn't turn you into a marine," he said causing Luffy to chuckle a bit.

"Well, can't say he didn't try," Luffy said causing his father to laugh. "But I think Shanks did a pretty good job with me," he said surprising the man.

"Red-Hair raised you?" he asked in a surprised tone causing Luffy to nod his head. "For how long?" he asked.

"About ten years," he said surprising his father. "Well I did spend some of that ten years somewhere else training, but the majority of the time I was with Shanks and his crew," he said. His dad looked thoughtful for a moment before he spoke.

"That's alright I guess. Red-Hair isn't that bad a man...drinks a lot but ain't that bad," he said causing Luffy to laugh. Luffy then reached into his coat and pulled out a small card and tossed it towards his father who caught it.

"That's the number to my Den-Den Mushi," he said surprising his dad. "Give me a call if you ever need help with anything," he said before he started walking away. His dad smiled before he spoke.

"Will do," he said as he places the card inside his hooded jacket. After taking a few steps Luffy stopped and narrowed his eyes as he stared in front of him before he spoke in a serious tone.

"The clan of D has been in the hiding shadows of history for far too long," he said getting his dad attention and causing his dad's face to turn serious.

"I agree," he said as he stared at Luffy's back.

"The time is near when we won't be hiding anymore," Luffy said before his body turned to lightning and he disappeared. Dragon stared at the spot where his son was standing and starting laughing before he walked back into the shadows of the alleyway.

Luffy teleported himself to the docks to see the marines shooting at his ship while Sanji, Zoro, and the Bounty hunter duo were fighting marines on the shore while Nami, Nojiko, and Usopp were trying to get the ship away from danger. Luffy sighed before he launched one of his attacks.

"Raging Thunder!" he yelled out causing multiple bolts of lightning to come down from the sky and strike the marines. Luffy then summoned a thundercloud and hopped on it before flying over to Zoro and rest for them to hop on. When everyone was on Luffy flew the cloud on to the ship and got off. When everyone was off Luffy turned the cloud into his throne and set it in its usual spot before he started barking out orders.

"Alright everybody just ahead is the entrance to the Grand Line," Luffy said causing them to smile. "I think we should say something to mark this occasion," he said causing them to nod their heads. Johnny and Yosaku went into storage and brought a barrel of booze out and sat it in the middle of all of them. Sanji was the first one to put his foot on the barrel and spoke.

"I am going to the Grand Line to find the All Blue," he said with a smile.

"I'm going to be the King of the Pirates!" Luffy said as he put his foot on the barrel.

"The world greatest swordsman," Zoro said he place his foot on the barrel.

"The World's most famous bounty hunters," Johnny and Yosaku said as they place their feet on the barrel. As they said ti everyone looked at them funny before they all just shrugged.

"I'm going so I can draw a map of the entire world," Nami said as she put her foot up.

"I going to help my little sister achieve her dreams...and keep her out of trouble," Nojiko said causing everyone to laugh while Nami g.r.o.a.n.e.d.

"And I am going to become a brave warrior of the seas," Usopp said before he placed his foot on the barred with the rest.

"And now to the Grand Line!" Luffy said as they all brought their foot up and smashed the barrel.

**END OF CHAPTER**