"Oh yeah! That hit the spot, haha!" Zoro laughed happily, and leaned back into the chair.
"Man... Three weeks with no food really left me a lot hungrier than I thought it did! I even hallucinated about talking hands!!"
"Hah?!!" Uta stared at him with an incredulous look, but her smile never left her face.
"Talking hands?! What did the voice even say ?"
"She asked me to 'join them' and in return I would be free. I told her to mind her own business." Zoro said, looking at the two of them.
Uta smirked and stared at him slyly.
"Oh ? It was a girl ?"
"Hahaha! Zoro was dreaming about a girl when he was hungry! Hahahahaha!!!!" Luffy shouted loudly and started laughing, prompting the others around him to also laugh just as loudly as the boisterous pirate captain.
Zoro's face went red and he glared at Luffy, a hand over Wado Ichimonji. "Say something like that again and I'll cut you!"
"Go ahead!" Luffy responded, making Zoro seriously question if there was something wrong with this guy, mentally.
"Did your brain turn into rubber as well ? Is that why you're like this ?" Zoro questioned, grumbling while he said it.
Uta laughed near him, almost choking on her drink as she did. That was a first; she'll definitely use that again in the future during arguments with the rubber man.
"And how the hell did you eat more than me - the guy that's been starving for three weeks?!" He exclaimed, pointing at the huge pile of plates in front of Luffy.
"It's so good though!" Luffy stated, taking another mouthful of whatever he was having.
"Luffy eats five meals a day, and they're all extremely large." Uta explained, making a completely hungover Nami stare at him in shock.
Nami was rubbing her forehead; a killing headache made her otherwise beautiful face scrunch up and she let out groans. But despite the horrible hangover, she still had the energy to raise her voice at Luffy.
"What...? Five meals?! Do you eat that much each meal, five times a day?!"
"Yeah! Usually, we just hunt Sea Kings to eat, but Luffy ends up eating almost the entire thing himself in a day so..." Uta would've continued, but considering the shocked face of her peers, Uta decided to not say anymore.
"Is your stomach a bottomless void?!!!"
"Dunno what that is!" Luffy cheerfully responds, "But it sounds cool!"
Uta looked at Nami with a deadpan.
"Yes... Yes he does. It is a pain in the ass to feed him normally, so I prefer hunting Sea Kings. They're very big, after all." Uta, with a dead expression, finally explained exactly why her diet consists mostly of giant fish and Sea Kings.
It's because she doesn't have the time nor the ability to cook that much food.
"You're a great person, big brother!" Rika exclaimed next to Luffy, who laughed and agreed with her.
"Yeah, I am great! And I'm gonna be even greater! I have to be. After all, I'm the man that's gonna be the King of the Pirates! The greatest of them all!" Luffy declared, laughing happily as he did, making Uta rest her head on her hand and stare at him fondly.
"And this time, I have a crew!" Luffy grinned while looking at the others; his crewmates.
"Speaking of which, how many crewmates have you gathered so far ?" Zoro questioned, leaning back and cracking his neck, earning him a satisfying pop.
"Well, it's Uta, you and Nami so far! But that's fine, we'll get more later down the road!"
Zoro was honestly shocked, befuddled by this, but considering how strong they both were, he didn't seem to care. If anything, it made him more excited. It means he's gonna witness the entire journey, from start to finish!
"So, where are you going now ?"
"Some place called Orange Town. Nami wants me to go beat up a guy named Boogey, so that's what I'm gonna do!" Luffy declared with a smile on his face, making Nami groan and rub her forehead with her hands.
"His name is Buggy..."
"Yeah, Brody!"
"Why do I even try...?" Nami cursed her own luck.
Luffy's been mispronouncing Buggy's name from the moment he first heard it, and it doesn't seem like he'll get it right anytime soon; even with Nami constantly correcting him.
"Yeah! After that we're gonna go to Syrup Village in Gecko Island to recruit our next crew member!" Uta stated, making Zoro and Nami stare at her weirdly.
"What do you mean by that ? How can you be sure you'll get a crewmate there ?" Nami questioned.
"Do you know someone from there ?" Enquired Zoro.
"Well, we've never actually met him personally, but he's the son of a member of our previous pirate crew." Uta explained, which only made both of them stare with even more interest.
"Oh! Yasopp's son, right?!" Luffy tapped a first into his palm, finally remembering why they were going there.
This was the cue for Robin, who was still listening, to look shocked. Yasopp had a son?! In the East Blue ?
"You were part of a crew ?"
"Yeah! My dad's a pirate, so I was with him. Luffy and I became friends and certain things happened, I can't explain those yet. But long story short, Luffy joined us and we set sail! But Luffy still wanted to make a crew of his own, so once he got strong enough and old enough, we split apart to operate under a banner of our own." Uta grinned ear to ear, soaking up the bewildered expressions of the two newcomers.
On the other hand, Koby made an 'O' face and nodded his head. 'So that's why they split!'
Robin, also took that information and decided to store it away. Now she finally knows why Luffy and Uta left the Red Hair Pirates. They didn't have a falling out, Luffy just wanted to chase his dream!
Nami frowned, unhappy as hell inside. Not only was she stuck with some crackhead pirates, but they're both experienced! It also made her feel wrong, as if they had been cheated.
— So Uta was born as a pirate, and Luffy joined as a kid... Did they get groomed into being pirates by Uta's "dad" ?
Nami's thoughts turned sour, very quickly. With such a story, there is no convincing them to change. Uta has spent her entire life as a pirate and grew up around pirates, so she's beyond convincing. She's a pirate, through and through! And Luffy was taken and "trained" as a kid, turned into a pirate while being gaslit.
Or at least... That was Nami's belief on what had happened.
"Yeah, what she said! We'll be the Straw Hat Pirates!" Luffy declared, laughing as he leaned back on his chair.
The doors were busted open, and marines walked in. Luffy recognised some of them, after all, they all had a big party yesterday. And yes, the marines also took part in it.
"Oh, it's you guys again!"
"So, is it true that you are all pirates ?" The marine standing at the front, the lieutenant, enquired.
"Yeah! And I've got myself two new crewmates! What about it ?"
"We appreciate the fact that you saved the base and the town from that tyrant. We even showed you our appreciation yesterday." The marine lieutenant spoke, making Luffy grin as he remembered the feast he just had.
"Oh yeah, that was a fun feast! I'm glad you guys enjoyed it too!"
"...Yes, thank you. But! As marines, we cannot allow pirates like you to stay here for long. Please, leave this town at once! We will not report you to the headquarters, do not worry." The marine told them all to leave, after all this was a marine base and they were pirates. Realistically, they wouldn't be allowed here.
They were a special case.
"Hey, what are you saying?!"
"What the hell is that supposed to means?!"
"You guys were scared of Morgan's tyranny as well! Don't act cocky!"
"We owe them our lives!"
Robin stared at the scene with a smile on her face, but her eyes didn't show a hint of surprise. Of course, she was expecting such a thing. If anything, she was surprised that the navy was partying with pirates yesterday!
As for Nami, well...
Nami's entire world shattered, her eyes reducing to the size of dots in her widened eyes. Small black dots, quivering inside a white void.
— A Pirate ? I-I'm a p-pirate...?
Nami but her lips, almost drawing blood as she clenched her fists beneath the table.
She wasn't a pirate! She was just... pretending. Yeah! She was just using Luffy for her advantage! She'll discard him once she's gathered enough money.
Uta looked right at Nami. Her reaction didn't go unnoticed, it made Uta squint her eyes at her suspiciously. Uta was by no means a genius, but between her and Luffy, she was obviously the brains.
— This lady has bad experiences with pirates...
It was an almost obvious theory that Uta came up with. Nami doesn't like being called a pirate. There must be a reason for that.
"Oh, guys calm down. It's fine! We were leaving anyway!" Luffy giggled, not really worried about what was going on around him, and stood up.
Luffy looked at Nami, and his eyebrows furrowed. Nami was trying to calm her beating heart, quickly realising that she may cause a scene if she crashes out here. Luffy then looked at Uta, who looked back and nodded at him.
Uta places a hand on Nami's shoulder and gently rubbed her, snapping her out of her thoughts. Seeing this, Luffy smiled and looked back at the marines.
"Come on, guys! Let's go!"
Zoro and Uta stood up, Nami following their lead and walking behind Uta.
"Thanks for the food lady! It was really delicious!" Luffy thanked Rika's mother.
Rika herself seemed saddened. "You're leaving already ?"
Luffy smiled at her and nodded, "Yup! Don't worry, you'll hear from us again!"
"Come on, Nami! Let's go!" He parted Nami on the back and walked ahead of her, making Nami state at his back with a complicated expression.
Her hair covered her eyes as she robotically walked behind them; as she followed the orders of a pirate as a member of his crew.
"Hey, wait! Isn't he a part of your crew ?" The lieutenant stopped them and pointed at Koby, making the pink-haired boy flinch.
Koby was nervous, beyond anxious even. He did not want to be associated with pirates. He was going to be a marine, not a pirate! They can't find out that he was a cabin boy for a pirate crew for two years, or he'll never be accepted into the navy!
"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot! Thanks for the reminder!" Luffy smiled and looked at Uta, a hand stretched out towards her as if asking for something. "The Den Den Mushi please."
Uta rolled her eyes and brought one out, handing it over to Luffy. She then looked at Koby as Luffy started dialing a number, pity in her eyes.
"Good luck kid, you're gonna need it to survive the next few months."
"Eh?! What do you mean?!" Koby cried.
"Hello! Grandpa! I wanted to talk to you!" Luffy exclaimed in a happy and cheerful sing-song voice.
Koby froze.
— Wait, grandpa...? Wasn't Luffy grandfather a Vice Admiral?!
"Hah! LUFFY!! You troublesome brat, why are you calling me now ?" Garp answered from the other side, a smile on his face. He was happy that his grandson was calling him, for whatever reason.
"Well, firstly I wanted to say, I'm in Shell Town right now. And I got two new crew members! Anyways, Uta beat up the captain of this place - some axe-guy, I don't know his name." Luffy explained his situation, making Garp deadpan on the other side.
It's been, what ? One day, and they've already beaten a marine captain, in a marine base ? What a troublesome duo.
Garp sighed, "Okay, and ? You didn't call me just for that did you ?"
"Nope! I have a guy here called Koby, who wants to be a marine. He's small, weak as hell, and kind of a coward. But I like him! And I know you'll like him. So I just thought, why don't you take him under your wing ?" Luffy suggested,
Garp was silent on the other side for a while, before replying with a booming guffaw.
"Gahahaha! Whatever you say, brat! I'll whip that boy to shape and make him as strong as you, Luffy!"
"Thanks a lot grandpa! We'll run into each other soon, right ? Love you!"
"Heh... I'll miss you too, brat." Garp responded with a satisfied voice and the call ended.
"Alright! It's all settled!" Luffy pumped his first excitedly.
"Excuse me, who exactly did you call ?" The marine questioned, not really understanding why he'd call his grandfather now of all times.
"Oh, that was my gramps. He's a Vice Admiral, and Koby wants to be a marine, so I just called him." Luffy explained casually, dropping the bomb that he — a pirate — was the grandson of a Vice Admiral.
All the marines, townspeople, Nami and Zoro stared at him in shock when he dropped such a bombshell. Even Robin was surprised by this, having not known about Luffy's family before this.
As a matter of fact... Nothing was known about Luffy's family at all! It was all a secret. But apparently, he's got connections with high ranked marine officials.
"You're grandfather is a Vice Admiral?!" Nami cried out in shock.
"And you're a pirate ?" Zoro stared at him like he was a bizarre creature - which he was.
Luffy then looked at the marines and told them to look after Koby until his grandfather gets here to pick him up. After that, he walked away with his crew following him.
Once they arrived at the dock, they all got into their boat and got ready to leave. Zoro was a little displeased at how small their boat was, but Luffy told him that they'd get a bigger ship once soon.
Koby, Rika and her mother, the townspeople and the marines, all came to bid the newly formed Straw Hat Pirates goodbye.
Robin stared at the small boat retreating from Shell Town and quickly got on her own boat, which was much bigger. She set sail after them and followed them slowly.
•••
It's been about thirty minutes since they left Shell Town, and Robin decided to finally catch up to them. With quick skill, Robin moved her boat close to the Straw Hats and jumped onto their already small boat.
Robin stood at the edge of the boat, drawing the attention of the others on it.
Nami flinched and stared at Robin with suspicious but nervous eyes. She was anxious about this newcomer, who could be a possible threat.
Zoro on the other hand, immediately became alert and his hand went for his sword. He was just about to unsheathe Wado Ichimonji, and defend himself, when he felt that his sword was gone.
He looked down at back at Robin, only to see hands sticking out of the boat. One of those hands was holding his sword.
"Those hands... You!" Zoro's eyes locked onto Robin, gauging his opponent and glaring at her. "You were the one that was talking to me! Those hands were you!"
Robin giggled.
"A sharp eye, swordsman. Indeed, I was the one that spoke to you when you were tied up there." Robin smiled while answering him, evening sitting down and making herself comfortable.
Robin ran a finger down one of Zoro's swords and smiled at him. "You were really hard to track down, you know ?"
Zoro grit his teeth and glared at her. "What do you want from me, lady?!"
Uta and Luffy were just watching the entire thing, neither of them were worried. Firstly because they were too strong, and secondly because they felt no hostility at all.
"Well, I was originally planning on recruiting you. But right now, I'm here for a different reason." She answered while staring at Luffy, who tilted his head nonchalantly at her.
"Oh hey, weren't you the lady that was spying on us all day yesterday ?" Robin looked shocked that she was noticed by him despite her attempts to be as discreet as possible.
"Oh, that was her ?" Uta asked, to which Luffy nodded.
"So, what do you want lady ?"
"I want to join your crew." Robin answered, shocking the others.
Uta blinked, then squinted her eyes. She wondered why this random woman that's been spying on them would want to join Luffy's crew.
Zoro and Nami looked at her in disbelief. Even Luffy wasn't expecting a request like that to come out of her mouth. He was expecting anything else, but he wasn't complaining!
"You see, I'm from the kingdom of Alabasta, in the Grand Line. And I've heard quite a lot about you during my years there, Straw Hat Luffy."
Uta and Luffy then, and only then, understood what she wanted. Of course, she'd know Luffy if she was from the Grand Line! There may not be anyone in the Grand Line that hasn't heard of Luffy.
""Oh... You're from the Grand Line ? Me too!!"" Both of them exclaimed at once.
Nami and Zoro were still processing things. So this lady was from the Grand Line and these crackhead pirates were also Grand Line Pirates?!
Nami was beginning to regret coming here.
"Oh, yeah sure then. Welcome to the crew!" Luffy accepted her so easily that everyone, sans Uta, stared at him in shock. Even Robin was genuinely surprised by his announcement.
Robin didn't think it would be that easy. She prepared a lot of lines and even rehearsed them all before coming here, but Luffy just accepted her like that ?
"Don't accept it that easily!!! What if she's plotting something?!!!" Nami screamed at Luffy, making him stare at her with a puzzled look.
"Are you sure about that captain ? You know nothing about me at all. We are practically strangers. It's not wise to place your trust in me that quickly." Robin calmly told him, as if giving him a well tempered lecture.
Too bad Luffy didn't care.
"Then what's your name ?"
"You can call me Robin."
"Well, I'm Monkey D. Luffy! And I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!" Luffy introduced himself, making Robin wonder why he even bothered. She already knew who he was.
But his name managed to grab her attention.
'..D... Monkey D Luffy...'
"See! Now we're not strangers, are we ?" Luffy chuckled in a childish way, making Robin stare at him in amazement. She found his behaviour endearing.
Nami sure as hell didn't.
"Luffy, I'd put more thought into it if I were you." Said Zoro, his eyes not leaving Robin's for a second.
"Yeah, listen to Zoro here! What if she betrays us?!" Nami was definitely hypocritical for thinking such a thing, knowing that she was planning on backstabbing them anyway; but she still said it.
Luffy blinked, and looked up at Robin.
"Hey, are you going to betray me ?"
"No."
Luffy beamed.
SMACK!
"PUT SOME MORE THOUGHT INTO IT!!!" Nami screamed as she smacked Luffy's head, driving him into the boat and making him fall.
Uta laughed, amusement twinkling in her eyes as she witnessed a random girl hit an emperor-level pirate. Robin was also shocked, beyond surprised, by Nami's audacity.
"I'm not stupid enough to betray someone as powerful as Straw Hat Luffy. I wouldn't do such a thing." Uta nodded after hearing Robin's reasoning. Yeah, that totally made sense. Why would Robin want to make an enemy out of a yonko-level former yonko commander ?
"Why are talking like he's a big deal ? Is Luffy some kind of big shot ?" Zoro questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Uta snickered in the side, making Nami stare at her weirdly. Robin blinked at Zoro and then smiled at them again.
"I see. So you are both unaware of the expertise of your captain." Her eyes shone with wisdom as she spoke. "Well allow me to explain."
"I do believe this should be sufficient." Robin brought out two wanted posters, one with the picture of the laughing straw-hatted man and the other of the smiling dual haired singer.
"Take a look at their bounties." She showed Luffy's and Uta's bounty posters to the two.
They froze in shock.
_
'Straw Hat' Luffy
Wanted: 1,565,663,000 Berries
_
'Crimson Diva' Uta
Wanted: 246,000,000 berries
_
Zoro seemed shocked by this. He's never seen bounties that big before. He looked at the bounty posters and then back at the two pirates in question, both lounging happily and proudly.
As for Nami, well...
Nami's arms fell to the side, her jaw dropped and her eyes popped out. Her skin was pale, her breath was ragged and her thoughts were spiralling. She has spent years trying to gather up one hundred million berries to save her village, and these are so much higher.
For the longest time, 100 million was an almost impossible to reach milestone for Nami. But seeing a bounty so big, made her shut down entirely.
Uta's bounty was twelve times greater than Arlongs.
And Luffy's... She didn't even bother calculating.
""246 million?! 1.56 BILLION?!!!""
"Damn, you guys really are big shots, huh ?" Zoro stated, making Robin giggle.
"Oh you don't even know half of it."
"WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE ARE YOU TWO?!" Nami shouted, staring at the two of them in what's definitely fear. She's on a boat with two monsters!
Nami really, really regrets coming here.
"Well, they were a part of the Red Hair Pirates. Captain here was a commander, even." Robin dropped another bombshell, making Nami's jaw slack even more.
"YOU WERE IN RED HAIR SHANKS' CREW?!!"
"Who ?" Zoro didn't know who Shanks was.
"Yeah! We met 10 years ago and I was inspired to become a pirate, just like him. To be just as free as Shanks! But I only joined his crew around three years ago. Until then, I was training with my grandpa and Rayleigh!"
SLAP!
"Ow!"
Uta hit Luffy.
"You weren't supposed to say that last part!"
"What 'last part'?!"
Robin was staring at Luffy dead in the eye, even more shocked than she already was.
"Rayleigh ? You mean... The Dark King, Silvers Rayleigh ? The First Mate of the Pirate King, Gold Roger ?"
"Ah!" Luffy looked at Robin with a wide open smile and a dumb expression.
"Oops! I wasn't supposed to tell you that! Hahahaha! Just forget I said anything okay ?" He told her and started laughing, not really caring much about what he said, making Robin sweatdrop.
Nami wanted to run away more than ever.
He was trained by the Dark King?! What kind of crazy backstory does this boy have?!!
"And your grandfather, you said he was a Vice Admiral ?" Robin questioned steadily, her mind suddenly stopping at a single thought that left her quaking in her boots.
"Yup!"
"And your name is Monkey D..."
"Yup!"
"Then, is your grandfather the Hero of the Marines — Monkey D. Garp ?" Robin questioned, perspiration forming on her temple.
"Yeah, how'd you know ?" Luffy nonchalantly responded, making Uta facepalm.
Nami wanted to cry!
"How could you be in an Emperor's crew if you were the grandson of a powerful marine like Garp ?" Robin questioned, genuinely confused about that.
Luffy opened his mouth, but then closed it immediately and looked at Uta, who shook her head and her hand as if saying "don't you dare!"
Luffy then looked at Robin with a smile. "Sorry, but I can't tell! Not yet, at least."
"That's fine, captain. Everyone has their own secrets to hide." Robin herself was no different, after all.
"Wait, didn't Uta say she was in her father's crew ?" Zoro questioned, remembering a point that Uta had mentioned earlier. A reminder that made Nami's face go purple, her entire body bubbling with dread.
— No way... Not a shot, it's not possible. Please no....
"Yeah, Uta is Shank's daughter!" Luffy exclaimed.
Nami was already crying. 'I knew it... I'm totally screwed...!'
She threatened and was going to use and betray, the daughter of an emperor and a former commander of said emperor!
Her brain is overloaded with all the stress and absurd lore that she received, being unable to withstand it all. Her eyes looked dead. Robotically, she moved her limp body to the edge of the boat and turned around.
Without even caring, she dunked her face underwater.