In a panic, Corby waved his arms around andalmost fell down the wall. He quickly held on and said to Luffy: "If youaccept him into your crew, you'll not survive this!" A noise caught thetwo attention and they looked to the side. Someone had put a ladder against thewall. This someone climbed up and turned out to be a little girl with brownhair tied into two small pigtails. The two looked at her in surprise. The girlwas wearing a blue striped dress with a hood. She motioned to the glasseswearing boy and the straw hat wearing woman to be quiet before she threw a ropeover the wall and slid down it. Luffy could see that the girl was holdingsomething in her arms. She watched carefully as the girl ran towards Zorro,while Corby screamed in panic and said: "Oh, no! Luffy, you have to stop her!Otherwise she will be killed!"

The little girl was now standing in front of theprisoner, smiling. "What do you want?" he growled at her. "You must be hungry. Imade some rice balls (Onigiri) for you." She started to unwrap the Onigiriwhen Zoro said, "You're got yourself killed, lass. Get lost!" "You haven'teaten anything in weeks." She smiled and held out the Onigiri to him."Here! This is the first time I've made them, but I tried really hard."He looked at her in surprise before saying emphatically: "I'm not hungry!You get on my nerves! Go away!" "But...," the disappointment in her voice was clearlyhear. "I said I don't need them! Now get out before I hurt you!" he almostshouted at her. At that moment the iron gate to the courtyard opened and a mansaid: "You shouldn't be so mean to little children." Growling, Zorolooked over at the men. Luffy had to hold herself together not to burst outlaughing. There were three men, two marines, and in the middle a young man witha cleft chin. He had a combed, very snazzy blonde hairstyle and matchingeyebrows. He wore a purple suit with a fuchsia collar and matching sleeves. Therewere also six gold buttons sewn onto the suit. He wore a gold chain around hisneck and a gold ring on his middle finger. He held his collar with two fingersas he walked toward the middle of the yard, laughing. "You have morefighting spirit in you than I expected, Roronoa Zoro." Luffy didn't knowwhy, but there was something about him that she couldn't stand. His demeanorsomehow reminded her of the nobles in the capital. "That guy is weird." Corbybreathed a sigh of relief and said: "Thank God! The Navy will take the girl tosafety." The blonde walked towards the girl who was still holding the Onigiri,his hands in his pockets. "Oh, these Onigiri look delicious." He grabbed oneand took a bite. "They're not for you!" protested the girl. The man widened hiseyes and screamed in disgust, "Disgusting! They have sugar in them!" He angrilyturned to the girl and snapped at her. "Don't you know that they are made withSALT?!" The girl looked up at him, intimidated. "But...but I thought theywould taste better sweet." The man knocked the last Onigiri out of herhand and started stomping on it. The girl fell to her knees and shouteddesperately: "No, stop!" Corby watched the scene in disbelief as hesaid: "What a mean act." He didn't understand it. The man apparentlybelonged to the navy, so why was he so mean to the girl? With tears in hereyes, the girl looked at the ruined onigiri as she sobbed and said: "I...Itried so...so hard." The man put a hand to his head and scowled down atthe girl as he pulled a piece of paper out of his suit. "Didn't you read thisnotice?! 'Anyone who helps the prisoner will be executed immediately! – Captainof the Navy Morgan." The little girl was startled when Morgan'sname was mentioned. Laughing, the guy said cockily, "Hehehe. Even little bratslike you know WHO my daddy is." "Daddy?" Luffy asked confused. Was that amother's...father's boy? She couldn't stand guys like that! "Does that meanhe's Captian Morgan's son?" Corby asked, stunned. Morgan's son looked overhis shoulder at one of the soldiers and pointed with his thumb at them beforesaying, "Hey you! Throw the brat out!" The soldier looked at him inhorror. The blonde grabbed the soldier by the collar. "I gave you an order!Throw the brat over the wall! Or do you refuse?! I'll report this to my daddy!"The soldier nodded. "Yes, sir!" he said, frightened. The girl backed away infear as the man leaned down towards her. "No!" Luffy could see thesoldier saying something to the girl, but couldn't hear it due to the distance,before he picked her up and carried out his order.

Screaming, she flew over the two spectators. Luffypushed herself off the wall, stretched her arms, grabbed the screaming girl andpulled her close to her body before twisting in the air so that when they hitthe ground, nothing happened to the little one. During the process, her strawhat fell off her head. "Th-thank you," the girl said to the black-haired woman.She just smiled at her as Corby ran to them worriedly. "Are you okay,Luffy?" Luffy stood up and picked up her hat. Corby knelt down in front ofthe girl and asked: "Are you okay? What a terrible person. Does something hurt?"Luffy put the straw hat back on and looked at the wall. Corby was right. Thisguy was truly a terrible person. She slowly walked towards the wall again. Shewould talk to this Zoro in peace as soon as the snob had left with his guarddogs. She pushed herself up again without any effort. She saw how the monkeymade fun of Zoro and provoked him, but he didn't respond. "Only ten more days!"Zoro called after him as he left. He replied with a laugh: "If you'restill alive!" She waited until the three men had left the courtyard andthe gate had closed behind them again before she jumped to the other side andstood a little away from him. Now she could see how muscular his body was. Thehair that stuck out from under the headscarf was cut quite short and...green?Three gold earrings hung from his left ear. His eyes were gray, as gray asstorm clouds. 

He looked over at her grimly. Unimpressed, she looked at him and said, "I heard you're a dangerous guy." "You're still here," he growled at her. Only then did he realize that the person in front of him was a young woman. Maybe two years younger than him. She had a slim build and shapely curves. She wore short blue shorts, a red vest that ended a little above her belly button. She had short, black hair, wearing a straw hat, and dark brown, almost black eyes. "How did that wimp was able to caught you? Aren't you supposed to be strong?" She grabbed her straw hat with one hand and walked towards him. "It's none of your business," he snapped. "Oh, well." She was now standing directly in front of him. "It looks like you're going to starve in the next few days. I certainly would." "I've got more spirit that you could ever have," he said, before looking at her with a grin. Sheer determination could be seen in his eyes. "Which is how I'm gonna survive this ordeal. This I swear." "Oh, good luck then!" she said with a broad grin, turned around and raised her hand in farewell. This Zoro was definitely an interesting guy. "Hey, wait a moment!" She stopped in surprise and turned back to him. He looked at the Onigiri with his eyes as he said, "Can you give me those Onigiri?" She looked doubtfully at the trampled food as she squatted down, picked them up and said with skepticism, "Ew! Do you really want to eat them? I wouldn't even serve that to a dog!" That wasn't true, she had had to eat worse things in her life, but he didn't need to know that. "Shut up and give it to me!" Zoro said forcefully. She looked at him in surprise before standing up and throwing it into his wide open mouth. He greedily chewed the Onigiri and swallowed it, coughing. Luffy watched him with her arms crossed over her chest. "Well, was it tasty, Zoro?" "I'm feeling better now!" he said in a calm voice, "Thank you." She looked at him with satisfaction before swinging over the wall again and returning to the city with Corby and the girl who had introduced herself as Rika.

The small group stood or sat in a small sidestreet. Luffy sat cross-legged on a barrel while Corby sat thoughtfully on asmall staircase. "Really?" Rika asked hopefully. "Yes. He was murderouslyhungry. He ate all your Onigiri." "Oh, I'm glad then!" "IsZoro really such a bad guy? There are a lot of rumors going around," Corby alsosaid. "On the contrary!" cried Rika, "He helped us a lot." The two older oneslooked at the girl curiously. "He sacrificed himself for my mother and me." "Idon't understand. What do you mean?" asked the black-haired woman and lookeddown at her. "You know, it's about this Helmeppo. He is the son of CaptianMorgan." Rika told them that Helmeppo had a terrible pet that terrifiedeveryone. He also always threatened to have those executed who opposed him orstood in his way. One day the monster came into her mother's restaurant andbegan to devour the guests' food. She was about to stop it with the broom whenHelmeppo came in and her mother told her to stop because of the risk of beingexecuted. Suddenly the monster was about to jump her when someone chased themonster down. That someone was Roronoa Zoro. Helmeppo had shouted at him,recognized him and tried to attack. Zoro had overpowered him without muchproblem and punched him. Helmeppo then suggested a deal to the swordman. IfZoro sacrificed himself for her mother and herself and survived a month as aprisoner of Helmeppo, nothing would happen to them and Zoro would then be afree man again. Zoro accepted this deal. "...It's been almost three weeks sincethen. Helmeppo will never releas him." Rika finished the story and lookedat the black-haired woman. "I don't know what to do." Desperate, sheburied her face in her hands and started to cry. Corby looked at hersympathetically as he said, "Now I understand."

Suddenly there was a big noise comming from the inside of the restaurant from Rika's mother, ''Food Foo''. The three went into the building through the back door. As they got closer, the three of them heard someone laughing and then shouting: "It would be nice to have a drink! A glass of red wine and a bit suddenly, if I may ask!" Luffy went into the room while Rika and Corby stood in the doorway and watched everything. The guests had fallen silent and looked at the screamer. The person who was screaming was...Helmeppo. Rika's mother poured the conceited idiot a drink as he said, "Hihihi. Well then, it's okay. By the way, I'm a bit bored at the moment. So I'm having Zoro executed tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it." He started laughing again. Luffy's eyes had narrowed dangerously upon hearing this. Anger rose within her. What kind of bastard was that?! It was one thing to coerce someone into making a deal, as in Zoro's case, but another when you planned to break your promise! Especially with a deal like Zoro. She had seen in his eyes a strong and determined will that would not be easily defeated. She wouldn't let the wimp get away with THAT! She ran towards him, lashed out and hit him in the face with her fist. Her hat flew off her head and Helmeppo flew into the nearest wall. He already had tears in his eyes when the soldiers came to him to help him up. He turned to the perpetrator and stuttered: "W-w-who are you?" She was about to strike again when Corby ran up behind her and grabbed her arms to stop her from doing so. It took all his strength to hold on to the black-haired woman as he said: "Stop it, Luffy! Don't make yourself unhappy!" "You damn bastard!" she growled in Helmeppo's direction. She had to admit Corby was stronger than he looked. "You...you...you hit me. Who do you think you are? Captian Morgan is my daddy!" "I don't care!" "I'll tell my daddy, and then it'll be your turn tomorrow!" he shouted in a teary voice. However, Luffy didn't care about this threat. "Come on! Come here, you coward!" "Luffy, have you gone crazy? The guy is serious, believe me!" Luffy lowered her arms. But Coby held her even further when she said: "My decision is made!" Corby looked at her in surprise. "Today will Zoro join my crew!"

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~ Navy Base – Courtyard/Execution Site ~

Luffy had climbed over the wall again and approached Zoro. He had his head resting on his chest, his breathing even and his eyes closed. He seemed to be sleeping. Suddenly his eyes opened and, gasping for air, his head snapped up. Their eyes met before Zoro said, "What are you doing here again? What do you want from me?" "If I take off your ropes now, will you become a member of my crew?" Zoro raised his head in surprise. Had he just misheard? "What are you talking about?" "I'm looking for people to join my pirate crew," she said and walked towards him. "Forget it! I'm not thinking about lifing a life of crime!" he turns his head away pointedly. "That's out of the question!" She put her hands on her hips and asked: "Why? What do you have against pirates?" He looked her in the eyes again. "Pirates are cruel and stop at nothing!" She had to smile. "But YOU of all people shouldn't get upset about it. I know you've been a dangerous bounty hunter for years." "I don't care what people say about me! I've never done anything that I later regretted." A grin spread across his face and sweat ran down it. Once again she could see the determination in his eyes. "I'll survive this and believe me, I'll reach my goal!" "Ah, I see." She turned to the side, crossed her arms over her chest and said with a smile while looking at the sky: "However, I have decided that YOU will join my crew." "You are not deciding anything here!" Zoro shouted at the straw hat wearing woman, who looked at him again. "You fight with a sword, Zoro, am I right?" "Yes," he said in a somewhat annoyed tone, "but that rat, Helmeppo, took it away from me." "That's up to you than. If you want, I could get it back for you." "What?" "I'll make you a suggestion: If you want your sword back, join my pirate crew!" she said, smiling broadly. "Now you're really starting to piss me off!" She ran off laughing. Zoro looked after her in confusion before muttering, "You have to be kidding me. Does she want to go into the base all alone?" Then he noticed something and called after her: "Hey, you idiot! The base is over there! You're going the wrong way!"* Surprised, Luffy stopped, turned around and shouted: "Okay. Then Gomu Gomu no Rocket!" She shot past the previously sighing green-haired man. He looked after her in shock. "What? How did she do that?" Had he just imagined it or had it really just happened?

Luffy had arrived in front of the base building.She looked around confused. "Strange, there isn't a soul here. I have to findthis wimp to get Zoro's sword." She looked around. She had to be able tofind a clue somewhere! A noise caught her attention. Her gaze wandered up thebuilding, holding onto her hat. "I heard something up there. I'll take a look. Gomu Gomu no Rocket!" She slammed herfist forward, her arm stretching and grabbing onto the edge of the roof. Shelet herself fly upwards and shot past the roof. "Waah! That was too far!" shescreamed. She turned in the air so that she could see the roof. There were manysoldiers standing there pulling some kind of ropes attached to a strangestructure. She could hear some shouting, "What the hell is that?!""Someone flew by!" She grabbed one of the ropes to slow her flight.The statue fell over, Luffy landed on the roof and the soldiers tried with alltheir strength to keep the hanging part up. But unfortunately in vain. Thestature broke from the waist up and fell into the depths. The Marines present,as well as the living image of the statue, looked at the mess with their mouthswide open in shock. Oops! She's done something wrong again. She raised her handapologetically and said embarrassedly: "I'm sorry." But no one seemed to havelistened to her. Now, however, she could take a closer look at the guy whosephysique she had just destroyed. He was a tall, muscular man with short, blondehair. He wore a black sleeveless shirt with a light blue navy coat over it. Hispants were dark blue with a typical navy pattern. There were two things thatstood out about this man. He had an iron chin with the word "Seagull" writtenon it. The other noticeable thing was that there was a axe instead of the rightforearm. The axe was attached with two screws and seemed quite large and heavy.After the sound of the cracking stone could be heard from below, the axe handman seemed to come back to life. He shouted angrily: "Get her! I'll take herdown personally!" The soldiers saluted and shouted: "As your command,sir!" Helmeppo, who was also on the roof, pointed his finger at Luffy andshouted to the hatchet man: "Daddy! That is her! That's the woman who hitme!" Luffy stood directly in front of him. "Oh, you!" That was easy tofind him! He looked at her, first confused, then frightened and screaming. Hewanted to run away when she held onto his shoulder, smiling. "I've been lookingfor you everywhere! We're going on a little trip. You have something thatdoesn't belong to you." She put her arm around his neck and ran through theopen door into the base, with him in tow. She could still hear some soldiersshouting in horror: "Mister Helmeppo!"

She ran through the corridors of the base,grabbing Helmeppo by the neck and dragging him on the ground. She looked downat him sideways. "Speak up! Where is Zoro's sword?" Whimpering tearsstreamed from his reddened eyes as he wailed, "I'm telling you! I'mtelling you! But please stop dragging me around!" She skidded to a stop."Tell me where it is!" He raised his finger and pointed down thehallway she had just walked down. "Back in my room. We just passed it." "Youcould have said that earlier." She put a hand on her hip and turned a little tothe side. "Now we have to go all the way back!" Three soldiers with rifles hadappeared behind her and were aiming at her. "Stop!" "Let go of MisterHelmeppo!" Luffy turned to them. "I don't think so!" She pulledHelmeppo to his feet and in front of her, like a shield. "Now you can pull thetrigger if you like." The blonde didn't seem to have understood what had justhappened. When he realized it, he started screaming and struggling in panic.She grabbed him tightly and ran past the soldiers. Helmeppo meanwhile shouted:"No! Don't shoot! Please don't shoot!!" 

She had runned quite a bit again when she came to a white door with a pink flower wreath hanging on it. Inside the wreath was a sign that read ''My Room.'' By now she had Helmeppo tucked under her arm. She opened the door and asked, somewhat incredulously: "THIS is your room?" The whole room was, to put it briefly, furnished like that of a pubescent girl. She saw different shades of pink everywhere. On the walls, the furniture and even flowers. She shuddered. THAT was way too girly for her! Her eyes wandered around the room and stopped at three katanas leaning against the wall. "Ah, over there." She walked up to them and looked at them confused. "I don't understand! There are three swords there." She turned her face to the blonde. "Come on spit it out! Which one belongs to Zoro?" But he was no longer able to answer. "The weakling just passed out," she sighed, annoyed. She went to the nearby window. She could see the yard. There were Marine soldiers at one end and the tied up Zorro and another person with pink hair at the other. Her eyes widened as she recognized him. That was... "Corby!" She quickly grabbed the swords and tied them to her back. Now it didn't matter which one was Zoro's! "Everything you have to do alone," she cursed. She reached for the window sill and began to stretch her arms. " Gomu Gomu no Rocket!" She shot through the closed window, shattering the glass, and towards the courtyard.

Even though she screamed, Luffy heard shotsbeing fired. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she stood with her armsoutstretched, protectively in front of the boy wearing glasses and the man whowas tied up. She had lowered her gaze, the straw hat shadowed her face. At thesame moment the bullets hit her body. "What?!" Zoro stared at the black-hairedwoman in shock. "Luffy, no!" Tears stood in the corners of Corby'seyes. "That snotty brat!" growled the axe hand man. Where the bullets hit herbody began to stretch backwards. She hunched over a little so that the bulletswouldn't fly back straight away. The soldiers looked wide-eyed and shocked atthe girl who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She looked up. A wide grinspread across her lips before she stretched, shooting the bullets out of herbody. As she did so, she shouted: "That tickles!" One of the bullets flew pastthe axe hand man's head. Luffy had her fists in the air, laughing. She lovedthe look on people's faces when they saw her devil powers for the first time! "Iwon't worke in me! I told you already, I'm strong!" she said, laughing. Stillin shock, Zoro stammered behind her: "Y-you, uh. WHO the hell are you?!" Sheturned slightly to him. "Me? I'm Portgas D. Luffy." She raised herthumb. "The woman who will become the Pirate King!" and gave him abig smile. Zoro could see a fire burning in the woman's dark eyes. Only thendid Corby notice something. Confused, he asked, "King? Don't you mean Queen,Luffy?" "No, King. A queen would have to obey the king and I willobey NO ONE! That's why king." "W-what? King of the Pirates!? Do youeven know WHAT you're saying?" said Zoro, stunned. "The King of the Pirates isthe King of the Pirates. What else would it mean?" Didn't he understand?"I was surprised at first too, but Luffy is serious." Corby spoke upagain. Zoro looked at him. "That's the kind of person she is! She reallyintends to become the Pirate King and capture the One Piece, the greatesttreasure in the world!" She grinned broadly at the two of them. It was strangethat Corby was only now talking to her about this king/queen thing, but itdidn't matter. She took the swords from her back and held them out to the boundman. There were two with identical black and red patterned handles and one withwhite. "Here, I didn't know which one was yours, so I took them all.""They're all mine. I fight in the Santōryū Iai." She looked at him insurprise. She had never heard of Santōryū Iai before. Smiling, she continued tohold out the katanas to him. "Then take them. If you fight alongside me, thegovernment will prosecute you as a criminal. Or you can let the Navy kill younow. Your decision." He looked at her with a grin. "Are you the daughter of thedevil?" "Something like that." "All right! If I have to choose between life anddeath, then I have no other choice. Even if it means I have to become a pirate."Her eyes sparkled as she shouted, "Great, I have my first member! That's awesome!"Luffy seemed to have forgotten the soldiers behind her in her joy. "I agreedand now finally untie me!" Did she not realize the seriousness of the situationor what?! 

"What is she?" asked an unsettled soldier. Thewoman with the straw hat couldn't be a normal person! "She threw the bulletsright back at us!" The axe hand man, who was standing behind the soldiers,spoke up. Sweat appeared on his forehead as he said, "The Straw Hat Girl is nota normal person! She must have eaten one of those legendary devil fruits.""Devil Fruits?" "The Treasures of the Sea?" "The DevilFruits. It is said that whoever eats one of them will receive unique power andability. The power to breathe fire. The power to trigger tsunamis. There aremany rumors about them, but there is little information about their existence.Their secret is said to lie on the Grand Line. There is no other possibilitythan that the Straw Hat's powers come from a devil fruit!"

"Come on! Come on!" Corby urged her. She triedsomewhat clumsily to untie the ropes on Zoro's arm. Zoro watched this with amixture of tension and bewilderment. "Damn, the knot is pretty tight!" shewhined a little. "Hey, stop fooling around!" the green-haired man yelled at her.The alarmist, who appeared to be the head of the base, shouted angrily: "Anyonewho defies me will be executed. There are no exceptions! If bullets have noeffect, then take the swords and kill her!" Screaming, some soldiers rantowards the three with their swords drawn. Corby and Zoro saw this in shock,while Luffy was still struggling with the knot. She scratched her head as shesaid, "That's weird. The knot seems to be getting tighter and tighter." "Justgive me one of my swords!" A vein was pulsating in Zoro's forehead. How couldshe stay so calm?! The soldiers came closer when Corby shouted in panic,"Luffy!" She turned her head to the side and saw the soldiers. Shequickly handed Zorro one of his katanas. He quickly cut himself free, put oneof them, the white one, in his mouth and took the other two in his hand. Heeasily stopped the soldiers who wanted to strike. He had his back to them. Hisarms crossed. He countered each of her blades with his own. From the backgroundyou could hear the axe hand man saying in shock: "Roronoa Zoro!" Corby andLuffy watched him, impressed. She was still holding some of the ropes in herhands when she said: "Wow, cool!" The soldiers looked at the swordsman inshock. He glared menacingly at them as he said intimidatingly: "Don't moveor you're die!" Some tears fell as one said: "No, please don't!"His eyes fell on the only woman in the yard. He was still holding out againstthe soldiers when, with the sword between his teeth, he said: "You have myword, I will become a pirate. From now on I'm an outlaw messing with the Navy!But I'll tell you one thing. I only have one goal in mind!" "And whatis it?" "I want to become the best swordsman in the world. I'll trainhard for it, Luffy." His eyes became more serious. "But if I can't dothat, I'll have to leave your crew!" "The best swordsman in the world?It's really crazy. Well, if that doesn't sound like an absolutely unbeatableteam!" "Yes, I will make sure that people tremble at my name on theworld's oceans! Anyone who stands in my way will regret it bitterly." "What areyou waiting for, you idiots? Finish them off!" roared the axe hand man. Thesoldiers trembled. "Watch out Zoro!" Luffy swung her leg. Zoro watched thisperplexedly. "Huh?" "Now comes the Gomu Gomu no Muchi!" She kicked and Zoro ducked at the lastmoment. Her leg stretched and kicked the soldiers aside. The accomplice staredat the spectacle in shock. Her leg tightened again when Corby shoutedenthusiastically: "Great, that was a direct hit!" Zoro stood up again."How the hell do you do that?" She let the leg she had just kickedswing back and forth a little as she said, "Oh, you know. I ate Gomu Gomuno Mi once." "Huh, Gomu Gomu no Mi?" He had never heard of sucha fruit. 

"A rubber human," said one of the soldiers lyingon the ground, horrified. "She got her abilities from devil fruits!" said the axehand man. "Captian, we have no chance! They're invincible!" "Yes,it's impossible to defeat them!" "We can't even manage to beat JUSTZoro!" The swordsman and the rubber woman looked over at them. "That can'tbe!" The blonde's expression had darkened. "That's what's called disobeyingorders and you know exactly what that means!" He raised his axe hand. "I'msurrounded by a bunch of cowards and wimps!" Some soldiers bit their lips inanger. "They're definitely weird," said Zoro as he stood ready to fight in thedirection of the soldiers. "Luffy!" Corby shouted as the straw hatwearer raced towards the soldiers. A spark of anger shimmered in her eyes as sheran. "Bring those Marines crumbling to their knees!" Without the soldiers beingable to react, she had already sprinted past them. She reached out and struck.Morgan counterattacks the blow with the side of his axe. Zoro took the swordout of his mouth as he watched the black-haired woman. Morgan started laughingbefore grabbing his coat and throwing it over his shoulder. "You dare attackme? You're must be crazy. Do you actually know WHO is standing in front of you?I'm Captian Morgan, the head of this naval base!" "And I'm Luffy,pleasant," she said, unimpressed. "Go to hell!" He struck with the axe.Luffy jumped over him and landed behind him unharmed. He turned and struckagain. She jumped high into the air and to the side. Where the ax hit the ground,the earth began to split. This crack widened a little further. Corby wasshocked to see this from the distance. So that was the power of a Navy captain.Luffy pulled her legs close to her body before kicking Morgan with full force inthe face with her feet. Morgan flew backwards a bit, hitting his back oncebefore landing back on his feet. He supported himself with his hand. Luffy hadnow also landed again. "C-Captian Morgan."         

The man stood up again as he growled and said,"You pay for this!" Luffy lunged at him. Morgen reached his hand tothe built-in handle of his axe hand arm. "I've had enough now!" He struck.Luffy jumped a little to the side and turned horizontally in the air. "Me too!"She kicked him in the face again and sent him flying. She landed back on theground with her back to the soldiers and one hand on her hat. The soldierslooked at the young woman in astonishment. "He got hid!" "She was able to sendthe captain flying!" Luffy grabbed Morgen, who was lying on the ground, by thecollar and stood over him. The straw hat covered her eyes as she said with aclenched fist, "And someone like YOU wants to be a Marine? This is certainlynot how Corby imagined the Navy!" She struck. "And another one!" The straw hatwearer was about to reach out when the voice of a very annoying person rangout: "Stop! Stop it now, Straw Hat! You should stop!" She struck again. "Andanother!" Morgan had screamed in pain at the last blow. "I said stop! Leave mydaddy alone or I put a bullet through your friend's head!" Helmepposhouted. Trembling, he held a gun to Corby's head. "But Mister Helmeppo," saidone of the shocked soldiers. He held a gun to the head of a bystander? That wasthe low! "Hey!" Zoro called over his shoulder to the black-haired woman.Surprised, she let go of Morgan and looked over. "Don't make a wrong move ifhis life means something to you! I warn you! I'll pull the trigger immediatelyif you do any antics!" She looked at the scene calmly. Corby was shaking infear almost as much as Helmeppo before Luffy grinned widely at him. Corbyimmediately stopped shaking. Determined and without fear, he shouted:"Luffy, get him! Don't worry about me! As far as I'm concerned, he shouldshoot! I'm not afraid!" "Yeah, I know that." She bent her arm andplaced the other on her shoulder. "Now the two of us are going to have a littlechat! You heard what Corby said earlier." She walked towards him step by step."Stay where you are! I said stay where you are!" She didn't notice howMorgan had stood up behind her and raised his ax. "Luffy, behindyou!" Corby shouted. "Here we go!" Luffy waved her arm as Morgencalled out from behind her, "I'm Captian Morgan with the ax hand. Now die!"Zoro put his sword back in his mouth. Helmeppo pulled Corby closer to him."Don't take another step or I'll shoot!" As Morgan struck, sheshouted, " Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"Screaming, her fist flew towards Helmeppo before sending him to the ground."Mature performance, huh?" The ax blade was only millimeters away from herstraw hat when Zoro landed behind the now screaming and falling Marine Captain.Her arm tightened again before she looked over her shoulder at Zoro and said,"Well done!" "This is one of my easiest exercises, myCaptian." She gave Zoro a steely smile. The two were a good team! Corbybreathed a sigh of relief next to his unconscious son. 

Zoro had now attached the scabbards of his swords to the right side of his haramaki. He let them disappear one by one as he and Luffy looked at the soldiers. "He took out Captain Morgen." "Unbelievable, I can't believe it." "Is there anyone else here who wants to mess with us? We're in top form right now!" asked Zoro. The soldiers looked at each other. Surprising the two fighters, they started cheering and threw their hats, swords, pistols and rifles in the air. Some even hugged each other. "What's going on? They're overjoyed that we defeated their captain," Luffy said, confused. Shouldn't they be more angry or upset? "Don't you understand?" Corby asked her happily. Before he spoke again, she had turned her head to him. "The whole soldiers were terrified of Morgan." Suddenly Zoro fell backwards. They looked at him in alarm. "What's wrong with you, Zoro? Are you hurt?" Corby asked worriedly. The person addressed opened his eyes again before saying: "I'm hungry. Bloody hungry!"

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~ In Food Foo ~

"Oh man, I'm full, haha! It was about time I gotsomething to eat! Three weeks without eating was hard on the limit," exclaimedZoro happily, rubbing his now full stomach. At or behind the counter, Rika'smother, Rika, who was carrying some empty bowls, and Corby, who was sitting ona stool and holding a glass of juice, laughed at Zoro's remark. "You'realredy finished? That wasn't ever five portions," Luffy said to him withher mouth full. The two of them sat at one of the tables where a small pile ofplates had already formed. Zoro lay one leg over the other and leaned on whatwas raised with one hand. His headscarf was now tied around his right upperarm. He looked at the woman in surprise as he pointed to the pile of plates andsaid: "Then you have a bigger appetite than me. I don't have to shovel so muchinto myself." Let's be honest, she ate and ate and ate like there was notomorrow. He really wondered how the black-haired woman could be SO slimdespite such an appetite! "The food is too tasty here, isn't it, Corby?"Embarrassed, the boy in question touched his head and looked to the side beforesaying to Rika's mother: "Oh yes. Thank you, that was just great." The womansmiled at him. "That was a pleasure for me. After all, YOU saved our lives.""You were just as strong as I expected, Luffy," Rika said to the older one.Grinning and with her mouth full, she replied: "Yes, I am strong and believeme, I will get even stronger! You mustn't forget one thing. I will be thePirate King!" She turned her head to Zoro. "And that's my first mate."At the remark, Zoro smiled and said: "Hey, how many people besides me doyou have for your pirate crew?" She put a piece of meat in her mouth andlooked at him. "If I'm not mistaken, you said recently that you were lookingfor people, right? Then you should already have a decent squad together if you wantto call yourself the Pirate King." She swallowed the piece. "So far I onlyhave you." The green-haired man's eyes widened in shock. Was this a badjoke? "That means..." He pointed first at her and then at himself. "Just you andme." "THIS is supposed to be a pirate crew with only two members?!" "That's noproblem, Zoro. WE are strong!" "And what about your ship? Where is our pirateship?" She should at least have THAT! She pointed to the window with the fork,which already had the next bite on it. "Look outside." He did that and saw...anutshell with a sail. He leaned against the window with narrowed eyes as heasked skeptically, "The nutshell? Oh great." What had he gotten himself into?"Oh, that will be enough to start with. Soon I'll get us a huge ship!"Luffy said enthusiastically. Zoro pushed himself away from the window andturned to his new captain, laughing loudly. "HOW are you going to dothat?" "And we'll get a great pirate flag too!" She put the nextpiece in her mouth. The straw hat wearer could really imagine it. A large shipwith four white sails with her symbol painted on it. The same as on the BlackPirate Flag. A grinning skull on crossbones and wearing a straw hat. She stoodat the front of the bow with a sword and laughed. Zoro looked at the youngPortgas' dreamy expression for a while. If he hadn't known better, he mighthave thought he was talking to a dreamy little girl instead of a young woman. Hecould already feel a headache comming. Why had he gotten involved in theisagain? He held his forehead, which already had several veins pulsing, as Luffysaid, "This is going to be SO cool!" "I can't shake the feelingthat Luffy is a dreamer. It will not be easy to put this plan into action,"Corby said. "I think I'm dreaming too. Is this woman really supposed to be mycaptain?" "Don't worry! Soon we'll have a complete crew!" Rikaturned to Luffy and asked curiously: "Say, Luffy. Where will you go? Wheredo you want to sail with your crew?" "You're still asking, Rika? Ofcourse we're heading for the Grand Line!" Corby, who had just had a drink, spatit out in shock. Some even shot out of his nose. "To the Grand Line?! Have yougone completely crazy?! There are only two of you, that's completelyimpossible!" The girls say to him in surprise. "What is with you? You'recompletely beside yourself. Is the Grand Line really THAT bad?" asked Rika. "Ofcourse it is!" Corby looked down before continuing: "You know about the twooceans, right? The long continent that divides this is called the Red Line.There is a city at its center. There is a route past this town that runsperpendicular to the Red Line. This is the great sea rod, the Grand Line. Longago, the Pirate King, Gold Roger, achieved all worldly things. It is said thathe left behind a great treasure, which now lies somewhere on the Grand Line.The One Piece. This is also said to be the reason why so many pirates are atsea. It became a feared battlefield and became known as the Pirate'sGrave." Towards the end, the boy began to tremble again. "I heardabout it from some customers," said Rika's mother, "He said no onewho enters the Grand Line would ever come back alive." "But the OnePiece is somewhere on that rod, so we'll go there," Luffy replied . Zoroleaned back in his chair. "Well I guess we have no choice." Corby jumpedoff his stool and looked at the two of them intently. "You too, Zoro?!" "Why doyou care? You're not coming with us." Surprised and caught off guard,Corby said, "Maybe not, but I'm worried about you! Is that a crime? Luffyand I may have only known each other for a short time, but we are stillfriends! Right?" At the last sentence he looked at the black-haired woman. Shegrinned at him before saying: "Yep! We may go our separate ways, but we'llalways be friends!" Corby had to smile at the statement. "When I was little, Ididn't have a single friend. Nobody has ever stood up for me and I never haveeither." There was a silence in the room. "But thanks to you both, I learned tostand up for my dream. I will make my childhood dream come true. I'm joiningthe Navy!" Corby's eyes lit up as he said this. "You should worry moreabout yourself than about others," Zoro said. The pink-haired boy lookedat him in surprise. "Even considering you were a prisoner. Were you on Alvida'spirate ship for two years. Never underestimate the Navy's secret network. Ifthey find out, they won't take you in." Corby's eyes widened brieflybefore he stuttered, "N-now that I think about it..." Sweat ran downhis face. That couldn't be allowed to happen! It could be that he... that heisn't... Luffy looked at him with pity. It had to be terrible to find out thatyou couldn't pursue your dream because of something like that. If only therewas a way to help him. 

The door of the restaurant was opened and some soldiers came in. "Excuse us." Everyone looked at the door in surprise. A soldier with a greenish scarf stepped forward. "Is it true that you are pirates?" "Yes, I just recruited a new member too! We just formed our crew!" Luffy said to the soldier. "We are very grateful that you freed this city and our base from Morgan's tyranny. However, since you are pirates, we from the Navy cannot allow you to stay here any longer." Luffy looked at the soldier silently. "You must leave this city immediately! Out of respect for what you have done for us, we will not contact the headquarters." "Hey, soldiers!" shouted a townsman who was standing outside along with others. "What kind of gratitude is that supposed to be?! After all, you lived in fear of Morgan too!" "These people are heroes!" a child shouted. Loud approval came from the crowd. Smiling, Luffy said before standing up, "Well, I guess we'll go then." She turned her head to Rika's mother. "Thanks for the food, ma'am!" "Are you leaving?" Rika asked sadly. Luffy shouldered a sack of supplies that they had gotten from Rika's mother. "Yes." Zoro shouldered his three swords and the two of them walked towards the entrance. They walked past Corby. Corby had his back to the soldier, so he didn't see the boy's eyes widen before he asked him: "Aren't you one of them?" He was startled. "I...I'm..." Zoro and Luffy were almost out the door when she turned her head to the glasses-wearing boy. An idea had just occurred to her. "Wait a minute!" the soldier called after them, "I expect an answer." She turned to him with a smile. "I know what he did before." Shocked, Corby turned to her. "Luffy, you won't!?" "There was that old hag of a pirate that was SO fat!" She made it clear with her arms. "Luffy!" said Corby, horrified. What was she doing?! "If they find out I was on a pirate ship I will never be accepted into the Navy!" Sweat ran down his body. She walked towards Corby as she continued speaking, "She also had this huge iron club. She was an old, ugly woman!" The soldier looked down at Corby as the straw hat-wearing woman walked past him. She started poking Corby on the head. He gritted his teeth as she continued: "He worked on her ship for two years." "Please stop! Please stop, Luffy!" Corby couldn't take it anymore. He balled his hand into a fist, lashed out and punched. Her straw hat flew off her head. Those present were shocked by the boy's actions. However, a small smile formed on Zoro's lips. Corby had his eyes closed when he struck. With horror he opened it again. What had he done? A grin could be seen on Luffy's face. Her eyes were obscured by her bangs as she reached out and said, "You'll get that back!" She lashed out. No one saw the friendly twinkle in her eyes as she lashed out at Corby. "Stop immediately or you'll end up in jail! I can't let you continue to cause trouble in this city! Is that clear?!" the soldier shouted. Zoro grabbed the back of her collar and pulled her away from Corby; when he said, "Hey, that's enough. Don't do more than necessary." The pink-haired boy fell backwards and breathed heavily. "You have clearly shown that the boy does not belong to you! Now get out of the city!" said the soldier and pointed at her. With a wide grin that no one saw, Luffy put her straw hat back on her head. Her work was done. Corby looked up briefly as the two left the restaurant. "Did she do it...did she do it on purpose? For me? She said those things so I would hit her. I needed help even now! Why didn't I notice anything?! Oh man, I'm such an idiot!" He stood up and said to the soldier in a serious voice: "Commander, please let me join the Navy! Give me a chance, that's my biggest dream! I will do everything to..." He bowed to him. "...becoming a member of the Navy!"

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~ Shellstown Quay Wall ~

Luffy and Zoro walked side by side down thestreet. "You put on quite a show. I was really surprised that no one noticed.""Yeah, from now on Corby is on his own. But he'll manage it," she saidconfidently. "That was a good start. We made a huge impression. Everyone hatesus! We're just pirates!" Luffy laughed and untied the rope on their boat."Yes, that's us." The two of them were still standing on the landwhen someone called them: "Hey, Luffy!" She looked at the person insurprise. Rika, her mother and...Corby stood there. He was the one who called. Hesaluted before saying, "Marine Corby reporting for duty! Luffy, I will beforever grateful to you!" Zoro smiled. "You never stop learning. I've neverseen a marine thank a pirate before." With a big grin on his face, Luffylaughed.                       

The two got into the boat and set sail. Zoro hadsat down, his swords in his lap, while Luffy staggered towards Corby with awide grin and shouted: "We'll definitely see each other again,Corby!" Grinning, Rika staggered back while Corby still saluted and said:"Bye Luffy! Hope to see you again someday!" Suddenly the commander'svoice sounded next to Corby. "Department, salute!" Behind him stood theother soldiers who saluted at his command. "Goodbye, Corby!" The ship movedfurther and further away from the island. "You have a good friend," thecommander said to Corby. He looked at him in surprise before almost burstinginto tears again. He looked at the sea again. "Yes!" "Listen up, men! Ourfarewell salute violated Navy laws! That's why I'm going to cancel all mealsfor three days!" "Aye, aye. Sir!" "One day we will definitely meet again somewhere. Even if I'm in thenavy and you're a pirate. We will definitely see each other again!"

The boat was already far away from the island and headed towards the setting sun. Zoro leaned on the railing with one arm and looked at it. Luffy stood at the bow, holding her hat with one hand and standing with one foot on it. "Finally we're sailing across the sea like real pirates!" The wind blew across her face. THAT was the feeling of freedom! "I'm sure that a lot of dangerous adventures await us." "And then I'll become the Pirate King!" Zoro couldn't see her face, but he was sure that she had that sparkle in her eyes. One thing still surprised him. "Now be completely honest. You want to become the Pirate King at all costs, I don't fully understand that yet. There has to be some reason for that." "Yes, there is a reason for that." Zoro furrowed his eyebrows. "And what would that be?" "I swore it to someone. A good friend or rather someone who is like a father to me. I promised him that I would put together an unbeatable crew to find the greatest treasure in the world and one day become the Pirate King. He gave me this straw hat as a farewell gift; it once belonged to my father." "Hm, I see." A smile crept onto his face before he looked up at the sky. A comfortable silence fell over the boat. "And now, full speed ahead! The hunt can begin! We're heading for the Grand Line!"

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* Did you notice that that was the only time ZORO knew where he was going? With this orientation dyslexic, it's a real miracle! But it was also the only miracle that the idiot (don't get me wrong! I'm a fan of Zoro!) was granted so far.

The voting results have also been determined.With a lead of 2 to 0, Outfit B) won. That means in the Baratie Arc, Luffybecomes this...

I would also like to thank all the new readers who voted despite everything. And I can say that if the voting had still been valid, the international votes would have been added and the score would be 2 to 3, in other words A) would have won in this case!

I'm sorry for everyone who wished forA), but I would still like to thank you again for your participation.