Partners

The following morning, Luffy and Hancock sat and face each other.

"It doesn't seem like there are any monsters in this part of the island."

Said Hancock.

"We're near the monster-free zone, it's the only place I could think of where we would be safe. Even King doesn't go near that white tree, so even that gorilla monster from last night should be affected by it."

Replied Luffy.

"....That gorilla monster was really strong. I mean it took one of my kicks that are known to crush the skulls of even the most notorious pirates and marines."

Even though she did send it flying, Hancock could tell that she wasn't able to harm it in any way. She even believed that she was being ridiculed by the monster, for her light kick.

"Yeah, that gorilla was strong. But, you're strong too, Hancock. So I think you should be able to beat it no problem."

"I-Is that so? You think quite highly of me.

"Of course. You're my partner, aren't you?"

"Partner?"

"We fight together. We eat together. We sleep together. We rely on each other. Friends don't really match our current relationship. That's why I'll gladly call you my Partner. "

Hancock blushed when she heard Luffy's honest words, and held her head down bashfully.

"I would prefer to be your life partner, though."

"Hm?"

"Ah, nothing. Let's leave that for when you conquer the New World."

Hancock stood up and looked towards the west.

"For now, let's focus on figuring out what's happening on the island."

She concentrated her Observation Haki in that direction. She was checking up on the island's situation.

"Most of the monsters are fighting at the center of the island. But they're some really big ones fighting all over the place. In the mountains, in the sky, in the rivers, and in the jungles."

Luffy also used Haki to search the area, but his wasn't at the same level as Hancock's so he only was able to gather half the information she did.

"Your Haki is pretty amazing, Hancock. Which direction is King?"

"He's in the mountains. It looks like a lot of monsters are challenging him, which is pretty much suicide if you ask me."

"Then he's fighting them alone?"

"Yeah, the other monsters that were with him last night are fighting their own battles."

After reporting that, Hancock started to analyze the situation.

'What should we do? The island is currently at war for some reason and has become at least 10 times as dangerous as before. Not to mention, that strange monster from last night. It's strong. Extremely strong. Since neither Luffy nor myself knows about its abilities, that makes it as dangerous as King himself.'

The scene of the beehive instantly melting before her eyes flashed in her mind.

'Should we wait this out? If we watch the situation for a couple of days, I'm sure the beasts will eventually calm down....No, that would eliminate the purpose of Luffy coming here to train. And I'm sure Luffy wouldn't just quietly hid as the monsters rampaged about.....'

Hancock then turned to Luffy and asked him herself.

"Luffy, what do you want to do about this situation?"

"Hm? Join in of course. I won't let the chance to challenge all the bosses go to waste."

There was zero hesitation. Luffy never considered watching the situation from afar. He saw an opportunity to take down all the bosses and conquer the island as Rayleigh told him to.

To Luffy, taking part in this chaos is a must.

"I expected you to say that."

Said Hancock, as she smiled.

"Alright, let's go join this chaos. "

"Hm? You're coming too, Hancock?"

"Of course! I only have around a day left until my crew comes to pick me up. I plan to spend the rest of my time with you."

"It's going to be extra dangerous this time though."

"I don't mind. As long as we're together, there's no foe we can't defeat!"

Hancock declared proudly.

And then she suddenly shrank down a little bit and said-

"Besides we're partners, right?"

She was blushing a little bit.

"Right!"

With Luffy's energetic reply, the two quickly left the safe zone and entered the chaotic war zone.

"Roar!"

"Hah!"

After leaving the safe zone, Luffy and Hancock immediately ran into a pack of giant sabertooth Tigers.

They had just finished killing some giant wolves.

Upon seeing Hancock and Luffy running towards them, the Tigers chose them as their next opponents.

The result was.....well, they became breakfast.

When the first one pounced at Luffy, he clad his hand in Haki and took him out with a punch. While the others were distracted by that, Hancock came and break their necks with kicks.

Afterward, Hancock suggested cooking them for Luffy which he gladly approved.

The two then later proceed on their journey into the war zone.

"Luffy, do you have any order you want to take down the bosses in?"

Asked Hancock, as she used Haki to stop a Silver Bear's sneak attack from behind.

"Nope. Let's just beat them when we see them."

Luffy punched the bear that Hancock stopped through a tree without much effort.

"Ah, but I want to leave King for last."

The rest of the Bears that were hiding suddenly sprung out on them. Hancock instantly turned into statues.

"Why last? Won't you be too tired?"

"No, you're fighting with me so it'll be fine. Besides, I don't want the other bosses interfering in my fight."

"I see."

The two continued casually walking into a war zone, only thanks to their Haki. Because of that, they could see most of the monsters' movements before they made them.

"Caw!"

The two suddenly heard the screech of a bird and looked above them. There they saw 7 crow-like giant birds circling above them. The birds spotted their prey and flock toward Hancock and Luffy.

They were fast. They swooped down in a second.

"Hancock don't let their feathers touch you!"

Listening to Luffy's advice, Hancock leaped backward and stood on a tree limb.

"Are their feathers dangerous?!"

Luffy also did the same as Hancock.

"They're incredibly sharp! Just grazing you is enough for them to cut you up!"

These birds were known as Razor Birds. They were nicknamed "The Flying Swords because they can use their feathers to cut their prey into pieces before eating them.

"Caw!"

The birds saw that Luffy and Hancock were hiding in the trees and flew toward them.

Luffy and Hancock jumped from the trees, when they looked back they saw the trees being cut up like paper, just from the Razor Birds flying near them.

"How do you beat them?!"

Hancock asked as the two of them started running.

"Attack them in the center of their backs. That is their only weak spot!"

"Got it!"

Hancock immediately used a tree trunk as a foothold and kick off it to launch herself over to a different tree. She stood on top of the tree to draw one of the birds attention.

The bird saw her and charge at her.

"Slave Arrow!"

She fired a heart shape arrow, and as she expected it was dodged. But that was part of her plan.

When the bird dodged with a dip, Hancock immediately jumped down on a branch and fired 5 more slave arrows and then jumped and coated her feet in Haki.

What was caught under her feet moments later was the bird.

Let's explain how Hancock ended up crushing the bird. When she made him dip into the forest, she immediately cornered him by firing 5 arrows.

One on the left, one on the right, one from the front, and two above.

By doing this she blocked three of the bird's paths, leaving it with only the option of moving forward with a dip. But when it dipped Hancock was already falling towards the ground and was able to crush it under her feet.

This plan took only five seconds to carry out.

What Luffy did was a lot simpler. He used Gear 2nd to clash the birds in speed. He would jump around and move above the birds and crush their spines, with punches and stomps.

In a less than 3 mins, they took down the 7 Razor Birds.

"Even though we quickly finished them off, desperately avoiding their feathers was a bit tiring."

Said Hancock.

"Their meat is tasty so it's worth it."

Luffy was thinking of eating the birds.

Seeing that, Hancock began to wonder if he planned to eat all monsters they defeat.

'Well, if comes down to that, I would gladly cook for Luffy all day! It's training for the future after all!'

"CAW!"

While she was thinking that, the sounds of birds once again reached her ear.

When she looked up, there were four more Razor Birds.

Like the ones before, they spotted their prey and swooped down.

"Oh, more meat!"

Hancock and Luffy readied themselves again, when-

*Boom!*

The ground suddenly exploded and the birds were swallowed up by a large mouth, which quickly disappeared underground again.

"....Eh? What just happened?"

Hancock was dumbfounded. It looked like a crocodile sprung out of a river to devour its prey, before submerging under the water again.

"This is bad! Hancock jump as high as you can! Don't stay on the ground!"

Shouted Luffy. But he was too late.

The ground started to shake and suddenly imploded.

"Huh?!"

Hancock was suddenly robbed of her footing, and fell into a pit leading underground.

"Damn it!"

Luffy dived into the pit and followed after Hancock. When he dived in, the ground then started to return to how it was. Leaving no trace of it imploding and turning into a pit.

Hancock and Luffy were now trapped underground.