Chapter 13

"Parley...?" Ikari trailed his voice. "As an upstanding citizen, to which I am Uzuki Ikari is... I felt abused being interrogated by a marine of your status. "

Drake raised his brows at his ridiculous remark. "I will not be fooled. I am not as gullible as you think I am. Immense strength. That is what I observed about you." He stepped foot on Sweet Caroline and faced Ikari with a finger of a distance between them. "Quit pretending, you are a wolf in a sheep's clothing. Ordering your subordinate to claim the bounty is a good move on your part. But you miscalculated on who he faced. "

Ikari nodded his head and looked straight into his eyes. "You're correct. A great deduction. Worthy of your profession." he praised continuously. "Sir, Rear Admiral, me and my crew are only bounty hunters... As for Hawkins, he needs to build another ship. I mean, you can catch him unaware. "

"Did your mother say that you have such a glib tongue?" Drake mused. "Why rush, when I can apprehend a powerful pirate with no bounty. Nip the bud, as they say. "

"Hm. Yes. You are correct. Mom should have trained my way with the words... She'll be proud. " Ikari stepped back and flicked his finger behind his back. "I hope that you achieve your endeavor... Hawkins should still be there, you know. " he winked.

Drake frowned and glanced around the deck, surprise evident on his face. "Freeze. Stop what you are doing! You will not get away so easily. "

Kacha!

A clang was heard, and Ikari unsheathed Uzuki Kitetsu and slashed the Rear Admiral. "It was nice meeting you, Drake... We'll see you soon. " which the marine easily blocked.

"Room!"

Eoong!

A light-blue dome enveloped the ship, including the Rear Admiral. Law swung his Odachi Kikoku toward him. "Radio Knife!"

Swish!

Drake had his eyes widened and attempted to reattach his body. "Devil fruit user!"

Law smirked at his attempt. "It never works. Shambles!"

Drake was teleported to the port. He saw that the ship got away. "What are you looking at? Set sail! We shall pursue those damned pirates. "

"But, Rear Admiral, they are not on the wanted list of criminals... Not one in their ship. " a Marine Captain informed.

Drake frowned at the reveal. "Shit! Did you at least get their faces and names?"

A marine ensign nodded nervously. "It was assigned to me, Rear Admiral! Their Captain, according to their conversations, is called Uzuki Ikari. The man with a white-furred hat is suspected to be the vice-captain and is called Law. Shachi is the name of the one posing as a bounty hunter."

Drake nodded at their quick action. "Good! We will discuss their bounties... What is the name of their crew?"

The Marine Captain stepped beside Drake. "Their jolly roger is a crescent moon with katanas crossed on each other. I can infer that they go by the name of Crescent Moon Pirates!" he said with conviction on his brilliant deduction.

"Hm. Crescent Moon Pirates. " he turned his head to the horizon. "Yes, we will see each other soon... "

...

On the deck of Sweet Caroline, Ikari looked down from the cockpit and stared at his subordinates. "Now that we have encountered a marine rear admiral. Expect to see our faces on wanted posters."

"Now that we have enough supply, our next stop will be the reverse mountain! Into the Grand line, lads!" Ikari smiled widely. "So, it is time to address our goals. It is my goal, as the captain of this ship, to reach the New World and land on Wano Kuni. Kill Kaido of the Beast Pirates! And the shogun of Wano, Orochi... " rage implied in his voice.

"Hm. Since that is the case, my goal is to kill Doflamingo. " Law held his Kikoku tightly.

Bepo nodded. "I wish to visit my hometown, Zou. And accompany Captain to Wano and help him in his goals. " Ikari smiled at his remark.

Shachi looked at Penguin and nodded. "We will drive to where the sea shall take us. Well, taking down an Emperor is also a good goal. So yes! Our goal is to take down Kaido!" Penguin nodded at his brother's words.

"That is some inspiring dreams you have Captain... I joined the crew initially to learn haki. Well, since we are competing on who has some good goals. Then, it shall be that I am known throughout the world! Mention of my name shall make them tremble in fear!" Caribou stated enthusiastically.

Coribou looked at his brother, this time he was properly staring at him. "Bro bro... I— I want to... Be with bro until the end."

Ikari then raised his hands to the sky. "Then, we shall drink!" he looked at Law. "Teleport a barrel of rum!"

"Room! Shambles!"

Ikari jumped down to the deck and poured a drink into his mug. "To our dreams! Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

"Oi! Bepo do not get drunk you're our navigator!" Penguin warned.

"Don't spoil the fun! We can get drunk! Bepo, drink!" Ikari handed him a mug filled with rum. "Good! Don't be so uptight... "

"But Captain!"

"Okay, okay. Don't drink too much, just a little... " Ikari said.

...

Meanwhile, in the Buen Marine Base, Rear Admiral Drake set up a meeting with the various Commodore from every available branch in North Blue.

"I have set up this conference for designating the bounty for these pirates. " Drake signaled a marine captain. "These are the photos that were taken and these upstarts have taken down 'Gunslinger' Gotti and Alderman 'The Barber'. They also stole the ship of 'The Magician' Hawkins, his status is unknown at the moment. But this man," he pointed at Ikari's photo. "Have said that he encountered their crew at Swallow Island with no means to set sail. "

"We cannot trust a pirate's word! They lie all the time. And it could be an elaborate trap. " a commodore voiced his opinion which somehow resonated with the others.

Drake glanced around. "It is unconfirmed but it is the only clue we have at the moment. I cannot be mistaken with their ship, they cut down the voodoo motif but it still had the signature of Hawkins. The ship has straws around the bow and stern. "

"If that is the case, then so be it. My branch is much closer to Swallow Island, I shall take a look. " the same commodore responded.

Drake nodded. "Since it has been assigned to. Determining the bounty of these men shall be the next discussion. " he tossed the wanted posters of Gotti, Alderman, and Hawkins. "He took down two of these pirates, while the other is to be determined. It is safe to assume that he also defeated 'The Magician' Hawkins and somehow stole his ship. "

"Hm. What about the vice-captain? And the other man. " asked someone in the crowd.

"Trafalgar Law has a devil fruit that can manipulate anything within his 'room'. It can only be the ope-ope fruit that went missing nine years ago. While Shachi was ordered to pose as a bounty hunter to claim the reward." Drake shared his findings, he somehow learned of Law's name through the Marine Headquarters. "The captain of the Crescent Moon pirates is known as Uzuki Ikari from Wano country."

"Wano? That closed country in New World? Why would someone from that other side of the sea come here in North Blue?"

"That is unknown. It is possible that he migrated from a young age. He's a pirate comparable to the supernovas that just entered New World, I can attest to that. " Drake then slapped the photos. "I suggest that his bounty should be the highest in North Blue. It seems that he intends to enter the Grand Line. They will feast on such a rookie. Anyone disagrees? ... None, then it is settled. "

"The vice-captain has the ultimate devil fruit, he is comparable to his captain. "

Drake sighed as he witnessed the battle nine years ago for the ope-ope fruit. "Vice-Admiral Tsuru valued such fruit that she dealt with Diez Barrels. Shachi can be ignored for now... Nothing is much known about him. "

"So, what is the final bounty to be put in place for these two pirates?"

"100,000,000 beli for Uzuki Ikari! 80,000,000 beli for Trafalgar Law! Send this information to the Marine HQ and World Economy News Paper."

...

The next morning, news coo flew to the skies with their latest issue of World Economy NewsPaper.

Law paid for the paper and unfolded it. He was about to check out the latest issue of Sora, Warrior of the Sea but today's headline caught his attention.

"Ikari! Come quick! You would not believe the headline for today's paper!" Law shouted.

Ikari came down from the crow's nest. "What got you riled up so early? Since when have you been reading headlines?"

"Take a look!" he showed him the unfolded paper.

['Fire Fist' Portgas D. Ace Becomes the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!!!]

Ikari only raised a brow. "So?"

"It is the D that I talked about. The enemy of the gods!" Law smiled widely at the mention of D.

"Hm. So is he the one that you have been waiting for?" he asked his enthusiastic crewmate. "Should we ally with him and attack Donquixote Doflamingo?"

Law frowned. "It is difficult to invite him. He's a member of an emperor. I'm sure that his every move is being watched as it is likely to be an order from Whitebeard..."

Ikari tapped his back. "I am sure that there are many D. in this world. If we enter a new world and still not found the man that you are looking for, we can just proceed as planned."