Chapter 13

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East Blue 

Somewhere in the middle of the sea 

Despite saying they would only travel together for a short time, Nami and Luffy spent the last month before the canon hunting and robbing pirates across the East Blue. 

Since Luffy didn't care much about money, Nami kept all the loot they stole. 

During this month they spent together, Nami and Luffy grew quite close, and although she didn't want to admit it, Nami became fond of Luffy. 

She felt so comfortable around him that she started teasing him, saying he wasn't a pirate but an explorer and savior, which clearly irritated Luffy, leading to scenes where our dear Captain pouted for most of the day or ignored Nami like the drama queen he was. 

This only made Nami tease him even more; maybe it was also because Nami found Luffy incredibly cute when he pouted and got all huffy like a child. 

=Scene Break= 

"Alright, Luffy, you create some kind of distraction while I rob them", Nami whispered, hiding in some bushes next to Luffy as they observed a pirate crew that had made this remote island their base. 

"Leave it to me, Tangerine", Luffy said, pointing at himself confidently. 

"I'm going in", Nami said, sneaking toward where the pirates kept their treasure. 

"Where do they keep the food? I'm starving", Luffy murmurs quietly as he walks toward a warehouse, not caring if anyone sees him or not. 

As soon as he opened the door to the warehouse, he found four people who immediately looked at him as soon as the door was opened. 

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Luffy asked, "Huh, who are you guys?" 

Three of the four responded by shouting at Luffy, "WHO ARE YOU, YOU IDIOT?" 

At that moment, the fourth person, who hadn't spoken until now and seemed quite worried, positioned himself between Luffy and the three pirates and said to Luffy, almost shaking with fear, "R-run quickly, I'll hold them off." 

Suddenly, a large club came flying through the air and completely destroyed the warehouse they were in. But Luffy, seeing the attack coming from a mile away, acted quickly, grabbed the pink-haired boy who had tried to protect him, and using a bit of Soru, the two appeared in another part of the island. 

Then, a tall and fat woman wearing a white cowboy hat appeared, yelling at the three pirates who were slowly crawling out of the wreckage, "What's all this racket? Are you idiots slacking off?" 

The three quickly kneeled before her, apologizing and saying fearfully, "Of course not, Miss Alvida, it's just that Coby betrayed us, he just brought a strange muscleman." 

"Coby betrayed us? Could this man he brought be after my bounty?" 

"Could it be him? The one with the swords", one of the three pirates asked. 

"I don't know, I heard he was captured at the Marine base in Shells Town", another pirate said. 

"It doesn't matter if he was captured. If this Roronoa Zoro is as good as they say, then he must have escaped by now", Alvida said thoughtfully. 

Suddenly, one of her men came running up, out of breath, and said between heavy breaths, "Miss Alvida, someone stole all our treasure." 

"Urgh, Roronoa Zoro must not be alone. Call everyone, search the island for Zoro, Coby, and his sneaky accomplice", Alvida said, irritated, only to realize that her men were still there, not moving "What are you waiting for, you incompetents? Go after them now." 

"YES, MISS ALVIDA", they saluted and ran off to do as they were told. 

=Scene Break= 

Coby, who thought this was the end for him, was screaming before opening his eyes and becoming confused, "AAAHHH, huh, what happened?" 

"I saved you from getting hit by a club", Luffy said, leaning against a tree. 

"Oh, thanks for that", Coby said, scratching the back of his head. 

"Anyway, my name is Luffy, what's yours, Glasses?" 

"Nice to meet you, Luffy, my name is Coby—", Coby started to say before realizing the situation they were in. 

"Oh no, if Alvida and the others find you, they'll kill you. Come, I have a small boat; you can use it to escape", he said, dragging Luffy toward where the said boat was located. 

"Relax, Glasses, if there's one thing I know how to do, it's beat up idiots", Luffy said, following Coby. 

When they reached the place where the boat was, Luffy looked at it and said, "Is this patched-up coffin the boat you were talking about?" 

"Yes, I spent two years building it in secret, but I... I'm not going to use it, so you can use it to escape", Coby said, looking sad. 

"Why don't you want to use it anymore?" 

"I... I wanted to escape with it, but I can't gather the courage, even though I still have something I want to do outside of this place." 

"Well, if you have something you want to do elsewhere, take the boat and get out of here." 

"No way, just imagining what would happen if Alvida caught me fleeing gives me a stomachache and makes me want to crap myself, plus my legs turn to jelly at the thought", Coby said, shaking his head frantically, his whole body trembling. 

"How did you end up in this situation anyway?", Luffy asked. 

"One day I went fishing and accidentally boarded her ship. To survive, I've been serving as a helper for the past two years." 

"Wow, besides being a coward, you're dumb as a post. I don't like you, Shishishishi", Luffy said, scratching his head while laughing at how pathetic Coby was. 

A weakly laughing Coby, who seemed like he had been hit by a bunch of imaginary arrows shot by Luffy's blunt honesty, said, "You didn't have to be so blunt, but you're right. If I were braver, I could—", Coby started to say but stopped mid-sentence. 

"...Sigh... what's your dream, Luffy?" 

With a big smile, Luffy responded, "I'm going to find the One Piece and become the King of the Pirates." 

Hearing Luffy's dream, Coby practically went into a frenzy of concern, "Are you crazy, Luffy? You'll die if you go after the One Piece. Every pirate in the world is after it." 

"Well, I'm after it too", Luffy said, starting to get annoyed with Coby. 

"No, it's impossible, there's no way, becoming the King of the Pirates, especially in the great pirate era, is an impossible feat—", Coby was then interrupted by a punch to the head, which made a bump instantly appear. 

"Argh, why did you hit me?", Coby asked, rubbing the spot where he'd been hit. 

"To get you to stop being annoying." 

"Besides, I'm not afraid of dying. I'd rather die chasing my dream than live stagnant in some random place, tormented inside with regret for not following my dream. No, living like that is worse than death", Luffy said, holding his straw hat. 

Coby stared at Luffy, stunned, for a moment before saying, "I want to join the Marines." 

"Marines?" 

"My dream is to join the Marines. I know we'll be enemies in the future, but I want to protect and serve the less fortunate. That's always been my dream", Coby said, starting to look determined. 

Luffy looked at him for a moment before a smile appeared on his face, and he said, "Then what are you waiting for? Go for it, Glasses." 

Suddenly, a tired-looking Nami appeared, carrying a giant sack that seemed very heavy. 

"Hey, Tangerine, this is my new friend, Glasses. He wants to join the Marines", Luffy said as soon as he spotted her. 

Nami, irritated, caught her breath and then scolded Luffy, "You, you idiot, do you have any idea how many times I had to run with this heavy thing to lose those pirates because the stretchy idiot here didn't do what I asked?" 

"No, how many?", Luffy asked curiously. 

"A LOT", Nami shouted, pulling and twisting Luffy's ear. 

After they calmed down, Luffy introduced Coby again, "Anyway, this is Glasses, my new friend. He wants to join the Marines." 

"Marines, pirates, they're both crap", Nami stated without much care. 

Despite finding her scary, Coby tried to argue, "Hey, the Marines protect people, don't compare them to pirates." 

"Glasses, the world isn't just black and white, my man. In reality, the world is made up of various shades of gray. Not every Marine is good, just like not every pirate is bad. It doesn't matter what race, Humans, Fish-Men, Minks, it doesn't matter who they are, people have infinite potential to do both good and evil. So, get it through your head that the world is more complex than everyone says it is", Luffy said, glancing slightly at Nami when he mentioned the Fish-Men. 

Nami stood there, stunned, for a moment before saying, "Who are you, and what have you done with Luffy?" 

"What's your problem, girl?" 

"No way the Luffy I know would say something that smart." 

"Go to hell, you sausage water hair, you've only known me for a month", Luffy says, pouting irritably. 

"That's more than enough time to know that not a lot of intelligent stuff comes out of your head." 

"Oh yeah? I... I... I'm not answering you because I don't want to hurt your feelings", Luffy says, trying to come up with a comeback but failing miserably. 

Suddenly, they find themselves surrounded by a bunch of pirates, with Alvida appearing in front of them. "Well, well, well, it looks like we've finally met, Roronoa Zoro. It seems you managed to escape from the Marine base in Shells Town. I know you're after my bounty, but I can forgive you if you join my crew", she says, drooling over Luffy's exposed muscles. 

"Who's this walking cement mixer, Glasses? And you've got the wrong person. My name is Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will become the King of the Pirates." 

Then all the pirates, along with Alvida, start laughing uncontrollably at his declaration, with Luffy joining in the laughter because he found it funny, even though he didn't understand why they were laughing. 

Seeing Luffy laughing along instead of getting mad at them for mocking his dream, Nami starts to admire and respect him for being himself. Coby, on the other hand, becomes even more determined to follow his dream. 

When Alvida stops laughing, she turns to Coby and asks seriously, "Tell me, Coby, who is the most beautiful woman on all the seas?" 

"Definitely not you, you meat balloon", Luffy says, pointing at her. Nami beside him tries to hold back her own laughter, but not very successfully. 

"Oh my God, he said it." 

"I can't believe it." 

"That brat is dead." 

All around, the pirates whispered among themselves. 

Remembering the conversation he just had with Luffy, Coby looks directly into Alvida's eyes and shouts, "Miss Alvida is the fattest bitch, with the most accident-prone face, and toothpick legs these seas have ever seen! It's like a pair of whales had a fight in their relationship, and the only way to make up was to have hate-fueled sex, and the result of that botched hookup was Miss Alvida. She's so fat that her legs should receive a Nobel Prize for the sacrifice they've made carrying all that weight for so long. She's so big and fat that if you get too close, you're in danger of this planet's gravity pulling you in, If a black hole were to swallow this planet - I mean, Miss Alvida, she might not fit in there and get stuck!" 

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA", Luffy starts laughing, rolling on the ground from laughing so hard. Even Nami couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. 

Furious, Alvida attacks Coby with her club while screaming, "You little shit!" 

Luffy suddenly appears in front of Coby, easily catching the club while Alvida applies all her strength trying to move it. 

Luffy then says, still wiping away tears of laughter, "Coby wants to be a Marine, so back off." 

He then lightly punches Alvida, which was enough to send her flying to infinity and beyond. 

Luffy then turns to the pirates, who are trembling with fear, and says, cracking his knuckles, "Does anyone else have a problem with Coby?" 

"No, sir." "You can take whatever you want, sir." "Just don't kill us." 

The pirates replied one after the other. 

After that, Nami, Coby, and Luffy set off on Luffy's boat towards Shells Town. Coby to enlist in the Marines, Nami to steal a map of the Grand Line that the Marines were rumored to have, and Luffy to recruit Zoro into his crew. 

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(AN: 2,108 Words)

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