Preparations

"Meat..." Luffy muttered weakly as he was crawling on the desert with Crocodile in hand. He has been crawling for a while now while screaming 'meat' repeatedly.

"Nami... Vivi..... Kiss..." Luffy whispered as he spat away the sand that got into his mouth. He started tumbling down a sandy mountain while dragging Crocodile along with him.

"Meat..." Luffy whispered as his vision started blacking out. Suddenly, hands appeared out of nowhere and grabbed onto Luffy.

The hands threw Luffy back up to the sandy mountain he just rolled down. He groaned as he looked at Robin who just did that.

"Oh hey.....Is it me or did your outfit change?" Luffy wondered as he stared at what Robin was wearing.

On the inside, Robin wore a revealing cowgirl outfit consisting of a purple cleavage-exposing corset and matching miniskirt, both with white ornaments hanging from them.

And on the outside she wore a white fur-lined coat paired with a white cowboy hat and white high-heeled boots.

"Shishishishishi! It looks perfect on you, Robin!" Luffy gave her a thumbs up, but Robin wasn't here to get showered by compliments.

" Why do you fight? All of you who carry the name 'D'?" Robin asked him, making Luffy laugh.

"Hahahahahaha!!!! I don't know, Robin!! But I have to tell you, a simple letter means nothing. I fight for my dreams and for what's right." Luffy grinned at her.

" What about you, Robin? You must have a dream right? Everybody does. If not, what's the point of living? Dreams and purpose are what keeps a man and a woman going. So tell me, Robin. What is your dream? " Luffy asked her. Robin was in a dilemma.

'Should I tell him?' Was the question she repeatedly asked herself while she maintained her gaze with Luffy.

"I won't laugh at it Robin! Even if you don't have a dream, you can join my crew and we can all help find yours!" Luffy offered, surprising Robin a little.

'He would do that for someone he just met? I wonder.....what is going on inside that head of yours, Monkey D Luffy?' Robin wondered. Luffy was waiting patiently, something he rarely does.

"I....." Robin muttered out but didn't continue. Luffy brightened up, waiting for her to continue.

"I want to.... find and read the Rio Poneglyph and learn the world's true history. " Robin muttered out. Luffy's grin broadened.

" Shishishishishi!!! Your dream is dangerous and sounds borderline stupid if you don't have the power to match it up! And I'm all for it!! " Luffy grinned at her.

Robin felt kind of offended that Luffy would insult her dream so casually. But when she thought about it, there was some logic in it.

The Poneglyphs are large, mysterious steles with historical knowledge inscribed on them in an ancient script.

They are scattered among the islands across the world, and it is said that the only person left in the world who can read them is Robin herself.

It is rumored to contain the true history of the world including the "Void Century" of which research is forbidden.

In order to find it, one must take passages from the other Poneglyphs with them on their travels.

In the eyes of the World Government, they are dangerous artifacts.

However, despite the World Government declaring the Poneglyphs dangerous because of the weapons, the reality is that the ideals of the fallen Kingdom written on some of the stones are far more dangerous than any of the weapons.

Robin looked at Luffy who sat up and looked at her. "I've decided that you must join my crew! With such a dangerous dream, I would be stupid to pass up on a person like you!" Luffy pointed at her.

" Nico Robin! As captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, I want you to join us!! Join us so that we can accomplish our dreams together! " Luffy grinned at her. Robin was shocked at hearing his words.

" C'mon Robin, what have you got to lose?! It's just a yes or no question you have to answer which will probably change your whole life forever but let's not talk about that." Luffy grumbled. Robin remained silent.

" I don't... I can't do that....." Robin whispered, confusing Luffy who tilted his head.

" Why are you lying to my face, Robin? There's no harm in joining us? We aren't that bad. We train to get stronger, we eat to get stronger, we sleep to get stronger, we fight strong people to get stronger and we go on adventures to have lots of fun and create chaos while doing so. That's literally all we do." Luffy stood up and looked at her.

" So tell me Robin, what's holding you back to say yes?" Luffy asked her seriously. This was the first time Robin was pushed back into a corner with words. No one has ever come close to accomplishing a fraction of that.

Luffy smiled warmly at her. "You don't need to tell me why. But at least give us a chance." He held out his right hand.

" Give us a chance and I promise you that you will not regret sailing with us." Luffy offered. Robin bit her lip as she looked at his hand. It took a while, but Luffy wasn't backing down.

That's when Robin made her decision. She shook hands with Luffy. Luffy grinned at her.

"Alright!! Welcome to the crew, Robin! You won't regret your decision, I promise! I'm pretty surprised that you would switch sides so easily but the past is the past! Let's move on from it and focus on the present!!" Luffy grinned at her. Robin smiled a little.

"So Robin, what food do you like? Our chef Sanji is the best chef in the whole world! He can cook up anything, he only needs one word and voila, heaven. " Luffy asked her. Robin blinked and couldn't help but tilt her head a little. Was this really the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates that had a 200,000,000 Belly bounty?

"Sandwiches and not too sweet cakes." Robin replied, making Luffy nod.

"Okay then. Now that that's settled. Let's head to Alubarna and stop this shitty rebellion! Let's go— ugh..." Luffy suddenly groaned. He dropped back down on the ground and started tumbling down the mountain again.

Robin widened her eyes in surprise. She looked to see that Luffy's straw hat was on the ground and quickly picked it up.

She rushed down the mountain and ran towards Luffy who was groaning repeatedly. Suddenly, Pell who was in his human/falcon form landed beside Luffy and blocked Robin's way.

He unsheathed his sword and glared at her. "Now that I understand the nature of your Devil Fruit powers, I won't be taken so easily as before! " Pell shouted.

" Falcon..... " Luffy whispered weakly. Pell looked at him.

" It's alright, Luffy-san. I will protect you, even if it means sacrificing my own life." Pell smiled at him.

"No stupid... she's a part of my crew... So I would appreciate it if you don't fight her please..... " Luffy grinned weakly at him. Pell blinked.

" Ehhhhh?????"

.

.

"So somehow someway, you got her to join your crew. " Pell asked Luffy who was devouring meat after meat. Luffy nodded as his response, making Pell sigh and palm his face.

They were back at 'Rainbase'. No one was around, so Luffy told Pell to take every single piece of cooked meat in the market of the city and give it to him.

Robin was drinking a glass of water silently while she was looking at Luffy. 'He's so carefree. How can someone so carefree be so serious and powerful at the same time? ' Robin's mind was full of neverending questions about her new Captain. He was like an unreadable book.

"It's gonna be fine Falcon. I trust her. "

" How can you trust someone who was just your enemy not even a few minutes ago?! "

" Because I'm awesome!! Shishishishishi!!!! "

Nevertheless, even though he may be unreadable, Robin was going to make it her personal mission to make the unreadable Luffy readable.

"Ah..... I'm stuffed....." Luffy sighed in satisfaction as he patted his inflated belly. All of the sudden, the belly returned to normal, surprising Pell and Robin.

"I needed that! Now I need to train for a few hours!" Luffy looked at Pell.

"Falcon, do you have any steel blocks around here?" Luffy asked him, confusion Pell.

"There are a bunch of steel blocks in the city's warehouse. What do you need them for? "

" Oh, I just wanna punch them. "

" What!? "

.

.

Luffy had a large block of steel in front of him but he wasn't focused on punching that just yet. He was looking at his fists.

He wanted to activate Busoshoku Haki again. He remembered Ace's words about making your spiritual energy flow to your desired location and the feeling he felt when he activated Busoshoku Haki again when finishing off Crocodile.

Luffy closed his eyes and focused. Pell and Robin were watching him standing in front of the steel block without moving an inch.

Then, Luffy felt it, that feeling of power. He opened his eyes and they glowed bright red.

His arms were then clad in black coating. Robin widened her eyes in surprise. "Armament Haki. He has it already?!" She asked herself in shock. Pell meanwhile was absolutely stunned at what Luffy was doing.

Luffy who had his eyebrows furrowed, pulled back his fist. He punched the steel block, casually making a large dent with his right fist.

Luffy narrowed his eyes as he punched it up some more. "Haa!!!" Luffy shouted before punching the pulverized steel block.

*BAAM!!!!*

The steel block broke into pieces from his punches. Luffy grinned in satisfaction. 'Get ready world, you ain't ready for me! ' Luffy shouted in his mind before looking at the stunned Pell and Robin.

"Hey Falcon, can you bring me some more steel blocks?"

" A-ah, right away, Luffy-san! "

To be continued...