Chapter 6 The Devil of the East Blue

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Nami shouted at Luffy. He just smiled and answered.

"I cut it." said Luffy

Coby and Nami both looked at him with shocked expressions.

"HOW!!?" they both shouted together. Luffy's expression became slightly more serious.

"I'm sure you two heard me before, when that fat whale was trying to fight me." Luffy answered in a casual tone. "I am much stronger than anyone in this part of the ocean."

Both of them just stared at him. Luffy then turned towards Nami and asked her, even though he already knew, but he would rather ask now than later, to avoid an unwanted situation from happening. "What's your name?"

"Why should I tell a pirate like you?" She asked threateningly. Luffy stared at her with half opened eyes.

"You know, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it long ago." he says.

"I... I..." Nami stuttered.

"And besides, I don't like hurting people when it's not necessary," he continued, cutting her off.

Nami's face turned confused.

'But he's a pirate! Damn pirates! ' Nami screamed in her mind.

"By the way, what's your name?" the man asked again, pointing at her.

"N-Nami." She stammered. Luffy then just smiled.

"Alright, Nami, Coby!" he said and looked at the two of them. "Take me to Shell city!"

------------------------------------------------

A few minutes and a bit of conversation about Zoro later....

------------------------------------------------

"Bye, everyone. This is where we part ways!" Nami said. Luffy just smiled at her.

"Don't worry, Nami. We will meet again." he said to Nami casually and walked away before Nami could say anything. Coby just shrugged at nami and ran after Luffy.

"So what-" Coby opened up the conversation.

"When we meet again, Nami will join me." said Luffy as Coby walked beside him. Coby stared at him in disbelief.

"He hates pirates, Luffy-san." said Coby. Luffy just smiled.

"Obvious." replied Luffy. "Obviously he's suffered from pirates."

"What? How did you know?" asked Coby, wide-eyed. Luffy looked at him and just shrugged his shoulders.

"Anyway, let's go meet this Roronoa Zoro who is said to be the strongest in east blue!" said Luffy. "He will join my pirate crew!"

Coby still couldn't believe it was going to happen.

"But he is a Pirate Hunter! A Pirate Hunter! He will kill you!" Coby shouted.

*BONK*

"Coby, don't be so narrow-minded."

"There are good pirates and bad marines. I've met both." Coby just stared at him in disbelief. But the more he thought about it, the more his words made sense. Then Luffy suddenly stopped and turned to him.

"You think I'm mean, Coby?" he asked in an almost whispering tone. Coby thought about it for a moment and then answered.

"No" he replied. "I'm not sure, but you haven't done anything bad as far as I know."

Luffy smiled brightly and kept walking. Coby walked beside him.

"That's good. You really should take the time to decide for yourself what to believe, Coby." he answered after a moment of silence.

"By the way," he continued. "Do you know the pirate known as 'Red-Haired' Shanks?"

Coby nodded. "Of course. He's very famous. But I hear he's a monster."

Luffy nodded, but then took off his hat.

"Did you see this hat? He gave it to me." he spoke, holding his hat in front of him. Coby is surprised that his new friend has met such a famous pirate.

"Really?! What's he like?" Coby asked him. Luffy put his hat back on his head and turned to Coby.

"He's a very funny guy. Very kind. He stopped in my hometown for a year. Didn't cause any trouble at all" Luffy replied. "The devil fruit I have, the Gomu gomu no mi, is actually his. I ate it by accident." Coby stiffened at the thought of what if he accidentally ate the Yonkou's rare devil fruit.

"How was his reaction?" he asked.

"He's annoyed." replied Luffy. Coby nodded. It was understandable for someone to be angry that someone else had accidentally eaten his 100,000,000 Berry treasure.

"But not because the fruit is his treasure." Luffy continued, shocking Coby into disbelief at his words. Coby stopped and looked at him. "He was upset that I would never be able to swim again. I bet his reaction was unbelievable."

Coby just nodded like an idiot.

"But it's true. Regardless, we've arrived!" said Luffy. He jumps on the wall to find Zoro and Coby reluctantly following him. There was already a ladder on the wall and he was using it. They looked around for a bit and then Luffy saw a familiar sight.

------------------------------------

Flashback:

"Leave this man to me, Captain!"

-----------------------------

"That's Zoro." he whispered, beckoning to the man, who was tied to a cross. There was a little girl in front of him. "I'm pretty sure they starved him. And the girl must have brought him some food."

Coby and Luffy watched as a blonde haired youth came over, and Luffy had to restrain himself from running up to him and punching him in the face, repeating the words 'He'll be a good man!' on his head. He watched Coby's belief in Marine's absolute truth crumble before his eyes when Helmeppo kicked the girl's rice ball and threw her against the wall.

Luffy caught her precisely, using only one hand that stretched out without moving from where he was and put the girl down. He watched as the blonde jerk kicked Zoro a few times and then walked away.

"Thank you mister!" the girl told him with a smile.

"Shishishi, no problem. By the way, I'm Luffy and this is Coby!" he answered, pointing at himself and then at Coby.

"I'm Rika!" said the girl.

"So, I guess Zoro isn't a bad person, huh?" Luffy asked already know the answer.

"NO!" the girl shouted, but then continued in a normal tone. "He saved me from Helmeppo's dog, that's why he was there."

Luffy just smiled.

"You can tell us everything later." he said kindly. "Please wait for me here, I want to talk to Zoro for a moment."

They nodded and he jumped over the wall. He approached the bound man, ignoring the unpleasant smell around him, and when he got very close, the man finally noticed his presence.

Zoro looked at him, checking with his eyes. The young man approaching him looked harmless at first glance. He looked like any normal teenager, except for his two scars, his aura that radiated strength, authority and… suppressing his strength? A stark contrast to the man's appearance.

"Who are you?" he asked, glaring at the man with his most evil gaze. The man looked completely unfazed. He still had a bright smile on his face as if he was looking at his own friend.

"My name is Monkey D Luffy!" The Straw hat boy answered simply. "I'm here to recruit you into my pirate crew!"

Zoro stared at him for a moment, but then chuckled.

"No way. I'm not going to be a pirate. I'm not a bad person!" Zoro answered simply, but didn't snap at the man, much to his own surprise. Zoro usually doesn't react this well when he receives an invitation like this. Usually he would snap or even slash anyone who dared to say such a thing. But this guy is different... or maybe he's just hungry...

"I know what you want, Roronoa Zoro." said Luffy. "But you won't become the greatest swordsman by staying in East Blue."

"Hey, how did you-"

"That's very clear." Luffy interrupted. "The wandering swordsman Roronoa Zoro, who goes around hunting down Wanted criminals, but doesn't join forces with marines, pirates, or any other group. It's pretty obvious when you think about it a little more."

"Then what do you propose, pirate?" Zoro asked, spitting out the last word like a curse.

"It's actually very simple." said Luffy and Zoro raised his eyebrows, attracted by what the man would say. "Don't get me wrong Zoro, but you are far from weak to even threaten Sir Dracule Mihawk of the Shichibukai."

His words made Zoro very angry and he started kicking furiously, as if he could hit Luffy.

"Why did you come here?" he finally responded angrily, glaring at Luffy with a dangerous gaze. "Have you come to ridicule my ambition?"

Luffy was unhappy that Zoro thought he insulted him.

"No Zoro, not at all." Luffy finally answered with a sigh before Zoro got angry again. "You are not weak Zoro. And your ambition and your will to fulfill it is admirable. And you are without a doubt the strongest swordsman in East Blue right now, but sadly that counts for nothing on the grandline."

He looked at Zoro carefully and he was glad he calmed down a bit.

"Become my first mate and right hand Roronoa Zoro!" he continued. "You will be able to fight many swordsmen and grow stronger! And I will help you train if you want, teach you a few things."

He grabbed his sword which was still in its scabbard and pulled slightly.

"I have pretty good swordsmanship myself." said Luffy. Zoro looked at him for a while, considering his words.

"How do I know, that I'm as weak as what you say?" he finally asked in a calm voice.

Luffy smiled and replied "Zoro can you cut iron? Can you cut steel? Can you use sword energy to cut something? Can you cut a ship in half?"

Zoro looked at him in confusion.

"Of course not!" he snapped. "It's all impossible to do!"

Luffy shook his head.

"That is the minimum strength you must have, if you want to fight Hawkeye" he said and Zoro looked at him in horror.

"If you still don't believe me, join me for a while. I got information that Dracule Mihawk recently attacked Don Krieg's fleet. They will surely return to East Blue. And he will follow them. You will be able to see for yourself how big the difference is, between you and him."

"Seriously?" Zoro asked with wide eyes. "He came here?"

"Yes. So how was it?" he asked. Zoro is now eager to accept his offer, but he still has a dead end.

"You know I might join you." Zoro answered after being silent for a while. "But I can't go yet. I have a promise to keep. I have to survive for a month without food and those bastards will let me go."

"Ah, Rika said something about that. But that guy doesnt seem like the type to keep his word" said Luffy.

"*haaaah*(sigh) Look, I don't break promises." Zoro said in a calm tone and Luffy smiled at those words. "If he tries to kill me or says he broke his promise, you can step in. But not before that happens."

"Then I guess I'll see you later, First Mate!" he chuckled.

"Hey, I didn't even say I'd actually join!" shouted Zoro, but Luffy just smiled and ignored him. After that, Zoro asked him to hand over the dirty rice balls, which Luffy did.

Luffy then jumped over the wall and went to meet his two friends at the bar. There he met a familiar red-haired woman who waved at him, and she ignored him. Rika tells them all about Zoro and then Helmeppo enters the bar and foolishly declares that he will execute Zoro. Luffy of course punched him as before, not forgetting to hold back his strength and not using his haki, but still managed to break a few of his teeth.

"Coby, Zoro will be my first crew member."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Why is Luffy saying all this nonsense about zoro's weaknesses and stuff? Because he wanted to ask Zoro to join him and he wanted to make the offer as tempting as possible. Another reason is that he didn't want Zoro to actually challenge Mihawk too soon, because he knew he would be humiliated. But he won't get in the way if Zoro challenges him first.