Chapter 02

He looked back at him as he walked, and gulped. The boy didn't seem to be hostile to him despite the display earlier. If anything, he should thank him for saving him from a potential beating. He was too intimidated at the moment to think of the ramifications of what the boy had just done. If those pirates were waking up in 10 minutes, they would surely run to Alvida, and the thought would have sickened him if he had been in a state of mind to worry about it. Instead, he opened the door and let the boy walk into the storage closet as if his life depended on it.

"Wow, thanks Coby!" He dove into a barrel full of apples and started inhaling them—that was the only description Coby could really use. If he was chewing at all, Coby couldn't see it. It was all a blur as he bounced from one side of the room to another and gradually emptied the supply closet of its precious food. Just when Coby was starting to wonder where on earth he put it all, the boy stopped, sighing as he visibly restrained himself and patted his stomach dispassionately. "It's not much, but it will hold me over. I should leave some room for meat."

Coby looked at him dubiously and found the courage to speak for the first time since the boy's introduction. "How much can you eat? Are you a glutton?" The boy looked at him and Coby froze, wondering if the slip had been a mistake. To his relief, the boy just laughed.

"Most would say I am," he admitted. "I have room for a lot more, but fruit doesn't do much for me. My body is weird. I need some meat, but this will be enough until I make it to the next island. I might have to stock up here, though. I haven't eaten in over a day."

Coby frowned as he interpreted "stock up" to mean "steal. He squashed the rising disapproval. This ship was filled with ruthless pirates, and as ashamed as he was to admit it, he was one of them. He had no right to look down on someone who stole from scum.

"Why have you gone so long without eating?" Coby asked. The boy just shrugged.

"A day isn't really that long," he answered. Normally he would be dismayed at the prospect of not eating for that long, but at the moment his thoughts were wandering to a certain man he would meet up with on the island he was visiting next. "But since you asked, I was at sea and quickly ran out of food since I had no idea where I was going until I finally spotted this ship."

That surprised Coby. He should have guessed that the boy was a sailor, but the more sane part of his mind assumed he had somehow snuck aboard from the civilian ship that Alvida was about to purge. He remembered suddenly that a conflict would begin soon, and settled for one last question.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, what was that thing you did back there? You knocked those guys out cold without lifting a finger." The boy smirked.

"Sorry. That's a secret. But you'll find out one day." Again with the vague responses. Coby nodded despite his lingering curiosity. Meanwhile, Luffy was internally wondering if he should just tell him. He didn't really feel like explaining the concept of Conqueror's Haki to someone who had yet to truly see the world. Even a small glimpse of its vastness might discourage the boy from pursuing his dream at this point.

"Oops," he said suddenly. "I forgot to introduce myself. Sorry." He stood up, and Coby nodded to convey his desire to know. He smiled widely and threw his hands up in the air. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The man who is going to become the Pirate King!" Coby's jaw hung loosely in response to the bold statement.

"Pirate King? Do you even realize what that means!?" he asked in shock.

"Yes," Luffy said simply. But Coby shook his head furiously.

"You're insane! Your desire is to stand at the top of this great age of pirates!" A hint of fear crept itself into Coby's voice at the thought of the boy he had unwittingly started to like dying a gruesome death." Don't tell me you're going to the Grand Line! Are you after One Piece!?" The boy nodded, confirming his suspicion. Coby continued shaking his head. "It's impossible, Luffy! Give up now before you get yourself killed! I know I just met you and have no right to order you around, but I don't want you to die a premature death!"

Luffy's held back from bonking him on the head, if only because Coby had worked up the courage to shout at him, something he wasn't sure he would have the nerve to do after Luffy kind of overdid it with testing his will. Instead he just gave the boy a confident smirk. "Not likely. It will be a while before things actually get dangerous, but I'll be ready when they do. Even so, if I die, I die. At the very least, I will leave my mark on this world."

Coby looked awed. He probably assumed that Luffy meant he was going to make a name for himself, and while that was inevitable, Luffy was thinking more along the lines of impacting the lives of his crewmates.

Technically, he didn't know them yet, which felt weird, but it hadn't been difficult to come to the decision that he would recruit every one of them. Luffy was no saint; he wouldn't go out of his way to help people he didn't know if he had no direct reason to do so. But with people who he knew as his comrades, people that he knew were suffering and had such bright potential for both goodness and greatness, there wasn't much of a decision to make.

"I wonder if I can be like that." Coby's quiet voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "I wonder if I can live with no doubts, confidently fulfilling my ambitions."

Luffy shrugged. "No reason why you can't."

Coby's fists were clenched and started shaking. "I have a dream," he whispered. "It's nowhere near as amazing as yours, but I wonder if I can do it." He looked up to meet the focused gaze of Luffy, who smiled widely.

"Only you can answer that one!"

But Coby continued on, ranting as if he'd been discouraged, which Luffy thought was hilarious.

"No, I will do it! I will become a Marine! A great Marine who follows the code of justice to the end! And I will stop pirates from wreaking havoc on the innocent!"

Luffy's smile grew even wider. "Does that include Alvida?" It was a calculated risk, he knew.

Coby's eyes widened in fear before the determination flooded back into them stronger than before. He took a deep breath, and shouted, "I will capture Alvida!"

There was a sudden crash and Coby caught sight of a giant mace sticking out of the ruined wooden wall. "I was wondering where the hell you were while the others were attacking our target. And here I find you aiding a bounty hunter and entertaining thoughts of mutiny!"

Coby stared in horror at the still smiling boy. Did he do that on purpose? Why? What would his motive be? He had essentially just gotten Coby killed for revealing his traitorous thoughts, but that didn't mean Alvida would have mercy on him! What was he trying to do?

Alvida addressed Luffy directly. "And who do you think you are, planting thoughts of treason into my gullible cabin boy? Do you know who I am, brat?"

Luffy looked at her, bored. "The biggest whale in East Blue?"