Leaving Louge Town

"Interesting~"

Witnessing how Luffy was smiling broadly despite being about to die, that was the only word Yuna could say.

In her long life, she had met quite a few people (men) that could raise her interest, and Luffy had just entered that list of people.

Obviously, she wasn't romantically interested in him, but just like Rock Lee in her previous life, she now considered Luffy an interesting character.

'Those that smile when they are about to die rarely have a boring life. I might actually join the Straw Hat Pirates just to witness the messes they will create all over the world~'

[I pity them, but whatever. Why did that idiot smile just now?]

'Well, I haven't known Luffy for long, so I could be wrong, but if I had to guess, then I would assume that there are two reasons.

The first one is that he was happy he would die in the same place and the same way as the one he was chasing after: The Pirate King, Gold Roger.

Mhh? Gold Roger? Hehe, how about Gol D Roger, hahaha!'

[Stop messing around. Just because you met one guy with "D" for his middle name doesn't mean they are common!]

'Hehe, I bet Roger gave the Marines quite a lot of his D, hehe~.'

[...]

'*Cough* Anyway. The second reason for Luffy smiling probably was that he died chasing after his dream. He tried, gave his best, and failed. However, throughout the journey, he had a lot of fun, so rather than mourning his failure, he remembered all the fun he had.'

[In other words, he is crazy.]

'Yup, completely bonkers.'

While the duo was chatting, Luffy got up from the rubble of the execution platform and dusted himself off. Despite being hit by lightning, he was perfectly fine due to the nature of his rubber body.

He had a brief conversation with Zoro and Sanji, who had managed to reach Luffy by now, and following that, all three started fleeing the plaza while Marines started flooding in.

As the trio was running away and fighting of Marines, Luffy noticed Yuna not standing too far away, still caressing Alvida's hand, who was currently still dumbfounded due to how Luffy survived.

"Oi, Yuna!"

"Idiot, don't drag her into this!"

"Stawhat Luffy called that woman's name; she must be part of the crew! Capture her as well!"

"Oops, seems like I got a target on me~ Sorry, Alvida, let's continue this conversation at a later time~"

After Luffy called her name, Zoro scolded him for drawing attention to Yuna, but it was already too late as the surrounding Marines had already noticed her, prompting her to leave as well.

Yuna quickly caught up to Luffy's little group of three, where Luffy laughed sheepishly while a bump grew on his head.

"Shishishi, sorry about that, Yuna."

"Mah, it's fine. I already raided the local Marine base anyway, so becoming a pirate is pretty much inevitable."

"""YOU DID WHAT!?"

"Hehe~ My hand slipped, and I accidentally plundered them. Hehe, oops~"

"""THAT'S NOT A SLIP OF THE HAND!!!"""

Yunna gave the trio a thumbs up for being perfectly synchronized before noticing a familiar woman block the path.

"Yuna! So you were a pirate!?"

"Oh? If it isn't little Tashigi. I'll deal with her, and you three can keep going.

"""Oh!"""

While Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji kept running toward the port where the Merry was anchored, Yuna walked toward Tashigi, who had already drawn her blade.

"I can't believe you were a pirate! Is that why you acted like that? You wanted to make fun of me!? To humiliate me when we meet again!? DIE!"

While swinging down her sword in anger, Yuna increased her pace and arrived in front of Tashigi far faster than Tashigi had anticipated, allowing Yuna to stop the swing before it could even start.

She held Tashigi's arms above her head with one arm while using some force to make Tashigi trip, ultimately pressing her against a nearby wall with her body.

*Splatter*

Suddenly, blood splattered to the ground due to... Sanji getting a nosebleed due to seeing two women pressing their breasts together.

Yuna saw that from the corner of her eyes and chuckled in amusement while raising Tashigi's chin with her hand, forcing her to meet Yuna's eyes while their noses were almost touching.

"Poor little girl, you assume so much about this world, and yet, you know so little."

[She said while only having reached this world a few hours ago.]

'Well, I might not know much about this world, but I have extensive knowledge about human nature.'

[While, weirdly enough, rarely acting like a normal human would.]

'Meh, all these people are always going for that weird common sense stuff. I never got that.'

[Indeed, you don't have common sense.]

"What are you talking about!? What is there to know about pirates!? They rape! They pillage! They murder! Obviously, pirates are horrible people and need to be captured!"

Hearing Tashigi's desperate yells, Yuna only shook her head while getting even closer to Tashigi's face, allowing Yuna to whisper into her ear.

"The world is wide, Tashigi. I know it's easier to see everything in black and white, but that is not how the world really is. Someday, your current worldview will collapse, shaking your mindset greatly. I hope your mind stays strong in those desperate times, after all..."

A shiver went through Tashigi's spine as Yuna breathed down her neck. However, suddenly, Yuna stopped talking and drew back a little, allowing the duo's eyes to meet again while making it possible for Tashigi to see Yuna's wide smile as she continued talking.

"... I still need to cash in that kiss~"

Hearing Yuna's words, Tashigi's face flushed a little as she remembered the bet she had made with Yuna, already regretting it a little.

Chuckling in amusement, Yuna took a step away from Tashigi while letting go of her hands, allowing her to fall weakly to her knees.

Yuna was just about to leave, but before she could do so, she felt Tashigi pulling on her clothes.

"Why are you treating me like this!? Aren't we enemies!? Why do you insist on humiliating me like this!? WHY DON'T YOU JUST KILL ME!? AM I TOO WEAK TO BE SEEN AS A THREAT!?"

As Tashigi's voice grew increasingly desperate and angry, Yuna could only scratch her head with a wry smile on her face. It took Tashigi a while to calm down, and as soon as she did, Yuna told her the reason why she acted like she did.

"Well, you still haven't figured that out? Quite the late bloomer, huh? Well, I do what I do because I think you are cute. I don't need more reasons than that."

"Eh!?"

Naturally, Tashigi was briefly stunned when Yuna gave her such a basic answer before her cheeks flushed red again.

"C-CUTE!?"

Seeing the utter confusion on Tashigi's face, Yuna decided it was time to go, and after blowing Tashigi a kiss, she quickly rushed away, leaving a dumbfounded Tashigi behind.

She increased her pace, hoping to quickly catch up with Luffy and his group, but after only running for a short time, she could already see them. Currently, Zoro and Sanji tried to dig themselves out of the rubble of a collapsed building while Luffy was on the ground with a white-haired man smoking two cigars sitting on his back.

'Well, let me guess: Smoker.'

[What came first? The name or the addiction.]

'How philosophical.'

Although she was talking with Kurama, Yuna didn't slow down and would be reaching Smoker soon. Smoker was currently drawing the weapon on his back, but at her current pace, Yuna was certain she would make it in time.

"Hmph, looks like your luck ends here."

""Or not.""

Suddenly, a male and a female voice spoke, and while a cloaked figure suddenly appeared behind Smoke and grabbed the hand that was about to draw Smoker's Jitte, the sole of a foot smashed into Smoker's face, sending him flying away, causing the cloaked figure to let go of the arm he was holding.

'Mhh, was that Haki? No, it felt a little similar, but it wasn't. What an interesting person.'

While the cloaked man inspected Yuna, she did the same to him, eyeing him from head to toe. After doing so for a few silent seconds, she grabbed Luffy by the gruff of his clothes and dragged him away.

"Strong but not an enemy. Don't know who you are, but thanks for trying to help. See ya later~"

As Yuna dragged Luffy away, the cloaked figure looked at her back and stroked his chin in curiosity. 

'Briefly. Very briefly, I felt an incredibly dense battle thirst leaking out of her. Seems like Luffy made quite an interesting comrade.'

"DRAGON!!! WHY DO YOU HELP THEM ESCAPE!?"

After Yuna and Dragon's brief interaction, Smoker managed to dig himself out of the wall Yuna had kicked him into and immediately recognized Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army and the world's most wanted man.

Hearing Smoker's words, a grin appeared on Dragon's face as thunder ominously rumbled in the sky.

"What reason do you have to stop a man from setting sail?"

Hearing Dragon's answer, Smoker gritted his teeth in anger while knowing exactly why he asked such a question and what it implied. The individual that reported Luffy was Nezumi, a Marine Smoker wouldn't even want to be in the same room with due to how disgusted he was by his presence. In conclusion, there was a high chance that Luffy had done nothing to earn himself such a high bounty. However...

"So what!? Marines capture Pirates; that's the obvious thing to do."

"Yes, that is how it has been for a long time now. However, the winds of revolution are blowing worldwide, and no one knows how the world will change during the coming storms."

Finished saying what he wanted to say, Dragon vanished from Smoker's perception, causing Smoker to grit his teeth in anger.

'Shit! I won't allow Strawhat to get away from me. I'll follow him to the Grand Line and capture him myself!'

As these thoughts passed through his mind, he couldn't help but wince while holding the cheek Yuna had previously kicked.

'Haki? No, she must have been able to hit me because Dragon was using Haki to hold my arm.'

Being satisfied with that explanation, Smoker nodded his head and started moving back to the island's Marine Base. While he was walking, he met Tashigi, who was sitting on the ground and leaning her back against a wall with a confused expression on her face.

"What are you doing here?"

"Eh? Ah, Smoker! S-Sorry, a lot of things happened, and I still need to work through them."

Hearin Tashigi's answer, Smoker only huffed out some air in acknowledgment. After all, he wasn't in a great mental state right now, either.

"Whatever, the Strawhats got away, and I'll follow them to the Grand Line."

"WHAT!?"

Initially, Tashigi was shocked due to Smoker's announcement, but her mood changed quickly as determination flared in her eyes.

"I'm coming as well! Next time I meet Yuna, I won't be so easily overpowered as I did today!"

Smoker nodded in approval as the duo made their way back to their Marine base, but while they were walking, a flustered person approached them. Initially, Smoker assumed it to be a civilian, but after giving it a closer look, he noticed it was actually a Marine.

'Why is he in civilian clothes?'

"Captain Smoke! I've finally found you! During your absence, someone attacked our Marine base and wreaked havoc there. No one was able to stop her."

""WHAT!?""

Obviously, the duo was shocked that someone would actually dare to attack a Marine base, so they quickly sped up to get there further while the Marine that reported to them tried to keep up.

"Tell me what happened! How many were injured? Are there any causalities?"

Hearing Smoker's question, the young man couldn't help but awkwardly scratch his head.

"*Cough* Well, there are no injuries and no causalities."

""Huh?""

Yet again, Smoker and Tashigi reacted similarly as they looked at the young Marine in bewilderment.

"What exactly happened?"

"Well, a single woman managed to sneak deep into our base without being noticed, but fortunately, a Den Den Mushi managed to spot her. Since the last batch of prisoners was already sent away, we rightfully assumed that she was aiming for our funds, so we prepared a trap for her and gathered many people.

We managed to trap her, but unfortunately, we vastly underestimated her capabilities. Despite being shot at by dozens of people, she calmly cut through every bullet approaching her without us being able to land a single hit.

Following that display of incredible swordsmanship, she vanished from her position, and before we understood what was going on, all the clothes we were wearing were cut open with surgical precision, leaving not a single scratch on our skin."

Hearing the Marine's explanation, Smoker and Tashigi could only look at him dumbfounded. Their first thought was that he was simply lying, but what would be the point of making up such a ridiculous report? After all, there apparently were dozen of people present to testify whether the report was true or not.

'Can there really be someone that skilled with the sword in this world?'

However, he quickly realized that there was no point in thinking about it. After all, what did he know about the monsters living in the later parts of the Grand Line and swordsmanship in general? Maybe reaching such a level of skill and precision wasn't uncommon in those places.

In the end, he could only discard those thoughts and concentrate on the now. The Strawhat Pirates were the first crew that managed to get away from him, so he would just concentrate on redeeming himself by going after them.

Tashigi, on the other hand, had slightly different thoughts, so she couldn't help but ask the question that had bothered her since she heard that the intruder had been a woman.

"What did that woman look like? Do we have a name?"

Realizing that he had forgotten to report about those details, the Marine coughed awkwardly before resuming his report.

"Yes, the invader was a woman with flashy blue and red hair. She introduced herself as Yuna."

Hearing the intruder's identity, Tashigi's guess that it was Yuna was confirmed, causing her frown to deepen.

'On one hand, she does something evil and attacks a Marine Base, and on the other, she hurts not a single soul during that attack. Did she want to teach me something by doing this? Why did she cut their clothes? Why did she do that?'

Of course, Tashigi was completely overthinking the situation. The only reason why Yuna raided the Marine Base was because she assumed that she would get something out of it. She didn't hurt anybody, because there was no difference whether she did or didn't and finally, she cut everybody's clothes, simply because she found it funny.

A few minutes passed, and by now, Smoker had assessed the damage and was back in his office. Although Yuna had stolen some money, the damage wasn't as bad as Smoker had assumed it would be. Well, Yuna was only a single person, so the amount she could carry obviously was limited if she wanted to stay mobile.

Shaking his head at these thoughts, he walked towards one of the pictures on the wall and removed it, revealing a small safe. He quickly opened it and removed the only object inside: A Log Pose, the device that made it possible to navigate the Grand Line.

'Mhh? I feel like this looks a little different, but I could be wrong. I haven't taken this thing out for years, so I guess I just remembered wrongly.'

Not thinking too deeply about it, Smoker quickly fastened the decide to his wrist and gave it another look. No matter how he looked at it, this looked a lit...

*SPLAT*

Out of nowhere, a cake hit him in the face, breaking off his train of thought while dumbfounding him greatly.

'What... the... f*ck?'