Chapter 59- Preparation
"What are your terms?" Franky asked. He wasn't the happy-go-lucky person he used to be after those two years, and he knew a Yonko won't just recruit a nobody like him out of the kindness of his heart.
"There are none. I simply want to recruit you as our shipwright, we don't have any ulterior motives" Luffy reassured Franky. "I don't buy it, I'm a failing leader of an almost extinct gang. What makes you think I'm a shipwright and a good one at that?" Franky didn't believe Luffy. "Ah, but that is only your current situation, what about your past?" Luffy asked him. "How did you figure it out?" Franky didn't attempt to hide it. If there was someone that could discover his hidden past, it was a Yonko.
"I'll tell you later. But for now, do you want to join us?" Luffy asked Franky. "I do," Franky said with little hesitation. His initial suspicion has disappeared, and joining the Straw Hats was perfect for achieving his goals. "Excellent!" Luffy finally let a big smile appear on his face. "We are just building our new ship, you should go to Galley-La and guide them," Luffy said. Franky couldn't believe his luck, he ran towards Galley-La as he sneakily took out a small notebook from his chest and looked at it with fire in his eyes. Thus, the deadliest ship, one that rivals Pluton itself, would be born.
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'Wow, I didn't expect Iceburg's death to affect him like that.' Luffy thought as he watched Franky's back. 'I'll have to watch him closely, I can't be sure that I've seen all the ways he was affected.' Luffy thought with sadness. "For now, though," Luffy pulled a Den Den Mushi out of his pocket and made a call
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The rest of the Straw Hats were exploring the city. "What are you looking at, Robin?" Sanji asked Robin as he walked beside her with excitement clearly present on his face, as well as little heart eyes that defied all logic. "The architecture, I find it fascinating. It serves as a quick transportation method and also as a way to get rid of all the excess water from Aqua Laguna." Robin answered as she stared with hints of curiosity at the nearby buildings and bridges.
The crew continued to explore, eating the local food, and visiting tourist attractions. Much to the horror of the civilians. "W-w-welcome." A horrified vendor said to the crew after the latter came to snack on his food. "Hello, we'd like 30 fried fish on a stick please," Nami said. "R-r-right away!" The seller stuttered and he began preparing the fish as his life depended on them.
"Thank you," Nami thanked the vendor as she had a sudden glint in her eye. "How much is it?" Nami asked in a deliberately intimidating tone, at least as intimidating as she could muster, but with the infamous crew standing right behind her she didn't need to put in much effort. In the end, the poor man told her it was on the house with a smile as he cried inside and wished for them to go. As they went on their way, Nami looked around for other potential targets.
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"Fleet Admiral!" A Marine stormed into Sengoku's office. "What is it?" Sengoku said with a relatively annoying face, which scared the Marine, as he continued to do his endless paperwork. He cursed Straw Hat Luffy, now he had so many damn documents to fill so that he could have a strong force on hand to send against him. The fact that Luffy didn't have a territory as of yet made it difficult to deal with him.
"U-um, Straw Hat Luffy has arrived at Water-7 and is currently preparing to build a ship. Marines stationed there are requesting urgent reinforcements." The Marine said as he got over his momentary fear. Sengoku had a bad feeling, and he didn't have much of those anymore. "Prepare two Buster Calls on standby, I have a bad feeling." Sengoku trusted his instinct as he ordered the man. "J-just to clarify, should the Buster Calls sail for Water-7 or only organize here?" The marine asked as two Buster Calls sailing for Water-7 with no real reason can ruin their relationship with the ship-making goliath.
"Have them be on standby here, but not sail as of yet. Also, notify Garp that I want him to be prepared to go personally, as well as Fujitora!" Sengoku ordered. "Right away, Fleet Admiral!" The Marine soluted as he ran to execute his orders.
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"He, you're pretty good now, brat!" Garp snickered as his fist collided with Fujitora, also known as Issho. During these two years, Issho climbed up the ranks with incredible ease and became an Admiral almost immediately. Despite his success, however, Issho still continued to be extremely humble, which bought him a huge amount of favor from the Marines. He continued to train with Garm and Aokiji day in and day out, which strengthened him even more. At his current state, he could even give Garp a challenge.
"Thank yo-" Fujitora was interrupted by the Marine who told them the news.
"God damned brat, guess he's finally back." Garp laughed. "He came back a week ago, don't you read the news?" Fujitora asked as he was curious as to how Garp didn't know about the return of his own grandson. "Oh, I don't read those pesky things. If there's something important, Sengoku knows he needs to tell me." Garp explained his genius way of abusing his friend in front of a bewildered Fujitora. "Hahaha! You really are good friends with the Fleet Admiral." Fujitora laughed as the pair began to prepare for their potential voyage.
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Hey guys, I hope you don't mind chapters like this since personally I really like character interactions over Battles and action. If you like this style, I could try and put more conversations in my chapters from now on. Anyway, hope you enjoied.