Chapter 135 - Alabasta 04.

[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]

Third Person POV

Alabasta, First Half of Grandline.

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After facing Smoker and an intense battle in the desert, Luffy, Ace, and Laboon were walking through the streets of Alabasta heading towards a meeting with the rest of the crew. The streets were restless; people looked around with worried expressions, still frightened by the explosions and the uproar caused by the brothers' clash.

"I think we overdid it a bit, Luffy. We're no longer those kids trying to punch each other on top of the mountain, right? Our fights have many consequences now..." Ace said, looking at his brother with a half-smile.

Luffy laughed, shaking his head. "Maybe we did, but everyone will calm down soon; it's been a while since the explosions stopped." His voice was light, but he cast a sympathetic glance at the agitated people around still wanting to know what was happening in that rain of flames.

Ace changed the subject, his curiosity evident in his gaze. "Hey, Luffy, you still haven't told me about Laboon. How did you recruit a whale that floats in the air like a mermaid, and is that its real size?" He gestured towards the whale, which floated peacefully next to them.

Luffy looked at Laboon fondly. "Ah, that was quite an adventure. When I met it, it was blocking the way of my ship, so I beat it up, and after defeating it, I won it over and used one of my special tricks. But look how happy it is now!"

"GRRRR!" Laboon emitted a soft sound, as if agreeing with Luffy, besides finally having a flock with her, she was expectant about meeting one of her old friends.

"Maybe you've seen it before, Ace, do you remember that giant whale that was at the entrance of the Grand Line? I found Laboon blocking the way there," Luffy explained, giving a friendly pat on Laboon's head.

"What? You mean Laboon is that giant whale that kept bashing against the rocks?" Ace asked, his eyes wide with surprise and disbelief. "Wait, you fought against it? It must have been about 400 meters!"

"Exactly, that same one. Now it's one of us," Luffy replied with a proud smile. "I managed to shrink its size; it was one of my tricks."

"Incredible..." Ace murmured, looking at Laboon with newfound admiration. "Only you, Luffy, could do something like that." He smiled, impressed with his brother's ability to make the impossible possible. Both arrived at the place Luffy had arranged to meet his crew.

"Luffy!" Kuina's voice rang through the air as she approached, followed closely by Zoro, Broggy, and Dorry.

"You finally arrived!" Luffy greeted with a wave, a broad smile on his face.

"We were training when the explosions started echoing through the city. Who were you fighting to have all those purple and red flames beside the city?" Kuina asked, crossing her arms, an eyebrow raised.

"Ah, that was between me and my brother here. He's a user of the Mera Mera no mi, the fire logia," Luffy replied proudly, pointing to Ace. "The fight was good, but as expected, I won, of course." Luffy laughed, slapping Ace on the back.

"You bastard..." Ace murmured, but he was smiling despite Luffy's victory. "Hello everyone!" He greeted the first to arrive.

"Looks like it was a spectacular fight, wasn't it, Broggy?" Dorry intervened, looking at the two brothers.

"Yes, Dorry!" Broggy responded enthusiastically.

"So you're the captain's brother?" Zoro looked at Ace with interest.

Soon, the other crew members began to arrive, one by one, each expressing their surprise and relief to see that, despite the explosions and the fight, everything was fine and Luffy hadn't damaged the city.

"Besides the explosions and the fight between you two, it seems everything went well..." Nojiko commented.

"So this is your brother, Luffy-sama?!" Shirahoshi asked, her eyes shining with curiosity and admiration.

"And you are my brother's crew, I hope he doesn't cause too much trouble!" Ace commented with a smile and then turned to Luffy.

"Hey, Luffy, you still haven't explained why you're with the mermaid princess. Pops wants to know why you captured her and how she ended up in your hands in the East Blue," Ace said, pointing discreetly to Shirahoshi, who was a bit curious about him.

Luffy laughed softly, shaking his head. "It's a long story, Ace, I'll tell you another time. Right now, we need to focus on following the plan. We need to get to Rainbase to deal with Crocodile," he said with a determined look.

"But Luffy, crossing the entire desert won't be easy..." Vivi intervened, clear concern in her voice.

Luffy smiled confidently. "Don't worry, Vivi. My ship is a bit different from the others. You'll see, the Black Pearl can even sail on the desert too!" He announced, leading the group out of the city.

"Did Vivi and Shirahoshi have any trouble?" Luffy went to Robin's side to ask if everything went well.

"Some agents tried to capture them, but I dealt with them all myself," she said with a small smile, and Luffy nodded, satisfied.

As they walked, Robin, always observant, spoke again: "But we have some members of the Baroque Works following us at the moment..."

Luffy stopped and turned to Hugo, one of the strongest members of his crew. "Hugo, can you take care of them?" He asked.

Hugo, with a serious expression, nodded. "Leave it to me, captain." Without hesitation, he moved away from the group, ready to confront the pursuers.

Hugo, using his Geppo ability, leaped through the air, displaying impressive agility. The group advanced towards the desert. The next moment, Luffy launched the Black Pearl, and the ship landed gently on the sand after returning to normal size, prepared for its unusual journey through the desert.

"Luffy, what kind of ability is that? I thought you had eaten a zoan fruit..."

"If you want to know, I'll explain it to you, Ace, but I'm a dual user of fruits," Luffy shrugged and boarded the ship along with the others, leaving Ace stunned.

As soon as Ace boarded the ship, he couldn't help but be stunned again, as for the first time, he saw that Jimbei was on Luffy's ship, and the fish-man was still tied to the mast of the ship, visibly beaten.

"Jimbei!!????" Ace exclaimed, shocked at the sight of Jimbei in that condition and ran to him.

Luffy looked at Jimbei and then at Ace, with a mischievous smile. "Ah, I caught him while we were approaching Alabasta and am trying to recruit him for my crew. But he's stubborn and doesn't want to accept," he commented casually, leaving Ace even more perplexed.

"What do you mean 'trying to recruit' him, Luffy? Release him right now!" Ace demanded, his voice taking on a more serious tone.

Luffy shook his head, firm in his decision. "He invaded my ship and started a fight. No matter what you say, Ace, I'm not releasing him now. He's my prisoner, and I'm going to keep him like that until we leave Alabasta."

Ace, frustrated and worried, looked at Luffy, trying to understand his brother's reasons. The rest of the crew watched the situation unfold, knowing Luffy had his reasons, but some like Shirahoshi and Hachi were equally concerned about Jimbei's fate.

"Looking at you now, Ace, it reminds me of something too..." Luffy suddenly smiled at Ace in a way the second division commander didn't like when Luffy disappeared from the spot and came to his brother's side without the latter being able to react.

"What are you doing?" Ace looked at Luffy, incredulous, as the captain of the Straw Hats slipped the SeaStone handcuffs onto his wrist. "Luffy, what does this mean..." he began, his voice mixing surprise and frustration.

Jimbei, watching the scene unfold, was surprised to see Ace there being bound with him. "Ace..." he murmured, not exactly knowing how to react to that unexpected situation.

Luffy, ignoring the protests, continued with his plan. "Ace, you gave me a great idea for a photo," he said with a mischievous smile.

"Luffy, what are you doing?!" Ace demanded, his voice increasing in urgency as he felt the strength of his Akuma no Mi being suppressed by the handcuffs and being pressed against the mast to join Jimbei.

"Hahahaha! It's for your own good, brother. You rely too much on your fruit. It's time to discover your own weaknesses!" Luffy said, tying Ace next to Jimbei. The determination on his face showed that he was serious, despite his laughter.

Chopper, with wide eyes, watched the scene. "Luffy is so relentless... not even his brother can escape him!" he commented, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Luffy! I swear I'm going to beat you as soon as I get out of here, I swear!" Ace shouted, his indignation clear in every word.

Luffy, however, just laughed, excitement shining in his eyes. "Relax, brother. It's just for a photo! I'll send it to your Pops. I want to challenge the strongest man in the world, and I'm going to do it by really provoking him. Hahahahahahahahaha!" His triumphant laughter echoed, while the other crew members watched, some laughing, others shocked, but all recognizing the unpredictable and daring nature of their captain.

As Luffy prepared the den den mushi, the group readied for a photo that would certainly go down in history, a portrait of brothers, with Luffy clearly pleased in his capture of the second commander of the Whitebeard pirates and Jimbei, a shichibukai of the government.

"Damn Luffy..." Ace grumbled, still struggling against the SeaStone handcuffs.

Beside him, Jimbei, equally restrained, shook his head. "Is your brother always this eccentric?" he asked, a mixed expression of disbelief and resignation on his face.

Ace sighed. "You should see our sister. Sometimes, she can be even worse." His words were powerless, but there was a trace of affection in his voice.

Luffy, ignoring the murmurs, took a photo of Ace and Jimbei tied to the mast. With a broad smile, he took Ace's Den Den Mushi and sent the image directly to Whitebeard's main contact. Luffy was aware that the photo could enrage the legendary pirate, but this didn't seem to shake him in the slightest.

Shortly after, Hugo returned, reporting that he had eliminated over 200 agents of the Baroque Works who were pursuing them. With the threat neutralized, Luffy decided it was time for them to depart.

"Set the sails, we're heading for Rainbase!" Luffy announced, and the Black Pearl began to move over the desert sand as if it were sailing on the sea waves.

"This is amazing, captain!" exclaimed one of the Straw Hats, their eyes shining with admiration.

"Black Pearl is so cool!" commented another, watching the ship advance through the sand.

"Sailing in the desert? That's so cool!" Usopp said, clearly impressed with the unique ability of the ship.

And so, with the crew gathered and the spirit of adventure renewed, the Black Pearl moved forward, sailing through the Alabasta desert towards Rainbase.

Somewhere in the New World, the news about the fate of Ace and Jimbei reached the Whitebeard crew, creating a wave of shock and disbelief among the pirates.

"Poops, this is terrible!" exclaimed one of the commanders, running across the deck to where Marco and the others were gathered.

Marco, with a look of concern, turned to the commander. "What happened?" he asked, sensing the urgency in his voice.

"Ace and Jimbei were captured by Monkey D. Luffy!" The commander extended the Den Den Mushi, showing the photo to everyone. The image showed Ace and Jimbei tied to the mast of Luffy's ship, with Luffy himself standing between them, arms crossed and displaying an arrogant smile.

A shocked silence took over the deck. No one could believe what they were seeing. The photo was bizarre, almost comical, but the gravity of the situation was evident in Jimbei's battered appearance.

Marco frowned, concern evident on his face. "This doesn't seem right, Ace always spoke well of his brother, and he even mentioned that sometimes Luffy was crazy, but this surpasses any expectation I've ever had of Ace's brother..." he commented, thoughtfully.

Other crew members murmured among themselves, trying to understand the possible reasons behind Luffy's actions. Whitebeard, who had been informed, approached, his gaze serious and thoughtful.

"This is a challenge," said Whitebeard, his deep voice resonating across the deck. "Monkey D. Luffy is trying to provoke us. We need to find out what's really going on. I'm sure he won't do anything to his brother, so let's wait for Ace to contact us again."

With that, everyone agreed with Poops, Ace had always said Monkey D. Luffy was unpredictable.

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