Chapter 16 - 80 Million Followers?!

『 Omniscient POV 』

Two days later.

At a certain part of East Blue, a seemingly large archipelago, called Gecko Islands, can be found.

The remarkable thing about this archipelago was, despite its large size, it only has two sloped hills, a single forest and several hilly landmark.

"Quick!! Chase after him!"

"We will not let you go this time!!"

"You old people are a thousand years younger to be able to catch me!! HAHAHAHA~!"

"Why you!?"

And on one of the islands of this archipelago, the citizens of a small hamlet, named Syrup Village, can be seen chasing after a young man who was laughing as the chase goes on.

The young man has a slim tan-skinned with medium-length black curly hair, prominent lips and a remarkably long nose.

He wears an olive green plaid bandanna on top of his head, a blue and white striped armband on his left arm, a brown rigid bib that was being divided by a white clothe tied on his waist, without any inner shirts, and had a satchel bag, with long strips, attached on his right shoulder.

"Where did he go?!"

"I swear, I just saw him here!!"

"Damn it!! We lost him again!!"

It seems like the statement of the young man was true as, despite being outnumbered, he was still able to escape his pursuers.

Despite their failure on catching him, however, the smiles that each citizens had on their faces was still there.

Showing genuine emotions such as excitement and joy.

And that smiles of theirs did not vanished even after they all returned to their hamlet and began their activities for this new day.

"I've done another good deed today! I've helped bring some excitement to this boring village and for that, I'm very happy."

Back to the place where they just came from, the young man finally came out of the bushes, which acted as his hiding spot, before he climbed up to a solid branch of a tree and laid there as he enjoy the peaceful silence that is now surrounding him.

"Oh! There he is!!"

"Huh? Oh, it's you guys!!"

That peace did not last long, however, as he suddenly heard a voice that was calling for his attention.

"Good morning, Captain Usopp!!"

"Usopp's Pirate Crew ready for action!!"

Seeing that the long nose teen, called Usopp, now had his undivided attention on them, the couple of kids, who was standing below the tree that Usopp had climbed at, exclaimed their everyday greetings.

With their wooden sword toys raised at their head level.

"Piiman, Ninjin, where's Tamanegi? Why only you guys are here?"

Usually, there are three kids who would play with Usopp, they are Piiman, Ninjin, and Tamanegi.

Thus, Usopp found it weird that the third one was missing and so, he asked the duo who he tought might know the answer to his confusion.

"If he's not here yet, then that probably mean he's still sleep right?"

"Uh! I think so too!"

But alas, it seems like they are also as clueless as him as even the young boys were wearing a confused expression as they response to him.

"How can he sleep so much?"

"Waaaa!!"

Their answers, however, were met with Usopp's skeptical words.

And it seems like his doubts were proven correctly as not even a second after he said his doubt, the trio heard the desperate shout of the person who they were just talking about.

"Thi-this is bad!! Pirates!! The pirates are here!!"

Then, when Tamanegi saw his three friends, he finally reveal the reason behind his cyrrent state.

After taking a few breathe, Tamanegi explained to them that he saw a ship that has a blank jolly roger on top of it, anchored at one of the coast of their village.

"""You're lying."""

Though, instead of being worried like him, the trio who heard his words just gave him a deadpan along with their words.

After all, it was the thing that their "Pirate Crew" were mostly known for.

"I am not!! If you don't believe my words then I will just show you all what I saw, follow me!!"

"Aughh~! My stomach hurts! I forgot to eat my breakfast!! Wait for me here, I will come back!!"

Hearing Tamanegi's determined exclaim, Usopp finally believed his words but instead of following the former person like he said, Usopp instead ran towards the village after his obvious acting.

"""Don't run away!!"""

Fortunately, Usopp had enough consciousness to not leave behind the three kids on their own.

"But if I don't eat a breakfast my disease which was called, don'teatbreakfastyoudie, will kill me!!"

"""You're lying!!"""

Despite that however, his reluctance about meeting the pirates that Tamanegi saw was still apparent in his words and mediocre acting.

"Captain aren't you always saying that you want to be a pirate?!"

"How can a pirate like you be afraid of other pirates?!"

"That's right!! And there are only four of them in their boat!!"

Unfortunately for him, the trio managed to use his greatest lie against himself.

Thus, making him unable to protest any longer.

"What..? Four? Are you sure?"

Thankfully, Usopp managed to hear Tamanegi's last words and so, his initial fear was slowly decreasing.

"Although their boat was quite large, I am sure that I only saw four people on it."

"Okay! Usopp's Pirate, let's move!! Let's fight for the village and peace!!!"

"""Yes Captain!!!"""

Although most people would criticize the 180 degree turn in Usopp's confidence, the trio just accepted that phenomenon as a normal occurrence and just went along with him before they chased after him.

And with that, the village boys of Syrup Village began their march towards the unknown pirates... unaware of the danger which would soon arrive.

『 Meanwhile 』

At the southern shore, Midoriya and the others can be seen eating the last servings of foods that they found in this boat.

That's right, their stock of food, which should've last a month, was about to disappear at any moment.

"Oi! Luffy that was mine!!"

"What was?"

"Luffyyy!!"

Of course, the reason for that was none other than the straw hatted pirate who was stealing the meals of his crew after he finished his own.

"Calm down Zoro, there are still some fruits left."

"That's right! So turn your noise down you two!! After all, we don't want to alert the people of this island!!"

Thankfully, Gaimon gave them some fruits before they departed his island and so, the crew still had some foods left.

Unfortunately, Midoriya knew that the amount of fruits that was given to them would not last than a day if they continued their current venture for the Grand Line.

And thus, they were once again anchored at the closest island of their previous location.

*Burp!*

*Burp~!!*

Some minutes later, all of the pirate crew finally finished their meals and so, the time to finalize their plan begins.

Sadly, despite how many times Midoriya and Nami screamed at them, the other two who was with them wouldn't listen to their words at all.

Because while Zoro was busy resting because of his night training, Luffy was fully emerged on looking around the place that they are in; he was acting like a child that had found a new playground.

If not for Midoriya's food threatening words, there's no doubt that Luffy would've been running around at the nearest settlement by now.

Because of that, the finalizing of their plan was left to the rational duo of the crew to do.

Fortunately, that did not last any longer than unnecessary because, after a short moment of conversation, it was decided that Nami would go with Zoro and Luffy to prevent them from getting lost while Midoriya will acquire some meats and other necessary things for them to survive the sea.

Then, not long after finishing their plan, everyone except the tired swordman finally left their boat, preparing to embark to their new journey on this island.

"Nami, I will be back as quick as possible, please take care of them."

"Of course, now hurry up and leave, so you can return sooner."

After making sure that he listed everything that needs to be bought and that their boat was properly anchored one last time, Midoriya decided that the time to leave had finally came.

"Take care, Izuku, don't get lost this time!!"

"... Sure thing."

Hearing Luffy's genuine concern, Midoriya doesn't know whether he was supposed to laugh or cry and thus, he only gave Luffy a deadpan before he replied to him.

After that, he quickly activated [ Full Cowling ] before he prepared himself, to fight against the air resistance, and some moments later, he jumped up in the air to finally go to his designated destination.

*Swoosh!*

Then shortly after flying, the lost hero began to slowly increase his speed.

And with that, Midoriya finally left the trio on their own as he flew away as quick as he can... unaware of the watchful eyes of another group hiding on top of a cliff.

『 Midoriya's POV 』

「 "Although it was never confirmed, Hatsume was always sure about the fact that reaching the last island would send him back to his home, and that's what I suggest you to do... go to the final island and see if there is something that can bring you back home. I know you still have many questions but that was the only useful clue that I can provide to you... and for that I apologize." 」

As I flew towards the nearest store that my gadgets found, I began to think about the last few words that I heard from Adeline.

Because of the story that she shared to me, and her words as well, I've decided to give it a try and reach that island with Luffy.

I'm sure that if All Might-sensei and the others were able to talk to me right now, they will be against it.

For one, because if I were to just look for it alone then I might just be able to find it.

But that was actually a bad idea because, well, the danger, culture, and many other things are still unknown to me and I'd rather explore those things with a trustworthy company than do it alone.

'Truly... Uraraka's advices were the best of the bests.'

As for the second reason... well, it's because Luffy's final destination was the same island that I had in mind.

Because, although it took me quite some time, I still realized that the island that Hatsume was trying to find was the same island that Gold Roger, the pirate king, had found.

And that island was also where One Piece was located, the treasure that every pirate was aiming to obtain.

'... Including Luffy.'

When I made up my mind about my new goal, I finally managed to fully accept my role as Luffy's first mate.

And so, I will fulfill that role to the best of my ability.

And as a first mate, the first thing I had to do, to ensure that our journey would be successful, was to make sure we have enough food to last us for a couple of months, as well as, acquire many other things.

'But first, I must buy some new bedsheets for our beds because the ones in the boat's cabins right now will not be healthy for us, in the long run.'

And with that thought in my mind, I once again accelerated my speed as I tighten my hold on the small bag of gold that I got from Nami, which was tied to my belt.

『 Omniscient POV 』

Several of kilometers away from the archipelago where Midoriya and the rest are, a small shaft can be seen carrying a masked man, who was covered in black clothings.

"Finally... I'm finally free once again."

As the shaft sail forward, the man seems to be bored as hell because he suddenly began to speak out his inner thoughts.

"And soon... I will be able to release my anger!"

Exclaimed the man as he subconsciously released his [ Intent ], which made the water organisms, that were close to him, to hurriedly swim away.

『 Several Minutes Ago 』

Back to the southern shore, as soon as Midoriya flew away, Zoro finally jumped out of their boat as well.

"What are those guys doing there?"

But after he did, he quickly noticed that some people were watching them and so, he asked that question to Luffy and Nami.

"Since when were they there?! What if they saw Midoriya flying away?! What would they think about us by then!?"

"Oh."

His revelation, however, seemed to had invoked a sense of panic within Nami as she asked those questions to him.

Of course, because of the fact that he had just came out of the boat, several minutes later than when Luffy and others did, he had no answer for her questions.

And so, he only gave the anxious navigator a deadpan as he released a single word from his mouth.

After hearing Zoro's bland response, Nami began to scream at him as she explains that they might have to go to a different island if that were the case.

"I am the great fleet leader Usopp, who is in charge of the security of this village!! It's best that you don't attack this place or else, you will have to face my 80 million followers!!"

"You're lying."

"Waaa!! I've been caught!!"

"See, even you admitted it."

"Did I really do that? Bad move, bad move indeed!"

Thankfully, it seems like her worries were for nought because after that short conversation, Nami quickly realized that the person who was previously watching them was just another idiot like the two at her sides.

'I will make you three pay for leaving me behind here!!'

Faced with a powerful foe, all that the long nose could do was clenched his fist and blame his friends when he remembered how they run faster than he could ever do when they were found.

"HAHAHAH~! You're funny!!"

"Don't underestimate me!! I am a man with a high self-esteem and I am known as the "Honorable Usopp"!"

But despite knowing that he is in a disadvantage situation, he refused to admit as a loser, which is why, he yelled at Luffy who was laughing at him in amusement.

"Okay, okay, we believe you! As for your village, you don't have to worry, we won't attack anyone here."

"She's right!"

"Really?"

Fortunately for him, Nami somehow believed his untruthful words before she said those words, along with Luffy's agreement, which calmed down Usopp by quite a lot.

"Yes, we're just here because we need some supplies for our journey."

"And for a new nakama as well!!"

His skeptical question were replied by the person who had yet spoken to him before the straw hatted pirate exclaimed their other goal.

Feeling that their words were the truth, Usopp decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and chose to spend some time with them, to hear some story so he could tell it to his friends.

「 To Be Continued 」