Chapter 7

East Blue - Americas Archipelago 

Somewhere in the middle of the sea 

After spending some time watching Reiju continue her research on a new poison she was developing and asking questions every few seconds like a curious child, Luffy got bored and decided to go get his training equipment (a sea stone bracelet) that he wasn't wearing at the moment. 

"Bubblegum, I want to grab some things from my boat. Can you show me where it is?" 

"Sure, just a second", she said, organizing her workstation before guiding him to where his boat was docked. 

When they arrived, Luffy found Chico completely chained up, struggling to break free. 

He turned to Reiju, with tears welling up in his eyes and his cheeks puffed out, "Bubblegum, why is my friend all chained up? Let him go, or we won't be friends anymore." 

"This was the only way to get him to dock, but I'll have him released if he doesn't attack anyone." 

Luffy approached Chico, who noticed him and calmed down, visibly relieved. 

"Chico, buddy, they're going to let you go, but you have to promise me you won't attack anyone." 

Chico nodded with some effort. 

Reiju then ordered her servants working at the port to free the Sea King from his chains. 

Although reluctant, the servants did as she said. 

After being freed, Chico turned to Luffy, whimpering, "Phew, Chico thought Lu had died or had been kidnapped by bad humans, then these tiny humans caught Chico, and Chico couldn't do anything to save Lu." 

As Chico cried, recounting his traumatic experience, Luffy patted his head, calming him down. 

Reiju and her servants just stood there, bewildered by the strange scene unfolding before them. 

Once Chico regained his composure, Luffy introduced him to Reiju. "Chico, this is my new friend I made. She cured me of poison and gave me food. Her name is Bubblegum, she's a princess, and she joined my crew." 

"I didn't join your crew, but it's a pleasure to meet you, Chico." 

"Pleasure to meet you, Princess Bubblegum. Chico thanks you for saving Joy Boy." 

"You're welcome, you're welcome", Reiju said, even though all she heard were grunts and growls. 

"Wow, you also have the Voice of All Things, Bubblegum?" Luffy asked excitedly. 

"No, why? What's that?" she asked, confused. 

"Well, then how did you understand Chico?" 

"I didn't understand him, I just guessed what I thought he said. Did I get it right?" 

"Oh, that makes more sense, shishishi. Yeah, you got it right, he thanked you for saving me." 

"Wait, you can understand him, Luffy?", she asked, surprised. 

"Yeah, I can. It's called the Voice of All Things. It lets me hear what animals and inanimate objects say." 

"Now, that's something surprising. I didn't know something like that existed." 

"Cool, huh? Anyway, I want to train. Can you help me with that?" 

"Sure, I'll finish my research later." 

"Great", Luffy then entered his boat and grabbed a sea stone bracelet before following Reiju while putting it on. 

They arrived at a huge, highly technological training room inside the castle. 

"Alright, let's rumble", Luffy said, cracking his knuckles. 

=Scene Break= 

After taking the worst beating of his life, a bruised and swollen Luffy lay sprawled on the floor. 

Meanwhile, Reiju, who barely broke a sweat or moved from her spot, said, "Someone who's never even stepped foot on the Grand Line but can use all three forms of Haki plus Soru is pretty unusual." 

"You haven't seen anything yet. If I wasn't wearing a sea stone bracelet, I'd be like Captain America and could do this all day", Luffy said, his voice strange from being all swollen. 

"Who's Captain America?" 

"A guy who wears a costume and fights using a shield." 

"Oh, anyway, it doesn't seem like you'd have the stamina to handle a woman like me", she said with a playful smile, trying to provoke Luffy, who didn't get the joke and simply responded. 

"If there's one thing I have, it's stamina. I could easily handle you. Actually, it'd be more likely for you to get exhausted before I do", Luffy said, not realizing the sexual connotation in his words. 

Reiju, slightly blushing and surprised by the boldness of the seemingly innocent boy in front of her, said, "Uhh, so the boy I thought was innocent is actually a beast in bed?" 

Luffy looked at her, confused "What are you talking about—", in the middle of the sentence, he realized what she meant and tried to hold back his laughter, failing miserably "Ahh, pfft, you thought when I said I had more stamina than you, I meant sexual stamina? Shishishi, I didn't know you were such a pervert, Bubblegum. But then again, who wouldn't have perverted thoughts in front of such a hot human specimen like me?", The more he spoke, the more she blushed, not used to being teased instead of teasing. 

=Scene Break= 

After spending some time training with Reiju, Luffy got hungry, and they went to eat. 

After eating, Luffy asked Reiju, "How long will it take for us to get to the island, uhh, what's the name of the island again? The one you said has the kingdom of USA." 

"The island is called America, the same name as the archipelago. It'll take about three days to get there, but we'll stop at one of the islands a day away to resupply, and then we'll head to America Island." 

"This next island we're stopping at, does it have anything fun to do?" 

"I've heard it has a lot of beautiful beaches, alligators, and amusement parks", the more she spoke, the more Luffy's eyes lit up with excitement. 

"When we get there, I want to play beach volleyball, take a picture with an alligator, ride a roller coaster, bumper cars....", and he kept listing what he wanted to do for quite some time. 

=Scene Break= 

"And that's Match Point for the 'Genetically Modified Royal Pirate Friends' team! That's right, folks, the underdogs of the competition have reached the finals, winning victory after victory, and are crushing the opposing team in this final match. Tino, what do you have for me on this beautiful beach with this electrifying match going on?" 

"And electrifying it is, Galvão! On one side, we have the underdogs, and on the other, we have the team that's won this competition for the last six years. By the way, Galvão, we heard from the underdogs themselves that before today, they'd never played volleyball before, much less beach volleyball. Can you believe it?" 

Ever since they arrived on the island, Luffy had been dragging Reiju around everywhere for hours, making her take pictures of him with his head inside an alligator's open mouth, ride roller coasters, and play bumper cars, among many other things. And even though she was having fun for the first time in her life, she really just wanted to relax on the beach in her new bikini, and maybe have some ice cream. 

And when she thought she could do that, a shirtless Luffy in shorts came running up to her, asking her to team up with him to participate in a beach volleyball tournament. 

And here they were, winning every match they played, in a crushing manner. 

The serve was from the opposing team, and although it was a powerful serve, Luffy received it with ease, positioning the ball perfectly for Reiju. As she jumped to set it, Luffy sped across the court and jumped high. 

Reiju's set positioned the ball perfectly where Luffy's hand made contact, causing a sonic boom, only for everyone to see a smoking ball lodged in a crater on the opposing team's court. 

Luffy, on the first-place podium with Reiju, celebrated their victory by popping a champagne bottle, soaking everyone. 

After that, they spent the rest of their time on the island trying the local cuisine, eating ice cream, and relaxing on the beach. 

=Scene Break= 

Back on their journey, Luffy turned to Reiju at some point and asked, "I didn't ask before, but what are you doing here in the East Blue?" 

"Why do you ask? Can't I be here on vacation?" 

"Knowing your family, especially your dad, I highly doubt you'd take a vacation, let alone in the East Blue." 

Reiju sighs before she begins to explain, "A few years ago, my brothers and I were on a mission when we stumbled upon the ruins of an ancient city on a deserted tropical island where we had stopped. After exploring a bit, we found some records that had survived the passage of time, and in them, we discovered that the people who inhabited that place were searching for a Devil Fruit mentioned in a legend they had come across at some point. This fruit apparently inspired the creation of one of the three ancient weapons, specifically the Pluton warship. I found the story interesting, but didn't pay much attention to it; my brothers didn't care at all, thinking it was nonsense. The thing is, one of my brothers ended up telling the story during a family dinner, and my father became interested in this Devil Fruit. From that point on, we began gathering any possible information about the whereabouts of this fruit. Recently, we obtained information that supposedly this fruit had been on America Island at some point and might still be there, specifically somewhere deeper on the island. So my father sent me to check if the information was correct. The problem is that this particular island has fauna and flora on the same level as the New World islands, and for that reason, only a small coastal region is inhabited, even though the island itself is gigantic. Beyond that coastal region, the rest of the island remains completely unexplored." 

"Shishishishi, this adventure just keeps getting more fun. Anyway, join my crew", Luffy suddenly changes the subject. 

"...Sigh... I can't, Luffy. If I join your crew, my father will see it as an act of betrayal and will hunt us down relentlessly, and I don't want to put you or your future crew in danger." 

"It doesn't matter if your father hunts us down; I'll beat him up. Besides, don't tell me you haven't had fun these past few days." 

"Are you serious? You're the first real friend I've ever had. Spending these days with you has been the most fun I've ever had in my life, but I don't want to put you in danger. Besides, you can't even defeat me; how are you going to face an entire kingdom?" 

"Hmph, you still don't know how selfish I am. For my friends, I would turn the world upside down. And soon, I'll be much stronger than you or anyone else, so join my crew." 

"...Sigh... You're not going to give up, are you? Fine, I'll join, but only after you defeat me. You know, this business of refusing someone's refusal might actually work through sheer persistence", she says with a smile appearing on her face as she speaks. 

"Woohoo, that's it, finally my first crew member", Luffy jumps around the room they were in, celebrating. 

"Wow, hold on, Handsome, don't put the cart before the horse. You still haven't defeated me." 

"That's just a matter of time. By the way, now that you're part of the crew, what's your dream?" 

"Dream?", Reiju asks, amused. 

"Yes, everyone has a dream, something to fight for. Mine is to find the One Piece and become the King of the Pirates, the freest man in the world. What's yours?", Luffy asks seriously. 

Noticing the seriousness of the question, Reiju responds, "I guess I just want to be happy, you know? To have fun and go on adventures with the people I love. Unfortunately, until now, that dream seemed completely childish and unrealistic." 

Luffy then puffs out his chest, places his hands on his hips, and flashes a huge smile before saying, "Don't worry, Princess Bubblegum, the future King of the Pirates will take you on completely crazy adventures." 

With that, Reiju starts giggling, happy to have met Luffy, even though she doesn't have much hope of joining his crew. 

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(AN: 2,030 Words) 

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