Chapter 39: The Crimson Breaker!

Luffy was currently sitting on his throne on the rear deck drinking a glass of whiskey. It had been about four hours since he had his battle with Aokiji. They were currently sailing through calm waters on their way towards Water 7. Luffy got up from his throne and made his way down to the main deck where his crew was relaxing.

"How's our heading, Nami?" he asked as he walked down the stairs. Nami, who was sitting on a lawn chair on the main deck with her sister looked at her log pose before looking back at her captain and spoke.

"We are right on course, captain!" she replied earning a nod.

"Our next island should be Water 7," Luffy said as he looked at his crew. "We should arrive there in three days," he added confusing Nami.

"How do you know it's water 7?" she asked as she stood up and walked towards Luffy.

"Those people who were stranded on the last island shad that they saw a frog ding the forward crawl," he said with a small smile. "That's Yokozuna, he lives around Water 7 and is always by the sea train," he explained.

"Sea train?" Usopp asked in a suspicious tone.

"That's right, a sea train. It is a train and runs on top of the water," Luffy said surprising his crew. "What's for lunch?" he asked Sanji as he ignored the surprised look on his crew's faces.

"Seafood and some veggies," Sanji replied as he wiped the surprised look from his face. Luffy nodded before making his way over to the kitchen to eat with his crew following behind him. Once inside the kitchen, he sat down at the head of the table with Robin and Nojiko taking the seat on either side of him. Nami sat down beside her sister and Chopper chose to sit beside Robin while Zoro sat at the other end of the table opposite Luffy leaving Usopp to take the open sea beside Chopper leaving the seat opposite from him for Sanji. Sanji then began laying out the food he had prepared for lunch and Luffy had to admit, it was quite the spread. There was grilled sea king meat, baked fish, lobster, shrimp, some pretty big crabs, some baked potatoes, and some salad.

"Wow, Sanji!" Nojiko said in amazement as she stared at the amount of deliciously looking food Sanji had prepared. "This looks amazing!" she added causing the resident cook of the straw hat crew to go crazy after hearing the compliment.

"Ohhh, thank you Nojiko, my love!" Sanji called out with hearts in his eyes. "But it was the captain who told me to prepare a feast," Sanji said causing everyone to turn their attention over to Luffy.

"Really?" Chopper asked as he looked at Luffy.

"What's the occasion, Luffy?" Usopp asked.

"Nothing special," Luffy replied with a shrug. "I just figured you guys would have probably been a bit shaken up after witnessing my fight with Kuzan," he said causing all of them to recall the memory of the fight that they saw. "So, I asked Sanji to prepare a feast to cheer you all up a bit," he added earning a few smiles from his crew. "So... dig in," he said as he motioned them to start eating. The crew did just that, they started helping themselves to food Sanji had prepared.

"That fight with you and that admiral guy was so cool!" Chopper said with a mouthful of food and stars in his eyes. "You guys were like bam, bam, boom! And the entire sea shook!" the little reindeer while doing punching motions with his hooves causing Luffy and Robin to chuckle at his antics.

"That wasn't anything special," Luffy replied as he bit down on a lobster tail. "Neither Kuzan nor I were going all out," he added. "If we really were serious, we probably would still have been fighting to this very moment," he said surprising his crew.

"I can't believe that they're people that strong out there," Nami commented as she thought back to her past beliefs. Before she had met Luffy and the crew she had always Arlong was the strongest there is. She could have never imagined there being someone more powerful than him but after entering the Grand Line and meeting Luffy, she could now see just how naive she was for thinking that. The people she met so far in the Grand Line make Arlong look like a child in terms of power.

"There are monsters like Kuzan all over the New World," Luffy said as he bites down on a baked potato. "Now that you've all seen what awaits deeper in the Grand Line, what are you going to do?" Luffy asked with a raised eyebrow as he stared at each of his crew.

"I'm going to have to train harder," Zoro said as he narrowed his eyes and stared at his captain. "I can't be the strongest swordsman if some little admiral is enough to scare me away," she said causing Luffy to smirk.

"Same here!" Usopp suddenly said surprising Luffy. "I am going to become a brave warrior of the sea! I can't be scared of an admiral!" he declared proudly.

"Yeah! The greatest doctor in the world can't be scared of an admiral!" Chopper yelled with a determined look on his face.

"I plan on charting a map of the entire world so I can't allow some admiral to stop me!" Nami said as he slammed her fist down on the table.

"I will be damned if some admiral stands in my way of going to the All Blue!" Sanji said joining in his crewmate's proclamations.

"Yeah! I plan on becoming the most feared woman in all the seas!" Nojiko said causing everyone's eyebrow to rise at that declaration. "How can I allow some navy admiral to be stronger than me," she added as she clenched her fist.

"I thought your dream was to help your sister chart the world," Luffy said he turned and looked at Nojiko.

"It was but being out here on the open seas living the life of a pirate has made me realize I want something more," Nojiko replied with a resolute look on her face. Luffy nodded his head before turning to the last member of his crew who had yet to make any sort of declaration. Seeing her captain looking at her, Robin took a small sip of her wine before she spoke.

"I too will become stronger so that I can defend against those who will try and stop me from finding out the true history of the world," she said in a soft and dignified voice causing Luffy to chuckle while the rest of the crew's head dropped at the less energetic response.

"I expected nothing less from the crew of the future king of the pirates," Luffy said with a chuckle causing his crew to smile back at him before turning their attention back to their food. He was about to say something else to them but before he could, the sound of a transponder snail ringing filled the kitchen.

*purururu* *purururu* *purururu*

Sighing to himself, Luffy placed down his fork, reached into his coat, and pulled out a medium-sized transponder snail and a white one.

*purururu* *purururu* *purururu*

He then plugged a wire from the white transponder snail into the other one before he picked up the microphone.

*purururu* *purururu* *purururu*-clack

"Yes," he said into the microphone while his crew turned their attention to him and the snails.

"It's Paula," a woman said through the snail.

"How are things coming along with the Hino branch?" Luffy used as he picked up back his fork and stuck it into a shrimp.

"Everything is settled for now," she reported. "We set up a make-shift base here for the time until Paul could come to build the actual one," she said causing Luffy to nod. "He sent some people by to inspect the island and they were asking me what I wanted the front to be so I figured I should call you and ask what you wanted it to be," she said.

"It doesn't matter what it is," Luffy replied into the snail. "Majority of what the Hino branch will be doing is going to be deep underground. Whatever you want the front to be on the surface is up to you," Luffy said surprising her. "It's just going to act as a front to trick the marines," he added.

"I understand," Paula replied through the snail. "But whatever it is it will have to be believable with the number of ships that will be coming through here," she said causing Luffy to nod.

"Just build a hotel," Robin said from beside Luffy.

"A hotel?" Luffy asked as he began to think about Robin's suggestion.

"That's a clever idea," Nojiko chimed in. "The hotel not only acts as a front, but it can also gather information on the guests that will be staying there," she said causing Luffy to nod his head.

"With how far spread the Hino branch is throughout the world it will be easy to spread the word of a brand-new luxury hotel on the Grand Line," Luffy said with a smirk on his face as he thought about the possibilities of a hotel as a front could offer.

"People from all over the world would probably want to go to the hotel," Nami said as she began thinking about the amount of money they could make.

"Why stop at just a hotel," Luffy suddenly said. "Turn the entire island into some sort of resort. It will provide the perfect cover for all the ships coming in and out with the black-market goods," he said.

"Wouldn't that be too expensive?" Paula asked bringing up a good point.

"Don't worry about that," Luffy said easing her worries. "Paul is very good at what he does, and he has a lot of connections, so it won't cost a thing," he said before taking a sip of his whiskey.

"Well then, I will tell his people that I want to build a resort with a luxury hotel on the island," Paula said earning a nod from Luffy.

"You can call it the Spider's Tropical Resort," Luffy suggested causing Paula to giggle through the transponder snail.

"I like the sound of that," she said with a giggle.

"Anything else you have to report?" Luffy asked.

"Well, we only recently set up the temporary information relay center that Marianne has taken charge of," she explained causing Luffy to nod. "We are now fully connected to all the other branches around the world, and they are sending information through all hours of the day," she said causing a small smile to appear on Luffy's face after hearing about the success of his intelligence network.

"That's good to hear," Luffy said with a smile.

"We've also been testing how fast we can spread information throughout the world over the past couple of days," she said causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow. "After sorting through some of the information we gathered I chose one that I judged to be not so important and relayed it to all the other branches with the order to spread it," she said impressing Luffy.

"And the results?" Luffy asked with an eyebrow raised. He and his crew were genuinely curious about how fast they could spread information throughout the world.

"Within twenty-four hours, the information made its way back to me with only a few minor changes from the original," she said impressing Luffy once more.

"That's impressive," Luffy said with an approving nod.

"That should get better as the branch grows larger," Robin said chiming in.

"Correct, with more people the information will spread faster," Paula said through the transponder snail.

"What of the Kiten branch?" Luffy asked wanting to know about his other branch.

"Hang on let me grab the report I put together for all of them," Paula said before the sounds of papers being shuffled around could be heard through the snail. "Okay, Daz has set up shop on Jaya as you had suggested and he has managed to get a couple of salvagers to join him," she reported causing Luffy to nod his head getting a fairly good idea who those salvagers were. "Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine just recently placed a rather large order of medicine from the formerly named Drum Kingdom now named the Cherry Blossom Kingdom," she said causing Chopper to perk up hearing about his homeland.

"How is the Cherry Blossom Kingdom doing?" Luffy asked after seeing his doctor's reaction.

"The kingdom is flourishing under their new king Dalton," Paula said causing Luffy to nod. "They had requested a large number of various herbs from all four blues most of which have been delivered already only a shipment of spring grass from the West Blue is still on its way," she reported. "Thanks to the Kiten branch they are trading with numerous kingdoms throughout the Grand Line. This shipment of medicine request by Mr.5 and Ms. Valentine will be the first shipment from the Cherry Blossom Kingdom to leave the Grand Line," she finished causing Luffy and his crew to nod their head.

"I'm glad everything is going well for Doctorine and everyone else back home," Chopper said with a bright smile on his face.

"What else do you have to report?" Luffy asked.

"Ms. Merry Christmas and Mr. 4 have been busy since they set up shop in the North Blue," Paula said piquing Luffy's interest. "They brokered an arms deal, supplying weapons to a small kingdom, they also sold some information to a local mob as well as acquired some antique paintings for the king of Nimbus Kingdom," she said impressing Luffy.

"What kind of information they sold?" he asked curious about what the mob was up to.

"A local marine captain is involved in some dealings with some pirates along with cheating on his wife with his second officer," she said causing Luffy to chuckle. "So, we sold the mob the blackmailing information for a price of 25 million," she said causing Nami's eyes to perk up at the mention of money.

"Make sure to gather information on the mob as well," Luffy ordered before taking a sip of his whiskey. "If they are going to blackmail the marine captain make sure to get all of their dealings recorded," he said wanting to have intelligence for future exploitations.

"I already have people on it," Paula replied in a positive tone. "Even though Ms. Merry Christmas and Mr. 4 have been the busiest, Isaac and the West Blue operations have been the most profitable," she said causing Luffy to smirk. "Due to the civil war in the Black Raven Kingdom, he was able to exploit the need for weapons by both the rebels and the royal soldiers," she reported causing Luffy to nod his head remembering Isaac telling him about this already.

"He had told me about this already," Luffy said while nodding.

"Well, the war was showing signs of being over but by some strange occurrence a single rebel and a single royal guard reignited to entire thing causing Isaac to order a whole new shipment of weapons for both parties," she said in an amused tone causing Luffy to smirk.

"Some strange occurrences huh?" he said in an equally amused tone.

"Yeah, it was almost like someone restarted it on purpose," she said causing Luffy to chuckle. "Apart from that, Isaac managed to recruit a bunch of people for both branches in the West Blue as well as taken quite a fair number of pirate crews under him all sailing under your flag," she reported causing Luffy and his crew to smirk.

"Sounds like he is getting down to business," Luffy commented in an approving tone.

"Now on to the East Blue," Paula said getting the majority of the crew to perk up. "Johnny and Yosaku have chosen to set up their main base of operation on the Conomi Islands on the ruins of Arlong Park now renamed Hell's Park," she said causing Nami and Nojiko's eyes to widen in surprise. "The people on the island seem to welcome them there with open arms and even assisted in the building of the base there," Paula added surprising Luffy but he chalked it up to the villagers remembering the duo as part of his crew. "With the East Blue being the most peaceful of the four blues there is not that high a demand for weapons there. The most they have been doing to providing a few clients with some forged documents compliments of one of your associates from the address book, some rare animal hide, and even some exotic pets for a few nobles," she informed causing Luffy to nod. It was about what he had expected from the East. "We are expecting them to place a large order for medicine from the Cherry Blossom kingdom, but the client has yet to come up with the full amount of money," she added.

"The boys seem to be doing well for now," Luffy commented causing his crew to nod their heads. "Anything else to report?" he asked after hearing about the last of all of the oceans under his domain. There was a brief moment of silence from Paula before she spoke again.

"The marines are aware of us," she said causing Luffy to narrow his eyes.

"That was fast," he commented.

"They don't know who is in charge of what, but they know we're out there and they know what our business is," she said causing Luffy to contemplate for a while. "They also know the organization is run by a mysterious man named Asura," she added.

"Well, aren't they informed," Luffy said sarcastically.

"I have been receiving reports of Cipher Pol agents trying to join our ranks," she said surprising Luffy.

"How do you know this?" Luffy asked with an eyebrow raised in the air.

"One of the first things I had the Hino branch do is have some people join the marines as spies while some of them specifically tried to join Cipher Pol with only a few who had devil fruit powers being accepted," she said causing Luffy to chuckle.

"I guess Ms. All Sunday was right when she recommended that I chose you to head up the Hino Branch," Luffy said with a chuckle as he turned and looked at Robin causing a slight blush to appear on her face.

"I aim to please," Paula said through the transponder snail. "I have incredibly detailed reports from those spies inside Cipher Pol about the orders to spy on Hell's Company along with the names and photographs of the Cipher Pol agents that are being sent in as recruits. It makes turning them away a lot easier," she said with a chuckle.

"I will be in Water 7 in the coming days, send me the reports of everything to read through," Luffy ordered through the snail. "There is a small inn called Heaven on Earth, have someone wait for me there with the reports," he added.

"As you wish, sir," Paula responded.

"If there is nothing else to report, I'll be going," Luffy said.

"Until next time, sir," Paula said before handing up the transponder snail. Placed the transponder sail down and back into his coat before returning to his lunch.

"Business seems to be doing well," Robin commented as he looked at her captain.

"Yeah, it is progressing along nicely," Luffy replied with a smile. The organization was expanding and placing itself among to most prolific corporations in the world. "In about five to six months it will where I need it to be," he added as he placed a shrimp in his mouth.

"In five to six months its roots in both the underworld and the conventional world would be so deep it would be impossible for the marines or anyone else to get rid of it," Sanji commented before lighting a cigarette.

"That's true, however, I think in five to six months is when the trouble will arrive," Nami added causing Luffy to nod knowing what she means.

"What do you mean, Nami?" Chopper asked as he turned to look at the ship's navigator.

"If I recall correctly," she began as she places his finger on her chin and began to think. "Luffy once told us about the bosses of the underworld. I do not think they are going to take it lightly to their territory being encroached upon," she said causing everyone to nod their heads in agreement.

"She's right," Nojiko said agreeing with her sister. "We are going to be ruffling a few feathers in the underworld," she added.

"Not quite," Luffy said getting all of their attention. "Their influence is mainly in the New World. It does not stretch over to Paradise," he said causing a few confused looks among his crew.

"Why is that?" Usopp asked with a confused look on his face. "You would think that they would try to secure their influence across the world, why only stick to one ocean?" he asked.

"The reason for them only being based in the New World is mainly because the Navy's control and presence in the New World are practically nonexistent," Luffy said surprising his crew. "The New World is controlled by the Four Emperors and the Navy does not want to start a war with one of the emperors, so they do their best to stay clear of their territory. This allows the underworld and all of its many businesses to flourish," he informed surprising his crew once more. "We are the first and possibly the only underworld organization here in Paradise," he added with a smirk before taking a sip of his whiskey.

"Which means we are going to profit the most!" Nami said in an excited tone as she began thinking about tons of money they will make. Luffy chuckled and shook his head at his navigator's behavior.

**Two Days Later**

It had been two days since Luffy had his fight with Kuzan and since he spoke to Paula. The Going Merry was currently sailing along smoothly through calm waters with a good wind behind them. They were still about a day's journey away from Water 7, but everything was going along nicely. The past two days had been peaceful for the most part. They had encountered a pirate ship along with a merchant trading vessel to which they happily raided and helped themselves to their goods and treasure. The crew had also acted on their declarations during the feast two days ago to get stronger. Whenever they had some free time, they would spend it on the main deck training with either their devil fruit, their haki, or their weapons. Luffy was impressed at their dedication to getting stronger.

Their training did show some progress, nothing too major but progress non the less. Nojiko managed to get her armament haki to last slightly longer than it used to. She still lacks control, but it was a step in the right direction. Usopp managed to better understand his observation haki and spent the entire two days training with it and his slingshot. Thanks to a few pointers from Luffy, he improved it a little bit to where for a few seconds he can see the fish swimming in the water under the ship. Like Usopp, Sanji spent his time training his observation haki when he was not in the kitchen. Even though he was disappointed at first when he found out he was more adept in observation instead of armament he soon saw the benefits to having observation haki and chose to work on that for the past two days opting to focus on armament at a later date. Nami and Zoro on the other hand split their time the past two days between both armament and observation haki. Luffy had thought that Nami had an affinity for observation when they were training on that abandoned island but now, he was not so sure what her affinity was.

Chopper and Robin being the only two devil fruit users on the crew apart from Luffy spent the past two days experimenting with their respected devil fruits. Chopper spent his time experimenting with his rumble balls and pushing his transformation to the absolute limit while Robin too pushed herself to the limit with regards to the about of body parts she can summon and the range at which she can summon. How much success the two of them had with their training Luffy had not the slightest clue.

Currently, all of them were continuing their training at various parts of the ship while Luffy was sitting on his throne staring out at the back of the ship. Nami, Sanji, Robin, and Chopper were on the main deck doing their respected training while Usopp was up in the crow's nest on lookout duty. Zoro was training in the front of the ship while Nojiko was on the rear deck with Luffy. While everyone was busy with their training, Luffy leaned back into his throne and stared up at the clouds in the sky through narrowed eyes. The air around the ship was calm and peaceful and it made Luffy a bit nervous. It was not the type of peace that he would feel relaxed in, it was more like the dreaded calm before a raging storm. Due to his time in the New World, he experienced conflicts after conflicts, each worse than then the other. Peace like this was almost unheard of.

'I keep forgetting that this is Paradise,' Luffy thought to himself as he stood up from his throne and shook his head. He figured that he was just being paranoid and decided to go to his quarters and rest down for a bit. As he was about to turn the doorknob to open the door Usopp screamed out for him from the crow's nest.

"CAPTAIN!" Usopp screamed out getting everyone's attention. "A fleet of ships incoming straight ahead!" He shouted while pointing to the front of the ship causing everyone to look in the direction towards which they were currently sailing. As everyone looked ahead of them, they could barely see the silhouettes of a fleet of ships sailing towards them.

"Is it the marines?" Nami asked as she walked up to the front of the ship where Zoro was. Zoro pulled out a small handheld telescope and spied through it.

"It's pirate ships," Zoro replied causing Luffy to narrow his eyes. Luffy turned his body into lightning and appeared beside Zoro.

"It's no pirate ship I've ever seen before," Usopp said spying through his telescope from up in the crow's nest. By now the rest of the crew had joined Zoro, Nami, and Luffy at the front of the ship.

"That jolly roger...," Zoro suddenly said with a slight panic look on his face. "...I recognized it from my bounty hunting days," he said causing everyone to look at him while Luffy narrowed his eyes further.

"The last time you recognized as jolly roger was back in Alabasta," Luffy said lowly. "And that was the jolly roger of the Whitebeard Pirates," he said before turning to his vice-captain. "Is it another one of the four emperors?" he asked.

"No, but close enough," Zoro replied ominously. "It is the Crimson Dawn Pirates," he said grimly causing Luffy's eyes to widen slightly as he stared out at the incoming fleet.

"Why does that name sound similar?" Nojiko asked herself. She asked the question that a lot of the crew were thinking to themselves. It was the name of a pirate crew that most of them were sure they heard before, but they cannot seem to remember where or why.

"It sounds familiar because of a certain incident that took place a couple of years ago that made world news," Luffy said as recalled the event. "The Crimson Dawn Pirates are led by a man who used to be one of the most infamous pirates here on the Grand Line up until three years ago," Luffy elaborated as he stared at the approaching ships. "His name is Leon Holton or better known as the Crimson Breaker," he said causing a few of his crew to remember why the name was so famous.

"I've heard of him," Sanji said as he lit a cigarette. "They say everything he touches gest destroyed," he added causing Luffy to nod in acknowledgment.

"Leon is famous for many things, but there are two in particular that are probably the most notable," Luffy said as he began to explain again. "The first being the fact that he is a prince from a rather large kingdom in the South Blue," he said surprising his crew. "Wanting the life of adventure, the youngest son of the king of the Blue-Sky Kingdom set out to sea to become a pirate," Luffy said with a chuckle. "Somewhere along his journey he ate a devil and gained the powers of the Break-Break fruit allowing him to shatter anything he touches," he said causing his crew's eyes to widen slightly. "With his new devil fruit, he stormed through the Grand Line and into the New World gathering a bounty of 600 million, a fleet of 25 ships with over 1,000 pirates under him," Luffy said scaring his crew slightly

"That sounds scary," Nami said with slight fear in her voice.

"As a prince, he was spoilt and arrogant," Luffy said with contempt in his voice ignoring his slightly scared crew. "Him gaining that devil fruit and a little bit of power made him even more arrogant which is a direct cause for the thing that he is probably most famous for," he said as he watches the ships get a bit closer. "Three years ago, his arrogance led him to believe that he had to power to do the unthinkable and challenge one of the Four Emperors, more specifically Big Mom," Luffy added lowly earning a few gasps from his crew.

"I remember that" Usopp said from up in the crow's nest. "It was in the papers for about a week," he added causing everyone to recall why the name sounded so familiar.

"A lot of people were nervous leading up to the clash, especially the Navy," Luffy continued. "They believed he actually stood a chance because he had the numbers on his side, but then reality set in," he said grimly. "Of the 25 ships that made up the armada that was the Crimson Dawn Pirates only 6 managed to escape along with the flagship," Luffy said grimly. "More than 800 pirates perished at the hands of Big Mom and her children," he said causing his crew's eyes to widen in horror. "I had heard that Leon fled the New World in fear of Big Mom but never actually believed it, but it seems that it was true," Luffy said as he walked forward jumped up onto the sheep figurehead of the Going Merry and stared out at the incoming fleet.

"So, is he coming here as friend or foe?" Zoro asked as he stared at the jolly roger sown onto his captain's coat.

"Don't know but the one thing I do know is that the Going Merry won't survive a fight with these guys," Luffy said causing Usopp's eyes to widen. "She is barely holding on as it is," he added causing everyone to look around at the ship that carried them on their journey so far. "Nami, Robin, you two go below deck and man the cannons!" Luffy ordered snapping the two girls out of their staring.

"Aye!" they replied before rushing below deck.

"Chopper, man the rudder," Luffy yelled out.

"You got it, Luffy!" Chopper said as he transformed into his human form and rush into the rudder room.

"Usopp!" Luffy called out as he turned and looked up at the crow's nest. "You use your slingshot and pick them off from up there!" Luffy ordered.

"We're going to fight these guys!?" Usopp asked in a slightly worried voice. "You just said Merry won't survive!" he argued causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Then I'll just have to destroy them before they can attack," Luffy said before looking up in the sky as thunder clouds began to gather far thicker than anyone had ever seen.

"Nojiko, you take the rear," Luffy said causing her to nod and take out her three-section staff before walking over to the rear of the ship. "Zoro port, Sanji starboard," he added causing the two of them to nod and head down to the main deck leaving him standing in the front alone as increasingly the clouds gather overhead. If someone were far away looking at the Going Merry approaching, it would look as though the ship was dragging a world-ending storm behind it. Luffy stood on the figurehead of the Going Merry with his golden staff in his hand staring at the approaching fleet of pirate ships as his coat bellowed in the wind. A silence fell over the ship as they sailed closer and closer towards the incoming conflict. The silence was interrupted by the defending sounds of thunder and lightning striking the waters around the ship. After about thirty minutes of sailing, Luffy turned to Zoro and Sanji and gave out an order.

"Raise the sails!" Luffy ordered causing the two of them to spring into action. Each of them grabbed a rope from either side of the mainmast and began pulling. After the sails were all the way up and no longer catching the wind, the ship began slowing down drastically until it almost stopped completely. Even though the ship was almost to a complete stop, neither Zoro nor Sanji released the ropes that were holding the sails up because they knew that at a moment's notice their captain could give the order to release the sails and they would need to act fast. Even though the ship had stopped on the water, the thunderclouds overhead did not stop with it. They continued encompassing the skies over the incoming fleet as well.

After stopping, Luffy and the crew could all get a better look at what they were about to face. Twelve ships all sailing in a 'V' formation each bearing a different jolly roger with only one similar element on each flag, a crimson red half sun. At the very center of the formation leading the fleet of ships was the flagship bearing the jolly roger that Luffy had only ever seen in the newspapers. It was a skull with a lot of cracks in it with two sabers replacing the usual crossbones. Behind the skull and sabers was a crimson red half sun taking up the background. Luffy smirked to himself as he saw the feet come to a stop about one hundred feet away from them. By now the thunderclouds in the sky had flooded every square inch of the sky for a 5-mile radius in all directions surrounding the Going Merry.

"The thunder demon! Hahahaha!" a man shouted from the Flagship of the fleet of ships. "What a lucky coincidence this is," he added before stepping forward and standing on the figurehead of his ship like Luffy.

"Leon Holton," Luffy said in a calm voice. "I thought you gave up being a pirate," he added as he examined the man. Leon was a bit taller than Luffy, he had mahogany brown hair that framed his face. He was wearing a white silk shirt only buttoned up halfway exposing a large scar on his chest along with a pair of crimson pants and a saber strapped to the right side of his hip. Draped around his shoulders was a crimson red cape connected by three golden chains.

"I would rather die than leave this life!" Leon replied with a wide smile. "It is nice to see you are still as powerful as I remembered," he said causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"You make it sound as though you are familiar with my power," Luffy said as he stared at Leon.

"You could say that" Leon replied with a smirk causing Luffy to narrow his eyes. "You could say I am a fan of yours," he added causing Luffy to look at him with a bewildered expression on his face. "Ever I saw the impact you had on THAT incident four years ago I couldn't help but admire you," he said creeping Luffy out. "It was after witnessing that incident that I decided to go after Big Mom," he said in an angry voice as he clinched his fist.

"Don't go blaming me for you leading your people to their deaths," Luffy said as he narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not," Leon replied while shaking his head. "It was my own fault. I had underestimated the power of one of the Four Emperors," he said with a sigh.

"What do you want, Leon?" Luffy asked as his patience was running thin. Hearing the question Leon smirked and looked at Luffy with an excited look on his face.

"I want to join you!" He said before releasing a wave of conqueror's haki towards Luffy and his crew. Already noticing Leon's attack, Luffy released a bit of his own haki to intercept Leon's before it reached his ship and crew. The two haki clashed in the middle of the two ships causing the sea in between them to become rough. "Hahahaha! Yes! Only someone this powerful can I serve under!" Leon yelled out with a large grin on his face.

"Do not kid yourself, boy," Luffy said calmly as he narrowed his eyes. "This is not power that you can comprehend," he said raising his voice slightly as he released a bit more of his haki causing it to overpower Leon's and was overall twelve of Leon's ships. Aboard the twelve ships, crew members began to pass out while foaming at the mouth. As Luffy haki came in contact with a few of the ships they started to crack under the pressure while some of the masts completely broke apart unable to withstand the pressure.

"A-amazing!" Leon said in a weak voice as he fell to his knees while breathing heavily under the pressure.

"What use would I have for someone who can't even stay on their feet?" Luffy asked rhetorically as he stared at Leon.

"I... am... not...WEAK!" Leon screamed as he shakingly stood to his feet. While he struggled to get to his feet, he released a lot more of his haki trying to push Luffy's back. He managed to push Luffy's haki back just enough to clear his ship causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow at him, but a small smirk appeared on Luffy's face.

"That may be true, but compared to me," Luffy began before increasing his haki's strength a bit more completely crushing Leon's resurgence. "You are an ant," he said causing the captain of Crimson Dawn pirates to fall back to his knees and even more ships to break under the pressure. Leon gritted his teeth as he looked up from his position at Luffy. He then turned and looked around at his fleet only to see the majority of his people were unconscious while those who were still conscious were all in a similar position to him. He hated the position he was in now, it reminded him of the defeat he suffered at the hands of Big Mom.

"Please!" Leon begged out under the pressure of Luffy's haki. "You are the only hope I have to avenge my crew!" he begged, causing Luffy to look at him with nothing but pity on his face.

"Come on, Captain," Zoro said from behind Luffy causing him to turn and look at his first mate. "He may be a good addition," he suggested causing Luffy to contemplate on how he should proceed. He stopped his conqueror's haki releasing the pressure from Leon and his fleet before smirking in their direction.

"Very well," Luffy said loudly to the captain and the few of his men who were still conscious. "I'll give you a shot," he added causing a grateful look to appear on Leon's face as he slowly got up to his feet. "But you have to first pass a little test of mine," Luffy said with a smirk causing the grateful on Leon's face to be replaced with a scared one. "If you and your crew survive you can join me," he said grimly. "If not...then I guess you die," he added with a chuckle as he turned and walked back to the main deck where Zoro and Sanji were.

As Luffy walked around a feeling of absolute dread crept into the hearts of Leon and his crew. Looking around at his fleet, he could not help but feel that he was at disadvantage with the majority of his crew being unconscious. A lot of the men here with him right now were the last surviving members of his once-grand fleet.

"Can I really ask to face death all over again?" he questioned in his mind. He was the one who wanted revenge, he was the one who wanted to kill Big Mom to avenge his fallen crew. Was it right for him to drag these men down with him once more? The doubt kept creeping into his mind the more he thought about it.

"Let's do this captain!" Came the confident female voice from behind Leon knocking him out of his thought. Looking over he saw his first mate standing with his crew all looking at him with nothing but confidence all over their faces.

"Yeah, captain!" another member of his crew shouted. "Let's give 'em hell!" they added causing a smile to creep onto Leon's face.

"You guys..." he said while shaking his head with a smile on his face before turning to the Going Merry and shouting. "Bring it on Demon!" he yelled with nothing but conviction in his voice.

Hearing the conviction in the voice Leon smirked to himself as he stood in front of Sanji and Zoro while the rest of his crew who were below deck made their way up to the main deck.

"Drop anchor," he said puzzling his crew.

"Captain?" Zoro asked with a confused look on his face.

"Just do it," Luffy said with a smirk. "I feel like cutting loose a bit," he said with a chuckle before looking up at the thundercloud-infested sky. Nodding his head, Zoro went and dropped the anchor into the water. While he was doing that, Luffy tuned his body into lightning and teleported up the crow's nest and waited a few minutes. He wanted the unconscious members of Leon's feet to wake up that way they were at full strength.

"Allow me to show you your place in this world, boy," he thought to himself as he stared at the fleet. He waited five minutes before he spoke to Leon once more.

"Are you ready?" he asked in a monotone voice.

"Bring it on, your power does not scare me!" he shouted confidently even though on the inside he was slightly worried.

"What a foolish man you are," Luffy said as he covered his palm in lightning and raised his hand in the air with his index and middle finger pointing to the sky. "This is not a power of your understanding!" He yelled just as a continuous stream of lightning shot out from his fingers and traveled up towards the thunderclouds in the sky. As the stream entered the clouds, Luffy cut it off from his end. As the tail of the steam of lightning disappeared into the thundercloud a loud booming thunder shook the entire area which was followed by a visible wave of lightning that rippled through the sky in all directions from the center where the stream ended. The thunderclouds had covered every inch of the sky within a five-mile radius of the Going Merry. The ripples of lighting traveled to the far ends of the clouds until their disappeared from the view of everyone there.

A resounding silence filled the area as everyone looked around, everyone except Luffy and Leon who were staring at each other. Leon had a terrified expression on his face as though he knew exactly what was about to happen.

"You can't..." he began before trailing off as Luffy held up his right palm still covered in lightning. He brought his thumb towards the middle finger as if he is getting ready to snap his fingers.

"Thunder Palace!" Luffy said before snapping his fingers. As his fingers snapped numerous pillars of lightning fell from the sky, crashed down into the ocean, and remained in place. Each pillar was about 10ft wide, and all were randomly scattered about. Everyone looked around in sheer awe at what was before them. Pillars fell from the heavens everywhere within that very same five-mile radius around the Goring Merry. No one could see where the end of all these pillars or lightning was, all they could do was gape in shock.

"W-what kind of power is this?" Sanji asked as the cigarette fell from his mouth.

"I thought I had seen the full extent of his power," Zoro said as he looked around in amazement. "But this is on a whole other level," he added.

"You can't be serious!" Leon should from his ship as he looked around. "This...this is..." he began with a sense of familiarity in his voice.

"It is even more spectacular now than it was four years ago," his first mate said as she looks around at the countless pillars of lightning that seems as though they were holding the heavens themselves up.

"We are all dead," Leon said grimily. He had seen this technique of Luffy's once before four years ago, it had left not one person alive.

"Relax, I am not going to do what you think I am going to do," came the voice of Luffy echoing across the area. "I did say I was going to give you a fighting chance, didn't I?" he asked rhetorically before snapping his fingers once more and all the pillars of lightning vanished leaving countless holes in the ocean. Water then began rushing into each of the holes creating multiple whirlpools in the process which pulled each of Leon's ships in a different direction.

"AHHHHH!" the pirates in Leon's fleet screamed as their ship jerked around at the mercy of the sea.

"Someone do something please!" another begged.

"Man the rudder!" the captains of each of the ships commanded. "We will not die here!" one captain proclaimed. Luffy and his crew simply looked on as the ships were being pulled and tossed around by the whirlpools. The Going Merry was not really affected due to it being anchored in place thanks to them dropping the anchor and none of the whirlpools was in close proximity to the ship. Luffy hopped down to the main deck where all of his crew were standing staring around them in awe.

"I would have figured you guys would have gotten used to this stuff by now," he commented nonchalantly.

"I think it is impossible for someone to get used to seeing the stuff you do captain," Robin said while everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Are you sure it is a good idea to let him join us?" Nami asked in a suspicious tone.

"It shouldn't be a problem," Luffy said as he turned and looked out at Leon's flagship spinning around in the ocean. "If he really does know who I am he won't be stupid enough to try something," he added.

"Isn't this too easy of a test though?" Sanji asked.

"I am starting to get the feeling that it is," Luffy said as he saw all of Leon's ships were still upright and still afloat. "Maybe I should have used that technique the way it was supposed to be used," he whispered under his breath, but his crew heard him.

"How was it supposed to be used?" Usopp asked as he tilted his head to the side. Luffy just smirked and chuckled to himself before he responded.

"Let's just say all of them would have been dead already had I not canceled it when I did," he said with a chuckle causing everyone to raise an eyebrow at their captain.

"So, what now?" Nojiko asked as she folded her arms.

"Now we just wait for everything to calm down," Luffy said as his throne appeared behind him and he sat down. "We don't have to worry about them attacking us. They are too busy at the moment," he said as he looked around the ocean where Leon's fleet had been scattered by his whirlpools.

**Two Hours Later**

It had taken two hours for the sea to come back down and the whirlpools to disappeared along with the thunderclouds in the sky. The sun had set, and the stars were shining in the sky. Luffy was standing on the main deck looking around as the fleet of ships that had been scattered by his whirlpools were all sailing back towards the Going Merry. When all the ships reached the Going Merry, they all surrounded the Straw Hats. Luffy then stepped forward in the direction of Leon's ship with Zoro to his right slightly behind him.

"You seem to have found some capable people to sail with you," Luffy complimented as he walked forward.

"Thank you," Leon said with a tired smile on his face. "I wouldn't be alive without them," he added earning smiles from his crew and his fleet.

"Come aboard and let's get this over with," Luffy then ordered as he step back and motioned the pirate captain to come on board the Merry. Leon looked behind him and gave a slight nod to someone before the two of them leaped off of their ship and onto the Going Merry. When they landed on board the Merry, Luffy got a good look at the person beside Leon. It was a woman who Luffy knew to be the first mate of the Crimson Dawn Pirates.

She was blonde, curly hair tight in a ponytail revealing a chiseled, radiant face. Clear blue eyes, set dreadfully within their sockets, watch warmly over the crews they have grieved with for so long. Scars reaching from just under the left eyebrow, running towards her upper lip, and ending on her left nostril and leaving a fascinating memory of defeat at the hands of Big Mom. The is the face of the Red Fist, Emily Masser, the first mate of the Crimson Dawn Pirates. She stands alluringly among others, despite her athletic frame. Something is puzzling about her, perhaps it is her sense of freedom, or perhaps it's simply her good looks.

"Who might you be, beautiful Lady?" asked Sanji as he rushed forward and kissed the back of Emily's hand surprising her. Luffy sighed and shook his head before he spoke.

"Nami..." was all he said before his navigator appeared behind Sanji and dragged him away by the ear.

"Damn perverted cook," Zoro mumbled under his breath. Luffy then turned his attention back to the duo and spoke.

"Let's get this over with," Luffy said as he turned and moved towards his throne and sat down. Leon then sat down on the deck in front of Luffy while Emily remained standing behind her captain. Luffy then turned and looked to Zoro and Sanji and gave a slight nod to the two of them. The duo walked into the kitchen for a few minutes before walking back out with Zoro carrying a large red sake cup in his right hand and a smaller one in the left while Sanji was carrying a barrel of alcohol. Zoro placed the large sake cup down in between the two captains but closer to Luffy while he placed a smaller one in front of Leon. Sanji then placed the barrel of alcohol off the side of the two captains. Leon then nodded his head, walked over the barrel, and opened it. When he saw what was inside, he turned and looked at Luffy with a slightly confused expression on his face.

"Whiskey?" he asked in a confused tone.

"Yeah, I hate sake," Luffy replied causing Leon to nod. The captain of the Crimson Dawn Pirates then lifted the barrel and poured whiskey into Luffy's cup filling it to the brim. He then carefully poured some whiskey into his sake cup before placing the barrel back down and returning to his seated position in front of Luffy.

"Please allow me to make an oath," Leon said as he led up his cup with both hands. Luffy nodded before reaching down and grabbing the large cup with one hand and holding it in front of him waiting for Leon to take the oath. "From this day forward, I Leon Holton, captain of the Crimson Dawn Pirates hereby pledge my loyalty to the Thunder Demon, Monkey D. Luffy. Together with my crew and my fleet, we shall be his shield and his sword in all-weather however he commands us. I drink from the son's cup of my own volition devoting my life and soul to you!" Leon said with conviction before bringing the cup up to his lips and drinking the whisky. Luffy smiled slightly and brought the large cup up to his lips as well.

"I accept your oath," Luffy said before drinking all of the whiskey in the large cup. After finishing their drink, both of them placed their cups down on the deck and gave a small smile towards each other. Before either of them could say anything, the pirates who were a part of Leon's fleet burst into cheers.

"They seem happy," Nami commented as they all looked around.

"Luffy is so cool!" Chopper said with stars in his eyes as he stared up at Luffy causing him to smile and chuckle at the little reindeer.

"Normally, this is where we would have a banquet to celebrate this new alliance," Luffy said as he stood up from his throne and stretched his hand out to pull Leon up from his sitting position on the floor. "But I am in a bit of a rush to get to Water 7," he said as he pulled Leon up from the floor.

"I understand," Leon said with a smile as he stood up.

"How long have you been in Paradise?" Luffy asked while starting at his new subordinate.

"Since my fight with Big Mom," Leon replied in a pained voice as he clenched his fist.

"Ever heard of an island name Jaya?" Luffy asked causing Leon to raise an eyebrow at him before he responded.

"Yeah, I've heard of it," Leon responded. "We frequented Mock Town quite a few times. If I am not wrong, I do believe we have an eternal pose for that island," he added before looking back at his first mate for her confirmation. Emily looked at her captain and nodded her head confirming that they do indeed have an eternal pose for the island.

"Wonderful," Luffy said with a smile. "Make your way there and look for a man named Daz Bones. I will let him know you are coming," he said causing Leon and Emily to raise an eyebrow. "He will point you in the direction of where you can find a woman named Paula who along with yourself will be in charge of all of my operations here in Paradise," Luffy said confusing the pirate captain and his first mate even more.

"Your operations?" Leon asked in a confused tone.

"Paula will explain all that to you," he replied while waving his hand. "I will also let her know to expect you and will give her permission to brief you on the operations here in Paradise and your role in everything," he added.

"What is going to be my role exactly?" Leon asked with a skeptical look on his face.

"For the most part, you are going to be in charge of everything here in Paradise," Luffy said surprising Leon. "You and Isaac are my commanders or generals if you wish," He explained as he walked over to the side and looked out at the sea and a few ships. "Isaac is in charge of everything in the West Blue and you will be in charge of everything here in Paradise," he said causing Leon to nod his head understanding.

"Where do fall in the rankings?" Emily asked as she spoke for the first time in a peaceful voice getting everyone's attention.

"Leon and Isaac are equal in rank," Luffy said earning a nod for the duo. "And the members of my crew outrank all of you," he added causing the duo to look around the ship at Luffy's crew. "Isaac outranks your crew and your fleet and you outrank his crew and fleet," he said causing Leon to nod.

"Isaac has a fleet?" Leon asked in a surprised tone.

"I asked him to gather more pirates to sail under my flag," Luffy replied earning a nod from Leon.

"I take it you are going to want me to do the same?" Leon asked causing Luffy to smile.

"Yes, I do," he replied with a smirk. "Also, make sure to add a straw hat to your jolly roger and every jolly roger in your fleet," he ordered.

"You got it," Leon replied with a small salute.

"Now there are few islands here in Paradise under my protection," Luffy said in a serious tone. "If you and your fleet show up to one of these islands and I hear that you and your people caused some kind of trouble on one of those islands..." he said before trailing off. "There will be some very dire consequences," he added coldly.

"You can rest assured, I will keep my people in order," Leon said giving Luffy his guarantee.

"Well then, that's everything I think," Luffy said feeling as though he told the captain everything he needed to.

"To Jaya then?" Leon asked.

"To Jaya," Luffy responded with a nod. "I will be in touch if anything comes up," he added causing the man to nod his head before turning his head to his first mate.

"Let's go back," he said causing Emily to nod her head, and to two of them waved the straw hats goodbye before leaping back onto their flagship. "SET A COURSE TO JAYA!" Leon shouted for his fleet to hear.

"Aye, captain!" his men responded before jumping into action. Soon all twelve ships began sailing away from Luffy and the crew causing the straw hat-wearing captain to let out a tired sigh and plopped himself down on his throne.

"Nami, resume our course to Water 7," said a tired Luffy causing his navigator to smile and nod at him before she Nojiko made their way to the rudder.

"Raise the anchor and release the sails!" Nami yelled out as she and Nojiko walked towards the rudder causing Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper to scramble.

"Hopefully, we get there without any further delay," Robin said with a smile causing everyone to nod in agreement. The Going Merry then resumed its course to Water 7 while the twelve ships of the Crimson Dawn Fleet were sailing away from them in the opposite direction.

**Chapter End**

**Author's Note: I am Back! kinda. It has been really long time since I've uploaded a chapter. I just want to say thank you to all the people who stuck around and waited for this chapter. I am not giving up on this story and most likely I never will. Updates may take forever to come but they do come you can be sure of that.

This chapter is really long (like all of my chapters). I feel it gets a bit messy at the end but that is mainly due to me writing part of it leaving it for a month or two and then coming back to it so it may feel a bit weird. Also, I want to apologize for not getting to Water 7 as yet, this was something I wanted to do but it didn't turn out the way I wanted. Next chapter we will be in water seven for sure.

I don't know if any of you read the latest chapter of One Piece but holy shit! I really hope that reveal has nothing to do with the GUM-GUM fruit or else I don't know how I am going to tie that into this story. But for now, all I can do is trust GODA-Sama to do the right thing lol.

The next chapter will likely come out after the next chapter in my Naruto story which I have yet to start lol. So until then, all of you be safe, and once again thank you so much for all the love and support you have shown this story. THE THUNDER DEMON SHALL CONTINUE!**