Chapter 46 – Baratie 09.

Chapter 46 – Baratie 09.

[Chapter Size: 2181 Words.]

Third Person POV

Baratie, East Blue.

...

...

"Hm? Where's Mihawk?" Luffy asked, seeing only some ice debris in the water, with no sign of the swordsman.

"He left. He said he would wait for a better challenge next time..." Kuina said, crossing her arms, wondering why Yamato seemed as red as a pepper beside her.

"Anyway, it was a great fight. Let's check on Zoro and the others," Luffy said, eager to assess the condition of his swordsman.

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"But before that, why is Shirahoshi like this, and I'm not talking about her current size, which returned to normal..." Luffy said as he walked toward Zoro and saw the princess crying.

"Buaaaawwww. I'm useless, I can't even rescue Luffy-sama!" Luffy raised his eyebrows hearing her cry and this strange reason.

"She wanted to rescue you in the sea, but Reiju was faster, and as you can see, that seemed to upset her, telling herself that she doesn't help at all..." Kuina explained beside him.

Luffy sighed, deciding to deal with Zoro first before calming the princess.

"Alive?" Luffy asked, opening a smile as he observed the swordsman, covered in bandages, on the deck.

"Of course, Captain," Zoro grumbled with a touch of annoyance. glad about that, Zoro. You even surprised the greatest swordsman in the world; don't disappoint him in the future then," Luffy commented.

"Of course, I impressed him. I'll surpass him one day!" Zoro declared confidently.

"Hahahaha. That's great. But anyway, Shirahoshi and Megalo are gigantic now. It's time to conceal their true sizes, but before that." Luffy turned to the huge mermaid beside the ship, still drawing shocked glances from those who didn't know her. A mermaid of this size was a unique sight in the world, and almost no one had seen her before Luffy summoned her with a card, as she was kept in his room.

"Shirahoshi, can you swim down and retrieve the boats from the seafloor?" Luffy asked, making her stop crying and look at him with some kind of hope.

"Hm?! Shirahoshi can be useful? Of course! I can, Luffy-sama, so I'll go get them!" She answered confidently and joyfully, eager to have the chance to be useful to her captain.

"Take Megalo along; I believe it might be quite heavy for you to do it alone, and do it one ship at a time." Luffy commented.

"Sharky! Sharky! Sharky!" Megalo quickly confirmed his willingness to help.

As Shirahoshi and Megalo dove into the water, creating a large amount of foam, Luffy turned back to the restaurant. Besides his crew, only Zeff and Mihawk's employees had the chance to witness the true form of the mermaid princess. Krieg was dead, and Gin, present at the scene, had fainted when the impact of Yamato and Mihawk's attacks collided, causing him to recoil and hit his head on one of the walls.

"I hope there won't be rumors of a giant mermaid on my ship after I leave here..." Luffy said in front of Zeff and the others, but everyone understood the implied threat in his words.

"How dare you threaten us!" Patty shouted angrily at Luffy.

"Quiet, Patty. The boy has his reasons for that. Mermaids are not seen frequently on the surface of the sea, especially one of this size, and disclosing this information would certainly bring many problems. But don't worry, kid; among my employees, not a word about what they saw today will be spoken." Zeff spoke frankly to Luffy, who nodded satisfied.

"That's good. I care about my comrades," Luffy declared calmly.

"I hope you'll take care of the smelly brat here in the same way," Zeff said, pointing to Reiju, who was a bit wet after rescuing Luffy and Yamato.

"I NEVER SAID I WAS LEAVING, OLD MAN!" She shouted back angrily.

"Of course, I'll never allow my cook to be harmed," Luffy replied to Zeff as if it were the most obvious thing.

"I DIDN'T SAY I WOULDN'T GO WITH YOU ANYWHERE?!" Reiju shouted even more furiously, being ignored.

"Let me ask! Do you really want me to go with you?! Do you really want me as your comrade and the cook of your ship?" She asked with a serious tone.

Luffy stared at her after those words, and his smile grew even wider.

"Of course, you've been my companion since the moment I laid eyes on you; there's no escaping that," he said, crossing his arms.

"..."

"..."

"Alright, I'll go with you, but I have my own goals. I hope you don't expect me to accomplish them! I'll talk about them later," she said with the same serious tone and continued.

"Now, I'll finish my things and see with the old man what I still need to do before boarding with you..." Before Luffy could speak, she turned and walked away from them.

"He really did it..." Nami said with unbelievable eyes.

"Luffy-Sama is very charismatic!" Shirahoshi celebrated.

"There's no way that's just charisma!" Kuina complained.

"But Brother Luffy is so cool!" the bounty hunters shouted with shining eyes.

"Tsk." Zoro grunted.

"This is unexpected..." Usopp murmured.

"I always knew she was our future cook, so it was just a matter of time until she accepted my invitation," Luffy declared, not caring about the suspicious looks he was getting.

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Author here:

* I am still pondering whether Reiju's acceptance into the crew seemed forced. I could try to make this moment feel more natural, but the narrative at Baratie needs to be concluded. Otherwise, the next chapters will consist mainly of dialogues, which may seem less authentic. I apologize if this transition seemed abrupt to you. The intention is to maintain the flow of the story, so I appreciate your understanding.

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