Chapter 120: We’ve got a dream

Chapter 120: We’ve got a dreamChapter 120: We’ve got a dream

Two days ago at the marines HQ

Akainu was reading the latest reports about Wano in his office. Kizaru and Fujitora were both present as well as Sengoku, who was munching on biscuits to the side, interested in hearing what his successor had to say.

“Ryokugyu is dead.” he announced bluntly while gritting his teeth.

“What?!” exclaimed Fujitora while Kizaru had an expression of disbelief on his face.

“What happened?” inquired Sengoku with narrowed eyes.

“He went against my orders and infiltrated Wano.”

“Why would he do that, now?” asked Kizaru.

“Probably to be praised and because he could. He was that kind of man after all.” supposed Fujitora. “As for doing what exactly? Good question. Who did it?”

“From the reports of Rear Admiral Locke stationed at Wano’s border, Ryokugyu went there to take the head of Strawhat Luffy and Wald. It is supposed that the latter was the one who killed him.”

“Supposed?” asked Sengoku.

“Wald showed up flying to Locke’s ship and threw him Ryokugyu’s severed head, bloody sword in hand.”

“And our men didn’t do anything?” wondered Kizaru aloud.

“They tried to shoot him down to no avail. When Wald was close enough, Locke ordered them to cease fire. As for why... Wald was unharmed. Not a wound on him despite killing Ryokugyu and we all know how difficult it was to fight him.” Akainu explained.

“Good call. If even an Admiral couldn’t make a scratch on Wald none of them had any chances.” Fujitora commented. “The question is... What do we do now? It’s a severe blow to our reputation and our fighting force. The strawhat crew had just defeated two emperors and now an Admiral within the same week...”

“We increase Wald’s bounty and find a replacement from Ryokugyu. As far as the public is concerned he died from an incurable disease. We can’t have the people know that he invaded a country not part of the World Government and got himself killed. That moron!” The magma man spat in distaste and barely controlled rage. “I should have killed that runt decades ago!”

“Or maybe you should not have been an asshole. He would be one of our Admirals today. He should be.” chidded Sengoku. “He quit, remember? You just went ahead and made a public statement that we couldn’t retract and pushed him to piracy.”

“What?!”

“So that’s what happened.” commented Kizaru in acknowledgement. “A shame, really.”

“Enough! This is neither here nor there.”

“Sure it is Sakazuki. Your misplaced pride is partly why we’re in the situation we’re in today. Enies Lobby, the war two years ago, Dressrosa and now Wano... He was part of all of it. I really was an idiot to not accept his deal.” Sengoku muttered at the end that Fujitora picked up.

“What deal?”

“Hmm?”

“You said you were an idiot for not taking his deal.”

“Oh! Now I’m curious.” said Kizaru in answer to what Fujitora said.

“He would have joined back the navy under two conditions. One, we leave Nico Robin alone.”

“Unacceptable!” shouted Akainu, slamming his fist on his desk.

“She’s not interested in the ancient weapons nor toppling down the World Government. Just the missing history. While this could be dangerous information if it was released to the public, she has no intention to do so and the chances of her doing so at the time was slim to none since she was all alone..”

“How do you know that?” inquired Fujitora.

“Rick gave me his word.”

“The word of a criminal!” yelled the fleet Admiral.

“The word of an honest man. He isn’t a liar. Wasn’t back then, isn’t now and he’s a criminal because of you! You put a target on his back for both the marines and the pirates. Anyway, the second condition was for you to live for ten years in disgrace, Sakazuki.”

“What?!”

“Knowing what he can do now, that wasn’t so bad of a deal.” Kizaru commented and got a glare from his hot tempered superior.

“You could have worked for Cypher Pol undercover.” mused aloud Fujitora.

In a fit of rage, Akainu ordered them to get out of his office. Something they all did at their own relaxed pace.

~~~~~

Present time

The crew had not been the only one who chose to leave that day at first light. Law and Kid’s did the same. After a dick measuring contest from the three pirate captains and a not so tearful goodbye to Momonosuke and their samurai friends, the strawhat crew was pondering about what to do. They had received a newspaper and they didn’t take the news well. A lot had happened in the eight months they have been secluded on Wano and they were all learning about it now.

The reverie has been a disaster. After Rick’s kidnapping of Vivi and her return, the Revolution Army had attacked Marie-Geoise, led by Sabo. They freed a celestial dragon enslaved Bartholomew Kuma, killed king Cobra Nefertari and escaped. Vivi had been reported missing. The shichibukai were now a thing of the past after a motion presented by Vivi herself. In consequence, the navy had attacked Amazon Lily to capture Hancock and so did Blackbeard. The whereabouts of the Pirate queen were currently unknown. The cherry on top of the cake was Aokiji being a pirate, a high ranking officer of Blackbeard’s crew at that and was instrumental in the capture of Garp when the navy launched an assault on Fullalead, Blackbeard’s HQ island, to save Coby who had been captured during the clash on Amazon Lily.

For once, Rick agreed with Luffy who wanted to go and find Vivi but also Hancock and Lynda. They were not so much interested in saving their grandfather, after all the old man was a monster of vitality and he wouldn’t just kick the bucket like that.

“What do we do?” Zoro asked, a mug of beer in hand.

“...We’re going to help our friends.” replied Luffy.

“Luffy, not I don’t share the sentiment but we don’t know where Vivi and Hancock are! We don’t even know where to begin our search. And what about the One piece?” Nami remarked.

“The fourth Rio poneglyph that we need to get to Laugh Tale has not been found since Roger.” commented Robin.

“We may have two leads about it. Shanks or Buggy. Technically three with Rayleigh but... You know...” Rick brought his two Berry on the situation.

“So we either continue our journey with the log pose or we’re directly going after one of the emperors if not both.” pondered Sanji aloud.

“I like the idea of finding the poneglyph by ourselves in a big adventure but... it could take years...” Usopp said and quickly and frantically added a follow up. “Not like I mind but with our friends in trouble...”

Usopp had put his finger on the crux of the matter at hand. Should they continue their adventure as if nothing happened or postpone their journey and go help their friends? Luffy thought about it for a moment and asked Nami for a map of the world. Quickly she went to get the one they had and laid it down on the deck’s grass.

“Where are we?” the captain asked and Nami pointed Wano no Kuni with her finger. ”Hmm... Being the pirate king is my dream but I don’t want to find the One Piece if it means abandoning my friends. What can we do?” he said, raising his head from the map and looking at his crew members who stayed silent for a moment. After a moment, Rick spoke.

The third day, the ship was ready to go through the calm belt. Rick sprouted an arm at the base of the mast and made Sunny float. Using his gravity further he brought it up half the height of Wano. At that point, Franky activated a new version of the Rabbit Screw and the ship moved forward at a speed matching the Sunny on water. Sanji and Zoro opened the sails and Nami used her power to make a strong wind blow. It wasn’t strong enough to bother the members of the crew on the deck but enough to double their speed. Thanks to the map and with the use of Wano as a point of reference, Nami knew the general direction they needed to go without the need for the pose.

Crossing the Calm Belt has been easy and without any trouble with the exception of a Sea King jumping out the water to enjoy the sun. It was a couple hundred meters away from Sunny and didn’t see it but Luffy ordered for a coup de burst to get away quickly just in case. The journey had been only difficult for Rick who needed to be conscious to make the Sunny float. He had no problem staying awake for two days, especially with Brook for company during the night since the skeleton never really slept but the third day had been difficult. Showing signs of fatigue, Chopper and Reiju did their best to give him anything he needed to stay awake. Despite their reluctance, it wasn’t a healthy thing to do, they couldn’t help it. Once they reached North Blue, Rick quickly lowered the ship. It had been an abrupt ordeal and the crew quickly searched for Rick. They found him asleep against his desk in the garden.

“I can’t believe we made it through Calm Belt. I mean, like that.” said Usopp.

“That was a fun experience.” Baby-5 said.

“But booooorrrrriiiiiiing.” commented Luffy.

“Maybe one day we’ll be able to sail that sea the normal way and fight Sea Kings on an equal foot. Who knows?”

“Jimbei! Don’t give Luffy stupid ideas!” shouted an irate Nami.

Not wanting to experience the redhead devastating slaps or worse fists, the helmsman of the strawhat pirates shut up on the spot. From there under her direction, Jimbei led the ship to Reverse Mountain after a journey of almost three years.

“It’s quite nostalgic.” Sanji said, looking up at the Mountain.

“Yeah.” agreed Zoro.

“So that’s how it looks.”

“You never saw Reverse Mountain before?” asked Usopp to Rick in surprise.

“No. I only sailed on ships that could go through the Calm Belt during my time in the marines. When I left I was stuck on the Grand Line.”

“I’ve never seen it either!” added Chopper cutely. “It’s scary! The current is so strong.”

“Oh! Oh! I know!” shouted Luffy and everyone turned towards him to see what he was on about. He quickly ran inside and came back just as fast with a big barrel in his hands. At the sight, Sanji, Nami, Usopp and even Zoro smiled, understanding their captain's intention.

Right there in the middle of the deck, Luffy put the barrel down and raise a leg to put a foot on it.

“What is he doing?” asked Baby-5.

““““No idea.”””” replied the members of the crew not in the know.

“My dream is still to become the Pirate King!” he yelled.

After a moment of awkward silence, Zoro joined Luffy and put his foot on the barrel. Nami, Usopp and Sanji did the same. The redhead quickly using her power to create a small storm and make it rain to match how their first time went.

“My dream is still to become the greatest swordsman in the world.”

“My dream is still to make a map of the whole world.” Nami said.

“My dream is... not to be a brave warrior of the sea anymore because I realized it so... my new dream is to be the bravest warrior of the sea!”

“My dream is still to find all blue but my second is to be the best cook in the world!”

The five original members of the straw hats pirates turned their heads at the other members in an invitation.

“My dream is to become a doctor that can heal any wound and cure all diseases!”

“My dream is to meet Laboon! Yohohoho!”

“Brook you’re going to see him soon, don’t you have another dream?” asked Luffy.

“That’s true! In that case... My dream is to compose music that will touch the hearts of all the people in the world!”

“My dream is still to make Sunny a ship that could sail through all the seas and be the best ship in the world!”

“My dream is to be the best assistant and wife to Franky!”

““““What?!”””” the whole crew exclaimed to a very red faced Baby-5. She was saved by Robin who put her foot on the barrel.

“My dream is to know the true history of the world and be happy..”

“My dream is for mer-people and humans to stand on equal ground.”

“... My dream is to have a free and happy life.” said Reiju imitating the others.

“... When I was forced to join the crew...”

“Hey!” protested Luffy.

“I was given the dream to find one. I did. My dream is to have a big family with the people I love.” Rick finally announced and put his foot with the others’.

“Let’s do it!” shouted Luffy.

“““““YEAH!!!”””””