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The Storm Pirates Chapter 18 (A Promise)
🕑 Added 2022-03-30 20:05:12 +0000 UTCAs Laboon chirped joyously and Luffy laughed with the Island Whale, the elderly Lighthouse Keeper couldn't help but shed a few tears.
Luffy suddenly rushed inside the ship; the others were wondering what he was trying to do when Luffy came out with a big brush that they used to paint the sails of Going Merry.
"Luffy, what are you doing?" Nami asked out loud, looking at her lover, who just grinned.
"How else is he going to know that we are going to keep our promise?" Luffy shouted at Nami, whose's eyes were almost tearing up.
Even Miss Wednesday was touched by what she saw, her eyes shining at the pirate doing something like this.
Later
"Impressive," Nami said, with Nojiko agreeing with her. Zoro noticed the odd way Miss Wednesday was looking at what Luffy did.
"Well, what do you think, Laboon?!" Luffy said as Laboon wore the Straw Hat Jolly Roger on his nose for the first time.
Laboon was also designated as their Nakama by the symbol of their commitment!
Laboon chirped cheerfully as he flapped his huge tail and sprayed ocean water into the air.
"Don't scuffin' up our promise, okay?" Luffy chuckled, and Laboon agreed with a chirp.
Nojiko chuckled; she could see why her sister loved this man, as more than her captain, as more than a friend; she glanced at Nami, who was looking at Luffy with a little blush on her cheeks. She wondered if she could ask her sister later to share Luffy.
Miss Wednesday was gazing at Luffy, not trying to hide that she was impressed by what the captain of the pirate crew had just done for the whale, while Mr. Nine was desperately trying to free himself.
Zoro was keeping an eye on Miss Wednesday and Mr. Nine, wondering just what they were trying to do. It was calm when suddenly Nami left out a scream.
Everyone nearby was startled by Nami's abrupt cry. In a burst of lightning, Luffy immediately reached her location, wondering what the problem was. Sanji emerged from his kitchen, looking around for danger...
Nojiko ran from her room, calling out her sister's name, wondering what was wrong.
"Nami, are you okay?" Luffy was the first to ask as he stood by her side; Nami was silent, only looking at the compass on her wrist.
"The compass is broken," she stated, pointing at the compass; the arrow kept whirling around non-stop.
Most of the crew looked surprised; despite not knowing much about compasses, they knew this wasn't something that should happen?!
Miss Wednesday glanced at the pirates before understanding what the problem was; realizing it, she left out a hysterical laugh.
The crew looked at her with puzzled expressions, except Nami, who narrowed her eyes at the girl for clearly laughing at her.
"What's So Funny?" Nami shrieked with shark teeth, wanting to burn her to the crisp, only Luffy and Nojiko holding her arms.
Miss Wednesday questioned Nami condescendingly, "You little Pirates! I thought you were grown-ups, but it seems you are only people playing pirates? Are you truly a Navigator?" Nami's brow twitched as her navigational abilities were doubted, while Luffy didn't like to be called a kid.
Knowing things could escalate, Crocus coughed loudly to gain their attention.
"Usually, prisoners should keep their mouth shut, but in this case, she's right," Crocus frowned at the bluenette, "She has a point. Did you not do any research? A normal compass is completely useless in Grand Line. It isn't broken, but it isn't helpful."
"Is it the magnetic field?"
"Yes. You see, every island on the Grand Line is rich in magnetic materials. Each island has its own unique magnetic field," Crocus explained; every Straw Hat was listening except Luffy, who was busy eating the other's food when they weren't looking.
"Therefore, any conventional compass can't accurately detect the planet's natural field." He added; Nami was silent, thinking about what to do, but Crocus wasn't done.
"To make matters worse, none of the currents or winds follow any regular patterns. As a Navigator, I'm sure you realize how dangerous that is. If you set sail without knowing any of this, you'd perish without a doubt. Without any direction, your journey would be doomed to fail." Crocus said with a shake of his head, Usopp only now noticing the missing food!
"So we're trapped here?" Nami groaned; her face grew pale. "How can we travel if our equipment doesn't work?"
"Calm down, Nami; I'm sure there's a way. Otherwise, there would never be any pirates in Grand Line," Nojiko thought loudly.
"Indeed. You need a Log Pose." Crocus advised her.
Nami looked at the elderly guy and said, "What's that?"
"It's a particular kind of compass," Crocus said, "And navigation on the Grand Line is impossible without one."
"Where can we find one?"
"It's commonly worn on the wrist with a leather strap," Crocus described how it looked when Nami remembered the item she got from Mr. Nine.
"Do you mean one of these?" Nami showed Mr. Nine the item she had borrowed earlier.
Crocus affirmed, "That's a Log Pose."
"The one you stole from me," Mr nine groaned.
Nami just smirked at his face before her attention went to the Log Pose.
"Every island on the Grand Line has its own magnetic field, as I previously said. As a result, you must keep track of each magnetic field you encounter on your route to the next island. Each one is linked to the one before it in the chain. In terms of navigation, the Log Pose is the one thing you can count on in the Grand Line. The starting location is Reverse Mountain, where you may choose from seven distinct pathways. But, no matter whatever route you choose, you'll eventually find yourself on a solitary island. Raftel is the name of the island. Only one man in history has led a crew on that treacherous expedition and returned safely. Gol D. Roger," Crocus stated, with a melancholy tone at the end, before eating more.
"You mean Gold Roger, right?" Usopp asked, noticing the way he said the name. Luffy quickly noticed the 'D' added! It made him wonder...
"No, his real name is Gol D. Roger. The government changed his name to Gold Roger," Crocus insisted, drinking water from his glass; the others wondered why he was called 'Gold Roger' instead but didn't bother to put more thought into it, except Luffy, who looked deep in thoughts.
D, That's the same the mystery man told me! But what does this 'D' mean?? Luffy wondered, remembering the man's words back at Logue Town.
"So, the end of the road will eventually lead us to One Piece?!" Usopp questioned; it made sense for One Piece to be on the last island.
"That's the most popular belief," Crocus shrugged, "However, only one individual has ever succeeded. No one else has ever made it to that island." He stated grimly, remembering that day.
"Soon will be two, old men," Luffy smirked as the two stared each other down, a big grin on Crocus' face matching Luffy's. The two agents were absolutely taken aback.
Soon the crew sat down to eat, but it seemed Luffy had been one step ahead of them for once; half of the food was gone except Nami's food; Luffy hadn't touched her food, and surprisingly neither Nojiko's food. This forced Sanji to cook more food for everyone else, but Luffy seemed never to stop eating since, despite already eating, he was still trying to sneakily eat food from someone else's plate, mainly Sanji and Usopp's plate.
"STOP eating our food," Sanji yelled; this was getting on his nerves.
"You are not eating it, so I decided to help you a little." Luffy simply stated, earning a giggle from Nami and Nojiko.
Help Us?! Usopp growled in his mind, helping them by eating their food when they weren't looking.
After things calmed down, and the dinner was eaten, kind of peacefully!
"Thank you for the meal," Miss Wednesday said from her place on Zoro's other side, smiling as she ate the magnificent fish. "It's very great."
"Do you want anything else, just say the word?" Sanji spun about gleefully, looking like a pervert as usual.
"We'd best tread carefully here," Nami remarked as she fastened the Log Pose to her wrist, "Our whole adventure depends on this remaining safe."
Everyone tightened up and glanced up in terror as they heard a peculiar clacking sound from above. Mr. Nine's mouth dropped, and he broke into a flop sweat. Miss Wednesday stiffened up and looked up in fear as well.
"Oh no!"
"It's the Unluckies!" said Mister Nine, terrified, even more than when he was drowning in acid water.
Everyone in the room raised their heads to see what seemed to be a spotted otter riding a vulture wearing aviator goggles.
"It is just me, or is that bird carrying a bomb?!" Zoro wondered aloud; he had seen many weird things since joining Luffy, but witnessing a bird carrying a bomb was a first.
The otter had a shell in its hand, which it was whacking on a rock, generating the clacking sound they heard. Ready to throw the bomb at the two agents.
"Nami," Luffy simply said. The navigator simply grinned before her arms and legs turned to what looked like gold; Miss Wednesday's eyes widened in disbelief; what was Going On?! Before miss Wednesday could ask what was going on.
Nami jumped in the air before moving her arms forward, Wind Slash, sending a wind-shaped like blade that cuts through everything.
Nami landed back on the ground with a smile; she was getting better with her devil fruit powers; Luffy smiled before kissing her on the cheek; Nami slightly pouted that wasn't on the lips but decided to get that and more back in their room tonight.
Miss Wednesday recovered her ability to talk just as the dead Otter and Vulture hit the water with a splash, and the two agents gaped at what they'd just witnessed: both the Unluckies had been slain by a single gust of wind, with no effort required! The Navigator also had a Devil Fruit!
"Is the rest of the crew just as terrifying as the navigator and the captain?" Miss Wednesday murmured to her friend, who shrugged his shoulders, not really knowing, but he thought they must be quite something.
"What are we going to do, Miss Wednesday?"
Should we ask?"
Miss Wednesday then just had the brightest idea; she knew what she needed to do.
"Excuse me, Straw Har Captain?" Miss Wednesday smiled as she turned to Luffy.
"What do you want? And what is your name??" Luffy asked, eyeing her up and down.
The lady looked surprised for a moment before answering. "My name is Miss Wednesday." Miss Wednesday answered; she thought they must have already learned their names by now.
"Can you tell me your true name?" Luffy gave her a cold gaze.
"We...we can't say!" began the bluenette. "Sorry for the inconvenience! Our task needs our secrecy! All we can tell is that our company's slogan is 'Mystery.' "
"All right. What is that you wanted?" Luffy shrugged off their eccentricities unconcerned.
"Could you possibly provide us a lift back to our home? With both our boat and our Log Pose gone, we can't go back home," Miss Wednesday said, bending her head.
"It's just a short distance away! It's one of the Grand Line's initial islands. On Cactus Island, while Whiskey Peak is the name of the town. We just want to return home! We swear we'll pay you back for your difficulty!" They said, bowing before them.
"I wouldn't trust them. They've been up to no good since they came here," he warned the pirate crew, but he could tell, despite being a free spirit type of kid, the captain knew when things were serious, he wasn't on this journey without any preparation.
"They can come; we would never be heartless," Nami said with a sly smile; the crew noticed that, but the two prisoners seemed not to have been able to see it.
"Oh, Thank Y" "For one million berries, of course," Nami added quickly with the biggest innocent smile on her face.
The prisoner's jaw hit the ground in disbelief; This woman is Evil! Miss Wednesday thought, wondering how they could find a way out of this situation.
"It's fine," Luffy laughed, "We are going to need to start somewhere, so let's just send these people back to their homes," Luffy stated, already deciding to talk with Zoro and Sanji later.
Miss Wednesday sighed in relief, but she wasn't quite yet out of Nami's big claws.
"Alright then, time to establish the Log Pose," Nami said and began planning their path.
"Are you sure you want to take these two? You can't alter your mind once you've decided on a path," Crocus advised Luffy.
"It's all right! If we don't like this path, we'll merely sail around again," Luffy said with a broad smile.
Crocus couldn't help but smile as he said, "Just be sure you establish the Pose using the map."
"Everything is in place!"
"The Log Pose is pointing to Cactus Island!" Nami said, informing everyone.
"Great! Let's set sail! Crocus, thank you for everything!" Luffy shouted at the old man.
"Thank you very much for your assistance!" Nami and Nojiko waved as they walked up the gangplank and onto the Going Merry, where Luffy jumped up onto the figurehead and took his special seat. The ship's anchor was pulled up, and the sails were unfurled, and they took off without incident at the first wind. Laboon chirped out his goodbyes, and Luffy replied.
"Laboon, we'll be back! Please don't tamper with our Jolly Roger!" Luffy waved to the whale mountain.
As the ship sailed on the horizon. "Could that crew of Pirates be the ones we've been waiting for?" Crocus wondered out loud as the vessel faded beyond the horizon.
"Ehhh, Roger, That kid has a strange vibe about him," The elderly man grinned as he considered how Luffy reminded him of his captain, already remembering his words.
"Someone will come before us and surpass us. We came too early,"
It seems you were right, Captain.
Comments
DualEquinox
Y'know I've always thought it would be kind of interesting to see a slightly more calculating Luffy take over and rebrand Baroque Works post-Alabaster as a way of getting more legitimate income (Luffy defeats enemy Pirate and then Baroque Works cashes the bounty as a go-between for Luffy) and with the Luffy in this story having a real emphasis on being the right type of Pirate and being willing to quite brutally eliminating the wrong sort, I could see him taking over and just telling Baroque Work to be more selective in the type of Pirate it targets as the bad apples are the ones that need to go. Plus, Luffy is going to be in possession of Thriller Bark soon due to defeating Moria. Having an organisation actually use it as a Headquarters/man the thing could be useful. Also, I know we are going to end up with an expanded crew but are we also going to be looking at an Expanded Grand Fleet? Expanded territory? Another idea I had floating around is that if any enemy has a DF you want a Crew member to have access to, Nami's Tangerine Trees are basically a Chekov's Gun for a DF Reentering Circulation that I've honestly been waiting to go off in the Manga for literal years now..
dragon
i have start to writing my own one piece story i hope you give it a read, https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14057852/1/One-piece-Legend-of-the-Golden-Hand-pirates
