Chapter 138 Kicking the Celestial Dragon and Conquering the EmpressThe atmosphere instantly turned somber, and Chopper's eyes welled up with tears.
Luffy scratched his head, saying nonchalantly, "Huh? No way! I come over for meals with you guys every now and then when I'm bored. I'm always free anyway."
The emotions everyone had been building up instantly caught in their throats: "..."
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻!
"Then why did you make the atmosphere like it's a matter of life and death?!"
Usopp was so angry his nose almost twisted.
"Ahem."
Luffy coughed twice, feigning embarrassment, "I just felt the atmosphere had built up a bit, so I'm giving you a little push to reinforce the impression."
Everyone shouted in unison, "Go to hell!!"
...
"Haven't those bastards been caught yet?!"
On Red Tree Island #27, Saint Charlos, his face swollen like a pig's head, lay on a stretcher, hysterically roaring at the surrounding Marines.
"Reporting, Saint-rank, Admiral Kizaru has personally gone in pursuit."
A Marine Rear Admiral, sweating profusely, kept his head down, not daring to look at the Celestial Dragon's twisted face, and could only manage a forced explanation, "It's only a matter of time before they're captured. Please calm down."
Saint Charlos, his fat jiggling with rage, pointed at the Marines and cursed, "You bunch of slow-moving, turtle-like lackeys! Not only was I beaten, but my slave escaped!"
"What do they take the bloodline of the Creator for! When they catch that bastard, I'll make him kneel on the ground and lick my shoes! I'll let him know what living hell is! I..."
*Thump!*
A muffled thud abruptly interrupted the roar.
The surrounding Marines froze: ∑(っ°Д°;)っ!!
"Damn it, I think I slipped and kicked some trash."
Luffy innocently withdrew his foot, turning to Kizaru, who was trimming his nails beside him. "Uncle, what did you see just now?"
Kizaru glanced at the Celestial Dragon who had once again rolled his eyes and fainted, speechless.
This is the advantage of having powerful backers. Even as an Admiral, he wouldn't dare to so blatantly treat a Celestial Dragon like a football.
"Hey, you guys over there, what did you see?" Luffy turned and shouted at the Marines who had just been scolded.
The group of marines shuddered, their survival instincts kicking in. They shouted in unison, "Reporting, Admiral! We saw an unknown pirate suddenly jump out and attack Charlos Saint! Then he ran away!"
Luffy nodded in satisfaction, giving a thumbs-up: "Teachable, promising."
Zoro and the others nearby twitched their lips, looking at Luffy as if he were a monster. "You're addicted to fighting Celestial Dragons, aren't you?"
Luffy waved at the marines like shooing away flies: "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and carry him back to Mary Geoise. That pig-faced guy is disgusting, an eyesore."
"Yes, sir!"
The Rear Admiral, relieved, gave a crisp salute and immediately ordered two soldiers to lift the stretcher and run, afraid Luffy would kick him again.
"In the end, only Nami, Chopper, Brook, and Vivi got to go,"
Zoro muttered, looking at the empty column.
"Absolutely, that place was handpicked by my cheap old man."
Luffy crossed his arms and explained, "You were supposed to go to Mihawk's, but he's probably in a meeting at Mary Geoise right now. You can go back with him after the Marineford War."
"As for Sanji, he's lacking Haki training. I'll have Garp hand him over to Zeff; he's a ruthless guy who trained three admirals. Let Sanji take good care of him."
"Usopp, well, he can stick with the old man. Garp is a master at turning trash into treasure; he even trained that crybaby Coby."
Usopp weakly raised his hand beside him: "Hey... I heard you..."
"Kalifa and Robin, you two don't need to go fighting. You can come with me on a paid vacation... I mean, to carry out the mission to recruit the Seven Warlords."
"Franky needs to go back to headquarters and convert the Going Merry's hull to Seastone. After that, send him to find Enel. The technology at the lunar base is way ahead of Vegapunk's crappy lab."
"I'll also build the Mirage Tower sometime and give it a good makeover."
Luffy stroked his chin, a longing look on his face: "If I could get the android technology from Dragon Ball, that would be truly awesome..."
"Nami's going to learn navigation. As for Brook, with his skeletal frame, I really have no idea how he'll learn Haki. We'll see. If Chopper can create a perfect Rumble Ball, I'd like to try it out. Vivi, well, she's gone home to inherit the throne and become queen."
After seeing Nami and the others off, Luffy felt a little empty inside.
After all, spending so much time together had given him a real sense of the unique bonds and passion of the pirate world.
"Sigh—"
Luffy sighed deeply, then his expression changed. He turned to Zoro and Sanji, who were staring blankly, and yelled:
"What are you sighing about! Get your breathing rhythm right! Even when practicing Haki, you can't stop your breathing! Zoro, you felt the demonic energy, right? Try to activate it. Once you've mastered Armament Haki, try mixing it one-to-one. Never mind, I'll teach you step-by-step then."
The others looked at Luffy, who had instantly transformed into a devilish instructor, and shrugged helplessly.
They could tell that Luffy, though he didn't say it, was actually quite disappointed.
Just as everyone was about to go over and offer some words of comfort,
"Yoshi!"
Luffy suddenly clapped his hands, his eyes shining: "I don't want to think about it anymore! Next stop, Amazon Lily, to conquer the Empress!"
Everyone: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻!
Give me back my感动 (feeling of being moved), you bastard!
Robin covered her mouth, laughing uncontrollably.
...
Afterwards, the crew, aboard the Going Merry, followed Kizaru's imposing warship, cutting through the waves back to Marine Headquarters.
"The last time we were here was...the last time."
Luffy stood at the bow, gazing at the Marine base in the distance where fortifications were being built at a fever pitch, and uttered a seemingly pointless remark.
Zoro and the others rolled their eyes in unison.
"His words are more insightful than any other," Luffy thought.
"What massive project are they undertaking?" Zoro asked, squinting at the densely packed engineering corps on Crescent Bay, his brow furrowed.
"The clouds of war are gathering."
Luffy glanced at the impossibly thick steel walls, reaffirming in his mind that Sengoku, that old fox, had definitely foreseen Whitebeard's underwater attack.
After all, being so close to the Sabaody Archipelago, Sengoku, as a strategist, couldn't have overlooked routine operations like coated diving.
Just looking at the arrangement of this trap, it's clear that Crescent Bay was deliberately left as an opening, luring the enemy in.
"War? With whom?" Zoro keenly sensed something was amiss.
"You'll find out in a couple of days."
Luffy smiled mysteriously. "You can follow Mihawk around and see what the ceiling of combat power in this world is like."
"Mikki Mihawk is coming too?!" Zoro's eyes lit up instantly, filled with fighting spirit.
"Didn't I tell you already? Don't you remember? Are your ears lost too?" Luffy retorted speechlessly.
Zoro nodded, not refuting.
Now, both he and Mihawk's goal is to surpass Luffy and reach that supreme state of having no sword in one's heart and no sword in one's hand.
So, upon hearing that he was to become Mihawk's apprentice, Zoro didn't feel humiliated as he did in the original story; instead, he felt a surge of anticipation.
After all, they were both pursuers, so it was just a matter of studying together.
"Yo! Isn't that Tina, the beautiful lady? Long time no see, I've missed you so much!"
Luffy, with his sharp eyes, suddenly spotted a graceful figure on the harbor, his eyes lighting up.
With a whoosh!
He instantly appeared beside Tina using Shunpo.
Tina trembled in fright, nearly twisting her high heels: "Hmph! Stay away from me, you scared me to death, Tina's angry!"