The air on Alvida's deck, once thick with malice, now tasted of salt and freedom. Luffy stood over the unconscious pirate captain, his knuckles faintly smeared with dust. He didn't even look at her.
"You," he said, his voice flat and leaving no room for argument as he pointed to a cowering pirate. "Get Koby a boat. A good one. The rest of you… disappear."
They scrambled like roaches from the light.
Hours later, the open sea embraced their tiny vessel. Koby, hands still trembling from adrenaline, steered while Luffy lounged on the figurehead, staring at the horizon as if he could see their destination already.
"This Zoro," Luffy said, breaking the comfortable silence. "Tell me."
Koby swallowed, adjusting his glasses. "What Alvida said… it's true. They call him 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro. He's a demon with three swords. They say he cut down an entire crew by himself for their bounty. But… the Marines captured him. He's being held at the naval base on Shells Town."
Luffy's grin was sudden and brilliant, a slash of white in the sun. "A three-sword guy? A demon? Perfect! He's going to join my crew."
"Luffy, you can't just decide that!" Koby sputtered, but his protest was half-hearted, already knowing the futility. The wind carried them forward, the pace of their journey shifting from escape to purpose.
***
The island emerged from the haze, and with it, the stark, oppressive silhouette of the Marine base, its walls like clenched teeth against the sky.
"We… we actually arrived," Luffy muttered, blinking in genuine surprise.
Koby let out a shaky sigh. "That's basic navigation, Luffy. You can't just float around. You *need* a navigator. And a cook. And probably a doctor, and—"
"I'm hungry," Luffy declared, hopping off the boat before it even fully touched the dock. "Let's eat first!"
In a small, dingy seaside tavern, the atmosphere was thick with the smell of stale beer and fear. Koby pushed his food around his plate.
"After this… I think I should go. To enlist. It's what I've always wanted," Koby said, his voice small.
Luffy, mouth full, just nodded. Then he swallowed. "Okay. After we get Zoro."
"Luffy, you can't just—"
"Hey, barkeep!" Luffy called out, oblivious. "This 'Pirate Hunter Zoro' guy. He's here, right?"
The effect was instantaneous.
The clatter of a dropped mug. A chair scraping back violently. Every conversation in the room died. Pale, wide-eyed faces turned toward them, then just as quickly looked away, shoulders hunching as if expecting a blow.
Koby shrank in his seat. "L-Luffy, maybe don't…"
Undeterred, Luffy tried again, leaning toward a burly fisherman at the next table. "What about the Marine boss here? Morgan?"
This time, a man actually choked on his drink. A woman hurriedly gathered her children and fled. The tavern owner quietly drew the shutters on the front window.
On the street moments later, Koby was shaking. "Zoro's name… I understand. Fear of a monster. But Morgan… he's a Marine Captain! Why would his own name terrify people?"
The answer seemed to loom above them—the Marine base, its walls somehow darker than the gathering twilight.
***
"Just a peek," Luffy whispered, his fingers finding impossible purchase in the rough stone. He scaled the outer wall of the base like a spider, Koby following with significantly less grace and a lot more panic.
Luffy hauled himself over the parapet, his eyes scanning the courtyard below. And he froze.
There, in the center of the barren yard, crucified on a rough wooden frame, was a man. Even from this distance, Luffy could see the definition of muscle strained against ropes, the sun-baked skin, the green hair matted with dust and sweat. But it was the eyes—sharp, defiant, and utterly bored—that confirmed it.
"Whoa," Luffy breathed.
"Is… is that him?" Koby whispered, pulling himself up. He looked down, his eyes met the prisoner's gaze, and with a squeak of terror, he lost his grip and tumbled back down the outside wall.
The prisoner's eyes—Zoro's eyes—flicked up. They held no hope, only a cold, assessing curiosity.
"Hey," Zoro's voice was a dry rasp, but it carried. "You. Up on the wall."
Luffy pointed to himself, grinning.
"Yeah, you. I've been here for nine days. No food. They're trying to starve me out." Zoro's lips peeled back in something that wasn't a smile. "Cut me down. There's a bounty hunter in the next town over. I'll bring you his head. Fair trade."
Before Luffy could answer, a small, frantic whisper came from beside him. "Shhh! Be quiet!"
A girl, no older than ten, her face smudged with dirt and fierce determination, scaled the wall with the practiced ease of a squirrel. She hushed Luffy again, her eyes wide with fear, and dropped into the courtyard.
"Rika, no! Come back!" Koby's hissed plea floated up from the base of the wall.
Ignoring him, the girl darted across the open ground, a small bundle clutched to her chest. She stopped before Zoro, her small frame trembling.
"Here," she whispered, offering the bundle. Two misshapen rice balls. "You must be hungry."
Zoro's harsh expression didn't change. "Get lost, kid. You'll get in trouble."
"But—"
"I said *go*."
A new, nasal voice slithered across the courtyard. "Well, well. What do we have here? A little rat bringing scraps to the chained dog?"
A man swaggered into the yard, flanked by two snickering Marines. He was tall, absurdly groomed, with a shock of blonde hair and a sneer of absolute privilege. Morgan's son, Helmeppo.
He snatched the onigiri from Rika's hands. "Let's see what kind of slop you feed to beasts." He took a large, dramatic bite.
And immediately gagged, spitting the food onto the ground in a violent spray. "Blech! Sugar! You made them with *sugar*, you stupid brat! These are inedible!"
He raised his hand to strike Rika, who flinched, eyes squeezed shut.
But the blow never landed.
From high on the wall, Luffy's straw hat cast a shadow over his eyes. His voice, low and devoid of all its earlier cheer, cut through the tension like a blade.
"Hey."
Helmeppo looked up, annoyed. Zoro's eyes narrowed, focusing on the new player.
Luffy's fingers curled tight around the stone parapet. "You just wasted that girl's food."
He leaned forward, a promise of violence in every line of his body.
**"Get ready to pay for it."**