Chapter 43 - Execution Stand

(A/N: 70 hour work week lol. I ded lololol.)

(Also, I accidentally put the wrong title for Tashigi… or it's just a difference in translation between manga/anime. At least in the manga, it is Sergeant Major, so I'll change to that since it is shorter and rolls off the tongue better. That's definitely the kind of detail I figured I'd overlook eventually, but whatevs.)

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Two men wandered through the streets of Loguetown. Most people paid them no heed, aside from a few thirsty young ladies they could care less about.

"Weird. It's getting a lot less crowded around here," Zoro said.

"Yeah. Not surprised," Jin mumbled while looking at his phone.

{1. Eliminate a rampant herd of Void Beasts in the vicinity. Save the innocents before it can reach them. RP reward will reduce along with casualties. Zero survivors will result in failure and zero rewards. Location: West side of Loguetown.}

Below the updated location, an arrow pointed a specific direction on the screen like a compass. No matter how he moved the phone, it pointed in the same direction: West.

'Well, since it seems to be a horde-type mission, gathering all the straw hats will make this easier. Haven't decided how I want to handle the execution scene, but it would be nice if I could somehow get the Marines to assist somehow as well. It would be too annoying to have to fight both, especially since I really like so many of the major Marine characters.'

A few voices ahead suddenly interrupted his musings.

"Hm?"

"Oh, hey!"

Two voices spoke up, grabbing Jin's attention. He immediately saw Sanji and Usopp carrying a massive fish with elephant snout and tusks on its face. Looking down a side street, he saw Nami walking toward them from the distance wearing a new red summer dress. The bag in her hands looked a bit smaller than Jin recalled back when watching One Piece.

"To think we would all end up here at almost the same time," Nami said upon meeting up with them.

Both Jin and Zoro nodded in agreement.

"So, where's the captain?" Zoro asked.

"He said he was checking out the execution stand…" Nami answered.

"He's probably having a grand old time up there about now," Jin said, chuckling slightly.

The group looked past the crowd in the square and immediately showed a colorful variety of expressions.

"Wha!" Usopp exclaimed, nearly losing his grip on the huge fish.

"Why the hell is he on the execution stand?!" Zoro exclaimed, completely baffled by the situation.

Behind those two, Sanji broke out into a cold sweat. Nami simply sighed with an expression of resignation.

Near the several-story-tall execution stand, a man with a round red nose wearing flashy striped clothing and a black pirate hat laughed obnoxiously and exclaimed, "For the crime of angering me, I sentence you, Monkey D. Luffy, to a flashy execution!"

"We need to help him," Zoro said.

"Right," Sanji agreed, dropping the fish for Usopp to carry all the weight.

"Ooof!"

"I won't be any help here, so I'll head back to the boat," Nami said, though Zoro and Sanji dashed ahead before she could finish.

To the surprise of the others, Sanji faceplanted against a thin barrier.

"Ugh. What the hell was that?!"

"Sanji, I'll help Zoro. You, Nami, and Usopp should go back to the Going Merry since I'm pretty sure the Buggy Pirates want to destroy the ship or something."

"Hah? Why the hell should I take orders from you? I'm helping the Captain!"

"You and Usopp saw a guy on a lion on the way here, right? That's a main member of Buggy's crew."

"Eh? Thought that was just a weirdo. Wait, how'd you know?"

"Ah! I remember that guy!" Nami exclaimed, anxiousness plastering her face.

"Wait, really?!" Sanji and Usopp both exclaimed.

"Yeah, and Merry will be needed soon, I'd imagine," Jin surmised, drawing a nod of agreement from Nami. "Anyway, Zoro's having a tough time, so I'm going out there. Good luck," Jin said while forming a surfboard-like barrier under his feet. The next second, he flew into the air just above the crowd of hooligans like a cannonball, startling the other three.

Although not fully convinced, Sanji grit his teeth and ran back toward the Going Merry alongside Nami and Usopp. Unfortunately for Nami, she quickly fell behind. Surprisingly, Usopp sprinted as fast as Sanji did. An angry expression darkened his normally jovial face.

Above the town square, Jin cast a few barriers, stopping some gunfire from hitting Zoro. A certain glasses-wearing Marine Officer looked through her binoculars at the sight from a nearby balcony with widened eyes.

"It's them? What are they doing here?" She wondered aloud. "And it seems like Jin-san has a barrier type devil fruit? I didn't expect that from a swordsm- Ah, barrier swords?! Is that the sword he was talking about?"

"Sir, are we going to fire?" A puzzled marine asked, looking toward a tall man with white hair and sharp eyes wearing a white coat holstered with cigars. Two lit cigars fumed while held between his teeth.

Other marines pitched in anxiously.

"No need to rush…"

"But if we don't hurry…"

"There are a bunch of devil fruit users…"

"Have I ever let pirates escape from this town, even once?" The tall white haired man rhetorically asked with a condescending glare.

"N- no sir."

"Then be quiet. Let the pirates kill each other."

Up in the sky, Jin floated casually. His defensive barriers easily blocked all the gunfire that had changed targets from Zoro to himself. He threw a few barrier blades at the most annoying pirates, but he mostly avoided killing them as much as possible for the time being since he didn't want anyone powerful to hold him responsible for murder later in case he needed to visit this world again at a later date. He did notice the marines standing on the sidelines, but didn't care that much about them. Instead, he focused on the execution platform.

'I know Dragon interferes here at some point, but it might be a good idea to stop this before he does. Or was it normal lightning that destroyed the platform? I can't remember exactly, so I'll just do what I want.'

Just as he thought that, he heard Luffy's voice echo through the town square.

"I'm the man…! Who'll become the Pirate King!"

The exclamation caused a murmur of unrest among the uninvolved bystanders.

"Is that all you have to say," Buggy exclaimed, raising his sword above his head, "you rubber brat!"

"Wait!"

"Oh! Zoro! Eh, Jin, too?! Uwoh~ You can fly!"

"So you do know my name, dammit," Jin grumbled while channeling more magic than usual into his barriers.

"So, you've come, Zoro and… eh? Another Devil Fruit user?! W- well, anyway, you're too late!" Buggy yelled as though trying to boost his own confidence.

Alvida pointed at the two and yelled, "Take them down, boys!"

"Hmm. Good luck with that," Jin mumbled, clapping his hands multiple times in succession.

Buggy's sword swung downward.

Luffy smiled widely, and said, "Sorry, guys, but it looks like I'm dead."

Below and a little ahead of Jin, Zoro desperately cut through mobs to reach his captain and friend. Seeing that, Jin cast one barrier to prevent too many nobodies from hindering the guy. He cast a second around Alvida to shut her up and prevent her from interfering afterward. He cast a third in front of Buggy to stop his blade from hitting Luffy.

Amidst all this, Luffy's broad smile while the blade was swinging down stole the hearts of many in the crowd while freezing many others. To the surprise of every bystander, Buggy's sword stopped inches away from Luffy's neck.

'Good thing I cast the barrier. The timing is a bit off,'' Jin thought to himself, narrowing his eyes toward the crackling light within the thunderclouds overhead.

The next second, a massive lightning bolt struck the execution platform, setting it ablaze. A simple straw hat floated down and landed on the cobbled pavement below. Rain drizzled, then poured, soaking everyone's clothes. Silence fell over the crowd.

"Shishishishi! Looks like I survived! How lucky! Thank goodness," Luffy happily said, walking toward Zoro over the fallen bodies of unconscious pirates.

"Surround the town square! Corner all the pirates!" A leading Marine officer commanded.

Upon seeing Luffy escape death, Captain Smoker narrowed his eyes. He seriously pondered Luffy's smile.

Suddenly, an anxious voice of another marine from the intelligence squad arrived, exclaiming, "Captain Smoker, sir! We just got a call from the guards at the West Gate that something strange is happening there! They said the sky split open!"

"Hah?! What the hell? The sky?"