Joining The Ranks

(Starrk's POV)

"Nah, I think I'll pass." I said

Bell nodded, "Very well." He said as he looked at Liam, "What about you?"

Liam sighed, "We'll think about it, actually." He said

"You have till tomorrow morning." He said, "Meet us here. If you're here, we'll leave at noon. If you're not, then I assume you'll stay in this city for work."

With that, he and the girl walked away.

What superior was he talking about? Was it Garp? Could've been. He said something about HQ and him being a big deal. Maybe it was him.

I'm not interested in dealing with Marines at the moment. Not after what they did to me. I'm grateful this guy dismissed the fact i was their prisoner but there's no way I wanna deal with their bullshit.

I looked at Liam, "You'll think about it?"

Liam sighed, "Look, there's some things you don't know about me, or Ricky." He explained, "Mick and Leo might have a chance to work here in the city and do something with their lives, but not us two. Maybe joining them is the way at a second chance."

I nodded, "I can respect that."

Ricky looked at me, "What about you?" He asked, "You didn't hesitate to tell them no."

That's because those asshole almost got me killed.

"My goal isn't to become a marine." I told him, "Its something way bigger than that."

Liam chuckled, "Don't tell me you wanna become a pirate."

I shrugged, "It'll get to that."

I then grabbed my sword and strapped it to my back. I looked at them and gave them a slight smile.

"Alright, I'm going to look for something in the city." I told them, "I'll be here tomorrow morning to see you off if you do want to join them."

Liam nodded, "Alright, bruv."

With that, I turned around and walked away.

About an hour later, I stood in front of a bounty poster bulletin board. Earlier, I overheard someone at the tavern saying there were low level bounties that people can collect for a quick buck, just to go to a building somewhere in the city.

I decided to take up on that.

There's a lot of things to do now that I'm starting on my journey, but getting money is the priority. That and training my sword arm.

I looked at the bounties, just a couple of thieves, nothing big. They didn't even reach the 100,000 berries. That is just sad.

"Gotta be better bounties…" I muttered

"Heh." I heard a voice say

I turned to look at an old man smoking a pipe walk up to me.

"Those are the city bounties." He told me, "You want better ones? I suggest the Mountain Bandits bounties."

"Mountain Bandits?" I asked

He nodded, "Aye." He said walking past me, "Come this way."

I followed him to a counter, he sat down on a chair and pulled out a stack of what I assume are posters.

"Not many city lads want to deal with bandits." He explained, "Bunch of wusses. But you can take yer pick."

He handed me the stack.

"Are they strong?" I asked

He chuckled, "To the regular person, probably." He said, "But to you…I doubt they'll be much. You look strong, I tell ya."

I nodded and put the stacks of posters inside a leather bag I had bought earlier today.

"Alright, who do I take them up to?" I asked

"Just bring them back here and we'll pay ya." He said, "If you can handle that many, that is."

"Alright, have a good one." I said turning around and walking away

I walked outside the buildings and looked up to the sky.

Mountain Bandits, huh? I did see some mountains outside the city. I can imagine there's a lot of shit going on over there. They shouldn't be that dangerous.

I then turned to walk down the street.

There was a lot to be done. I couldn't just rush this, the more I think about it. There's a process. I can't survive in the New World as a pirate without being strong.

All those monsters running amok will prove to be troublesome. And then there's the choice I have to make, who do I make pirate king?

The easiest choice would be Luffy, but he's not even a pirate yet. This is a time period when he meets Shanks. And Shanks is all the way in the East, so I can't make my way there at all.

The only one that could be in the New World and isn't a terrible person is…..

I stopped, "Could it be?" I said aloud

Wait, is he somewhere around?

Maybe there is that option…

***********************

"So…" i said to Liam, "This is it, huh?"

Is the already the following morning and I went to the tavern to see Liam and Ricky.

"Yes, bruv." Liam said, "We made up our minds. We're doing it."

Turns out they did end up choosing to join the marines.

"Yea, well its been nice knowing ya." Ricky said, "Sorry about stealing from you."

I shrugged, "No big deal."

I noticed as the Rear Admiral stood behind them while crossing his arms. He had a serious look on his face.

I looked around, "Where're the other two?"

"They decided to go and look for work." Liam said, "Only Ricky and I are becoming Marines. We're going to HQ to train under this Vice Admiral Garp. We'll be back in a couple of months probably."

Garp? So I was right.

"Alright." I nodded, "Take care."

"What are you gonna do?" He asked me

I smiled slightly,

"Lets just say we might run into each other out at sea."