143 Chapter 143

143

"Hmm… as a return gift, can you give me those fools back. I did say, I didn't want them, but taking back Mr 5 and Miss Valentine, will make Mr. Zero happy."

"You think we will let you take them?" Gin growled.

"You can take my heart instead!" Sanji seriously offered.

She sighed, "I really didn't want a fight here…"

All of them were ready for a conflict before a sudden blast of Conqueror's Haki diffused the situation. The two stiffened and looked at their captain questioningly. Even Sabo raised an eyebrow.

"Enough," Luffy said, taking back his Haki. "Stand down, guys."

Miss All Sunday was looking down at Luffy curiously as a bead of sweat slid down her cheek. Despite this, she kept smiling. Luffy looked her dead in the eye. "You're on the losing side of this game, Robin. And thanks for the log pose, but I don't trust you. Also, I'm sorry, but I can't give them to you. You should be glad that we hadn't already killed them."

Sabo frowned, Robin, so that was her name. It seemed Luffy knew her. But Robin was a very common name in the seas, so he couldn't make the connection.

The woman's composure instantly slipped away along with her smile, and her eyes widened slightly. There was a moment of silence before she regained her bearings and spoke. "So, you know my identity. You've piqued my curiosity, Monkey D. Luffy."

Luffy winked. "Well, it's always lovely, gaining a woman's attention. And you look just like the wanted poster," he replied, smoothly. Miss All Sunday smiled again, but Luffy could sense her discomfort.

"I see," is all she said. It wasn't a lie. She did look strikingly similar to her 8-year-old self. "It would seem you might have earned your reputation, Fallen Hero Straw Hat Luffy or should I say Mario." Luffy's smile twitched a bit, but he still kept a straight face. It seemed that Robin found amusement in that.

"It's really sad that I have to return empty-handed."

"Well, let's make a deal. You don't tell Croc about this conversation or my little secret back in Whisky Peak. And I won't inform the World Government about you." Luffy said as Robin's smile finally dropped. "How does that sound?"

"You have me there, straw hat. Just keep your promise." She finally said.

"Oh, you have my promise, scout's honor." He mused. "We will meet again next time."

"Again, you won't make it to Alabasta," she said as she jumped off the ship and onto a rather large turtle, she turned towards them one last time. " I wish you the best of luck, seeing as you'll need it. Farewell." The turtle swam off, leaving the pirates to their devices.

"To the Mini Garden, then," Luffy said.

"Little Garden," Coby corrected.

"Yeah, that."

"Well that was rude," Gin commented, his weapons lowering.

"She just called it Little Garden," Nami wondered. "Do you know anything about it, Princess?"

"Nothing," Vivi replied. "I hope she was just trying to scare us."

Before Nami could ask Sabo or Hatchan, Luffy called out. "I know about it, but it shouldn't be something we should worry about. I did prepare for it."

Nami just nodded, trusting her captain.

"Hey, did something happen back there?" It was Hatchan, it seemed that he wasn't able to hear what was happening due to the wind.

"Nothing Hatchi."

"Okay, if you say so."

And with that the ship sailed towards Little Garden.

.

The journey continued, the straw hats going through their usual routines. They took a short break near a marine base to drop off Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine for their bounties.

Luffy could have easily killed them for their devil fruits, but opted not to. Sure both Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine were criminals, but they weren't as bad as the rest.

Also, they were Johnny and Yosaku's opponent, if they didn't kill him. He wouldn't force them to do it. And about them killing Miss Monday, well. Almost all of the agents in the organization had some blood on their hands. Does that mean, Luffy had the right to kill everyone?

Nope, unless they were a threat to Luffy and his crew, or in the future, he wouldn't kill them. But if his crewmates do kill someone, he wouldn't stop them.

And with how much Luffy scared them with Haki, he was sure they wouldn't be coming for revenge any time soon. Also, both Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine changed for good later down the line, so if they somehow survive then great. If not, he didn't care.

Johnny and Yosaku went to drop them off at the local marine base. This way, both of them could gain a reputation on being recognized as bounty hunters, not pirates. Sparky went along with them, using the invisible device.

The C-6 marine base was near Whisky Peak. And it seemed that the captain in charge of it was a rotten one. So, Sparky had raided all the treasury from him, all without the marines knowing.

With the 17.5 million bellies from the agent's bounty, combined with the stolen treasury they made around 30 million in gains.

"Hm… that's quite the profit." Luffy hummed as the Going Merry sailed towards Little Garden.

Nami danced around Luffy and hugged him. "You are the best! You are the best!" she said, in euphoria. Jumping in joy like a little child.

Vivi sweat dropped seeing the scary orange-haired girl act so carefree when around money.

The journey continued, and while Vivi was worried about being too late to stop the Warlord. With Momoo pulling the boat, the journey wouldn't take that long.

In the meantime though, they did some small-time training.

Vivi was quite amazed by the work ethic of the pirates. Almost all of them were training in one way or another.

Mr. Bushido was sparring against the female swordsman of the ship.

The cook seemed to be helping Hatchan make Takoyaki.

The bounty hunters, who were also secretly pirates, were sparring against the tonfa user and claw devil fruit user. Both having gained more injuries from the sparring than they did in actual fights.

Usopp seemed to be helping Sparky in maintaining the ship's weapons, along with adding modifications to his guns. Him and Sparky had already trained for a bit.

Even the crew's captain, Luffy, seemed to have his eyes blindfolded, ears plugged and was trying to defend himself from Sabo. The masked individual finally revealed his identity to her. Other than telling her that Luffy was his brother, and his name, he said nothing else.

Luffy seemed to be getting a bit beaten up with the added drawbacks of having multiple bumps on his head. Vivi winced each time the blonde hit Luffy with the metal pipe, but it seemed that Luffy was improving with this.

Vivi was truly amazed by how different the pirate crew was. But then again Luffy was more of a hero to her than a pirate.

Almost two days passed and the straw hats could finally see the island of their destination. Little Garden.

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