305 Chapter 305

305

"I have to thank you for helping Gin and as a token of appreciation, I'm willing to pay you for the damages that happened to your ships, and others, due to the fight."

Luffy said while Cricket looked flabbergasted. He didn't expect Luffy to be this direct and polite with him. You wouldn't expect politeness from pirates, there were some doubts in Cricket's mind if the young Warlord was just messing with him or not.

But honestly, he couldn't feel any kind of lie from him. "So you are willing to pay… that's… well, that's unexpected." He said, while crossing his arms, "Though, I'm still not sure on how much the ships were damaged. If we are lucky, and the ships are undamaged I won't take any of your money."

The first thing Luffy was able to learn about Cricket was that he was far more successful as a pirate than his canon counterpart. He was also a bit young, being around his early thirties. And, unlike his canon counterpart, he still had his crew, but had an active bounty of over eighty mil. Though, nowadays he mostly stayed around Jaya.

Anchor knew him because when he was in the Marines he had faced him multiple times. Even now, they might be somewhat equal in strength. Though Anchor would come out as victor. As he did get strong after fighting Crocodile.

Luffy waved him off, "Don't worry, money isn't an issue… even if our fight didn't damage your ship. The fact that you saved one of my crewmates is enough to pay you a hundred mil or so." He added, being oh so generous.

He thanked himself in his head that he had sent out Nami with the others, if not, she might've jumped him for saying such abhorrent things.

Masira and Shoujou had their jaws dropped while their eyes turned to Belis. That kind of money would be enough to build more than two ships! Even Gin, who was by Luffy's side, was amazed. His respect for his captain growing a bit more.

The others have already left the Going Merry to search for any fruits and explore the wrecked island. With only a few remaining on the ship. They already had two fruits, so they just had to look for the others.

Luffy, Cricket, and the others were having their conversation on the Going Merry. Law, who was sitting outside with an unreadable expression, was also able to hear them. But he remained silent.

For a while even Cricket didn't know what to say about the offer that Luffy made, his pride telling him to reject the offer. And he would have done so if Luffy didn't cut him off.

"Though, I'm more interested in the service your crew offers…" Luffy said, bringing his attention to him. "I did some research on you… and you are quite famous for exploring the ocean grounds… so I was thinking of buying your service."

Even though Cricket was a pirate, there were times when even pirate crew were recruited to do work for honest money. Not all pirates wanted to kill people, some were just labeled as such because of getting into unfortunate circumstances.

Before Cricket could speak, Gin spoke, "That would be good, captain." He said, "Cricket here is a dreamer like yourself captain."

"Really now?" Luffy said with interest, while rubbing his chin.

That made Cricket a bit tense, but Gin didn't notice. He continued.

"Yes, he wants to find the City of Gold. So he might be the best diver out in these parts of the Grand Line." Gin said while Cricket looked at Luffy, still a bit tense. Eyeing Luffy's expression for any signs of greed or amusement.

Cricket wouldn't admit it, but getting mocked for your dreams wasn't the worst, getting robbed kind of was. If a powerful pirate like Luffy decided to take everything, then he or anyone of his men wouldn't be able to stop him.

But Luffy didn't show any of that, no, he just tilted his head to the side. "But how does that have anything to do with finding the City of Gold?"

Gin blinked, "Ugh… Captain, don't you know about the legend of Noland? And how he claimed that the City of Gold had sunk down…?"

"I mean I know the legend of it," Luffy said, "But it's just a legend. It's not true…"

"It is!" Cricket said, talking over the younger pirate. "The City of Gold, it exists!" Cricket's men panicking because of their captain's outburst and Warlord's reaction. They didn't want to offend such a high figure.

Luffy looked at him for a moment, "And so does the One Piece." He answered, baffling him. "I didn't say it doesn't exist. It probably does. But I'm curious…" Luffy hummed looking at Cricket carefully, "You are related to Noland, aren't you?"

Cricket didn't say anything for a while as he looked down, a bit ashamed about his origins. But he nodded. "Yes, yes I am. And that's why I'm trying to prove that… Noland. That he wasn't a liar! And I will prove that, it's at the bottom of the sea!"

Luffy shrugged, "That's good… But I'm not sure if it's at the bottom of the ocean. If it was, some Fishmen would have found it a long time ago."

"Well… well, Fishmen aren't common around these parts." Cricket protested, not willing to accept Luffy's words. "And I'm sure…"

Luffy held up his hand, stopping him. "Let me stop you right there… the legend of Noland is at least four hundred years old. And I'm sure some Fishmen or humans have tried looking for it…"

Cricket stepped forward and slammed his fist down on the table. "What are you trying to say here!?"

Luffy just looked at him, before shrugging, pointing upwards, "What I'm saying is, maybe you are looking in the wrong place."

All of them that were present blinked.

Luffy grinned inwardly, 'Gotcha bitch!' he thought to himself. To his Observation Haki, Cricket had potential, lots of potential. Even without his future potential, he was strong enough to give Johnny or Yosaku a challenge.

That kind of man could be great for a crewmate. But seeing how Cricket acted with his own crew, Luffy knew that wouldn't be possible. So, instead, Luffy wanted Cricket in his Grand Fleet.

Even though he was weak now, if he could get towards the level of Noland, who was able to cut a large sea king in one swing of his sword, then recruiting him would be a good way to expand his Grand Fleet's influence.

Luffy wanted not only himself to be strong. No, he wanted his allies to be strong as well. There is a reason why Whitebeard, even in his old age, is considered the strongest Yonko.

In terms of strength, Shanks or Kaido might have been able to surpass him. But both of them didn't have strong allies like Newgate did.

"What?" Cricket asked. Even Law, who wasn't paying much attention to them, was intrigued. Even Luffy noticed it, but didn't say anything.

Luffy couldn't help himself and smirked, looking straight into Cricket's eyes. "Tell me Cricket, what do you know about the Sky Islands?"