Lucy.

Duke docked his ship at Foosha Village pier and stepped out. All the bustle at the pier ceased when they saw a high-ranking Marine officer walking. The last Marine officer who stepped on the village was Garp and that was years ago.

He walked along the main street and stood across a bar with the name 'Partys Bar'. It is a building with two stories and a light shade of pink in color. He pushed the saloon doors. Inside there were only a few people, some taking a break from their work.

At the counter, Duke saw a young woman with brown eyes and dark green hair. She is cleaning glasses while talking to a young girl with a straw hat and wearing a sleeveless red vest and blue shorts. She is eating loads of food from her plate.

The bartender saw Duke and greeted him with a smile. "How may I help you sir?"

"Actually, I was looking for a person called Monkey D. Lucy. Have you seen her by any chance? " Duke said with a small smile. Of course, he knows where Lucy is, but he can have some fun, right?

The bartender and others at the bar flinched at that.

"I-I don't know who you are talking about, sir." Duke gave a playful grin as the bartender tried to lie her way out.

"Hmm, better be or I have to arrest everyone on the island for interfering with Marine business." He said and made a movement to grab handcuffs under his cloak when a young girl shouted.

"Leave her alone!" She stood up from her chair and walked up to Duke. Her head only reached up to his shoulders. She is certainly shorter than Luffy. Her cheeks puffed out in anger.

Duke raised an eyebrow. "And who are you?" His playful grin never left his face.

"I am Lucy!" she defiantly declared. Others in the bar face-palmed at her. They are trying to bail her out but she goes straight for trouble.

"Oh… so you are the granddaughter of the old man."

"Eh? You know ji-chan? " Lucy asked, her head tilting to the side.

Duke chuckled. "Of course. He trained me for years. And also asked me to make you a Marine. "

"No! I will be the pirate king! " Lucy cut him off, crossed her arms.

He could only shake his head. He knew it would be difficult to talk with her. Instead, he positioned himself between the saloon doors and Lucy. "I'm afraid I wasn't asking. Your grandpa would be very angry and sad that his granddaughter became a pirate like his other grandchild. We can do it the easy way, which means you will accept and become a Marine, or the hard way, which means I will beat you up and you will become a Marine."

"Never!" Lucy yelled and ran towards Duke, her arm cocked for a punch. Duke simply tilted his head to avoid the punch, but it was immediately followed by a sandalled foot to the head. He grabbed it and threw it away.

"I'm not impressed. It'll take more than a punch to defeat me girl. "

Lucy puffed in anger and rushed once again. This time, Duke was a little more prepared for her Devil Fruit, but he suddenly felt something grab his ankles.He looked down and saw the wooden floor of the bar seemed to come alive and bind him to the ground.

"What?" He looked up and saw Lucy's arm wrapped in dark brown wood, making it one giant punch which crashed straight at Duke's face.

Outside the bar, people were gathered in curiosity but never expected a Marine officer to burst through the wall and fly away into the forest, crashing into a few trees along the way.

Mayor Woop Slap yelled in anger. "Lucy! What the hell did you do this time!? " Just how long will her family cause problems for him?

Lucy stepped out with puffed cheeks. "I'm going to be the pirate king!"

"Shut it! troublesome brat! " The old man yelled once again, raising his cane to hit her.

Far away from the crowd. Duke was embedded in a large tree trunk but there were no injuries on his body and he seemed to be thinking.

"That was unexpected… but it was my mistake to expect rubber fruit from her. That shitty old man should have told me her devil fruit *sigh* but to think there is a wood devil fruit… I wonder how well she can use it. " With the blink of an eye, Duke disappeared from his place and appeared behind Lucy.

The crowd shouted at her. Lucy turned around and saw a fist coming towards her. She quickly crossed her arms in front of her chest and transformed it into a thick shield like wood, protecting her, but still the force behind the punch sent her flying to the forest where Duke came from.

"Good reflexes girly. But your body isn't strong enough. " Duke said, walking towards her slowly.

Lucy quickly got up and touched the trees around her. Trees quickly shot up their branches to Duke, who simply evaded them.

"So, you need to touch the wood to control it. A paramecia devil fruit, right? " Duke analyzed it calmly.

Lucy clicked her tongue and created a sword mace and rushed at Duke.

This continued for hours. Lucy would attack and Duke would simply evade or block it. But he also inspected her devil fruit. Like he guessed it, a paramecia devil fruit allows her to become a Wood Girl. She can transform part of her body and limbs into wood for striking or defending.

She can also control other woods but needs to touch them first. She loses control of the wood over a hundred meters away from her. She can also shape the wood into weapons, but she is mediocre at best.

From what he saw, Luffy and Lucy were totally different in a fight. While Luffy solely uses his own body, Lucy changes the landscape to her desired fighting stage with trees. If one is careless, they will find themselves in a trap right away.

Duke was also surprised at how much energy she had. After only 4 hours of fighting, Lucy finally gave in and fainted from exhaustion.

"This girl…" Duke shook his head and carried Lucy back to Partys Bar. He knows that Lucy didn't receive instructions on how to fight, but the sheer tenacity and battle genius she got will make her one of the top fighters in the world and Duke doesn't have any intention of making her pirate now.

Duke stayed at Foosha Village for a week, where he fought with Lucy every day for hours. He expected her to be stubborn, but not this much. She only ate, slept and fought.

He even considered giving up, but a call from Garp scrapped that idea pretty quickly.

At the end of the week. Duke stood on his ship's deck, looking at the crowd before him. Most of them had stern face at Duke, only Makino and Woop Slap seemed happy. Behind Duke, came Lucy in her new shirt.

Even though she was still angry, he eventually persuaded her that she couldn't beat or even touch him in a week of fighting.

Duke made a bet with her after their first fight. If she could win one fight in a week, then Duke would resign from his Marine duty and become part of her pirate crew. But if she loses all the fights, then she will become a Marine.

And you can see the results with her wearing a sleeveless white Marine uniform and a blue neckerchief, which she greatly hates. She still kept her straw hat and sandals.

Even though she lost, there is no way she would back down from a bet and agree to become a Marine. Garp was overjoyed when Duke gave him the news. Even thought about sending Duke after Ace and making him a Marine too, but looks like that brat joined a troublesome crew.

"Ugh…" Lucy groaned, pulling her neckerchief annoyed. "I will beat you one day and become the pirate king."

"As if." Duke chuckled. His shadow expanded and shadow knights appeared once again.

"Wha?" Lucy's eyes widened comically when she saw it.She quickly turned to Duke with puffed cheeks. "No fair! You didn't use your devil fruit! I want a rematch!" She punched his shoulder like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Not now. I still have my main mission and am already behind schedule."

"Set sail!" He yelled at his summons, hurrying to get ready for the journey.

From the shore, Foosha village citizens yelled at Duke, but you could see them waving their hands with tears coming out.

"Oi! I will come for you if you ever hurt Lucy-chan! "

"Go now, stinky Marine!"

"Shut it you lot!" Woop Slap hit the back of their heads with his cane. Then he turned to Lucy. "Don't cause trouble for your captain! And don't ever think of becoming a pirate! "

Along with their shouts, the marine ship sailed away slowly. Duke looked at his side and saw Lucy's straw hat tilted forward, a few tears dropping to the deck.

He squeezed her shoulder comfortingly and walked into his cabin. Their journey started just now.