《The Will of D. reamers [A One Piece Fanfic]》 00001: Fear is a crazy thing. Have you ever had the feeling that something isn''t right? You aren''t sure what it is, but your gut is screaming at you, telling you something is wrong. He had felt that way for the past few months. It took a while, but he finally noticed he felt like that whenever he saw a truck on the street and not just a simple pickup truck either. It needed to be a diesel truck. Sometimes it was a big rig with a full load on the freeway. Other times it was a cement truck or even a big moving truck. But whenever he saw one, he had this crazy urge to get away from it as fast as possible. The really crazy part was he had the feeling even if he didn''t see the truck, he just needed to be somewhere near one. He told his friends about it and they made fun of him like any good friend¡¯s would. They told him he was reading too many online novels and taking the recent news too seriously. So he decided to tell his family about it. His parents were concerned and told him to go see a shrink about it. It was reasonable. Heck it even made sense to do it. So there he was laying on a nice couch. Staring at the ceiling as he paid some woman a few hundred dollars an hour to listen to him talk about how big diesel trucks made him want to run away in fear. "And when did this start?" She asked as she wrote something down on her notepad. The man let out a sigh as he rubbed the top of his head and thought about it. After a few moments he said, "Maybe three months ago at this point. But I only really noticed it was diesel trucks about two months ago." The woman who sat across from him again scribbled something on her notepad before she asked, "Did anything unusual happen around that time? Lose your job? Break up with a lover? Did someone close to you die?" "No, everything''s been fine. I have no girlfriend currently and I''ve had the same job for over five years. And as far as I know, no one has died, or even been sick in the last few months." She nodded her head and wrote down another note before she asked, "How was your childhood growing up?" "Why are you asking about my childhood?" It looked like she underlined something before she said, "It''s a standard question. Please tell me about your earliest memories." As the man thought about it for a moment, his eyes widened. He quickly shot up and glanced around the room in a panic. His instincts were screaming at him to run. But they were almost seventy floors up in a skyscraper, it made no sense to him. The woman studied him for a few seconds as he was panicking, before she asked, "Did you remember something? If you did it''s okay. No one can hurt you here, it¡¯s just me and you. I promise." The man was breathing heavily, so she gave him a reassuring smile as she said, "I want you to take a deep breath and hold it." The man stood up as he said, "No, I need to leave. Now." The woman raised her hands slowly in a non-threatening way as she said gently, "It''ll be okay, I can help you through this. You just have to trust me, okay?" The man turned to look at the woman before his eyes focused on what was behind her. Shear terror ran through his body as his eyes widened in shock as he realized what was behind the woman. Outside the window flying through the air towards them was a diesel truck. But it looked a little different from a normal truck. It was all black with a green goblin face on the front of it. He had seen it before, in a movie once. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. His body reacted before his mind could really think of what to do. He rushed forward, grabbed the woman from her chair and pulled her out of the way of the truck, which was about to smash through the window behind her. She let out a scream as he pushed her fully out of the way of the truck, towards the door as he followed only a step behind. There was a loud smash and time seemed to slow down. He heard the glass shattering slowly, it sounded like ice creaking on a frozen lake for a moment. Then time seemed to catch up and there was a massive sound, louder than a thunder clap next to his ear. The next thing the man knew was pain and it became his whole world. More pain then should be possible for a split second before nothing. Everything around him faded away and he felt himself going to sleep. He didn''t want to sleep, but it was so warm and inviting. He couldn''t help himself as he closed his eyes. He relaxed his mind and just embraced the warm darkness, his last thoughts fading into the ether. vvvvv A news report came on TV later that day, the reporter smiled slightly at the camera. She was light skinned, with auburn colored hair that highlighted her striking green eyes. Her yellow top was opened slightly in the front showing off a little cleavage. Her smile was infectious as she said, "Good evening everyone, I''m New York''s favorite reporter April. I am sure most of you have already heard about the tragic incident that occurred downtown earlier today." Some video pulled up on the screen, it showed a black diesel truck stuck in a high rise. Its green goblin face looked menacing hanging just out of the building. The reporter''s voice was heard again as she said, "This is the tenth abnormal truck related death in the last few months. While luckily there''s only been one reported death from the incident. It is still tragic and our hearts go out to the victim''s friends and family." The video changed to a woman wrapped in a blanket, her hair was disheveled and her makeup was ruined from crying. As the woman was huddled in the blanket, she rocked back and forth as she mumbled, ¡°He was right, he was right, he was right, he was right, he was right.¡± The reporter was heard over the video, "Just like the other abnormal truck related deaths, the victim of the accident, heroically saved this woman¡¯s life as his last act. We are still trying to determine if she is unrelated to today''s victim like all of the other people that have been saved. When we find out, we¡¯ll let you know.¡± The video cut back to the reporter, she gave a pleasant smile as she said, "I am happy to report that our news team was able to find out what caused the abnormal tragedy that took place earlier today." Some pictures came up on the screen next to her face and she said, "The incident today was caused by some faulty harnesses while a crane was lifting up the truck. The truck was meant to be part of an exhibition taking place at a nearby building next month." Some more information pulled up that showed info about the exhibition. Afterwards the reporter said, "We were also able to acquire footage of the truck being lifted into place. It also includes what happened after the harnesses broke. It''s not graphic, but we do recommend caution for younger viewers." The screen changed to show video of the truck suspended in the air. As the crane was slowly spinning to move it towards the building, the front harness snapped. Which caused the load to unbalance and swung the truck backwards. The crane jerked slightly with the weight before it reached the apex of the swing. When the truck swung back the other way it ripped the harness off and flew towards a different building. It somehow stayed in a perfect arc as it shot through the air. Before it smashed into a building, and came to a stop sticking out of the other side. The video switched back to the reporter as she said, "I know how you feel, that doesn''t look real at all. I personally thought it was from a movie the first time I saw it. Just like the video¡¯s from the other abnormal accidents recently, they all seem to defy physics.¡± She shook her head slightly causing her hair to sway as she said, "We still don¡¯t know the name of the victim at this time. But we wish to let their friends and family know, our thoughts and prayers are with you." She gave the camera a radiant smile before she said, "That concludes our special broadcast for tonight. Once we find any more information about this or the other abnormal accidents, we¡¯ll let you know. It was my pleasure to be your host for this program, this is April signing off." 00002. Waking up in a new world. When he finally awoke, the only thing he could remember clearly was a creepy green face coming towards him. It was oddly familiar and for some reason it made him want to run away in fear. The only issue was it didn¡¯t seem like he could run away since he couldn¡¯t feel the rest of his body. His memories were also a mess. His name? His age? Where he lived? Anything about himself was just gone. It was like it didn¡¯t exist. But other things like math, how to make a pizza or books he read? All that information was there, floating around in his mind. Along with that creepy green face. He tried to remember anything else he could about himself, but that creepy green face would always show up instead. Some random song he listened to once? Totally fine, he could remember it clearly with no issue and even knew all the lyrics. But if he tried to remember what color his hair was¡­ The creepy green face would appear. He wasn¡¯t sure how long it took, drifting in and out of consciousness. Days maybe? Weeks? Maybe years? It was hard to tell because he couldn¡¯t feel his body at all. He also couldn¡¯t see or hear anything either, it was like being in some type of sensory deprivation tank. His memories were no help either in telling him the passage of time. It helped to keep him occupied when he was awake. But he noticed the longer it went on the less the green face would appear to torment him. He still couldn¡¯t remember anything about himself, but that green face also wouldn¡¯t pop up as much anymore. On the rare occasion it did, it wouldn¡¯t be as powerful as it used to be. After an unknown amount of time passed, when even the memory of that green face disappeared completely. He finally woke up and felt something. He could finally feel his body. Well, maybe it wasn''t his body¡­ Something about it felt off, like it wasn''t truly his body. Well it wasn''t like he could really remember what his body was like in the first place. But something was hinting at his subconscious that this body felt different then it should. And why the hell did the left side of his face hurt so much? It also didn''t help that it felt like something was covering his whole body making it hard for him to breathe properly. Besides that, it also made it hard for him to hear properly. Everything currently sounded weird, he could hear people who were yelling. There were other sounds also, something like guns and maybe explosions seemed to be going off close by? It was hard to tell though because everything was muffled. He thought he might be able to see also. But whatever was crushing him also seemed to be blocking his vision. He tried to push whatever it was off of him, but it was too heavy for him to move at all. In frustration he yelled for help, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was the cry of a little baby. He was shocked for a moment before he continued to yell with what little power he had. As he was yelling, another baby very close to him also started to cry. The only reason he could tell it was close was from the un-muffled sound of the other babies crying. vvvvv In the middle of a city, in the midst of what looked like a war. A lone man moved with a single purpose, while the sound of screaming, gunshots and cannon fire surrounded him. The man rushed past people fighting each other. Some of them were his allies, while others were his enemies, but currently none of them mattered. He ignored them all as he moved with only a single goal in mind, to reach where his wife and children should be. It was also the same place where the fighting was the heaviest and soon he was forced to stop and help his people in the fight. But the man was powerful and could easily take out any person he came across. As he easily dispatched enemies, his allies began rallying behind him and helped the man as he moved deeper into the city center. It was complete chaos all around the man as parts of buildings exploded and collapsed from the persistent fire of cannons. It didn''t take long, but for the man it felt like an eternity when he reached his goal. His heart sank at the sight before him. The home he shared with his family for the past year was a husk of its former self. Most of it had collapsed or was completely destroyed and what little remained standing was surrounded by craters. As he looked at the wreckage he could see fresh blood leaking out from under the rubble of his former home. His heart ached with each step as he moved towards what was left of the former building. Hoping that the blood he could see didn''t belong to any of his family. Fear and doubt crept into his mind, he knew he shouldn¡¯t have left her alone, the pregnancy took a toll on her health and even after six months she was still weak. The man shook his head, negative thoughts wouldn¡¯t help. As he moved next to one of the collapsed walls he heard the small wail of a child. The wail was quickly followed by a second child crying and hope filled the man''s chest. The man moved quickly towards the sound and froze in place after climbing over a pile of rubble. Before him was a destroyed chunk of building covering most of a woman. A very familiar looking woman. As he moved closer, he noticed the woman''s upper body was hunched over something protectively and wasn''t moving. The man carefully moved towards the woman and made sure not to move any of the rubble in the surrounding area. As he moved closer the children''s wailing grew louder. Once he was close enough he saw the woman¡¯s body covering a small basket used as a baby carrier. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. He reached down to the stone wall covering the woman and carefully lifted it up. After it was moved out of the way he could see her right hand and the wedding band he gave her. He hesitantly lifted her body up, hoping to see her vibrant and cheerful purple colored eyes once more. He gently called out her name as he did, but stopped as his breath hitched in his throat. Tears started to mist up on the edges of his eyes as he stared at his wife''s now hollow and lifeless eyes. He gently moved his wife''s body to the side and looked down to see both of his sons crying their hearts out in a basket. One of them was injured on their head, but it was hard to tell where with so much blood. His other son luckily seemed to be fine. It was honestly a miracle they both survived in the first place, the basket should''ve been completely crushed. The man glanced back at his deceased wife and he could see the determined look on her face. She did everything she could to protect their kids even as she was dying. He reached over to close her eyes as he quietly said goodbye to the woman he loved with all his heart. He carefully picked up the basket as someone else ran up to the man and said, ¡°Sir, we need to leave before we¡¯re surrounded. The enemy has reinforcements coming and I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to hold them for much longer.¡± The man cast a quick glance at his sons, before he handed the basket with his sons to the other man as he said, ¡°Take her body along with her kids to the ship and have a medic check the children.¡± ¡°But sir¡­¡± The man¡¯s face hardened as he said, ¡°Go! And keep her kids safe. I¡¯ll meet you there after I take care of something.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± The other man quickly took off surrounded by a large group of people acting as guards for the children. Once the man was finally alone, he let out a handful of tears for a few moments before he rubbed his arm over his face to clear them. He then took a few moments to study where the cannon fire was coming from before he pushed off the ground, cracking it with the force of his anger. His body rocketed into the air as he flew up into the smoke filled sky. As he flew through the smoke and dust filled air he studied the terrain before him and found the main force of his enemies. He quickly kicked off the air and it pushed him towards the enemy''s forces and main group of cannons. As he closed in he kicked off the air a few more times to gain height before he flipped upside down and kicked again. He was flying head first towards the enemy as he pulled his right arm back and concentrated all of his power into his fist mimicking a move he saw his father use before. When he was a little over fifty feet above his target the man swung his fist forward with all his might. A green colored shock wave slowly spread out from his fist and hints of green lightning could be seen from the edges. In a few seconds the shock wave spread out to cover all the enemy forces and at that moment, the man finished his punch. The whole area imploded under the shock wave and a moment later everything exploded out from where he aimed his fist. A few seconds later the man landed in the middle of a giant crater his attack made. He glanced around to make sure there were no survivors before he disappeared to take care of the rest of the enemy forces. An hour later the man made it back to his ship. He was covered head to toe in blood, but otherwise he was uninjured. His second in command came forward and said, ¡°The children are secure and the doctor checked them both. He said one of them should be dead from the injury they received and he¡¯s still trying to figure out how the boy is alive.¡± The man clenched his fists in anger at the thought of almost losing one of his children today. Losing his wife was already bad enough. He glanced out over the island for a few moments before he asked, ¡°Will the boy be able to travel?¡± The man nodded as he said, ¡°Yes sir. Also, are we still going to leave? It looks like you cleared out all the enemies.¡± The man nodded his head as he said, ¡°Yes. It¡¯s no longer safe here and we don¡¯t have the manpower to hold it. Double check for survivors and then set sail for the main base. I also want my personal ship prepared, I need to do something.¡± The man didn¡¯t wait for a response as he moved to his cabin to get cleaned up. Afterwards he loaded up his wife''s body onto his ship and went to check on his sons. After double checking with the doctor, he loaded them onto his personal ship, before he told his second in command that he would be back to base in a month. Just before his ship left dock, his second in command came over and handed him a wooden box as he said, ¡°I found her sword in the rubble¡­ I didn¡¯t think it would be right if she left without it.¡± The man nodded his head in thanks before he boarded his ship and departed from the island. After the man parted from the island he set sail for his hometown. After a day of sailing with his kids, the man finally made a call over a secure line he was dreading to make. It took a little while before a man with a gruff but boisterous voice answered and asked, ¡°So you finally called me after five years, uh? You must really be in trouble¡­ Well too bad. I won¡¯t help you, Bwahahaha!¡± The man¡¯s voice sounded defeated as he asked, ¡°I know you won¡¯t help me, but what about your grandsons?¡± The laughter stopped and after a few moments the other man asked, ¡°You want to take them home?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± After another pause the other man asked, ¡°What about their mother? That girl who always follows you around. Did she agree with sending them there?¡± The man looked over to the casket that was currently resting his wife''s body inside for a little while before he said, ¡°She died, protecting our sons.¡± The other man let out a heavy sigh before he said, ¡°Don¡¯t go home. I¡¯ll meet you in paradise at the first training island I ever took you to. I¡¯ll take the kids home myself. The less you are seen with them the better¡­ Does anyone know the kids are yours?¡± ¡°We kept our relationship a secret, even from our close friends. Also no one close to us knew she became pregnant. Before she started to show, we took a mission together and had the kids in secret. A few people saw me collect the kids, but no one should know that they¡¯re mine.¡± ¡°Good, that helps things. I should be able to hide them with no issue.¡± The man went to hang up as he said, ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll see you soon.¡± The other man huffed as he asked, ¡°You¡¯re just going to hang up and not even tell me their names?¡± The man let out a sigh before he said, ¡°We named them Monkey D. Luffy and Monkey D. Marcus.¡± 00003. Why is everyone speaking Japanese? When the giant first picked him up, he was scared and screamed even louder. It wasn''t until he realized the man wasn''t actually a giant. But that he was now a baby, that he somewhat stopped screaming in terror. Once he settled down he also realized a depressing fact. He shit himself while he was screaming in terror¡­ He wanted to laugh, but the only thing he could seem to do properly was cry. So that''s exactly what he did. He cried until he passed out from exhaustion. Some time later he woke up with a clean diaper, which was a big plus. Also the overwhelming noise from gunfire and explosions was finally gone. The only sound that he could now hear was the creaking of wood and the gentle lapping of water. It was actually pretty nice and the rocking of his crib quickly lulled him back into sleep. Some time passed and he was pulled out of sleep by the gruff voice of a man speaking¡­ Japanese? He had no real idea what the man was saying unfortunately. He was like most Americans and only knew one language, English. He listened to the man talk with someone else for about a minute and at the end of their conversation he finally understood the last few words that were spoken. Monkey D. Luffy¡­ That was the name of the main character from a popular manga he followed for a long time. We''re they fans of the series also? No, that wasn''t it. Something about this whole situation was off and the man who picked him up early looked very familiar¡­ Panic gripped his heart for a moment as he realized what must have happened. He died. He didn''t remember dying, but he knew that it happened. He couldn''t help himself as he let out an anguished yell. But the only thing that came out was the crying wail of a baby. As he started to cry the baby next to him also started to cry. The man moved next to their baskets as he attempted to calm them both down. It worked for the other baby, but it didn''t work for him. He was in the middle of having a mental breakdown and continued to scream his lungs out till he passed out again. vvvvv Dragon watched his two sons with a sad smile on his face. You would never know from looking at them, but they were twins. Well the doctor called them fraternal twins as they were born only a few minutes apart. He looked at his youngest son, Luffy. The boy looked so much like his mother. A mother neither boy would ever get to know¡­ And to protect them, they would now grow up without a father in their life. He hoped his father would be there for the boys, but he knew the boys would end up just like him. Running wild most of the year, except when his father showed up to train them for a month or two. He shook his head, it seemed like that was the Monkey family curse. A dead mother and an absentee father. Dragon looked back down at his oldest son, Marcus and let out a sigh. The boy seemed different to him than before. He used to be so quiet and relaxed. But since he found the boy trapped under his mothers body, the boy wouldn''t stop crying whenever he was awake. Could the injury to his son''s head caused more damage than the doctor thought? The doctor did say the boy was lucky to be alive. Maybe the doctor missed something when he patched the boy up? Dragon shook his head, there was nothing he could do for now. He''ll just pass on the information to his father and let him handle it. Dragon placed his hand on his wife''s coffin for a few moments. Before he moved out of his cabin and used an eternal pose to set his ship''s course towards one of the first islands in the grand line. It wouldn''t take him long to reach the island, a week at most and his father wouldn''t be far behind him. For the next week Dragon spent as much time as possible with his sons as he traveled. He knew as soon as Garp arrived at the island, he wouldn''t see either son again until they were both grown men if he was lucky and wanted to treasure every moment he could. Luffy soaked up any attention Dragon gave him and was always happy. But Marcus seemed to be sad and would barely interact with him. The boy seemed to realize his mother was dead and was grieving over her loss. At least that is what Dragon assumed his son was going through. Dragon wished he could help his son deal with the issue, but he knew he didn''t have the time or ability. Hopefully the boy will be able to get over it one day. He glanced at Luffy and hoped his other son would one day be happy like him again. vvvvv Marcus laid in his basket, trying to think of his previous life again. But it was all gone, any details about his old life were completely gone. How or why did he know he was American? He had no idea. He just knew it. It was the same with being a male. He knew he was a male in his past life, but no idea why. Yet he could easily recall the story of One Piece or Naruto. Random quotes from movies or song lyrics were no issue. But he had no idea if he had any family or friends in his past life. Was it to make this second life easier to adjust too? If that was the idea, it didn''t seem to be working as intended. He was still upset about dying and this being a new life. He was also upset with being a baby and having no control of his body. He couldn''t stay awake long, he could barely move. He would pee and poop himself whenever his body decided it was a good idea. His new life sucked. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. As he was sulking over his new life he heard the boisterous voice of a man saying something in Japanese followed by a very distinctive laugh. Bwahahahaha! A large man appeared a few moments later looking down into the basket. Marcus almost forgot to breathe as he stared up at someone he knew. Well he didn''t actually know them, but he knew of them. Monkey D. Garp was looking down at Marcus with a smile on his face. Marcus became excited for the first time since he woke up in this world as he reached towards the man. Garp smiled even wider and reached down to pick up Marcus as he let out another laugh. Marcus¡¯s mind was running a mile a minute as he thought of what this meant. People here weren''t fans of One Piece, this was One Piece! Did that mean he was Luffy? As he was lost in thought Garp smiled at him and said the name Marcus. Was that his name? Does that mean the other baby was Luffy? But Luffy didn''t have a biological brother in the story. Did he take over the body of someone who died? His vision became blurry as the world started to spin. A few moments later he puked out the milk he was fed earlier all over Garp¡¯s face and passed out. Garp quickly wiped Marcus¡¯s mouth and his own face before he set the boy back down in the basket with a smile still on his face. He glanced at his other grandson who was still asleep and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry my idiot son, I¡¯ll have the best doctor I know do a check up on both boys and then take them to Foosha Village.¡± Dragon wore a sad smile as he looked at both of his sons. He glanced up at his father as he asked, ¡°Who¡¯s going to raise them?¡± Garp was picking his nose as he said, ¡°Eh, maybe that girl Makino I saved. She should be old enough to watch over a couple brats. If not, I''ll take them to Dadan.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± Dragon let out a defeated sigh, he knew this was the best he could hope for. At least they should be safe there. Garp flicked his booger away and said, ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, I¡¯ll show up when I have time and train them to become great marines. You¡¯ll see, they¡¯ll be better than you one day.¡± Bwahahahahaha! Garp let out as he patted Dragon¡¯s shoulder so hard it almost made him fall over. Dragon shook his head, his father hadn¡¯t changed one bit. He glanced at his kids one last time before he said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave first, I still need to take my wife home¡­ It was good seeing you again¡­ Father.¡± Garp placed a reassuring hand on Dragon''s shoulder as he said in a regretful tone, ¡°Sorry for your loss, she was a nice girl and I am sure she would have made a wonderful mother.¡± Dragon nodded his head as he headed to the door as Garp said, ¡°Be safe son and don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll keep the boys hidden and safe as long as I can.¡± ¡°I know you will¡­ Thanks for this dad¡­ I love you.¡± Dragon quickly left to his boat as Garp picked up the basket with his grandkids in it. He needed to make a quick stop before he headed home for a couple weeks. vvvvv It was about a week later as a marine ship with a dog''s head as the figurehead approached the Twin Cape lighthouse. It was very rare for a marine ship to come out to this area of the Grand Line, since they had other ways to reach the Grand Line itself. The lighthouse keeper noticed the approaching ship and let out a sigh as he came out of his house, he just knew today wasn¡¯t going to be a good day. A few seconds later that came true as a man landed in front of him carrying a baby basket. The man smiled and held out the basket as he said, ¡°Crocus! My grandkids need a check up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not your family doctor Garp.¡± Crocus said as he stared directly at the man. Garp pushed the basket into Crocus¡¯s arms as he said, ¡°Pirate scum like you don''t have a choice. Do it or I¡¯ll arrest you.¡± Garp then started to walk into Corcus¡¯s house as he asked, ¡°Do you have any snacks?¡± Circus shook his head as he glanced down into the basket. Inside he could see two babies, both of them were asleep. One of the kids looked fine, but the other boy¡¯s head was mostly wrapped up in bandages that could use a change. He quickly moved inside his home and went to his office. He set the basket down gently to not wake up the kids and lifted the injured child out. Working quickly he removed the bandages and stopped in shock. While the wound was slowly healing, he¡¯d seen similar wounds before. But he¡¯d never seen one heal because the person who normally received it was dead. It was close to the boy''s left eye and would leave a nasty scar once it was healed. But the more important question was, why was this boy still alive? As he carefully cleaned out the wound and checked it over, Garp walked in munching on some crackers. Corscus glanced at Garp as he said, ¡°Have you seen this wound? How did this child survive cannonball shrapnel to the face?¡± Grap took on a serious look and walked closer to see his grandson Marcus without bandages on. He let out a low whistle before he asked, ¡°He definitely takes after me. I could do the same thing at his age, BWAHAHAHA!¡± Marcus and Luffy both woke up to Garp¡¯s loud laugh and started to cry. Crocus shot a glare at Garp as he said, ¡°Take care of the other boy for now while I take care of this one.¡± Garp nodded and picked up Luffy as he asked, ¡°Come on Luffy, you wanna eat some crackers with grandpa?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t feed that baby crackers!¡± Crocus yelled out as Garp was in the process of trying to put a cracker in the boy''s mouth. vvvvv Over two weeks passed as Garp stayed at the lighthouse with Crocus. Crocus checked over both kids and determined that Marcus needed to be looked after for about a month to make sure there were no issues with his wounds. The boy seemed to be in good shape overall besides the injury, actually he seemed to be healing faster then Crocus predicted. Within a few days he would allow the boys and Garp to leave with a clean bill of health. It would also be nice to have his house back to himself. The only issue would be Laboon, he would probably go back to slamming his head into the Red Line once Garp left. Crocus shook his head, it was the only positive of Garp being here. After the first time Laboon slammed his head into the Red Line and woke up Garp¡¯s grand kids. Garp ran outside and punched Laboon so hard, the whale still has a fist mark on his head. After that Garp yelled at Laboon and called him an idiot for trying to hit the Red Line only using his head. He tried to explain to the whale that it should use Haki on its head before it slammed into the red line to actually do damage. But Laboon didn¡¯t really understand what Garp talked about even after Garp demonstrated what he meant and punched a giant hole into the side of the Red Line itself. Garp then attempted to teach the whale how to do it, but so far there was no progress. Since then it was pretty common to see Garp as he lectured Laboon and ate crackers while he sat on the cliff of the Red Line. Speaking of Garp¡­ Crocus glanced at the extra navy ships that were near his lighthouse picking up the ten pirate crews Garp caught while staying here. At least the next batch of rookies wouldn¡¯t have to deal with Garp the Fist as soon as they entered the grand line. 00004. 2 years later. To say the last two years of Marcus''s new life were easy, would be a vast understatement of how easy it was. Being a baby is a very simple routine that includes, sleep, eat, shit. All of which, you have absolutely no control over. You pretty much fell asleep whenever your body decided it was time. If your body needed to poop, you pooped. If someone decided you needed to eat¡­ You eat. Did it suck? Yes. Did he hate every minute of it? Pretty much. Honestly being a baby again, when you understand everything that''s going on is terrible. Well, except the language. Even though not understanding the language might have been a blessing at the time. He might have died from embarrassment if he understood everyone''s baby talk, especially Garps. The only positive thing about the whole being a baby again, was he seemed to be learning Japanese a lot faster then he thought he would. He could only speak a few dozen words currently, but it was a pretty big improvement over knowing none when he first started. He could even string together basic sentences, which helped him learn faster. He could also understand what people were talking about most of the time, even if he didn''t know exactly what the words meant. That had more to do with already knowing another language though. Which seemed to help him as he picked up the new language faster than he thought he would. Another more recent positive, was he finally stopped shitting himself. No idea about anyone else, but he thought it was pretty awesome and was pretty proud of himself. He was also positive about a few things at this point in his new life. He was in the world of One Piece. He was the brother of Monkey D. Luffy. And he was pretty sure he took over this body when the original Marcus died. Marcus had two reasons why he thought that was the case. The first one was because Monkey D. Marcus never existed in the original story. The other reason was the massive scar on the left side of his face. The first time he saw himself in the mirror he couldn''t help but stare in shock. He should be missing his left eye and from what he could tell, the whole left side of his face. The scar was two years old now, but still looked fresh and angry red in color. It was just over an inch wide at the top, right above his left eye and fanned out in a cone shaped pattern towards the bottom of his jaw. Marcus let out a sigh as he unconsciously rubbed his scar. It was early in the morning as he laid in bed and thought about his plans for the day. He could now walk pretty consistently, so it was time to start training. How would a two year old even start training? The plan was to carry rocks around. But he also wanted to start running and possibly start swimming. He doubted he could do any of that though. Makino watched him and Luffy like a hawk, while also running her bar. Plus she didn''t allow them outside of the bar, unless she was with them. But he would definitely find a way to start training today. He should also force Luffy to start training. But Luffy was still having an issue walking properly. Plus neither he nor Luffy could really talk properly, so explaining how or why they should train wouldn''t work. It wasn''t long before Makino came into the room to wake up Luffy and Marcus. Finding Marcus awake she smiled and said, ¡°Already awake I see. How about you get dressed while I wake up your brother.¡± ¡°Okay, Makino.¡± After Makino woke up Luffy and dressed him. She took the brothers downstairs and into the kitchen to make them breakfast. As she was cooking, someone knocked on the front door of the bar. Makino ignored it, since she normally didn''t open for another couple of hours. Someone knocked again, harder this time and the door groaned from the force of the blows. Makino ignored it again, but then it sounded like the door exploded from the force of the next knock. Makino quickly ran out of the kitchen with a frying pan in her hand to find out what happened to her front door. But she stopped as someone laughed loudly and said, ¡°Makino! I came to visit my grandsons.¡± ¡°Why the hell did you break my front door, Garp!?!¡± Garp shrugged as he said, ¡°I didn''t, I just knocked on it.¡± ¡°Because you knocked too hard!¡± Garp walked past the broken door and started to go towards the kitchen as he said, ¡°You should invest in a better door, I barely even touched it. Now where are my cute grandsons at?¡± Makino let out a sigh as she looked at the shattered front door before she moved back to the kitchen. Inside she found Garp holding both of his grandsons with a wide smile. When he saw Makino he said, ¡°Make us some meat! I have the next month off and I plan to spend it with my grandkids.¡± Makino held up her frying pan and said, ¡°Go fix the door while I cook, or you won¡¯t get any food!¡± ¡°Ehhhhhhh? Okay.¡± Garp set Marcus and Luffy down before he walked out of the kitchen to work on the door. Makino shook her head and moved back towards the fridge as she said to herself, ¡°I better order more food at the market today.¡± After half an hour, the front door was fixed and Garp was seated at the table eating breakfast with Luffy and Marcus. Makino was still making food, because Garp ate enough food to easily feed ten people. Makino glanced up from the stove as she asked, ¡°What do you plan to do with Luffy and Marcus while you''re here?¡± Garp took a bite from a large piece of meat on a bone before he said, ¡°I''m gonna start their training. I need to make them strong so they become great marines like me.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°How are you gonna train them? They can barely walk!¡± Makino said with a huff. ¡°Perfect! That means they can run! Bwahahahaha!¡± vvvvv Marcus was covered in sweat as he ran for his life. Seven days ago he could barely walk properly and now he could easily run for almost five minutes straight before he collapsed. Luffy was right beside him, sweat pouring down his own forehead. Luffy surprisingly learned just as quickly as Marcus, but then again the fear of death was a great motivator. Did Marcus really think Garp would kill them? Probably not¡­ But the two gators currently chasing him and Luffy said otherwise. It was after breakfast that first day, Garp had carried Marcus and Luffy into the jungle. Inside they were brought to the middle of a valley next to a river where Garp dropped them on the ground and said, ¡°You both have twenty minutes to learn how to run.¡± Marcus stood up and looked around for a moment before he asked, ¡°Run? Where?¡± Garp picked his nose as he said, ¡°Anywhere you want. You just need to learn how to run.¡± ¡°How do we run?¡± Luffy asked. Marcus helped Luffy stand up as he said, ¡°It¡¯s like walking. But faster.¡± ¡°Bwahahahaha, That''s one way to explain it.¡± Marcus and Luffy spent the next twenty minutes trying to run, but kept failing. They were having a terrible time and we''re barely able to move a few steps without falling over. Garp stood up as he said, ¡°Keep practicing, I need to get you boys some motivation.¡± Marcus felt a chill run down his spine as Luffy asked, ¡°What did gramps say?¡± ¡°Something bad. Let''s try to get back to the village, while he''s gone.¡± Marcus said as he took a step forward. Luffy nodded his head as they held onto each other, to help themselves walk a little more smoothly. They walked for a few moments before they heard a snapping sound behind them. The boys both looked back and froze in fear as a massive gator stared back at them. How they had missed it as they walked past it was a mystery. The gator moved first as it opened its mouth wide and lunged at the boys. Luffy was surprisingly the first to move and pulled Marcus along with him as they scrambled to get away from the monster''s mouth. With its size, it could easily eat both boys at once, if it caught them. As the gator slammed its mouth shut, it barely missed the boys. But it also motivated them to move faster. Somehow in about ten seconds, both of them started to walk properly. Some would even call it a fast walk, for a child. Luckily for both of them, the gator was large and had issues moving through the trees and roots. Luffy and Marcus quickly gained some distance from the beast before they heard movement from their left. This time they didn''t stop moving and just glanced to the left. Another gator was there and it was about the same size as the first one. It quickly moved towards the boys, who were able to use a tree to block its advance. The first gator who was still chasing them changed targets to the second gator and snapped at it. It latched onto its leg and tried to rip it off. The brothers didn''t stick around to watch the animals fight as they moved away from both gators, while they tried to get out of the jungle and back to Foosha village. They only managed to move a few more feet before they ran into another gator. Garp was hidden up in the trees as he munched on crackers while he watched his grand kids basically speed walking away from a bunch of gators. Anytime a gator almost caught one of them, he would do a small concentrated blast of conquerors haki. It would disorient the animal and let his grandsons escape unscathed. As Garp watched he couldn¡¯t help but smile, it was easy to tell both boys had potential. So he started to plan how he was going to train them for the next month or so. He also thought it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea if he introduced the boys to Ace in the next few weeks. Ace could use some training himself and a couple of friends wouldn''t hurt the boy either. The boy was only five and already had issues. Most of it had to do with who his father was and how people talked about him. But recently the boy started to be broody and didn''t like to talk with him or Dadan anymore. Garp wanted to laugh as he shot another blast of haki at a gator getting too close to Luffy. He had decided his training plan during his last week here. He would take Luffy and Marcus to meet Ace and do a group training session. The monkeys near the top of the mountain should be a good opponent for all of them. vvvvv Marcus woke up to Luffy yelling, ¡°What the hell, you shitty grandpa!¡± Marcus turned just in time to see Luffy get punched in the head as Garp asked, ¡°Who taught you those words brat? And show respect to your loving grandpa!¡± Luffy had two large lumps on his head which he rubbed as he said, ¡°You said them the other day!¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Garp had a surprised look as Luffy said, ¡°And you just hit me! That''s why you''re a shi¡­¡± Garp punched Luffy in the head again, making another lump appear as he said, ¡°You were sleeping, I had to wake you up somehow. Now hurry up and get dressed. Makino is making breakfast for us downstairs.¡± As Garp turned to look at Marcus, Luffy jumped out of bed as he asked, ¡°Is she making meat?¡± Marcus started to get out of bed as Garp said, ¡°Of course she is. Meat helps you grow up strong and you''ll need it if you wanna be strong like me.¡± Breakfast passed quickly and afterwards Garp easily caught the boys before they could run off. He picked them both up and tossed them over his shoulders like they were sacks of potatoes. Luffy kicked and screamed while Marcus silently accepted his fate. Instead of going directly into the forest, Garp carried the boys up the mountain from the village and soon arrived in front of a worn down shack. Marcus was surprised, because he had seen the path they used before and didn''t realize it led directly here. He also thought it went somewhere else and never had the chance to explore it anyway. Garp dropped both boys on the ground as he went to knock on the door. Luffy was complaining as he rubbed his but and Garp knocked loudly, making the weak door groan in protest. Before Garp could knock again, the door opened and a tall, rotund woman with orangish hair answered the door. She glanced at Garp and then the boys before she shut the door in Garps face as she said, ¡°I''m not an orphanage Garp! I''m not taking anymore kids!¡± Garp let out a laugh, before he turned more serious and said, ¡°You''re a wanted criminal Dadan. If I tell you to watch some snot nose brats, you''ll watch them and be happy. Now bring out Ace, I need him for something.¡± Dadan reopened the door as she said, ¡°You¡¯re a jerk, you know that?¡± Garp picked his nose as he said, ¡°Yup. Now get Ace.¡± Dadan disappeared into the shack and a minute later a young boy, not much older than five walked outside. The boy had straight black hair that almost covered his eyes. He had a lightly freckled face and his black eyes seemed to be uncaring as he glanced up at Garp. Garp smiled as he said, ¡°It looks like you¡¯ve grown up strong.¡± ¡°What do you want, old man?¡± Ace asked in a flat tone of voice. ¡°Old man!?! I¡¯ll show you who¡¯s an old man!¡± Garp slammed his fist into Ace¡¯s head before he could even react. Which slammed the boy into the ground. 00005. Fighting monkeys. Ace woke up and rubbed his head as he tried to remember what happened. He grimaced as he ran his hand over a large lump before he jumped up, remembering Garp had just punched him. He looked around in confusion, he was no longer at Dadan¡¯s shack. He seemed to be in a small clearing in the woods. ¡°Good, you''re up.¡± Ace looked towards the sound of the voice and saw Garp with two young boys standing next to him. Garp patted the boys heads as he said, ¡°These are my grandsons, This is Luffy and Marcus. You three are gonna train together for the next week.¡± Ace crossed his arms over his chest as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me what to do old man.¡± Garp smiled sinisterly as he said, ¡°You don¡¯t have any choice, the training¡¯s already started.¡± ¡°What are¡­¡± Garp disappeared from view as some howling could be heard from the trees around the clearing. Luffy moved closer to Marcus as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t wanna run from gators again.¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t think these are gators Luffy.¡± A couple of monkeys jumped down from the trees and looked at each boy. A slightly bigger monkey landed on the ground a few moments later and pounded its chest as it stared down at Ace. Ace took a fighting stance and said, ¡°Bring it on you stupid monkey.¡± The monkey shot a glare at Ace before it charged at him. When it came close it threw a wild punch at Ace who moved to one side to dodge it. Apparently that was what the monkey wanted as it spun into the punch and smacked Ace in the chest with its thick tail. It sent the boy flying and he rolled through the dirt to stop just in front of Luffy and Marcus. Luffy glanced around the clearing as more monkeys landed in the ground around them and said, ¡°Maybe the gators weren¡¯t so bad.¡± Marcus nodded lightly as he reached down to help Ace up. Ace slapped his hand away as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t need your help.¡± ¡°Maybe not, but we need your help.¡± Marcus said as he pointed towards more monkeys coming out of the trees. Ace rubbed his sore chest as he locked eyes with the larger monkey who sent him flying. He then raised his hands up as he said, ¡°Come on you stupid ape, lets see if you can do that again.¡± The monkey nodded as it moved towards Ace while it lifted its arms. Ace moved in first this time and went to attack. Ace tossed out a right jab, but the monkey easily swatted it away. The monkey smirked, raised one of its fingers up and waved it back and forth in a taunting manner as it made a come here motion with its other hand. Ace gritted his teeth and started to throw a combo of punches towards the monkey. The monkey easily swatted away each punch before it slipped past Ace¡¯s guard and hit him square in the jaw. Ace staggered back slightly before he smiled up at the monkey and asked, ¡°Is that the best you got?¡± Marcus and Luffy wanted to watch Ace keep fighting, but some of the other smaller monkeys came for them. Luffy and Marcus had no experience fighting before and it easily showed. Within a few seconds both boys were on the ground with some new bruises. Ace joined them a few moments later as all the monkeys started to howl and cheer around them. Ace was the first to get back up and as he took his fighting stance he said, ¡°What are you cheering for? I can do this all day.¡± Marcus and Luffy joined him a few moments later as they also took up a fighting stance. Both boys lasted slightly longer the second time they fought, but it wasn¡¯t long before they were in the dirt again. Ace even managed a glancing blow on the larger monkey before he was also slammed back into the ground. Garp couldn''t help but smile as he watched his grandkids get beaten up. He was seated in a tree eating some crackers as he watched the boys fight the weaker monkeys. If they were lucky, they would be able to beat all of these monkeys before the end of the day. He watched Ace closely for a while and knew the boy would be fine with the task. Then he glanced at Luffy and Marcus, who were just knocked to the ground again. They would definitely have trouble with the overall task¡­ It''s a good thing he made it a group exercise. Ace can easily pick up their slack. Hours passed by as the boys fought. Well it was mostly them getting beaten and tossed to the ground. But they had each started to make improvements in their fighting techniques. Ace could now hit the large monkey he fought a handful of times before he would be struck down. Luffy was able to dodge a few hits and even throw a couple of his own before he would be knocked down again. While Marcus was able to land at least one solid punch on his enemy before he went down. His landed punch normally came with a counter strike though, which always knocked him down. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Marcus was covered in sweat, bruises and a little bit of blood as he struggled to get up again. He had no idea how long they had been fighting for, but the sun already started to set. And the dimming light was making it hard to see properly in the clearing. Around him and the others lay a bunch of monkeys. Most of them were beaten by Ace, but a handful were taken down by himself and Luffy. Ace was in the process of beating up the last monkey as Marcus and Luffy tried to catch their breath. Marcus turned to look at Luffy who smiled at him. It was hard to see as Luffy''s whole face was swollen and currently looked like an extra lumpy potato. Marcus smiled back as he said, ¡°I think this might have been easier than the gators.¡± Luffy nodded a little as he glanced towards Ace, who just laid out the last monkey. Ace slowly turned around, he was in slightly better shape then the brothers. He eyed them both for a few moments before he said, ¡°Your grandpa sucks.¡± Ace hit the dirt a moment later as Garp appeared over him. His fist was resting in the air, where the top of Ace¡¯s head used to be. Garp smiled at Luffy and Marcus before he said, ¡°Good job you brats. Let''s go eat.¡± Garp tossed Ace over his shoulder before he grabbed Luffy and Marcus. The boys wanted to protest, but passed out after being picked up. Garp smiled for a moment before he jumped in the air and headed back down to the village. Makino should already have dinner prepared for him and the boys. It wasn''t long before Ace, Marcus and Luffy woke up to the smell of grilled meat. Ace was the quickest to come to his senses and frowned at Garp who was happily eating. Garp just smiled as he pointed at the table and said, ¡°Make sure to eat a lot, it''ll help you heal faster.¡± As Marcus focused on the table of food. Garp handed him a large bottle of milk about half his total size as he said, ¡°Make sure you drink it all. It''ll heal your fractured bones.¡± Luffy on the other hand didn''t wait for an invitation and just started inhaling food as soon as he was awake. Garp laughed loudly at Luffy''s actions before he started to eat again. Marcus joined in next as he used a straw to drink his milk and shoveled meat into his mouth. He couldn¡¯t remember a time when he was ever this hungry before. Ace on the other hand crossed his arms over his chest and didn''t seem to want to eat with everyone else. Garp raised an eyebrow at the boy as he asked, ¡°What''s wrong? Did those monkeys hit you so hard you forgot how to eat?¡± Ace looked to the side and didn''t answer as he tried to ignore the food in front of him. Garp watched the boy for a few moments before he picked up a meat bun. Before anyone could react the meat bun exploded on impact with Ace¡¯s face. Luffy and Marcus stopped eating to stare at the sight, before they both started to laugh. Ace huffed and after he wiped his face clean he asked, ¡°What the hell do you think you''re doing, you shitty old man.¡± ¡°I''m trying to feed you, since you''re too stupid to eat yourself.¡± Garp said matter of factly. Garp picked up another meatbun as he said, ¡°And I''m not a shitty old man, I''m your grandfather!¡± Ace turned to look at Garp with wide eyes before another meatbun smashed into his face. Ace took a few moments before he cleaned his face again. His eyes were narrowed as he said, ¡°Just try that again old man.¡± A second later another meatbun sailed across the room and Ace barely moved his head in time for it to miss. As it slammed into the wall behind his head, Ace smiled in victory as another meatbun hit him square in the face. Garp''s boisterous laugh filled the room for a moment before something slammed into his face. As Garp went to clean up his face Luffy started to laugh before a meatbun collided with his face. Marcus couldn''t help it and also started laughing before something hit him in the face too. As Marcus went to clean his face, he heard Luffy laughing again. So Marcus wiped his eyes clean, picked up the closest thing to him and whipped it at Luffy. Within moments the room was filled with laughter and the sound of food hitting people. After about a minute of this going on, Makino opened the door to see what was going on and froze. The room was a complete mess and food was everywhere, while the occupants were also covered in food. Makino was about to yell at them before a handful of mashed potatoes hit her directly in the face. Instantly the room went completely silent and everyone stopped to look at Makino. Makino slowly reached up and started to clean her face. When she was done, she casted a death glare on everyone in the room. Before she focused her gaze on Garp as she said, ¡°I want this room cleaned spotless in half an hour.¡± Makino then backed out of the room as she said, ¡°If it''s not, I''ll never cook another thing for any of you, ever again.¡± The door slammed shut and Makino''s raised voice was heard as she yelled, ¡°It better be clean when I get back!¡± The boys all looked at Garp who started to laugh. Garp picked up a big piece of meat on a bone and pointed at the boys with it as he said, ¡°Hurry up and clean up this mess.¡± ¡°You''re the one who started it!¡± All the boys yelled out at the same time. Garp took a bite of his meat as he asked, ¡°And? What''s your point?¡± ¡°You need to help us!¡± Marcus yelled out. Ace nodded his head as Luffy said, ¡°Ya, you can''t just watch. You shitty grandpa.¡± Garp hit Luffy over the head with the food in his hand before he said, ¡°Show some respect brat and start cleaning.¡± Luffy rubbed his head as Ace and Marcus crossed their arms over their chests. Marcus nodded his head to the messy table as he said, ¡°We''ll only clean after you start cleaning.¡± ¡°Stupid brats, not showing your elders any respect.¡± Garp said as he started to clean up the mess on the table while he was eating his food with his other hand. The boys all joined him after a few moments and by the time Makino came back the room was clean. But Garp and the boys were still covered in food. Makino looked around the room for a few moments before she said, ¡°Now all of you go get cleaned up in the bathroom and I¡¯ll make some more food.¡± She turned to glare at all of them as she said, ¡°And the next time you waste any food, I won¡¯t feed you for a week! Now go take a bath, you stink!¡± 00006. And then there was four. The next week turned into a grueling routine for the boys. Garp would wake them up early in the morning and make them run for an hour to loosen up their muscles. Afterwards they would eat breakfast made by Makino before Garp would take them up into the mountains and force them to fight groups of monkeys until they passed out. If it wasn¡¯t near sunset, he woke them up and made them keep fighting until it was sunset. Afterwards it was dinner time at Makinos, followed by a hot bath and then bedtime. It was absolutely exhausting, but Marcus had to admit it showed results. Both him and Luffy, only being around two years old, were stronger than any kid had the right to be. He could probably beat up a teenager if he fought one¡­ Maybe. Ace also gained a lot of strength this week and could probably fight a normal adult without much issue at this point. It was kinda scary how this world worked, anime logic was crazy. During this week Ace even seemed to lighten up a little. He still didn¡¯t want help from anyone, but he also wasn¡¯t frowning all the time. He even talked a tiny bit to Luffy and Marcus, so pretty big steps for the emo kid with daddy issues. It was evening, dinner was finished a little while ago and everyone was now relaxing in a big steaming bath. Garp was near the edge of the bathtub, his head laid back while a towel covered his eyes as he said, ¡°Just ask whatever you want brat.¡± Luffy and Marcus glanced towards Ace who had a weird look on his face. Garp lifted the towel from his eyes and looked Ace directly in the eyes as he said, ¡°It¡¯s just us here, speak your mind Ace.¡± Ace glanced at Luffy and Marcus before he asked, ¡°Why¡­ Why was I allowed to be born?¡± Garp raised an eyebrow as he said, ¡°Ehh?!? What are you talking about? You were born because your parents wanted you.¡± Ace¡¯s normal frown returned as he said, ¡°But I¡¯m the son of the devil. Should I really be allowed to live?¡± Garp let out a heavy sigh before he lowered his voice a little and said, ¡°You''re alive because I agreed with your father. A child shouldn¡¯t be judged by the actions of their parents.¡± ¡°But he was¡­¡± Garp waved his hand in the air as he said, ¡°No matter what people might say about him, he was one of the most honorable men I¡¯d ever met. It¡¯s why I made him a promise to keep you safe and give you a chance to live your life.¡± Ace¡¯s frown deepened before he said, ¡°But everything they said he did¡­¡± His voice trailed off as he looked at Garp. Garp shook his head lightly as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t believe what you hear from random people, his only real crime was he went against the world government. If you wanna know more about him and what he really did, you would have to find and talk to his old crew.¡± Luffy couldn¡¯t hold it in anymore as he asked, ¡°Gramp¡¯s, who was Ace¡¯s dad?¡± ¡°Gol D. Roger, the pirate king.¡± Garp noticed the slight flinch Ace had at the man''s name being said and couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh. Luffy smiled as he said, ¡°He sounds like he was strong.¡± Garp nodded as he said, ¡°He was considered one of the strongest men in the world at one point and I used to fight with him all the time.¡± Luffy¡¯s mouth dropped open in shock before he asked, ¡°You''re strong?¡± Luffy disappeared into the water with a splash as Garp moved his hand away from where Luffy¡¯s head just was. When Luffy popped out of the water Garp said, ¡°Of course I¡¯m strong brat! I¡¯m the strongest marine to ever wear the uniform!¡± As Luffy rubbed his bruised head, Garp turned his focus back to Ace as he said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure what kinda weird ideas you have in your head. But never question why you''re alive. Two loving parents gave their lives, so you could have a chance to live. Never question that, understand?¡± Ace¡¯s face softened slightly and he nodded his head as he said, ¡°Thanks, grandpa.¡± Garp smiled wide before he said, ¡°Good, now let me rest. Training you brat¡¯s was hard work.¡± ¡°You threw us at monkeys! How did you do any work?¡± Marcus asked with an annoyed look. The next second two people could be heard snoring. Marcus glanced at Garp and Luffy before he let out a sigh, both of them were asleep. Marcus glanced at Ace who just shrugged before he leaned back to relax in the tub again. Marcus followed suit and within a few moments four people could be heard snoring from the bathtub. vvvvv It was just after dawn as Marcus was standing on the village''s dock with Ace, Luffy and Garp as they watched a large navy ship approach the island. Garp smiled widely as he said, ¡°It¡¯s been fun you brat''s, but I need to go back to work.¡± Garp turned to look at each of his grandsons before he said, ¡°I¡¯ll be back in six months to a year. Make sure you train hard while I¡¯m gone, because I¡¯ll test you when I get back.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Before any of them could respond Garp disappeared from their view. Marcus was the first to find him and pointed him out to the others. Garp seemed to be kicking the air and flying towards the ship in the distance. Luffy had stars in his eyes as he asked, ¡°Grandpa can fly?!? I wonder if he¡¯ll teach us how to fly?¡± Marcus patted Luffy¡¯s shoulder as he said, ¡°Just ask him when he comes back to visit.¡± Marcus glanced at Ace as he asked, ¡°You wanna go train?¡± ¡°Training? Can¡¯t we take a break?¡± Luffy asked. Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°No, we should train whenever we can.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Marcus glanced back at Garp who was still flying through the air as he said, ¡°Because one day I wanna be stronger than grandpa.¡± Marcus then looked at Ace as he said, ¡°And your dad.¡± Ace had a soft smile as he said, ¡°First you have to get stronger than me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s on the list.¡± Ace shook his head before he said, ¡°Whatever. If you wanna train, we should head to Gray Terminal.¡± ¡°Gray Terminal?¡± Ace pointed to the mountains as he said, ¡°It¡¯s on the other side of the mountains and where I normally train. Plus I need to check in with someone there.¡± Luffy glanced at the mountains before he said, ¡°That¡¯s so far.¡± Marcus slung his arm over Luffy¡¯s shoulder as he said, ¡°Then let''s get Makino to make us lunch for the trip and we¡¯ll eat it once we''re in Gray Terminal.¡± ¡°Okay! But I want meat!¡± Marcus shook his head before he took one last glance at Garp who was now on the navy ship. Then they headed to Makino¡¯s to get some lunch made for their trip. After half an hour and telling Makino they were going out to play, the boys left for the mountain trail. Each one of them carrying a backpack full of food. It took them a couple hours to climb the mountain path and reach the halfway point. It was a couple hours before noon and in the distance they could see a massive walled off city. Luffy smiled and pointed at it as he asked, ¡°That¡¯s Gray Terminal?!¡± Ace pointed below the wall to an grayish area that seemed to be lightly filled with fog as he said, ¡°No, it¡¯s that area down below. That place up above is called Goa Kingdom and they dump their trash into Gray Terminal.¡± Marcus smiled as he looked out over the beautiful view before him. This was one of the perks of being reborn in this new world, he could see stuff like this. The cartoon and manga never did this view justice, it was completely breathtaking. Also the wall for the Goa Kingdom was absurdly tall, it looked to be at least a mile high. Marcus was pulled out of his thoughts as Ace said, ¡°Come on, the path is pretty straight forward from here. We should be able to make it down before noon.¡± Ace was right, the trip down the mountain was quick and easy. They were already in Gray terminal and the sun was just about to reach its zenith. Ace moved through the place with sure footsteps until he reached a small shack. He stopped at the shack¡¯s door and knocked on it. After a moment the door opened and a blonde boy with a top hat was standing there. He smiled widely as he asked, ¡°Where¡¯ve you been? It¡¯s been a week and you just disappeared out of nowhere.¡± Ace smiled as he said, ¡°I was kidnapped by my grandpa.¡± Ace pointed to Marcus and Luffy as he said, ¡°This is Marcus and Luffy. They were also kidnapped and we were forced to fight monkeys for the week.¡± Luffy nodded as he said, ¡°Grandpa is a jerk. He was letting us get chased by gators before the monkeys.¡± Sabo glanced at Marcus and Luffy before he said, ¡°I don¡¯t think normal grandparents do stuff like that.¡± Sabo then stuck his hand out to both boys as he said, ¡°I¡¯m Sabo, it¡¯s nice to meet you.¡± After shaking hands, Luffy said, ¡°Can we eat now?!¡± Sabo glanced at each of them before he said, ¡°I have a little bit of salted fish, but it¡¯s not enough to feed everyone.¡± Ace patted Sabo on the shoulder as he led him inside the shack and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, we have food.¡± Inside the shack was pretty bare, a small bed, broken table with a cobbled together chair. There were also some clay pots and jars that stored some food and water. Once everyone found a spot to sit, the boys opened up their backpacks. Sabo¡¯s eyes almost popped out of his head at the sight. There was easily enough food to feed maybe ten people and it was all freshly cooked. As Luffy started to dig in, both Ace and Marcus handed some of their food to Sabo. Sabo smiled and said, ¡°Thanks.¡± Before he started to eat with the others. After lunch, Ace and Sabo took the boys on a tour around Gray Terminal. They showed them all the hot spots in the place, including where certain gangs liked to hang out and other important things. By the time they were done, they had about three hours of sunlight left. With that they said goodbye to Sabo for the day and left for Foosha village. If they stayed out too long past dark, Makino might not let them out the next day. With Ace leading the way and them already traveling the whole way early in the day. They made it back a little after sunset, which made Makino scold them a little as she fed them dinner. After eating dinner and taking a nice bath, the boys all headed to bed, since Makino had given Ace a bed to use whenever he wanted to stay in the village. While Marcus laid in bed and listened to Ace and Luffy snoring. He thought about his new life and how it¡¯s already affected the original story line. He knew Luffy, Ace and Sabo never met this early in the story. The only question he had thought was¡­ Why? Was it because of him being alive? Or was it because of something else? Also Garp seemed to notice an issue with Ace and tried to fix it by talking about his dad. He thought Garp ignored Ace until he took Luffy to live with Dadan in the story¡­ It was weird and just gave Marcus more things to think about. But it also gave him some ideas. If the worlds already changed from the original story line, why not change it more. They now had fifteen years to train and Marcus didn¡¯t plan to hold back at all. Also the world seemed to work on anime logic. He might as well abuse the hell out of that, while they were at it and also make some other anime or manga skills work in One Piece. Maybe he should try out Saitama¡¯s workout routine or the demon slayer breathing techniques. For about an hour Marcus laid in bed thinking about different things he could use to make everyone stronger before sleep finally overtook him. 00007. Training pays off. The next six months turned into a pretty steady routine, with Luffy, Marcus and Ace traveling to Gray Terminal every day. After the first month, Marcus suggested they run the whole way. First to save time on the trip, but to also help train and build up stamina. Also within that month, they talked Sabo into joining them living at Makino¡¯s house. It wasn''t hard to do at all, since he was kinda homeless in the first place. Makino was even happy to have him and bought another bed just for him to use. The boys also started to bring home animals from the forest to eat. It was partly Marcus''s idea, to help out Makino with feeding them. The other reason was because Luffy wouldn''t stop pointing out animals he wanted to eat. Ace and the boys would even drop off an animal for Dadan and the bandits to eat once or twice a week. During those six months Marcus came up with different ways they could improve their training. Most of it was simple things, like standard body weight exercises, or carrying heavy objects. Even their trips to Gray Terminal increased in difficulty. First it was running the whole way. Once that was easy, they would run it while carrying something kinda heavy. Once that was easy, they switched it to weighted backpacks and would increase the weight each day. Marcus even found scrap metal in Gray Terminal to use as leg and arm weights. It was only around five pounds to each body part, but it helped with training their bodies. He wanted to find heavier weights to use but so far the boys haven''t been lucky. But it was fine, Marcus planned to save up some money and ask a blacksmith to make custom training weights for them at some point. Marcus also started trying different things from anime. Unfortunately Saitama''s workout didn¡¯t seem to work, but it worked as a great warm up for the boys in the morning before breakfast. Marcus was secretly glad it didn¡¯t work, he didn¡¯t want to be bald. But the thought of Ace, Luffy and Sabo being bald made him chuckle a few times. Besides that, Marcus worked on figuring out a breathing technique like the ones described in demon slayer. The technique he was making seemed to have some effect, but there was a long way to go with it. It would need a lot more testing and refining before he shared it with the others. The technique itself currently helped him with getting more air than normal. But it felt very incomplete and a little wrong. It just ended up being more work for Marcus. All the training had another effect on the boys though. Marcus and Luffy were taller now and looked closer to Ace¡¯s age range then theirs. Ace and Sabo also had growth spurts and looked to be around ten instead of five now. Maybe it was the training, the extra food or just bullshit anime logic. Whatever it was though, Marcus wasn¡¯t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The last positive was learning the language seemed to come quick and easy to Marcus and Luffy. It probably helped that they talked a lot with Sabo and Ace every day. Sabo was also a fountain of knowledge and was basically a dictionary for Marcus to learn new words. Sooner or later he would need to learn how to read and write, but that could wait a few years. It was early in the morning of the seven month as the boys finished up their pre breakfast workout. As they closed in on the docks and the home stretch of their ten kilometer run, the boys noticed a dot in the distance with the rising sun. They finished their run and then walked out onto the dock to get a better view. After five minutes they could barely make out a ship that was slowly making its way to the island. It would be at least an hour or so before the ship was close enough to dock, so the boys went to eat first. Once they finished eating they headed back outside to get a better look at the ship. Marcus was the only one who smiled as he noticed it was a navy ship. The only navy ship that liked to visit the village was Garps. Was Garp back already Marcus thought? Luffy also seemed happy to see the ship as he said, ¡°You think gramps will teach us how to fly?¡± ¡°Teach us how to fly?¡± Sabo asked. Ace nodded as he glanced at Sabo and said, ¡°Garp can kick the air and it makes him fly. At least that¡¯s what it looks like.¡± Sabo raised an eyebrow as he asked, ¡°He kicks the air to fly?¡± Ace pointed to the ship and they could see a dot in the air above it. After five minutes Sabo could see a man kicking the air and moving towards them as the ship turned slightly and headed toward Goa Kingdom. After ten minutes Garp landed on the dock in front of them with a laugh. Marcus smiled as he said, ¡°Welcome back grandpa.¡± While Luffy blurted out, ¡°Teach me to fly shitty gramps!¡± It didn¡¯t look like Garp moved, but Luffy slammed into the ground as soon as he finished talking. Garp then looked at all of them afterwards and said, ¡°Ace, Luffy, Marcus¡­ Eh? Ace, Luffy, Marcus¡­ Eh? Mmmmm.¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Garp pulled up his hand and counted off Ace as one, Luffy as two, Marcus as three and froze at Sabo. He glanced back at the boys and did the count again before he glanced at Sabo as he asked, ¡°Are you another grandson?¡± Sabo looked at Ace and Marcus for a moment who just shrugged in response. Sabo turned to look at Garp as he said, ¡°Yes grandpa Garp, my name''s Sabo. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± Garp laughed and patted Sabo on his top hat as he said. ¡°Now that¡¯s a proper greeting.¡± Garp scooped up the knocked out Luffy as he asked, ¡°You boys eat breakfast yet?¡± Ace nodded as he said, ¡°We just finished a little while ago.¡± Garp smiled wide as he said, ¡°Good, that saves time. I only have five days this time.¡± Garp led the boys to Makino¡¯s and told her they would be with him the next few days and not to expect them back. With that he picked up all the boys and took off into the forest. Within twenty minutes they were in the deep part of the forest, which was ruled over by powerful animals. Garp dropped all the boys on the ground and then punched Luffy in the head to wake him up. Luffy popped up rubbing the two lumps as he said, ¡°Stupid grandpa, always hitting me.¡± Garp held up his fist as he said, ¡°Be respectful like your brother and you won¡¯t be hit.¡± Luffy stuck out his tongue and pulled down one eyelid at Garp, which made Garp punch him again. The punch made Luffy bite his own tongue before he glared up at Garp as he said, ¡°Chity ol man.¡± Garp was going to punch Luffy again when Marcus said, ¡°Gramps forget about Luffy and tell us why you brought us out here.¡± ¡°Oh ya. Your goal is to survive for the next five days out here. You need to get your own food, water and shelter.¡± The boys all glanced around the area for a few moments before Marcus asked, ¡°What if¡­¡± He stopped talking when he noticed Garp was gone. ¡°Should we split into groups to explore the area or stay as one group?¡± Sabo asked. Ace glanced around the area some more before he said, ¡°Let''s stick as a group. We have no idea how strong the animals are around here.¡± Sabo and the others nodded in agreement before Marcus asked, ¡°We should search for water first, followed by shelter and then food.¡± Luffy looked upset as he asked, ¡°Why not food first?¡± Ace shook his head as he said, ¡°Because we just ate and food will most likely come to us, while we look for the other two.¡± ¡°Exactly. Now let¡¯s mark this area so we know if we get lost.¡± Sabo said as he made a big X on the ground with his feet. Luffy looked at the X as he asked, ¡°How will that help?¡± Sabo pointed at the X as he said, ¡°If we somehow find this again, we¡¯ll know we got lost when we see it.¡± Luffy glanced at it for a few moments before he slammed a fist into his palm and said, ¡°So it¡¯s a magic X.¡± Marcus hung his head down as he said, ¡°I think he¡¯s an idiot.¡± Both Ace and Sabo nodded in agreement as Garp watched them from the trees and nodded his own head. It seemed like only Marcus inherited brains, while Luffy¡­ Garp let out a sigh as he realized Luffy was a lot like him, if maybe a lot dumber. At least he didn¡¯t remember being as dumb as Luffy when he was that age. Garp watched the boys for the next few days and was blown away by how easy the camping trip for them was. They found water within an hour and made a small hut next to it nestled in a rocky area. As for the animals in the area, nothing stood a chance against them. Each of the boys could easily handle any of the animals in the area, which didn¡¯t make sense to Garp. When he last left the boys, the animals around here should have been a decent challenge for each of them. Were the boys training harder than he thought while he was gone? A smile crept onto his face as he realized he would need to step up their training the next time he visited. At the end of the fourth day, Garp collected the boys and took them back to Makinos. After dinner and a nice bath he told the boys he had to leave and would see them the next time he visited. Luffy was protesting because he wanted to learn how to fly, but Garp only said goodbye and disappeared. The next morning Garp stayed hidden outside as he waited for the boys. He wanted to see how they became so strong in just seven months and he wasn¡¯t disappointed. Their morning workout was done with leg and arm weights along with a fully loaded backpack. It was a hundred push ups, sit ups and squats followed by a ten kilometer run. All while wearing what was around thirty to fifty pounds of extra weight. Garp couldn¡¯t help but smile, they were doing harder workouts then marine training recruits did. After eating breakfast the boys loaded even more weight into their backpacks and then headed up the mountain. They didn¡¯t take the cleared trail either, but went right through the forest itself and fought any animal that came in their path. Garp¡¯s smile widened as he watched the boys, it was easy to see why they were so strong. They would definitely make great marines¡­ Hopefully one of them would join him in the marines. Garp shook his head, that could wait for later. He needed to watch the rest of their day, so he has an idea how strong they¡¯ll be when he gets back. Once they made it to Gray Terminal, the boys would roam around the area and collect stuff to sell for money. They would also beat up some of the scum who lived in the area and help out the weaker people in Gray Terminal. Garp smiled at the last part, at least the boys had a good sense of right and wrong. By the end of the day, Garp had a good idea on how strong the boys would be when he came back. So he started to plan what he could do to train them the next time he came by and what he should bring them. Some better training weights would make a good gift for the boys. He would have to go to the new world to get some good ones, but that just made it fun. He would also make sure to take out a few idiots while he was there. 00008. Birthday presents? Another five months passed by quickly, where Marcus and Luffy celebrated their third birthday. Ace and Sabo also had their birthdays earlier during that same five month period. With that the boys had spent a full year together training to get stronger. During that time Marcus brought up the idea of fighting with weapons. Ace and Sabo picked up some rusted pipes as their weapon of choice. While Marcus was able to find a dull, half rusted sword. At first Luffy didn''t want a weapon because he said his punch would be more powerful than a pistol one day. But Marcus pointed out he could still have a pistol like punch and also use a weapon sometimes. So Luffy settled for a pipe like Ace and Sabo. As for training with the weapons, the boys set up some targets in Gray Terminal to practice with. Once they felt comfortable, they used the weapons to help hunt down animals they wanted to eat. That¡¯s not to say they were good with the weapons they were using. They could just use them without hurting themselves currently, which was good enough. Marcus might be the only one with any type of skill though, but he had a few ideas on how to train properly. He would lock into a single stance and do a single sword slash for hours each day. It wasn¡¯t the best training, but he noticed his movements with his sword were becoming smoother. But he would need to find a proper swordsman to practice with sooner or later, so he would have a better idea on how to improve himself. Besides a small growth spurt for everyone, it was pretty peaceful. Marcus even talked Sabo into teaching everyone else how to read and write. Well Luffy wasn¡¯t really learning much, he seemed to fall asleep half the time. But he could at least write his name now so¡­ At least he¡¯s making progress. It was an hour after dinner and Marcus was in the back of Makino¡¯s house. He had his training weight kit on, along with some weights attached to his sword. Sweat was pouring down his face as he reset his stance, took a breath and swung his sword down with his exhale. Reset stance as he inhaled, smooth swing down as he exhaled. Reset stance with a deep breath, fluid swing down as he exhaled. Marcus fell into a trance as he practiced, trying to match his breathing perfectly to his sword movements. As Marcus practiced, the other boys were inside Makino¡¯s chatting and playing cards. While they all trained each day, the few hours after dinner were considered free time for the boys. So while the others liked to relax and do other things, Marcus would train till he could barely walk. As Marcus focused on his practice he didn''t realize someone was watching him. Garp had arrived a few minutes ago and was planning to surprise the boys at Makino¡¯s. But as he got closer, he sensed Marcus was outside all alone. So he jumped onto the roof and then stopped as he admired the boy''s dedication to practice. Garp had no idea who taught the boy, but he had a pretty decent grasp on the stance he was currently practicing. He was no expert in the sword, but he could tell the boy had talent¡­ He would have to call in a favor or two. Good thing the ship that transported him was docked here for the night. Garp quickly moved back to the ship to borrow a den den mushi. While Marcus was down below, slowly adjusting himself with each swing. When Garp arrived at the ship he was greeted happily by the sailors on duty. Garp waved them off as he moved into the ship and headed towards the captain''s room. Garp opened the door and was greeted by the captain who came to attention and said, ¡°Vice Admiral Garp, how can I help you sir?¡± ¡°Bah, I told you not to act formal. I just came to borrow a den den mushi for a few minutes.¡± ¡°Yes sir. Sorry sir.¡± The captain said before he pulled out a den den mushi and handed it to Garp. Garp shook his head before he dialed a number on the den den mushi. ¡®PuraPuraPuraPura PuraPuraPuraPura PuraPuraPuraPura Gacha¡¯ ¡°Bogard here.¡± ¡°Bogard, how much vacation time do you have saved up?¡± ¡°A couple months. Why, what¡¯s going on Garp?¡± ¡°Great, take a month off and come find me in my hometown. Make sure you bring a weapon training rack with you.¡± ¡®Gacha¡¯ Garp hung up the den den mushi right after he finished speaking. The captain sweat dropped at Garp¡¯s total lack of manners as Garp handed him back the den den mushi and said, ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ll pick up my stuff tomorrow. Just have your men set it on the dock.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± Garp headed back to Makino¡¯s to find all the boys getting ready to take a bath. Marcus was walking inside the backdoor and saw Garp first as he entered the room. Which made Marcus smile and say, ¡°Welcome back grandpa!¡± Garp smiled at everyone as they turned around to look at him and he said, ¡°It looks like you all improved again, you¡¯ll make great marines one day if you keep this up.¡± Luffy picked his nose as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t wanna be a stupid marine, I wanna have fun and eat meat!¡± Ace nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°Ya gramps, I was thinking about exploring the sea and having fun. Joining the marines would be work and that sounds boring.¡± Sabo nodded as he said, ¡°I wanna travel around the world and write a book containing the story of everything I see and every place I visit during my journey.¡± Garp¡¯s frown deepened with each answer as he turned to look at Marcus who shrugged and said, ¡°I also wanna travel around the world with my friends, but I also wanna fight strong people. I was thinking of becoming a bounty hunter to make money and also help people while I was at it.¡± Garp focused on Marcus as he said, ¡°You could do that in the marines!¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Could I do that from the start?¡± Garp shook his head as he said, ¡°No, you have to work your way up in rank first. But once you''re my rank you can do pretty much whatever you want!¡± ¡°Unless I can start at your rank, I¡¯m gonna pass.¡± Marcus said as he crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°You brat! Do you have any idea how hard it is to reach my rank?¡± Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°Not that hard if you could do it.¡± Garp was across the room and Marcus was laying on the floor a split second later as Garp said, ¡°Show your grandpa some respect brat.¡± When Marcus didn¡¯t respond, Garp picked him up and found he was completely knocked out. Garp let out a sigh before he glanced at the other boys and asked, ¡°You take a bath yet?¡± Everyone sweat dropped and shook their heads so Garp said, ¡°Good, lets go. I could use a bath myself.¡± He headed to the local bath house with the boys, where he stripped Marcus and tossed him onto the floor before he hosed him off with cold water. Marcus jumped awake as he said, ¡°What the hell, why is it so cold?!¡± ¡°Good, you''re awake, clean up it¡¯s bath time.¡± After that everyone took a long soak in the heated tub and chatted a little with Garp. Garp let them know he came to train them for the next month and also brought them birthday presents. He planned to give them the presents tomorrow morning after breakfast. After a long soak in the bath, they all headed to bed. The next morning after training and breakfast, Garp led the boys out to the docks where a few boxes were placed. He pointed at the smaller weird metal coated box and said, ¡°Try and move that.¡± The boys each took a corner of the box and tried to lift it up. After about a minute of struggling, Garp walked over and using the handle on top of the box, easily picked it up. He smiled at the boys before he pointed to the two other large wooden boxes on wheels and said, ¡°I''ll take this one, just push those to Makino¡¯s house.¡± The larger boxes were definitely heavy, but two boys on each box was enough to move them. That didn''t mean it was easy, the boxes still weighed a lot. It took the boys over an hour to push the two boxes to Makino¡¯s and they collapsed from exhaustion afterwards. As they were laying on the ground breathing hard Luffy asked, ¡°Didn''t you say we were getting birthday presents?¡± Garp pointed at the three boxes as he said, ¡°Of course, your birthday presents are inside of there.¡± Garp moved towards the smaller metal box and squeezed near the lid. The metal groaned for a moment before a pop was heard and steam came out as Garp lifted the lid off. He then reached around inside each corner and undid some latches. From there the sides of the metal box dropped down to show some body harnesses. The body harness was a weird looking backpack and chest piece, but with more straps along with something that went around a person''s neck. Garp smiled proudly as he glanced at the box and asked, ¡°What do you think? Pretty good uh?¡± Everyone looked at the weird body harnesses trying to figure out what they were. After a few moments Marcus said, ¡°They say it''s the thought that counts¡­ So thanks. I guess.¡± Luffy and the others nodded as Garp started to frown. He picked up one of the harnesses and showed it to the boys as he asked, ¡°You don''t know what this is, do you?¡± All the boys shook their head and looked at Garp waiting for the answer. Garp pointed over to the backpacks and steel pieces they used for training as he said proudly, ¡°These are a better version of what you¡¯ve been using to train with.¡± Marcus took a closer look at the harness and noticed the weirdness of the item. It could maybe work for weight training, but you would have to connect other things to it. Garp handed the harness to Marcus as he said, ¡°Just put it on and you¡¯ll see how much better it is.¡± The overall weight of the harness was easily over fifty pounds and it strained Marcus¡¯s arms just to hold it. He looked it over but had no idea how to put it on, it just didn¡¯t make sense to him. Garp watched him look at it for about a minute before he said, ¡°Stand up and put that piece to your chest and your head through that spot, with that other piece on your back. Now put your arms through those holes. Yup just like that. Now push that small button on the front.¡± Marcus did as instructed and after he pushed the little green button, the harness tightened around him and adjusted to his body. Afterwards some extra pieces came out of the chest and back piece and ran down his arms and legs. It took about a minute before it finished, but once it was done. Marcus could easily feel the difference. It wasn¡¯t just the weight from the device, his moments were restricted like he was trying to move through water. Luffy had the biggest reaction as he said, ¡°That was awesome! I want one!¡± Garp smiled as he handed one to each of the boys and helped them to wear them. After all the boys were suited up Garp stepped back and asked, ¡°What do you think? A lot better than what you used to use uh?¡± Everyone nodded their heads as Ace said, ¡°It¡¯s crazy, I don¡¯t think I can even run properly with this thing on.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the point. It¡¯s meant to help you train. But once that feels normal to you, you can increase to the next training level.¡± Garp moved the extra harnesses out of the way to show what was underneath them. It was a bunch of weird looking weights of different sizes. He picked up the smallest one and walked next to Ace as he said, ¡°I am gonna give you a taste of level two.¡± After he installed the weight into Ace¡¯s suit, Ace grimaced as he tried to move his body. Ace didn¡¯t give up and gritted his teeth but was barely able to move any part of his body. Afterwards Garp removed the weight and Ace¡¯s suit went back to normal. Garp patted him on the shoulder as he said, ¡°It¡¯ll take you a few years before you reach the next level though.¡± Ace took it as a challenge as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll do it in a year.¡± ¡°I could do it in a year, if I was still as weak as all of you. But you have no chance. Bwahahaha.¡± All the boys glanced at each other before they nodded and Ace said, ¡°Just wait, you¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°If you pass the first level in a year¡­ I¡¯ll bring you another present. But only if you pass to the second level by then.¡± Marcus looked at the metal box for a few moments before he asked, ¡°How many levels are there?¡± ¡°Seven.¡± ¡°Can you do all seven?¡± Garp flexed his arm as he said, ¡°Of course I can. I was the first person to complete level seven.¡± Marcus then pointed to the other two wooden boxes as he asked, ¡°Are the other levels in those boxes?¡± Garp shook his head as he moved next to the other two boxes. He ripped the lid off one of the boxes and tossed it aside before he pulled out a massive dumbbell. He smiled widely as he said, ¡°These are just heavy weights for you to train with. You can use them without the harness, or with the harness once it feels normal to move in.¡± 00009. Meeting Bogard. A few days passed quickly as the boys adjusted to their new training method. It was a lot more grueling than before and just their morning warm up routine left them drained. It didn¡¯t help that Garp was with them, forcing each of them to push a little harder each time till they collapsed. They ended up only spending half the day using the harness before they took it off and did more normal types of training. Also the weights that Garp brought were all too heavy for anyone to currently use. He said they should be able to use the weights, once they could last a whole day in the harness. So the weights, along with the extra harnesses and level stones were stored away at Makino¡¯s for now. It was early in the morning on the fourth day as a navy ship pulled into dock. After the gang plank landed on the dock. A man wearing a navy coat draped over his beige suit and matching hat. The brim of his hat was low which casted a shadow over his eyes as he stepped off the ship onto the gang plank. As he stepped onto the dock itself, he glanced around at the quiet little village that had yet to wake up. Before the man turned his head in one direction and smiled a tiny bit as he felt a familiar presence moving towards him. A few moments later, Garp landed in front of him and said, ¡°Thanks for coming, Bogard.¡± ¡°You didn''t leave me any room to refuse.¡± Garp laughed as he patted the man''s shoulder as he said, ¡°Don''t worry, it''ll be fun.¡± ¡°That''s what I''m afraid of¡­¡± Bogard said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Garp laughed again before he asked, ¡°Where''s the weapon rack?¡± Bogard pointed to where some marines were hoisting something from below the deck. Garp jumped onto the deck, reached up and easily lifted the weapon rack up. He glanced at one of the sailors and said, ¡°Unhook it, I''ll take it from here.¡± After it was unhooked, Garp jumped down from the ship while he carried the weapon rack on one of his shoulders. He glanced at Bogard and said, ¡°Follow me.¡± As they started walking into the quiet village Bogard asked, ¡°So why did you ask me to come here anyways?¡± ¡°I needed someone good with weapons to help train my grandsons.¡± Bogard stopped in his tracks as he looked at Garps back. Garp glanced over his shoulder as he asked, ¡°What''s wrong?¡± ¡°You! You want me to train some little kids?¡± Garp waved it off as he said, ¡°Trust me, it''ll be fun.¡± ¡°You owe me a barrel of my favorite wine.¡± Bogard said before he started walking again. ¡°I''ll get one for you after my vacation is over.¡± Garp said with a laugh. After walking through town, Garp led Bogard to the back of a bar. Behind the bar was a small house along with what looked like a large storeroom. Garp set the weapon rack down by the storeroom as he said, ¡°Wait here, I''ll go get my grandsons. It''s about time they start their morning training.¡± Garp walked inside the little house and came back a few minutes later with the boys. Each one still looked half asleep as Garp had them line up in front of Bogard. Garp pointed at Bogard as he said, ¡°This is Bogard. He''s here to teach you about weapons and the proper techniques to use them.¡± ¡°Bogard, these are my grandsons, Ace, Sabo, Luffy and Marcus.¡± Garp said as he pointed at each boy. Each boy greeted Bogard with a yawn before Garp said, ¡°Now get suited up and do your warm up routine.¡± The boys grumbled as they walked into the store house. A few minutes later they all slowly walked out in their training harness before they started to slowly jog towards the coast. After they left Bogard turned to Garp with a serious look as he asked, ¡°Aren''t those the defective Rokushiki training harnesses Dr. Vegapunk made for navy HQ?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Why in the hell do you have them and why are you letting your grandsons use them?¡± Garp started to pick his nose as he said, ¡°They''re great for physical training.¡± Bogard let out a sigh as he said, ¡°But they''re defective, you saw what happened to the people who used them! Those things crippled grown men, Garp. Yet you think letting your grandkids use them is a good idea?!?¡± Garp pulled his finger out of his nose and waved off Bogard¡¯s comment as he said, ¡°I used them at the max level and I was fine. That means my grandkids will be fine too.¡± ¡°Your logic doesn¡¯t make any sense¡­ I¡­ You know what? Go ahead, I don''t care if you wanna cripple your grandkids¡­ But that also doesn¡¯t explain why you even have them in the first place. I thought they were sent back to Vegapunk for disposal?¡± Garp patted Bogard on the shoulder as he said, ¡°They were, but when I took them to Vegapunk. I told him I wanted to use them for training my grandkids. He agreed, but only gave them to me after he adjusted them.¡± Bogard let out a relieved sigh before he glared at Garp and said, ¡°So he fixed them?! Just tell me that first, next time!¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Garp laughed as he shrugged and said, ¡°Eh, he never told me they were fixed. Actually I think he said they were a failure for Rokushiki training and he removed that function of the harness.¡± ¡°Then they are fixed. It was the Rokushiki training functions that crippled people. The weight and movement resistance functions passed all tests.¡± Bogard said as he glanced towards the place the boys ran off to. ¡°Exactly. So don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Bogard shook his head before he said, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you bring those harnesses back to navy HQ?¡± Garp shrugged as he said, ¡°They were sent for disposal. As far as I¡¯m concerned they¡¯re disposed of.¡± Bogard lightly shook his head as he mumbled to himself, ¡°It¡¯s Garp, thinking about it will only cause a headache.¡± Garp laughed before he said, ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll introduce you to Makino. She''s making breakfast right now.¡± After being introduced to Makino and showing Bogard where he could stay for the month. Garp and Bogard talked with Makino until the boys came back from their workout. After breakfast they headed outside so Bogard could start on their weapons training. Bogard opened up the weapons training rack and said, ¡°Since today is the first day of training, I want each of you to find a weapon you''re comfortable with.¡± ¡°But I don''t want a weapon, I want my punch to be as powerful as a pistol!¡± Luffy said as he crossed his arms over his chest. Marcus rubbed the bridge of his nose as he said, ¡°Here we go again.¡± Bogard regarded Luffy for a few moments before he said, ¡°That''s an admirable goal to have. You know your grandfather is the same way. He only likes to use his fists to fight.¡± Bogard pulled out his sword as he asked, ¡°But tell me, how would you fight someone using a sword. When you only have your fists to rely on?¡± Luffy scratched his head as he said, ¡°I would punch them.¡± ¡°Show me then. Come try to punch me.¡± Bogard said as he waved for Luffy to come towards him. Luffy took a stance and started to move towards Bogard. As soon as Luffy was in range, Bogard moved his sword down and used the side of it to hit one of Luffy''s arms as he said, ¡°If this was a real fight, you would have lost that arm.¡± Luffy pouted as he said, ¡°No fair, you have a sword.¡± Everyone sweat dropped as Bogard said, ¡°Life isn''t fair. Now try again.¡± Luffy moved forward again, but he was a lot faster this time. Bogard whipped his sword out and struck Luffy in the neck with the flat of the blade. Luffy was lifted off his feet and hit the ground a few feet away as Bogard said, ¡°That time you were killed. Wanna try again?¡± Luffy slowly got up as he rubbed his neck and asked, ¡°How am I supposed to hit you?¡± ¡°Training and learning how your opponents use their weapons.¡± Luffy tilted his head to the side as he asked, ¡°How am I supposed to learn that?¡± Bogard pointed to the weapon rack and said, ¡°By learning the basics of each weapon and training with people who use those weapons.¡± Bogard pointed his sword at Garp as he said, ¡°Come let''s show the boys a little demonstration.¡± Garp smiled as he cracked his knuckles before Bogard said, ¡°Slow speed so the boys can see us and don''t get serious.¡± Garp''s smile faltered as he said, ¡°You''re no fun.¡± Bogard flashed a serious look before he said, ¡°I¡¯m trying to teach them, not show off.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Garp said with a huff. ¡°Good, now come.¡± Bogard said as he took a more guarded stance. Garp jumped towards Bogard with his arm cocked back ready to unleash a punch. When the punch came, Bogard easily deflected the attack with the edge of his sword. Then quickly returned a slash towards Garp¡¯s exposed chest. Garp swatted the incoming attack away before he threw another punch towards Bogard¡¯s face. Bogard swept his right foot back to gracefully dodge the blow. Then used his elbow to hit Garp in the chest. Garp smiled as he stepped back from the blow and rubbed the spot that was hit. Then he rushed back at Bogard throwing out a series of blows. Bogard was able to parry and dodge most of the blows, but one quick jab made it through, which struck Bogard in the arm. Bogard frowned slightly as he shook his numb arm while Garp winked at him. Bogard shook his head before he attacked again with a powerful overhead slash. Garp laughed as he punched into Bogard¡¯s attack and slammed his fist it into the edge of the blade. A sound like metal hitting together rang out and both men froze for a moment before they each stepped back. Bogard glanced at Luffy and the others as he asked, ¡°What do you boys think?¡± Everyone looked pretty shocked, but Luffy had stars in his eyes as he asked, ¡°What was that!? How did gramps block a sword with just his fist and why did it sound like metal hitting metal?!¡± Garp smiled wide as he said, ¡°If you train enough, your fists can become stronger than steel. But until then¡­¡± Garp dug around in his pockets for a few moments before he pulled out something and handed the item to Luffy. As Luffy looked at the items Garp said, ¡°You can use those to protect your fists and deal more damage. Try them on.¡± Luffy slid the items on his hands after a moment and looked at them. It was a set of gloves with an outside metal cover over the knuckles, back of the hand and wrist area. As Luffy looked over the gloves Garp said, ¡°I had a set just like them when I was younger, they¡¯ll work to protect your hands till you''re older.¡± Luffy smiled up at Garp as he said, ¡°Thanks gramps! Do I still need to learn how to use the other weapons?¡± Garp patted Luffy on the head as he said, ¡°Of course, but only the basics. It¡¯ll help you learn how to fight people who use weapons.¡± ¡°Fine, but only because it¡¯ll make me a better fighter.¡± As Garp talked to Luffy, Bogard glanced at the other boys as he said, ¡°Go check out the weapons and mess with them till you find something you like and that feels good in your hands.¡± Marcus was quick and found a training sword shaped like a katana. It was a little long for him currently and it had a longer then normal grip, but it felt right when he held it. Ace played around with different weapons till he settled on naginata. It reminded him of his pipe, but it felt better in his hands, almost natural. Sabo also found something like his pipe, but it was actually a halberd. It ended in a decent size axehead along with a foot long spear at the tip. As the boy¡¯s tested out their weapons, Bogard glanced over each of them for a moment before he said, ¡°For the next few days I¡¯ll train you in the basics of those weapons. If you don¡¯t show any talent for them, I¡¯ll have you pick out another weapon.¡± 00010. Weapon training! After a few days it became clear that each boy picked the right weapon. Well, except for Luffy. No matter what weapon Luffy picked up, he just had no real talent for any weapon. As Bogard watched he couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°He¡¯s almost as bad as you are.¡± Garp nodded as he said, ¡°His father is the same way.¡± Both men then looked at Marcus as he smoothly worked through different sword stances before Bogard said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain the other one. The boy has an unnatural talent for the sword.¡± Garp shrugged as he said, ¡°His mother was also gifted with the sword.¡± Bogard glanced at Garp as he asked, ¡°Wait, you don¡¯t mean¡­¡± ¡°Yup, they finally got together.¡± Bogard smiled slightly as he said, ¡°Good for them. But knowing her, I¡¯m surprised she isn¡¯t raising the boys herself.¡± ¡°She¡¯s dead.¡± Bogard let out a heavy sigh before he said, ¡°Sorry, my condolences. Is Dragon?¡± Garp nodded slightly as he said, ¡°He¡¯s alive¡­ But he took her loss hard.¡± The men fell into silence as they watched the boys practice some more. It wasn''t long before Makino called them in for dinner. After dinner Garp stayed inside with Ace, Sabo and Luffy to play a card game. While Marcus went back outside to practice his sword stances and breathing techniques some more. Bogard joined Marcus out back after grabbing a bottle of wine from Makino¡¯s bar. As Marcus practiced, Bogard would point out errors in the boy¡¯s posture, stance, foot placement and anything else he could find wrong. That had been their routine for the last few days, after Bogard noticed how much talent Marcus had for the sword on the first day. The boy with no guide whatsoever, had somehow figured out a handful of sword stances. Not only that, but he had almost perfected them. Sure there were still some mistakes in the boys form. But you would have expected the boy practiced for years to get to this level of skill. Instead the boy only practiced for the last five months or so. With the proper teacher, the boy had the potential to become a monster. Bogard shook his head, the boy was also just like his brother and grandpa. Marcus said he only planned to use the sword as his backup weapon. If he could fight people with his fists, that was what he wanted to do. He would try to talk the boy out of the idea if he thought it could work. But he knew from experience you don''t talk a Monkey out of something they''ve already set their mind too. As Marcus was finishing his last set of sword swings, Garp and the other boys walked out of Makino¡¯s before Garp said, ¡°Put your sword away, it''s bath time.¡± ¡°Just a moment, I''m almost finished.¡± Marcus said as he finished a few more sword swings before he moved to the weapon rack and placed his sword away. As Marcus moved towards the other boys he said, ¡°You guys should practice more.¡± While they walked towards the bath house Ace said, ¡°I''ll be fine. Unlike you I don''t need to practice and besides I''m already stronger than you.¡± Bogard raised an eyebrow at that as Garp laughed. He patted both Ace and Marcus on the shoulder as he said, ¡°Let''s have a friendly bet. Whoever is better at the end of training will get a special gift the next time I visit.¡± Ace glanced over to Marcus with a determined look as he said, ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Marcus nodded in agreement as Luffy asked, ¡°No fair, what about me?¡± ¡°Am I allowed to join in too?¡± Sabo asked. Garp laughed loudly as he said, ¡°Of course, it''s for whoever is the best at the end of training.¡± Ace turned his gaze to Sabo as they were pretty equal in strength. They shared a glance with each other before they both nodded at each other. Marcus watched them both and shook his head slightly to himself. They didn''t even consider him a challenger in the competition. That was fine with him though, they could underestimate him all they wanted. After taking a nice bath at the village''s bath house, everyone headed home to sleep for the night. The next morning was when the real training started for the boys. Over the following few weeks the boys were pushed to their physical limits as Garp and Bogard trained them. At night when the boys were given free time, Marcus was the only one who continued to train alone. Even though he was sore and wanted to collapse from exhaustion every night. Marcus still pushed himself to the absolute limit every time to finish his personal sword training. Bogard still watched Marcus train each night, but after the end of the second week, he had nothing else to correct. The seven forms Marcus used were perfect. It was up to the boy to expand and link his forms together if he truly wanted to master them properly. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Bogard also showed Marcus some of his own advanced sword techniques. But he advised Marcus that his best training going forward would be to create his own sword techniques from scratch through trial and error. Marcus liked that idea, but he also planned to copy techniques he remembered from manga and anime. He was sure he could figure out a few moves that way. Just like the breathing technique he was currently working on. As for the others, Luffy was pretty much a lost cause. He couldn''t use any weapon reliability to save his life. While Sabo and Ace picked up their weapons pretty quickly. Bogard helped each boy with simple beginner''s stances and proper movements for each one. But that was about all he could do for them, since he was a swordsman afterall. Besides the weapon training, Garp and Bogard had them do Zephyr''s marine recruit training regiment for their morning warm up. It was normally something that took a whole day, but Garp pushed the boys into completing it within four hours. After a lunch break, Garp instructed them in his own words with a personalized training regimen for brats¡­ Marcus was pretty sure Garp was a sadist after doing his training. It started out somewhat normal, running while carrying heavy objects. After completing a few miles, Garp would start phase two. He would begin throwing rocks at the boys, which they needed to dodge as they ran. In this phase Garp would easily hit the boys with rocks, but they would only leave light bruising. Phase three added more weight the boys needed to carry. While Garp increased the speed of each rock being thrown. It might sound simple, but Marcus saw more than a few of those rocks rip through a tree like it was a sheet of paper. He was thankful that Garp missed every throw on purpose, but he still almost shit himself since the rocks would only miss him by an inch or less. Afterwards they were given the next task, which was to punch a tree in half. None of the boys could do that, so they were forced to punch a tree until Garp told them to stop. While they couldn''t punch a tree in half, they were still able to make a dent in the tree after hours of hitting the same spot. So each day they were given a new tree to work on. By the last few days of training, the boys were all able to get about halfway through a single tree after hours of punching. And that was all done while wearing the training harness. It was definitely some kind of anime world bullshit magic, but no matter how hard they trained each day. Or how hurt they became from Garp''s ¡°lesson teaching fist¡±, being hit by rocks and how their bones felt like jello from punching trees. All it took was a good meal, a nice hot bath before bed and the boys would wake up completely fine in the morning. Garp and Bogard would then repeat the process with the boys and even increase the difficulty a little bit the next day. Marcus was pretty sure all of them should have been crippled for life with this type of training. But anime logic. After their last day of training Garp said over dinner, ¡°Tomorrow after your warmup routine and lunch. We''ll give all of you one hour to prepare. Then we''ll let each of you fight and see who''s mastered their weapon the best.¡± Luffy finished a piece of meat and looked downcast before he said, ¡°No fair, I can''t use any of the weapons!¡± Garp laughed loudly before he said, ¡°Then just use your fists and those gloves I gave you. If you can win I''ll even get you a prize.¡± ¡°Is it meat?!¡± Luffy was on the ground a moment later with Garp''s fist where his head used to be as Garp said, ¡°The prize isn''t meat you idiot. Now hurry up and eat your dinner.¡± Luffy jumped back into his chair with a large lump on his head and instantly went for another piece of meat. Marcus shook his head at his brother''s simple mind before he joined in to eat a piece of meat as well. After dinner Marcus went outside to practice his sword stances again. He also worked on his breathing technique at the same time. He thought he might be getting close to a real breakthrough with it. After the last time he adjusted it a week ago. Something clicked and it felt better, more natural to use. It didn''t seem to have much effect except he wouldn''t breath as hard when he used it. He thought it might improve his strength or something, but being less winded in a fight wasn''t a bad thing. Plus it felt like the technique wasn''t complete yet, something was still missing from it. Marcus cleared his head of all thoughts, moved his legs into position and took his next stance. After swinging his sword once, he moved to his next stance and swung his sword again. As he worked through each one of his weapon stances, he tried to figure out the best way to combine his stances and switch between them fluidly. It was something Bogard suggested would be beneficial for seamlessly transitioning between stances. The key was focusing on the foot placement and movement first. The sword wouldn''t matter because during a fight your sword would always be out of place. But if you could control your foot placement to compensate, you would still be able to use your stance without losing much power. At least that''s what Bogard explained and demonstrated to Marcus. Bogard also explained that actual combat was the best way to learn properly. Training and sparring helped, but real combat where your life was on the line was the best way to learn and improve yourself. Garp said the same thing when he trained everyone each day, which Marcus found ridiculous. Who tells kids something like that? ¡°Marcus! Put your training sword away, it¡¯s bath time.¡± Marcus glanced at Garp before he said, ¡°Last one grandpa.¡± Marcus shifted his feet then swung his sword upwards from his left hip to right shoulder as his upper body twisted to the right, into the swing. He held the stance for a moment before he let out a deep breath. Then he relaxed his stance and took his sword to the weapon rack, before he followed everyone to the bath house. The rest of the night along with the next morning and lunch went like normal. It was a little after lunch when Garp said, ¡°Alright everyone, it¡¯s time to see who improved the most during training.¡± All the boys excitedly gathered around Garp who smiled at them before he asked, ¡°Who wants to fight first?¡± Luffy quickly raised his hand and grinned as he said, ¡°Me! I¡¯ll show you all just how strong my punch is now!¡± Sabo and Ace shared a glance with each other before Ace said, ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± Garp looked at Marcus who shrugged as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll fight Sabo after they''re done fighting.¡± ¡°Fine, Ace vs Luffy first then. Follow me, I made a fighting ring for you.¡± Garp led the boys outside of the village to where they found Bogard standing next to a bunch of knocked down trees. The trees were shaped into a rough ring, with the ground in the middle being made of compacted dirt. Garp pointed to the middle of the ring as he said, ¡°Ace, Luffy, you''re up.¡± 00011. A friendly contest among brothers? Luffy had a happy smile on his face as he stood across from Ace and tugged at each of his gloves to make them tight on his hands. Ace also had a slight smile on his face, but it was the smile of someone who was confident in their victory. While Luffy was poised and basically ready for a fight, Ace¡¯s posture was relaxed as he rested his naginata on his right shoulder. As everyone watched the two boys in the ring, Luffy frowned as he said, ¡°Get ready Ace.¡± Ace lifted his free hand up and cockily waved Luffy to come closer as he said, ¡°I am.¡± Garp shook his head before he raised one arm in the air and said, ¡°Fighters ready?¡± When both boys nodded their heads, Garp dropped his arm and said, ¡°Fight!¡± Ace didn¡¯t move as Luffy dashed forward into the range of his naginata. Instead he waited for Luffy to arrive in front of him and throw a punch, which he caught with his free hand. Ace was forced to step back and released Luffy''s hand from the power of the blow. Ace then shook his hand slightly as Luffy smiled and stepped forward to throw another punch. Ace dodged the next punch by stepping back as he tried to get a proper hold on his weapon. But Luffy wasn''t letting him and constantly pushed forward while attacking. Almost a minute passed as Luffy relentlessly attacked Ace who could only really retreat under the onslaught. As Ace was forced to retreat again Luffy taunted Ace as he asked, ¡°Why are you running? I thought we were supposed to fight?¡± Ace¡¯s eyes narrowed as he asked, ¡°Running? You think I''m running?¡± Ace instantly moved closer to Luffy and parried his next attack before he slammed the middle of his weapons staff into Luffy¡¯s chest. Luffy was caught off guard and was tossed backwards a few feet to land on his back. Luffy took a few moments to get back up and once he did, Ace was already in one of his attacking stances. Luffy smiled again as he said, ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡± Ace smirked back as he said, ¡°This just means you''ll lose faster.¡± Instead of waiting for Luffy, Ace rushed forward and attacked once he was in range. Luffy attempted to parry the blow with a punch, but his fist was blown out of the way by the force of the blow. Luckily Luffy was pushed backwards at the same time which caused the blow to barely miss him. Luffy tried to push in and attack while Ace was still finishing his swing. But Luffy miscalculated how quickly Ace could recover and attack again. As Luffy closed in to attack, Ace already started his next attack. It forced Luffy to stop his forward momentum as he attempted to dodge backwards. Unfortunately Ace¡¯s attack was too quick and the blunt edge of the training weapon slammed into the left side of Luffy''s ribcage. The air was knocked out of Luffy as he was lifted off his feet and folded over the edge of the weapon before he was launched across the ring. Luffy rolled a few times on the ground before he came to a stop. His deep ragged breathing was the only thing that could be heard as Ace slowly approached him. Luffy slowly stood up and spit out some blood before he smiled as he said, ¡°Try that again.¡± Ace dashed forward from his spot as he said, ¡°If you insist.¡± Ace easily cleared the distance between himself and Luffy within a moment and once in range he swung his weapon. Luffy smiled as he rushed forward into Ace¡¯s guard right after the tip of the weapon passed him. Ace was still in the process of completing his swing, so Luffy was able to land two solid body blows on Ace. Ace hunched over slightly from the force of the two blows. Before he could recover, an uppercut from Luffy hit him square in his jaw. Ace stumbled backwards, dazed from the vicious blow while Luffy smiled in victory at his punches landing. Ace then shook his head to clear it, while blood dribbled down his lip. Ace¡¯s eyes narrowed as he refocused on Luffy and said, ¡°Alright, no more being nice.¡± Before Luffy could respond, Ace was already within range with his naginata swinging down over Luffy¡¯s head. Luffy tried to dodge but was too slow as the weapon slammed into his right shoulder. Luffy folded forward and before he could recover, Ace unleashed another savage attack on the back of his head, which knocked Luffy to the ground. As Luffy was stunned on the ground, with a large lump growing from the back of his head, Ace said, ¡°If you''re smart, you won¡¯t get back up.¡± Luffy didn¡¯t respond or move and after a few seconds Garp said, ¡°Good job Ace, but next time use a little less force.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Garp moved next to Luffy and picked him up. Luffy was completely knocked out, so Garp punched him in the head as he said, ¡°Wake up Luffy!¡± ¡°WAAAAAAAAAAA! What the heck!¡± Luffy looked around in confusion for a moment before he asked, ¡°Why the heck did you hit me, you shitty grandpa?!¡± ¡°You little brat, show some respect.¡± Garp said, before he tossed Luffy out of the ring. As Luffy landed on the ground Garp glanced at Marcus and Sabo as he said, ¡°You two are next, so get in the ring.¡± Sabo shared a nod with Ace as they passed each other, while Marcus helped Luffy stand up before he walked into the ring himself. Inside the ring Sabo smiled at Marcus as he settled into a basic stance for his halberd and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll go easy on you.¡± Marcus unsheathed his training sword before he settled into one of his favorite stances and said. ¡°So you¡¯re giving up then?¡± Sabo smiled wider as he said, ¡°Unlike Ace I don¡¯t need to hurt you to win.¡± Ace clicked his tongue and turned his head to one side as Garp said with one arm raised in the air, ¡°Are you both ready?¡± Once both boys nodded, Garp dropped his arm and said, ¡°Fight!¡± Both boys moved forward at the same time while Sabo with his halberd¡¯s extra reach attacked first. Instead of directly parrying the blade, Marcus¡¯s weapon landed on the weapons wooden shaft. Marcus then twisted the training sword''s blade and slid it down the shaft, slamming it into Sabo¡¯s right hand. Sabo cried out in pain and released his grip on the weapon. As the weapon dropped away from Sabo¡¯s injured hand, Marcus attacked again. The vicious blow caught Sabo¡¯s left elbow, which made him drop his weapon completely and take a step backwards. Marcus then pushed his advantage with another attack aimed at his disarmed opponent. Sabo¡¯s only choice was to dodge backwards, causing Marcus¡¯s blade to only graze past his chest. Sabo let out a hiss of pain as he attempted to gain some distance, but Marcus easily kept distance with him to attack again. Another slash, followed by a dodge, but this time Marcus jabbed his blade forward mid attack. The tip of the blade dug deep into Sabo¡¯s stomach as Marcus stepped into the attack. Sabo doubled over as he went to grab his stomach and could only watch as Marcus¡¯s knee flew into his face. As Sabo collapsed to the ground, Marcus lowered his sword over the back of Sabo¡¯s neck and asked, ¡°Do you surrender or do you wanna take me seriously this time?¡± After a few moments Sabo glanced up with blood leaking from his nose as he said, ¡°Just give me a few minutes, my left arm is still numb.¡± Marcus nodded and removed his weapon as he said, ¡°Alright.¡± As Marcus moved back to his starting spot, he glanced over to Ace. Ace narrowed his eyes slightly as they locked eyes before Luffy said, ¡°That was awesome! How did Marcus get so good with a sword?¡± Ace shook his head as he said, ¡°It¡¯s because he¡¯s not an idiot like you.¡± ¡°But we¡¯re twins, we should be the same right?¡± Garp patted Luffy¡¯s head as he said, ¡°You might be twins, but he took all the brains.¡± Luffy looked up at Garp as he asked, ¡°Then what did I take?¡± ¡°I¡¯m still trying to figure that out.¡± Garp said with a sigh. Ace snickered at the comment as Sabo stood back up and wiped the blood from his face. Sabo walked back over to his weapon and took up a new stance as he shared a glance with Marcus. Marcus settled into another sword stance and they shared a nod with each other before they both rushed forward. This time Sabo attacked, but when Marcus moved to parry the blow on the shaft again. He moved his weapon away from the attack and even spun his whole body around like he was a freshly spun top. As he spun fully around with his next attack, Marcus moved back out of the attack''s range. Once Sabo stopped his spinning attack, Marcus quickly moved in with a quick slash. Sabo struggled to move his weapon in time to parry the faster attack. But with a retreating step he was able to parry Marcus¡¯s blade away. Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°That¡¯s more like it. Now let¡¯s see how long you last.¡± What followed was Marcus relentlessly attacking Sabo for almost twenty minutes straight and all Sabo could do was defend. With Sabo¡¯s weapon being longer and heavier than Marcus¡¯s, it was a lot harder for him to match Marcus¡¯s speed. Sabo tried a few times to attack when he had the chance, but each time Marcus would easily counter the attack and then press forward with his own. As they fought, Luffy excitedly watched, while Ace considered the possibility he might face Marcus instead of Sabo in his next fight. Garp and Bogard also watched the fight with interest, but for different reasons. Garp was proud to see his grandkids becoming strong. While Bogard was focused on what Marcus was doing. Marcus with his skill should have won the fight already. But instead the whole time he fought Sabo, he was constantly switching stances. It wasn¡¯t just that, Marcus was slowly integrating his stances together, trying to make the transitions smoother. The only time Sabo was able to attack was when Marcus messed up in his transition to the next stance. Bogard smiled as he watched Marcus¡¯s improvement, it wouldn¡¯t be long now. Another ten minutes passed and over the last few minutes or so, Sabo wasn¡¯t able to counter attack once. As Sabo defended himself from another attack, Marcus started to smile as he said. ¡°Thanks for the help.¡± ¡°Help?¡± Sabo asked as he was sweating profusely and blocked another attack. ¡°Yup. And now that you¡¯ve finished helping, I should probably end this spar.¡± Sabo blocked another attack as he gritted his teeth before he asked, ¡°You¡¯re going to end the spar? You think I¡¯ll let you win?¡± Marcus smirked before he slid his back foot forward, closer to Sabo with his next attack. It forced Sabo to step backwards as he tried to parry the attack. The parry worked but Marcus¡¯s sword hilt was now next to Sabo¡¯s head. Marcus reversed his swing and turned his body into the next attack. But instead of using his sword¡¯s blade, the hilt of his sword took Sabo in his temple. Sabo crumpled from the unexpected attack and dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Marcus slowly sheathed his sword while Garp laughed loudly before he said, ¡°Winner, Marcus!¡± 00012. Ace vs Marcus. After they woke up Sabo and took an hour long break, Ace and Marcus were told to enter the ring. Inside the ring Ace nodded in respect to Marcus as he said, ¡°I¡¯m still surprised to be fighting you instead of Sabo. But after watching you fight, I won¡¯t underestimate you. So you better be ready.¡± Marcus smiled while he unsheathed his sword before he took a stance and said, ¡°That¡¯s all I wanted.¡± Garp glanced at both boys with his arm in the air as he asked, ¡°Ready?¡± When both boys nodded, he dropped his arm as he said, ¡°Fight!¡± Both boys launched themselves at each other, with small dust clouds left in their wake. When they met in the middle of the ring, their blades slammed together, causing a small shock wave to erupt from their clash which cleared the dust away. For a second the boy''s weapons went slack, their hands numb from the brutal impact of blades. Ace recovered first as he clenched his weapon tighter and used his superior strength to overpower Marcus, forcing him to disengage from their first exchange. Ace followed quickly with a new attack which Marcus barely dodged as Ace¡¯s naginata whistled past his head. Ace then pushed forward with another quick slash, forcing Marcus to dodge again as he retreated from the older boy¡¯s relentless assault. Time quickly passed by as Ace aggressively attacked and forced Marcus to retreat, while giving him no openings. Ace was using his strength and weapons added reach to completely dominate the other boy during the fight. While Marcus seemed to be at a disadvantage, Bogard and Garp noticed what was happening. Marcus was using Ace as another whetstone like he did with Sabo. The longer the fight went on, the faster Marcus improved. More time passed and Marcus could easily dodge or parry any attack Ace sent his way now. At that point both boys were covered in sweat and Ace was starting to get winded. Marcus on the other hand was using his breathing technique, causing his breathing to be slow and steady compared to Ace. A few minutes later and Marcus finally counterattacked for the first time, catching Ace off guard. Ace barely blocked the attack in time, but still retreated a few steps as he tried to reset himself. Marcus also stepped back after the attack and casually reset back to his defensive sword stance. Ace carefully watched Marcus while he took the chance to catch his breath. Before Marcus slowly switched to an attacking stance and smiled as he asked, ¡°Is it my turn to attack now?¡± Before Ace could reply, Marcus dashed forward to attack. Ace swung his naginata as soon as Marcus entered his range which caused his weapon to clash against Marcus''s sword blade. Marcus forced his way past the blow before entering attack range for his sword. He quickly lashed out with his sword forcing Ace to jump backwards away from the incoming attack. Marcus then quickly followed behind Ace and attacked again landing a shallow attack on Ace¡¯s shoulder. When Marcus pressed forward with another attack, Ace didn¡¯t retreat and blocked with his weapons staff instead. With their weapons locked together, Ace leaned down closer to Marcus before he head butted the other boy in the face. Blood spurted from Marcus''s nose as he stumbled backwards in a daze and Ace¡¯s naginata slammed into his left side. Marcus leaned towards his injured side as Ace followed up with an attack to his head, knocking Marcus to the ground. Ace then relaxed his guard and looked towards Garp, waiting for him to declare him the winner. After a few moments Ace glanced back down to see Marcus as he started to stand back up. Ace shook his head as he said, ¡°Stay down, unless you want to be hurt some more.¡± Marcus focused his gaze on Ace as he smiled, his face and teeth covered in dirt and blood as he said, ¡°You think I''m hurt? My grandpa hits harder than you.¡± ¡°Bwahahaha, You''re damn right I do.¡± Garp said in a proud tone of voice. Ace clenched his jaw slightly as his eyes narrowed, before he moved his weapon back into an attacking posture and said, ¡°Fine, have it your way.¡± Ace instantly attacked with an overhead slash at the other boy, who stepped back out of the way. When Ace¡¯s naginata finished its arc, Marcus stomped on the weapon and embedded the blade in the ground. Using the weapon as a foothold, Marcus leaped towards Ace with an overhead slash of his own. Which forced Ace to let go of his weapon as he desperately dodged the incoming attack. When Marcus landed on the ground he quickly adjusted his position to stay in between Ace and his fallen weapon. Marcus easily settled into an attacking stance, while Ace attempted to move around Marcus to reach his weapon. A quick slash from Marcus forced Ace to retreat instead, before Marcus moved towards him. Over the next little while it was a cat and mouse game as Marcus kept attacking, while also keeping Ace from reaching his weapon. After enough time passed, Ace grew frustrated not being able to attack and decided to fight Marcus with his fists instead. As Ace charged towards Marcus, the boy waited till Ace was already in his range before he attacked. Stolen story; please report. Marcus¡¯s sword whipped down towards Ace, who punched towards the flat side of the blade attempting to parry the blow away. Marcus adjusted his blade mid swing causing Ace to punch the blunt edge of his blade instead. A crack rang out and Ace yelled in pain as he pulled his right hand away. Ace attempted to disengage from Marcus who anticipated the action and stepped closer as he attacked again. Marcus''s sword caught Ace on his left shoulder making the older boy groan as he leaned forward slightly from the blow. Marcus used the opportunity to grab the back of Ace¡¯s head with one hand and slammed his face down onto his rising knee. Blood erupted from Ace¡¯s nose after the impact, while Marcus released his grip on the back of the boy''s head. Making Ace fall forward onto the ground while Marcus stepped out of the way. Marcus glanced down at his opponent for a moment before he walked back over to his starting position. After half a minute Ace slowly stood back up, his face a bloody mess and almost a mirror to Marcus. Ace locked eyes with Marcus before he raised his right hand and tested it a few times by making a fist. Once he was satisfied, he walked towards his weapon to pick it up. Never once losing eye contact with Marcus as then shared an unspoken desire to continue the fight. With his weapon in hand Ace moved back to his starting spot and ready himself to fight again. After a few moments both boys nodded at each other before they launched themselves at each other for the second time. A massive explosion of sound erupted from the middle of the ring as the boy''s weapons clashed this time. Instead of contesting over strength though, both boys pulled back before attacking again. Dust kicked up from the middle of the ring as the clanging of weapons repeated over and over again. Each attack met by an equal counter, followed by another attack. At first the trades were equal, but slowly Marcus started to gain an upper hand with each attack as his skill with his sword began to show. Ace attempted to use his increased strength to counter Marcus¡¯s skill, but it was a losing battle and after a while Marcus finally landed a shallow blow on Ace¡¯s left arm. While weak, the attack caused Ace to lose the next exchange and another glancing blow was landed by Marcus. Within a few moments Ace was forced to drop his weapon as his left arm could no longer hold it properly. When that happened, Marcus stopped his next attack and pulled back as he asked, ¡°Do you wanna give up or keep going?¡± Ace shook his numb arm a few times as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll only stop when one of us is unconscious on the dirt.¡± Marcus smiled as he said, ¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡± Marcus then moved back to his starting position again and waited for Ace to move back to his own. After a minute or so, Ace was able to move his hand freely again, so he picked up his weapon and moved back to his spot. Once both boys were ready, they nodded to each other before rushing at each other again. As they clashed together in the middle of the ring, Garp glanced at Bogard and asked, ¡°Who do you think is going to win?¡± ¡°Based on skill alone, Marcus already won.¡± Garp nodded as he asked, ¡°And not based on skill?¡± ¡°Marcus. Ace might be stronger, but he is having a hard time catching his breath, while Marcus is barely breathing hard at all.¡± Sabo glanced up at Bogard as he asked, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, how come Marcus always does subpar in our spars? He never beat me or Ace and would normally tie with Luffy in most fights.¡± ¡°Ya, me and Marcus normally tie in our fights. How come he beat Sabo?¡± Luffy asked with a frown as he crossed his arms over his chest. Garp chuckled as he said, ¡°He was hiding his true strength, so everyone would underestimate him. While also getting a good gauge on everyone else''s strength.¡± Bogard nodded along as he said, ¡°When Garp announced the contest, both you and Ace only looked at each other as a threat. But you never put in any extra effort to win. The same goes for you Luffy.¡± Bogard glanced down at Luffy and Sabo while he pointed at Marcus as he said, ¡°He pushed himself past his limit everyday and would train till he was about to collapse each night. That¡¯s why he¡¯ll win today.¡± As they talked, the battle between Marcus and Ace picked up pace. Marcus''s sword turned into a blur of motion as he repeatedly attacked Ace, forcing the other boy to desperately defend. It took a little while before Ace was no longer able to keep up and an attack made it through his defense. Marcus''s sword whipped down through Ace¡¯s guard and grazed his left shoulder, numbing his arm and making movement difficult. As Ace struggled to raise his weapon back up, Marcus''s sword struck his left elbow, almost forcing Ace to drop his weapon completely. As Marcus moved in for another attack, instead of trying to block or parry again. Ace decided to trade blows instead and attacked Marcus with a blow aimed at his side. Marcus, seeing what Ace wanted to do, started to laugh as both their attacks landed on each other. While Marcus took some damage, Ace still lost the trade with his left arm now hanging uselessly by his side. Ace gritted his teeth, while using one hand to lift up his weapon before he attacked again. Marcus accepted the challenge head on and didn''t dodge the incoming attack as he struck out at Ace again. Blows were traded between the two boys and before long they were covered in bruises and blood. Ace was using his naginata to help him stand, while Marcus held his sword with only his right hand. Both boys locked eyes with each other before Ace said, ¡°You''re not going to win.¡± ¡°Says the guy who can barely stand.¡± Marcus said with a bloody smile. Marcus raised his sword up into position as he said, ¡°This is the end.¡± Ace pushed himself off his weapon and struggled to raise it up as he said, ¡°For you.¡± Ace wrestled with his weapon moving it to attack as Marcus moved forward and swung his sword down. Marcus ended up being faster and his sword slammed into Ace¡¯s head before his naginata could reach the other boy. Ace lost consciousness and fell to the ground with his weapon as Marcus raised his sword up and yelled out in victory. When he finished his yell, Marcus collapsed on the ground unconscious. Garp couldn''t help but smile as he looked at the two boys. While it wasn''t the best fight or even the smartest one he ever watched. He was proud of his grandsons, they both pushed themselves to their limits. Bogard let out a sigh before he said, ¡°Their idiots, just like you.¡± Garp started to pick in his left ear as he asked, ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°They both take after you. If Ace pressed the advantage when he had it, he would have won easily. If Marcus didn''t decide to trade blows with Ace, he wouldn''t be injured right now.¡± Bogard glanced at Garp as he said, ¡°Your whole family is full of idiots.¡± 00013. Bogards farewell. A few hours later Marcus and Ace were woken up as Garp smacked them over the head. ¡°What the hell?!?¡± Both boys yelled out at the same time. Garp laughed loudly as he pointed to a table full of food, where Luffy, Sabo and Bogard were already eating as he said, ¡°Your naps over, go eat dinner.¡± The boys glanced at each other and found each other covered in badges. Ace smiled as he said, ¡°Looks like I won.¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°I remember standing over your body screaming in victory.¡± ¡°You should get your head checked, I might have hit it too hard.¡± Ace said. Garp slapped both boys hard on the back and said, ¡°Marcus won, but passed out afterwards. Now come on, it''s time to eat.¡± Ace frowned as he moved towards the table and asked, ¡°How did Marcus win? He can barely beat Luffy in sparring matches.¡± Bogard took a drink from a wine bottle before he said, ¡°He never fought with his full strength, so you and Sabo would underestimate him.¡± As Ace took his seat he glared at Marcus and said, ¡°So you cheated.¡± ¡°Cheated?¡± Marcus asked with a raised eyebrow. Ace grabbed a piece of meat, took a large bite and after he swallowed said, ¡°You hid your strength, so you could win the tournament. That makes you a cheater.¡± Marcus picked up his own piece of meat and pointed it at Ace as he said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t make me a cheater, it means I¡¯m smart. If you were smart you would have noticed that I never improved in any spar we had.¡± Garp nodded as he said, ¡°This is a good lesson to learn early. Never underestimate your opponent, no matter how much you think you know them.¡± ¡°Fine, but next time we spar, you better not hold back or I¡¯ll beat you worse than I did today.¡± Ace said. Marcus nodded as he said, ¡°Pretty sure I beat you. But that¡¯s fine, I no longer plan to hold back anymore when I spar with any of you.¡± Ace was about to say something when he fell forward, completely asleep in his plate of food. No one said anything and kept eating, already used to Ace¡¯s weird habit. After about a minute Ace sat back up and looked around for a moment, before he wiped his face clean and continued to eat like nothing happened. After dinner finished, Marcus went outside to practice like normal while Bogard watched and drank some wine. As Marcus started to go through his stances Bogard said, ¡°You know you can take a break sometimes right?¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°Maybe when I¡¯m stronger. But for now, I¡¯m too weak to slack off.¡± ¡°Why are you so determined to become strong, kid?¡± Marcus focused his purple colored eyes on Bogard as he asked, ¡°If I¡¯m not strong, how will I fight strong people?¡± Bogard took a long drink from his wine bottle before he said, ¡°You sound like Garp.¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°It must be a family trait then.¡± Bogard shook his head before he took another long drink as he watched Marcus practice his sword skills. There was a noticeable difference from the other day, everything was smoother and linked together faster than before. It was easy to see that the fights with Sabo and Ace today helped increase his skills more than the last couple weeks of training combined. After a while Bogard finished his wine and said, ¡°Marcus, follow me. I wanna show you something.¡± Marcus stopped his practice and sheathed his training sword to follow Bogard away from the village and down to the coastline. The place he took Marcus to was filled with large boulders, most of which were smoothed down and rounded over by the tide and waves. Bogard walked till he found a couple nice sized boulders and stopped while resting a hand on his sword. Bogard glanced at Marcus and said, ¡°Watch carefully while I show you two things that are connected.¡± Marcus focused on Bogard after a quick nod of his head and waited. Bogard slowly drew his sword as he said, ¡°Once you reach a certain level, you¡¯ll be able to do something like this.¡± Bogard casually swung his sword at the boulder next to him, which split in half a second later. As the two sides touched the ground with a soft thud Bogard said, ¡°Did you see it?¡± Marcus shook his head since Bogards attack didn¡¯t really make sense to him. Ya he knew it was some type of weird anime world logic, but seeing a sword slice a boulder in half in real life was¡­ Marcus¡¯s brain stopped working for a few seconds before Bogard said, ¡°Watch again and pay attention this time.¡± Bogard walked next to another even larger boulder and with a lazy sword swing it easily split in half. This time Marcus focused more on Bogards movements, but still didn¡¯t see anything different. Bogard glanced back at Marcus as he said, ¡°It¡¯s fine, I didn¡¯t expect you to see it so easily. I¡¯ll show you the next part though, since it will be easier to see.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Bogard glanced at a boulder in the distance and lazily swung his sword again. A white slash flew from his blade cutting a path through the sand until it struck the boulder and flew through it. A second later the boulder fell apart into two pieces. Bogard glanced back at Marcus as he asked, ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°Looks powerful and at the same time weak¡­ If you put more effort into the attack, would it be bigger?¡± Bogard smiled as he said, ¡°You¡¯re correct. If I use my full power, I can easily cut a mountain in half.¡± ¡°That''s awesome, I wouldn''t mind seeing that done.¡± Marcus said with a twinkle in his eyes. Bogard shook his head as he said, ¡°Let¡¯s head back, it¡¯s almost bath time.¡± As they started walking back Marcus asked, ¡°So I can do that when I¡¯m stronger?¡± ¡°Ya, but it will be a while before you can do it. Just keep practicing like you do and focus on improving your skills. Once you finish Garp''s first stage of punching through a tree with just your fist, start trying to cut through a tree with your training sword.¡± Marcus frowned slightly as he asked, ¡°Won¡¯t my sword break if I use it to train like that?¡± Bogard chuckled as he said, ¡°It won¡¯t break, that thing is meant to be abused.¡± As they made it back to Makino¡¯s, Garp walked out with the other boys and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, it¡¯s bath time you stinky brats.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who stinks old man.¡± Ace said. Garp slammed his fist into Ace¡¯s head knocking the boy out before he picked him up by the back of his shirt and asked, ¡°Anyone else wanna say anything?¡± Luffy and Sabo quickly shook their heads before Garp laughed and said, ¡°Good. Now let''s go.¡± After a nice bath, everyone headed to bed to wake up early in the morning. Instead of their normal training, Garp told everyone to rest and relax today since he was leaving. When Marcus went to go train alone, Garp stopped him and said, ¡°Take a rest for a few days, you¡¯ve been training for a month straight.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Garp placed a hand on his shoulder as he said, ¡°It¡¯s good to take a small break from training, to let your body properly heal. You might not have noticed it, but your body needs rest. You and the others need to rest for the next few days, since I pushed you so hard the past month during training.¡± Marcus was going to argue, but when he saw Garp¡¯s serious face he said, ¡°Okay Grandpa.¡± Garp looked at the other boys as he said, ¡°Take the next few days to rest and when you start training again. I want you to train for six days and rest on the seventh. Understood?¡± ¡°Yes grandpa.¡± Everyone said. ¡°I¡¯ll also check in with Makino. So you better do it, or I¡¯ll punish you when I get back.¡± All the boy¡¯s sweat dropped as they nodded at Garp¡¯s threat. Garp smiled before he said, ¡°Good. Now let''s head to the dock, our ride should be here soon.¡± Grap picked up the weapon training rack, making sure to leave behind the boys weapons, before he headed to the dock with Bogard and the boys. It was mid morning as they left Makino¡¯s, walking through the bustling village towards the dock. As they walked, people greeted them and wished Garp and Bogard a safe journey. Within a few minutes the group reached the dock and could already see the navy ship in the distance. Garp placed the weapon rack down before he sat down on the edge of the dock and pulled out a packet of crackers. The boys joined Garp sitting on the edge of the dock, while Bogard stood off to the side smoking a cigar. As Garp shared his crackers with the boys he said, ¡°I took a long time off this time, so I won¡¯t be back for at least a year or more.¡± ¡°What about the prize for whoever won the tournament?¡± Ace asked. Garp patted Ace on the shoulder as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be bringing something back for Marcus.¡± ¡°I won, not Marcus!¡± Garp smiled and then pushed Ace into the water below the dock. When Ace surfaced from the water Garp said, ¡°Stop being so cocky, you might not like it. But you lost. Now get out of the water, you''re supposed to be resting.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who pushed me in, old man!?!¡± Garp narrowed his eyes as he asked, ¡°Who are you calling old, brat?¡± Ace stuck out his tongue before he said, ¡°You! You shitty old man!¡± Garp crumpled up the wrapper from his package of crackers before he infused it with a little haki and then threw it at Ace. Ace was slammed under the water and after a few seconds swam back up with a large lump on his head. Garp pointed and laughed at the boy as he said, ¡°You think an old man can do something like that you stupid brat?¡± Ace wanted to say something but stopped when Garp pulled out another package of crackers. Grap glanced down at Ace as he said, ¡°Hurry up and get out of the water.¡± Once Ace was back on the dock, Garp and the boys sat in silence and ate some more crackers before the navy ship finally arrived. After loading up the weapon rack and their clothes, Garp and Bogard bid farewell to the boys and left with the ship. The boys with nothing else to do ended up spending the rest of the day at Makino¡¯s playing games and talking. The next day they also rested, but instead of staying in Foosha Village, they headed to Town Center in the heart of the Goa Kingdom. While walking all the way there might not be considered proper rest, the boys didn¡¯t consider it training. Once they reached the city walls, the boys used a large trench coat to hide that they were just children. With Ace who acted as the base, he carried the other boys stacked on his shoulders. Luffy and Marcus were next as each one rested on one of Ace¡¯s shoulders. Sabo was seated on top of both of them and acted as the head. Like that they easily bypassed the gate guards and moved into Edge Town, before they moved into Town Center. Once there, they went to one of the fancier restaurants to eat. After requesting a private room, Sabo ordered a bunch of food for everyone and waited. Once all the food arrived, Sabo and the others came out of the coat and started to eat. Everything went well at first, before the waitress came in to check on them. When she found four boys in somewhat tattered clothing, she started to yell at them, asking if they had money to pay for everything. Ace and the others didn¡¯t actually have money on them, so they took the chance and jumped out the window to run away. With their training, they easily outpaced the couple people who tried to chase them and before long were back outside the city gates. After that experience the boys turned their weekly rest day into a dine and dash routine. They would head into the inner city where the rich lived, then pick out a good restaurant and eat till they were found out before they quickly ran away. It only took a month before rumors started to spread about a group of kids who liked to dine and dash. While it didn¡¯t stop them from doing it, it limited them to new places every time. It was a good thing that the rich part of the city had a lot of restaurants to choose from though. 00014. Bounty hunters? About a month after Garp and Bogard left the boys had settled into a new training regiment. Luffy even started to train harder when he could no longer beat Marcus in spars. While Sabo and Ace could tie or beat each other in fights using weapons. Marcus was currently unbeatable while using a weapon and now that Ace and Sabo knew how strong he was, they wouldn''t let him fight unless he went all out. That''s not to say Marcus was stronger than Ace or Sabo. Both boys were actually stronger than him in physical strength. Marcus was only able to win from his masterful skill in swordsmanship. But when it came to fist fighting, Sabo and Ace could normally beat Marcus or atleast tie with him. Luffy on the other hand now lost to everyone. But it was working as a great motivator for him and he seemed to be improving the fastest out of everyone. Their new training routine actually matched what Garp made them do each day. Wake up early, put on their training harness and do the marine training exercises. During that time they would also hunt a couple animals, one for Makino and one to give to Dadan and the bandits. Once done they would head back to Makino¡¯s for breakfast, then head out to run while being weighed down with heavy objects till lunch. After lunch they would spar with each other a few times, then finish with the tree punching exercises. They stopped around dinner time and then had free time till they took a bath and went to bed. Marcus still pushed himself every day after dinner. Sometimes the other boys would join him, but they mostly hung out and played games in the bar instead. They didn¡¯t always finish the day off at Makino¡¯s though, sometimes they would stay at Dadan¡¯s or the secret base they built in the forest. But on average they spent most of their days at Makino¡¯s because she cooked the best. Besides their new rest day once a week, they also had a day for fighting. They would go into the forest and fight different animals for the day. They also set up a rule that you had to fight with your weapon one week and no weapon the next week. Even Luffy had to follow the rule and couldn¡¯t use his gloves every week. That training worked well to give them some fighting experience, but after seven months all of them could beat most normal animals with no issue. Only the stronger, more troublesome beasts gave the boys issue, not to mention the massive kings of the forest. Since that was the case the boys started to train by fighting criminals in Gray Terminal and Edge Town. It also gave the boys a chance to make money, since they would take money and valuables from anyone they beat up. It was almost a year into this new training method when they finally found someone with a bounty hiding out in Gray Terminal. It was a small time pirate with a bounty of one hundred and twenty thousand belly. Even with the bounty being so low, Marcus voiced reason to the group and suggested they jump the guy. Ace argued that he could easily beat the guy alone, but Marcus brought up this was the first person with a bounty and it was better to be cautious. While they did come to an agreement to fight the man together, Ace and the others had a different idea on how to act. Marcus let out a sigh before he said, ¡°Can we at least watch him for a while and make sure he¡¯s alone?¡± Ace shook his head as he said, ¡°No, let''s just go beat him up now and get it over with.¡± Luffy and Sabo nodded in agreement before Sabo said, ¡°We should be fine even if he has another person with him.¡± Marcus rubbed the bridge of his nose as he said, ¡°Why do you guys want to rush this? It¡¯s not like he is going anywhere.¡± ¡°And how would you know he¡¯s not? Have you asked him?¡± Ace taunted. ¡°I don¡¯t, but¡­¡± ¡°Exactly! So let''s go catch this guy.¡± Ace said. Marcus raised both arms up in the air as he said, ¡°Fine, let''s go in with no plan. But if this backfires, you listen to me next time.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± Ace said before he started walking towards the shack where their target was hiding. It didn¡¯t take them long before they arrived in front of the small ramshackle building and Ace walked up to the door and kicked it in. A second later a gun shot rang out which caused all the boys to flinch back in surprise. Luckily the shot was aimed for an adult and not a kid, so the bullet flew right over Ace¡¯s head. A few seconds later a large man walked into the middle of the door frame holding a gun and glanced at the boys before he started to laugh. When he finished laughing, he glanced at everyone before his gaze landed on Ace as he asked, ¡°What the hell are little shits doing?¡± Ace glared up at the man as he said, ¡°We came to collect your head.¡± The man laughed as he placed his pistol into his belt before he asked, ¡°Some kids with toy weapons think they can take me?¡± He reached down to grab Ace as he said, ¡°Come here you little shit, I¡¯ll teach you a good lesson about life and if you''re lucky, you might live to remember it.¡± Ace didn¡¯t wait for the man¡¯s hand to reach him and jumped back as he pulled out his weapon. The other boys did the same thing as the man charged towards Ace as he attempted to grab him again. All the boys charged at the man in response and Ace was the first to land a hit on the man which left him stunned as his vision blurred from the strong attack to his head. The other boys arrived a moment later and each landed a blow on the man which forced him down to one knee. As the man recovered, he reached for his gun, which Marcus smacked out of his hand a second later. Over the next few moments or so, the boys relentlessly attacked the man till he finally collapsed on the ground unconscious. Once he was knocked out, the boys tied him up tight and then searched his shack. Inside they found some food, wine and a small treasure chest filled with valuables. They only took the treasure chest with them which Luffy carried, while Sabo and Ace carried their bounty. Marcus took the man''s gun and acted as the guard for the other boys as they headed to the small marine base on the coast of the kingdom. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Once they arrived at the base they were greeted by a guard at the gate who asked, ¡°What are you boys doing here and why are you carrying that person?¡± Ace and Sabo tossed the guy to the ground before Ace said, ¡°We came to collect the bounty on this guy''s head.¡± ¡°Bounty? Kids can¡¯t collect bounties.¡± Ace frowned as he asked, ¡°What are you talking about? The bounty says dead or alive for this guy. It doesn¡¯t say anything else.¡± The guard glanced down at Ace as he said, ¡°A bounty can only be collected by someone fourteen years of age or older. So are you fourteen?¡± Marcus stepped forward showing the bounty poster and asked, ¡°Can you show us where this rule is written? Because the bounty poster doesn¡¯t specify anything like that.¡± The guard shrugged as he said, ¡°You won¡¯t find it on wanted posters. It¡¯s in the marine guidelines for handing bounties.¡± Marcus cast a glance at Ace as he said, ¡°Lets just go get big sis to come claim the bounty.¡± Ace nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°That works.¡± As Ace and Sabo went to pick their bounty back up the guard said, ¡°Sorry, you¡¯ll have to leave him here. We can¡¯t have a wanted criminal running around.¡± Ace glanced back at the guard as he said, ¡°He¡¯s knocked out and tied up. He¡¯s not running anywhere.¡± The guard shook his head as he hit a button next to him which caused an alarm in the base to go off before marines started to run out towards the front gate. Within moments a handful of marines were at the gate with weapons drawn. All the boys went on guard as Ace asked, ¡°What was that for?¡± As the alarm turned off and another person walked out of the base the guard said, ¡°I just needed help to arrest this criminal.¡± A few seconds later a man with a justice coat draped over his shoulders stepped out of the gate and studied the situation around him for a few moments before he glanced at the guard as he asked, ¡°What''s going on here, seaman?¡± The guard saluted before he said, ¡°Sir, these boys were trying to turn in a bounty. When I told them they were too young to claim it, they tried to leave with the criminal.¡± The captain nodded in understanding before he glanced at the boys and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t leave with the criminal.¡± Ace frowned as he said, ¡°What about our reward?¡± The captain shrugged as he said, ¡°Unfortunately you can¡¯t claim it.¡± ¡°Why not?!¡± The captain pointed at the captured pirate as he said, ¡°Because you''re too young to claim it and he was already brought here. Now that he¡¯s here we can¡¯t let him leave.¡± ¡°What if we bring our big sister to claim the bounty?¡± Sabo asked. The captain shook his head as he said, ¡°She would have to be here now in order to qualify and claim the bounty.¡± Marcus moved next to Ace as he asked, ¡°So what, we''re just out of luck?¡± ¡°Pretty much. Now you can leave him and that treasure chest behind, while you head back home.¡± Luffy hugged the chest a little tighter as he said, ¡°No. This is ours!¡± The other boys nodded in agreement before the captain said, ¡°That chest and everything inside it, is considered stolen property. If you don¡¯t hand it over, you''ll be considered a criminal and will be arrested.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t just point at something and claim it''s stolen property! We¡¯ve had this with us before we even caught this guy. If you take it from us, then that means you¡¯re stealing from us.¡± Marcus said matter of factly. Ace and Sabo nodded in agreement before Luffy said in a confused tone of voice, ¡°But we collected this from that guy''s house, right?¡± Marcus could only facepalm himself as the captain said, ¡°So it is stolen property.¡± Ace and Sabo stepped in front of Luffy protectively as Marcus lowered a hand onto his sword. The captain watched the boys in amusement as he said, ¡°You better follow my orders, if you don''t want to end up in trouble.¡± Marcus narrowed his eyes as he asked, ¡°So what if it was stolen? We beat him so we should be able to claim anything he had. Do you think you can take advantage of us because we''re kids?¡± The man smiled down at Marcus as he said, ¡°I''m not thinking about it. That''s exactly what I am doing, since you¡¯re breaking the law. Now drop the chest and leave.¡± Marcus glanced back at Ace and the others as he asked, ¡°Would gramps be more upset at us backing down or for us standing up for ourselves?¡± Ace reached for his weapon and smiled back at Marcus as he said, ¡°Only one way to find out.¡± The captain shook his head as he said, ¡°Looks like you little kids need to be taught a lesson about how the world works.¡± The captain stepped back as he said, ¡°Marines! I want you to teach these kids a little lesson and then take that treasure chest from them.¡± All the marines at the gate said, ¡°Yes sir!¡± The marines put away their weapons and started to move towards Marcus and the others who drew their weapons. As the first marine came into range, Ace attacked quickly and knocked the man down with a well placed hit to his knee. The other marines paused in shock before Ace and the others charged towards them. Within moments the boys were easily tearing through the marines with ease. The captain, displeased with the display, hit the alarm for the base calling more men to help. As more men arrived, Ace and the others slowly became surrounded and outnumbered. After a lengthy battle over half the marines were laying on the ground incapacitated, while another ten could barely stand. Unfortunately Ace and the other boys were bloody, bruised and laid out in the middle of the marines still standing. The captain walked through his subordinates to look down at the unconscious boys before he said, ¡°Toss them down in the cells. A week down there should let them reflect on their actions.¡± He then looked at the thirty marines who were on the ground and said, ¡°This is just pathetic.¡± He glanced at the marines still standing and said, ¡°Look at all of you. It took almost fifty men to take down four children¡­ Just how weak are you, to be beaten by mere children?¡± The captain picked up the treasure chest and started to walk away as he said, ¡°Training is now doubled and you''ll only get half your normal rations for the next two weeks. Is that understood?¡± The men behind him shouted out, ¡°Sir, yes sir.¡± 00015. The boys are missing? The first night the boys didn''t return home, Makino didn''t worry about it. They liked to stay at Dadan¡¯s shack and their fort in the middle or the forest sometimes. When she didn¡¯t see them at all the next day, she became a little concerned since the boys always stopped by to eat at least once a day. She knew the boys could take care of themselves, but she still wanted to know that they were okay. On the second day when the boys didn''t come by, Makino planned to go find them at Dadan¡¯s and yell at them. But stopped when Dadan showed up at the bar complaining and looking for the boys herself. That''s when both women realized something happened to the boys. ¡°We need to go look for them, they''re probably in trouble knowing those boys.¡± Dadan said. Makino nodded as she said, ¡°I''ll go get the Mayor, he''ll get us some more people to help in the search.¡± Dadan stood up from her chair as she said, ¡°I have my boys checking the forest area already, since I thought they might be there training. But if they don''t find them there, then we''ll all go to the Grey Terminal and look.¡± As Dadan started to walk towards the door Makino asked, ¡°Should we let Garp know the boys are missing?¡± Dadan turned around quickly as she said, ¡°That''s the last thing we should do. If Garp found out he might kill us, that crazy old bastard.¡± ¡°Eh? What did you just say?¡± Dadan froze in fear before she slowly turned around to see Garp standing at the door digging a pinky into his ear. He wore shorts, sandals and a buttoned up shirt, with a floral print. He pulled his finger out of his ear as he said, ¡°Repeat what you just said, I don''t think I heard you right the first time.¡± ¡°Ga¡­ Garp? What are you doing here?¡± Dadan asked in a panic. ¡°I came to visit my grandsons, of course. Where are the little brats?¡± Makino stepped forward as she said, ¡°We were just discussing that¡­¡± Dadan shot a pleading look towards Makino who shook her head as she said, ¡°They''ve been missing for a couple days now.¡± Garp laughed loudly before he focused his gaze on both women and asked in a serious tone, ¡°You lost my grandsons?¡± Dadan gulped as she slowly nodded her head. Makino on the other hand narrowed her eyes and said in a low tone of voice, ¡°You better not be blaming us. Luffy and Marcus were nice and well behaved boys before you showed up to train them! If anything, this is your fault!¡± ¡°My fault? You''re the ones who are supposed to be watching over them!¡± Garp yelled out. Makino walked up in front of Garp and started poking him in the chest as she said, ¡°How are we supposed to watch over them, when they disappear for the whole day to train? This is all your fault!¡± Garp smiled slightly as he asked, ¡°They''ve kept up on their training every day?¡± Makino nodded as she said, ¡°Of course they did. Did you think they were gonna stop because you weren''t around?¡± Garp scratched the back of his head as he said, ¡°I kinda thought everyone but Marcus would slack off.¡± Makino let out a huff before she said, ¡°Well they didn''t. All of them have been training hard since you left.¡± Makino looked up and locked eyes with Garp as she said, ¡°Now that you know it''s your fault, go find the boys and bring them home. I''ll start making food because I''m sure they''re hungry.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Makino crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Garp as she said, ¡°No buts! Go find the boys now!¡± Garp let out a sigh, as he turned around to walk outside he said, ¡°Fine, but there better be meat when I get back.¡± After Garp left, Makino turned around and playfully winked at the stunned Dadan as she said, ¡°That''s how you deal with Garp. Now come help me in the kitchen, the boys are sure to be hungry when they get home.¡± Dadan could only nod in silence as she followed Makino into the kitchen. vvvvv Luffy tugged on Marcus''s torn up shirt as he said, ¡°I''m hungry¡­¡± ¡°Hi, Hungry. I¡¯m Marcus.¡± Ace and Sabo snickered a little as Luffy said, ¡°I¡¯m not Hungry. I¡¯m Luffy!¡± Marcus smiled at his brother as he said, ¡°I¡¯m glad you''re not hungry Luffy, because I don¡¯t think we''re getting anymore food.¡± Luffy pouted and looked around the cell they were in, it was bare with a small bucket to use as a toilet and the cold stone floor to use as their bed. They were tossed in here a few days ago and only fed a tiny bit of food each day. Which was something Luffy complained about every day. It also didn¡¯t help that they were only fed twice a day, which only made Luffy complain more. As they sat on the floor Sabo asked, ¡°How long do you think they''ll keep us here for?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°Depends on how long it takes for Makino or Dadan to come find us, I think.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°I heard the captain say it would be a week before I passed out.¡± Ace said. ¡°A week!?! How can I go a week without meat!? Are they trying to kill us? Luffy asked in a panic. Sabo and the others smiled at Luffy as he freaked out before Ace asked, ¡°What if the one who finds us isn¡¯t Makino or Dadan, but gramps instead?. Marcus chuckled before he said, ¡°He¡¯ll probably train us till we die.¡± Ace shook his head and said, ¡°He¡¯ll do that anyways.¡± Sabo and Luffy nodded in agreement before Marcus asked, ¡°Maybe we should try and break out when they feed us again?¡± Ace shook his head as he said, ¡°Without our weapons, I don¡¯t think we can take those guards on. They only send the strongest guards to feed us.¡± ¡°How do you know they¡¯re the strongest?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°They''re the ones who were still standing after our fight.¡± ¡°Makes sense, I was half conscious at the time so I didn¡¯t notice.¡± Marcus said as they started to hear some kinda commotion outside. Since they were down in the prison section, it was hard to make out what was going on, but it sounded like the whole base was busy doing something. Marcus glanced at others before he asked, ¡°Think the base is doing some kinda special training?¡± Ace shook his head as he said, ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t sound like that. But it does sound like the whole base is active for some reason.¡± The boys quieted down to better hear what was going on, but after a few minutes gave up. They were too far away to accurately hear what was going on. A few more minutes passed before they heard the door to the prison area open up and people could be heard walking inside. A couple people could be heard walking down the hallway outside their cell and after a moment someone said, ¡°This is the cell, sir.¡± ¡°Don''t just stand there, open it up!¡± An angry voice said. When the cell opened up, they could see the marine captain and a random prison guard standing outside the doorway. The captain glanced at the boys before he said, ¡°Follow me, someone wants to see you.¡± The captain didn''t wait for a response or to make sure they followed him before he turned around and walked away. The boys glanced at each other before they scrambled out of the cell and followed behind the man. As they walked Luffy said, ¡°I hope¡­¡± ¡°Shut up, I didn''t tell you to speak.¡± The captain said. Luffy was about to say something when Marcus put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. After that they followed the man in silence as he led them outside and into the main courtyard for the base. It seemed like every marine at the base was there, lined up and standing at attention. After passing by the troops the boys could see the reason for the commotion, Garp was standing off to one side picking his nose. When the boys saw him the first to react was Luffy as he said, ¡°Grandpa, I¡¯m hungry!¡± Everyone froze in place, even the captain as Luffy and the other boys moved towards Garp. Garp removed his finger from his nose and flicked the booger away before he asked, ¡°This isn''t what I expected to find when I came back to visit you brats. Didn''t I raise you better than to fight with marines?¡± Marcus glanced up at Garp as he said, ¡°You showing up once a year to train us, doesn''t count as raising us grandpa. Honestly the only thing you''ve really done is taught us how to fight and that''s exactly what we did.¡± ¡°If I taught you how to fight, then why the hell did you lose in a fight against them?¡± Garp asked as he pointed at all the marines standing in the courtyard. Everyone in the courtyard sweat dropped at that remark, while a few felt proud they could beat up Garp¡¯s grand kids. Garp glanced at all the marines for a moment before he said, ¡°Just look at all of them, they''re weaklings. Even that captain isn''t that strong. You should have easily beat them all.¡± ¡°Vice Admiral Garp, you''re going too far!¡± The captain said. Garp glanced at the captain for a moment before he said, ¡°No I''m not. I could have easily beaten every single one of you when I was their age.¡± The captain wanted to respond but when he looked at Garp he stopped, he felt as if he said anything else he wouldn''t like what happened afterwards. Garp glanced back down at his grandkids as he asked, ¡°Also, why did you try to fight them in the first place?¡± Ace pointed at the captain as he said, ¡°That guy swindled us. He wouldn''t let us turn in a bounty and then he took our treasure.¡± Garp glanced at the captain before he asked, ¡°Is that true?¡± The captain saluted before he said, ¡°Not exactly sir.¡± ¡°Then explain it to me.¡± Garp said with slightly narrowed eyes. The captain nodded as he said, ¡°The boys brought in a pirate with a bounty, but they are under the legal age to claim it. They wanted to bring someone else back to claim it for them, but the guidelines dictate that isn''t allowed.¡± ¡°What? When was there an age limit to claim a bounty?¡± Garp asked in confusion. The captain looked a little awkward as he said, ¡°It''s been in the guidelines for claiming bounties since I joined the marines, sir.¡± All the other marines nodded in agreement before Garp chuckled and said, ¡°Must be something new they added recently, I''ll have to ask Sengoku about it next time I''m at HQ.¡± The captain who was almost fifty sweat dropped before he said, ¡°As for their treasure, it was confiscated because it was stolen goods, sir.¡± Garp nodded along before he looked down at the boys and said, ¡°Looks like they were just doing their jobs.¡± Luffy pouted before he said, ¡°But we fought the guy fair and square, that should be our treasure!¡± Garp patted Luffy on the head as he said, ¡°This should teach all of you an important lesson.¡± ¡°What''s that grandpa?¡± Luffy asked. ¡°Next time you capture some pirate scum, hide their treasure before you bring them in to claim the bounty. Bwahahahaha!¡± Luffy pounded his fist into his hand as he said, ¡°Oh, that''s a good idea!¡± Garp smiled as he said, ¡°Of course, those are the only kind I have.¡± The other marines sweat dropped as the captain asked, ¡°Sir, should you really be teaching kids to do something like that?¡± Garp glanced over to the captain as he asked, ¡°Are these your grandsons?¡± ¡°Um, no sir.¡± The captain said. ¡°Exactly. Now mind your own business and have someone bring them their weapons.¡± A marine stepped forward carrying their weapons a few moments later as they said, ¡°Here they are sir.¡± After the boys collected their weapons Garp said, ¡°Alright, let''s head home and eat. Then starting tomorrow I am doubling your training load for the month.¡± As the boys turned pale, the marines couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for them and as they started to walk towards the exit, Garp glanced back at the captain and said, ¡°The next time they come in to claim a bounty, don¡¯t give them any issues. That¡¯s an order.¡± The captain and other marines saluted and said, ¡°Yes, sir.¡± 00016. Garp is a devil. After getting home, the boys were greeted by Makino, Dadan and her bandits who came to the bar. After getting chewed out by everyone for going missing, they ate a big meal which kinda turned into a party. Afterwards they took a long bath, then went to bed early and passed out within moments of laying down. Garp smiled to himself after putting the boys to sleep, tomorrow training would begin. Garp walked into the boys room early in the morning with a large bucket of ice water. He removed each boy from their bed and placed them next to each other on the floor. Then he lifted up the bucket and dumped the ice water on all the boys. ¡°What the!?!?¡± All the boys yelled out at the same time. ¡°Get up you brats, it''s time to train!¡± All the boys were shivering as they glared up at Garp. But Garp only smiled as he focused his gaze on all of them and said, ¡°Get up and go outside, I want to see how you progressed since last year.¡± As the boys stood up and went to get dry clothes, Garp stepped in front of them and pointed towards the door as he said, ¡°I said go outside.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± ¡°No buts, go outside.¡± Garp said as he fixed his gaze on Luffy. The boys reluctantly moved outside, where Garp then led them out to the forest. He took them to some large monkeys and made them fight till the monkeys were defeated. Then he led them to an area with bears and had them fight again. For about half the day, Garp made the boys fight tougher and tougher animals until they finally lost and were knocked out. Once they all lost he carried them back home and woke them up to eat lunch. While in the middle of eating Garp said, ¡°No wonder you lost to those marines, none of you made it to level two with the harnesses.¡± Ace frowned as he said, ¡°I''m close, I can move while using it.¡± ¡°Moving with it on isn''t hard, training with it on is what counts. You need to be able to move normally while using level one, to start training in level two. It''s the same thing for all the other levels.¡± Garp said. Garp glanced at all of the boys before he said, ¡°Looks like I''ll need to push you boys harder so you can pass level one by next year.¡± All the boys shared a glance as they thought about how Garp could possibly increase their training from what he did last time. While they weren''t completely sure what he would do, they knew it wouldn''t be fun¡­ After eating lunch Garp took the boys outside and after they put on their training harnesses, he started them on their new daily training regiment. It started off somewhat normal with a ten mile warm up run around the village and surrounding area. Then it went off the rails as Garp made them do push-ups while having small boulders on their backs. The weight of the boulders wasn''t that bad, but combined with the training harness it quickly became too much for the boys. Within a few minutes all of the boys were trapped beneath their own boulder. As they were trapped on the ground Luffy said, ¡°Grandpa, help us!¡± Garp who was eating some crackers while sitting in a beach chair said, ¡°I am helping you. This is teaching you how to endure!¡± Needless to say, Garp left the boys trapped for over an hour before he helped them out. Then they moved on to a leg workout on the beach, where each boy was given a decent sized tree trunk. The exercise was to squat one hundred times while balancing the tree trunk on their shoulders. Then they needed to carry it through the sand for one mile and do another set of squats. None of the boys were able to complete even twenty squats, let alone transport the tree a mile down the beach. Grap still pushed them to complete as many squats as possible before he moved to the next exercise. It was about an hour from sunset as Garp led the boys down the coast from the village to a vertical cliff, which was easily four hundred feet tall. When they arrived, Garp pointed to the top of the cliff and said, ¡°Climb to the top, before sunset.¡± Marcus glanced up the sheer cliff face and asked, ¡°This doesn''t seem very safe¡­ What if we fall?¡± Garp patted Marcus on the shoulder as he said, ¡°Just don''t fall and you''ll be fine. Bwahahahaha!¡± With Garp''s words of encouragement, the boys started to climb up the rocky cliff face together. Garp on the other hand relaxed in his chair and enjoyed some crackers as he watched the boys struggle to climb up the cliff. About twenty minutes into the climb Luffy lost his grip and started to fall, luckily Marcus and the others were next to him when it happened and caught him. That only worked the first time, because Marcus lost his grip a few minutes later. This time when they went to grab him, Luffy lost his grip, which made Sabo and Ace lose their own grip. A second later all the boys fell almost a hundred feet to land on the somewhat soft sand below. Stolen story; please report. Each boy suffered some minor injuries from the fall, but the sand somehow cushioned it. Which made no sense to Marcus or the other boys. Garp just glanced at them before he said, ¡°Just because you fell doesn''t mean you''re done. You still have at least half an hour.¡± The boys wanted to complain, but that would only make things worse. So the boys dusted themselves off and started over again. As they moved next to the wall, Marcus said, ¡°Ace take the lead this time and find a route up for the rest of us.¡± Ace glanced at the others who nodded in agreement before he started to climb. With Ace finding secure feet and hand holds for everyone else to follow, it made it a lot easier the second time. Within fifteen minutes they were back where they fell from originally and just about to move past it. The pace slowed down after that and the boys only made it about half way up the cliff face as the sun was setting in the sky. As Ace tested his next hand hold, a rock clipped his hand and made him slip. As the other boys caught him, another rock hit Marcus making him fall off the wall and drag the other boys down with him. After falling two hundred feet to the soft sand, the boys were a little more roughed up this time, but could still move around. Ace glanced at Marcus and asked, ¡°What happened, why¡¯d you fall?¡± ¡°A rock hit my arm and I lost my grip.¡± Marcus said as he rubbed his bruised hand. Ace frowned as he said, ¡°A rock also hit my hand.¡± Garp laughed before he said, ¡°You''re welcome.¡± All the boys turned to glare at Garp as he laughed before he said, ¡°I told you, get to the top before sunset.¡± ¡°Then you should have told us to climb down!¡± Ace said while he rubbed a bruise on his leg. Garp shrugged as he said, ¡°This was quicker. Plus it helps toughen you up. Now come on, it''s time to eat dinner.¡± Garp then led the boys back to Makino¡¯s to eat dinner. After they finished up dinner Garp said, ¡°Alright let''s head out to start the next set of exercises.¡± ¡°What?!?¡± All the boys exclaimed at once. Garp cast a glance over the boys before he said, ¡°Shut up and get outside. Training just started for you brats.¡± The boys reluctantly moved outside and followed Garp up the mountain to practice punching trees. It was a task to punch down a tree with one blow, that none of the boys completed yet. So they spent the next couple hours punching trees in the dark, while Garp napped in his chair. The next task Garp gave the boys was to carry large rocks as they walked through a waist high stream of water. More than once the boys slipped and fell into the cold water and were forced to continue till dawn. When the sun started to rise up, Garp took the boys back down to the village for breakfast at Makino¡¯s. After breakfast he started the boys off with fighting animals again till lunch. Then their workout repeated from the day before with weighted push-ups, squats with tree trunks and climbing up the cliff. After dinner the boys were basically falling asleep on their feet, so Garp took them to the bath early and then let them go to bed right afterwards. That seemed to help the boys out a lot because the next morning when Garp woke them up, they were completely refreshed and ready to go again. Which is exactly what happened as they were forced to train for two days straight again before they could sleep. Garp kept that training regiment up for his entire stay with the boys. The day before he was going to leave, instead of training the boys he tested each of them personally. After completing destroying the boys and pointing out weak spots in their defense. Garp brought the boys into Makino¡¯s to rest for the day. After eating lunch Garp went into the back of Makino¡¯s bar and brought out four wrapped presents and placed them in front of the boys as he said, ¡°It''s a little late but I brought you each a birthday gift.¡± Luffy was the most excited as he started to open up the present. Inside was a marine chore boy hat, which turned out to be the same thing all the boys received. Luffy complained first as he said, ¡°What the heck is this? I don''t wear hats.¡± Ace nodded in agreement as Sabo said, ¡°I might wear a hat, but I''m not going to wear this one.¡± ¡°Ya gramps, what the heck is this? You obviously forgot to get us gifts so you just grabbed some hats from a marine base on the way to visit us.¡± Garp sweated a little as he said, ¡°I did not! I just got you all the same thing, so no one would think I was picking a favorite.¡± Marcus shook his head before he asked, ¡°If that''s the case, where''s the gift you promised to bring back for the tournament winner last year?¡± All the boys nodded in agreement before Garp said, ¡°It''ll be here tomorrow when I leave. I had Bogard help me pick it out, since I don''t care about swords.¡± Marcus smiled as he asked, ¡°So I''m getting a sword?¡± ¡°What about me? Do I get a weapon?¡± Ace asked with a hopeful look on his face. Garp glanced at Ace as he said, ¡°Why would you get a weapon? You lost.¡± Ace wanted to reply but Garp cut him off as he looked back at Marcus and said, ¡°You might be getting a sword, but you''re not allowed to use it against your brothers or in spars with them.¡± ¡°Yes grandpa.¡± ¡°Good, now let''s relax and play some games until dinner.¡± Garp said as he pulled out a deck of cards. The rest of the night was spent playing different card games until dinner. After dinner everyone continued to play games, including Marcus until they went to the bath house. Afterwards they played a few more card games and then went to sleep for the night. The next morning the boys woke up early and ate breakfast with Garp and Makino before they headed out to the dock. When they arrived at the dock, a navy ship was already approaching and Bogard could be seen standing on the deck. Within half an hour, the ship docked and Bogard disembarked from the ship to meet Garp and the boys. Carried slung over his right shoulder was a purple colored cloth sack. When he stopped in front of Garp, he removed the sack from his shoulder and said, ¡°Took a while, but I was able to find the perfect one.¡± Garp took the sack and directly handed it to Marcus as he said, ¡°Here¡¯s your prize. Remember what I told you about using it.¡± Marcus nodded as he took the sack from Garp and felt something weird as he held it in his hands. He wasn¡¯t completely sure what was going on though, but was positive it had something to do with the sword. Bogard watched the exchange before he shook his head at their interaction and said, ¡°Let''s go to Makino¡¯s for a bit and I¡¯ll show you how to care for your sword. Since I know Garp didn¡¯t explain it to you.¡± 00017. A named sword. Instead of opening the sack to look at his sword right away, Marcus followed Bogard back to Makino¡¯s. Once there and seated at a table, Bogard said, "Before I teach you how to care for your weapon, I want you to know this sword is special to your family.¡± Marcus glanced at the sack laying on the table before he asked, ¡°Why would a sword be special to my family? Gramps doesn''t use weapons.¡± Bogard wore a sad smile as he said, ¡°This sword originally belonged to a world renowned swordsman. That swordsman trained his only descendant in the way of the sword and before he passed away she inherited the sword from him.¡± Bogard picked up the sack and slowly pulled the sword out of it as he said, ¡°That same woman was the one who gifted you with your natural talent for the sword, your mother. She was a fearsome swordswoman in her own right and this was her sword, Eternal Rest (Eien no ky¨±soku) which is now yours.¡± Marcus felt drawn to the sword as Bogard set it down gently on the table before him. The tip of the scabbard was capped in metal which was a dark purple color, so dark it almost looked black with an engraved star pattern. The rest of the scabbard was midnight black in color with tiny pin pricks of white in a pattern that resembled the night sky. The hanging cord was the same almost black, dark purple color as the metal end cap, along with the sword¡¯s guard piece. The hilt of the blade was double the length of a normal sword and was wrapped tight in that same dark purple colored cord with a metal pummel to match the rest of the sword''s decorations. As Marcus studied the sword his heart clenched tight as he felt sorrow from the blade before him, after a few moments he cautiously asked, ¡°Where is my mother now and why am I getting her sword?¡± Bogard cast a glance at Garp who was at another table playing cards with the other boys before he said, ¡°Garp didn''t tell you about your parents?¡± Marcus shook his head, so Bogard let out a sigh before he said, ¡°Your parents are troublesome people. Well your father still is, your mother unfortunately passed away after you were born.¡± Marcus couldn''t help himself as tears started to run down his face. While he didn''t know the woman and knew he took over his current body after her original son died. His body just responded on its own and started crying. Marcus glanced down at the sword on the table through tear filled eyes and could feel a deep sorrow resonate within the blade. Marcus reached out and brushed his hand over the hilt of the blade and felt the blade''s sorrow even more, which was filled with regret and hidden behind that was the tiniest feeling of hope. Marcus glanced up at Bogard as he asked, ¡°Is that why the blade is so mournful, because my mom died?¡± Bogard¡¯s eyes widened slightly before he asked, ¡°You can sense the blade?¡± Marcus nodded his head as he touched the blade again and felt the deep sadness and regret the blade held. Bogard slightly shook his head to himself before he said, ¡°Master swordsmen say that every sword has its own personality, some of which are a lot stronger than others. As such, to properly use one of those swords, the potential swordsman must first figure out its personality and then bend it to their will.¡± Bogard stared directly into Marcus¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°Otherwise the sword''s personality tends to overwhelm weaker swordsmen unable to handle them, which causes the owner''s death. Swords like that can earn a reputation as a ¡®cursed¡¯ sword, but it¡¯s not the sword''s fault the user was too weak to properly handle the blade.¡± Bogard gave Marcus a serious look as he said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure of this sword''s temperament myself, since I couldn¡¯t sense it when I held it¡­ But since you can, replace your training sword with it, figure out its personality and practice with it till it no longer fights you when you use it.¡± Marcus nodded as he wiped his face clean before he focused back on Bogard and asked, ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t fight me?¡± Bogard glanced at the blade for a few moments before he said, ¡°It¡¯s rare, but if it happens, count yourself lucky.¡± Marcus nodded again before he asked, ¡°About my parents¡­ Is that why Luffy and I were brought here? Because our parents are¡­ were pirates or something?¡± Bogard glanced at Garp before he said, ¡°Something like that. Just know that you were brought here for your own protection. Now enough about that, I need to teach you the proper way to care for your blade before I leave.¡± Bogard took his own sword and set it on the table before he said, ¡°Pick up your sword and unsheath it.¡± Marcus reached for the sword and when his hand wrapped around the hilt he felt the sword probe him for a moment. It seemed to be looking for something and after a moment it found it, because its sorrow died down a little which was replaced by the feeling of hope. Marcus slowly removed the sword from its scabbard and studied the hamon for a moment which looked like flames licking the edge of the blade. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Once the sword was out, Bogard took Marcus through the complete process of blade care. He even gave Marcus a case with everything he would need to take care of his weapon. Once finished, the boys walked Bogard and Garp back to the dock and bid them farewell before heading back to Makino¡¯s for the day. It was their rest day and they were going to enjoy it. The next morning Marcus placed his training sword aside and strapped Eternal Rest onto his belt. It sat a little awkward because of his current height and he needed to keep his left hand on the hilt, to not let the scabbard touch the ground. But over all, Marcus was happy with his new sword. Training returned to normal with the boys implementing some of the new stuff Garp trained them with. The only thing they didn''t do was training for two days straight, although they did push each other a little harder each day they trained. As for Marcus himself, his training with his new sword helped with two key things. His breathing technique was better than before and he was able to use it longer now. The other thing was his new sword was training him. At first he thought it was the personality of the sword fighting him and not wanting to work with him. But after a few days he realized the sword didn''t want to fight him, it was trying to teach him. While Marcus already perfected his self taught skills and could link them together well. He was never really trained by a proper sword master. The month-long training he did under Bogard wasn''t exactly a master teaching their disciple. It was more akin to a master giving another swordsman some pointers. His new sword on the other hand was like a master teaching him the sword style it knew. It wouldn''t force him to do the moves, but it gently guided him into the correct motion of the blade. If his foot placement was wrong it would tug in a certain direction to move him slightly. It took a few months but Marcus was able to figure out the basics of the sword style Eternal Rest was teaching him. The more Marcus practiced the new sword style, the more the feelings of the sword changed. There was still a hint of sadness whenever he held the sword, but it was mostly replaced with the feeling of being happy and content. One weird issue with the sword he noticed was when they went to the Gray Terminal. His sword would vibrate a tiny bit and he could feel a hint of something different coming from the sword around certain people. The feeling would become more pronounced around criminals, but whatever the feeling actually was, Marcus couldn¡¯t tell. It stayed hidden under everything else he felt from the sword. Marcus was positive the sword itself was hiding those new emotions, but he had no idea why. The boys also collected more bounties during that time, with a few of them being worth over a million belly. Marcus would help out the others with taking down the bounties but he never used his sword during those times. While these people were criminals, he didn¡¯t want to accidentally kill someone. The morals from his old life were still strong and taking another person''s life wasn¡¯t something he was currently willing to do. It might be naive, but whenever he thought about the future and possibly having to take someone''s life. Marcus would freeze up in thought. While he knew at some point in this world, he might have to kill someone. He secretly hoped that it would be like the show and comic, where the strawhats almost never killed anyone. Then again this was the real world now and not a story, so sooner or later Marcus would have to make a choice his old life didn¡¯t want him to make. Just past Luffy and Marcus''s fifth birthday, they were finally able to use the second level of the training harness. Ace and Sabo were able to start using the second level right after Garp left and they dominated the unarmed spars for the past four months. They still couldn''t beat Marcus using weapons though and the new sword style he was learning made him almost untouchable. With all of the boys unlocking the second level of the harness, they also started catching people with bigger bounties. While they were rare, the boys were able to catch a few people with bounties of around two to five million belly. Almost all of them were some type of bandit from the island with a few being pirates who were trying to lay low. With them coming to collect bounties every other week or so, the marines at the base got used to the boys and would even save a set of bounty posters for them. The captain of the base even offered to spar with them about once a month. Well he made a bet with them, if he won, they would help out at the base and spar with the marines stationed there. If the boys won he would double a bounty pay out for them. After thinking about the captain''s offer, the boys easily accepted since they won no matter what. While helping to spar with the marines might not seem like a win, for the boys they were already a lost cause to Garp¡¯s training and thought process. They loved to fight and fighting stronger people was even better. They also started to spar each day as part of their training, which just made them enjoy fighting more. Besides training, Marcus and the others were learning how to read and write from Makino for one hour each day after breakfast. Well it was Ace, Marcus and Luffy, since Sabo already knew how to read and write he was roped into helping teach the others. Luffy seemed to be a lost cause though, since he would fall asleep within minutes of the lessons starting. Makino would hit him and threaten him with no meat in his meals if he didn''t pay attention, but it didn''t help. Luffy just didn''t have the ability to learn properly at all. That being said, Luffy seemed to be a genius when it came to fighting. While he still couldn¡¯t beat Ace or Sabo, he was able to tie with Marcus in unarmed fights now and even beat him a handful of times. Which made Ace and Sabo take their personal training more seriously, since they didn''t want to lose in a fight with Luffy who was the youngest. Marcus himself didn¡¯t care about it, since he knew how strong Luffy would become. The last big thing that happened, since all the boys reached the second level of the training harness, they were now able to punch a tree down in a single hit. Since that was the case the boys stopped that version of training because they didn''t want to ruin the forest just for training. Instead they added more sparring to their training routine and waited for Garp¡¯s next visit to show them a new training technique to replace the tree punching one. 00018. A bond of brothers. It was around the middle of summer on one of their days off from training when Ace asked everyone to join him out at their secret base. The base was in the deep forest hidden away in the territory of a group of monkeys. The monkeys were strong and vicious, but after the boys clashed with them many times and brought them some food. The monkeys allowed the boys to set up their base and even protected the area for them. They mostly used it to store the treasure and belly they''ve collected. Which was beneath a large tree hidden in its overgrown roots. If you searched through them, you could find a small cave system that could only be accessed from the roots themselves. How they found it in the first place was pure luck, Luffy fell into the place by accident one day. When he disappeared into the cave system, the others had to go help him out because while the opening was small, it was over ten feet deep, with no real way to climb out. After helping Luffy out, they decided to explore the place and see if they could find any treasures down there. While they didn''t find any treasure, they explored the whole place and decided it was the best place to store their treasure. The boys also made a tree house up above to act as their base and also hid a little treasure there. Marcus came up with the idea, so if someone found the base and decided to search around. They would find that money and most likely think that was all the money they had. Well that was the idea at least, since no one ever came that way because it was in the monkey''s territory. That day the boys hiked up to their base early in the morning and once they settled down inside the base Ace said with a serious tone of voice, ¡°I have something important to tell all of you, well mostly Sabo since he doesn¡¯t know.¡± Marcus and the others turned their full attention to Ace who looked uncomfortable as he said, ¡°We''ve been living together for a while now and I consider all of you my brothers¡­¡± ¡°Why would you consider us brothers? Aren''t we actually brothers since we all have grandpa?¡± Luffy asked, slightly confused. Marcus let out a sigh as he said, ¡°Garp told us about Ace¡¯s father when we first met, don''t you remember?¡± ¡°He did?¡± Luffy asked as he tried to remember. Ace nodded his head slightly before he said, ¡°Ya he did. Sabo and I aren''t actually related to Garp.¡± Luffy¡¯s eyes almost popped out of his head as he looked between Ace and Sabo for a few moments before Marcus asked, ¡°You never noticed that they didn''t really look like us? ¡°But Ace has black hair and Sabo¡­ Has a black hat.¡± Luffy said it, as if it explained why they were all related. Everyone sweat dropped before Marcus smacked Luffy over the head as he said, ¡°That doesn''t make any sense, idiot! How would a black hat make Sabo related to us?¡± Luffy rubbed the bruise forming on his head as Ace shook his head before he said, ¡°Like I said, I consider you my brothers. But I need to tell you something important. I want you to know who I really am¡­ Who my father was¡­¡± ¡°Stop acting so serious, I already know who your father was. It''s not like the others are going to stop liking you because of who your father was.¡± Marcus said. The other boys nodded in agreement before Ace lowered his head and said, ¡°My father was Gol D. Roger, the pirate king. I''m the spawn of the devil.¡± The others were quiet as Luffy asked, ¡°The pirate king? That sounds cool, what was he like?¡± ¡°I''m pretty sure he said the same thing last time.¡± Marcus said. Ace nodded his head in agreement before he looked at Luffy as he asked, ¡°You''re not upset?¡± ¡°Why would I be?¡± Luffy asked with his head tilted to the side. ¡°Because¡­¡± Ace was cut off as Marcus said, ¡°Who gives a shit about who your father was or what he did. Garp told you before, don''t believe what people say about your dad. If you wanna find out about him, talk to his former crew.¡± Ace nodded along slightly as he said, ¡°Gramps did say that¡­¡± Ace turned to look at Sabo as he asked, ¡°What about you?¡± Sabo shrugged as he said, ¡°You''re my brother, that''s all that matters.¡± Ace smiled before Marcus said, ¡°Well since we''re sharing, I guess I should tell you about our parents.¡± ¡°We have parents?¡± Luffy asked as his eyes widened. Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°I swear it''s like you don''t have a brain sometimes.¡± ¡°I do too?¡± Luffy said, but it sounded more like a question. Marcus looked directly at Luffy as he asked, ¡°What''s two plus two?¡± Luffy looked down at his hands and began to count. After almost a minute sweat beaded on his forehead and steam was pouring out his ears before he held up two fingers on each hand as he confidently said, ¡°Twenty two.¡± All the other boys collapsed onto the floor in utter shock. It took a few moments for them to recover before Marcus jumped up and started to hit Luffy as he asked, ¡°Why doesn''t your brain work?!?¡± When Marcus finished, Luffy¡¯s head was covered in lumps and his lips were swollen as he hissed out, ¡°Two, twos is twenty two.¡± As he held up his fingers again to prove his point. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose before he said, ¡°Two, PLUS two equals four. You add the numbers together, not place them side by side!¡± ¡°Ohhh¡­ I. I don''t get it.¡± Luffy said as he looked at his figures again. ¡°I¡­ God help me, this brother of mine.¡± Marcus said before he closed his mouth and looked towards the ceiling. His eyes were closed for a few moments as he exhaled a breath before he reached over and dug through the stack of bounty posters the boys kept in their hideout. After a few moments Marcus pulled out a bounty slip and showed it to the others as he said, ¡°Keep this a secret, but this is our dad.¡± The poster he held up showed a man with short black hair that looked kinda like Garp. He had sharp eyes and a red tattoo covering the left half of his face. Under the picture was the name Dragon along with a bounty of three point five billion berries. Under info it said he was a very dangerous person and to use extreme caution around him. Luffy¡¯s eyes popped out of his head as he asked, ¡°Numbers can go that high?¡± Marcus passed the poster to the other boys before he said, ¡°I just showed you who dad is and you¡¯re concerned about how big numbers can get to?¡± ¡°But look how many zeros there are!¡± Marcus ignored Luffy as he said with a frown, ¡°So that''s our dad, as for our mom¡­ I couldn''t find a poster because she''s dead.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± Luffy asked. Marcus reached over and brought his sword in front of himself as he said, ¡°Bogard told me when he gave me my sword. He said it belonged to mom before she died and before that it was her fathers.¡± The boys quietly looked at the sword for about a minute before Sabo said, ¡°My full name is Demont Sabo, son of Demont Outlook the third. One of the nobles of the Goa kingdom and I am in line to become king.¡± ¡°You''re a noble?!¡± The other boys asked at the same time in shock. Sabo nodded his head before he said, ¡°I ran away though because I hated living with those people. They didn''t care about me, just what I could do for the family. If I wasn''t being useful, they treated me like I was a stranger.¡± Marcus reached over and patted Sabo¡¯s shoulder as he said, ¡°Well we care about you¡­ But since you should be rich, I''m gonna let you foot the bill whenever we go out and eat.¡± Sabo swatted Marcus''s hand away as he said, ¡°Ya right, I ran away. I''m just as poor as you are.¡± Marcus nodded his head as he said, ¡°Now I understand why you like to dine and ditch so much.¡± ¡°I do not, Ace is the one who likes to do that.¡± Ace coughed before he said, ¡°I only came up with the idea because you always talked about how good the food in the city was.¡± ¡°Are you trying to blame me for your bad habit?¡± Sabo asked as he stood up. Ace also stood up with a smile on his face as he said, ¡°What if I am? What are you gonna do about it little brother?¡± ¡°I''ll show you who''s little.¡± Sabo said as he launched into an attack. Ace parried the attack which sent Sabo tumbling into Luffy. After a moment both boys got up as they glared at Ace. Ace smirked as he asked, ¡°What, you wanna go too Luffy?¡± Luffy just charged at Ace in reply while Marcus shook his head. Sabo followed up behind Luffy and as Ace tossed Luffy aside, Sabo caught Ace in the stomach with a solid punch. As Ace doubled over, Luffy slammed into Marcus who didn''t move out of the way in time. As Ace recovered Marcus pushed Luffy off of himself before he jumped at Ace and attacked. Within moments all the boys were fighting each other in a wild melee. Everyone attacked each other with no clear goal in mind and as they fought they started to laugh. After half an hour all the boys collapsed onto the floor. Each boy was covered in bruises and as they laid there, they would randomly start laughing. After a while they slowly recovered before they sat backup and after seeing each other covered in lumps and bruises, started to laugh again. Once they finally settled down Ace said, ¡°That was fun.¡± The other boys nodded in agreement even Marcus before he said, ¡°I think Gramps corrupted us to enjoy fighting.¡± The other boys nodded as Ace said, ¡°Let''s head back to Makino¡¯s and eat. Dinner should be done soon.¡± The other boys agreed and left their base soon afterwards. Walking back to the village as a group, they walked a little closer than they normally would. While they talked and joked with each other. From then on the boys were an even tighter group then before and would always hang out with each other. It also pushed them harder to improve themselves, which showed when Garp came back again. Almost a year passed by before Garp returned to the island again for an extended vacation. When he entered the bar around lunch time he greeted Makino before he sat at the bar and waited for the boys to show up. When they came in from training Garp couldn''t help but smile when he noticed all the boys were using the second level of the training harness. ¡°Welcome back, grandpa.¡± Sabo said. ¡°Hi grandpa, it¡¯s good to see you.¡± Marcus said. ¡°Hey old man.¡± Ace said. ¡°Why are you here, grandpa?¡± Luffy asked. Garp was next to the boys a moment later, while Ace and Luffy were kissing the floor. He glanced down at Ace and Luffy as he said, ¡°Why can''t both of you show some respect to your grandfather?¡± When neither boy responded he picked them up to find them both knocked out. Garp frowned before he slammed their heads together as he said, ¡°Pay attention when I''m scolding you!¡± Both boys woke up and yelled out, ¡°What the hell shitty grandpa?!?¡± Garp turned both of them so he could look them in the eyes before he said, ¡°Show some respect when I come to visit you, you brats. Be more like Sabo and Marcus, at least they have manners.¡± Ace and Luffy both glanced at the other boys who smiled back at them before they looked back at Garp and said, ¡°Sorry grandpa.¡± Garp nodded his head before he dropped the boys on the floor as he said, ¡°That''s better. Now let''s eat something and after lunch we are going on a training trip.¡± ¡°A training trip? Are we going into the forest?¡± Marcus asked. Garp shook his head as he said, ¡°No, I am taking you over to a new island to train for a while.¡± Marcus and the other boy''s eyes lit up as Garp said, ¡°We''ll be gone for a little over three months, so after lunch you all need to go pack.¡± After eating lunch, the boys rushed upstairs to pack while Garp told Makino about the trip before he headed towards Dadan to let her know he was taking the boys somewhere. When Garp returned from Dadan¡¯s, the boys were outside Makino¡¯s and ready to go. Besides clothes and some essentials, the boys brought their weapons and training harnesses which they were currently wearing. Garp led the boys down to the dock where a small navy ship was anchored. When they got close, the first thing Marcus noticed was the ship was in rough shape and had no crew on board. When they reached the ship Garp said, ¡°Alright boys, get on, remove the harnesses and stash your gear in the cabin. I need to show you the basics of sailing before we start.¡± 00019. Sailing the high seas. After a quick explanation on the different parts of the ship, how things worked and how to sail. Garp assigned each boy a task and had the boys untie the ship from the dock before he pulled up the anchor with his hands as he said, ¡°Lower the sails and head south!¡± Sabo, who was at the helm, turned the rudder after the ship cleared the dock and said, ¡°Yes grandpa.¡± The rest of the boys were pulling on ropes to set the sails properly, but were having issues. So Garp moved next to Luffy, took the rope and said, ¡°Look at how the wind is pushing currently. When it''s like that, pull the sail like this and tie it off over here.¡± As he finished the wind fully caught the sail and the little ship lurched forward under the added pressure. Garp then moved towards Marcus as he said, ¡°That''s passable for a beginner, but it''s better to do it like this.¡± Garp reset Marcus''s rope and tied it off with a different knot before he did the same for Ace¡¯s rope. Then he helped them tie off the secondary sail, which gave them even more speed. After about an hour of traveling, Ace switched with Sabo and took over the helm. As they traveled Garp would constantly point out different things on the ship to do and watch out for, and would rotate the boys to different jobs. The only issue that came up was when Luffy was put incharge of the helm. In less than ten minutes Garp had to help Luffy correct the ship more than once. Then five minutes later Luffy was found on the bow of the ship enjoying the view. After being forced to take the helm again, he disappeared and was found in the galley a few minutes later. After that Luffy was banned from taking the helm of the ship. For dinner the first night Garp dived into the sea while the ship was moving at full speed and found a massive fish before he caught up to the ship and jumped back onto the deck. He gutted and cooked the fish for everyone, before he took over the helm and sent the boys to bed for the night. Within a few hours of going to sleep all the boys were woken up by being thrown out of their hammocks. It took them a minute to get outside, but what greeted them was enormous swirling storm clouds on the horizon and a colossal wave heading right for them. Before the boys could react they heard Garp¡¯s loud laughter over a crack of thunder before Garp said, ¡°Get ready boys, we¡¯re heading into a hurricane!¡± Marcus reacted first as he said, ¡°Gramps! We need to turn away, this boat can¡¯t handle a hurricane!¡± Garp waved off Marcus¡¯s concern as he asked, ¡°How will you learn to sail properly if you don¡¯t face a little danger? Now brace for impact!¡± The boys barely held onto the ship as the wave crashed into their vessel, almost pulling them into the water. A second later Garp yelled over the increasing noise of the storm as he said, ¡°Ace, come grab the helm and tie off to it. Sabo, help Luffy and Marcus tie off to the mast and then raise the sails. Make sure the sails are properly secured before we reach the edge of the storm or it can rip our mast apart!¡± The boys quickly moved to tie off to the ship before raising the sails as Ace took the helm. Garp stood next to Ace and gave advice as a heavy rain started to fall on the ship and the other boys finished tying off the sails. As they entered into the outer edge of the hurricane, the waves became larger and the wind easily pushed the boys around, while the rain increased. Within the crazy downpour everyone was soaked within a minute of entering the storm. Even with the overwhelming sound of the wind, rain, waves and thunder, there was one sound that was constantly heard by the boys. ¡°Bwahahahahaha!¡± Over an unknown amount of time, the boys spent most of it being tossed around and miserable. Only Ace had it a little easier as he was constantly holding onto the wheel and steering the ship while he listened to Garps commands. The other boys mostly stayed near the mast and held on for dear life while making sure the rigging stayed tight. Garp was the most relaxed as he would laugh and walk around the ship with no issue. As Garp walked around the ship he would help the boys with any issues and even caught them a few times from slamming into something. Over the sound of the storm Garp said to the boys, ¡°Remember boys, this is what life is truly about!¡± Marcus turned to look at Garp, to ask what he ment and found the man eating a packet of crackers as he stood near the front of the ship. As the relentless rain soaked them all, Marcus yelled out over the sound of the hurricane as he asked, ¡°Why the hell are you eating crackers right now?!?¡± Garp stuffed another cracker in his mouth before he said in all seriousness, ¡°It''s my snack time.¡± That was it for Marcus as something snapped inside his mind. Garp had broken him. From that moment on he never planned to question his new reality again. If someone did something completely incomprehensible again, he wouldn''t question it anymore. This was just how his life was now¡­ Time passed as the boys desperately clung to the ship and tried to follow Garp''s orders. They were completely soaked to the bone, physically exhausted and bruised all over from slamming into parts of the ship. But no matter what happened to them, they stayed on the deck of the ship. After what felt like a lifetime, the weather calmed and it went eerily quiet as the ship stopped rocking. As all the boys slumped down to the deck, they started to laugh with all their hearts and Garp joined them. As they laughed Marcus looked up and marveled at the almost perfect circle of storm clouds and the clear starry sky above them before he said, ¡°It¡¯s beautiful.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Garp nodded as he said, ¡°That it is.¡± Garp glanced at everyone before he said, ¡°Remember to cherish moments like these boys. This is what happens when pushing yourself past your limits. To face someone or something stronger than yourself and come out on top. This is what living life is truly about.¡± Garp cast a glance over all the boys before he said, ¡°I¡¯m proud that none of you passed out or fell off the ship.¡± Garp then looked at Sabo as he said, ¡°We¡¯re not out of this yet though. Sabo, trade with Ace. I want you to handle the next half.¡± Luffy looked up at Garp in shock as he asked, ¡°We¡¯re going back in?¡± Garp pointed to the starry sky and the circle of clouds and calm sea around them as he said, ¡°We¡¯re currently in the eye of the storm. We still have to cross to the other side.¡± As Sabo and Ace switched places Marcus stood back up and double checked all the tied off rigging. Ace and Luffy joined him after a few moments and within a few minutes they were done and Garp said, ¡°Relax till we get close to the edge of the storm. I am gonna check the hull for damage real fast.¡± Garp disappeared into the bottom of the ship for a little while before he came back on the deck and tossed each boy a snack. As the boys enjoyed themselves, Garp double checked everything on the ship as they creeped closer to the edge of the storm. Just before they entered the rough sea¡¯s again Garp said, ¡°Hold on tight and if we¡¯re lucky. We¡¯ll clear this thing by morning.¡± Hours passed as the boys worked on the ship to clear the other half of the hurricane. As they came out of the storm clouds, the sun could be seen cresting the eastern horizon and shining its warm orange and pink light over the water. Even though the boys were exhausted, they still lowered and set the sails to move away from the hurricane. After they cleared to calmer waters Garp let the boys take a quick shower and change clothes before they ate breakfast together. Then he had Marcus take over the helm of the ship while he went to check the ship for damage with the other boys. Below deck they found some damage to the hull of the ship and a small leak, so Garp taught the other boys how to fix it. An hour passed quickly as the others were below deck working on the hull, while Marcus caught sight of something in the distance. It took another ten minutes before he realized it was a ship and it seemed to be heading towards them. ¡°Grandpa, I see a ship in the distance.¡± A moment later Garp asked from below deck, ¡°Can you tell what kinda ship it is?¡± ¡°No, it''s too far away. But it looks like it''s heading towards us.¡± ¡°That''s fine, just keep course. We''re almost done down here.¡± Marcus watched the ship for a while before Garp and the others came up on the deck. Garp glanced towards the ship before he said, ¡°Hopefully it''s a pirate ship.¡± Luffy picked his nose as he asked, ¡°Why do you want it to be pirates?¡± Garp smiled as he said, ¡°So you boys can get some training in.¡± Ace and Sabo shared a look before then ran below deck to grab their training weapons. Luffy followed suit right after as Garp glanced at Marcus and said, ¡°You can go grab your sword, I''ll take over the helm.¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°I don''t wanna fight with my sword.¡± Garp moved next to Marcus and took the helm as he asked, ¡°Why not?¡± Marcus glanced at the approaching ship as he said, ¡°I don''t want to accidentally cut off someone''s arm or possibly kill them.¡± ¡°You''re too soft.¡± ¡°Uh?¡± Marcus looked up at Garp as he asked, ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°It means you''re still thinking like a kid. You need to think like an adult.¡± Garp said as he shook his head. Marcus gave Garp a flat look as he said ¡°I''m only five.¡± ¡°You might be five, but you don''t act like you''re five.¡± Garp pointed towards Luffy who was excitedly talking with Ace and Sabo as he jumped up and down on the balls of his feet. ¡°That''s what a normal five year old acts like. You don''t act anything like that.¡± Marcus glanced at the other boys before he said in a flat tone of voice, ¡°He¡¯s excited to possibly fight someone, that¡¯s not normal for a kid.¡± Garp shrugged as he said, ¡°I was like that when I was a kid.¡± ¡°And you aren¡¯t anywhere close to normal.¡± Marcus said as he crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°I¡¯m perfectly normal!¡± Marcus glanced up at Garp as he said, ¡°You show up once a year, forcing us to do crazy, almost borderline impossible tasks and think that makes you normal?¡± ¡°I do it to make you strong. You¡¯ll never get anywhere in life, if you''re not strong.¡± Garp said with a huff at the end. ¡°That still doesn¡¯t make it normal.¡± Garp patted Marcus¡¯s head as he said, ¡°And this is why I said you¡¯re not a kid. A normal kid wouldn¡¯t talk like this with an adult. You always act more like an adult than a kid.¡± Marcus glanced back up at Garp as he said, ¡°This is just how I am, I can¡¯t help it.¡± Garp nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°There''s nothing wrong with that. But your mindset needs to change. You and the others haven''t realized it yet¡­¡± Garp narrowed his eyes as he looked at the approaching ship and said, ¡°I¡¯m not training you boys so you can fight or intentionally hurt other people. Garp glanced down at Marcus as he said, ¡°I''m training you to defend yourself and the people you care about, in a world full of monstrous people. To be able to fight someone like that, you have to be able to become a monster yourself.¡± Marcus glanced back up at Garp as he asked, ¡°Is that what made you want to become so strong?¡± Garp smiled down at Marcus as he said, ¡°I''m just an idiot who likes to fight.¡± 00020. Special training in... The ship that approached them turned out to be a merchant vessel. The ship saw the storm clouds in the distance and decided to check on the other ship in case they needed help. After finding out they were fine, the merchant vessel moved back on course as Garp and the boys continued to head in a southern direction. Garp let the boys nap for a few hours after lunch, then kept them up till almost midnight running the ship. At midnight Garp let the boys go to sleep and took over controlling the ship for the night. Then in the morning after breakfast, he would let the boys run the ship while he took a nap. Over the next few days that was the new routine everyone settled into. On the fifth day of their trip they stopped at an island to resupply before quickly leaving. It took them another few days to reach an area of the sea that was completely calm, with no wind at all. As the ship entered the area Marcus glanced around before he asked, ¡°Gramps, what just happened? Where are we?¡¯ Garp sat up from his lawn chair on the deck and looked around before he said with a smile, ¡°Close to our goal. Only another ten miles to go, raise the sails and pull out the oars!¡± Luffy glanced down at Garp from the crows nest as he asked, ¡°What are oars?¡± ¡°I told you what they were over a week ago when you boarded the ship!¡± Luffy picked his nose as he asked, ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Just get down here.¡± Garp said before he let out a sigh as Sabo and Ace quickly raised and tied off the sails. Then they went below deck to grab the oars. When they came back onto the deck, Luffy finished climbing down the mast and landed on the deck. Once Luffy looked at the oars he asked, ¡°What are those things?¡± Garp picked up one of the oars and hit Luffy over the head with it, which slammed him onto the deck. As Luffy sat up and rubbed his head, Garp said, ¡°This is an oar!¡± Garp tossed it at Luffy as he said, ¡°Now go to the side and get ready to row.¡± Luffy was heard mumbling stupid grandpa as he moved over to one side of the ship. Ace joined him a moment later as Sabo and Marcus moved to the opposite side. After Garp took the helm he said, ¡°Alright boys, start rowing and stay in rhythm. That means you Luffy.¡± It took about ten minutes for the boys to settle into a steady rhythm, with Luffy having the hardest time keeping in step with the others. But once they had a proper rhythm down, the ship started to move at a decent speed into the very calm waters. A couple hours passed by and the boys started to complain, mostly it was Luffy, but the other boys were also getting tired of rowing. It was a little after that, the boys finally saw an island in the distance. With renewed focus and the goal in sight the boys put in more effort to reach their destination. Once they were close to the island and the boys started to slow down Garp said, ¡°Keep rowing, there is a small dock we can use on the other side of the island.¡± ¡°But we¡¯re already here!¡± Luffy said as he looked at the island a few hundred feet away from them. ¡°If we don¡¯t dock the ship properly, it¡¯ll sink while we¡¯re here and you¡¯ll have to swim back home.¡± Garp said matter of factly. ¡°But I can¡¯t swim!¡± Garp smiled as he looked towards Luffy and said, ¡°Then keep rowing.¡± As they rowed, the boys took in the layout of the island, which was covered in a dense forest. Near what looked like the middle of the island was a large volcano, or at least was one at some point. No birds were seen flying over or around the island, but the boys could hear animals in the distance. Slowly the ship made it around the island to a small cove with an empty dock. Once there, Garp helped the boys tie off the ship and then dropped the anchor over the side of the ship. Afterwards Garp walked down onto the dock and waited for the boys to disembark with their belongings. While tired from hours of rowing, the boys were still excited to check out the new island they were visiting. Once they were on the weathered looking dock, Garp pointed to an area of the forest and said, ¡°Follow me, I''ll take you to where we¡¯re staying.¡± As they followed along behind Garp through a small trail in the densely packed forest, Marcus noticed the temperature difference of the island. While still on the ship, the temperature was lower because of the surrounding water. But here on the island, the temperature was sweltering, making everyone sweat easily. A few minutes later they came to a small clearing in the jungle. In the middle of the jungle, rested a run down looking stone building covered in faded white paint. Garp pointed to the building and said, ¡°Drop your stuff in there and put on your training harness, it''s time to train.¡± ¡°Training already? But we just got here, can''t we eat first?¡± Luffy asked. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Garp shook his head as he said, ¡°You should catch your own food while you''re here. You can do that while you train and I¡¯ll cook it after you¡¯re done.¡± Luffy grumbled as all the boys walked into the building and found it was in decent shape compared to the outside. There were a bunch of bunk beds, with mattresses that looked almost new. Near the door they entered was a kitchen area and at the far end of the building was a restroom and shower area. Once the boys dropped off their bags and put on their harness, they walked outside. As they lined up in front of Garp, Marcus asked, ¡°What is this place Grandpa?¡± ¡°It¡¯s used for special marine training. Once a year a group is sent here to live and train for about eight months. The last group left a few weeks ago, so it¡¯s ours for the next three months.¡± Garp said before he turned to another small trail and walked towards it as he said, ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll show you the island and how you¡¯ll train while you''re here.¡± The trail snaked through the forest to another open area, this one was a few hundred feet across and about fifty feet wide. The area had a few different sections for training, each one staged after the next. The first being a hundred foot long mud pit filled with different size cut down trees rammed into the mud, all of which were at different heights and with random spacing. There were also a couple weird things that stood out. The first log was overly large and seemed to be a starting point. On that log to one side rested a small pedestal with a button on it. Next to that log near the base was something that looked like a shower head which also had a button next to it. While on the other end of the obstacle course was a large sign, along with a bunch of information on it that Marcus couldn¡¯t read from his current position. On top of that sign was a set of numbers currently set at zero. Garp jumped up onto the first log before he turned to look at the boys as he said, ¡°Alright, this is where we¡¯ll start each day. Your goal is to reach the other side without falling. If you fall, you¡¯ll need to restart.¡± Garp pointed at the button as he said, ¡°You can use this in a week after you can pass this place without falling into the mud.¡± Ace had a cocky look as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll be able to use that tomorrow.¡± Garp pointed at the other button next to the shower head as he said, ¡°That¡¯s the only button you¡¯ll be using for a while.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that button used for?¡± Sabo asked as he pointed at the one on the pedestal. Garp pointed to the sign on the other side of the course and said, ¡°It tracks your time. I expect all of you to make it to the top of the list before we leave here.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s a timed obstacle course?¡± Marcus asked. Garp nodded as he said, ¡°This whole island has six different training areas with other obstacle courses, each one designed to push you to your limits in certain ways. With all of you reaching level two of the training harnesses, you should have no issue training here.¡± Garp then jumped from one log to the next before he was about a tenth into the course and stopped on a small log. He looked back at the boys and said, ¡°Alright, you can start. But only go after the person in front of you has moved at least six or more logs away from the start.¡± Ace moved to go first before Luffy said, ¡°I wanna go first!¡± Ace turned to look at Luffy as he said, ¡°We¡¯re going by age, so I go first. Then Sabo, Marcus and then you.¡± ¡°No fair!¡± Luffy said with a huff. Ace smirked before he said, ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll go by who¡¯s the strongest.¡± ¡°That still makes me last!¡± Ace shrugged before he jumped onto the first log before he said, ¡°Then get stronger.¡± Ace moved through the first few without issue, but when he reached the sixth one. He almost fell off from landing on the edge of it. After he settled onto the log he looked at his options and jumped to another log. At that point Sabo started on the course and moved in the same direction as Ace. Marcus stepped up next and looked at the course, after a few moments he jumped to the first log and moved slightly to the left. After half a minute Luffy joined the others on the obstacle course and moved to follow behind Ace and Sabo. As the boys moved across the course it became clear that the farther you went the harder it became. While at first it seemed like all of the logs were within a certain size range, that wasn¡¯t true. Some of them were tiny, with a lot of them in the second half being no bigger than a person''s foot. While others were rounded over or as Ace found polished smooth and covered in grease. Ace was the first one to fall about half way through the crouse and wasn¡¯t the last. All of the boys fell into the waist deep mud near the halfway point. As they each popped out completely covered from head to toe in mud one thing was clearly heard, Garp''s loud boisterous laugh. The boys were forced to walk back through the mud to the start and each one pushed the button next to the shower head. That shower head shot out a stream of water for about fifteen seconds. Long enough to clear the mud off their heads, hands and shoes. The only good thing about falling was the fact the mud and the shower helped cool everyone off from the heat of the island. After their shower, the boys moved back up onto the log and moved back onto the course. They made it a little farther this time before they fell again. That repeated for about an hour before they all finished the log course. Garp then led them to the next obstacle in the area. It was another mud pit, but this time a rope course was hanging above it. Some spots you could use your arms and legs to get across, while others forced you to use only your legs. Garp did a quick demonstration before he let the boys take over. It only took half an hour for the boys to complete the course with no one falling off this time. Garp proudly smiled as the boys finished the rope course, before he led them to the last area. There was no mud pit this time, but the boys needed to carry different objects through a small obstacle course. It wasn''t that difficult at first, but each object was heavier than the last and none of the boys could complete it. Garp smiled at them as he said, ¡°I didn''t expect you to complete this one today. But within a month you should be able to finish it.¡± Luffy, who was laid out on the ground, asked, ¡°Grandpa, can we eat now?¡± ¡°No, this is just the first area I wanted to show you boys. No food until we finish the training areas. Now get up, we''re heading to the next one now.¡± 00021. Garp has tricks. Garp was true to his words as he led the boys around the south side of the island to each area and made them go through each obstacle course. Some of the places were easier than others, while some the boys couldn¡¯t complete at all. Garp sent a shiver down their spines as he promised to train them so they would be able to finish all the area¡¯s before they left. When they finished the last training area, it was near sunset and Luffy collapsed on the ground as he said, ¡°Grandpa! I need food.¡± Garp pointed to the forest as he said, ¡°Go find it.¡± All the boys looked towards the darkening forest and could hear the sound of animals. Some sounded like they were fighting, while others sounded like they were warning other animals away. Garp smiled at the boys watching the forest as he said, ¡°On the south side of the island you should be able to handle most of the animals with no issue. But the farther north you go, the tougher they get.¡± The boys shared a glance before Marcus picked up Luffy and then ran into the forest with others. It didn¡¯t take the boys long to find a few animals, all of which they beat up and then carried back to the stone building they were staying at. Once there, Garp took care of the animals as the boys took showers and changed clothes. Afterwards they all ate till they were full, then they passed out from exhaustion. The next morning Garp woke them up before dawn for a quick warmup routine, then he fed them breakfast. From there it was the obstacle course challenge as Garp watched over them for the next six hours. Out of the eighteen different obstacles, the boys couldn¡¯t complete six currently. It was the last six of each training area that were the issue. It wasn¡¯t that they were harder than the others, they just weren¡¯t designed for kids. Most of them required the boys to do something that just wasn¡¯t physically feasible for them currently. Garp said that wouldn¡¯t be an issue after he trained them properly though¡­ That training came after a late lunch as Garp took them near the middle of the island and the start of the inactive volcano''s slope. The area around the foot of the volcano was extremely rocky without any trees or shade and the areas without rocks were covered in a soft black sand. Garp led the boys to a large sandy area of the volcano¡¯s slope where a handful of large roundish boulders sat. Garp patted one of the boulders as he said, ¡°Alright, this is your new training method. You have the next four hours to push this as far up the mountain side as you can. Tomorrow they¡¯ll be reset and you¡¯ll need to push it past today''s stopping point. Now pick one and get to it.¡± Each boy moved up to one of the boulders, all of which were more than three times their height and started to roll them through the black sand. At first it wasn¡¯t so bad, since the ground was still flat. But once the ground started to slope, all the boys ran into issues and had to consistently hold the boulder or it would roll backwards. Over the next few hours all the boys were pushed to their physical limit as they slowly pushed the boulder inch after inch up the mountain side. Besides pushing the boulder, they also had to deal with the extreme heat, no shade and no water. While Garp watched on from a lawn chair as he sat in the shade of some trees and ate rice crackers. Once the four hours were up and the sun started to set, Garp moved closer to the boys before he said, ¡°That''s enough for the day, you can rest now.¡± While the other boys slowly slid to the edge of their boulder and let it roll back down the slope. Luffy unfortunately didn''t think about what would happen before he let go¡­ Garp and the other boys couldn''t help but burst into laughter as they watched Luffy get squashed under the boulder as it rolled over him. Luffy laid there on the ground for a few moments before he said, ¡°I''m hungry.¡± The others burst into more laughter before Garp said, ¡°Head back to camp, I''ll go get us dinner.¡± Marcus and the others helped to pull Luffy out of the sand as Garp took off into the air and headed towards the sea. The boys watched him go as Luffy said, ¡°I still want grandpa to teach me how to do that.¡± ¡°Ask him, maybe he''ll teach us how.¡± Sabo said as they started to walk back to camp. Ace shook his head as he said, ¡°He''ll probably say we have to join the marines to learn it.¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°We can just figure it out ourselves.¡± The others all glanced at Marcus who smiled as he said, ¡°What? It can''t be that hard to do.¡± Ace glanced towards where Garp went as he said, ¡°He literally took off flying through the air.¡± ¡°Yeah, but did you notice how he did it?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°He moves his feet when he does it.¡± Sabo said. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Ace nodded along before he asked, ¡°Maybe he is just kicking off the air?¡± ¡°How would he kick off the air? There is nothing to touch.¡± Luffy said as he waved his hand in the air as a demonstration. ¡°Maybe if you kick the air hard enough, it feels solid. Kinda like the wind in the hurricane we sailed through.¡± Marcus said. Sabo nodded in agreement before he asked, ¡°That actually makes sense. But how are we going to kick the air that hard?¡± ¡°If we get strong enough, we should be able to do it.¡± Ace said. Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°If we keep training the way gramps wants, I don''t see why we won''t become strong enough to kick air.¡± The other boys nodded in agreement before Sabo said, ¡°Maybe we should ask gramps if he has any other tricks. If we see them, maybe we''ll be able to figure them out ourselves like the flying thing.¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°We still aren''t sure that''s exactly what he¡¯s doing. Till we can kick the air and at least push ourselves in the air a little, this is all of us just guessing.¡± ¡°Why don''t we just ask grandpa if we''re right?¡± Luffy asked. Ace shook his head as he said, ¡°There is no way grandpa would tell us how.¡± Sabo nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°Plus if we¡¯re close to figuring out how it works, he might not show us other cool tricks he can do.¡± ¡°So let''s just ask him to show us everything cool he can do and then try to figure it out when he¡¯s not around.¡± Marcus said. The other boys nodded in agreement and continued chatting as they made their way back to camp. Once there the boys found Garp with a massive creature laid out on the ground which he was currently gutting. As the boys got closer Luffy licked his lips before he asked in excitement, ¡°Grandpa! What is that thing?!¡± Garp glanced up from what he was doing as he said, ¡°This is a seaking. It¡¯s great for eating and it will make you stronger.¡± Luffy was drooling on himself as Sabo asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t seakings supposed to be rare?¡± Garp let out a laugh as he said, ¡°Not in the calm belt. This is their normal home and you can find them all over the place.¡± ¡°Is that what this place is called, the calm belt?¡± Ace asked. ¡°Yup, it¡¯s one of the things that separates the seas. Almost no one comes into the calm belt though, since sea kings will normally destroy any ship that enters the place.¡± ¡°Then how come our ship wasn¡¯t destroyed?¡± Marcus asked. Garp flexed his arm covered in blood as he said, ¡°Because your grandpa is strong. Bwahahaha!¡± All the boys shared a glance, except Luffy who was still drooling as he looked at the seaking, so Marcus smacked Luffy in the back of the head as he said, ¡°Whatever you say grandpa. Come on Luffy, let''s go get cleaned up while gramps gets the food ready.¡± After the boys cleaned themselves up and changed into fresh clothes, they came outside and saw the seakings body gone. Next to Garp was a massive pile of meat while before him roasted ten large pieces of meat over a bonfire. Luffy ran towards the closest piece to try and eat it, but Garp smacked him away as he said, ¡°Wait for it to cook, I just put it on the fire.¡± ¡°But it smells done.¡± Luffy said in protest. Garp pointed at the still pink flesh with blood dripping into the fire as he asked, ¡°How does that look anywhere near done?¡± Luffy sniffed again as he said, ¡°It smells done though.¡± Garp shook his head before he said, ¡°Just sit down and I¡¯ll give you a piece when it''s ready.¡± As the boys settled down around the bonfire Ace asked, ¡°Gramps, how are you able to fly through the air like you did early?¡± Garp laughed before he said, ¡°Join the marines and I¡¯ll teach you.¡± Sabo shared a glance with Ace before he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know grandpa. Joining the marines just to learn how to fly doesn¡¯t sound like a great deal to me. Maybe if the marines could do other cool stuff it might be worth it.¡± ¡°Ya grandpa, if it¡¯s just flying it¡¯s not worth it.¡± Marcus said. Garp regarded his grandsons for a few moments before he asked, ¡°So if the marines could do more than just fly, you would join them?¡± Ace shrugged as he said, ¡°Depends if they have more useful things like being able to fly.¡± Sabo and Marcus nodded in agreement as Luffy was staring a hole through the roasting meat. Garp smiled as he said, ¡°Fine, tomorrow after you finish the obstacle courses I¡¯ll show you some cool stuff only the marines can do.¡± ¡°Sounds good grandpa.¡± The three boys said at almost the same time. The next few hours the boys chatted with Garp and ate till they were stuffed full, even Garp had a large puffed out stomach. Garp glanced at the boys before he smiled and said, ¡°Here, watch this.¡± ¡°Life return.¡± Garp¡¯s inflated stomach disappeared in just a few moments before he picked up another piece of meat and took a large bite. After he swallowed he asked, ¡°What do you think? Pretty cool uh?¡± Luffy seemed the most excited as he said, ¡°Tell me how you do that, I wanna eat more too!¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°I think Luffy is the only person in the world who would want to learn that.¡± As the other boys nodded in agreement Garp said, ¡°It''s not meant to help you eat more. It¡¯s to help you heal faster. But that¡¯s only a side effect of the whole thing, which you can only use if you master your whole body.¡± ¡°Master your whole body? What does that even mean grandpa?¡± Marcus asked. Garp smiled as he said, ¡°Join the marines and I¡¯ll tell you.¡± 00022. Garp shows off. The next day Garp kept his promise and showed them all the cool marine skills he knew first thing in the morning. Which turned out to be quite a few, the flying skill he called geppo but didn¡¯t explain how it worked at all. He just gave the boys a close up demonstration before he moved on to the next skill. Tekkai was the next one Garp showed the boys, it was a little harder to demonstrate the skill to them. But after letting the boys punch him a few times with it off and then being punched while he used it worked as a good example. Garp also used it to break a large rock into pieces. As far as the boys could tell, the skill had something to do with hardening your muscles. Which didn¡¯t really make sense, but it seemed to work for some reason. Next Garp showed the boys the opposite skill to tekkai called, kami-e. It was a skill that gave the user extraordinary flexibility and allowed Garp to avoid any attacks the boys attempted on him. It gave his body a paper-like state, which looked a little funny to the boys at first. But after ten minutes of never being able to hit Garp, the boys admitted the skill would be useful. As for how to do it, the only thing the boys could think of currently was to become very flexible. Afterwards Garp showed the boy''s shigan, which was used as an attack. He used a single finger to poke a bunch of holes into a large boulder. He also used the skill on a tree before he showed the boys it could be used with different fingers. Once he was done with the demonstrations, the boys had a couple ideas on how the skill worked. But they would need to test things and narrow it down. One Idea Marcus had though was using tekkai on a finger to be able to use shigan. How they could harden their finger muscles in the first place was a whole nother story though. Garp then showed the boys soru, which turned out to be a movement skill. All the boys really liked the skill because of how fast it could make you move and how it could be used while fighting. Again Garp only gave them some demonstrations and didn¡¯t explain how the skill worked. But the boys had a single solid theory on how it worked. You had to kick off the ground multiple times in a single second and it would make you move at incredible speeds. They only came up with that because they noticed how fast Garp¡¯s feet moved when he used the skill. Rankyaku was the next skill Garp showed off where he kicked the air and made wind blades that cut large boulders and trees in half. Then Garp showed off the same skill using his arm and cut down a few more trees. This skill seemed easier to figure out just like geppo, since the attack was made using the air. Marcus shared with the others that Bogard showed him a similar skill using a sword and that it was a wind blade based attack also. As for the last skill Garp showed off to the boys, it was called rokuogan and was pretty much crazy. Garp was able to shoot out a shock wave like attack from his fists that completely destroyed a tree. How it worked none of the boys could figure out and Garp only said you had to master all the other skills to even be able to use it. The boys decided not to worry about that skill for now and instead thought of different ways to practice the other skills. After Garp showed off all the skills he asked, ¡°So what do you think? Pretty awesome, just like your grandpa, right?¡± The boys shared a look before they said, ¡°Whatever you say grandpa.¡± Garp lifted a fist in the air as he said, ¡°You little brats, let me give you the fist of love.¡± ¡°Run! It''s an angry gorilla!¡± Luffy said as he started to run away. ¡°I''m not a gorilla!¡± Garp said as he raised both arms over his head. The other boys all laughed as they also tried to run away but Garp caught them all in a flash and gave each of them a large lump on their head. Afterwards he left to cook food as the boys went off to start their morning training. From that day on, the boys settled into their new training routine with Garp. During their training Garp also took over gathering food for the boys each day. He specifically fed them different types of sea kings for every meal. Within that three month period all the boys had a growth spurt, as each one of them gained almost a foot in height. Marcus brought up the issue to Garp as he thought it was a little weird. It turns out Garp wasn''t joking about sea king meat making you stronger, it also made a person''s body grow larger then it should. Marcus wasn''t sure how much bigger he would get if he kept eating mostly seaking meat, but being a little taller never hurt. As it stood already, Luffy already looked a little older than when he was first introduced in the original story. His body was slightly bigger and he didn''t look like a tiny kid anymore with the new growth spurt. Ace and Sabo also looked different than their story counterparts. Both boys were noticeably taller and were already showing signs of visible muscle. Ace in particular was looking a lot more like a younger version of Roger then adult Ace in the manga. Hopefully it wouldn''t affect him when he was older and make his pirate journey harder, but who knows. And as for Marcus himself, while the right side of his face looked close to Luffys. The massive scar on the left side of his face, made him come off as overly serious all the time. Pair that with his sharp, purple colored eyes, and most people wouldn''t realize that he and Luffy were related, let alone twins. Marcus also cut his black hair extremely short and was slightly bigger than Luffy from pushing himself harder in training. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Besides the training Garp had them do, Marcus worked on his sword mastery after dinner each day and any free time the boys had. He still needed to work on the sword skills his sword was teaching him, but a week after seeing Garp¡¯s display and chatting with his brothers a few times. He had a new goal in mind and something he wanted to learn. While Marcus already knew about rankyaku and the other secret arts Garp showed them from his past life. Something about seeing them in person, inspired Marcus to attempt something he already gave up on trying for now. He took Garp''s demonstration along with the one Bogard showed him over two years ago and started figuring out how to produce a flying slash. He had attempted it before, but it never worked out, no matter how many times he attempted it. Marcus originally thought it was because he just wasn''t strong enough to produce the air blade and still couldn¡¯t cut down a tree with his blunt training sword. But now he had a different idea after watching Garp use rankyaku up close. While the rankyaku skill did require a lot of strength to perform properly, the slash Bogard showed him was the exact opposite. When Marcus thought back on that time, Bogard looked like he barely put any effort into his attack, no extra strength, just a casual swing of his blade. Yet that blade produced an air slash that could slice a boulder in half from a distance. So Marcus focused on figuring out how to make an air slash that way. It was slow going at first but about a month into his training, Eternal Rest seemed to understand what he was trying to do and readjusted his movements. Since his sword helped him a few times before at this point, Marcus was used to it and let the sword change his stance and swing over the next few weeks of practice. When the sword was finally satisfied with Marcus¡¯s progress, he felt a tinge of happiness from the blade and something else. It almost felt like the sword was proud of Marcus. Afterwards Marcus practiced his new stance for over a month before he finally produced an air slash. The slash itself was nothing and barely flew a few inches before it disappeared. But Eternal Rest vibrated in his hands for his first successful slash and he could even feel joy radiating from the blade. With the knowledge he could produce an air slash, Marcus redoubled his efforts with his practice. After another fifty swings or so Marcus produced another flying slash. While Marcus was happy with his progress, over the next week or so he realized he couldn''t consistently do them. It took on average at least fifty or more swings before he could make a flying slash. While the slashes were getting bigger and traveling farther, it wasn¡¯t by much. The current record was about two feet long for the slash and about a foot in travel distance before it disappeared. Marcus didn¡¯t share his new skill with anyone yet since it wasn¡¯t consistent and he didn¡¯t want the others pestering him to teach them how to do it. Since he wasn¡¯t sure if he could actually teach Ace and Sabo, since they didn¡¯t use swords. Other than working on learning how to produce a flying slash, Marcus also focused on trying to perfect his breathing technique. His technique was supposed to work like total concentration breathing from demon slayer, but so far the only benefit his technique gave him was being less out of breath when doing physical activities. While nice, Marcus was hoping to gain the other benefits from it like increased strength, speed, stamina and endurance. It also increased a user''s mental abilities to keep up with their super human movement. His work on the breathing technique didn¡¯t really go how he wanted though. Whenever he tried to change it, it just felt wrong, even his sword would shake slightly to warn him. It left him with a few choices, either keep trying and hopefully figure it out one day. Start all over again and try to create a better breathing technique from the start. Or finally just give up on the breathing technique and be happy with what he already had. After a couple days Marcus decided on pushing forward with his current technique but before he started trying to improve it again. He wanted to increase his lung capacity and currently didn¡¯t have access to any type of gourd so he started running more. Marcus also started doing suicide drills/shuttle runs in the clearing at the base. He set up ten sets of rocks twenty feet apart and would do them at least four times a day. Garp watched Marcus do them the first time Marcus set up the rocks and liked the exercise so much, he incorporated it into the boys normal training routine. So for the past two months all the boys were doing the exercise at least twice a day. Garp also kept his promise and trained the boys to be able to clear all six training grounds by the two month mark. After that he focused on pushing the boys to complete the six timed training courses and getting on the leaderboards. While the boys were able to get on the leaderboards after a couple weeks of pushing themselves, they were near the bottom of the two hundred names posted. When there was about a week of training left before they departed the island Garp said, ¡°From here on out, you don¡¯t need to do your normal training. Your only goal is to make it within the top fifty of the leader boards on the timed obstacle courses.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t even make it into the top one hundred on any of the boards. How are we going to make it into the top fifty?¡± Marcus asked. Garp pointed at their training harnesses as he said, ¡°You''re going to run everything without the harness on.¡± Luffy jumped up and down as he said, ¡°Without the harness I should be able to get first place on all the courses!¡± Ace punched Luffy on the top of his head as he said, ¡°In your dreams, I¡¯ll be the one in first place loser.¡± Luffy rubbed the top of his head as he said, ¡°You¡¯ll be the loser when I beat you.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve never beaten me before, not even in card games.¡± Ace said as he smirked at Luffy. ¡°I will this time, just wait!¡± Garp laughed before he said, ¡°Tell you what, whoever gets the best overall scores will get a prize the next time I visit.¡± 00023. Setting a new record? With Garp letting the boys take off their training harnesses and only focusing on getting on the leaderboards, the boys ended up splitting up and going to one of the six training courses the next day. It was mostly so the boys could save time and didn¡¯t have to wait for the others to run the timed course. So each boy went to their favorite obstacle course and focused on getting the best record on it they could. Luffy went to the second obstacle course which was a massive set of monkey bars that are twenty feet wide and over one hundred feet long. Well they weren¡¯t exactly monkey bars, they were a bunch of different bars, rings, ledges, and other objects you hold onto while you crossed over a sixty foot drop into water. Most of the hand holds moved, twisted or would slide once you put weight on them so you had to be careful how you went through the course. Sabo picked the fourth course which was a climbing based test. It was a climbing wall that started vertically and moved to an overhead climb which rested over a deep pool of water in case someone fell. The wall was over a hundred feet tall with only tiny hand and foot holds used to traverse it. While it wasn¡¯t as crazy as some of the other courses, the small hand holds and past vertical angles along with the last part being an overhang that spanned fifteen feet, made the climbing wall tough to complete. Ace chose the sixth timed obstacle to challenge, which was a rope based course. The objective of the course was to climb up different types of rope based obstacles, all of which became harder with each level you completed. It started as a simple rope ladder and then transferred to a rope with knots before becoming just a rope. At that point the person was about thirty feet in the air hanging onto a rope and needed to swing to another set of ropes. The course just got worse from there and was placed over a pit of water in case a person fell. Which could happen when someone tried to jump between the different rope sections. As for Marcus, he went to course one with the logs stuck in the mud. It was his favorite obstacle and he even had the fastest time out of the other boys on it. But today Marcus was going to run the course without his harness for the first time, so he hoped to make it in the top one hundred on his first run after doing his warm up. Marcus moved to the starting stump and studied the area in front of himself for a few moments before he moved. His first jump shot him past the first row of logs and he landed on the second row without much issue. From there, Marcus moved through the area skipping over logs for the first half of the obstacle course. The second half he was forced to slow down and only skipped a handful of logs. Once he completed the course, Marcus ran the whole thing backwards. He didn¡¯t have the chance to do it before when training, since Garp would force everyone to only move forward during training. But now that he was free, Marcus decided to run the course front to back a few times as his warmup. Once he completed the course five times, Marcus moved onto the course again and started to map out the best path from start to finish. He took his time and checked the distance between each log, while he test jumped from different logs to see how many he could skip and where they were. That took the longest since he would often miss the log or over shot it landing in the mud pit below. Hours passed as Marcus moved log to log before he had the information he wanted and with that Marcus was able to plan his perfect run though the log course. It was around lunch time when Marcus finished so he went back to camp to eat and see how the others were doing. He was the last one to show up and was still a little wet from cleaning all the mud off from his last fall. But he smiled when he noticed his brothers were also in different stages of their clothes drying off. Marcus walked over to the bonfire Garp used for cooking as he asked, ¡°Has anyone reached the top fifty yet?¡± ¡°I made it to fifty six so far!¡± Luffy said before he took a large bite out of his seaking meat. Ace smirked as he said, ¡°Currently sitting at forty, but I know I can do better.¡± ¡°I made it to forty nine, but the time difference is only about twenty seconds to thirtieth place. So that¡¯s my goal.¡± Sabo said as he smiled. Marcus sat down and grabbed a piece of meat from the pile that was done as Luffy asked, ¡°What about you? Did you get close to fifty?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°I spent the morning plotting my run, so it hasn¡¯t changed yet.¡± Everyone looked at him including Garp who gave him a weird look. Marcus was in the middle of chewing so he just stared back at everyone else. A few seconds later he swallowed and asked, ¡°What?¡± ¡°What do you mean you were plotting your run? You just hit the button and run across it.¡± Garp said matter of factly as the other boys nodded in agreement. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°If you don¡¯t plot the obstacle course, how are you gonna know the optimal path to cross it?¡± ¡°You''re not meant to think about it, you''re supposed to do it as fast as possible.¡± Garp said. ¡°And I will, after I find the best path forward.¡± Garp placed more meat over the fire as he said, ¡°This best path forward better put you in the top fifty then. If it doesn''t, it''s a waste of time.¡± Marcus smiled before he said, ¡°It¡¯ll be fine grandpa, trust me.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see how good it works after lunch. I¡¯ll come watch you run the course.¡± Garp said. ¡°I¡¯ll come along too. I wanna see if it helps.¡± Ace said. Sabo and Luffy also agreed to join, since they wanted to see what Marcus was doing. The rest of lunch was spent chatting and eating, before a short break to rest a bit. Afterwards everyone moved to obstacle course one to watch Marcus and see if his method helped improve his time. Once there, everyone except Marcus moved to the billboard side, while he went to the starting log. Once he was ready Marcus moved out onto the course. He didn¡¯t go all out and didn¡¯t skip logs. He just moved through the course and rechecked the path he plotted as he landed on each log to double check his footing. Once on the other side Luffy asked, ¡°What was that? You were so slow and didn¡¯t hit the button.¡± Marcus smiled as he said, ¡°I was double checking my path and warming up. Let me run it a couple more times and then I¡¯ll run it for real.¡± Marcus then turned around and did the log course backwards as everyone watched. Over the next ten minutes Marcus slowly ran the course two more times as a warm up. Once he finished the second trip back, he stood next to the button and said to the others, ¡°Alright, this time I¡¯ll do it with the timer!¡± Marcus pushed the button and moved near the front of the log and waited. After five seconds a buzzer went off and Marcus exploded off the starting log. His first jump was big and he actually landed on one of the logs in the third row. From there every jump he made skipped at least one log and within a flash he completed the first half of the course. As he moved into the second half of the course, Marcus kept his crazy pace and kept skipping over logs. With the smaller logs he actually looked like he was running instead of jumping, as he would land on only one foot and use that foot to jump to the next. He also used the movement of his free foot to help move him forward as he jumped, which helped to increase his jump length. As Marcus crossed over the gap to the last log another buzzer went off and everyone turned to look at the time. On top of the leaderboard was a time of one minute, three seconds and thirty four one hundredths of a second. As everyone looked at the time Garp started to laugh as he said, ¡°That was great, as expected of my grandson!¡± On the leaderboard Marcus¡¯s time came up as number eleven, with only a five second difference between him and first place. Marcus wasn¡¯t sure if he could do it, but he was going to try for first place. As Marcus was thinking about how he could improve his time, Luffy hugged him as he said, ¡°That was awesome! You have to show me how you did that so I can get a good score also!¡± Ace and Sabo nodded their heads in agreement as Marcus said, ¡°I can show you, but you¡¯ll have to figure out your own path.¡± Over the next hour Marcus showed the other boys how to do his weird running hop while he also taught them how to plot a path through the log course. For a few hours they all hung out at the log course and practiced before they moved back to their chosen obstacle course with a different outlook on how to complete it. When dinner came around, Marcus was able to shave off two more seconds and was currently ranked fifth on the leaderboard. As for the others they took their time and studied their own obstacle courses and figured out faster ways to complete them. During dinner they all sat around chatting about different things they found and figured out about each course they picked. The next day the others went back with even more motivation to improve their times and spent the first half of the day studying, while Marcus worked on improving his time. By the next day everyone was pretty happy with their current times on their chosen obstacles, so they switched and moved to a different obstacle. Within the next few days everyone completed every course in the top thirty or better. With that done, the boys went back to their favorite courses and attempted to get a better time during the last few days of their stay on the island. When everything was said and done Ace won Garp¡¯s contest of getting the best overall score. It was actually really close with Sabo only being a few spots behind him and Marcus about ten spots behind Sabo. Luffy came in last but he was still happy overall since he was only a single spot behind Marcus. Marcus did beat his goal though and set a new record for the log course. It was only a few hundreds of a second faster than the last person, but that was good enough for him. With everyone satisfied with their scores, they spent the last day just relaxing on the island and playing some card games before they packed up and got ready to leave the next morning. The next day Garp woke everyone up early in the morning and made them a breakfast of sea king meat before they loaded up the ship. While they didn¡¯t bring much with them, Garp killed a bunch of sea kings while they stayed on the island and made a bunch of jerky out of the meat for the boys. So they ended up loading up the ship with a ton of sea king jerky that should last them for about six months when they get back home. With that they pulled out the oars, removed the ship from the dock and set sail through the calm belt back to east blue. 00024. Meeting a legend. About an hour after Garp and the boys left the island a navy ship showed up with Black Arm Zephyr and a fresh group of marines ready for special training. As the marines started to unload their ship, Zephyr moved towards the normal campsite and noticed a few things that were off. The biggest and most obvious thing was the bonfire pit someone used for cooking. There was only one person that Zephyr knew who liked to use a large bonfire for cooking. Garp¡­ But why was Garp here? He never wants to train anyone and he definitely wouldn¡¯t bring marines here to train, he would call this place too tame to be used for training. Plus Garp was currently on vacation visiting his grandkids he never shuts up about¡­ Zephyr shook his head to clear it, Garp wouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to bring his grandkids here. Plus from what he remembered none of them were even ten years old yet, there¡¯s no reason to bring them here, how would they make use of this place? As Zephyr was lost in thought, a young marine with purple hair ran towards him and called out to him. ¡°Dad!¡± Zephyr turned around to smile at his son before he schooled his face and said in a commanding tone, ¡°Seaman first class Nicholas! While you''re here, you are to refer to me as Instructor Zephyr. Is that understood?¡± His son instantly straightened up and saluted as he said, ¡°Sir, yes sir! Instructor Zephyr sir, I came to inform you we are done off loading from the ship, sir.¡± ¡°Good, go gather up the others and I¡¯ll take you around to the training grounds.¡± Zephyr watched his fifteen year old son runoff and couldn¡¯t help but smile. The boy was shaping up to be a good marine and it made him proud. Within a few minutes all the trainees were lined up in front of Zephyr, who said, ¡°Since we arrived early, today will be an introduction to the island and its training grounds. Follow me and I¡¯ll take you to each one.¡± As the trainees followed Zephyr to the first training ground, he explained a few things about the island as they walked and also told them about the time trial courses. When they reached the first one, Zephyr led them over to the leaderboard and pointed at it as he said, ¡°I expect all of you to make it on this list before we leave here. As you can see, the people near the top are all currently famous marines you¡¯ve heard of before.¡± Nicholas raised his hand before he said, ¡°Instructor Zephyr, who is Monkey D. Marcus?¡± Zephyr whipped his head around to look at the leaderboard and there in first place was the name. As he studied the leaderboard he noticed a few more names on the list that were new. The longer he looked at it the more he realized Garp was here and he brought his grandson¡¯s with him¡­ vvvvv Pururu pururu pururu gacha ¡°What do you want, Sengoku? I''m still on vacation.¡± The den den mushi had purple hair and glasses on as it said, ¡°Get your ass back here Garp! I know you just left before I showed up!¡± ¡°Zephyr? You''re on the island already? I thought you wouldn''t be there for another couple weeks.¡± Garp said. ¡°I always bring the trainees early. But that doesn''t matter, turn your ship around and come back here!¡± Garp started to pick his nose as he said, ¡°Eh? I need to take my grandsons back home before my vacation is over.¡± The den den mushi smiled as it said, ¡°It''s fine, I already called Sengoku and told him I found you here training your grandkids. He said you could stay here for half the training session as long as you help me with the trainees.¡± ¡°But I''m out of rice crackers and I could use a good fight.¡± Garp said as he flicked a boger away. ¡°I''ll watch over your grandkids for a couple days while you go get more crackers and beat up some pirates. Does that work for you?¡± Zephyr asked. ¡°I said I wanted a good fight, unless I go to the new world, I won''t find one. You''ll have to spar with me.¡± Garp said as he started to girn. ¡°Fine, before you leave the island to take your grandkids home, we''ll have a friendly spar. Deal?¡± Garp smiled as he said, ¡°Sure, but my grandsons get to spar with the trainees while they stay there.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± Zephyr said. ¡°Good. I''ll see you in an hour or two.¡± Garp said before he hung up the den den mushi. Garp glanced down at his grandsons as he said, ¡°Change of plans, we''re heading back to the island for a few more months.¡± All the boys stopped rowing and glanced back at Garp as Ace asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t your vacation almost over?¡± Garp nodded before he said, ¡°It technically is, but if I help with some training. You can stay on the island and spar with a bunch of marine trainees.¡± ¡°But I miss big sister Makino¡¯s cooking.¡± Luffy said. ¡°You don''t like my roasted meat?¡± Luffy looked conflicted since meat was his favorite thing to eat, but that''s literally the only thing they''ve eaten the past three months. Marcus knew what the issue was and said, ¡°Gramps, your roasted meat is good. But we need more than that, bread, cheese, rice, fruits and vegetables. We just want something to go with the meat.¡± All the other boys nodded in agreement before Garp said, ¡°The marines should have that stuff. But I''ll pick up extra when I go to get some rice crackers. But first we need to go back to the island, so start rowing.¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A little over an hour later, they made it back to the island and found a massive navy ship docked at the harbor. With a handful of navy personnel still unloading cargo from the hold of the ship as Garp and the boys docked their own ship. As Garp disembarked from the ship everyone who saw him stopped to greet him with a salute and also looked questioningly at the young boys who followed behind him. Garp waved everyone off as he said, ¡°No need to be proper around me. Go about your business.¡± Garp led the boys back to their campsite where they found a large group of people doing exercises, while a large man with purple hair and glasses watched. Garp walked up to the man and said, ¡°This batch looks weak.¡± Zephyr turned around as he said, ¡°They always look weak when they first get here. But they all passed the test to train here.¡± Zephyr turned to look at the four boys lined up next to Garp and took a moment as he studied each of them. None of them really looked like brothers, but then again Garp had a thing for picking up kids and giving them a home. As Zephyr glanced at each boy, Garp pointed to them and said their name before he pointed at Zephyr and said, ¡°Boys this is former navy admiral Zephyr, current training instructor for the marines.¡± The boys shared a glance before they all bowed and said, ¡°It''s nice to meet you instructor Zephyr.¡± Garp¡¯s right eye started to twitch as Zephyr smiled and said, ¡°I can''t believe your grandkids are so well behaved, I expected them to be like you.¡± In a moment all the boys were face down in the dirt with lumps growing out of their heads as Garp said, ¡°Ungrateful little brats, you''re never that respectful to me! Are you trying to show off or something?¡± When the boys didn''t respond Garp picked each of them up to find out they were all knocked out. As he dumped them back on the ground Garp said, ¡°Keep an eye on them, I''ll be back in a few days.¡± Zephyr glanced back at Garp as he asked, ¡°You want me to add them to the training group?¡± ¡°No, they''ll be bored with that. When they wake up, just tell them to do their normal training regiment. Once they finish it, you can let them spar with the trainees if you like. Otherwise tell them to do the boulder push till dinner time.¡± Garp said. ¡°You think they''ll be bored with my training routine?¡± Zephyr asked in a challenging tone. Garp nodded as he said, ¡°Of course, it''s only their morning warm up routine. You spread it out over a whole day.¡± Zephyr frowned as he said, ¡°That''s because it takes almost a whole day to complete it.¡± Garp smirked as he said, ¡°My grandsons complete it before lunch.¡± ¡°Bullshit. It''s not possible to complete it that fast.¡± ¡°You''ll see for yourself tomorrow.¡± Garp said before he turned around and started to walk back towards the dock. ¡°You''re just going to leave your grandsons like this?¡± Zephyr asked as Garp walked away. ¡°They''ll be fine, I''ve left them in worse spots before. Bwahahahaha!¡± Zephyr shook his head before he turned back to the trainees and called out four names. Four people stopped exercising and came over to stand in front of Zephyr. He pointed down at the knocked out boys and said, ¡°Take them inside and set them up on some bunks. Then get back to training.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± They all said with a quick salute before they went about their duty. About an hour later the first of the boys started to wake up in his bunk a little confused. Ace slowly opened his eyes as he said, ¡°What the hell old man.¡± When no one replied Ace looked around to see he was inside the barracks area on one of the beds. After a moment he noticed the others were in bunks next to him, while their luggage was at the base of their beds. After Ace climbed out of his bunk he quickly woke up the others before he said, ¡°Let''s go find that shitty old man.¡± The others nodded in agreement before they followed Ace outside. Zephyr noticed the boys and waved them over before he said, ¡°Garp took off to get rice crackers. He wants you to do your normal routine till he gets back.¡± Ace glanced at the others before he said, ¡°It''s late, so let''s go to the courses and try to beat our scores for the day. We can start training tomorrow.¡± Zephyr watched the boys leave before he turned back to the trainees. After half an hour or so he said, ¡°Half hour break for lunch. It should be ready on the ship.¡± Once the trainees left, Zephyr used soru and moved to the first training ground. He hid in the tree line and watched as Marcus practiced on the first obstacle course. After a little while he moved to each area and looked for the other boys. Once he found them he watched them long enough to get a decent gauge on their strength. He was surprised that all of Garp¡¯s boys could easily beat any of the trainees he brought to the island. A few might give them a challenge, but most of them wouldn''t stand a chance. Zephyr smiled to himself as he realized letting the trainees spar with the boys would definitely improve their skills. Maybe he should set some matches tonight with some of the stronger prospects. Once half an hour was up, Zephyr headed back to oversee training again. It was almost dinner time when the boys decided to stop practicing and headed back to camp. When they arrived they were greeted by the scene of all the trainees lined up in front of a makeshift outdoor kitchen. Along with a bunch of tables and benches they could eat at. Luffy was the first to run over and headed for the front of the line. Luckily Marcus caught him and dragged him to the back of the line as Luffy said, ¡°Let go Marcus, I wanna eat.¡± ¡°And you will, when it''s your turn.¡± Marcus said as he placed Luffy at the end of the line. Sabo and Ace nodded in agreement as Sabo said, ¡°You need to learn manners Luffy. It''s not polite to cut in front of people.¡± Luffy pouted as he said, ¡°But I''m hungry.¡± ¡°Then eat your pocket jerky.¡± Marcus said. Luffy pulled out his pockets to show they were empty as he said, ¡°I ate it all earlier.¡± Marcus shook his head before he pulled out his last piece and gave it to Luffy. Luffy almost swallowed it without chewing before he started to choke on it. Marcus was forced to smack his back a couple times as he said, ¡°You have to chew your food dumbass.¡± As they waited in line to get food, none of the trainees talked with them. The boys didn''t mind it though and after a while they reached the front of the line and were given a tray loaded with food. Once they each had a tray, they moved towards the tables to find a place to eat and found the only table with enough space. Zephyr was seated there with someone else as they boys sat down at the table. Luffy dug into the food first as he shoved a large piece of meat into his mouth. Marcus shook his head at his brother''s manners before he glanced at Zephyr and asked, ¡°Any idea when gramps will get back?¡± Zephyr glanced at the boy from behind his glasses as he said, ¡°Knowing Garp, at least a week or more.¡± Marcus nodded in understanding before Ace asked, ¡°How about we spar after dinner old man?¡± The other person at the table replied first as they said, ¡°Don''t talk to my father like that, show him proper respect!¡± All the boys looked at the purple haired kid who spoke as Zephyr said, ¡°Seaman, remember what I told you earlier.¡± ¡°Sorry da.. Sir! But they should still show you proper respect sir.¡± The kid said as he frowned at Ace. Zephyr smiled as he said, ¡°It¡¯s fine, they¡¯re not in the navy and are related to Garp. I would be concerned if they didn¡¯t act like this.¡± Zephyr then glanced at Ace as he said, ¡°As far as sparing goes. I could give you some pointers if you beat all of my trainees.¡± 00025. Unexpected trouble. Early the next morning Zephyr woke up and prepared to start his day. There was still over an hour before dawn. But he was always the first to get up before he checked on the trainees to make sure they were also getting up. He didn''t stay at the training camp though and had his own house hidden on the island. After he dressed, he quickly left to go to the training camp and found Garp''s grandchildren already awake and training. He frowned slightly as he watched them, since they were currently running as they carried overly large packs strapped to their backs. He shook his head, they weren''t his trainees or grand kids, why should he care about how they trained? Zephyr went inside the barracks and found his son as he tried to wake the others up. He smiled slightly to himself before he yelled out, ¡°Trainees! I want you outside and ready in five minutes!¡± His voice was so loud it shook the building slightly and even made some of the trainees fall out of their bunks. He smiled to himself as he turned around and walked outside to wait for everyone. Within minutes everyone was lined up outside as they waited for Zephyr¡¯s instructions. He glanced over the trainees and noticed a few half asleep or not properly dressed, but overall it wasn''t that bad. After a few moments Zephyr pointed towards the trail Garp¡¯s grandsons took as he said, ¡°I want you to run laps through that trail till breakfast. I expect everyone to complete at least five laps!¡± His son responded first as he said, ¡°Yes, sir!¡± Before he moved towards the trail. The other trainees quickly followed up and within moments all of them were gone. Zephyr followed along a few minutes later to make sure none of them slacked off. He also wanted to see how quickly the group caught up to Garp¡¯s grandsons. The trail they used was a little over two miles long and it looped around the outside of all the training courses. As Zephyr jogged down the trail he thought about how he should schedule the spars between Garp''s grandsons and the trainees. He didn''t want to overwhelm the boys, but he also needed to give them a challenge. After five minutes Zephyr finally encountered a few of his slower trainees and once they noticed Zephyr, they quickly increased their pace. It was about ten minutes later when he encountered a few more trainees, but that was it. Garp¡¯s grandsons carried such heavy packs, he was sure they should have met by now. Another five minutes passed before he heard, ¡°What time is breakfast, oldman?¡± Zephyr whipped his head around to scold whoever just talked but froze in place for a moment. Behind him were all of Garp¡¯s grandsons, but how did they get there? He was sure he would have noticed them if they took a break somewhere. Ace, the one in the lead, said, ¡°Hey oldman, are you okay?¡± ¡°Who are you calling oldman you little brat? And where did you come from? I know I didn''t see you on the trail.¡± Zephyr asked with a frown. ¡°It''s because you''re slow, this is our second lap.¡± Ace said as the boys all caught up with him. ¡°Second lap?¡± Zephyr asked. Marcus nodded as he said, ¡°Yeah, we normally do ten laps before breakfast. That''s why Ace asked when it was, in case we needed to increase our pace.¡± ¡°Breakfast should be ready in an hour or so from now.¡± Zephyr said as the boys started to pass him. Ace waved as he said, ¡°Alright thanks for the information oldman.¡± ¡°You little brat, I told you I''m not old!¡± Zephyr yelled after the boys who increased their speed and were already fifty feet ahead of him. Ace raised a hand in the air and gave a thumbs up as he said, ¡°Whatever you say oldman.¡± Zephyr gritted his teeth before he said, ¡°It''s Garp¡¯s grandson, you knew it would be like this.¡± A minute later all the boys were out of sight as they continued to increase their pace. As Zephyr kept running, he didn''t see anyone for the next ten minutes. When Zephyr finally met another person on the trail, they came from behind him as they said, ¡°On your left oldman!¡± Zephyr wanted to punch the little brat but still moved slightly to the right before the boys sped past him. Zephyr watched the boys in shock as he realized they just ran over two miles in about ten minutes. Just what the hell was wrong with Garp''s grandchildren? He watched them a little bit yesterday and thought he knew how strong they were. But this¡­ This just didn''t make sense to him. Just how hard has Garp pushed these kids when he trained them? Weren''t they all under ten years old? As Zephyr thought about how Garp trained the boys he heard people as they approached from behind him. A few moments later his son appeared along with a handful of others and started to pass him. Zephyr smiled for a moment before he schooled his face as he thought, ¡®It looks like those boys will be useful.¡¯ It was about an hour later when everyone finished running and Zephyr was happy. While Garp''s grandchildren completed ten laps, Nicholas and some of the trainees finished six laps and looked a little haggard. The rest barely completed five laps and were about to collapse, they would need more training. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. After Nicholas and his group finished, they walked over to the brothers who stood in front of the makeshift buffet line. Once they were close Nicholas said, ¡°That was pretty good. How many laps did you complete?¡± Ace glanced over towards Nicholas as he said, ¡°Just our normal ten.¡± Another boy next to Nicholas puffed out his chest as he said, ¡°We''ll be able to do that soon enough.¡± Ace couldn''t help himself as he laughed at the boy before he said, ¡°You should already be able to run ten laps without issue.¡± Ace pointed over to the backpack he used as he said, ¡°I bet you couldn''t run a single lap with that on your back.¡± ¡°It''s just a backpack, I could easily do it.¡± The boy said before he moved towards it to pick it up. Once there the boy grabbed the pack and went to lift it up but struggled to even budge it. He started to sweat as he attempted to lift the pack and after a few moments turned back to look at Ace as he said, ¡°Bullshit. There is no way you used this pack on your run, it has to weigh at least two hundred pounds.¡± Ace wore a confident smirk as he walked over to the pack and casually lifted it off the ground. Everyone around him was stunned as he said, ¡°It''s two hundred and fifty pounds.¡± ¡°How is that even possible? Doesn''t that weigh more than you?¡± Nicholas asked in disbelief. Ace dropped the pack back down as he said, ¡°Ya, but we all worked our way up to this weight.¡± The rest of breakfast went smoothly as Nicholas and his group chatted with Ace and the others. Once they finished eating, Ace and his group split off to train as Zephyr took the trainees to the obstacle courses. Once they were settled in, he let his assistants take over while he went to check in on Garp¡¯s grandsons. What he found left him speechless as he watched the boys do his normal training regiment at a breakneck pace. It wasn''t just the speed but they were all weighted down as they did it. Zephyr watched them till they finished and still didn''t believe it. They easily completed a workout that took a normal marine all day to complete. During lunch Zephyr thought about who he could pit against the boys in spars and realized none of the trainees would be a challenge for the little monsters. Actually who said they needed to spar with only one person at a time Zephyr thought as he smiled. After lunch finished Zephyr said, ¡°Hey you little brats. Are you ready to spar?¡± Ace nodded before he glanced at Luffy as he said, ¡°Looks like you''ll finally be able to beat someone in a spar.¡± Luffy frowned slightly as he said, ¡°I''ve beat Marcus before.¡± Sabo patted Luffy¡¯s shoulder as he said, ¡°That''s because he takes it easy on you.¡± ¡°No he doesn''t! I win fair and square, right Marcus?¡± Luffy asked as he turned to look at his brother. Marcus moved one hand behind his back and crossed his fingers as he said, ¡°Yup, I never hold back when we fight.¡± Luffy nodded his head as he said, ¡°I told you!¡± Ace and Sabo snickered before Zephyr said, ¡°Come over here you brats.¡± Zephyr led everyone to the dirt ring that acted as a sparring arena. It was located in the same clearing as the barracks, but it was on the other side. Once there he pointed to Luffy as he said, ¡°You''re up first, let''s see what you got.¡± Luffy stuck out his tongue at Ace as he moved into the arena and waited for his opponent. Zephyr glanced over everyone before he pointed at three of the weakest trainees as he said, ¡°You three, go up.¡± After they made it into the arena, one of them asked, ¡°Who is supposed to fight him first, sir?¡± Zephyr smiled as he said, ¡°All of you. Now stop wasting time and fight.¡± ¡°But isn''t that unfair, sir?¡± One of them said before Luffy knocked him out with a single punch. The other two followed their companion a moment later before they even realized what was going on. Luffy held up the peace sign as he stood over his defeated opponents and asked, ¡°Who''s next?¡± What followed was basically a one sided beatdown as Luffy took down almost thirty trainees before Zephyr switched out Luffy for Marcus. Marcus easily defeated another twenty people before Zephyr sent out one of the better prospects of the training camp. As the person came forward, Eternal Rest which currently rested on Marcus''s back started to shake. At first Marcus didn''t understand why until he looked at the person in front of him. He stood a foot taller than Marcus and wore glasses that covered his eyes. His black hair was mostly hidden by the hat he wore, but it couldn''t hide his distinct lightning bolt like sideburns. The most notable thing that alarmed Marcus was the half eaten sausage patty stuck to the side of the boy''s face. Marcus¡¯s blood ran cold as he took in Vergo''s appearance and was only pulled out of his thoughts when Zephyr said, ¡°Fight!¡± The older boy charged at Marcus with an attack, Marcus attempted to dodge but Vergo was faster and seemed to have more experience fighting as he landed a solid blow on his stomach. The wind was completely knocked out of Marcus and the blow lifted him off his feet and tossed him over ten feet away. Where he rolled across the ground a few times before he came to a stop. Marcus thought about getting back up but instead stayed down, he didn¡¯t need to continue fighting today. When Marcus didn¡¯t move to stand back up Zephyr asked, ¡°Is that all you got?¡± Marcus took a little longer before he sat up and nodded his head. Zephyr looked at the boy in disappointment before he said, ¡°Fine, get out of the ring.¡± ¡°You¡¯re next, get in the ring.¡± Zephyr said as he pointed at Sabo. As Marcus moved next to his brothers Luffy said, ¡°I beat more than you and didn¡¯t lose a fight, that means I¡¯m stronger than you.¡± Marcus patted Luffy on the back as he said, ¡°Of course, Luffy. But quiet down for now and let''s watch Sabo fight.¡± Luffy moved a little closer to the ring to watch the next fight as Ace stood next to Marcus and asked in a hushed tone of voice, ¡°What was that? Why did you lose on purpose?¡± As they watched Sabo fight with Vergo, Marcus said, ¡°My sword was shaking.¡± Ace kept looking forward towards the fight but his eyes shifted slightly to glance at Marcus as he asked, ¡°Like when we fight people with bounties?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ace¡¯s eyes narrowed as he asked, ¡°What do you want to do?¡± ¡°Let''s talk to Gramps about it, he¡¯ll know what to do.¡± Marcus said as he clenched his fists. 00026. What are morals? After the first day of letting the boys spar against his trainees, Zephyr changed his training routine up. He increased their training regiment and also pushed them harder each day. He also decided to only let the trainees spar with the boys once a week, since they took a pretty good beating during the first set of spars. The second set of spars didn¡¯t go well either and this time Marcus didn¡¯t get distracted so it was even worse than the last time. As for the boy¡¯s training, they settled into their normal routine, except for using their training harness, since Garp told them to leave them on the ship. That forced them to become creative as they tried to make their workouts more challenging. They mostly added more weights to their backpacks and attempted to do some of the obstacle courses with the backpack on. They also went deep into the forest and fought with stronger animals to push themselves. It was after the third sparring match with the trainees that Garp finally arrived back on the island. Apparently he had to search around to find the rice crackers he liked and ended up going to one of the other blues to find them. Once he was back though, he attempted to help train everyone with Zephyr, which failed spectacularly. While Zephyr wanted to make the trainees stronger, Garp¡¯s methods were too much and by lunchtime of the first day not a single one of them could walk. Zephyr glanced over his trainees laid out on the ground before he narrowed his eyes as he glared at Garp and asked, ¡°What the hell is wrong with you?! How could you do that to the trainees?!¡± Garp who was laid back in a beach chair stuffed a rice cracker into his mouth and as he chewed it said, ¡°What? It¡¯s not my fault they''re so weak.¡± Garp pointed to Ace and the others as he said, ¡°Look, my grandsons are just fine.¡± ¡°Not everyone is a freak like you and those kids! You need to tone it down for the trainees!¡± Zephyr said in an annoyed tone of voice as he looked over the trainees who were passed out. Garp had a rice cracker in his hand as he waved at Zephyr dismissively and said, ¡°It¡¯s for their own good. If they''re too weak, they won¡¯t survive long being a marine.¡± Zephyr couldn¡¯t help it as he nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°That might be true, but our goal is to train them. How are we going to train them like this?¡± ¡°Just wake them up and push them till they collapse again.¡± Garp said before he stuffed another rice cracker in his mouth. Zephyr frowned as he said, ¡°You know what, just take care of your grandkids. I¡¯ll handle the trainees.¡± Garp smiled as he said, ¡°Fine, but you still owe me a fight before I leave.¡± Zephyr waved him off as he said, ¡°I know, just stay away from the trainees.¡± After that Garp only trained the boys while Zephyr and his team looked over the trainees. They still shared meals together and met once a week to spar. But overall Garp and the boys didn¡¯t interact with the trainees much after that. Plus Garp took them into the forest to train everyday and had them fight the stronger animals on the island. While Zephyr didn¡¯t take any direct help from Garp, he decided to include some of his training methods. He mostly pushed the trainees a little harder everyday and had them run with weighted packs. It wasn¡¯t as harsh as Garp¡¯s training, but there was a noticeable increase at how fast the trainees improved and it didn¡¯t make them collapse from exhaustion. It was about two months into the training camp when Marcus approached Garp after dinner to talk. When Marcus was close to Garp he said, ¡°Hey gramps, can we talk in private?¡± Garp pointed towards the bonfire pit he liked to cook at, as he said, ¡°Sure, let''s go over there and talk.¡± Marcus and Garp sat down on one of the logs next to the pit before Marcus glanced around for a moment as he asked, ¡°Do you know anything about my sword? It acts weird sometimes.¡± Garp raised an eyebrow as he asked, ¡°What makes you think I know anything about your sword?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°Well you''re the one who gave it to me.¡± Garp let out a sigh before he said, ¡°That doesn''t mean I know much about your sword. But whatever, tell me what your sword is doing and I¡¯ll see if I can help you.¡± ¡°Well the main issue is that it vibrates when I''m around certain people.¡± Marcus said as he watched for a reaction from Garp. Garp nodded in understanding before he asked, ¡°What kinda people?¡± ¡°Mostly people with bounties. But it happens around other people too sometimes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because your sword can sense the evil in people.¡± Garp said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t even make sense! What determines whether a person is evil or even good for that matter? My sword just knows something like that?¡± Marcus asked in an incredulous tone of voice. ¡°I¡¯m just telling you what I¡¯ve seen, I have no idea how it actually works myself. But I know the sword is never wrong about who it considers evil.¡± Garp said with a shrug. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°That still doesn¡¯t make sense to me. Depending on a person''s morals, what they consider evil and what I consider evil could be completely different.¡± Marcus said as he folded his arms over his chest. Garp patted Marcus on the shoulder as he said, ¡°Here you go again acting like an adult.¡± Marcus swatted Garps hand away as he said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t help solve the issue.¡± Garp sighed slightly as he said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t meant to.¡± ¡°Let''s go someplace else.¡± Garp said before he grabbed Marcus by the back of his shirt and took off into the air. Marcus freaked out while he waved his hands and feet around in the air as he looked at the forest a few hundred feet below him and said, ¡°What the hell grandpa, are you trying to kill me?!¡± They quickly flew through the air and made it to the middle of the island to land near the rim of the volcano when Marcus finished talking. Garp dropped Marcus down on the ground as he said, ¡°Settle down, even if I dropped you, you wouldn¡¯t die from that height.¡± Marcus glanced down to the island almost a thousand feet below him and started to sweat, while Garp dug around in his pockets for a few moments. Garp pulled out a small black colored den den mushi a few moments later before he dialed a number on it. Pururu pururu pururu gacha A gruff sounding voice came through as it asked, ¡°What is it this time?¡± ¡°Is that any way to greet your father?¡± Garp asked in annoyance. There was a pause before the voice said, ¡°Sorry, I thought you were someone else¡­ I honestly never expected you to call me. Give me just a moment, I need to change locations.¡± After less than a minute the man said, ¡°Okay we can talk now. What¡¯s going on, is something wrong? Are the boys okay?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t plan to call you, but your son needs to talk with you.¡± Garp said as held the den den mushi next to the stunned Marcus. ¡°What? Why?¡± The man asked in confusion. Marcus cleared his throat before he said, ¡°Hi dad, this is Marcus.¡± After a short pause Dragon said, ¡°I won¡¯t be able to talk for long, so tell me what you need son.¡± ¡°I¡¯m having issues with my sword and grandpa can¡¯t answer my questions.¡±Marcus said. ¡°What¡¯s the issue?¡± ¡°It vibrates when I''m around certain people, grandpa said it only does that when it senses evil. But that doesn¡¯t make any sense to me, who or what determines whether someone is evil and how would the sword know that?¡± Marcus asked. A sigh could be heard before the man said, ¡°To think the sword would open up to you when you¡¯re still so young.¡± Marcus wanted to ask a bunch of questions, but instead waited in silence for over a minute before dragon said, ¡°I can¡¯t tell you how it happened, but I can at least tell what¡­ Your mother told me about the sword. It was specially forged for your grandfather when he became recognized as a sword master in his twenties.¡± ¡°He was a powerful man with a strong sense of justice who wielded that sword for almost fifty years. During that time, the sword somehow awakened and copied its master''s sense of justice. How it can sense if someone is evil, I have no idea, but I know it¡¯s never been wrong before.¡± Marcus let out a frustrated sigh before he said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t help me much. How do I know what I consider evil is the same thing the sword considers evil?¡± Dragon laughed a little before he asked, ¡°Would you consider someone who kills other people evil?¡± ¡°Depends on the reason.¡± Marcus said. ¡°What if there¡¯s no reason, they did it just because they could.¡± Dragon asked. ¡°I would consider someone like that evil.¡± The den den mushi nodded as Dragon said, ¡°Then trust the sword when it warns you next time and also remember that you don¡¯t have to act on that warning. Just because the sword has its own sense of justice, doesn¡¯t mean you need to follow it. Always be true to yourself first and follow your own beliefs.¡± With some doubts cleared up Marcus smiled slightly to himself before he said. ¡°Thank you father.¡± ¡°You''re welcome and I¡¯m sorry that I am not able to raise you and Luffy myself.¡± Dragon said in a sad tone. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Luffy is kind of an idiot and didn¡¯t realize we had parents until I told him. And while it would be nice to have you and Gramps around us more, I know you''re both busy trying to help the world in your own way. Gramps being the marine hero and you leading a revolution against the current world government.¡± Marcus said with a smirk. Both the den den mushi and Garp went wide eyed at the comment before Garp punched Marcus as he asked, ¡°You little brat! Who told you about that stuff?!?¡± Garp punched harder than he thought and knocked Marcus off the rim of the volcano. A moment later Marcus screamed out as he started to tumble down the edge of the volcano. Dragon heard the scream and asked in concern, ¡°What just happened? Why did Marcus scream?¡± Garp watched Marcus as he flipped end over end down the volcano slope as he said, ¡°Nothing, I just gave Marcus some extra training.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Okay¡­ I need to get going anyways, take care of yourself dad and thanks for taking care of the boys for me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine and stay safe.¡± Garp said before he hung up and started to head down to get Marcus. Marcus was battered, bruised and covered in blood when we finally came to a stop at the foot of the volcano. As he laid on his back and tried to suck in a breath, Garp landed on the ground next to him as he asked, ¡°Anything broken?¡± Marcus glared up at Garp before he said, ¡°I hate you so much right now.¡± Garp smiled as he said, ¡°It was just some extra training, no need to get upset. Can you walk or do I need to carry you?¡± Marcus slowly tested his body and was surprised to find nothing was broken. Sure his whole body felt like one giant bruise and he had some small cuts here and there, but otherwise he was fine. He slowly stood up on his own before he said, ¡°I¡¯ll walk.¡± As they started to walk back to camp Marcus said, ¡°Do you know why I asked you about my sword today?¡± ¡°No.¡± Garp said as he pulled out a package of rice crackers. ¡°One of the trainees makes my sword vibrate whenever I¡¯m near him.¡± Garp glanced down at Marcus with narrowed eyes as he asked, ¡°Which one?¡± 00027. Garp vs Zephyr. After Marcus informed Garp about Vergo causing his sword to shake. Garp told Marcus not to worry about it and he would look into the issue. After that the training camp continued without any issues. The only thing that changed was Garp adding a new training method. Since all the boys could now punch a tree in half and Marcus could almost cut a tree down with his practice sword. Garp forced the boys to punch boulders with the goal of destroying it in one hit. So far the only thing that''s happened is the boy''s fists hurt every day. Garp told the boys it would go away after a few months of practice and to not complain about it. The boys weren''t the only ones who suffered though. Zephyr had forced the trainees almost to the breaking point every day. While he wasn''t as harsh as Garp, he made sure to push everyone till they passed out each night. By the last few days of the training camp for the boys, most of the trainees could now hold out for a few minutes in spars. It was a big step up for most of them, from the single hit knockouts when they first started fighting the boys. Zephyr was happy with the trainees overall progress and Garp even seemed impressed with a few of them. It was the day before they were scheduled to leave that Garp challenged Zephyr to their sparring match. Early in the morning instead of training, everyone gathered up to have breakfast. Afterwards they moved towards the dock area, so everyone could watch the sparring match. Garp and Zephyr faced each other near the start of the dock as Zephyr said, ¡°Let''s agree on some rules before we start this.¡± ¡°Rules would just get in the way of having a fun spar.¡± Garp said as he picked his ear. Zephyr shook his head as he said, ¡°No, we should use this spar as an opportunity to show everyone here what a high level fight is like.¡± Garp glanced over to his grandsons for a few moments before he asked, ¡°And how exactly would we do that?¡± ¡°We start with ten percent power and fight like that for an hour. Then go to twenty for an hour and work our way up. Then we can finish at full strength for an hour, but let''s not overdo it. What do you think?¡± Zephyr asked. Garp thought it over for a few moments before he smiled as he said, ¡°Five hours at full strength.¡± ¡°Two hours is the maximum I''ll fight you at full strength. Neither of us needs to be injured because of a simple spar.¡± Zephyr said. ¡°You''re no fun, but fine.¡± Zephyr and Garp then moved back towards the group before Zephyr said, ¡°All of you take up positions near the tree line and pay close attention to the spar while you can. If you''re lucky, you might learn a thing or two from this.¡± Garp moved towards his grandsons before he pointed to an area with some boulders and said, ¡°Go over there to watch us.¡± As the boys glanced over to the spot, Garp said, ¡°Once you can no longer track us during the fight. I want you to train on those rocks till the fight is over.¡± ¡°Uh, I thought we didn''t have to train today?¡± Luffy asked in confusion. Garp pushed Luffy towards the boulders as he said, ¡°I never said that. Now get going and remember what I told you.¡± After the boys and trainees were out of the way, Zephyr squared off against Garp and said, ¡°Start whenever you''re ready.¡± A moment later Garp launched himself at Zephyr and their fists collided followed by a gust of wind from the collision. While it was only ten percent of their power, they still moved fast enough that a normal person wouldn''t be able to follow their movements. In fact some of the trainees could barely follow their current speed. As for Marcus and his brothers, they easily watched the two men as they traded blows. It was a fierce melee as both men seemed to be evenly matched with each other. A punch from one would quickly be parried or blocked before a counter attack would follow. As Marcus watched, he couldn''t help but wonder if the two of them were currently using observation haki or if this was just pure fighting instincts. But after a while Marcus stopped caring about how they might be fighting and instead studied the two men closely. He instead focused on them and he tried to memorize how they fought. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. While they weren''t using their full strength, they still used all of their skills and experience to fight. The longer they traded blows the more Marcus realized just how far the gap was between him and people at the peak of this world. Both men utilized one hundred percent of their bodies and wasted no movements. It was a beautiful dance filled with graceful movements and deadly power as both men traded blows. While he watched, Marcus''s eyes widened slowly as he understood just how crazy this world was going to be. At the same time he was excited and his fists clenched unconsciously as he thought that one day he would be able to fight like this himself. Time quickly passed as the two men slowly moved up in power. By the third hour, Marcus could barely see the two men as they blurred around above the clearing. They had to fight in the air at this point because they could easily ruin the docks if they weren¡¯t careful. Once they moved to forty percent power, nobody was able to watch them fight properly anymore and then even moved slightly away from the island. Just the aftershock from one of their blows alone made the water in the calm belt choppy. But when they traded five blows in a single second it could create decent sized waves. With both men now high up in the air away from the island, the trainees went back to the training camp to eat an early lunch. The boys also joined them, but came back once they finished to punch boulders, while the trainees went to run the obstacle courses. For the next few hours one of the main things that was heard around the island was a sound that almost resembled a blacksmith working at an anvil. The clanging noise was fast, persistent and sometimes followed by a loud boisterous laugh. When it was just around sunset the atmosphere around the island changed and a lot of the trainees who were at camp preparing for dinner passed out. Marcus and the other boys even felt a little weird as the sky darkened with clouds that seemed to clash together as they heard Garp let out another laugh from his place in the sky. A moment later Marcus almost lost consciousness as he felt a crazy pressure push down on his mind and body. Marcus knew what just happened and gritted his teeth as he looked up to the sky above in defiance. At first he thought he would be fine, but within a minute he was drenched in sweat and his whole body felt like it was on fire from the strain. He glanced towards his brothers and noticed that even they were still standing, but none of them looked to be doing great. Just like him they were covered in sweat and their bodies were trembling. Marcus¡¯s body screamed at him to just lay down on the ground and let it rest as he said, ¡°I think this is another one of grandpa¡¯s tricks.¡± Sabo barely nodded in agreement as he said, ¡°I wonder what this is.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. All I know is I don¡¯t want to submit to it.¡± Ace said with narrowed eyes. Luffy leaned against his boulder as he said, ¡°I just want to eat dinner.¡± The other boys couldn¡¯t help but laugh at Luffy before an even stronger wave hit the boys and forced them to stop. Marcus used every once of his will power to not collapse on the ground and that only lasted for a few more minutes. As he finally fell to the ground he noticed he wasn¡¯t the only one. Luffy was already laid out on the ground, Sabo fell at almost the same time as him and Ace collapsed to one knee. After another couple of minutes everything went black. Marcus awoke to a slap to the back of the head and the smell of food. It was night time already and he was seated at a table with a large plate of food in front of him. As he glanced around he realized he seemed to be the last person to wake up so he just dug into his food instead of thinking about it. As he ate, he looked at Garp and noticed one of his arms was wrapped in a cast so he asked, ¡°How did you get hurt grandpa?¡± Garp waved his arm around as he said, ¡°This little thing? Don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯ll heal in a few days.¡± Zephyr who was seated across from Garp also had his arm wrapped up in a cast and said, ¡°Bullshit, this will take at least a month to heal. I told you not to overdo it and you still did!¡± ¡°Bah! You¡¯re just being salty because I won the spar.¡± Garp said before he took a bite from a large piece of meat. Zephyr''s mouth tightened for a moment before he said, ¡°You didn¡¯t win, I stopped when we reached the time limit. You kept attacking me afterwards until I gave up.¡± ¡°Exactly, that means I won.¡± Garp said matter of factly. Veins swelled on Zephyr''s forehead as he stared Garp down. Garp appeared not to care as he smiled happily and stuffed meat into his mouth. While it was a slightly awkward dinner to sit though, it was still rather relaxed as everyone seemed to be drained from the day. Once finished with dinner everyone turned in early for the night. The next morning everyone woke up early and while the trainees warmed up for the day. Marcus and the others loaded some extra supplies on their ship. Once they were finished, they ate breakfast with everyone else before they bid farewell. On the dock as the boys started to row the ship away, Zephyr, his son and a few other trainees waved to the ship as it left. As it moved out of sight Nicholas glanced up at his dad as he asked, ¡°When do you think they will join the marines, sir?¡± Zephyr turned around as he said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure. They might not even join.¡± Nicholas turned to look at his dad as he asked, ¡°Why not?¡± Zephyr let out a sigh before he said, ¡°Just a feeling I have. But it should be fine, they¡¯re pretty good kids. Maybe a little too much like Garp, though.¡± 00028. The harsh truth of this world. After they left the calm belt, they ran into the edge of a storm. While they didn''t try to sail through it, Garp taught them how to use it to their advantage. They sailed on the outside edge of the storm and used the wind from it to help speed up the ship. It was a lot more work but they easily traveled twice as fast. When the storm finally cleared their path, Garp took the other boys below deck to check for any damage and left Marcus at the helm. After about ten minutes or so, Marcus spotted a small dot on the horizon. He studied it for a while, but from the current distance he only knew it was a ship and not much else. ¡°Grandpa! I see a ship and it looks like it¡¯s heading towards us!¡± Marcus yelled out when he was sure the ship was heading towards them. ¡°Just stay on course, we¡¯ll be up in a few minutes!¡± About five minutes later Garp and the others came up on deck and by that time the ship in the distance could be seen better. It was a pirate ship and it was headed straight for them. Garp smiled as he watched the other ship approach and said, ¡°Looks like you boys will get some physical training today. Raise the sails and then go get ready to greet our guests!¡± The boys quickly followed Garps commands and within minutes they were back on the deck with their weapons in hand. While the others still only had training weapons, they would still work well in a fight. As the ship approached closer, it was easy to tell that it was three times the size of their own ship. Garp and the boys waited patiently for another twenty minutes before the other ship raised its own sails and pulled up next to their ship. Some grappling hooks flew out from the other ship and caught theirs before they were pulled tightly to the larger ship. After a moment they saw a bunch of people lean over from the taller deck and look down at them. One of them was a very fat man with a faded black sailors hat and a disappointed look on his face. He glanced at Garp and the boys before he said, ¡°I like it when the prey knows not to run¡­ But I hate it when there''s no women on the ship.¡± ¡°There better be some women below deck or I might have to take out my frustrations on all of you boys.¡± The fat man said before he looked at his men and said, ¡°Kill the crippled old man and capture the kids.¡± As the pirates started to jump onto the ship, Garp narrowed his eyes slightly but held himself back after reminding himself this was practice for the boys. Plus he was still slightly injured from his spar with Zephyr. Worst case he would step in if any of the boys might be killed. As the pirates started to move towards them Marcus felt his sword almost vibrate with anticipation. But hidden behind that anticipation was hunger¡­ No, that wasn''t correct. The closer the pirates came to Marcus the more he realized it wasn''t hunger, but a thirst for blood. Marcus gripped the hilt of his sword tighter as he cast a worried glance at it. Before he quickly focused back on the men walking closer to them. The closest pirate moved towards Ace as he said, ¡°Put down your toy¡­ Or don¡¯t and make this fun for me, boy.¡± A moment later Ace charged forward and attacked the man. Within a few seconds the man was incapacitated on the deck of the ship which made all of the other pirates freeze. The rest of the boys on the other hand took that as the signal to charge forward and attack. Within a few seconds more pirates were jumping onto the smaller ship to help their comrades, while Ace, Sabo and Luffy demolished anyone who came close. Marcus was the only one who didn''t rush forward to attack, too afraid of the bloodlust he felt flowing from his sword. While he was confident in his sword skills, he wasn''t sure if he would be able to control the sword properly at the moment. His instincts told him whoever he attacked with his sword would end up dead, which caused the morals from his past life to flare up. While he knew at some point he might have to kill people in this new world. It was something he put off because he was still a kid and hoped that maybe he wouldn''t have to kill anyone. His past life and worldview told him not too, that it was wrong and he shouldn''t take another person''s life. But at the same time this world had monsters that wore human skin¡­ Marcus stood completely frozen, as the sword''s bloodlust and his old morals clashed together. While he thought about it many times before, he always put off dealing with it. He also secretly held out hope that he would never have to worry about it, because Luffy and his crew never really seemed to kill people in the story¡­ But this was the real world now and his sword was razor sharp. Marcus also realized that the pirates in front of him wouldn''t hesitate to kill him. As the fight went on, Garp glanced down at Marcus and noticed the boy''s white knuckled grip on his sword. As Marcus and Garp stood next to each other and watched the fighting, it became clear within minutes that the pirates were outmatched as more fell before the boys. That was until the fat captain landed on the ship and fought with Ace. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. After a minute of fighting, it was clear that the pirate captain was only toying with Ace. While his second in command fought evenly with Sabo and the last of the grunts fought with Luffy. After a few more minutes of fighting, Sabo and Luffy won their fights but were completely worn out and wanted to collapse. Ace on the other hand was laying bruised and bloody at the feet of the captain. The captain glanced around the ship before he clicked his tongue and said, ¡°Useless lot of trash, beaten by a few kids.¡± The captain glanced at Sabo and Luffy before he looked down at Ace and said, ¡°You boys should join my crew. If you do, we could live like kings in East Blue. No one would be able to stand against us.¡± Ace spit up some blood before he said, ¡°I would rather die than be a bottom feeder like you.¡± Ace screamed out as the man stepped on his injured arm and said, ¡°Looks like I¡¯ll have to break you first, but you¡¯ll come around soon enough. Or you¡¯ll die in the process.¡± ¡°Let go of Ace!¡± Luffy said as he charged forward with Sabo to attack the pirate captain. Sabo was easily swatted away with a lazy back hand and it sent him flying into the ship''s mast, which knocked him out. While Luffy was caught by his shirt and lifted into the air as the captain said, ¡°You should show your new captain some respect, boy. I could easily snap your neck if I wanted.¡± As the captain held up the struggling Luffy, he kicked Ace in the head which knocked the boy out as he slid across the deck. Before he glanced over to Marcus and Garp as he said, ¡°While these boys could be useful, I have no place in my crew for an crippled old man and a coward who won''t fight. Garp watched the pirate captain closely as he placed a hand on Marcus''s shoulder and said, ¡°I know why you didn''t attack. But if you don¡¯t attack this time, your brothers might die.¡± Marcus turned to look up at Garp in shock as he asked, ¡°You''d let him kill them?¡± Garp shrugged as he said, ¡°No. But what happens next time, when I''m not here to help? You need to save them this time, or you won¡¯t be able to save him or anyone else next time.¡± Marcus''s voice was low as he asked, ¡°But what if I have to kill someone to save them?¡± Garp removed his hand from Marcus''s shoulder as he said in a dark tone of voice, ¡°Then you kill them.¡± ¡°I don''t know if I can.¡± Marcus said as Luffy was able to bite the captain''s hand that held him. The pirate captain let out a yell as he said, ¡°You stupid little brat!¡± The captain pulled a knife from his belt and jammed it into Luffy¡¯s face as he said, ¡°This will be your first lesson in obedience, boy!¡± Luffy cried out in pain and went to grab his face as blood started to pour down the side of it. Marcus was only stunned for a fraction of a second before he unconsciously drew his sword and took an attacking stance. The pirate glanced at Marcus and with a voice filled with contempt he asked, ¡°Oh, did your balls finally drop boy?¡± The pirate knocked Luffy out before he tossed him to the side and held up his knife as he said, ¡°Come on then. If you put up a good enough fight I''ll let you live, so you can join my crew like the others.¡± Marcus''s mind and morals struggled to hold his body in check, but his body reacted on its own as it casually swung his sword in a downward slash. When the captain saw the slow and lazy swing he laughed out loud before he asked, ¡°Do you even know how to¡­¡± The captain stopped talking as an invisible air blade passed through him and continued into the pirate ship behind him. A moment later his body seemed to slide apart as blood and internal organs splattered all over the deck. Marcus stared blankly at what just happened, his morals admonished him for taking another person''s life as his body automatically sheathed his sword. Afterwards Marcus dropped to the deck unconscious as Garp started to laugh, this training camp turned out even better than he hoped for. Garp quickly gathered up the boys and gave them first aid before he collected all the pirates. He made sure they were all secured before he checked the other ship for more people. When he didn¡¯t find anyone, he explored the ship for a little while to find anything interesting. The only thing he found was the air slash Marcus made, it ended up going completely through the entire ship and out the other side. While it wasn¡¯t large, it was still impressive that the slash traveled so far. He couldn¡¯t help but smile to himself as he tied the two ships together with ropes so they could tow the larger ship behind them. Once he was back on the ship, he cleaned off the gore left by the pirate captain and then woke up all the pirates. It took a few minutes to get them in line, but afterwards he used them as labor to row the ship. He planned to let the boys rest while he took this scum to the nearest navy base. Marcus ended up being the last person to wake up about a day later. He was slightly confused about what happened but when he arrived on deck and noticed the blood stained deck and railing sliced in half he froze. A large hand landed on his shoulder a moment later as Garp said, ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time thinking about people like that, they don¡¯t deserve your compassion.¡± ¡°But I...¡± Marcus started before he was interrupted by Garp who said, ¡°It was better than he deserved. If anything you let him off easy.¡± Marcus looked up at Garp in shock as he asked, ¡°How could you say that? I took his life.¡± ¡°And how many lives did he take? How many more would he take if you didn¡¯t stop him?¡± Garp said as he let out a sigh. ¡°But.¡± Garp¡¯s voice was harsh as he said, ¡°I told you before, you need to grow up. If you can¡¯t handle something like this, then you should quit while you''re ahead. You should stop training, give up your sword and live a quiet life in Foosha Village. Otherwise you¡¯ll never last in the real world.¡± 00029. A ploy to change the future. For the rest of the journey back home, Marcus was lost. He still carried out his duties on the ship but otherwise he was occupied by his own thoughts and didn''t really interact with anyone else. Luffy and the others easily noticed something was wrong. They even tried to cheer him up and interact with him more. When they realized nothing seemed to work, Garp told everyone else to just leave Marcus alone for now and that he needed time to think. At first it didn''t work because kids were kids after all. But Garp easily fixed that issue though with some well timed ¡®fists of love¡¯ to the other boy''s heads. During that time Marcus questioned Garp¡¯s logic on what happened and what he should do about it. But the more he thought about it, the more he came to one conclusion. Garp was right. After they had dropped off the pirate crew at a navy base, Garp gave Marcus a navy intelligence report. It detailed every crime that they confirmed the captain and his crew committed. It also contained a long list of suspected crimes, mostly missing ships or raided sea ports in areas that pirate crew frequented. After Marcus finished reading the report, he understood why Garp told him that he let the guy off too easily. But even though Marcus had the evidence in front of him, his morals still screamed out that it was wrong. That he wasn''t allowed to make that choice, to take someone else''s life, even though in his heart he agreed with Garp. When they were almost back home, Marcus was still stuck as he languished in his own thoughts. No matter what argument or idea he came up with to justify his actions, his morals still shut them down. Even though he no longer agreed with those morals like before. The main problem was he lived too long in his past life compared to this one and they were just too deeply ingrained into him. He needed to break them down and rebuild them before he did anything else. The only issue was he had no idea how he would do that. After they arrived back at Foosha Village, Garp and the boys unloaded the ship before Garp took Marcus to go have a talk. They walked in silence as they headed to the top of a seaside cliff and then they both sat down under the shade of some trees once they arrived. Garp was the first one to break the silence as he asked, ¡°So what do you plan to do?¡± Marcus looked lost as he said, ¡°I have no idea. I understand what you said and even agree with it¡­¡± ¡°But you still don''t like the idea of killing someone, even if they deserve it?¡± Garp asked. ¡°Exactly.¡± Marcus said with a slight nod of his head. Garp sighed before he asked, ¡°If you''re not ready to kill someone else, how will you be able to protect the people you care about?¡± ¡°Do I really need to be ready to kill someone else to protect the people I care about?¡± Garp had a far away look as he said, ¡°Yes... Otherwise you might live the rest of your life in regret.¡± Marcus turned to look at Garp and saw a hint of sadness in the man''s eyes before Garp stood up and said, ¡°Just keep training for now. But if you can''t get over your hang up in the next couple of years.¡± Garp wore a serious look as he glanced down at Marcus and said, ¡°I''ll take your sword away and won''t let you train anymore.¡± With that Garp left Marcus alone with his own thoughts. Early the next morning Garp departed the island and left the boys with Makino again. While Marcus was lost in his own thoughts, he still trained properly with the other boys. He just wasn''t as talkative as he used to be. But with Garp now gone, the other boys didn''t leave Marcus alone anymore and always wanted to talk with him like normal. Luffy was the one who wanted to talk with Marcus the most, while Ace and Sabo just wanted to make sure he was doing okay. Within a few weeks Marcus was almost back to normal. He still struggled internally and was in the process of trying to break down his old morals. But with a brother like Luffy around it was hard for Marcus to stay clammed up. Speaking of Luffy, the wound on his face healed and he now had a scar under his left eye just like the one he gave himself in the show. As for Marcus¡¯s progress on breaking down his old morals, it was slow going. He found one way to help though and that was reading the newspaper each day it came. While the newspaper held a lot of fluff articles or stuff that didn''t matter much to Marcus. The articles that detailed pirate and bandit activities did. He used those articles and the details inside them to help him tear down his old morals. Every person who was killed, family that was destroyed, he used that as his focus. He wasn''t sure how long it would take, but the more he did that, the less guilty he felt about taking that pirate''s life. So he added it into his training routine going forward. The time passed by quickly after that and within seven months Garp showed up again. He arrived early in the morning as the boys finished their pre breakfast run. As they came up the beach they spotted the navy ship headed towards the village and went to the dock to check it out. Within ten minutes or so of spotting the ship, Garp landed on the dock and said, ¡°You better not have been slacking off while I was gone.¡± ¡°We''re not like some old man who only knows how to eat rice crackers all day.¡± Ace said before he was kissing the floor. Garp glanced at the other boys as he asked, ¡°Are you going to greet me or what?¡± ¡°Hi grandpa.¡± Sabo said. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Hello, grandpa.¡± Marcus said. ¡°Why are you back?¡± Luffy asked before he also kissed the ground. Garp picked up Ace and Luffy who were knocked out as he said, ¡°Let''s go eat, I''m hungry.¡± After eating breakfast together with the boys, Garp took them out to spar and to see their progress. As he tested them, he didn''t make it obvious, but he paid close attention to Marcus. He mainly came back to check up on the boy. While he thought the boy would be okay, he still wanted to make sure. After he forced the boys to fight against tougher and tougher animals all day. He took them back to Makino¡¯s for dinner before he headed out with Marcus for a walk. As they walked through the village towards the beach Garp said, ¡°It looks like you stopped moping around.¡± ¡°It''s kinda hard to do when you have a brother like Luffy around. Ace and Sabo also helped.¡± Garp nodded slightly in understanding before he asked, ¡°Did you grow up yet?¡± ¡°No.¡± The two fell into silence as they headed to the top of a seaside cliff. Once there, they sat under a tree and watched as the last hints of sunlight slowly disappeared. Before the first stars began to appear in the sky, Garp said, ¡°I''m leaving tomorrow and won¡¯t be back for at least a year.¡± Marcus glanced over to Garp as he asked, ¡°Really? You normally stay for at least a week or two, why the change?¡± ¡°Too many pirates are running rampant and they need to be taken care of. Plus my last vacation was too long and Sengoku has been complaining about making up the time.¡± Garp said as he started to pick his nose. ¡°Whatever happened to that Vergo guy from the training camp?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°He¡¯s currently being watched, but his background is clean and he hasn¡¯t done anything suspicious. So they will probably drop the investigation soon.¡± Garp said before he flicked a booger away. ¡°That''s a bad idea.¡± Garp glanced at Marcus as he asked, ¡°Why do you say that? Because of your sword?¡± Marcus shook his head before he glanced up towards the night sky for a while and asked, ¡°Do you ever have weird dreams grandpa?¡± ¡°Weird dreams? No, and what does this have to do with that Vergo brat?¡± ¡°I think I have weird dreams about the future sometimes and he was in one of them.¡± Marcus said. Garp turned to look at Marcus as he asked, ¡°What do you mean, you think?¡± Marcus let out a sigh before he said, ¡°I¡¯ve had a few very vivid dreams before and weeks or months later I¡¯ll read about an event similar to that dream in the newspaper.¡± Garp raised an eyebrow as he asked, ¡°When did this start happening?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve always had these weird dreams, but I just started to read the newspaper and noticed similar events happening in the world.¡± Marcus said. ¡°So what happened in this dream with Vergo?¡± Garp asked. ¡°The dream started with a small, red, heart-shaped fruit with a weird swirl pattern on it. For some reason a bunch of people wanted that weird thing and the person who had it was selling it to the highest bidder.¡± Garp turned his full attention to Marcus as he said, ¡°I know that the marines go to buy the fruit on a snow covered island. But some blond haired guy stole it and force fed it to a little kid who seemed to be sick.¡± ¡°The blonde guy was badly injured from stealing the fruit and told the little boy to find the marines for help. The boy found Vergo who seemed to be a pirate instead. Then another blond guy in a large pink feathery coat showed up and killed the first blond man. I think they might have been related since they kinda looked the same.¡± Marcus said as he watched the stars. ¡°What else?¡± Garp asked. Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°That was basically it. At least those are the main details that I remember from the dream.¡± Garp rubbed his chin in thought before he asked, ¡°And you said these types of weird dreams normally come true?¡± ¡°Yeah. But I¡¯ve only verified a few of them so far. The ones from when I was younger I am not sure about.¡± Garp stood up as he said, ¡°Alright. Let''s head back then.¡± Marcus stood up and as they started to head back to the village Marcus asked, ¡°Do you believe me grandpa?¡± Garp placed his hand on Marcus¡¯s head as he said, ¡°Of course.¡± The next morning Garp left right after breakfast, much to the relief of the other boys. Within a couple weeks of Garp¡¯s departure a new ship was spotted on the horizon as it headed towards the village. It was just after lunch and the boys were about to head out to spar when they spotted the ship. It was basically a small black dot at that point, but they made a note of it and decided to wait for a bit before they went to spar. After half an hour it became clear that the ship was pretty large and on top of its main mast flew a pirate flag. Once the boys realized it was a pirate ship, all of them ran off to warn the town''s folks before they gathered up their weapons and moved down next to the dock. The boys patiently waited for the ship to approach and once it reached the dock Ace stepped forward and shouted, ¡°Listen up pirate scum! You aren¡¯t welcome in Foosha Village!¡± A few people peeked over the top railing of the ship before a little girl''s voice said, ¡°Pick me up! I wanna see too!¡± A moment later a red and white haired girl appeared and looked down at the boys before she asked, ¡°Who just called us scum?¡± ¡°I did.¡± Ace said. ¡°Well, I think your face is stupid!¡± The girl said before she stuck out her tongue. All of the people who leaned over the railing on the ship started to laugh and even the other boys cracked a smile before the gangplank dropped onto the dock. Ace and the other boys went on guard as a handful of people moved down from the ship to the dock. The man at the front stood tall with a smile on his face and a straw hat on his head. He glanced at the boys lined up next to the dock and said, ¡°It''s admirable that you want to protect your home, but we didn''t come here to raid your village. We just want to rest for a few days and resupply.¡± Ace studied the group for a few moments before he asked, ¡°What do you think Marcus?¡± Marcus with one hand on his sword said, ¡°They should be okay, my sword isn''t responding to them at all.¡± The man in the straw hat glanced at Marcus and the sword on his waist for a moment before he asked, ¡°So can we stay here and rest?¡± ¡°Sure, but it will cost you.¡± Marcus said. Ace glanced at Marcus as the man in the straw hat asked, ¡°Oh? And how much will it cost?¡± ¡°Every day you stay here, people from your crew need to spar with us.¡± Marcus said with a smile as he eyed the group of people on the dock. 00030. Romance Dawn. The man in the straw hat glanced over at the boys before he asked, ¡°What do you think Benn? Should we let them spar with one of the apprentices?¡± The man studied the boys for a moment before he said, ¡°I think Uta would be a better match for them, captain.¡± The man in the straw hat turned to look at Benn in shock as he asked, ¡°What? I''m not gonna let Uta fight them!¡± ¡°Uh? Why can''t I fight them, dad?¡± Uta asked as she came down from the gangplank. ¡°Because you''re too strong.¡± The man in the straw hat said as he started to sweat. Uta placed both hands on her hips and looked up at the man as she said, ¡°You''re just trying to protect me again!¡± ¡°I wasn''t! I really think you''re too strong for these boys and I don''t want you to hurt them.¡± The man hurriedly said. ¡°You think we''re weak, old man?¡± Ace asked as he stared down the man with the straw hat. ¡°Of course you are. That''s why I''ll fight all of you at once!¡± Uta said as she struck a pose and made a victory sign with her right hand. Marcus glanced at the others as he said, ¡°Is it me or is she kinda like Luffy.¡± Ace and Sabo nodded along before they said, ¡°She''s an idiot.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Luffy and Uta said at the same time. Everyone around them started to laugh before Uta teared up. Then the man with the straw hat instantly stopped laughing and went to comfort the girl. The girl tried to push him away as she said, ¡°Idiot Shanks, leave me alone.¡± Shanks tried to comfort her as he said, ¡°Hey, hey, it''s okay. It was just a silly joke, no need to get upset over it.¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°How is she going to fight us if she cries at a simple joke? Isn''t she a little too weak?¡± Uta pushed Shanks away with tears still in the corner of her eyes as she said, ¡°Don¡¯t look down on me! I can easily beat you up!¡± ¡°Uta, you don''t¡­¡± Uta glared at Shanks and cut him off as she said, ¡°You laughed at me too, so don''t talk to me right now.¡± Uta wiped her face clean with the sleeve of her shirt as she moved closer to the boys and said, ¡°Come on, I said I would fight all of you. Let¡¯s go!¡± Marcus glanced at the other as he asked, ¡°Who wants to go first?¡± ¡°I don''t want to beat up a little girl who cries.¡± Sabo said as he shook his head. ¡°Neither do I.¡± Ace said. Marcus looked at Luffy who watched the girl approach before he said, ¡°I don''t think fighting her will be fun.¡± Uta stopped in place and puffed out her cheeks as she stared at the boys who basically insulted her. Marcus let out a sigh before he removed his sword from his waist and handed it to Ace as he said, ¡°Even if she''s weak and cries over nothing. We should still show her proper respect and fight her if she wants.¡± Uta felt insulted and happy at the same time. Even though Marcus basically called her a cry baby, he still planned to fight her. Normally no one wanted to fight with her since she was the youngest on the ship and Shanks tended to baby her. But this boy Marcus, he didn''t seem to care. As the boy in question started to move in front of the others, Luffy said, ¡°Didn''t big sis Makino say it''s not polite to hit girls?¡± ¡°Yeah, she did.¡± Ace said. Marcus shrugged his shoulders before he punched out a few times to loosen up his muscles as he said, ¡°Boy? Girl? It doesn''t matter to me. If someone wants to fight, I''ll fight them.¡± Marcus had a serious look as he glanced over to Shanks, Benn and the others on the dock as he said, ¡°Don''t blame me for what happens next.¡± Uta pulled up her fists as she said, ¡°Bring it on!¡± A short distance separated the two and a moment later Marcus was in front of Uta. Uta flinched back in surprise with how fast Marcus was and closed her eyes unconsciously. A moment later someone gently patted her head and said, ¡°You lose.¡± Uta opened her eyes before Marcus pinched her cheek which made her flush red. Then Marcus smiled at her as she stepped back and stammered out, ¡°W-what do you mean I lost?¡± ¡°You let your opponent inside your guard and closed your eyes. If this was a real fight you could be seriously injured or worse.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Uta was about to respond when Benn said, ¡°He''s right Uta, you lost.¡± Marcus glanced at Benn as he said, ¡°Now send out someone who can actually fight.¡± ¡°But I didn''t.¡± Uta was cut off as Shanks stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Shanks as he said, ¡°Since you held back against Uta, I''ll hold back against you. Get your sword and we''ll spar.¡± ¡°No.¡± Some of the crew laughed before Benn said, ¡°Looks like he doesn''t like you captain.¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°I don''t use my sword for sparring.¡± ¡°Really? Then how do you train your swordsmanship? Is your sword just for decoration?¡± Shanks asked. ¡°I have a training sword I use for spars. I''ll go grab it, while you spar with my brothers.¡± As Marcus turned around Shanks said, ¡°If we¡¯re going to spar, just use your real sword.¡± Marcus glanced over his shoulder as he said, ¡°I''m not allowed to spar with my sword. Plus I wouldn''t want you to lose your arm in an accident.¡± Most of the crew started to laugh as Uta said, ¡°Just because you beat me, doesn''t mean you could even touch Shanks in a fight!¡± Marcus received his sword back, placed it on his waist, then drew his blade. He walked past his brothers before he causally swung his blade at one of the small boulders sitting off to the side of the dock. As he slid his sword back into its scabbard the boulder split evenly in half. Ace, Sabo and Luffy smiled like idiots as Shanks and the rest of his crew stared slack jawed at the boulder. Uta was the only one confused as she asked, ¡°What happened to that boulder? Why did it fall apart?¡± As Marcus walked back to Makino¡¯s to collect his training sword, he couldn''t help but smile to himself. While he still had issues with the fact he killed someone. He had to admit it helped him overcome one of the barriers he had in his swordsmanship. While he still couldn''t do consecutive air slashes in a row, he had no issue with doing at least one. They still lacked size, power and could only travel around fifty feet. But they looked awesome when he wanted to show off and could easily catch an opponent off guard. When Marcus arrived at Makino¡¯s he collected his training sword before he ran off into the forest. It didn¡¯t take him long to find the villagers and let them know that it was safe to return. As they walked back, Makino asked, ¡°So they only came here to resupply uh?¡± ¡°That''s what they said, but I have a feeling they might stay here for a bit.¡± ¡°I doubt that. Pirates normally don''t stay in one place for too long, it makes it easier to get caught.¡± Mayor Woop Slap said. Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°Well whatever happens it should be fine.¡± The Mayor, Makino and a few others joined Marcus to go meet the pirates at the dock. Once they arrived they found Ace, Sabo and Luffy knocked out as the man called Shanks talked with his crew. Marcus glanced at his brother''s for a moment as Makino said, ¡°Looking at your brother''s like that, makes me feel like your grandpa is here.¡± Marcus smiled as he nodded in agreement before he pulled out his training sword and said, ¡°Alright, let''s do this old man.¡± Everyone in Shanks crew laughed at that comment while Shanks himself smiled slightly. He picked up a belaying pin as he said, ¡°Your friends lasted about a minute, do you think you can do better?¡± Marcus slid his right foot backwards and took up a defensive stance as he said, ¡°Maybe, it depends how strong you are.¡± Shanks didn''t raise his guard as he approached Marcus. Instead he raised his empty hand and waved at Marcus to come closer as he asked, ¡°You were the one who wanted to spar, so why aren''t you attacking?¡± Marcus focused on Shanks as he said, ¡°Unlike my brothers, I like to test my opponents before I rush headlong into a fight.¡± ¡°That''s a good idea, but that doesn''t always work out in a real fight.¡± Shanks said and he moved into Marcus¡¯s sword range. Marcus used a fast attack as he tried to test Shanks out. Shanks easily parried the blow and went into a counterattack, which Marcus dodged with a backstep as he brought his sword back up. The next moment Marcus lashed out with another attack, this time aimed at Shanks¡¯s hand that held his weapon. Shanks moved his weapon slightly to intercept the blow as he said, ¡°You should be more aggressive when testing an opponent.¡± As Marcus attacked again he asked, ¡°If I''m too aggressive it could open up flaws my opponent could use against me.¡± Shanks finally went on the offensive as he aimed a blow at Marcus''s head as he said, ¡°You either put enough pressure on them that they can''t exploit it. Or you purposely make flaws appear that are actually traps.¡± Marcus and Shanks stopped talking as Marcus switched to an attacking stance. With his new stance he doubled his attacks and also pushed Shanks back slightly. Shanks smiled to himself slightly as he tested the boy''s skills. The boy was definitely skilled and whomever was training him should be a master swordsman. The longer they fought the more Shanks wanted to spar with the boy''s master. He glanced at the people of the village who gathered around to watch them fight. But couldn''t find anyone who gave off the aura of a trained fighter. ¡®Maybe his master didn''t live in the village.¡¯ Shanks thought as he counterattacked the boy again. Shanks took his time as he slowly applied pressure to Marcus. Once Marcus was used to it, he increased it again. At first he wanted to see how skilled Marcus was, but after a while he realized Marcus just kept improving the more he pressured him. It just motivated him to see how long Marcus could hold on for. Time seemed to pass in a blur for Marcus as he focused his complete attention on his spar with Shanks. It was the only thing that seemed to exist at this moment in time. He wasn¡¯t sure how much time had actually passed when he finally missed a parry and Shanks was able to land a blow on his head. While his vision started to blur from the blow, he noticed that Shanks had a large smile on his face as he fell backwards. After Marcus collapsed on the ground, Shanks glanced over to Benn as he asked, ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°None of those boys seem like they are from East Blue.¡± Shanks glanced down at Marcus as he said, ¡°I wonder who trains this kid in swordsmanship. Whoever it is has to be from the grandline, at least.¡± Makino walked over to Marcus as she said, ¡°He¡¯s basically self taught. His grandpa show¡¯s up every once in a while to test the boys and force them into some weird type of training. But they mostly learned everything they know on their own.¡± Shanks turned to Makino in shock as he asked, ¡°He really doesn¡¯t have a master?¡± 00031. Watch your words. Marcus awoke to the sound of singing, laughter and most importantly, the smell of food. He was in Makino¡¯s bar and was placed off to one side, while the rest of the place was packed with people. As Marcus stood up from his resting place someone said, ¡°Hey captain, the kid¡¯s finally awake!¡± Marcus turned to the voice and found a large round man eating a big piece of meat. Before Marcus could completely comprehend what was going on, a hand landed on his shoulder as Shanks said, ¡°Took you long enough. I was starting to think I needed to toss a bucket of water on you to wake you up.¡± Marcus glanced at Shanks as he asked, ¡°How long was I out?¡± ¡°About five hours.¡± Marcus let out a frustrated sigh, he basically wasted his day sleeping. Shanks smiled at him as he said, ¡°Don''t worry about it, you put up a good fight. Are you hungry?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Marcus said as he nodded his head. As Shanks led Marcus to a table laden with food, Marcus thought back on the fight and realized he didn¡¯t really waste his day. He learned more sparring against Shanks then he normally did just training for a week or two. After he sat down and started to eat, Marcus asked, ¡°Where did my brothers go?¡± Shanks poured sake into his cup as he said, ¡°They woke up hours ago and took off after they ate something. But they didn''t mention where they were going.¡± Marcus clicked his tongue before he shoved a big piece of meat into his mouth. As he ate Shanks asked, ¡°So how long have you practiced swordsmanship?¡± ¡°Four or five years¡­ I think.¡± Marcus said after he swallowed his food. Shanks nodded before he asked, ¡°Who taught you?¡± As Marcus picked up a steamed bun he said, ¡°Mostly myself. I''ve been given some pointers from time to time. But I don''t have a master or anything like that.¡± Shanks smiled as he said, ¡°I want you.¡± It was like a switch was flipped as the whole place stopped as everyone looked at Shanks in shock. In the quietness of the bar the only thing that could be heard was Marcus as he chewed on his steamed bun. After Marcus swallowed his first bite he said, ¡°I''m not into creepy old men.¡± The entire room erupted into laughter before Shanks said, ¡°I''m not old¡­ Or creepy!¡± ¡°Then you should take better care of yourself and stop telling young boys that you want them.¡± Marcus said as he tossed the rest of the steamed bun into his mouth. ¡°But I want you to join my crew.¡± Shanks said. ¡°See, now that doesn¡¯t sound as creepy.¡± Shanks nodded before he asked, ¡°So? What do you think?¡± ¡°No.¡± Marcus said before he shoved a piece of meat into his mouth. ¡°What? Why not? I can properly teach you swordsmanship, you could see the world. Plus it will be a lot of fun.¡± Marcus shook his head before he raised one finger as he said, ¡°First off, we just met.¡± Marcus raised another finger as he said, ¡°Second, I have no idea what type of person you are. Who knows if we will even get along.¡± ¡°Third, what makes you think I want to be a pirate in the first place?¡± Marcus said as he raised a third finger. As Marcus raised another finger Shanks said, ¡°Alright, alright, I''ll take that as a no for now.¡± Benn laughed as he patted Shanks shoulder and said, ¡°Looks like people in East Blue don''t like you captain. I remember Yasopp turned you down when you originally tried to recruit him and now this kid is doing the same thing.¡± ¡°Yeah captain, it looks like you lost your charm.¡± Another man said before everyone laughed. ¡°Just because he said no the first time, doesn''t mean he will say no the second or third time. Even Yasopp agreed after a while. ¡± Shanks said with a determined voice. ¡°No means no, old man.¡± Marcus said before he shoved more food in his mouth. ¡°I''m not old! I''m only twenty seven you brat!¡± Shanks said before he downed a full glass of sake. Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°Could have fooled me.¡± A few minutes later Marcus finished eating and stood up to leave as Shanks asked, ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°I slept all day, I need to practice.¡± Shanks grabbed a bottle of sake and stood up as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll join you.¡± As Marcus moved towards the kitchen door that led to the back of the bar before he stopped Shanks and said, ¡°Sorry but customers aren¡¯t allowed back here. You should stay with your friends and party.¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The bar erupted into more laughter as Shanks frowned as he said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to train? I can help you out.¡± ¡°Oh, do you want to spar again?¡± Marcus asked with interest. Shanks shook his head as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve been drinking, I wouldn¡¯t want to accidentally hurt you if we sparred.¡± ¡°Then how do you plan to help me out if you''re drunk, old man?¡± Shanks turned around as he said, ¡°Fine, go practice on your own. See if I care.¡± ¡°I was planning on it.¡± Marcus said as he walked into the back room. Marcus quickly collected his sword, put on his training harness and went out back to train. Since he had a few hours till sunset, he did a quick warm up before he started sword practice. Since he learned so much from his spar with Shanks, Marcus focused on that fight and practiced what he learned from it. Once Marcus started training, he completely lost himself in his training and didn¡¯t notice when Shanks and Benn came out to watch him half an hour later. Shanks and Benn sat on one of the benches behind Makino¡¯s and watched Marcus practice for a while before Benn asked, ¡°Are you sure you want him to join our crew?¡± Shanks smiled as he watched Marcus train before he said, ¡°I think he would be a good fit. Plus look at him right now. He is already incorporating what he learned from our spar into his fighting style. The kid is a genius.¡± Benn studied Marcus for a while before he said, ¡°But he doesn¡¯t seem to like you.¡± ¡°Maybe¡­ But like he said, he just doesn¡¯t know me yet.¡± Shanks stood up as he said, ¡°Lets head back in and let him practice.¡± Marcus practiced till Makino called him inside to eat dinner. When he walked into the back of the bar he found Ace, Sabo, Luffy and a worn out Uta at the table as they waited for Makino to bring food. Marcus took a seat as he said, ¡°You should have woken me up to train.¡± ¡°We tried, but after a couple of times we gave up.¡± Ace said with a shrug. Marcus nodded before he turned to look at Uta and asked, ¡°Why are you here? Shouldn¡¯t you be out with your dad and his friends?¡± Uta crossed her arms over her chest as she said, ¡°I was invited.¡± Marcus glanced at the others before he followed their gaze to Luffy. Luffy smiled as he said, ¡°She trained with us today since you were asleep.¡± ¡°Really? Did you give her a harness?¡± As the boys shook their heads Uta said, ¡°Harness? That ugly thing all of you wear? There¡¯s no way I would ever wear something like that. It¡¯s gross.¡± As Makino brought in food and started to place it on the table Marcus said, ¡°It¡¯s not meant to be pretty. It was designed to make you stronger.¡± ¡°How can something like that make you stronger?¡± Uta asked as he glanced at the harness Marcus wore. ¡°It makes you feel like your whole body is moving through thick mud. And if you use it long enough you get stronger.¡± Marcus said with a shrug. ¡°That doesn''t make any sense.¡± As Marcus reached over to load food onto his plate he said, ¡°You''re right, it doesn''t. But it doesn''t need to, as long as it works. We can let you try one for yourself tomorrow if you want.¡± ¡°No way, they''re too ugly to wear.¡± Uta said as she frowned in disgust. Marcus chuckled before he said, ¡°It''s fine, you wouldn''t even be able to last a day if you wore one anyway.¡± ¡°I can too!¡± ¡°Really? You wanna bet on that?¡± Marcus asked with a smile. ¡°Yeah, what do I get when I win?¡± Uta asked excitedly. Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°I like your confidence, so I¡¯ll let you choose.¡± ¡°I want a pretty necklace and it better have a ruby in it.¡± Uta said. ¡°And what do we get if we win?¡± ¡°I can give you some of the treasure I have on the ship.¡± Uta said after a few moments. ¡°We don¡¯t need treasure. How about you make your dad spar with us a couple more times?¡± Marcus said as he shared a glance with Ace and Sabo. Uta nodded before she smiled and said, ¡°I can do that, no problem.¡± Marcus reached over to shake Uta¡¯s hand as he said, ¡°Let''s shake on it then.¡± After they shook hands everyone started to eat dinner except for Luffy, who started as soon as food was on the table. Once they finished dinner, Marcus went back outside to train while Uta and the other boys stayed in the bar. A couple hours later Ace and the others came out of the bar to go to the bathhouse. But it wasn¡¯t just them, it turned out Shanks and his crew planned to join them along with Makino. After Marcus put away his stuff, he joined the others as they went to the bathhouse. Once there they split into two groups, since Makino and Uta went to the woman''s side of the bathhouse. As they soaked in the slightly over crowded main tub after getting cleaned off. Shanks, who had a bottle of sake in his hand said, ¡°This place is great, it would be great if we had something like this on the ship.¡± Benn, who had his head laid back on the side of the tub with a towel that covered his eyes said, ¡°We should talk to the shipwrights in water seven when we get there. I am pretty sure they could make something similar for the next ship.¡± Shanks took a drink from his bottle before he said, ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t drink in here! What if you spill it?¡± Marcus said. ¡°Sake in the bath is a time honored tradition. You¡¯ll understand when you''re older.¡± Shanks said before he passed the bottle to another crew mate who nodded in agreement before he took a drink himself. The large round guy from the crew, Lucky Roux swung a big piece of meat around as he said, ¡°Exactly!¡± ¡°What the hell! Don¡¯t bring food into the bath!¡± Marcus said in annoyance. ¡°Uh? If I don¡¯t bring in food, how am I going to eat?¡± Lucky asked before he took a bite. ¡°YOU DON¡¯T EAT FOOD IN THE BATH HOUSE!¡± Everyone else yelled at the same time. Before they kicked him out of the bath. With Lucky gone, it actually freed up a good bit of space, so everyone was able to relax properly. After they finished at the bathhouse everyone decided to head back to the bar. As they walked back Marcus glanced at Uta as he said, ¡°If you plan to win that bet, you better get up early tomorrow.¡± Uta nodded seriously as she said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, I always get up early.¡± Makino patted Uta¡¯s shoulder as she said, ¡°You can stay in the spare room tonight if you want.¡± Uta nodded happily as she said, ¡°Thanks big sis!¡± Once they made it back to the bar, Marcus and the other boys headed to bed while Shanks and his crew moved back into the bar to drink more. Marcus wasn¡¯t sure if Uta herself went to bed or not, but it didn¡¯t matter to him. He planned to wake her up in the morning Garp style, if she wasn¡¯t up by the time he went to find her. 00032. A new training partner. To say that Uta''s day was terrible would be a massive understatement. First she was woken up by a bucket of ice water being poured over her head. Then she was forced to wear that ugly suit the boys gave her, which made it feel like she was moving through thick mud. That seemed bad at first, but then they forced her to join them in training. No that wasn''t correct, it wasn''t actually training¡­ It was hell. Lunch was over an hour away and Uta was dead on her feet. She could barely move and yet the boys said this was a toned down version of their daily routine. As she watched them, she couldn''t think of how this could possibly be any harder than it already was. As Uta attempted to move again, her body trembled slightly. She stopped moving and tried to stay on her feet, but it was too much and she collapsed to the ground in a heap. Marcus glanced over to her and called out, ¡°Uta! Are you okay?¡± When she didn¡¯t respond he looked at the others and said, ¡°I thought she would at least make it to lunch.¡± Ace shrugged as he said, ¡°Let''s take her back and then do our normal routine until lunch.¡± With a nod of agreement from the others, the boys removed her training harness. Before they carried Uta back to Makino¡¯s where they found Shanks and his crew. As they entered the bar, Shanks was the first to react as he said, ¡°Oh, you guys came back¡­ What happened to Uta!¡± The bar quieted down as Shanks moved towards Uta to check on her before Marcus said, ¡°She''ll be fine. She just passed out from exhaustion.¡± The other boys nodded along before Ace said, "She just needs to eat and to get a goodnight''s sleep.¡± Shanks gently picked up Uta as he said, ¡°How did it happen? Wasn''t she supposed to be playing with all of you?¡± ¡°Playing? We took her out to train.¡± Shanks glanced down at Uta and frowned slightly as he said, ¡°Training? She told me last night you were going out to play together today.¡± Ace shook his head as he said, ¡°We only really mess around on our days off.¡± Benn came next to the group as he asked, ¡°You took Uta out to train? So you were sparring with each other?¡± ¡°We normally spar after lunch.¡± Ace said. ¡°If you weren''t sparring, what were you doing?¡± Benn asked. Ace turned to leave as he said, ¡°A toned down version of our workout routine, so Uta could keep up. We still need to finish before we eat lunch if you want to see what it is.¡± Shank¡¯s handed Uta over to Makino so she could let her rest in the spare room, while he joined Benn to watch the boys train. The boys led them away from the village around the coast a little ways to one of their training areas. Once they arrived, the boys each went to pick up a tree trunk and started to do squats. Both Benn and Shanks could only stare in opened mouth amazement as they watched the boys go through a crazy workout routine. After a while Benn finally asked, ¡°What the hell is up with these kids? Why are they doing something like this?¡± ¡°No idea.¡± They ended up watching them till it was time for lunch and when the boys came close Shanks asked, ¡°You made Uta do something like that?¡± ¡°We taught her our old routine since it¡¯s easy. But the training harness made it impossible for her to complete it.¡± Marcus said as they headed back to Makinos. Shanks studied the thing the boys wore before he asked, ¡°Where did you even get that thing from and what does it do?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°Grandpa gave them to us. I think he said someone named Vegapunk made them for the marines. As for what it does¡­ It makes everything harder to do.¡± ¡°Why do you even train like that in the first place?¡± Shanks asked. ¡°Gramps. He wants us to get stronger and tests us every time he visits.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s your grandpa?¡± Benn asked. ¡°Monkey D. Garp. Or better known as the marine hero Garp.¡± Marcus said with a smile as he looked at Ben and Shanks. Both Benn and Shanks froze as their eyes widened and mouths dropped open. Shanks recovered first as he said, ¡°You¡¯re related to Garp!?¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Yup.¡± Marcus said as the other boys nodded. Benn glanced at Shanks as he asked, ¡°Maybe we should find another place in East Blue to make our temporary base?¡± Shanks shook his head as he said, ¡°No, we should be fine. If we end up running into Garp we can just run away.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t need to worry about Grandpa. He left a couple weeks ago and won¡¯t be back for at least a year or longer.¡± Marcus said. The other boys nodded as Ace said, ¡°He normally shows up to train us for a few weeks to a month and then disappears for a year.¡± ¡°That explains a few things.¡± Shanks said. Marcus looked at Shanks as he said, ¡°Oh yeah. Uta lost the bet so be ready to spar with us today after lunch.¡± ¡°Uh? What are you talking about?¡± Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°Uta made a bet with us and lost. She promised that you would spar with us a few times if she lost.¡± ¡°Just because Uta made that bet, doesn¡¯t mean I agreed to it.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to recruit me? I don¡¯t think I could join the crew of someone who doesn¡¯t honor their bets.¡± Marcus said as he crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°I didn¡¯t make the bet!¡± Marcus nodded before he said, ¡°But Uta is your daughter and crew member. Which makes her actions your responsibility. Which means you still need to honor the bet.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Shanks let out a sigh before he said, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do it. But only once a week. We mostly came to East Blue to relax and recruit someone.¡± ¡°Pleasure doing business with you.¡± Marcus said with a smile. After they arrived back at the bar, they ate lunch with the pirates before Shanks took them outside to spar. This time Shanks took a little longer with everyone but still knocked them out in the end. Although he actually gave some pointers to Marcus this time during their spar instead of just fighting with him. Marcus soaked up everything he was taught like a thirsty sponge and made good progress before he was knocked out. The rest of the day ended up passing quickly and while Uta was disappointed in what happened. She decided she was going to train with the boys going forward. With Uta joining them, they decided to switch up their training routine so she could handle it easier. The boys still pushed themselves to their limits with extra weights, while Uta did the same thing as them with just the harness. Within a week she was able to last a full day of training and not collapse early. Life settled into a new routine for everyone for about a month before Shanks and his crew planned to set off again. They planned to travel around East Blue a bit and see everything while they were here. Since that was the case, Uta joined the crew on the ship and the boys went back to training. Although Uta left, she took her training harness with her and used it everyday to practice on the ship. It was about two weeks later when Garp showed up out of the blue early in the morning right before breakfast. It was the boy''s day off and Marcus was outside alone on the beach watching the sunrise when he appeared. Marcus noticed him and said, ¡°Hey Grandpa. What brought you back so early?¡± ¡°You did.¡± ¡°Really? Did you miss your favorite grandson that much?¡± Marcus asked with a cheesy smile. Garp punched Marcus over the head as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t get cheeky with me you brat!¡± Marcus rubbed the top of his head as he said, ¡°Am I not your favorite?¡± Garp crossed his arms over his chest as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t have a favorite, you¡¯re all equal.¡± ¡°Anyways, it¡¯s almost breakfast time. Let''s go eat since I only have an hour or so before I have to leave.¡± Garp said. As Marcus moved to follow Garp he asked, ¡°Only an hour? What happened?¡± ¡°Nothing important. I just took care of something in North Blue and stopped by here afterwards.¡± Garp said. At the mention of North Blue Marcus¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he asked, ¡°North Blue? I thought you stayed in the New World most of the time?¡± ¡°I went to check on that thing you told me about.¡± ¡°It really happened?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Pretty much what you said. I found that little traitor and killed him. Then I rescued a couple people.¡± Garp said with a shrug. ¡°Oh¡­ Did that weird fruit appear too?¡± Garp pulled out a newspaper and handed it to Marcus as he said, ¡°Yeah.¡± Marcus glanced at the paper, it was a couple weeks old and one of the few he didn¡¯t read. The cover talked about the Ope Ope no Mi and a deal to buy it. It even showed a picture of the fruit. Marcus skimmed over the article before he asked, ¡°So everything really happened?¡± ¡°As far as I can tell.¡± Marcus folded the newspaper up as he asked, ¡°What happened to the people you rescued?¡± ¡°I had to leave one of them in North Blue, but the other two are on my ship.¡± Garp said as they made it to Makino¡¯s. Marcus glanced at Garp as he asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you rescue them? Why did you leave someone behind?¡± ¡°That kid ate that fruit and doesn¡¯t have the power to protect himself, so I hid him on a random island and told him to keep his power hidden.¡± Marcus was surprised by the answer so he asked, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t he be safe if he joined the marines?¡± ¡°No, there are too many outside factors when dealing with that fruit. Only me, you and one other person knows he has that fruit, so as long as he hides properly he should be fine.¡± Garp said. As they walked into the back dining room Luffy said, ¡°What?! Why are you back already?!¡± Garp appeared next to Luffy a moment later who was on the ground as he said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you, why can¡¯t you treat your loving grandpa better!¡± ¡°What kinda grandpa hits their grandkids?¡± Luffy asked as he rubbed his head. Garp picked up Luffy by his collar as he said, ¡°The kind who loves his grandsons!¡± Before he punched Luffy again, as he said, ¡°What kinda grandson doesn¡¯t greet his grandpa with respect?¡± ¡°AAAAAAHHH, HELP! SOMEONE HELP!¡± Luffy yelled out as Garp pummeled the top of his head. 00033. Worlds greatest dad. A few weeks after Garp left, Shanks and his crew came back to the island to relax. Shanks and his crew mostly stayed around the Goa Kingdom area and took down a couple of other pirate crews during that time. They also took their treasure and even turned in some bounties on a few of them. While Shanks and some of his officers were well known, they still had a few unknown members so they could claim bounties. The day they returned happened to be the boy¡¯s day off from training so when Shanks and the crew entered Makino¡¯s, they found Marcus and the other boy¡¯s playing Spades with a deck of cards. When Shanks noticed Marcus he smiled wide as he asked, ¡°Marcus, do you want to join my crew?¡± ¡°No.¡± Marcus replied without even looking up at Shanks. Benn patted Shanks on the shoulder as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll agree, no matter how many times you ask.¡± Shanks laughed before he said, ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll agree and if he doesn¡¯t. I¡¯ll just ask him again.¡± As the rest of the crew started to pour into the bar, Marcus noticed a familiar person he had yet to properly meet. He stood about six feet tall and his blonde hair was held up by a headband that said Yasopp on it. When he walked in, he was engaged in conversation with Lucky Roux and seemed to be chatting happily with the other man. They ended up sitting at one of the tables right next to the boys and after they sat down ordered drinks. A few minutes after the pirates arrived, Luffy was the first person to wander off. He really enjoyed talking with the pirates and hearing about their adventures. So before they even finished the game they were on he dropped his cards on the table and went to chat with them. Marcus and the others didn¡¯t stop him and ended up having Uta join them as they started a new game. As they played cards and people drank, the atmosphere in the bar turned lively. Conversations and some singing was mostly going on, but at the bar Luffy was seated next to Shanks as he listened with rapt attention to whatever story Shanks was weaving. Marcus smiled slightly since it seemed like even though things had already changed, so things still stayed the same. With the pirates back, Uta joined the boys for training each day. It also seemed like she didn¡¯t slack off when she was away because she could easily last the day now while using her training harness and didn¡¯t pass out anymore. Marcus and the other boys were also able to spar against Shanks again, which helped Marcus improve his swordsmanship yet again. A couple months passed by quickly this time without the pirates leaving the island and while they were here, Luffy became a little obsessed with them. He even started to slack off in training to hang out with them longer each day, he also took off sometimes to go play with Uta. Ace and Sabo didn¡¯t care that much about it since they had goals in mind and planned to be pirates already. Marcus also didn¡¯t mind since he knew this would push Luffy towards his path of wanting to be the pirate king. So while Marcus and the others pushed themselves harder, Luffy ended up lagging behind a bit. On the boy¡¯s next day off, as they sat in the bar playing cards, Yasopp joined them and was chatting with Luffy. He was in the middle of telling Luffy he had a son around his age when Marcus asked, ¡°Where¡¯s your son at?¡± ¡°He is with his mother living in her hometown of Syrup Village.¡± Yasopp said. Marcus glanced towards Yasopp as he asked, ¡°When did you last see him?¡± Yasopp rubbed his chin for a moment before he said, ¡°Years ago. He was still in diapers at the time.¡± Marcus frowned slightly as he asked, ¡°So you haven''t seen him in at least six years?¡± Yasopp took a long drink from his mug before he laughed and then said, ¡°Yeah, that sounds about right.¡± Marcus turned back to the card game as he said in a sarcastic tone, ¡°You sound like a great parent, wish I had someone like you for a dad.¡± Yasopp started to laugh before he froze in place as he realized what Marcus just said. He frowned as he looked at Marcus as he said, ¡°Just because I haven''t seen my wife and son in years, doesn''t mean I don''t love them both.¡± Marcus chuckled slightly before he said, ¡°I can''t believe you have the balls to say that when you haven''t gone back to visit them in years.¡± Yasopp frowned more as he said, ¡°When I made the choice to go out to sea, I did it knowing I wouldn''t go back.¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I hope you at least provided for them, knowing you were never coming back.¡± Marcus said as he laid down a card. Yasopp took a drink from his mug before he slammed it down as he exclaimed, ¡°Of course I did! I left them with enough money that they could live comfortably for a long time.¡± ¡°What about a support structure in case something happens?¡± Yasopp stared at Marcus for a few moments before he asked, ¡°And what''s that supposed to mean?¡± Marcus looked up from his game as he said, ¡°What happens if your wife dies? Who will take care of your kid?¡± ¡°Nothing will happen. She lives in a safe and quiet village.¡± Marcus placed a card down as he said, ¡°You can think that all you want, but unless you go back to check on them, you''ll never know.¡± Yasopp was about to respond when Lucky placed a hand on his shoulder and said, ¡°Stop arguing with the kid.¡± Yasopp glanced at Marcus again before he chugged the rest of his beer and then said, ¡°You''re right¡­ He''s just a kid. What does he know?¡± ¡°More than you apparently.¡± ¡°Shut up, you brat!¡± Yasopp yelled at Marcus. As the others at the table glanced between Yasopp and Marcus, Benn walked over and asked, ¡°What are you two arguing about?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°There''s no argument here, I just pointed out Yasopp''s a bad husband and a terrible father.¡± Yasopp clenched his beer mug tightly before he said, ¡°Just because I followed my dream, doesn''t make me either of those things.¡± ¡°From my point of view it does. What kinda man abandons his family?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Oh yeah? What about you? Where are your parents at, uh?¡± Yasopp asked as if it would disprove Marcus''s early point. Marcus looked up at the ceiling for a few moments before he said, ¡°My mother died protecting me and my brother.¡± Marcus then glanced back towards Yasopp and locked eyes with him as he said, ¡°As for my father, he made the hard choice to send us away. He wanted to protect us, even though that means he isn''t able to raise us himself.¡± A smirk formed on Marcus¡¯s face as he said, ¡°So the difference between my parents and you is like the difference between black water from a swamp and crystal clear water from a fresh spring.¡± ¡°You little¡­¡± Yasopp was cut off as Benn placed a hand over his mouth and said, ¡°He¡¯s just a kid¡­ With a very sharp tongue. So just ignore him.¡± Yasopp frowned slightly before he got up and moved to another table to drink. After he left Benn took his place and said, ¡°You should be a little nicer to people.¡± ¡°I was being nice.¡± Marcus said with a hint of a smile. Benn shook his head before he said, ¡°Well keep in mind if you decide to join the crew, he¡¯ll be one of the people you have to listen to in the future.¡± ¡°Do you and your captain not understand what the word no means?¡± Benn smiled slightly as he said, ¡°Of course we do. But it won¡¯t stop the captain from asking till you say yes.¡± Marcus shook his head as he collected the cards on the table before he started to shuffle them to play another game. As he did that Benn asked, ¡°Care if I join the next game?¡± Marcus glanced at Uta and his brothers who didn¡¯t complain so he delt Benn into the next game. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed besides Yasopp, who sometimes glared at Marcus when he noticed the boy. It seemed like he was still upset at being called out. Marcus didn¡¯t care though, he accomplished a goal today that he always planned to do. While in the original story Usopp was happy and proud of his dad, that didn¡¯t mean what he did was right. Sure Yasopp seemed to have feelings for his son, but the guy was still a shitty parent in the end and Marcus always felt that Yasopp needed someone to take him down a peg because of that. Did he possibly make a powerful enemy out of the guy? Probably not, but they definitely wouldn¡¯t be friends. The next few days passed by pretty quickly with the boys mostly training and Shanks¡¯s crew relaxing in Makino¡¯s. Luffy spent half the time with Shanks and the other half of the time with Uta. He still trained but only in the morning since Shanks and his crew didn¡¯t wake up till noon most days. The best part was Luffy started asking to join Shanks¡¯s crew, but Shanks kept telling him no. But then he would see Marcus and ask him to join the crew, which Marcus would turn down. It was around dinner time one evening when Marcus and the other boys entered the bar and overheard Shanks as he said, ¡°Elegia isn¡¯t hard to get too, it will only take a week or so.¡± Marcus instantly turned towards Shanks and asked, ¡°Are you going to Elegia?¡± Shanks smiled and nodded his head as he said, ¡°Yup. I figured we should check it out since we are in East Blue and it¡¯s close by.¡± ¡°Can me and my brother come?¡± As Shanks started to shake his head no, Marcus said, ¡°Think of it as me testing out your offer to join the crew. My brothers also need more experience sailing so that''s why I want them to come along.¡± Shanks thought it over for a few moments before he said, ¡°I don¡¯t really want to bring a bunch of kids along.¡± Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°But you already take Uta everywhere and you are trying to recruit me too.¡± Shanks nodded along before he said, ¡°I¡¯ll think about it and let you know tomorrow afternoon.¡± 00034. Elegia There was a fresh, salty smell whenever ocean spray filled the air as the ship cut through the waves. Some of it landed on Marcus as he pulled tight the line in his hands. He quickly tied it off with practiced ease to the railing of the ship before the line snapped tight. The wood of the ship groaned near the anchor point for the line as the mainsail pulled it tight and the ship gained more speed. ¡°Marcus! Help readjust the mizzenmast sails.¡± Benn called out from his spot near the helm. Marcus moved towards the aft of the ship and quickly helped the other crew members as they trimmed the sails into the wind to get the best angle to increase the ships speed. Once completed Marcus moved back to his normal position next to the main mast. Since he temporarily joined the crew for their trip to Elegia island, Marcus and his brothers turned into gofers for the crew. As long as something needed to be done that wasn¡¯t important or needed a special skill set, one of the boys would be forced to do it. It wasn¡¯t that bad, all things considered, since it gave them a great chance to learn new skills that were needed on any ship out at sea. Sure a few of the jobs weren¡¯t fun, but it was stuff that needed to be done for a ship to run properly. As for the more technical and skill based things like ship maintenance/repair or navigation. The boys were all given a chance to learn some of the basics from other crew members during the trip and so far it went pretty well. Sure Luffy didn¡¯t learn much, but Marcus, Ace and Sabo took in everything they could from the experience. During the two week trip to Elegia, the voyage was rather tame with almost no other ships to be found. Well they met one merchant ship, but it was only in passing as both ships were headed in opposite directions and neither one wanted to stop. Especially when the other ship realized the other ship was full of pirates. It was on the fifteenth day of the trip that Elegia island came into view and the lookout yelled down, ¡°I see an island six degrees off the port bow!¡± Benn, who was at the helm, turned to port slightly as he yelled out to the crew, ¡°Adjust the sails to maintain speed!¡± Marcus and the other quickly trimmed the sails into the wind before the lookout called out, ¡°The island is now directly ahead. We should reach it in an hour or so if we maintain speed.¡± While the rest of the crew seemed excited at the prospect of reaching the island soon, Marcus felt nervousness in his heart. He knew what was supposed to happen here and really hoped he could change it. But he still held doubts if he could. Sure he was strong for a kid, but he wasn¡¯t that strong compared to the rest of the world. His only real hope was to stick with Uta for the whole trip and make sure she isn''t tricked into performing the Tot Musica. Marcus and his brothers kept busy as the island expanded from a tiny black dot on the horizon into a lush green island. As they closed in on the island, the lookout guided the ship towards the port where they finally docked. Since the ship flew a pirate flag, it looked like the people who lived in the area around the port completely deserted the city next to it. Only a single person greeted them at the edge of the dock. A dignified air hung around the man who wore a white tuxedo like suit as he stood at the end of the dock with a handful of chests next to him. Shanks was one of the first people off the ship and he confidently walked up to the man as he said, ¡°I have to say, this is a pretty unique greeting.¡± The man smiled politely as he said, ¡°Hopefully you aren''t offended by it.¡± Shanks waved it off as he said, ¡°It''s no big deal, but I have to ask why?¡± The man bowed low for a moment as he said, ¡°My name is Gordon and I am the current king of Elegia island.¡± After the man stood back up he adjusted his black sunglasses and pointed at the chests as he said, ¡°This is all the valuables on the island. It was prepared so you don¡¯t have to destroy our homes looking for anything worth monetary value.¡± The man started to sweat a little before he added, ¡°I would also like to humbly request that you don''t harm anyone on the island.¡± Shanks smiled for a moment before he started to laugh, which made Gordon tremble slightly as he started to sweat even more. Shanks moved closer to Gordon and placed a hand on his shoulder before he said, ¡°While I appreciate the offer. We didn''t come here looking for wealth or to hurt anyone.¡± Gordon looked a little relieved but still cautiously asked, ¡°If that''s not your goal, can I ask what is?¡± Shanks smiled wide as he said, ¡°To visit one of the most famous islands known the world over for its love of music!¡± Shanks turned around, placed his arm over the man''s shoulder and pulled him a little closer like they were best friends as he said, ¡°Me and the crew love music, so we wanted to visit this place while we had the chance. Isn''t that right everyone?¡± The entire crew erupted into cheers before they started to sing happily as they finished docking the ship properly. Gordon was taken back slightly but hesitantly smiled as he said, ¡°If that''s the case let me welcome you again to Elegia, the island of musicians. We might not be rich in material wealth, but we''re never lacking in music or entertainment.¡± After Gordon went to get the citizens who were hidden outside of the city. The awkward atmosphere quickly disappeared and the town turned into a lively place filled with people. A unique feature of the city was the amount of small open air theaters where people could perform for the public. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. They were spaced a certain distance apart so that the music played in one didn''t affect any of the other ones. But they were close enough that you never stopped hearing some type of music being played as you walked around the city. The city was also cleverly designed so that the music reflected around the area of each theater. The design made it so no matter where you were in relation to that specific theater, the music volume never changed. If you were close or far it all stayed the same volume. But once you passed the boundary to the next theater area, the music instantly changed like you turned the dial on a radio. It was strange at first but everyone quickly adapted to the unique environment. It was ingenious honestly and Marcus seemed to be the only one interested in how it worked as they explored the town. His brothers just happily explored the new and different environment, while Uta enjoyed all the new types of music. Another thing Marcus noticed was any group or person who performed had to have a certain level of skill. Not a single theater they visited had a bad or even mediocre level performance going on. After a few hours of wandering around, Marcus and the others headed back towards the port. It was the area where Shanks told them to come back so they could eat lunch together. Well it was more for Uta then the boys, but the boys would never turn down a free meal. So Marcus and his brothers just invited themselves when they heard about it. The lunch was held in one of the bigger restaurants in town and the king along with a few other people were there. The main feature of this particular restaurant was a stage where a band played music while guest ate. There was also a small dance floor in front of the stage, in case people wished to dance as they waited for their food. Marcus and the other boys sat at a long table as they happily stuffed their faces. Next to them sat Gordon who was in the middle of a conversation with Shanks as they politely ate their meal. Shanks took a drink from his mug before he asked, ¡°So how long have you been the king of Elegia?¡± ¡°Almost a year now.¡± ¡°Sorry for your loss.¡± Shanks said. Gordon looked slightly confused as he asked, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Oh, sorry. I might have misunderstood what you meant. I thought you took over recently because a relative passed away.¡± Shanks said with a slightly awkward smile. Gordon chuckled slightly before he said, ¡°Being the ruler of Elegia is a lot different from other places. On other islands being a ruler is determined through birth, blood or other more complicated means. You also have duties and obligations to take care of your subjects.¡± Gordon smiled as he looked at both of his hands and said, ¡°To be the ruler of Elegia you must be considered the best musician. It''s a title mostly for bragging rights, but like you saw today, it is also used in certain situations.¡± Uta perked up at that as she asked, ¡°Really? So I could become the queen of Elegia if I wanted?¡± Gordon nodded slightly as he said, ¡°There are rules and requirements you must meet to qualify. But if you pass them you can challenge the current ruler to a music duel.¡± Uta''s eyes lit up but before she could ask more about the process Gordon said, ¡°One of the requirements is you must be a resident of the island for at least a year to even start the challenge ritual.¡± As Uta started to frown, Gordon said, ¡°While you lack the qualifications to start it, you can at least see what a challenge ritual looks like tonight if you want.¡± Uta looked towards Shanks as she asked excitedly, ¡°Can we go? Please? I really wanna watch it.¡± Shanks patted Uta on the head as he said, ¡°Sure, if it¡¯s not a big deal.¡± Gordon smiled wide as he said, ¡°Of course not! It¡¯s held at the island''s main concert theater. Even if the island had three times its current population, it still wouldn¡¯t be close to being filled!¡± Later that night Gordon was proved to be right. The island''s main concert hall was massive, it was larger than a football stadium. When Marcus asked why, Gordon explained that twice a year they would hold massive concert events and that people from all over the world would come to watch. He wasn¡¯t lying when he said it was an island famous for its musicians. Currently the stadium was only about one fifth full with the entire island''s population being the majority. Shanks¡¯s full crew was in attendance along with a handful of other visitors who were also staying on the island. As for the challenge ritual itself, it wasn¡¯t that complicated. The challenger had to have a few things to even qualify in the first place, so they didn¡¯t waste everyone''s time. First they needed to be extremely skilled in music, and have composed at least five original songs. Next they needed the recognition of at least six other accomplished musicians on the island. Once they had all of that out of the way, they could make a formal challenge to the current ruler. The challenge ritual itself was basically a concert battle between the two people. The opening act was the six people who vouched for the challenger, each one performed one music piece each. Then the challenger would come up and play a handful of songs to prove they were worthy of making a challenge. Then the current ruler would come out and play a few songs in defense of their title. After that the challenger and defending ruler would go back and forth playing different songs for up to an hour. Afterwards the audience decided on who was the winner. Even though Marcus wasn¡¯t that excited about the whole thing at the start. Once Gordon and the challenger started to battle it out with songs he found it rather enjoyable. Gordon was an amazingly skilled pianist and his challenger played the violin like the devil. The duel actually went over by half an hour and by the time it ended both Gordon and the challenger were drenched in perspiration. Marcus was so caught up in the whole thing that when he turned to ask Uta what she thought, he found her missing. For a moment Marcus froze in his seat as he tried to remember if Uta said anything about leaving. A moment later he felt a slight tremor, it was faint, but he definitely felt it. As Marcus¡¯s heart rate spiked, he jumped out of his seat and asked, ¡°Did anyone see where Uta went?¡± Shanks glanced over at Marcus to tease the boy, but when he saw the panicked look on the boy''s face he asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong Marcus?¡± ¡°We need to find Uta! We need to find her right now!¡± ¡°Settle down Marcus, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be back in just a moment.¡± Shanks said before another tremor shook the concert hall. This time it wasn¡¯t faint like the last one and everyone took notice of it. 00035. Tot Musica After the tremor finished Marcus said, ¡°You don''t understand, if we don''t find Uta. Everyone on the island will die.¡± Benn, who was seated in the row behind, placed a hand on Marcus''s shoulder as he asked, ¡°What makes you say that?¡± ¡°I saw it in a dream.¡± Shanks and some of the others started to laugh before Shanks said, ¡°A dream? I thought you were actually serious for a moment.¡± The ground trembled as the whole concert theater shook slightly before Marcus said, ¡°It''s fine if you don''t believe me, but I need to find Uta. If you don''t want to help, then at least try to protect the people here.¡± As Marcus started to walk past Shanks, His brothers got up to join him as Ace said, ¡°Hold on, we''ll come and help.¡± Shanks glanced at Benn as he said, ¡°Even if Marcus is wrong about his dream, Uta should have come back by now. Take some people and go look for her.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± Benn asked as he pointed out some people to help him search for Uta. Shanks rested a hand on his sword as he said, ¡°I''ll stay here to help out just in case.¡± As the building shook again people started to look around in concern. It still wasn''t that bad, but each time it happened it got worse. Gordon, who was still on the stage, tried to calm everyone down as he said in a loud voice that carried throughout the concert hall, ¡°It seems like we are experiencing a minor earthquake. I would like everyone to please follow the ushers''s instructions and leave the concert hall in an orderly fashion.¡± As people started to get up and move towards the exit, Marcus and his brothers rushed past them. Marcus had no idea where Uta might be, but he headed towards the backstage area of the theater first. Gordon noticed the boys as they got close and said, ¡°Turn around, the exit is the other way.¡± ¡°We need to find Uta first, she went missing.¡± Marcus said. ¡°Oh¡­ Well, head outside first. I¡¯ll look for her myself.¡± Gordon said as he moved towards the edge of the stage. One of the ushers near the front of the stage who was directing people towards the exit overheard the conversation and asked, ¡°Are you talking about that young girl with the red and white hair?¡± ¡°Yeah. Have you seen her?¡± Marcus asked hopefully. The usher nodded and pointed towards a door as he said, ¡°She went in there a little while ago.¡± As Marcus glanced towards the door, Gordon who just dropped down from the stage asked, ¡°That leads towards the back stage, why did you let her go in there?¡± "You normally allow the guests you invite to visit after the concert, so I didn''t bother to stop her.¡± The man said as Marcus rushed towards the door followed by his brothers. Just before they passed through it Gordon called out, ¡°Wait! Head towards the exit, I''ll go find Uta for you instead.¡± ¡°We don''t have time for that.¡± Marcus said as he disappeared through the doorway and the building shook a little harder. Gordon let out a sigh before he moved towards the door and quickly followed behind the boys. Marcus and the others started to move through the backstage area as they called out for Uta and searched. As they did the building shook more often and parts of the plaster walls and ceilings broke apart. Gordon dodged a piece before he said, ¡°I don''t think she is here. Let''s head outside, it''s starting to get dangerous.¡± Marcus glanced over his shoulder as he asked, ¡°Is there an exit to the building here?¡± Gordon shook his head as he said, ¡°The back of the concert hall is built into the bedrock of the surrounding hills. The closest exit is almost two hundred feet from here.¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°Then we''ll leave after we search all the rooms here. We need to make sure she isn''t here.¡± Gordon wanted to stop the boys and drag them out of the place. But he realized even if he tried, he would only be able to handle two of them at once, not all four. With that in mind he decided to help them quickly search the place instead, so they could leave faster. Marcus and the others went room by room as they searched for Uta. The boys seemed to easily dodge anything that fell or collapsed next to them, while Gordon took a few hits. He was lucky though, since it was all just small chunks of plaster and only left him covered in dust. After they finished the last room Ace said, ¡°Looks like she really isn''t here.¡± ¡°Good, then let''s head outside.¡± Gordon said. Marcus let out a defeated sigh. He hoped Uta would be back here somewhere to make this quick. But it looked like she went somewhere else, which would make everything harder. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Marcus glanced around one more time as a massive tremor shook the building. Everyone was thrown off their feet this time as part of the building ripped apart. A large crack formed on the back wall that went from the floor to the ceiling before it expanded wider. As everyone stood back up, Marcus glanced at the massive crack in the wall. Marcus noticed something weird about it and as he moved to examine it, Gordon said, ¡°Alright, let''s hurry up and head outside.¡± Marcus stood next to the opening as he looked inside it. It seemed to be some sort of brick lined tunnel that was shadowed in darkness. Marcus glanced over his shoulder as he asked, ¡°Why is there a tunnel back here?¡± Gordon, who was trying to gather up the brothers, glanced up to look at it before he said, ¡°That''s part of the old sub basement, back before they remodeled the building. It''s been sealed ever since and that was over a hundred years ago.¡± Marcus glanced around quickly before he jumped up on a table and ripped a lantern off the wall. As he jumped back down and headed for the tunnel Gordon asked, ¡°What do you think you''re doing?¡± Marcus turned around as he stood next to the crack and pointed at it as he said, ¡°Uta has to be in there.¡± ¡°That''s impossible, the entrances are sealed up.¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°Maybe. But my gut is telling me she''s down there and I plan to find her.¡± Marcus glanced at his brother''s as he asked, ¡°You guys up for exploring a mysterious tunnel?¡± Luffy¡¯s eyes lit up as he rushed forward and said, ¡°Let''s go!¡± Ace smirked before he ripped a lantern off the wall as he said, ¡°Not really, but I''ll come along to keep you idiots safe.¡± Marcus dropped down into the tunnel as he said, ¡°I don''t need you to keep me safe and I''m definitely not Luffy.¡± Luffy dropped down into the tunnel as he picked his nose and said, ¡°Of course you''re not me. You''re Marcus.¡± Sabo dropped into the tunnel holding another lantern as he said, ¡°Never change, Luffy.¡± As Marcus glanced to the left and right Gordon dropped down into the tunnel with another lantern. He glared at Marcus as he said, ¡°She won''t be down here.¡± ¡°A million bellys.¡± Marcus said as he studied the tunnel for a moment as another tremor hit. Gordon used one hand on the wall to steady himself before he asked, ¡°What are you talking about.¡± Marcus started to move down the hallway to the right as he said, ¡°I bet you a million belly she''s down here.¡± Gordon frowned before he asked, ¡°Why are you heading that way?¡± ¡°It slopes downwards in this direction. If she is here, she will be near the bottom of this place.¡± ¡°That doesn''t make any sense.¡± Gordon said as he followed the boys deeper into the tunnel. Marcus picked up his pace as he said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t need to.¡± As they moved down the tunnel, it turned right every few hundred feet. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact the grade was so shallow, they would be a couple hundred feet underground. Instead they were only about twenty feet underneath the theater after walking for about ten minutes. Marcus had no idea who created the place, but a simple set of stairs would have been a way better time and money investment than the tunnel they were currently in. While they traveled through it, the tremors became worse and more frequent as the walls around them groaned. Some of the bricks even started to break apart as long thin cracks formed in the tunnel. Marcus eyed some of the larger cracks as he increased his pace again and started to jog through the tunnel. When they turned another corner, something finally changed as dim light shined ahead of them. When they were about halfway down the new stretch of tunnel, a massive tremor hit and everyone was knocked off their feet. As Marcus and the others attempted to get back up, a loud boom went off. A moment later a shockwave along with a cloud of dust flew up the tunnel towards them. It slammed into them like a wall and swept everyone off their feet again. They each flew more than thirty feet before they crashed into the ground as the air was knocked out of them. Marcus struggled to inhale as everything around him went deathly silent. As Marcus was sprawled out on the ground he heard Uta singing as he sucked in a ragged breath. He forced himself to get up and started to move down the tunnel again as he tried to steady his breathing. As Marcus arrived at the end of the tunnel he found Uta as she stood in the middle of a room. Well, it used to be a room. The room was at least thirty feet underground, but there was no longer anything that blocked the view to outside. Rubble from the room itself, chairs from the theater and other stuff covered most of the room as dust hung heavy in the air. Uta stood in the middle of it all, wrapped in a weird smoke filled barrier as she sang as if she was in a trance. Marcus moved out of the tunnel into the room and glanced around for a moment. The sky above was filled with stars but nothing else currently, so he let out a breath he didn¡¯t realize he was holding. He moved toward Uta as he yelled, ¡°Uta! Stop singing!¡± Uta didn¡¯t respond, lost in whatever trance she was in. Marcus frowned as he moved closer but once he reached the barrier he couldn¡¯t move closer to her. The blue and black smoked-filled barrier swirled around Uta and attacked as a shield that protected her from the outside world. Marcus slammed on it as he said, ¡°Uta you need to stop singing! Uta, if you can hear me, fight it and try to stop singing!¡± ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Ace asked as he pushed on the shield. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter right now, we just need to stop Uta from singing before things get worse." Gordon glanced around in worry as another tremor shook the area. As the tremor went off the smoke grew bigger and Marcus noticed three skulls that appeared to flicker in and out of existence above Uta, along with piano keys. Marcus punched the shield hard once the tremor stopped and he regained his balance as he said, ¡°Everyone help me. We need to wake her up.¡± The others weren¡¯t exactly sure what was going on, but each of them started to bang on the shield as they yelled at Uta to stop. ¡°Uta, wake up!¡± Marcus said. ¡°Young girl, it¡¯s dangerous. Stop singing and let''s leave this place.¡± Gordon said. ¡°Stop singing and let''s go eat meat, Uta!¡± Luffy said. Nothing worked as another tremor shook the area and forced everyone to stop for a moment. Above them for a brief moment a large monster appeared cloaked in shadow. Marcus¡¯s heart sank as the monster''s ghoulish face glanced down at him with a twisted grin on its face before its hand reached for him. Then the monster was gone as if it never existed as the tremor stopped. Marcus¡¯s heart was beating like crazy as he stared at the spot just in front of himself where the hand just was. He wasn¡¯t sure what would have happened if he was touched, but he was sure it wouldn¡¯t have been good. 00036. Someone’s in trouble. As everyone pounded on the barrier, Uta kept singing. When the tremor happened again Marcus paid close attention to the monster that flickered in and out of existence above them. A few moments after the tremor finished, Benn landed next to everyone before he asked, ¡°What the hell is going on here?¡± Marcus glanced back at Benn as he said, ¡°We need to get Uta to stop singing before she summons that monster completely.¡± Benn looked at Uta, she stood rigidly and her eyes were lifeless as she sang. He pushed against the barrier to test it, but even though it was soft, it didn''t budge at all. He then pulled back and punched the barrier with everything he had. When the barrier didn''t respond at all Benn frowned. As another tremor shook the area Marcus said, ¡°Watch out for the monster above Uta.¡± Benn glanced up and his blood ran cold as the monster flickered into existence again. It was large, easily thirty feet tall and about double that wide if it spread out its arms. The creature''s red ghoulish face with its twisted grin made Benn¡¯s skin crawl when it focused on him. He quickly pulled out his gun on his waist and shot the creature, only for the bullet to fly through its head. Its face didn''t change but Benn swore the monster seemed to be gloating at him. A moment later the tremor stopped and it disappeared again. Marcus, who never stopped pounding on the barrier, said, ¡°Try to shoot the barrier.¡± Benn studied the barrier for a moment before he aimed his gun at the barrier. He made sure it was facing away from Uta before he pulled the trigger. The barrier actually responded this time and deformed slightly but quickly reformed a moment later as the bullet dropped to the ground. Benn frowned slightly as he shot the barrier a couple more times in a row. The barrier deformed with each bullet but quickly reformed to its original state. As Benn started to reload his gun he said, ¡°This might work, but we will need more guns.¡± ¡°Try hitting it with haki.¡± Marcus said as he continued to punch on the barrier. Benn was caught off guard and looked over to Marcus as he asked, ¡°What?¡± Marcus shared a glance with Benn as he said, ¡°Haki. I assumed you could use it.¡± ¡°How do you know about that?¡± ¡°My grandpa is Garp.¡± Marcus said with a shrug as if that explained everything. Ace, who was close by, asked, ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°I''ll explain it later, keep punching.¡± Marcus said. Benn watched Marcus as he reloaded his gun before he placed it back in his belt. He then pulled back his hand and concentrated his haki into his fist. Marcus watched closely but didn''t notice anything as Benn slammed his fist into the barrier. While it looked like a normal punch, the barrier actually reacted and deformed greatly. Marcus smiled at the sight before he said, ¡°Great, keep going!¡± Before the barrier could reform, Benn punched the barrier again in the same spot. This time it didn''t deform as much but tiny cracks formed around the area. Benn smashed into a few more times and the cracks spread across the barrier with each hit. As Benn pulled back for another blow, another tremor shook the area and the monster appeared again. It let out a musical note filled growl as it swiped its arm down at Benn. Benn, who was mid swing when it happened, didn''t have a chance to dodge. Marcus who stood next to Benn reacted instead and jumped in front of the attack to block it. As Benn¡¯s fist smashed into the barrier, the monster''s hand slammed into Marcus. The barrier shattered into pieces at the same time Marcus felt pain explode across his back. Marcus''s timely block and Benn¡¯s forward momentum caused the monster to miss its original target as its arm swiped past by. Benn stumbled forward next to Uta as Marcus flew across the room and slammed into the wall. The monster let out a frustrated scream of music notes as Benn grabbed Uta and covered her mouth. As soon as Uta stopped singing, the monster flickered once before it disappeared with a wail. As Uta collapsed into Benn¡¯s arms, Ace, Sabo and Luffy yelled out, ¡°Marcus!¡± They all ran quickly to where Marcus was and found him covered in blood as he inhaled a ragged breath. Ace who arrived first kneeled down next to Marcus as he said, ¡°You idiot! What do you think you were doing?¡± Marcus''s eyes were hazy and unfocused as he asked in a shaky voice, ¡°Is. Uta. Okay?¡± Benn, who just arrived and held Uta in a princess carry said, ¡°Yeah, she''s just passed out.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Marcus said as he smiled slightly before his eyes shut and his body completely collapsed. ¡°Marcus!¡± His three concerned brothers yelled out. ¡°Let me carry him, we need to get him to a doctor.¡± Gordon said as he moved closer to Marcus. vvvvv Marcus awoke to a gentle humming coming from somewhere next to him. His eyes slowly opened and as he tried to look around he couldn''t see anything properly, everything was blurry. He attempted to clean the sleep from his eyes, but found he couldn''t move his arms at all. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. He then tried to say something but only a horse croak escaped his parched throat. The humming immediately stopped and an excited voice said, ¡°Marcus, you''re awake! Hold on, I''ll get Hongo.¡± Marcus saw a blurr leave the room and after a few minutes a stream of blurs entered the room as he heard his brothers say, ¡°Marcus, you''re finally up!¡± ¡°Hey, get back, let me check him over first.¡± A man said before Marcus felt someone touching his chest. The man touched certain places on his upper body and after a few minutes he said, ¡°His collapsed lung seems to be healing properly. You can talk with him for a little while, but afterwards he needs to rest.¡± A blurry face instantly appeared over his face and said, ¡°Marcus you missed over nine meals!¡± The face was pulled away as Ace said, ¡°Shut up Luffy, he isn''t you.¡± Marcus smiled as he attempted to say, ¡®Thanks for your concern Luffy.¡¯ But all that came out was a slight croak before he started to cough. ¡°Hold on a minute and I''ll give you something to soothe your throat.¡± After a moment someone lifted his head slightly and helped him drink something that had a hint of lemon and honey. They did it a few more times until they said, ¡°That should do it.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Marcus said in his normal yet currently weak voice. ¡°Don''t worry about it kid. Now hurry up and talk with your brothers because I''m going to kick them out in five minutes.¡± ¡°Sure thing doc.¡± Marcus said with a hint of a smile. Marcus tried to move his arms again and when he couldn''t he asked, ¡°Could anyone tell me why I can''t move my arms and why my vision is so blurry?¡± ¡°Both of your eyes are still mostly swollen shut and your arms are broken.¡± The man who checked out his chest said. ¡°Alright, that explains the dull throb I feel in them.¡± Marcus said. ¡°Oh, looks like the painkillers are starting to wear off, I''ll give you more after I kick everyone out.¡± Ace moved next to Marcus and asked, ¡°What the hell was that? Were you trying to get yourself killed?¡± ¡°Benn was our best chance to save Uta before that thing was fully released. So I wanted to give him as much time as possible to do it.¡± Marcus said as he tried and failed to shrug his shoulders. ¡°But you almost died, you idiot. Do you have any idea how much you made Luffy cry?¡± Ace said. ¡°You and Sabo cried too!¡± Luffy said as he tried to defend himself. ¡°Not as much as you, cry baby.¡± Sabo said. Marcus smiled before he said, ¡°I''m sorry for making you guys worried.¡± ¡°If you are, then don''t do something so stupid next time.¡± Ace said. ¡°Is trying to help out a friend considered stupid now?¡± ¡°It is when you almost die from it!¡± Ace said in a frustrated tone. ¡°Then I guess I¡¯m gonna be stupid the rest of my life, because I¡¯ll gladly risk my life to help out my friends.¡± Marcus said as a smile formed on his face. Ace groaned before he said, ¡°You¡¯re a bigger idiot than Luffy¡­ Just wait till you''re fully healed and then I¡¯ll beat some sense into when we spar!¡± A chuckle escaped Marcus¡¯s lips before he started to cough and coughed up a little blood. Hongo started to check him over again before he said, ¡°Alright, that''s enough for today. He needs more rest.¡± After Hongo forced everyone out of the room he gave Marcus another dosage of painkillers and a little more of the drink to help soothe his throat before he left. Marcus quickly fell asleep after that and didn¡¯t wake up again for over a week. When he finally did it was to the gentle rocking of his bed and the sound of humming. Marcus opened his eyes and found his vision was no longer blurry like before and he was inside one of the cabins on Shanks ship. He turned his head to the side and found Uta seated in the only chair in the room which was at a small writing desk. She was turned slightly away from the bed as she hummed to herself and wrote on some paper. Marcus watched her for a few moments before he asked in a weak voice, ¡°Did we leave Elegia?¡± Uta jumped up from her seat as she turned around to look at Marcus and after a moment she said, ¡°We left this morning. Hongo said you were stable and ready for travel, but you might not wake up for a few more days because of the medicine and painkillers he¡¯s been giving you.¡± As Marcus was about to respond, when his stomach made a loud rumble to let him know it was empty. Marcus smiled slightly as he asked, ¡°You think Hongo will let me eat some food?¡± vvvvv A navy ship with a dog''s head holding a bone in its mouth as its figurehead sailed through the second half of the Grand Line. An older man dressed in a Vice Admiral suit was asleep in a beach chair as the ship cut through the choppy waters with ease. A half eaten package of crackers still clutched in one hand as he snoored comfortably in his chair. As the ship made a large dip in the choppy water, the man was jolted awake from his sleep as his chair bounced off the deck. He looked around in confusion for a moment before he found the package of crackers in his hand and stuffed a cracker into his mouth. As he finished off his crackers a man in a beige suit walked up to him with a newspaper and said, ¡°You should take a look at this.¡± Garp waved his hand as he said, ¡°You know I don¡¯t like to read.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s a good thing there''s a picture.¡± Bogard said as he handed the paper to Garp. Garp reluctantly took the newspaper and glanced at the cover. It was a picture of Shanks and above it read, ¡®Red hair pirates destroy Elegia main concert hall!¡¯ Garp went to hand the newspaper back as he said, ¡°It¡¯s just that red hair brat causing trouble again.¡± ¡°You should look at that picture again.¡± Garp didn¡¯t feel like it but still opened the newspaper to take a look at it again. He studied the picture for a few moments and when he didn¡¯t notice anything about it he said, ¡°What? It¡¯s just a picture of that brat.¡± ¡°Bottom left corner.¡± Garp focused his gaze on that area for a few moments before his eyes almost popped out of his head as he said, ¡°Those ungrateful little brats!¡± Grap was still studying the picture as he said, ¡°Tell the ship to turn around, I need to go to East Blue.¡± ¡°We need to finish this mission first.¡± Garps grip tightened on the newspaper as he said, ¡°Just wait till I get back you little brats. I¡¯ll train you till you can¡¯t even move.¡± ¡°You already do that, Garp-san.¡± 00037. A talk with Shanks. Marcus was seated in his bed at a comfortable angle if you didn''t take into account his arms were still in casts. Not his full arms anymore at least. The other day Hongo trimmed them down and they now only covered his forearms, along with his wrists. While it still wasn''t the full range of motion he was used to. Being able to feed himself again was a godsend and he would never take it for granted again. Well it would be, if his caretaker didn''t pout so much when he refused and tried to do it himself. Marcus let out a tired sigh before he said, ¡°Alright, you can help me eat. But this is the last time.¡± ¡°No. I promised to take care of you till you get better.¡± Uta said as she glared at him. ¡°Okay, then just until my casts are off.¡± Uta pouted again as she said, ¡°No, until you¡¯re all better.¡± Marcus wanted to argue more but they''ve already had this conversation a handful of times and it always went the same way. With an exhausted sigh Marcus gave up as he said, ¡°Fine, just do whatever you want.¡± ¡°Great!¡± Uta said as she finally placed the tray of food down on Marcus''s lap. Marcus frowned at the bowl of soup as he asked, ¡°Can I at least get some meat?¡± ¡°This is what Hongo told me you needed to eat¡­ But that was also when you first woke up. So I¡¯ll ask him later if you can have other food.¡± Uta sat down close to Marcus on the bed before she picked up the spoon and scoped up some soup. She leaned a little closer to him and tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear as she gently blew on the spoon before she said, ¡°Alright, say ahh.¡± Marcus tried his best to not roll his eyes as Uta fed him the first spoonful of food. It took a little while since Uta didn''t let him eat like he normally would. If Marcus could, he would have up-ended the bowl into his mouth and drank it all before he stuffed some meat in afterwards to wash it down. Unfortunately Hongo had him on a very lite diet of soups and other things because he said it was good for healing¡­ Obviously the guy wasn''t a real doctor otherwise he would know that eating enough meat can fix everything. At least it seemed to work when he trained with his grandpa, but Hongo wouldn''t listen and Uta watched him like a hawk so he couldn''t sneak any food from his brothers. So this ended up being his life for the past couple weeks as they sailed back home. After Uta finished feeding him and wiped his face gently with a napkin. She looked at his face with the hint of a blush as she shyly asked, ¡°How was it?¡± Marcus leaned closer to Uta and whispered next to her ear, ¡°It was delicious. But more importantly, thanks for feeding me Uta, I have no idea what I would do without you.¡± Uta¡¯s face and neck flushed completely scarlet as she jumped up from the bed and pointed at Marcus as she said, ¡°You. You, idiot!¡± She quickly grabbed the food tray and bolted out the door as Marcus smiled widely. While he would rather feed himself, teasing Uta at least made up for it, so maybe he shouldn''t complain. A few minutes after Uta left someone knocked on the door before Marcus said, ¡°Come it.¡± The door opened before Shanks and Benn stepped inside the room as Shanks asked, ¡°What''s going on with Uta?¡± ¡°No clue, but she just called me an idiot. So I probably did something wrong again.¡± Marcus said with a smirk. Shanks shook his head slightly as he asked, ¡°Since you''re feeling better, mind if we talk for a bit?¡± Marcus gestured to the only chair in the room as he said, ¡°Sure, not like I can do much else currently. Doctors orders and all that.¡± Shanks pulled the seat out from the desk and sat on it with his arms resting on the backrest of it as he asked, ¡°How did you know something was gonna happen to Uta¡­ And don''t give me that, ¡®you saw it in a dream¡¯ crap again.¡± Marcus shrugged helplessly as he said, ¡°Dream, vision, hallucination, take your pick. Whatever you wanna call it, I had one.¡± ¡°Have you had those types of things before?¡± Marcus nodded his head as he said, ¡°A few times.¡± ¡°If we didn''t stop Uta, what would have happened?¡± Benn asked. Marcus frowned as he said, ¡°That monster would have rampaged across the island and killed everyone except Gordon, Uta and your crew.¡± Marcus turned to Shanks and locked eyes with the man as he said, ¡°And you would have left Uta there, so you could take the blame for killing everyone and she wouldn''t think she was responsible. Which is extra stupid because it would have been the monster''s fault and not hers in the first place.¡± ¡°I would never abandon Uta.¡± Shanks said with a little bit of heat in his voice. ¡°You say that now, but you did it in my dream. But since the rampage never happened, I guess we don¡¯t have to worry about that now do we?¡± Shanks frowned as he glanced at the floor for a while in contemplation before he asked, ¡°Have you had any other dreams recently?¡± ¡°Yeah, a few of them.¡± Shanks looked up at Marcus as he asked, ¡°Any you want to share?¡± ¡°Sure, but it''ll cost you.¡± Marcus said with a smile. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°Get me some meat. I¡¯m tired of eating all this damn soup.¡± Marcus said with a frown. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Shanks started to chuckle before he said, ¡°You¡¯re really gonna trade what could possibly be considered a glimpse of the future for some meat?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°Uta and my brothers call me an idiot.¡± Shanks glanced up to Benn as he said, ¡°Go get the kid some meat.¡± After Benn left the room Shanks asked, ¡°Can you swim?¡± Marcus smirked as he asked, ¡°Is that your way of asking if I''ve eaten a devil fruit?¡± ¡°First haki and now you know about devil fruits. I didn''t think Garp would be reckless enough to tell you so much when you¡¯re still young.¡± Marcus shook his head with a smile as he said, ¡°You don¡¯t know my grandpa very well then¡­ But still, gramps didn''t tell me about it, I found out about them from my dreams. I''m still not sure what haki is exactly, but I have a decent idea what devil fruits are and the different types.¡± Shanks studied Marcus for a while before he said, ¡°Tell me about the other dreams you''ve had.¡± ¡°The ones that haven''t happened? Or the ones that involve you?¡± Shanks¡¯s eyebrows raised the slightest bit as he asked, ¡°You''ve had more dreams that involve me?¡± ¡°The last three I had all involved you in some way. Uta¡¯s and that monster was the first one.¡± Marcus said. ¡°And the other two?¡± Marcus turned to look out the small open window of the cabin for a minute before he said, ¡°I see you at Makino¡¯s with Luffy beside you. There''s a small, unlocked treasure chest on the bar counter with a devil fruit inside of it.¡± Marcus smiled to himself as he said, ¡°Luffy asks to join your crew and right after you reject him again, a small-time bandit group comes into the bar and causes a scene because there''s no more alcohol.¡± Marcus turned back towards Shanks and said, ¡°Instead of fighting with the group, you show Luffy how to be a bigger man and a proper pirate.¡± Marcus goes quiet for a while to let Shanks think about what he told him before the door opened up and Benn stepped inside with a tray of food. Marcus''s eyes almost sparkled and he drooled a little bit as Benn placed the tray full of meat down on his lap. Marcus placed his hands together before he said, ¡°Itadakimasu!¡± Marcus picked up a large roast chicken leg and shoved it into his mouth as he practically moaned in delight before he started to eat in earnest. Shanks and Benn watched as Marcus devoured all the food in minutes before he leaned back against his beds headboard and let out a satisfied belch. A hint of a smile graced Shanks¡¯s face as he said, ¡°I''ve only seen Lucky eat like that before.¡± ¡°That''s nothing. You should see Luffy eat after a training session with gramps. I''m pretty sure he doesn''t even chew his food before he swallows it.¡± ¡°Hopefully that doesn''t happen. I don''t think Garp would be too happy if he found out I let you get hurt. Or that we''ve been hanging around you kids, if I''m being honest.¡± Shanks said. Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°Maybe, but Grandpa is pretty lax about certain things. Especially since you and the rest of your crew have been sparring with us regularly.¡± ¡°He might be upset if he learned you invited me to join your crew though. He¡¯s really set on me and my brothers joining him in the marines.¡± Marcus said with a smirk. ¡°Is that why you keep rejecting my offer? You want to be a marine?¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°I thought about it before, but I don¡¯t want to be another person''s hunting dog. No, I will be a bounty hunter, until someone labels me a pirate for doing the right thing.¡± Shanks shifted his gaze, lost in thought for a few moments before Marcus asked, ¡°You want to know about the other dream I had?¡± ¡°Sure, let''s hear it.¡± Marcus turned back to face the window for a few moments before he said, ¡°I see Luffy in the water about to be attacked by the small sea king that hangs around Foosha Village.¡± ¡°You jump in to save him¡­¡± Marcus''s voice trails off as he stares out the window for a while with an unfocused gaze. After a bit he turned to Shanks as he said, ¡°You sacrifice your arm to save Luffy before you give him your hat for some reason.¡± Shanks''s eyebrows raised as Benn said, ¡°There''s no way something like that would happen.¡± Marcus shrugged helplessly as he said, ¡°I''m just telling you what I saw in my dreams. Whether or not you believe me is up to you.¡± Shanks went quiet for a while before he asked, ¡°Did you see anything else?¡± ¡°No, that was the last one that involved you or your crew.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Shanks said as someone knocked on the door. A moment later the door opened wide and Uta walked inside with a small tray of food as she said, ¡°Marcus! I talked to Hongo and he said¡­¡± Uta¡¯s voice trailed off as she took in the room. She glanced from Shanks to Benn, then finally turned her gaze to Marcus. She immediately noticed the empty food tray covered in bones on his lap and the grease around Marcus¡¯s mouth. Her eyes narrowed as she asked in a frigid tone, ¡°Were you just eating?¡± ¡°No?¡± Marcus said in a very unconvincing tone of voice as he quickly looked in the opposite direction. Uta¡¯s now icy gaze shifted to Shanks who shared a glance with Benn before he asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say we needed to check that thing earlier?¡± Benn quickly nodded as he said, ¡°Yeah, we should probably go do that.¡± Shanks got up and moved towards the door as he said, ¡°It was nice chatting with you Marcus.¡± Benn grabbed the tray on Marcus¡¯s lap and moved to follow Shanks as he said, ¡°Thanks for holding my food tray Marcus.¡± After the door closed Uta dropped the food tray on Marcus¡¯s lap as she said, ¡°You broke your promise!¡± Marcus turned to see Uta with her hands on her hips and her cheeks puffed out as she glared at him. Marcus wanted to reach over and pinch her cheeks but let out a sigh before he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t promise anything.¡± ¡°You said I could feed you till you¡¯re all better.¡± Uta said as she stomped her right foot on the ground. ¡°No, I told you, just do whatever you want.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the same thing!¡± Uta said with a huff. ¡°No it¡¯s¡­¡± Marcus let out another exhausted sigh before he pinched the bridge of his nose and said, ¡°Fine. You¡¯re right, I broke my promise.¡± Uta sat down on the bed next to Marcus as she said, ¡°I forgive you, but now I get to feed you even after you''re all healed.¡± ¡°What? No way!¡± Marcus said as he turned to look at Uta in shock. Uta pouted at him again before she said, ¡°But you broke your promise. You have to make up for it.¡± Marcus knew there was no way he could let Uta feed him the rest of the time they were together. His brothers ate like maniacs and he ended up just like them so they didn¡¯t eat all the food before he had his fill. If Uta tried to feed him at every meal¡­ He would always be hungry! Well maybe he could just have Makino make food just for him and then Uta could feed him¡­ A few moments later an idea came to Marcus and he knew exactly what he needed to do, so he locked eyes with Uta as he said, ¡°Once I¡¯m better, you can feed me all you want¡­ But you can only feed me stuff you¡¯ve cooked yourself, so that means you need to get lessons from Luck or big sis Makino.¡± Resolve firmed in Uta¡¯s eyes as she stuck her hand out with her pinky extended and asked, ¡°You pinky promise?¡± Marcus locked his pinky with Uta¡¯s as he said, ¡°As long as you learn how to cook.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Uta said as they shook pinkies. 00038. A change of fate. Over the next couple weeks as they traveled back home a few things happened. The first and best one was Marcus healed completely and was allowed to roam the ship. Hongo still kept him from training and doing actual work, but otherwise he was free from bed rest. The second was Uta took her promise seriously and spent hours each day as she learned how to cook from Lucky. A plus side to her being taught by Lucky, was Marcus wasn''t forced to taste anything she cooked yet. Mainly because she wasn''t allowed to actually cook anything yet. Lucky wanted Uta to learn the very basics first and had her watch him for hours as he explained things. Then she was taught how to do food preparation, cleaning and chopping vegetables along with meat. Marcus actually joined them in the kitchen half the time because he was bored and had to admit that Lucky was a really good teacher and cook. While Uta was still being trained to cook by Lucky, she still found ways to feed Marcus. The main way she did it was by cutting up fruits, since apparently that counted as cooking to her. Marcus didn''t mind though, since she never fed him at normal meal times and he didn''t need to be the test subject for cooking experiments. Once they arrived back home, the boys went back to full time training again, along with Uta. Well except for Luffy who skipped out on training because he wanted to hang out with Shanks and his crew. Something that happened basically every day now. Sure Marcus forced Luffy to train for a few hours each day, but it was only until lunch. Then he would spend the rest of the day hanging out with Shanks. At least until Shanks and some of his crew sparred with the boys, then Luffy would join in for that. That was one of the nice things that changed since they came back from Elegia, Shanks would spar with Marcus every day, which helped him improve drastically with his swordsmanship. That happened for about a month before Shanks and his crew took off to go explore around East Blue again. Then Luffy came back and trained full time again. Another interesting thing that happened during that time was Uta decided to stay and train with the boys. So for almost two months while Shanks was gone, Uta stayed at Makino¡¯s to train and also learned how to cook from her. Something Marcus was grateful for, because Makino also didn''t allow Uta to cook by herself yet. When Shanks and his crew arrived back on the island the first thing that happened was a spar between him and the boys. He was mostly interested to see how much Marcus improved, but still tested the other boys as well. It was about a week after that when the incident Marcus was waiting for finally happened. He was out training at the time with Ace, Sabo, and Uta when it happened, so he didn''t get to witness it himself. But when they arrived back at Makino¡¯s for dinner, they found a strange sight. Luffy was laughing like an idiot as a couple of Shanks crew attempted to stretch his arms as far as possible. Marcus watched for only a moment before he decided to ignore it and head inside to eat. Ace, who hadn''t moved yet, asked, ¡°Are you really just gonna ignore that?¡± Sabo nodded in agreement as he said, ¡°Luffy definitely couldn''t do that this morning¡­¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°He must have eaten a devil fruit.¡± ¡°Yup.¡± Uta agreed as she followed Marcus inside. As Ace watched, one of the crew men lost their grip on Luffy¡¯s arm. With nothing holding him in place, Luffy rocketed into the other crew man before they both slammed into the side of a building. The crew man and Luffy popped up a moment later while they laughed like idiots. ¡°You know what, I don''t care anymore.¡± Ace said before he turned to head inside himself. As he headed inside Luffy noticed him and said, ¡°Wait for me Ace!¡± During dinner Luffy excitedly explained what happened and Marcus could only shake his head. Everything occurred exactly as it should have. Sure he thought Luffy might try to fight the guy, but apparently Luffy wanted to see Shanks beat the bandit up. Instead Shanks didn''t bother to fight the guy and it pissed Luffy off, which made him eat the devil fruit in anger. After dinner Marcus went outside to train some more and Shanks decided to follow him. Once they were alone outside down by the beach Shanks asked, ¡°Did you know he would eat it?¡± ¡°It was a possibility, but I wasn''t completely sure.¡± Marcus said as he drew his sword and took a stance. ¡°Why didn''t you warn me then?¡± Shanks asked with a frown. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Marcus went through a few moves before he said, ¡°Because it didn''t matter, it''s just a devil fruit.¡± ¡°That devil fruit wasn''t meant for him, I planned to give it to someone else.¡± Marcus stopped his next attack and glanced at Shanks as he asked, ¡°Really? Who?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter anymore, the plan is ruined now anyways.¡± Shanks said with a sigh. Marcus chuckled slightly before he said, ¡°So you really planned to offer it to Ace, uh?¡± Shanks¡¯s eyes widened as he looked directly at Marcus who smirked and said, ¡°And that confirms it.¡± ¡°Did you see that in one of your dreams too?¡± Shanks asked as he took a seat on a rock. ¡°It was just a guess¡­ But it does make me wonder how you know about Ace and who his father was.¡± ¡°I was one of the last people to see him before he turned himself in¡­¡± Shanks said with a sad smile on his face as he looked out towards the sea. ¡°You know he found me in a treasure chest and raised me like his own son¡­¡± Shanks''s voice trailed off as he became lost in thought for a little while. Marcus sheathed his sword and moved closer to Shanks who pulled himself out of his thoughts as he said, ¡°The last thing he told me was, I would have a younger sibling at some point and to help them out if I ever met them.¡± ¡°So you planned to give Ace a devil fruit and then what? Have him join your crew?¡± ¡°That was one of the ideas I had. But they don''t matter now.¡± Shanks said as he let out a sigh. Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°Don''t worry about it too much. I''m positive everything worked out the way it was meant to be.¡± Shanks turned to study Marcus for a few moments before he let out a sigh and said, ¡°Maybe you''re right¡­¡± ¡°You know you don''t talk or act anything like a kid.¡± Shanks said before he pulled out a flask from his pocket and took a drink. Marcus leaned against one of the rocks as he said, ¡°My grandpa said the same thing.¡± They both fell into a comfortable silence and just listened to the waves lap against the beach for a while until Marcus said, ¡°You should talk to Ace about his dad and point him to other people who knew him.¡± Shanks took another swig from his flask before he asked, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because he thinks he''s the child of the devil and questions whether he should have been born¡­¡± Shanks whipped his head around and his eyes were filled with confusion as he said, ¡°What are you talking about? He looks completely fine.¡± ¡°Well, he''s definitely better now compared to how he used to be. But he still has issues with who his father is. Heck just mention the pirate king around him and watch how he reacts.¡± ¡°Okay, I will.¡± Shanks said before he lifted his flask up and finished it off as he stood up. Shanks then headed back to the bar as Marcus went back to training. Over the next week Ace ended up going off with Shanks after dinner each night. Marcus saw them a few times as he trained, they normally sat alone next to a bonfire on the beach and talked till late in the night. Whether it would help Ace overcome his issues, Marcus had no idea but at least he tried to help. It was a few weeks later where the second incident happened between Luffy and the bandits. Shanks and his crew had taken their ship to the Goa Kingdom to get some repairs done in the dry dock there in preparation for leaving the island. While they were gone, Luffy hung out in the bar with Makino because he currently had issues with his training. Sure he could do the normal morning warmup routine, but with his new rubber body he couldn''t fight at all. He had no control currently and decided to just hang around Makino¡¯s as he waited for Shanks and his crew to come back. It was during that time that the bandits showed up and Luffy got into a fight with them. Marcus was waiting for this to happen for the past few weeks and had patiently waited near the bar each day. He didn''t slack off though and trained his swordsmanship during that time. When he heard the commotion inside the bar, he easily jumped onto the roof and watched the situation unfold as they carried Luffy outside. Marcus watched with wide eyes as one of the defining moments of the series played out before him. Marcus would be a liar if he said he didn''t enjoy being a spectator to the events that unfolded before him. But that was overshadowed by the worry in his heart for his brother. He had a white knuckled grip on the hilt of his sword the entire time he watched. When Higuma finally used smoke bombs to escape with Luffy, Marcus was able to follow them from above and watched as they boarded a small boat. It wasn¡¯t long afterwards when Luffy was tossed into the sea and Lord of the Coast showed up. Marcus¡¯s grip on his sword tightened even more as he watched as Shanks jumped into the water to save Luffy. After the sea king finished Higuma and turned its attention to Luffy, Marcus shifted his body slightly and focused completely on the sea king. Shanks was almost next to Luffy when the sea king opened its mouth wide and moved in to strike at Luffy. Shanks reached Luffy just before the monster and attempted to pull him out of the way of the attack, as a compressed air blade sailed above their heads. A moment later the sea king¡¯s head crashed into the water as a spray of blood covered both of them and dyed the surrounding water red. While Luffy was busy crying in Shanks arms, Shanks glanced to the roof of a building. Marcus stood there covered in sweat and panting for breath as that single attack took everything out of him. Marcus slowly recovered as Shanks brought Luffy back to shore and it wasn¡¯t long before they were surrounded by a bunch of people. Marcus glanced down at Shanks and his brother. While Shanks didn¡¯t lose his arm this time, it still looked like it had an impact on Luffy as he was still busy crying. Marcus himself settled onto the roof of the building and watched the sea as he wondered if what he did was the right decision. It was now the third time he intervened directly in the story and started to wonder how those actions would affect the coming events and what would change. Good or bad, Marcus planned to face them head on. 00039. A promise. It was about a week after the incident with the bandits that Marcus noticed a change with Uta. At first he thought she was getting used to his constant teasing. Sure she would still blush, call him an idiot and even run away sometimes. But Uta herself started being bolder and would hold his hand sometimes and even hugged him once. Her face looked like a cherry tomato after she did it, but she still did it. It turned out Makino was the one behind the change. Marcus only found out because he overheard a conversation they had in the kitchen one day as Makino was teaching Uta how to cook¡­ ¡°Remember Uta, if you like someone, you need to be bold and show them. Since men and especially boys are stupid and will never understand unless you are very direct with them.¡± ¡°But Marcus is smart. He always teases me¡­¡± Uta¡¯s voice trailed off as she started to blush a little. Makino rested a hand on Uta¡¯s shoulder as she said, ¡°He might tease you, but does he know you like him? Have you told him?¡± Uta shook her head before Makino said, ¡°Then he doesn''t know and you have to be more direct with him. Hold his hand, hug him¡­¡± Makino grinned and leaned down closer to Uta as she said in a secretive tone, ¡°Or just grab his face and kiss him!¡± ¡°I can''t do that!¡± Uta yelled out as her whole face flushed red. Before the conversation could go anywhere else Marcus stepped into the kitchen and asked, ¡°What can''t you do? Do you need help with something?¡± Steam started to come out of Uta¡¯s ears as she stared at Marcus and thought about what Makino just said. Marcus glanced between them both for a moment before he narrowed his eyes and said to Makino, ¡°You better not be teaching Uta anything bad.¡± Makino instantly picked up a rolling pin from the counter and slapped it against one hand as she said, ¡°Just who do you think you are, talking to your loving big sister like that, uh!?¡± Before Marcus could respond, Makino was next to him and smashed him over the head with her rolling pin. Marcus crouched down as he covered his head with his hands and said, ¡°What the hell!?! How is this loving in any way?¡± Makino whacked him over the head again as she said, ¡°Of course this is love! Can''t you feel it, or do you need another dose of love?¡± ¡°No way!¡± Marcus said as he quickly escaped from the kitchen and nursed two giant lumps on his head for the rest of the day. After that incident, Marcus steered clear of the kitchen whenever Uta was getting lessons. While he didn¡¯t want Makino corrupting Uta, trying to fight with Makino was almost as bad as fighting Garp, so Marcus just gave up on the idea. And like that, over a month passed quickly as the Red Hair pirates prepared to leave the island for the final time. Luffy and Uta seemed to take it the hardest out of everyone when they realized what was going on. Luffy because he wanted to join Shanks crew and go out on adventures. Uta on the other hand was upset because Marcus refused to join the crew. She hoped he would change his mind before they left, since she had a childish crush on him. But whether or not Marcus joined the crew on their journey didn''t stop Uta from spending as much time as she could with him though. While a good portion of their time together was spent training, they still took breaks alone together. During those breaks Uta would feed Marcus the food she made for him and they would talk. While it was mostly random, unimportant information most of the time. Uta did share her dreams and ambitions with Marcus and he did the same with her. Uta¡¯s dream was to sail around the world and one day hopefully unite the world through music she created, which she called a new genesis. Marcus''s dream was slightly similar since he also wanted to sail around the world. But he mostly wanted to explore the world to see what secrets it held and basically see everything there was to the place. Uta also made sure she didn''t waste any of the time she had left and joined Marcus at night when he normally trained alone. As he slowly moved through his sword stances, Uta would be off to the side as she practiced singing and creating new songs. Marcus never complained and found it enjoyable as he thought of it almost like his own personal concert each night. Another nice thing that happened during that time was Shanks wanting to spar a few times a day with Marcus. It was almost a month of constant sparing for Marcus as Shanks attempted to teach him as much as possible. Shanks had already given up on Marcus joining his crew and decided to train him seriously before they left instead. During that time Marcus made incredible progress in his swordsmanship. He still wasn''t close to beating and in fact never even touched Shanks once with his training sword. But if he sparred against all of his brothers at the same time with a sword, he could easily wipe the floor with them. Take away his sword and Ace would still win seventy percent of the time though. As the crew''s departure date crept closer, both Uta and Luffy became more anxious. Neither one wanted the day to arrive and hoped it would be delayed or even canceled outright. But unfortunately their wishes weren''t answered and the fateful day finally arrived. It was a day the boys would normally use to train, but decided to take it off. While Luffy was closer to everyone compared to Ace and Sabo because he slacked off so much in training. It would be a lie to say they didn''t form bonds with the crew. Especially Ace who seemed to be in a better mood lately after his late night talks with Shanks. Sure his somewhat broody attitude was still there and it would probably never leave. But he smiled more freely now and wasn''t as guarded as he used to be. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Luffy and the others were busy on the dock talking with Shanks and the others as they helped load the ship. As that happened Uta approached Marcus with a basket in one hand. She didn''t speak and she ended up blushing as she quickly grabbed Marcus by the hand before she dragged him away. Shanks and a few others smiled as they watched them disappear towards the cliff that overlooked the sea just north of the village. Once they were on top of the grass covered cliff, Uta set down the basket and pulled out a blanket which she laid out. She forced Marcus to remove his shoes and sit on the blanket before she did the same thing. Once they were settled on the blanket she started to pull out some food and drinks from the basket as Marcus asked, ¡°This is new¡­ Where did you come up with the idea for a picnic?¡± Uta¡¯s ear¡¯s turned a little red and she made sure not to look at Marcus as she said, ¡°Ummm, big sis said this is what couples do on dates.¡± Internally Marcus was shocked and wanted to scold Makino for corrupting Uta with more weird ideas, but externally he smirked and asked, ¡°So we''re a couple now and this is our first date?¡± Uta glanced at Marcus and nodded her head once before she focused on her task. Once everything was set out, she glanced back at Marcus while her face started to flush again. She quickly patted the spot right beside her on the blanket as she said in a shy voice, ¡°Come closer.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Marcus said with a smile. Once Marcus was seated next to Uta, she picked up a plate with a large sandwich on it and placed it on his lap. Marcus raised an eyebrow as he asked, ¡°Not gonna feed me yourself?¡± Uta pointed at a plate of cake and cookies as she said, ¡°I''ll feed you those afterwards.¡± Marcus nodded before he picked up the sandwich and took a large bite from it. Uta picked up her own sandwich and joined him as they ate in a comfortable silence. Once they finished, Uta stared out to sea for a little while before she asked in a quiet voice, ¡°Are you sure you won''t join us?¡± Marcus glanced at Uta without turning his head and noticed the anxiousness on her face. He let out a sigh and placed his arm over her shoulder, which caused her whole body to tense up as he pulled her closer. As she rigidly leaned against his body, he started to run his hand through her hair and felt her body slowly relax. After a few moments Marcus said, ¡°I would, but I have other things I want to do and it won''t be possible if I leave now.¡± Uta tilted her head to look up at Marcus as she asked, ¡°Why? What do you need to do that''s so important?¡± Marcus glanced down at Uta with a mischievous smile inches away from her face. Uta flushed bright red again as she realized how close they were now which made Marcus smile even more. He gently ran his hand through her hair again before he finally turned away from Uta as he said, ¡°The main one is getting stronger.¡± Uta unconsciously relaxed her head onto Marcus''s chest as she said, ¡°You can get stronger with us.¡± ¡°True, but I want to rely on my own strength when I finally set out to sea. If I leave with you now, I would be dependent on Shanks and the rest of the crew for protection and that doesn¡¯t sit right with me.¡± Marcus noticed as Uta''s hands started to fidget and after a moment she asked, ¡°So if you were stronger you would go out to sea with me?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Marcus answered without hesitation. Uta instantly turned around and their faces were almost touching as she locked eyes with Marcus. A moment later she raised her hand up next to her face with her pinky raised and asked, ¡°Pinky promise?¡± Marcus glanced at her pinky for a moment before he lifted up his own hand and wrapped his pinky with hers. As they shook pinky''s Marcus said, ¡°Pinky promise.¡± Uta nodded in satisfaction before she quickly readjusted back to her seated piston nestled in Marcus¡¯s arm. They sat like that for a little while as Marcus gently ran his fingers through her hair. Once Uta was satisfied, she reached over for the plate of desserts and started to slowly feed them to Marcus. Marcus didn''t eat them all though and ended up feeding Uta a cookie and one of the slices of cake. Which caused Uta to blush like crazy the whole time and took away her ability to speak for a little while. Once their picnic was over, they packed up everything and headed back. As Uta returned the basket she used to Makino, Marcus went to his room to collect something. Then Marcus escorted Uta to the dock where they found Shank¡¯s placing his straw hat on Luffy¡¯s head. They both stopped to watch the scene before Shanks glanced up to them and asked, ¡°Did you finish up?¡± Uta blushed slightly as she said, ¡°Almost.¡± ¡°Alright, well I¡¯ll see you on the ship.¡± Shanks saved before he shared a nod with Marcus and headed towards the ship. Uta turned to Marcus and before she spoke, he pulled out a small gift he had hidden under his shirt. He handed it to Uta and said, ¡°I got this for you as a going away gift.¡± Uta smiled as she took the gift that was about the size of a book and clutched it to her chest. Marcus smiled in return as he said, ¡°I would tell you to open it now, but I think everyone is waiting on you.¡± Uta glanced towards the ship and she found Shanks along with most of the crew on the aft of the ship watching her and Marcus with interest. Uta quickly turned back to Marcus and focused only on him as she blushed slightly. Then she closed her eyes for a few moments to calm down before she looked at Marcus and said, ¡°When you¡¯re stronger, you better keep your promise.¡± ¡°I will.¡± ¡°Good¡­ I¡¯ll. I¡¯ll miss you.¡± Uta said in a sad voice. Marcus pulled Uta into a one sided hug since she was still holding her gift and said, ¡°I¡¯ll miss you too.¡± Once he released Uta, she didn¡¯t back away and instead kissed Marcus on the cheek which actually left him stunned for a moment. Uta herself turned a deep shade of red and ran towards the ship as cheers and whistles erupted from Shanks and the crew, which just made things worse. Marcus watched as Uta with a goofy grin on his face as she ran up the gangplank of the ship where she stopped near the top and waved at him for a moment before she disappeared onto the ship. Marcus and the other people at the docks waved at the ship as they started to leave the dock. Marcus even noticed Uta on the back of the ship as she waved at him again as the ship pulled further away from the island. The only person who seemed depressed about the whole thing was Luffy who was crying as he waved at the ship. Marcus couldn¡¯t help but smile as he placed his arm over his brother''s shoulder and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you''ll see them again one day.¡± They both watched in silence for half an hour as the ship slowly disappeared on the horizon. Once it was completely gone Marcus said, ¡°How about we go eat something?¡± Luffy almost instantly cheered up as he said, ¡°Okay.¡± 00040. Fist of Love. It was late at night as Uta sat on her bed. She had the gift Marcus gave her, laid out on the bed in front of her and she currently wore a shirt she borrowed from him to sleep in. Well she didn¡¯t tell him she borrowed it, but he shouldn¡¯t miss it since he has a bunch of shirts. As for why she did it? Makino told her it was what women do with their boyfriends, borrow clothes and never give them back. That thought made Uta blush a little as she looked down at the gift she was given. It was a large, thick book designed for musicians. It acted like a diary and songwriting notebook. Well it was mostly meant to help record songs, sheet music and any special notes for the songs themselves. It was actually something Uta wanted to buy herself when she was in Elegia and even pointed this book out to Shanks and the others on the first day. But then the accident happened and she forgot all about it, along with everyone else¡­ ¡®But he didn''t forget about it.¡¯ Uta thought as she picked up the book and hugged it tight to her chest for a bit. After a little while she got up from bed and moved to her desk where she placed the book down. After she sat down, she opened it up to the first page and paused as she studied the inside cover of the book again. It was a message from Marcus which read. Dear Uta, Thank you again for taking care of me and feeding me a bunch of delicious food. While I don''t like being coddled like a child. I appreciate the time and effort you put into my care when I was still bedridden in Elegia and the trip afterwards. You will forever have my thanks for that. When we were still in Elegia, I secretly asked Gordon to buy this for me. I originally planned to give this to you as a thank you gift for taking care of me. But the timing never seemed right to me, so I decided to turn it into a going away gift instead. I hope you like it and it''s useful to you. I wish you a fun, safe and happy journey ahead. I also hope you create a lot of great songs and look forward to hearing you sing them for me one day. But don''t forget to train and become stronger, you need to be able to protect yourself. You also need the stamina which comes from training to be able to perform longer and sing an entire concert. ~Till we meet again. Your friend, Marcus Uta smiled to herself as she read over most of the message until the end. She looked at it with a slight frown before she pulled out an ink jar and a quill. Because of the way Marcus wrote, Uta was able to add to the message. So she very carefully added a single word to the end of the message and nodded in satisfaction once she was finished. She read over the message one more time as the ink dried and blushed a tiny bit when she got to the end. ~Till we meet again. Your boyfriend, Marcus vvvvv The day after Uta left Marcus looked through his dresser as he got ready for the day. After about a minute of looking through it he asked, ¡°Has anyone seen my favorite shirt?¡± ¡°That light blue one you like to wear?¡± Ace asked. ¡°Yeah, did you see it?¡± Ace and the others shook their heads before Marcus said, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s in the laundry Makino is doing.¡± Like that a week passed by and Marcus never found his favorite shirt¡­ vvvvv Marcus was shocked awake as he was covered in ice cold water and the sound of his brothers apparently getting the same treatment. Luffy cried out the loudest as he said, ¡°Ahhhhh, help! I can¡¯t swim! Help!¡± Marcus opened his eyes to find himself in his bedroom along with his brothers and above them stood Garp with a large bucket in his hand. He looked down at all of them as he said, ¡°Shut up you idiot, I taught you how to swim last year.¡± Luffy suddenly sat up and glanced around as he said to himself, ¡°I''m not drowning?¡± Garp¡¯s eyes twitched before he slammed his fist into Luffy''s head and said, ¡°Of course not!¡± Luffy grabbed the massive lump forming on his head as he said, ¡°It hurts! Why does it hurt!¡± ¡°Because it''s my fist of love.¡± Garp said matter of factly. ¡°But I''m made of rubber!¡± ¡°Doesn''t matter, my fist of love¡­ WHAT!¡± Garp said as his eyes went wide and his mouth hung open for a moment. ¡°I''m made of¡­¡± Garp punched Luffy in the head again as he said, ¡°I heard you the first time, brat.¡± ¡°Why do you keep hitting me!¡± Luffy complained as he rubbed both of the lumps on his head. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Because you left the island with pirates!¡± Garp breathed on the top of his fist before he started to polish the top of it with his other hand and said, ¡°All of you brats left the island with pirates.¡± Marcus glanced at Ace and the others before he said, ¡°Run!¡± Marcus and the others couldn''t even make it out of the room as Garp easily blocked them from the door. As Garp attacked everyone else, Marcus attempted to jump out the window by his bed. Before Marcus even reached the window, Garp snatched him by the back of the neck and asked, ¡°And just where do you think you''re going?¡± ¡°Umm, for an early morning walk? Marcus said as he glanced at his brother''s knocked out on the floor. A moment later pain exploded on top of his head and the world faded into darkness. Garp glanced around at his grandsons passed out on the ground as a sigh escaped his mouth before he said, ¡°Stupid brats, making me worry about you.¡± Marcus and the other boys woke up a while later just outside the village near the forest. Garp stood over them with a grin on his face as he said, ¡°Get up, I wanna see if you''ve improved.¡± Over the next few hours Garp beat each boy senseless before he took them to eat a late breakfast at Makinos. Each boy looked like they were run over by a truck as they ate breakfast in muted silence and shared pain. Once finished, Garp took them back outside to test them some more until dinner. After dinner Garp took the boys to the bath house to relax and clean up. As they rested in the main bath area Garp said, ¡°I hope you brats learned your lesson.¡± Marcus glanced at Luffy as he asked, ¡°And what lesson would that be?¡± ¡°Don''t hang around pirate scum.¡± ¡°Shanks isn''t scum! He''s a great pirate and I wanna be just like him one day!¡± Luffy said. Garp punched Luffy over the head which made him disappear into the water for a few moments. When Luffy reappeared he had a new lump on his head and glared at Garp. Garp frowned back at Luffy as he said, ¡°Quit that dumb talk about being a pirate! You''re going to be a big strong marine like me.¡± Luffy stood up and said with confidence, ¡°No! I''m never gonna be a marine, I''m gonna be the king of the pirates!¡± ¡°King of¡­ YOU STUPID BRAT!¡± Garp said as he launched himself at Luffy. ¡°Ahhhhhh! Someone help! Someone save me from this gorilla!¡± Luffy yelled out as Garp repeatedly punched him over the head. ¡°Don''t call your grandpa a gorilla, you little monkey!¡± Marcus smiled at their interactions before he leaned back against the edge of the tub and placed a towel over his eyes. Ace and Sabo followed suit not long after. Early the next morning Garp took them out for more ¡®training¡¯ and only brought them back around lunch time. As they were gathered around the table eating, Marcus asked, ¡°Grandpa, do you have any sea stone cuffs we can have?¡± ¡°Eh? How do you know about sea stone?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°Same way I know about other things. So do you have any or not?¡± ¡°Why? What do you want them for?¡± Marcus pointed at Luffy who was in the process of stuffing his face like a chipmunk and said, ¡°So he can train without his devil fruit getting in the way.¡± Garp studied Luffy for a few minutes before he said, ¡°It''s a good idea¡­ But it doesn''t really work that well.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Because we''ve tried it in the marines. It can help, but it will never get rid of the overall weakness and it doesn''t help that much on the physical side of things.¡± Garp pointed at Luffy and said, ¡°He''ll have growth issues because he ate a fruit that changed his physical body. It''s the main reason the marines don''t like people eating those types of devil fruits so young.¡± Marcus glanced at Luffy who wasn''t paying attention and asked, ¡°So we''ll look different when we''re older?¡± ¡°You''ll definitely be taller¡­ Luffy will be lucky if he doubles his current height.¡± ¡°What did you say grandpa?¡± Luffy asked through a mouthful of food. Garp smacked Luffy as he said, ¡°Don''t talk with your mouth full!¡± The rest of lunch passed pretty quickly and once they were done, Garp took the boys to the dock where his ship was currently docked. When they reached the ship he said, ¡°Prepare to set sail.¡± ¡°You''re leaving already?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°I''m too busy this time and can''t stay long. But next year I should have at least a month of free time.¡± Garp said as he moved up the gangplank. Once he was on the ship he said, ¡°I''ll be back in a minute.¡± Garp disappeared into the ship and after a few minutes came back into view before he tossed a sack to Marcus. Metal clanking together sounded out from the sack as Marcus caught it. He glanced inside before he asked with a smile, ¡°Is this what I think it is?¡± Garp nodded as he said, ¡°It is. Use it and see if it helps. But don¡¯t expect much from it.¡± Marcus nodded and the boys bid farewell to Garp as the ship departed. Once Garp left, the boys decided to take the rest of the day off. While the other boys went back to Makino¡¯s to play cards, Marcus went to the black smith in the village. It wasn¡¯t a fancy one who made swords, but they produced all the essentials the village needed like nails, hinges, horse shoes, tools, cookware and other things. He talked with the blacksmith a bit and placed a custom order. He gave the man one of the three pairs of handcuffs he was given by Garp and asked him to cut it up into pieces, round the edges off and drill holes into each one. It took about a week and Marcus was charged a good amount of money for the labor, but in the end he had what he wanted. Marcus then took those round pieces and basically created a necklace out of them before he gave it to Luffy to wear. The first time Luffy put it on he collapsed on the floor and couldn¡¯t get up at all. He couldn¡¯t even remove the necklace and complained as he asked, ¡°Why do I have to wear this stupid thing?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s a weakness people can use against you in a fight. Besides, if you can train while you wear this, you will end up being stronger once you take it off.¡± ¡°But I can barely move with this thing on!¡± Marcus nodded in understanding as he asked, ¡°Does it hurt or is it uncomfortable?¡± ¡°No, not really. It just makes me weak.¡± Luffy said as he thought it over. Marcus reached down and removed the necklace from Luffy as he said, ¡°Good, then you¡¯ll go to sleep with it on each night to help you get used to the feeling of being weak.¡± Luffy complained about it, but it didn¡¯t stop Marcus from forcing him to use it each night. With that, the boys settled into their routine again and started to train in earnest once more. It took a few months, but Luffy was able to train properly again. He still couldn¡¯t train with the sea stone necklace on, but he could do their normal routine because he grasped the very basics of his powers. Just enough that his arms and legs didn¡¯t stretch at random anymore. 00041. Becoming famous... A few months quickly passed by after Garp left and not much changed for the boys. The only real change was Luffy¡¯s training routine which now included time for him to practice his devil fruit powers. Each day Luffy trained his devil fruit powers for about four hours. At first he just tried to punch stuff, but Marcus stopped him after the first hour and set up a target for him. Instead of just punching things at random, Luffy now had a large target setup that he used to practice his aim. At first Luffy didn''t like the idea much, but Marcus turned the whole thing into a game. Luffy''s goal each day was to hit the target more than the day before. Marcus increased the difficulty by making the target slightly smaller each week. That was only one part of Luffy''s training though. Marcus also gave Luffy ideas on how to use his powers and encouraged him to explore the limits of his powers. Sabo and Ace also helped with the training and gave him other ideas on what he could use his powers for. Another thing the boys also worked on a few hours each day was the secret skills Garp showed off. While he only demonstrated them for the boys, Marcus used his knowledge and led them in the right direction on how to train them. He never explained things directly but would pretend to figure out something and point them in that direction. So far they haven''t succeeded in anything yet, but Marcus was sure he was close to Soru. He couldn''t kick off the ground ten times in the blink of an eye, but he could do five. It gave him a slight speed boost but he didn''t have the stamina to do it for long, even when he used his self created breathing technique. The others also had similar progress with that skill as it seemed to be the easiest one to learn. The only issue was they didn''t have Marcus''s breathing technique and could only use the skill once or twice before they were spent. As for the other skills, they would take more work and time to figure out properly. vvvvv Marcus glanced around the trash heaps with a scrunched up nose. If there was one thing he didn''t like about Gray Terminal it was the smell. No matter how many times he came to the place, he never adapted to it like his brothers. They were next to him and didn''t seem the least bit affected by the smell of the place. It was their day off from training and they decided to spend it hunting in Gray Terminal. While they rarely found anyone with a bounty in the place, it was still worth checking out when they had time. They also used it as an excuse to go dine and dash in the Goa Kingdom. It was early afternoon and the boys just finished their meal at some high end restaurant not long ago. Now they were walking around Gray Terminal as they relaxed and let their food digest. As they walked past another mountain of trash they heard a small commotion happening. In the distance two groups of people were arguing and it even looked like they were about to start fighting. Luffy was excited and pointed towards them as he said, ¡°Come on let''s go watch!¡± Ace clamped a hand on Luffy¡¯s shoulder as he said, ¡°Let''s watch from back here.¡± ¡°But I wanna watch up close.¡± Marcus narrowed his eyes as the fight broke out in earnest. There was one man he noticed from the start and after a minute he was positive he knew who they were. It was a large man with long pale blue hair who wore a red colored vest. His left bicep was completely covered in a tattoo and he carried a large cutlass on his hip. His name was Porchemy and he was part of the Bluejam pirates with a bounty around four million belly. Once Marcus confirmed it was him he said, ¡°After they finish fighting let''s follow them to their hideout and then take them out.¡± Ace glanced over as he asked, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because that big guy with the sword has a bounty.¡± Luffy tried to break free of Ace¡¯s grip as he asked, ¡°What are we waiting for then? Let''s go beat him up!¡± ¡°You need to learn to be patient, Luffy.¡± Marcus said while Sabo nodded in agreement. ¡°Why?¡± Marcus glanced at Luffy and realized his words would be wasted, but still said, ¡°Because it''s a good skill to have.¡± ¡°But it''s not fun to wait around!¡± ¡°Then either figure out a way to make it fun or learn to like it.¡± Marcus said with a shrug. As they talked the fight in the distance basically finished with Porchemy and his guys winning. After they collected some things from the people they killed, Porchemy grabbed the person he killed and pulled out a knife. Marcus and the other boys watched in morbid fascination as Porchemy scalped the dead man. Once finished he led his group away from the bloody scene and deeper into Gray Terminal. The boys quickly followed behind but kept a safe distance and tried their best to hide their presence. It was a little hard to do because Luffy had no idea how to be stealthy, but somehow they managed to follow the group back to a random shack slightly hidden in a trash pile. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Once Porchemy and his men entered the place, Marcus and the others did a quick sweep around the place. After they finished Marcus asked, ¡°It looks like there''s only one entrance or exit. So how should we handle this?¡± ¡°Let''s just charge in.¡± Luffy said with excitement as Ace nodded in agreement. Marcus leveled a flat look at Ace as he said, ¡°Do you not remember what happened the last time Ace charged into a pirate''s hideout? If he was a little bit taller he could have died or been seriously injured.¡± Ace frowned as little as he recalled the bullet that flew over his head a few years ago. After a moment Ace asked, ¡°Okay. So what should we do? Wait for them to come back out?¡± ¡°Why wait?¡± Marcus asked with a smile as he glanced at the trash heap the hideout was buried under. Marcus with the help of the others lit fire to a couple spots of the trash heap. It took a little while, but after half an hour or so Porchemy and his men charged out of their hideout carrying a couple treasure chests. They were all coughing hard and covered in a layer of soot. Porchemy glared at the hideout now partially in flames as he asked, ¡°Did we get all of the treasures out?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± A man said before he broke into another coughing fit. ¡°Thanks for all your hard work.¡± ¡°It was no problem, Porchemy¡­¡± Another man said before his voice trailed off and everyone turned to look at who spoke. Marcus and the others walked out from behind another trash heap with smiles on their faces. Luffy was practically bouncing on his feet as he asked, ¡°Can we fight them now?¡± ¡°Go for it.¡± Luffy cracked his knuckles as he said, ¡°Yosh! Let''s go!¡± Ace rushed forward past Luffy as he said, ¡°Follow my lead. I''ll take on the big guy.¡± ¡°I wanted to fight him!¡± Luffy yelled as he chased behind Ace. Sabo shared a quick smile with Marcus as he said, ¡°I guess I''ll handle the small fries.¡± Marcus gestured to the group with his free hand as he said, ¡°Be my guest.¡± As Sabo charged forward Marcus grip on his sword hilt tightened. His sword wouldn''t stop shaking since he first noticed Porchemy. He already decided he wasn''t going to fight this time if he could help it. Since he knew his sword''s blood thirst was something he couldn''t control yet, it was safer to keep it sealed in its sheath instead. As the other boys charged over, Porchemy glanced at them in disdain as he said, ¡°The day I get beaten by a couple of kids is the day I quit being a pirate!¡± ¡°Well, we did come to collect your bounty. So your days of being a pirate are technically over.¡± Marcus said as he watched from a distance as the fighting broke out. The fight took only a few minutes to finish and once the dust settled, Porchemy and his men lay defeated on the ground. Marcus wasn''t surprised by the overall outcome, he just didn''t expect it to be so fast. Ace easily handled Porchemy alone, while Luffy ended up helping Sabo take out the cannon fodder. Marcus walked up to them and said, ¡°Alright, first priority is to secure our loot somewhere safe and then turn these guys into the marine base.¡± Sabo glanced at the fire they started and asked, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we put that out?¡± Marcus glanced around a bit just to double check the area before he said, ¡°It should burn itself soon enough, no need to waste time putting it out ourselves.¡± Ace nodded in agreement as he said, ¡°Let''s hurry up and move the treasure.¡± Ace moved to one of the bigger chests and said, ¡°Marcus, you stay here and watch these guys. We''ll hide this and come back.¡± Marcus nodded in agreement before he watched as Ace and the other boys took off with the two treasure chests. It only took them about half an hour to hide the loot somewhere and come back. Porchemy and his men were still knocked out so they tied them up and then carried them to the marine base. It took them a while and they had to take a few breaks along the way, but they managed to make it. Once they arrived at the base they were greeted at the gate by a couple of marines. ¡°Oh, you kids found a new bounty uh?¡± Ace dropped Porchemy on the ground and said, ¡°Yeah, this is Porchemy and some of his crewmates.¡± The marines opened the gate and one of them yelled out, ¡°We have a bounty claim at the gate!¡± After about a minute the base captain walked out and when noticed Ace and the others he asked, ¡°You kids wanna spar with my men after you collect your money?¡± Ace seemed a little eager for another fight, but after sharing a glance with the others he said, ¡°Maybe tomorrow. Today is technically our day off.¡± The captain glanced at Porchemy and the others before he asked, ¡°Taking down a pirate with a bounty is how you spend your day off?¡± ¡°We just got lucky.¡± The captain nodded as he started inspecting the pirates and when he noticed Porchemy he asked, ¡°Where¡¯s his captain at?¡± ¡°Bluejam? No idea. But when we find him, we''ll bring him in too.¡± Marcus said with a shrug of his shoulders. The captain pulled out a stack of bounty papers and quickly glanced through them as he picked out four of them. He showed them to the boys as he said, ¡°These guys have a combined bounty of about six point five million belly. Give me a few minutes to collect it for you.¡± The captain disappeared into the base as some other marines came out to take the pirates down into the prison. After a few more minutes the captain came out with a bag and as he headed it to Ace he asked, ¡°By the way¡­ You boys wouldn''t happen to know anything about a group of four kids running out of restaurants and not paying the bill, would you? They¡¯ve become pretty famous for doing that in the noble district of the city.¡± Ace kept a straight face as he said, ¡°No idea.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a noble district? Where is it at, in the Gray Terminal?¡± Sabo asked. The captain swept his gaze over the other boys and stopped on Luffy who was looking to the side and whistling for no reason. The captain narrowed his eyes as Marcus stepped in front of Luffy to block the man¡¯s view as he said, ¡°Is the food good there? Maybe we should check it out since we just made some money.¡± ¡°But we just ate in the... FUU!¡± Luffy said as he doubled over from Marcus jamming his scabbard into his stomach. ¡°You¡¯re right Luffy, we just ate and it seems you have a tummy ache. We should get you home so you can rest.¡± Marcus said as he quickly took the money from the captain and started to carry Luffy away with help from Sabo and Ace. 00042. Sharing a drink. After the boys took off from the marine base they headed for where they stashed their loot. Once it was collected they took off and headed towards Foosha Village. About half way there, they detoured into the forest and went towards their secret base. It was hidden pretty well in the dense forest and it took them about an hour to trek all the way there. Once they arrived they prepared to hide the treasure and bounty money they collected down inside the cave underneath the tree. Luffy was the first one to open up the bigger treasure chest and said, ¡°Oh wow! Look at all this stuff! There''s even a bottle of sake.¡± Marcus glanced over to look and after a moment pulled the sealed bottle of sake out. He looked it over for a few moments before he set it off to the side and started to help unload the chest. It took them a while to transport the money to their hidden stash. But after they finished they went up to their base to relax for a while. Once they were settled down in the base Ace noticed the bottle of sake Marcus kept and asked, ¡°Are you gonna give that to Makino?¡± Marcus shook his head as he pulled out some cups from their kitchen area and said, ¡°I was thinking we should share it and become brothers.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t we already brothers?¡± Luffy asked as he looked at everyone. Marcus let out a sigh as he dropped his head down into his hands and then said to himself, ¡°Are we really going to have this conversation again?¡± Sabo laughed as he patted Marcus on the back as he said, ¡°It''s Luffy. It would be surprising if he remembered what he ate for breakfast.¡± ¡°Hey! I remember eating breakfast.¡± ¡°And what exactly did you eat?¡± Sabo asked. Luffy took on a thinking pose as he said, ¡°I had meat and uhhh¡­ More meat?¡± Sabo shared a glance with the others before they burst into laughter together. Luffy looked around at each of them in confusion as he asked, ¡°What''s so funny?¡± ¡°It''s because the only thing you remember about breakfast is you had meat¡­¡± Luffy nodded in agreement as he said, ¡°Because that''s what we ate.¡± ¡°We had some bacon, but we mostly ate pancakes!¡± Marcus said as he started to laugh again. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The other three boys said in perfect sync. After a few moments Marcus picked up the bottle of sake as he said, ¡°I heard that when men share a drink together they become brothers. I already consider you my brothers¡­ Luffy included.¡± Ace and Sabo chuckled a little as Marcus opened up the sake bottle and said, ¡°So I figured let''s make it official and share a drink.¡± After he poured a drink for everyone he set the bottle down and picked up his cup. The others moved closer and each picked up a cup of their own before Marcus said, ¡°From this moment onward, we''ll officially be brothers¡­ I think I speak for everyone when I say, "I personally can''t think of anyone else in this world I would rather share this bond with.¡± The others nodded in agreement as they clinked their cups together before they each downed the contents of their cups. For a moment everything was fine before they all started to cough and their eyes started to water. ¡°What the hell, why is it burning!¡± Luffy said as he pounded on his chest. Sabo nodded in agreement as Marcus asked, ¡°Why the hell do people drink this stuff?¡± Ace with his eyes still watery said, ¡°Makino said it''s an acquired taste and takes time to get used too.¡± Marcus lifted up the mostly full bottle as he asked, ¡°What do you guys wanna do with the rest of it?¡± ¡°Should we finish it or maybe give it to Dandan or Makino?¡± Sabo asked. Marcus shrugged and looked at the others as he said, ¡°Up to you.¡± ¡°Let''s drink it as we head back for dinner.¡± Ace said. Luffy glanced at the bottle as he said, ¡°But it burns and doesn''t really taste good.¡± Ace grabbed the bottle and took a drink from it before he coughed a little and then said, ¡°We just need to get used to it.¡± Sabo followed up and took his own drink followed by him coughing. Luffy quickly followed along and Marcus could only sigh before he took another drink himself. Afterwards the boys left their base and headed home as they shared drinks from the bottle. While it normally took the boys about an hour to make it out of the forest and back to the village. With them becoming drunk they ended up taking over two hours. Before they even stumbled into the bar they''re off key singing was heard by the people inside. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°You got mud on your face¡­You big disgrace!¡± The boys belted out. Makino heard them singing and moved towards the door as they continued, ¡°Kicking your can all over the place, singing¡­ We will, we will, rock you!... We will, we will, ROCK YOU!¡± As Makino opened the door and walked outside Marcus sang out, ¡°Buddy you''re a young man, hard man, shouting in the street, gonna take on the world some day!¡± The boys stumbled as they walked together with their arms over each other''s shoulder and their faces flushed red. The others joined in singing as Marcus continued, ¡°You got blood on your face¡­ You big disgrace, waving your banner all over the place¡­ WE WILL, WE WILL, ROCK YOU!¡± Makino took one glance at them and narrowed her eyes as she asked in an icy tone, ¡°And what exactly have you boys been up to?¡± Marcus tried to focus on Makino as the boys stopped singing. Marcus smiled like an idiot as he said, ¡°Singing.¡± ¡°I can see that¡­ What were you doing before that?¡± ¡°We drank sake and became brothers!¡± Luffy blurted out. Marcus slapped Luffy on the back of the head as he tried to whisper and failed miserably as he basically yelled, ¡°We''re not supposed to tell her that!¡± Luffy¡¯s eyes went wide before he looked at Makino and said, ¡°I wasn''t supposed to say that¡­ Forget I said that.¡± All the other boys nodded in agreement as Marcus said, ¡°Yeah, forgot Luffy said that.¡± Makino smiled at them as she asked, ¡°Oh, so you were drinking sake uh? Did you eat dinner yet?¡± The boys didn¡¯t seem to notice what she said as all of them shook their head no. So Makino smiled again and none of the boys noticed the evil glint in her eyes as she said, ¡°Alright, come in and I''ll make you boys dinner.¡± Luffy cheered and stumbled away from the group as he said, ¡°You''re the best, big sis!¡± Ace and the others quickly went to follow behind him. But Marcus stopped in front of Makino before he went inside and said, ¡°Have I ever told you, I think you¡¯re beautiful and I love the color of your hair?¡± Makino shook her head and pushed Marcus into the bar as she mumbled to herself, ¡°No wonder that little girl is so smitten with you.¡± A little while later Makino brought the boys dinner and a large pitcher of something to drink. The boys didn''t really notice it since they were already drunk and the drink was so sweet. But what Makino gave them to drink was full of alcohol and she refilled it a few times as they ate dinner. The rest of the night was basically a blur for all of the boys and the only thing Marcus was sure about was that everyone puked at least once. In the morning hours they all awoke to the hard wooden floor of the bar and the morning light as it flooded the bar. Marcus grabbed his head with a groan before he asked, ¡°What the hell happened last night?¡± Sabo winced as he said, ¡°Not so loud my head is killing me.¡± Ace and Luffy nodded in agreement before the sound of two large pots slamming together entered their ears. They all attempted to cover their ears as the sound continued and Makino walked into the room banging the pots together. The boys all groaned as she continued for almost a minute before she finally asked in a loud voice, ¡°Are you finally up?¡± ¡°Yes big sis Makino.¡± Marcus said as he gently rubbed his temples. ¡°Big sis, my head hurts.¡± Luffy whined as he held his head. ¡°That''s what you idiots get for drinking!¡± Makino said with a raised voice. All the boys winced in pain as they flinched back from the sound of her voice. Makino glanced over each of them as she said, ¡°What you are experiencing now is a hangover and it''s what happens whenever you drink alcohol.¡± ¡°First it burns when you drink it and then you feel like this afterwards¡­ Why do people even drink then?¡± Sabo asked in a low voice. ¡°Who knows¡­ But it doesn''t matter to me because that''s how I make my living.¡± Makino slammed the pots together again before she dropped them to the floor and placed her hands on her hips as she said, ¡°What does matter to me is all of you drinking! You''re all underage and under my care!¡± Makino leveled a glare at all of the boys as she said, ¡°You better not drink again until you''re old enough or so help me¡­¡± The boys audibly gulped and quickly nodded their heads in agreement before Makino pointed towards the kitchen door and said, ¡°Since you understand, I want you to clean the kitchen top to bottom. And once you''re done there, you can clean the bathrooms before you head outside and clean the roofs and gutters.¡± ¡°But I''m hungry and my head hurts.¡± Luffy whined as he rubbed his temples. Makino picked up her pots and slammed them together again before she said, ¡°Once you''re done here, you are going to the mayor for more work.¡± ¡°But we''re supposed to train today.¡± Ace said. Makino slammed the pots together again as she said, ¡°You aren''t training for at least a few days¡­ At least until I am satisfied with how much you help around the village. Now get going!¡± The next few days we''re not fun at all for the boys. Makino and the mayor had them run ragged with the amount of chores they were forced to do. Some of it was simple cleaning or painting, but other things were down right tedious or gross. Needless to say, none of the boys even wanted to look at a bottle of alcohol let alone drink one, once they were done. Once Makino was satisfied with all their work, she allowed the boys to start training again. The boys quickly switched back to their training routine after the impromptu week-long ¡®break¡¯. About a week after they started training again, Marcus and the others gathered together to spar. Once they finished sparring at their normal spot for the day, they sat around chatting like normal and an interesting topic came up. Ace was the one who started it as he asked, ¡°Do you guys have dreams for the future? Well besides Luffy since we already know what he wants to do.¡± Sabo glanced at the others as he said, ¡°I wanna travel the world and write a book about my adventures.¡± ¡°I wanna travel the world too and see everything this world has. Good and bad.¡± Marcus said as he looked off the cliff they were on out to the open sea below. Ace was on his back as he laid on the grass and said, ¡°I want to be famous and have everyone know my name¡­¡± Luffy, excited to say what his dream is, was cut off as Marcus said, ¡°We know, you wanna be king of the pirates.¡± Luffy pouted as he said, ¡°I plan to be king of the pirates, but that¡¯s not my dream.¡± Everyone turned to look at Luffy as if he had just grown another head. Luffy smiled at them as he said, ¡°My dream is¡­¡± 00043. Trash. ¡°Are. You. Serious. Right. Now?¡± Marcus asked between fits of laughter. He wasn¡¯t doing much better then the others as all of them burst into laughter after they heard Luffy¡¯s dream. To say it was ridiculous would be an understatement and at the same time it fit Luffy perfectly. Luffy just smiled to himself as he relaxed in the grass. After they settled down from Luffy''s declaration, Marcus sat up and took on a serious tone as he said, ¡°You guys know I dream about stuff sometimes right?¡± Ace and Sabo nodded as Luffy said, ¡°I always dream about meat!¡± Marcus let out a sigh before he said, ¡°Luffy¡­ I dream about stuff that hasn''t happened yet but most likely will.¡± Luffy sat up and looked at Marcus with his mouth hanging open for a few moments before he asked, ¡°Did you see me eating meat soon?¡± Marcus turned away from Luffy and said to Sabo, ¡°I saw Gray Terminal on fire soon and it has to do with your dad and some other nobles.¡± ¡°What about my meat?!¡± Luffy asked, trying to gain Marcus''s attention back. ¡°No one cares about your meat Luffy!¡± Ace said as he glanced at Sabo. Sabo frowned as he asked, ¡°How do you know it''s my dad?¡± ¡°I saw him talking to you¡­ I''m not sure what you talked about but I think he threatened you and you left us to go back home.¡± Luffy looked shocked as Ace said, ¡°Sabo wouldn''t leave us.¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°That might be true¡­ But if he was threatened with our lives?¡± ¡°That sounds like something my father would do¡­¡± Sabo said before he let out a sigh. ¡°Sabo can''t leave us! We''re brothers, we have to stick together!¡± Luffy said as he looked like he was about to cry. Marcus slapped Luffy on the back of his head as he said, ¡°Don''t start crying for no reason, idiot.¡± Tears started to form in Luffy¡¯s eyes as he blubbered out, ¡°But you said Sabo would leave us!¡± Marcus let out a sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Sabo patted Luffy on the shoulder as he said, ¡°Settle down Luffy, I''m not going anywhere.¡± Luffy hugged Sabo as he said, ¡°Promise you won''t go anywhere.¡± Sabo helplessly smiled at the others as he said, ¡°For now, I promise not to go anywhere.¡± It took a few minutes before Luffy settled down and stopped crying. Once he was somewhat back to normal Marcus focused on Sabo as he asked, ¡°So what do you want to do about your dad and what might happen?¡± ¡°I don''t know.¡± Sabo said with a frown. Ace glanced at Marcus as he asked, ¡°You already have a plan don''t you?¡± ¡°I have one, but we would only do it if Sabo agrees to it.¡± Sabo turned towards Marcus and asked, ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± ¡°We take you home ourselves and collect your inheritance before you officially cut ties with your family.¡± Marcus said with a wicked looking grin. Sabo and the other''s eyes widened as they looked at Marcus like he was crazy. Marcus just grinned wider as he said, ¡°You already ran away once and hate your family. Might as well give them a reason to not want you back¡­ Besides, we can use it as an opportunity to find out about the Gray Terminal fire.¡± ¡°That sounds fun, let''s do it!¡± Ace said with some excitement in his voice. Luffy nodded in agreement as he said, ¡°Let''s go beat up those jerks who want to take Sabo away!¡± Sabo smiled slightly as he shook his head as he said, ¡°My family home is heavily guarded because my father is third in line to be king and I am technically fourth.¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°It just means more people to beat up.¡± ¡°We could be labeled as criminals if we do that.¡± Sabo said with concern. Marcus raised an eyebrow as he said, ¡°Didn''t you plan to be a pirate with Ace?¡± Sabo rubbed the back of his head as he smiled which showed off a missing tooth before he said with a chuckle, ¡°I wasn''t thinking about that.¡± Marcus glanced at everyone else as he asked, ¡°Anyone have any objections?¡± When no one spoke up, Marcus started to list off different ways they could go about Sabo cutting ties with his family. They discussed different plans and ideas for a few hours before coming up with something that everyone agreed on. Afterwards they traveled back home to eat and make preparations for their visit to Sabo¡¯s family. vvvvv It was the afternoon a few days later as Sabo led everyone through the streets towards the noble housing district. They were dressed up compared to what they normally wore, but it still looked rather poor compared to what people in the noble district tended to wear. As they reached the inner city gate to the area, they were stopped by one of the guards who said, ¡°You kids aren''t allowed in here. Turn around and go somewhere else.¡± Sabo narrowed his eyes as he said in a threatening voice, ¡°Tell me your name so I can have my father punish you when I get home.¡± The guard wasn''t completely sure what to do with how Sabo spoke and glanced at the other guards for help. One of the older guards stepped forward and said in a polite tone, ¡°Please forgive him sir, he''s new and it''s his first day.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Sabo glanced at both men and tilted his head back a little as he said, ¡°Then he better remember my face and not block my way again. Otherwise he will be out of a job.¡± ¡°Yes sir, thank you sir.¡± The older guard said as he motioned for everyone to let the boys pass. As they were about to pass the guards, Luffy looked like he was about to say something. Marcus reacted quickly and clapped a hand over his mouth as he dragged Luffy away with the help of Ace. After the boys left the first guard asked, ¡°Do you know who his father is?¡± The older guard smiled as he said, ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°What!?! Did you see how they were dressed? They definitely weren''t nobles¡­ We shouldn''t have let them inside.¡± The older guard rested a hand on the younger man''s shoulder as he said, ¡°It''ll be fine, it''s just a couple of kids. Most likely they''re friends with some noble kid and came to visit.¡± ¡°What if they''re not and came here to cause trouble?¡± The older guard smiled as he asked back, ¡°And what if that kid is really the son of some noble?¡± The older man moved back to his position as he said, ¡°It''s best to just keep your head down when it comes to this job¡­ If someone shows up and gives you an arrogant attitude like that? It''s best to just assume they are a noble and let them in, no matter what they look like.¡± As the man settled back into his spot in the shade he said with a smile, ¡°And if they''re not nobles and cause problems¡­ Well they never came through our gate. Do you understand?¡± The other man turned back to his post as he said, ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°Good.¡± After the boys passed the gate Marcus released his hand from Luffy''s mouth as he said, ¡°You really need to know when to stay quiet.¡± ¡°But Sabo was so cool!¡± Luffy put on a serious look and said, ¡°You better remember my face!¡± Marcus and the others could only shake their heads at Luffy as he pretended to be Sabo as they walked. After a while they reached a large mansion with a handful of guards at the gate. As the boys approached the guards turned their attention to them and it didn''t take long for a couple of them to notice Sabo. Sabo focused on the guard in charge as he asked, ¡°Is my father in?¡± ¡°No young master, he went out earlier.¡± The guard hesitated for a moment before he asked, ¡°Where have you been? We thought you were dead¡­¡± Sabo moved to enter the gate as he said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I only came back to talk to my father and then I am leaving.¡± The guards said nothing as they moved out of the way and let Sabo and the other''s inside. Sabo led everyone into the mansion and they were greeted by a butler who looked at Sabo in shock as he asked, ¡°Young master?¡± Sabo nodded at the man as he said, ¡°It''s good to see you Robert.¡± The man smiled slightly as he said, ¡°Where have you been? Your father searched all over the kingdom but never found you¡­ We thought you died.¡± Sabo shrugged as he said, ¡°He must not have put much effort in, it¡¯s not like I was hiding or something.¡± Robert frowned as he said, ¡°Then where were you?¡± ¡°Gray Terminal and the jungle mostly. Even left the island a few times.¡± Robert''s eyes widened slightly at the mention of Gray Terminal before he glanced at the other boys and asked, ¡°And these boys are?¡± ¡°My brothers.¡± Sabo said proudly. The man frowned again as he said, ¡°Well it''s good to have you back young master¡­ Should I prepare a bath for you?¡± ¡°I''m only here to chat with my father, then I''m leaving again and won''t be back.¡± The man looked like he wanted to retort but stopped himself. After a few moments Robert pointed towards a side room and said, ¡°Your father is currently out, but you can wait in there for him to return and I will bring you some refreshments.¡± Sabo nodded and walked into the waiting room that contained a few fancy couches and chairs. In the middle of the room rested an elegant coffee table made out of dark walnut with the outside edges encased in gold. Marcus glanced at it as he took off his training sword and sat down on one of the chairs. Within a few minutes Robert and a couple maids entered the room with a few trays. The trays contained drinks and snacks which were placed on the coffee table. As Luffy moved to start eating Robert said, ¡°I sent someone to inform your father you''re here. He should return soon.¡± Sabo nodded his head before Robert and the maids left the room. After a few moments Marcus noticed the tense atmosphere around Sabo and said, ¡°Relax. No matter what happens we are with you all the way.¡± It took a few moments but after Sabo took a deep breath he smiled and said, ¡°I know¡­ It''s just that my father can be intense.¡± Marcus rested his hand on the hilt of his training sword as he said, ¡°Nothing a few knocks to the head can''t fix.¡± Luffy who had his cheeks stuffed full of food nodded in agreement as he stuffed another little sandwich into his mouth. Marcus and the others took one look at him and burst into laughter. Their rambunctious laughter carried out of the room and after a few minutes a boy appeared at the doorway and curiously looked inside. The boy glanced at everyone inside the room for a moment before his eyes landed on Sabo. The boy with a bowl shaped haircut wearing a frilly shirt, bow tie and suspenders walked into the room and with an arrogant tone asked, ¡°What are you doing back here, trash?¡± Everyone stopped laughing and turned to look at the boy for a few moments before Sabo asked, ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± The boy tilted his head back slightly as he said in a condescending tone, ¡°I¡¯m Sterry, your replacement.¡± ¡°My replacement?¡± The boy nodded and with a hint of mockery he said, ¡°Our parents decided they needed a proper heir and adopted me right after you disappeared, trash.¡± Marcus and Ace narrowed their eyes as Luffy glanced around and asked, ¡°Trash? I don''t see any trash?¡± Sterry walked closer and pointed at Sabo as he said, ¡°The trash is right there!¡± ¡°That''s weird, I thought I was looking at the trash.¡± Marcus said as he stared directly at Sterry. Sterry''s eyes flashed with anger as he moved towards Marcus and said, ¡°Shut up, trash!¡± Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°Actually now that I think about it¡­ You look more like a footrest instead of trash.¡± Sterry stopped in front of Marcus and snarled, ¡°I told you to Shut up, trash! You don''t have permission to speak!¡± Sabo and Ace watched in interest as Luffy bounced in his seat with excitement as he quickly stuffed more snacks in his mouth. Marcus smiled as he said, ¡°And I said you look like a footrest¡­ So do your job.¡± Sterry raised his hand and was about to slap Marcus when Marcus''s training sword whipped out and caught Sterry in the mouth. Teeth and blood flew out as Sterry screamed like a stuck pig. Marcus struck Sterry again in the back of the head and he collapsed to the ground in front of Marcus like a puppet with its strings cut. Marcus placed his feet onto Sterry''s back as he said, ¡°I knew I was right. He makes a perfect footrest.¡± Sabo and the other''s started to laugh as Robert ran into the room. He glanced around the room and immediately noticed Sterry on the ground with blood pooling by his face. His face darkened as he yelled out, ¡°What the hell do you think you''re doing!¡± Marcus glanced up with a playful smirk on his face as he said, ¡°Waiting for some trash to show up.¡± ¡°GUARDS! GUARDS! THE YOUNG MASTER WAS ATTACKED!¡± The butler screamed out at the top of his lungs. Ace and the others looked like they were about to stand up when Marcus waved them off. Marcus stood up as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck before he said, ¡°I''ll handle this¡­ Just sit back and enjoy the show.¡± 00044. Cutting ties. Outlook finished his business before he headed back home, after he received the message his son Sabo had finally returned. He was surprised but also a little happy, since he could now use the boy for another political marriage. But first he needed to get back home and scold the little shit for running away in the first place. When Outlook reached his home, he found the guards missing and the door partly open. The man frowned as he moved towards the door and thought of how he would punish his guards later. When he pushed open the door the first thing he noticed was the metallic smell of blood. Once his eyes adjusted to the indoor light he froze in place as his breath caught in his throat. Piled in front of him in the middle of the large entryway were all of his guards. Seated on top of the pile of guards was a young boy with a metal reinforced, wooden training sword causally resting on one shoulder. The boy was splattered in blood and the left half of his face was horribly scarred. The boy noticed Outlook and smiled as he said, ¡°Finally! You took your sweet time coming back.¡± Outlook took a few moments before he recovered and asked in an arrogant tone, ¡°Do you have any idea who you are messing with you little shit?¡± ¡°A trash parent and a worse human being?¡± Marcus asked with a smirk. Outlook narrowed his eyes and his hands clenched into tight fists as he snarled, ¡°I''m Outlook the third! I''m third in line to becoming the king of this country!¡± Marcus released his sword and started to slow clap as he said, ¡°Wow! Impressive! You must be so proud of yourself!¡± Outlook pointed his finger at Marcus and his body practically shook as he yelled out, ¡°You dare mock me?¡± ¡°Is that what I was doing? I thought I was giving you a compliment?¡± Marcus asked as he stopped clapping and gripped his sword hilt again. The atmosphere was broken as Luffy fell into the entryway as he laughed loudly. Ace and Sabo stepped in behind him as the butler Robert meekly followed behind them. Outlook noticed Robert and said, ¡°Go get more guards from the king, Robert. This piece of trash needs to learn its place.¡± Outlook¡¯s gaze focused on Sabo a moment later as he said, ¡°I know this is all your fault and you''ll be punished for it later.¡± When Robert didn''t move, Outlook refocused on him and said, ¡°I gave you an order, go do it at once!¡± Robert kept his head down as he said in a defeated tone, ¡°That monster won''t let me leave sir.¡± Outlook''s voice took on a darker cold tone as he asked, ¡°Do you really fear that brat more than me?¡± Robert''s whole body tensed before he moved towards the door without a word. Just as he was about to pass by Outlook, Marcus disappeared from his spot and a moment later he was in front of Robert with his back facing the man. Robert coughed up blood and collapsed on the ground unconscious a second later. Outlook quickly turned to see what happened and when he saw Marcus standing behind him blocking the front door he unconsciously stepped back. Sabo and the other''s moved towards Marcus and once they were close Sabo asked, ¡°Why are you planning to set fire to the Gray Terminal?¡± ¡°How do you know about that?¡± Sabo frowned as he studied his father for a few moments before he said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how I know. I just want to know why.¡± Outlook glanced between the boys for a moment before he glanced fearfully at Marcus and said, ¡°A celestial dragon is coming in a week and we plan to cleanse Gray Terminal of all the trash before they arrive.¡± ¡°When?¡± Marcus asked with a cold glint in his eyes. ¡°Tomorrow night after everything is in place.¡± Marcus glanced at Sabo as he asked, ¡°Do you wanna collect your inheritance?¡± Sabo glanced at Outlook for a few moments before he said, ¡°No. I don''t want anything from him or the rest of this family.¡± Marcus turned back to Outlook and locked eyes with him as he said, ¡°From this moment onward, Sabo is no longer related to you. Don''t come looking for him¡­ Or I''ll come looking for you and I won''t be so nice next time.¡± Outlook looked like he was about to say something when Marcus''s sword jutted out and caught him in the solar plexus. Outlook collapsed to his knees as he gasped for breath but froze when Marcus rested his sword on his shoulder. Marcus leaned closer to the man as said, ¡°Be smart for once in your life and just forget all about Sabo and us. Understand?¡± Outlook had anger filled eyes as he spat out, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Marcus said as he tapped Outlook''s cheek with his sword before he turned around and headed towards the door. Luffy and the others joined him and as they reached the door Outlook yelled out, ¡°You little shit! You think you can leave after what you''ve done?!¡± Marcus turned around to see Outlook with a gun raised and pointed at him. Luffy and the others froze as Marcus gripped his sword hilt tighter. Outlook smiled as he said, ¡°No one threatens me! Now, die!¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Before Outlook pulled the trigger, Marcus grabbed Luffy by the shoulder with his free hand and pulled him infront of himself as he said, ¡°Gum gum, human shield!¡± The sound of a small explosion went off as Outlook pulled the trigger of his gun. Luffy''s eyes comically popped out of his head as the bullet slammed into his chest. As his body stretched from the bullet Ace and Sabo yelled out, ¡°Luffy!¡± A moment later the bullet was shot back out of Luffy''s body and just missed Outlook''s head. Outlook and everyone else starred at Luffy in shock as Marcus let Luffy go and said, ¡°Good job Luf, I always knew you were reliable.¡± ¡°What the hell Marcus! Luffy could have died!¡± Ace yelled as he grabbed Marcus by his shirt and shook him. Luffy poked himself where the bullet hit himself as he said, ¡°I was shot, but it didn''t even hurt.¡± Marcus nodded as he said, ¡°Of course, you''re made of rubber, normal bullets can''t hurt you and probably cannon balls too.¡± ¡°We didn''t know that!¡± Ace, Sabo and Luffy said at the same time. Marcus glanced at Ace and the others as he asked, ¡°Really? I thought it was obvious.¡± ¡°It''s not!¡± All of the yelled at Marcus. ¡°Then we should test Luffy''s limits later so we all know what he can do¡­ But first we have someone we need to deal with.¡± Marcus said as he pointed his sword at Outlook who was recovering from his initial shock. Marcus glanced at Sabo and asked, ¡°What do you wanna do?¡± Sabo grabbed his training halberd from his back as he said, ¡°I''ll take care of it this time.¡± Sabo moved towards his father who finally recovered and pointed his gun at Sabo as he said, ¡°Don''t think I won''t shoot you just because you''re my son.¡± Sabo¡¯s halberd flashed towards his father''s hand and with a crack knocked the gun from his hand as he started to scream. Sabo paid no mind to the man as he stuck out again and caught him in the shoulder which produced a sickening crack. As Outlook crumpled to the ground and screamed out in agony, Sabo continued to beat the man bloody. After about a minute, Outlook could only whimper as he laid on the ground a broken and bloody mess. Sabo finally finished, rested his halberd on the man''s face to get his attention as he said, ¡°You tried to kill my little brother today, so consider this your punishment.¡± Sabo pressed his weapon onto the man''s head as he said, ¡°The only reason you aren''t dead is because of my mercy as your former son¡­ There won''t be a next time.¡± Sabo turned around and walked towards the door as he said, ¡°Let''s go.¡± The others silently followed behind him and after they were outside and down the street a little ways Marcus said, ¡°That was a little much, don''t you think?¡± Sabo glanced at Marcus as he said, ¡°You''re one to talk. You beat those guards senseless.¡± ¡°Yeah, but they will heal in a few days to a week at most. Your fath¡­ Outlook will be lucky if he can walk again, let alone use his hands.¡± ¡°Yeah, that was pretty brutal.¡± Ace said as Luffy nodded. Sabo glanced at Marcus before he said, ¡°He tried to kill you. If it wasn''t for Luffy eating his fruit, you might be dead.¡± ¡°Maybe. I think I could of disabled him before he shot.¡± Marcus said with a shrug. ¡°Then why did you use me to block the shot?¡± Marcus placed his arm over Luffy¡¯s shoulder as he said, ¡°Because I knew my precious brother would protect me.¡± Luffy''s eyes lit up as he asked, ¡°I''m your precious brother?¡± ¡°Of course, who else is my brother and also doubles as the perfect human shield? It can only be you!¡± Marcus said as he patted Luffy on the shoulder. Ace and Sabo shared a glance before they burst into laughter. Luffy turned to look at them as he asked, ¡°What''s so funny?¡± Ace shook his head as he said, ¡°Nothing important.¡± As they left the Goa Kingdom and headed back towards the village, Marcus paid more attention to Sabo. Marcus felt bad about what happened, since Sabo beat his father almost half to death and the man would probably be crippled for the rest of his life. Sure the guy was human trash and definitely deserved it. But Marcus didn''t think Sabo should''ve been the one to unleash some justice on his biological father. He was pretty sure Sabo was fine, but it didn''t hurt to double check after what happened. Then again it could just be Marcus and his old morals being overly concerned for no reason¡­ Once they reached Makino¡¯s and started to eat lunch Marcus asked, ¡°What should we do about the fire in Gray Terminal?¡± ¡°It''s supposed to happen tomorrow night, so we don''t have much time to plan.¡± Ace said with some concern. ¡°It''s just a fire. Why do we need to do anything about it?¡± Asked Luffy before he stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth. ¡°Because they plan to kill everyone in Gray Terminal with the fire.¡± Sabo said. Luffy looked up with his eyes widened as he stopped eating and asked, ¡°I thought it was to get rid of the trash?¡± ¡°I don''t know whether I should be impressed that he remembered what was said or that he actually stopped eating to talk.¡± Marcus said with a chuckle. Ace and Sabo nodded in agreement before Sabo said, ¡°You heard them call us trash. That''s what they consider everyone who isn''t a noble.¡± Luffy sniffed his arm pit as he asked, ¡°Is it because we smell?¡± Marcus turned away from Luffy as he said, ¡°It''s better if we just ignore him¡­ So any ideas on what we should do?¡± ¡°How about we go around and warn everyone so they can leave the place before the fire?¡± Ace said after a few moments. Sabo shook his head as he said, ¡°We might be able to get a few to leave early, but I doubt most people would care until the fire started and went out of control.¡± For a while the brothers discussed different ideas and ways they could either stop the fire or prevent it. After lunch was finished and Luffy was paying a little more attention he said, ¡°Why don''t we just start the fire ourselves?¡± Everyone turned to look at Luffy who wore a goofy smile as he said, ¡°It''s too much work to stop it, so let''s just start the fire instead.¡± ¡°We don''t want the fire to start at all though.¡± Ace said as he let out a sigh. Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose as he said, ¡°I don''t wanna admit it¡­ But he might be onto something.¡± ¡°What?¡± The other three boys asked at the same time. 00045. Investigating the fire preperations. After they hashed out a basic plan, the boys rushed back to Gray Terminal to figure out how to accomplish it. The first thing they needed to do was figure out how the fire was going to be started and how it would be spread throughout all of Gray Terminal. Once they had that information they could figure out a way to modify it for their own needs. Since Marcus knew that Bluejam was in charge of setting everything up for the nobles, he suggested they start near the coast and work inland from there. When the boys arrived at the port area for Gray Terminal it was a couple hours past noon. While it wasn''t like a traditional port like in Foosha Village, it acted like one for the people of Gray Terminal. It was where a good part of the citizens procured food by fishing in pieced together rafts and boats. The boys started their search in this area and turned up nothing after an hour. As far as they could tell, nothing seemed weird and they couldn''t find anything after digging through some of the trash piles. With only a few hours of daylight left to work with, Marcus said, ¡°How about we split up and check around the area for a bit. We can meet back here in an hour or so.¡± When no one had a better suggestion the boys split up and started to search on their own. While the others headed deeper into Gray Terminal, Marcus headed down the coast some more. He had a pretty good idea that Bluejam''s base was hidden somewhere on the coast along with his ship. He just had no idea where it was exactly so he was forced to search for it. Marcus quickly made his way along the coast as he glanced around the area. As Marcus moved farther up the coast the less people appeared and after fifteen minutes he was basically alone. The coast area itself became more rocky and some seaside cliffs rose up from the ground a few hundred yards in front of him. The cliffs were Marcus''s main destination as it was the best place for Bluejam to hide his ship. Once he reached the cliffs Marcus quickly scaled the first one and used the added height to scan the area. For almost half an hour Marcus searched the area until he gave up and headed back to join the others. Marcus ended up being the last to arrive and when he did Ace said, ¡°I think I found who is setting everything up for the fire.¡± ¡°Really? Where are they at?¡± Marcus asked. Ace pointed over his shoulder towards the massive wall that surrounded the Goa Kingdom as he said, ¡°Found some people moving barrels out from a hidden tunnel near the wall and stuffing them into trash piles.¡± Luffy started to walk towards where Ace pointed as he said, ¡°Alright! Let''s go check it out.¡± Marcus grabbed Luffy by the shoulder as he said, ¡°Hold on for a minute Luffy. Let''s go find one of those barrels first and find out what''s inside.¡± Ace and Sabo nodded in agreement before Ace said, ¡°I''ll show you where they placed a couple of them.¡± About fifteen minutes later they removed two decent sized barrels from a couple of trash piles and tried to open them up. Once the lid was off one of them the boys scrunched up their noses at the overwhelming smell. The barrels contained some time of nasty smelling oil that none of the boys could identify. As Marcus and the others checked out the two barrels, a couple of burly men in tattered clothes appeared and one of them asked, ¡°What do you little punks think you''re doing?¡± ¡°None of your business.¡± Sabo said as he took a defensive stance. ¡°It is when you''re messing with our stuff.¡± One of the men said as he glanced at the two barrels. ¡°We found them in the trash piles, how can they be yours?¡± Luffy asked. The other man stepped forward as he said to his companion, ¡°Let''s just kill them and put the barrels back in the trash heaps with their corpses.¡± Before the other man could respond Marcus rushed forward in a flash and attacked. Within moments both men were on the ground bruised and moaning in pain. Marcus rested his training sword on one of the men''s faces and said, ¡°Tell me who you''re working for.¡± When the man didn''t respond after a minute Marcus jabbed the tip of his sword into the man''s crotch with all his strength. Everyone except Luffy instinctively grabbed their own crotch in a protective manner as the man howled in pain. Marcus turned to the other man and asked, ¡°Do you wanna be next?¡± The man quickly shook his head as he said, ¡°We work for Bluejam! We were hired by some nobles to place the barrels.¡± ¡°How many people are helping place barrels?¡± Marcus asked as he stepped closer to the man and tapped the mans hands that were still protecting his crotch with his sword. The man started sweating as he said, ¡°The whole crew, almost a hundred people.¡± ¡°Is everyone working in groups?¡± The man nodded as he said, ¡°Two or three man teams.¡± ¡°How many barrels have already been placed?¡± ¡°I think a couple hundred, maybe¡­¡± The man said before Marcus tapped his hands again and he quickly added, ¡°I''m really not sure. We were given the barrels by the nobles and we haven''t even placed half of them yet.¡± ¡°Do you know where they were all placed?¡± The man shook his head as he said, ¡°Not the exact locations, but we were told to plant them all around the edges of Gray Terminal first.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Where are the barrels stored?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°A hidden port the nobles use to work with smugglers.¡± Marcus glanced at the others as he asked, ¡°Anything else you can think of to ask?¡± When the others shook their heads, Marcus turned back to the man and said, ¡°Thanks for your cooperation.¡± Before the man could respond Marcus cracked him over the head with his training sword which knocked him out. He then turned towards the others as he asked, ¡°So should we attack them now or start the fire first?¡± ¡°If we attack them first, would we still need to worry about the fire?¡± Luffy asked. ¡°They would just find someone else to do it once we take out Bluejam and his crew. Might as well start the fire ourselves in a somewhat controlled manner.¡± Marcus said. ¡°Makes sense to me.¡± Sabo said and Ace nodded in agreement. ¡°So attack or fire?¡± ¡°Attack.¡± Everyone said at the same time. After they tied up the two men Marcus beat up, they headed towards the hidden cove Ace found. On the way they knocked out a few more groups of pirates and hid them in the trash piles. By the time they reached the hidden tunnel, over twenty pirates were already dealt with. Instead of charging directly into the tunnel and fighting the people inside, Marcus forced everyone to hide a certain distance from the entrance. He wanted to thin the herd some more before they went inside since fighting eighty pirates would be a tough task for them. As they wanted for a group to appear Luffy asked, ¡°Why can''t we just charge in? These guys are weak.¡± Marcus glanced at Luffy for a moment before he turned his attention back to the area around the tunnel entrance as he said, ¡°Because not all of them will be that weak. I am pretty sure Bluejam will be a challenge for all of us even if we work together.¡± Ace and the others looked excited at the challenge of fighting a tough opponent. But agreed not to make things harder than they needed to be. With that in mind all the boys settled into a couple spots around their ambush point and waited for pirates to show up. They didn''t need to wait long before three people appeared from the tunnel each carrying a barrel. Once they reached the ambush spot, Marcus and the others quickly disabled them and tossed them in the trash heap along with the barrels. It actually took longer to hide them, then it was to beat them up. Over an hour and a half passed by as the boys took out group after group of men. While it was only two or three people each time, it quickly added up and the boys had taken out over sixty pirates including the others. The only issue now was the pirates seemed to have caught on, since they stopped coming out of the tunnel about fifteen minutes ago and no more pirates were caught heading back. After waiting another half hour with no movement from the tunnel, Marcus turned to the others and said, ¡°It looks like they finally caught on.¡± ¡°There should be around forty people left, Bluejam being one of them and maybe an officer or two that might be strong¡­So what do you want to do now?¡± Marcus asked as he glanced at the others. ¡°Let''s go in and beat them up!¡± Luffy said with a smile. Sabo smiled as he shook his head and said, ¡°We should try to lure them out or thin the numbers more before we go in.¡± Marcus nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°How about we try and scout the tunnel and gain some information first.¡± ¡°Oh, I wanna go! I''ll do it!¡± Luffy excitedly said as he raised his hand in the air. The others shared a glance before Ace asked, ¡°So we''re in agreement in not sending Luffy?¡± ¡°Hey! Why can''t I go?¡± The others ignored Luffy and quickly nodded as Ace asked, ¡°So who wants to go?¡± ¡°I''ll do it.¡± Sabo said. ¡°I''ll join you.¡± The others turned to Marcus who shrugged and said, ¡°It''ll be safer if we scout it together.¡± ¡°Yeah, let''s all go!¡± Luffy said. Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°No, just Sabo and I will scout. You stay here with Ace.¡± Luffy pouted as he said, ¡°But I wanna go too!¡± Marcus placed his hand on Luffy¡¯s shoulder as he said, ¡°You can''t come because you and Ace have an important job to do.¡± ¡°We do!?!¡± Luffy asked as Ace smirked slightly. Marcus nodded his head as he said, ¡°You both have to wait here and make sure no more groups leave or come back. It''s very important and I can only trust this to you.¡± Ace rolled his eyes as Luffy nodded seriously and said, ¡°Okay!¡± Marcus turned to Sabo as he said, ¡°Good, let''s head out, Sabo.¡± Instead of going through the hidden tunnel the pirates used, Marcus and Sabo took a longer path and headed towards the coast. As they reached the water Sabo asked, ¡°Why are we headed this way?¡± ¡°Because there should be an entrance over here for their ship.¡± ¡°Oh, you wanna swim in, through the water?¡± Sabo asked. Marcus shook his head and started to climb onto the wall as he said, ¡°Not if I can help it.¡± Sabo¡¯s eyes lit up in understanding as he quickly joined Marcus on the wall and followed along behind him. It took them about half an hour to scale the wall around to the hidden water entrance of the cove. But their cliff training with Garp proved useful as neither boy fell off the almost vertical surface. Once inside it took another twenty minutes or so to reach the hidden cove itself. It was a large hidden port with only two ships currently anchored at the dock. One was a massive three mast ship with a pirate flag proudly on display. The other was an elegant single main mast ship with a smaller mast on the rear deck. It looked like something a noble would use for a pleasure cruise. The port was the only thing in the hidden cove itself and there were only two exits beside the water. One of them was clearly the exit the boys were watching the past few hours. While the other exit was sealed with an iron door that led into the Goa Kingdom. The port itself was pretty empty with only a handful of people gathered near the exit tunnel leading towards Gray Terminal. Marcus took note of the amount of people and after a few minutes realized it should be everyone they missed. The distance was pretty far so he couldn''t tell if Bluejam was there or not. But it didn''t matter too much since they mainly wanted to scout the area. Marcus and Sabo took half an hour as they watched the whole area and enemy''s movements from a secluded spot. Once finished they climbed back out using the cave wall and went to meet back up with Ace and Luffy. ¡°What did you find out?¡± Ace asked. ¡°About forty people are turtled up just inside the end of the tunnel. It looks like they are waiting for an attack, but I couldn''t make out if Bluejam was with them or not.¡± Marcus said. ¡°So what should we do? Wait for them to let their guard down?¡± Marcus smiled as he said, ¡°I have an idea, but we would need to make sure they can''t escape from the hidden cove. And it also depends on us being able to use a cannon.¡± 00046. The Gray Terminal Incident ¡°Do you think those guys will do it?¡± Ace asked as he fiddled with the cannon in front of him. Marcus shrugged helplessly as he said, ¡°We offered them a good deal. If they don''t do it, we''ll just do it ourselves.¡± ¡°I''m still not sure about this¡­ I mean their pirates and we''re just gonna let them go?¡± Sabo asked. Marcus placed a hand on the sword on his hip as he said, ¡°My sword didn''t want to cut them up, so it should be fine¡­ Besides, aren''t you planning on being a pirate yourself?¡± ¡°I. I didn''t think about that¡­¡± Sabo¡¯s voice trailed off as he looked at how the cannons were set up before he asked, ¡°Are you sure this is gonna work?¡± Marcus double checked the cannon placement before he said, ¡°Probably¡­ Maybe¡­ I mean we won''t know for sure until we try it.¡± ¡°Can''t they just run out of the tunnel?¡± Luffy asked. ¡°That''s why all the cannons are aimed at the tunnel. It should either collapse it or at least damage it enough that they can''t run away.¡± Marcus said as he adjusted another cannon slightly. Sabo examined one of the cannons as he asked, ¡°Are you sure we loaded them correctly? What if those guys lied to us?¡± Marcus pointed to the weird setup he created with a bunch of fuses lined up and connected together as he said, ¡°That''s in case we loaded it wrong. We should all be off the ship by the time the first cannon fires.¡± Marcus started checking everything for a final time before he said, ¡°Alright, get off the ship and I''ll light the fuse.¡± As the others left the cannon deck and headed towards the main deck. Marcus took a lighter and after a minute lit the fuse by the stairs and took off. He quickly joined his brothers on the dock and headed towards some boxes for cover as the first cannon went off. The cannonball slammed into the wall just above the tunnel entrance and exploded with shrapnel spraying everywhere. As people screamed out in pain and confusion, the next cannon went off. It landed close to the same area as the first and caused even more panic among the pirates. Just before the third cannon went off a loud voice rose above everything else and said, ¡°Stop panicking you idiots and head towards the ship! Whoever attacked us is on it!¡± The next cannon fired a moment later but the aim was off and landed a good distance from the tunnel entrance. As the pirates started to charge towards the dock and the ship another cannon fired. The shot was on target this time and another cannonball slammed into the area around the tunnel. The pirates didn''t seem to care and charged forward as the final cannon fired. This cannon was also aimed near the tunnel entrance and ended up collapsing the tunnel entrance. Once Marcus confirmed the tunnel was inaccessible, he glanced at the others and said, ¡°Remember to wait for them to pass us.¡± The others nodded in agreement as the first pirates ran past their hiding spot. Marcus studied the group and as it thinned out, he stepped out from the crates and cracked someone over the head. A couple people were close by, but each of them were dropped by the others. Once the first few were down, Marcus and the others chased after the group to take down the rest. As they started taking them out, a few people who just made it onto the ship noticed and called out, ¡°Enemies behind us on the dock!¡± Half of the pirates were already inside the ship, so only about fifteen of them stopped and went to fight Marcus and the others. When the battle started, the boys did their best to end each fight as quickly as possible to not be overwhelmed. It worked well enough at first and ten people were quickly incapacitated. As the boys engaged the last of the first group, the other pirates emerged from the ship and ran towards the gangplank. Before all of the pirates could make it off the ship, Marcus who just dispatched his opponent took a new stance. He raised his sword over his head before he slashed it downwards. A small bang rang out as the upper half of his training sword exploded apart. From his swing an air blade shot out and flew towards the gangplank and the ship. It sliced clean through the gangplank and everything else in its way including part of the ship. Some pirates screamed in fright and others in pain as over ten people dropped into the water below. Now only a handful of people were left on the ship while the rest were on the dock. One of the men on the dock turned out to be Bluejam who apparently led his men in the charge onto the ship. Bluejam was tall, with short black hair styled in rows on the top of his head. He wore a traditional captain''s jacket draped over an open white shirt. He led the charge of his men with a sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. Bluejam stopped and glanced over his defeated men for a moment as he frowned. His eyes settled on Marcus and the others before he opened his mouth in a cruel smile that displayed half of his teeth were missing in an alternating pattern almost like a zipper. He raised his gun and pointed it at the boys as he said, ¡°You little shits caused me a lot of trouble. I hope you''re prepared for the consequences!¡± Marcus threw down his broken training sword and placed his hand on the sword at his waist that was oozing bloodthirst as he asked, ¡°Consequences? Do you mean collecting your bounty?¡± Bluejam turned his attention towards Marcus and aimed his gun at him as he said, ¡°Since you spoke up, I''ll kill you first.¡± Before Bluejam could fire, Marcus kicked his feet against the ground seven times in less than a second and appeared behind Luffy with his incomplete soru. While not perfected, Bluejam still wasn''t able to keep up with the movement but once Marcus stopped behind Luffy he quickly readjusted his aim and fired at Marcus and Luffy. As the first bullet slammed into Luffy''s chest and stretched it backwards, Bluejam fired six more shoots until his gun clicked empty. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Bluejam''s smile faded as all the bullets shot out of Luffy and took out a couple pirates behind him in the process. Bluejam himself wasn''t hit but glared at Luffy and Marcus as he said, ¡°He has a devil fruit¡­ You little shit, you did that on purpose.¡± Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°Wow, color me impressed. You''re not as stupid as you look.¡± Bluejam raised his sword as he said, ¡°I only planned to kill you originally ¡­ But now I''ll torture you first and make you beg for death.¡± Marcus unsheathed his sword as he said, ¡°You guys take on the rest and I¡¯ll hold off Bluejam until you can help.¡± Bluejam sneered as he said, ¡°The day I get beaten by some kids is the day I quit being a pirate!¡± Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°Funny, Porchemy said almost the same thing before we beat him and turned him in for his bounty.¡± Bluejam''s eyes narrowed as he moved towards Marcus and asked, ¡°You''re the reason Porchemy disappeared?¡± ¡°I just told you I was¡­¡± Marcus''s voice trailed off before he asked, ¡°Just how stupid are you?¡± Bluejam swung his sword down at Marcus in anger as he said, ¡°I''ll kill you for insulting me!¡± Marcus tentatively parried the blow away as he fought against his own sword that wanted blood. Marcus took on a defensive stance and backed away from Bluejam as he asked in a mocking tone, ¡°I thought you wanted to torture me first? Or did your dumb little pea brain forget already?¡± Bluejam let out a yell of frustration as he charged towards Marcus who quickly backed away. Marcus deftly dodged and parried each blow from Bluejam as he quickly led him away from everyone else. Once they were far enough meat, Marcus slowly maneuvered himself so if Bluejam tried to help his men, Marcus could intervene and stop him. Bluejam seemed to be unaware of what Marcus did as his single minded focus was to cut Marcus into pieces. Bluejam was relentless as he attacked Marcus over and over. Marcus himself never returned any attack and used all of his skill to defend against the onslaught of attacks. After a while the only sound of battle was from two swords that rang out repeatedly every second. Marcus never changed his focus from Bluejam but after a while he said, ¡°It took you long enough.¡± ¡°We wanted to make sure there were no interruptions.¡± Ace said as he stood off to the side. At the sound of Ace¡¯s voice, Bluejam finished his attack before he finally took a moment to assess the surroundings and found all of his men incapacitated. Bluejam glanced at the other boys for a moment before he said, ¡°Just because you beat some weaklings, doesn''t mean you can beat me!¡± As he finished talking, Bluejam charged towards Ace and attacked. Ace used the longer reach of his training weapon to parry the attack before Sabo tried to attack Bluejam from the left side. Bluejam easily stepped to the right only to be caught off guard as Luffy attacked. As Luffy''s glove-covered fist flew towards Bluejam, Luffy called out, ¡°Gum gum pistol!¡± Luffy¡¯s slightly stretched out arm connected with Bluejams side and made the man grunt before he pivoted and swung his sword down at Luffy¡¯s arm. A clang rang out as Marcus intercepted his blade and held it in place as Luffy''s arm retreated. Marcus then twisted his blade and slid it down Bluejam''s sword blade to hit the guard for a moment which distracted him from Ace¡¯s incoming attack. Ace¡¯s naginata slammed into Bluejam¡¯s side and staggered him just in time for Sabo¡¯s halberd to land on his knee with a sickening crunch. Bluejam¡¯s right knee bent sideways as the man collapsed to the ground screaming in agony. Ace followed up Sabo¡¯s attack and used all his strength to hit the man¡¯s head. Bluejam scream instantly stopped as he collapsed unconscious from the blow that caved in part of his face. As Ace lifted his weapon up he said, ¡°I thought he would be tougher.¡± Marcus sheathed his sword that was still vibrating with bloodthirst as he said, ¡°He would be a challenge if one of you fought him alone.¡± ¡°Are you saying you could have beaten him without issue?¡± Ace asked in a challenging tone. Marcus patted his sword''s hilt as he said, ¡°If I wasn¡¯t afraid of my sword killing him, I could have taken him alone. His skill with a blade was subpar at best.¡± Ace frowned slightly as Luffy asked, ¡°What do we do now?¡± ¡°We make sure we tie up all our prisoners first.¡± Marcus then pointed at the main pirate ship as he said, ¡°Then we loot that ship first and load up all the treasure we find onto that smaller ship.¡± ¡°Why are we putting it on the smaller ship?¡± Luffy asked as he picked his nose. Sabo and Ace wondered the same thing and looked at Marcus who smiled as he said, ¡°That looks about the perfect size that we can handle. I think we should get some more practice in sailing and take a trip around East Blue with it¡­ And collect more pirate bounties at the same time.¡± Sabo studied the smaller fancy ship for a few moments before he said, ¡°It¡¯s kinda perfect if we are trying to find pirates. It looks like a small pleasure ship for someone who is rich. Just the type of ship pirates would target.¡± Marcus patted Sabo on the shoulder as he said, ¡°Exactly. So let''s borrow it and put it to good use.¡± The others agreed and then set to work taking care of all the pirates before they transferred anything valuable to the smaller ship. Then Marcus and the others placed a few barrels of oil on the docks before they cracked open a few more and led trails of oil back to the main stash of barrels. Once they were done they forced all the pirates on the main ship and used some ropes to attach the smaller ship to the main pirate ship. Just as the ships started to pull away from the dock, Marcus tossed a torch onto an oil spilled all over the dock. As the fire quickly spread, the main ship pulled the smaller ship out of the hidden cove. Sabo ended up staying on the smaller ship to control the helm so it didn¡¯t drift into anything. Once they cleared the bay entrance a small explosion was heard and before they even reached the coast of Gray Terminal a louder explosion erupted as a massive fireball lit up the already reddish colored sunset sky. A few minutes later the ships cleared the rocky area and came to the coast of Gray Terminal. What greeted them was a massive fire on the far end to Gray Terminal that was slowly spreading towards the coast. On the very coast itself was a group of people who Marcus quickly recognized, it was the rest of the pirates and the handful who started the fire. It took them an hour to load up all the pirates and give their helpers some money before they set off to turn in the pirates for their bounties. The ship they wanted to keep was brought with them close to the marine base before they disconnected the ropes and left Luffy to watch over it while it was anchored off the coast. Then they sailed the pirate ship to the dock of the marine base and collected all the bounty money and even blamed the fire in Gray Terminal on the pirates. The marine captain studied the boys once he heard their explanation and after a moment he asked, ¡°So you took out these pirates but they were still able to somehow start the fire that is raging throughout Gray Terminal?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°We took them out in groups and the last group started the fire.¡± The captain glanced over all the pirates now detained in the main courtyard of the base for processing as he asked, ¡°Who was part of the last group that started the fire?¡± Sabo let out a helpless sigh as he said, ¡°They were careless and ended up caught in the fire. We couldn¡¯t save them.¡± Ace and Marcus nodded helplessly in agreement and the captain asked with some suspicion, ¡°Why would you try to save pirate scum?¡± ¡°The bounty of course!¡± Marcus said with a smile. 00047. The only important question. With the pirates dropped off and the bounties secured, Marcus and the others went down the coast to meet Luffy and take the ship back to Foosha Village. It was already dark when they arrived but the glow from the out of control fire lit up the evening sky. As they docked the ship, Marcus noticed a lot of villagers outside watching the fire lit sky. The mayor was one of the only people not concerned with the sky and walked towards the dock to greet the boys. Once he was close enough he asked, ¡°Where did you boys get this ship?¡± Marcus finished tying off one of the ships mooring lines to one of the docks cleats as he said, ¡°Confiscated it from some pirates before we turned them in for their bounties.¡± The older man nodded before he asked, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t stolen property be turned over to the marines so it can be returned to its rightful owner?¡± ¡°Gramps said we don''t have to turn in anything we find when we take it from pirates.¡± Ace said as he walked up to the mayor. ¡°Garp and¡­ Nevermind.¡± The mayor said as he shook his head. Marcus smiled and patted the old man on the back as he asked, ¡°Have you had dinner yet?¡± The mayor glanced at the sky for a moment as he said, ¡°No, not yet. Everyone is concerned about whatever is happening in the Goa Kingdom and kept asking me if I knew anything.¡± ¡°All of Gray Terminal caught fire and it''s in the process of burning down.¡± Marcus said as he glanced at the sky. ¡°Gray Terminal''s on fire?¡± The man asked with concern in his voice as he studied the sky. Marcus nodded as he said, ¡°Yeah, the pirates who we caught were the ones who caused it.¡± ¡°You should let everyone know and then join us for dinner. The fire is pretty much contained, so it won''t spread outside of Gray Terminal.¡± Marcus said as he started to walk towards Makino¡¯s. The boys spent the rest of the night at Makino¡¯s as they ate dinner and rested for the night. While the fire was started earlier than expected, Marcus was positive his father would still show up in a few days and planned to meet him. While Luffy and his own lineage is supposed to be a secret, Marcus was sure it wouldn''t matter too much if they met and chatted for a bit. Early the next morning the boys loaded up the treasure and money they collected and took it to their hidden base in the forest. After everything was hidden away, the boys headed towards Gray Terminal to see what happened with the fire they created. Before they even reached the halfway point where the top of the mountains separated Foosha Village from the rest of the island. They were hit with the unpleasant smell from the remnants of the fire. Once they reached the midway point they could see the destruction caused by the fire. Gray Terminal was now basically gone and in its place was a massive pile of ash which covered the place. In a few area''s a few sporadic fires still burned low, but overall the fire had mostly finished. The high walls of the Goa Kingdom were scorched black about a fifth of the way up, but otherwise looked fine. As the boys made their way down the mountains the temperature slowly started to rise until they reached what was left of Gray Terminal. The ground throughout the place radiated residual heat from the fire and made the boys sweat just from being close. The air was still a little smoky, but the fresh breeze from the sea helped clear most of the smoke away. Once they arrived they skirted the area and headed towards the coast which is where they saw people gathered. It looked like the plan worked properly and people were able to flee from the fire. How many was another story, but Marcus was sure most if not all of the people made it out just fine. The people along the coast were in a sorry state when the boys arrived. All of them were covered in soot and ash from the fire, while they all looked dejected. Sure they were alive, but they all lost their homes and most of their stuff. Marcus and his brothers checked out the area for half an hour and even talked to a couple people before they left to explore the rest of Gray Terminal. While it was overly hot and not very comfortable, the boys still took their time to comb through the destruction they caused. Marcus was relieved to find no skeletons anywhere, but there was a possibility that the fire destroyed even a person''s bones. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Once they finished scouting Gray Terminal, Marcus and the others headed towards the forest where they hunted a few of the larger beasts. Then they brought them to the people of Gray Terminal so they wouldn''t have to worry about food for the day. Afterwards the boys headed to Foosha Village to clean up and relax for the rest of the day. Over the next few days Marcus decided to abstain from normal training and practiced swordsmanship on one of the cliffs that overlooked Gray Terminal. He knew Dragon and others from the revolution army would show up soon and didn''t plan to miss them. It was on the fourth day of training that Marcus finally noticed a ship in the distance approaching the area. While he wasn''t sure if it was Dragon at first, he still went to find Luffy and the others. A couple hours later Marcus arrived back at the cliff with his brothers and found the ship anchored off the coast. It was slightly hidden from Gray Terminal and the Goa Kingdom, but was close enough that they could reach it with a rowboat in fifteen minutes. Marcus and the others observed the ship for a little while. It was a massive ship with three large masts and a dragon as its figurehead. Marcus was positive now positive this was Dragon''s ship and quickly led everyone else down to the coast. The first thing they did was ask around in case anyone came ashore recently. While there was the possibility people landed somewhere else and secretly came ashore, Marcus still wanted to check anyway. When they found no important information, the boys borrowed one of the small fishing boats and headed out towards the ship themselves. It didn''t take long before they neared the ship and someone on board yelled out, ¡°Don''t come any closer to our ship.¡± ¡°Just sink their boat.¡± A few people exclaimed, ¡° EHHH! You want us to sink their boat, Iva!?¡± ¡°Mmmm¡­ Of course not! They are just kids!¡± The person said as they broke into a laugh. Mmmfufufufufufuf ¡°Thank god you were joking¡­ OHHH, You fooled us again, Iva!¡± Marcus glanced towards the ship and saw people wrapped in cloaks looking down at them as they joked around. He waved at the ship as he said, ¡°We came to talk with Dragon.¡± Luffy glanced at the ship with a finger in his nose as he asked, ¡°We came to talk? I thought we were gonna fight pirates?¡± ¡°Uh? Who are you and why are you asking for someone named Dragon?¡± Someone on the ship called out. ¡°Tell Dragon the future pirate king wants to see him.¡± ¡°Future pirate king? Stop joking around, kid?¡± Someone asked before people started to laugh again. Luffy stood up on the boat as he yelled out, ¡°It''s not a joke! I''m Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will be the pirate king!¡± Everyone went silent as a man with a deep voice said, ¡°Let them board the ship.¡± ¡°Eh! Are you sure, Dragon-boy?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Someone pointed to the side of the ship as they said, ¡°Come to the port side and we¡¯ll lower a rope down.¡± Within a few minutes Marcus and the others climbed onto the deck of the ship. Once on the deck of the ship they were greeted by a bunch of people but three of them stood out. The first one was the leader, he was tall with a decent build and when he removed the hood of his cloak the red pattern on the left side of his face stood out. The person on Dragon''s left was massive and was currently the tallest person Marcus had ever met. Marcus''s first thought after he saw the man was, ¡®It''s crazy a person could be that large and still skip leg day.¡¯ The person to the right of Dragon stood out for a totally different reason though. While they were also tall and easily towered over normal people, that didn''t make them stand out. It was the size of their head that made people notice them, since it was almost half the size of their body currently. Marcus glanced over them all for a moment before he asked, ¡°Do you have a place we can talk in private?¡± Dragon nodded as he said, ¡°Follow me.¡± Before Dragon moved, Marcus said, ¡°Kuma and the big headed idiot should join us.¡± ¡°OH! It hurts, I think I might¡­ I might¡­¡± The man with the big head said as he grabbed his chest and spun around in place like he was about to fall. ¡°Iva! Are you okay!?!¡± A couple people asked in concern as the man fell to the deck and laid there for a few moments. He popped up a moment later as he said, ¡°I¡¯m fiiiiine!¡± ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re fine after all!¡± The same people said as they sighed in relief. Luffy was the only stand out from Marcus¡¯s group who thought the man was funny and actually laughed at the scene. Marcus himself shook his head as he said, ¡°Maybe we should leave him here on second thought¡­¡± As the big headed man started to make another scene, Marcus and the others followed Dragon into the ship through a hallway before they ended up in what was most likely the captain''s quarters. The big headed man ended up following them once they realized Marcus and the others followed Dragon into the ship. Once inside the room Marcus glanced around it for a moment before he asked, ¡°Finally finish your trip to the store to get some milk?¡± 00048. Trying to change a persons fate. ¡°Milk?¡± Everyone seemed to ask at the same time. Marcus just shrugged as he said, ¡°What else am I supposed to say to my absentee father, the first time we meet?¡± ¡°We have a father?¡± Luffy asked as he looked between the three people in the room. Marcus dropped his head down and pinched the bridge of his nose as he mumbled to himself, ¡°It''s Luffy, he can''t help himself.¡± Kuma didn''t react to the news at all and stood stoically as he looked down at everyone. The person with a large face glanced between the boys and Dragon as he said, ¡°Da. Da. Da. Dragon has kids!?!¡± ¡°Tone it down with the antics, Ivankov.¡± Dragon said as his deep voice rumbled throughout the room. Ivankov pouted as he said, ¡°You''re no fun Dragon-boy.¡± Marcus finally let out a sigh before he grabbed Luffy by the shoulder and pulled him forward as he said, ¡°Luffy, meet our father, Dragon.¡± Luffy raised one hand as he said, ¡°Yo.¡± ¡°It''s good to see both of you boys again¡­ And I''m sorry I had to send you away. But it was for your own safety¡­ Even though visiting me isn''t the best idea.¡± Marcus waved his father off as he said, ¡°It''s fine, I know why you did it and Luffy is an idiot who forgets anything that isn''t food related.¡± ¡°Hey, that''s not true!¡± Luffy said as he crossed his arms over his chest. ¡°Here Luffy, have some meat.¡± Marcus said as he pulled a big piece of jerky out of his pocket. ¡°Oh, thanks.¡± Luffy said as he happily took the jerky and started to eat it. ¡°Why do you carry meat in your pocket?¡± Ivankov asked as he got close to Marcus and looked down at him with interest. ¡°Uh? You don''t carry pocket meat?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Pocket meat? Why would someone carry around meat in their pockets?¡± ¡°It makes a great snack when you''re hungry.¡± Marcus said as Ace, Sabo and Luffy all nodded in agreement and showed they also had jerky in their pockets. Marcus then turned back to Dragon and the others as he said, ¡°Anyways, I know visiting you isn''t the best idea. But I needed to tell you a few things.¡± Dragon nodded as he said, ¡°Sure, but first tell me who your friends are.¡± Marcus glanced at Ace and Sabo as he said, ¡°These are our sworn brothers, Ace and Sabo.¡± Dragon had a hint of a smile as he said, ¡°I see. So what did you want to talk about?¡± Marcus glanced at Kuma as he said, ¡°I mostly came to tell Kuma that Ginny is coming back.¡± The only reaction from the man was that his hand tightened around the book he carried. Dragon glanced at Kuma as he asked, ¡°How do you know about Ginny?¡± ¡°Did grandpa tell you about my dreams?¡± Dragon shook his head so Marcus said, ¡°I have dreams about the future sometimes. I didn''t realize what they were at first, but after a while I figured it out. Since then I''ve been trying to prevent those dreams from becoming reality.¡± ¡°Why? ¡°Because almost all of them involve people getting hurt or worse.¡± Marcus said as he turned his focus to Kuma. ¡°Ginny is dying from an experiment one of the world government elders performed on her.¡± Kuma appeared in front of Marcus and asked, ¡°Where is she?¡± Marcus shook his head sadly as he said, ¡°I don''t know. My dreams are never clear¡­ But I can tell you where she will be sooner or later.¡± ¡°Where?¡± Kuma asked in an anxious voice. ¡°Do you want to see her or possibly save her life?¡± ¡°Of course I want to save her!¡± Kuma said with a tinge of anger in his voice. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Marcus nodded as he said, ¡°Good, then I''ll give you the best shot I can to save her¡­¡± Marcus locked eyes with Kuma as he said, ¡°But it''s not a guarantee, so don¡¯t blame me if it doesn¡¯t work.¡± ¡°I. I understand, thank you.¡± Kuma said with a curtain nod of his head. ¡°Good. So to have a chance for this to work you''ll need a good doctor and the best two I know of are the lighthouse keeper Crocus from Twin Cape Lighthouse at the start of the Grind line and Dr. Kureha on Drum Island. Get at least one of them to help you.¡± ¡°How do you know about them?¡± Dragon asked with interest. ¡°Same way I knew you would come here. I''ve seen both of them in my dreams for different reasons.¡± Marcus said as he glanced over to Dragon for a moment. ¡°The next person you''ll need is Trafalgar D. Water Law, current user of the Ope Ope no Mi. He should currently be on Shallow Island in North Blue or around that area. He is a young kid and might still be suffering from Amber Lead Syndrome.¡± Marcus said as he focused back on Kuma. Marcus thought about it for a moment before he added, ¡°To get his help, just tell him the person who saved his and Rosinante''s life is asking for a favor.¡± ¡°You''ve met him before?¡± Dragon asked, wondering when Marcus left East Blue. Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°No, I had a dream about him in trouble and told grandpa about it. Grandpa went and helped him out.¡± ¡°Why did he do that? Was it because of his devil fruit?¡± Ivankov asked with interest. Marcus turned towards Ivankov and said, ¡°Grandpa wouldn''t care about that. He went because Sengoku''s adopted son was going to be killed.¡± Marcus glanced back at Kuma as he said, ¡°Just in case, you should also collect some criminals that are going to be executed. They can be used as spare parts for Ginny in whatever treatment plan they come up with.¡± ¡°As for Ginny, she should be making her way back to the Sorbet Kingdom with her daughter. You will also need them to heal her daughter because she is affected by Sapphire Scales disease too.¡± Marcus said before he rubbed his chin for a moment and added, ¡°Make sure you cut off all natural sunlight wherever you will perform the surgery because it makes the disease worse¡­ I think that¡¯s about it. You should hurry and go collect those people and head to Sorbet Kingdom to save Ginny.¡± Kuma nodded his head and said, ¡°Thank you.¡± Kuma glanced at Dragon for a moment who said, ¡°Good luck.¡± ¡°Good luck Kuma-boy, I expect to hear good news soon.¡± Ivankov said with a smile. Kuma quickly rushed out of the room and after he left Marcus turned to Dragon as he said, ¡°We should probably leave soon, but I need to ask you for a secure den den mushi and to warn you about the Dressrosa kingdom in the New World.¡± Dragon glanced at Ivankov and said, ¡°Go grab one from the communications room.¡± ¡°Ordering me around like a little servant...¡± Ivankov spun around and transformed into a beautiful woman before she said in a sultry voice, ¡°Would you like me to get a hot maid outfit while I¡¯m at it, Dragon boy?¡± Dragon gave Ivankov a flat look which made her click her tongue and walked out of the room as she swayed her hips. Dragon shook his head for a moment before he asked, ¡°What is happening in Dressrosa?¡± ¡°Doflamingo is going to take it over if no one steps in. I¡¯m not sure if you can help, but a lot of people will die for no reason if nothing happens and even more will be turned into toy slaves.¡± Dragon frowned as he asked, ¡°Someone found the Hobi Hobi no Mi?¡± Marcus nodded as he said, ¡°A girl in Doflamingo¡¯s crew, she has green hair and looks like a little child.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I can help them.. But I will see what I can do.¡± Dragon said after a few moments. Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°I was thinking about warning grandpa too, but I am not sure if he would do anything. That said, if you can at least warn the royal family, it might help. Or maybe give them an escape route from the island for when Doflamingo shows up.¡± Dragon nodded as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± Marcus glanced over to Luffy who was still eating his pocket jerky and asked, ¡°You have anything you want to talk to dad about?¡± Luffy with his mouth partly full of jerky asked, ¡°Do you have any good food?¡± ¡°And that¡¯s my brother¡­¡± Marcus said with a tinge of disappointment as the door opened and Ivankov walked back in. He was back in his male form and handed Marcus a small den den mushi along with a small book as he said, ¡°Here is your den den mushi and that is a book on how to use it properly and take care of it.¡± Marcus took them both before he glanced at Dragon and asked, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to know how gramp¡¯s does those weird things like moving fast or flying through the air by kicking it, would you?¡± ¡°He showed you Rokushiki?¡± Marcus nodded as he said, ¡°He showed them off and said if we wanted to learn them we needed to join the marines.¡± Dragon had a hint of a smile before he said, ¡°That sounds like him¡­ I know a couple of them myself, but I don¡¯t really know how to train them if that¡¯s what you¡¯re looking for because I was never properly trained on how to use them.¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal, I was just wondering.¡± Marcus and the others spent a few more minutes talking before they left the ship and headed back to Makino¡¯s. It was a little early but they planned to take it easy for the rest of the day. Since Marcus met Dragon, all the boys knew that over the next couple days they needed to stock their ship before they set sail around East Blue and collect bounties. It was something Marcus came up with, but he also wanted to use it as a way to hopefully meet some people at the same time. Over the next two days Marcus and the others went around and collected supplies, double checked the ship and loaded up everything they might need. They didn¡¯t tell anyone they planned to leave and it was hard to hide what they were doing. So instead of leaving during the day, the boys awoke in the middle of the night, left a note for Makino and set out to sea. Once they were out on the open sea Sabo asked, ¡°Do we have a plan or are we just gonna sail around looking for pirates?¡± ¡°I was thinking we can visit all of the islands in East Blue or at least most of them.¡± Marcus said as he looked out over the dark sea waters. 00049. Trading at sea? A ship glided across the water at top speed as the mid day sun beat down from overhead. Three young boys were on the deck making sure the sails stayed trimmed as a fourth stood at the helm. After they finished checking the rigging, one of the boys moved closer to the helm before he asked, ¡°Are you sure we¡¯re heading in the right direction?¡± Marcus lifted the compass he was carrying and checked it again before he said, ¡°Yup. There¡¯s an island in this direction, it''s just far away from Foosha Village and the Goa Kingdom.¡± Ace glanced at Luffy who was busy climbing to the crows nest as he asked, ¡°Are we gonna have enough food to last the trip?¡± Marcus also glanced at Luffy before he said, ¡°Probably¡­ But we should set some fishing lines just in case. And maybe pick up a drag net when we reach the next village to catch fish as we sail.¡± ¡°We should also find someone who knows how to cook.¡± Sabo said as he walked over. Ace nodded in agreement as he said, ¡°I almost feel like we''re training with grandpa again, just eating roasted meat every day.¡± ¡°Speaking of grandpa, isn''t he supposed to come back soon?¡± Sabo asked. ¡°Yup and he will probably be pissed when he finds out we left the island.¡± Marcus said with a hint of a smile. ¡°Maybe we should have waited till after he left to set sail.¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°No, he would have sunk our ship if he found out about it¡­ And it''s not like we have a place to hide it from him anyways.¡± ¡°Hey! I think I see something over there!¡± Luffy said as he pointed to the port side of the ship. All the boys glanced over to see a tiny black dot on the horizon. Marcus didn''t ask if the others wanted to investigate before he turned the ship to port as he said, ¡°Trim the sails.¡± ¡°Why do you wanna check that out? What if it''s nothing?¡± Ace asked as he moved to fix the sails. ¡°Because we came out to explore East Blue and have fun. But there won''t be any fun, unless we go out and look for it.¡± After the ship changed course and the sails were fixed to catch the wind properly again. The boys all focused on the little dot as it slowly got closer to them. It took about half an hour before the object came into view, which turned out to be a small island maybe a few hundred feet in size. The island itself was mostly sand with a handful of trees and some rocks. The boys did a loop around the island but didn''t stop as they fixed their course for their original destination. In the late afternoon Marcus handed the helm off to Ace so he could rest for the next before he took over again. Helm duty was split between Marcus, Sabo and Ace, since Luffy couldn''t be trusted with it. As for staying rested, each of them would sleep for at least six hours at some point during each day. Luffy on the other hand didn''t have many responsibilities and would sleep comfortably through the night. The next morning when Marcus took over again he double checked their course as Sabo headed to get some rest. It was early in the morning and the sun was just cresting the horizon when Marcus noticed a dot in the distance on the starboard side of the ship. He maintained his own course but turned the helm to port a tiny bit. Within ten minutes it was obvious that the dot Marcus found was actually a ship and it looked like it was heading straight for them. Since the distance was still so great and he didn''t have a spy glass because Luffy broke it within hours of setting sail. Marcus just stayed on his course and waited to get a better look at the incoming ship. After half an hour passed Marcus could see what looked like a merchant ship. But looks could be deceiving so Marcus locked the helm in place for a moment before he ran into the ship to get the others. Within a few minutes all of the boys were on the deck of the ship as they waited for the other ship to get closer. Eventually the other ship closed in enough for Marcus to get a decent look at it. It was definitely a civilian ship that looked like it had seen better days. It was a bigger three mast ship with a wider hull, designed to carry a lot of cargo and looked like it was fully loaded. The ship with its weight and low bow line was slow as it crept through the water at a steady pace. On the deck of the other ship was a full crew of sailors who wore matching uniforms as they worked. As the ship approached Marcus had everyone raise the sails because it was clear the other ship was getting close for a reason. Once the other ship was a hundred feet away a fat man in a captain''s uniform appeared near the bow and waved at Marcus and the others as he yelled out, ¡°Ahoy there!¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Marcus and the others moved near the starboard side of the ship before Ace asked, ¡°What do you want?¡± The fat man smiled as he lifted his hat and did a little flourish and said, ¡°My name is Slugo Robertson, greatest trader this side of the Grandline. I was wondering if you could ask the owners of this fine ship, if they would like to browse my wares.¡± Ace looked towards the others and thought about refusing before Marcus said, ¡°We could use another spyglass.¡± Ace let out a sigh as he remembered that Luffy broke their only spyglass within hours of setting sail. He turned back to Slugo and asked, ¡°Do you happen to have any spyglasses?¡± The fat man nodded which made his three chins jiggle as he said, ¡°Of course young man, Slugo always has at least one of each item you could imagine in stock!¡± ¡°How much for one?¡± Ace asked. The man wore a greasy smile as he said, ¡°Let me bring out my stock first and you can pick whichever one you like.¡± Ace frowned as he said, ¡°That didn''t answer my question.¡± Slugo smiled as he said, ¡°I can''t give you a price because I don''t know which one you will pick.¡± ¡°You can''t even give us a price range?¡± Ace asked in a frustrated tone. Slugo shrugged helplessly as he said, ¡°It would depend on how many I currently have and the overall quality of the one you pick.¡± Ace seemed to be getting upset so Marcus placed a hand on his shoulder as he said, ¡°Don''t worry about this guy too much. If it''s over priced we just won''t buy it.¡± It took about five minutes for the ships to come close enough to tie off. Slugo was a little disappointed that the boys were the only people on the ship, but he still had his men open up the cargo to show them his wares. The inside of the cargo hold was packed with boxes placed on to what looked like large sleeving and secured in place with large straps. Slugo led Ace, Marcus and Luffy through the hold as he pointed at the boxes around and said, ¡°If you see something interesting, just let me know and I will have my men get the box for you to check out.¡± Luffy was the only one who seemed excited about the whole thing as he looked around at everything. As they passed a box marked ¡®secret disguises¡¯ he pointed towards it as he said, ¡°Oh! I wanna see that one!¡± Marcus rolled his eyes as Slugo snapped his fingers and said, ¡°Bring that one with us.¡± Luffy pointed out a few other random boxes before they found a box marked ¡®spyglass¡¯. Slugo had his men grab that one before he led everyone back up to the deck of the ship. On the deck each of the boxes were lined up before Slugo''s men undid some latches and touched a small button on the side of the box. Each box made a hissing sound before they opened up and expanded to show off their contents. The boxes were almost magical with how much stuff they held stuffed inside of them. After Marcus and the others recovered from the shock, Marcus focused on the box for spyglasses. While it wasn''t as packed full as the box for secret disguises Luffy was in the middle of rummaging through. It still had over fifty spyglasses neatly displayed for Marcus to look at. Marcus picked up the closest one and started to test it out as Ace did the same thing to another one. As Marcus placed the first one back and picked up the second one, he noticed something off about the spyglass and brought it closer to look at. On the side of the spyglass was smeared bloody fingerprints. Marcus held on the spyglass to Slugo as he asked, ¡°What''s up with this? Why is it bloody? Did you forget to clean it?¡± ¡°Oh, that one is a collectors item. It was once owned by a famous pirate captain in North Blue. As he died, he cradled that spyglass in his hands because it was a gift from his loving grandmother before he went out to sea.¡± Slugo said as he wiped a tear from his eye. Marcus rolled his eyes at the story and picked up another that had some initials scribed into it and asked about it¡­ It turned out it was also another collectors item with a sad backstory. So did the next spyglass and the next one after that¡­ It turned out every spyglass was a collectors item. After Marcus realized what was going on Luffy approached wearing large comic looking glasses along with a fake mustache, overly large trench coat and hat. He smiled as he asked, ¡°Can I have this stuff?¡± Slugo looked over everything before he started to go into a story about each item and where they came from to inflate the price. As he did that, Marcus grabbed the first spyglass he asked about with the blood stained finger prints and wiped it clean. Once Slugo was done with his story for each item Marcus handed him the spyglass in his hand and asked, ¡°What about this one?¡± Slugo glanced at it before he said, ¡°Oh, this spyglass was once owned by a famous navy captain who.¡± Marcus cut the man off as he said, ¡°You said it was owned by a pirate from North Blue just a little while ago.¡± Slugo looked over the spyglass for a moment before he said, ¡°No, this was definitely owned by a marine.¡± ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Marcus asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°I swear on my honor that this was owned by a famous marine and not a pirate.¡± Slugo said as he placed a hand over his heart. ¡°Alright then where was the one that was owned by that famous pirate? That''s the one I want to buy from you.¡± Slugo glanced at the display for a few moments before he frowned and said, ¡°That''s weird, I don''t see it.¡± ¡°That''s because you''re holding it in your hands.¡± Slugo looked at the spyglass in his hands for a few moments before he started to sweat. Marcus smiled at the man as he asked, ¡°How about we talk about some prices now?¡± Marcus ended up buying three decent spy glasses from Slugo after some intense negotiations. He picked up one for each person besides Luffy who would just break it. As for Luffy he ended up with a bunch of random things including the disguise he wanted. Why he wanted it, Marcus had no idea. But it made Luffy happy, so he bought it for him. Afterwards they said goodbye to Slugo the conman trader and headed towards their first stop on their way around East Blue. 00050. Shimotsuki village. The boys spent about a week as they sailed to their first destination. They passed a couple more ships along the way, but no one stopped them and the boys didn''t go out of their way to meet anyone else. It was early in the morning when they finally arrived at the island. Unfortunately they needed to traverse around half of it before they found a proper dock they could use. The only problem was the dock was half broken. Marcus took in the immediate area as they worked to tie down the ship and noticed that it wasn''t just the dock that was damaged. Marcus wasn''t the only one to notice though, as Ace asked, ¡°What do you think happened here?¡± Sabo finished with his line before he said, ¡°Kinda looks like storm damage, but it must have been a massive storm to cause this much damage.¡± ¡°I had the same thoughts¡­ But even then, this is a little ridiculous.¡± Marcus said as he looked out over the destruction. The dock itself was still standing but was missing a bunch of boards along the walkway. Some were broken, but most were completely missing. Someone did a quick patch job on it though as there were boards patched together on it so people could still walk on it. Past the dock was where the foundation for a couple buildings should be. Currently only the bottom masonry of the buildings stood there. Past that were a bunch of houses that were half destroyed, but still standing. There were even a few boats and a larger single mast ship that crashed into some of the buildings. The farther inland you went the less damaged everything looked, which was lucky since it meant the storm only kissed the island. People were already in the process of cleaning up the wreckage, but it would definitely take a little while to accomplish. As Marcus and the others finished tying down the ship, an older man with a slightly hunched back from the village approached them. He carefully walked along the dock to avoid the missing planks and once he was close he asked, ¡°Hello and welcome to Shimotsuki village. I''m one of the village elders, Kazuyumi but most people just call me Kazu.¡± Kazu gestured to the state of everything around him as he said, ¡°I''m sorry about the lackluster welcome. But as you can see we are in the middle of cleaning up after a disaster.¡± Marcus smiled down at the man as he said, ¡°It''s fine, we never expected someone to greet us in the first place.¡± Kazu glanced at the boys for a moment before he asked, ¡°Sorry for being rude, but would it be possible to talk with your ship''s captain?¡± As Marcus turned to look at the others, Luffy leaned over the railing as he excitedly said, ¡°I''m the captain!¡± Ace punched Luffy in the head as he said, ¡°Like hell you are!¡± Luffy rubbed his head as he said, ¡°I''m going to be the pirate king, so I have to be the captain!¡± Ace punched Luffy again as he said, ¡°Shut up idiot! You can be the captain when you go out to sea alone. Right now Marcus is the captain.¡± Marcus turned to Ace in surprise as he asked, ¡°Me?¡± ¡°You''re the one who came up with this whole idea, so you''re the one responsible for it.¡± Ace said as Sabo nodded in agreement. ¡°No fair, I should be the captain!¡± Luffy said before everyone else punched him over the head to shut him up. After a moment Marcus glanced back over the railing of the ship before he said, ¡°Looks like I was put in charge¡­ What can I do for you?¡± Kazu had a skeptical look as he asked, ¡°Is there no one else on your ship?¡± ¡°Nope. Just us¡­ Is that a problem?¡± Marcus asked with a smile. Kazu shook his head before he asked, ¡°Would it be possible to borrow your ship for the day?¡± ¡°What do you need our ship for?¡± Kazu waved his hand to the empty dock as he said, ¡°The hurricane that came through here a few days ago destroyed not only our homes, but also all of our fishing boats.¡± Kazu glanced towards the village as he said, ¡°Luckily it only touched this side of the island and we have food stores that should last until the harvest season and we replace our fishing boats. But it would be best if we could secure more food just in case.¡± Marcus glanced at his brother''s who nodded at him before he smiled and said, ¡°We would be glad to help out. Gather whoever you need and we will take them out to help collect fish for the village.¡± Kazu smiled as he said, ¡°Thank you¡­¡± Kazu bowed as he said, ¡°Apologies, I never asked your names.¡± ¡°I''m Marcus and these are my brothers. This is Ace, Sabo and the idiot picking his nose is Luffy.¡± Marcus said as he pointed at Luffy. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Kazu smiled as he said, ¡°It''s a pleasure to meet you all.¡± Within a few hours the ship was back out in the water with Kazu and a handful of fishermen from the village. Before they set out, the villagers attached a piece to the back of the ship to help pull a drag line type fishing net behind the ship. They also added an extension off the back of the ship to help pull up the net. It wasn''t the prettiest thing in the world but it would work for what they needed it for. Kazu glanced at the modification made to the ship as he said, ¡°I''m sorry about modifying your ship. We will do our best to properly fix it.¡± Marcus who was at the helm said, ¡°It''s fine¡­ We were planning to get some type of fishing net anyways.¡± ¡°Really? Do you boys plan to become fishermen?¡± Kazu asked with interest. Marcus shook his head before he pointed at Luffy up in the crows nest as he said, ¡°My brother eats more than his weight in food each day or close to it. On the trip here we almost ran out of food because of him.¡± Kazu glanced up at Luffy with widened eyes before he chuckled and asked, ¡°If that''s the case, how about we just leave it on the ship after you help us out?¡± ¡°Won''t you guys need it back?¡± Kazu gave a helpless shrug as he said, ¡°We would need a ship to use it on first. All of these parts were salvaged from a fishing boat that landed on a house.¡± ¡°Besides, when we get a new ship, it will come with everything we need to fish properly, so there is no need to keep this stuff around.¡± Kazu said before he patted Marcus on the back and added, ¡°Plus we wouldn''t want you boys to starve.¡± Marcus smiled as he said, ¡°We appreciate it, but we''ll at least pay for the equipment anyways. Whoever owns that boat can use the money towards a new one.¡± Kazu patted Marcus on the shoulder as he said, ¡°You''re a good kid Marcus.¡± Over the next couple hours Marcus and the others helped Kazu and his men work the fishing net. The batches of fish they collected were a little small each time, but after doing that over ten times, Kazu was satisfied. Afterwards they headed back to the village to unload and prepare most of the fish for storage. Once they were back and in the process of unloading the ship, Marcus turned to Kazu and asked, ¡°How long ago did that storm roll through?¡± ¡°Almost a week at this point. It was so large that it took over a day for it to pass by this side of the island.¡± ¡°Over a day? That''s big¡­ I wonder where it came from?¡± Marcus asked as he looked out over the wrecked houses. ¡°The hurricane itself came from the Southwest. As for how one formed that big coming from the calm belt¡­ I have no clue.¡± Kazu said with a shake of his head. Ace who was a few feet away helping to unload turned towards Marcus as he said, ¡°What are you doing? Come help us unload.¡± ¡°Is unloading cargo something a captain is supposed to do?¡± Marcus asked with a smirk. Ace gave a flat look before he said, ¡°Come help before we mutiny and get a new captain.¡± Marcus shook his head before he headed over to help unload all the fish. Once they were finished, they were treated to a meal by Kazu and some other villagers. As they were eating Kazu said, ¡°If you plan to stay here for a few days, you boys can stay at my house if you like. It''s a little crowded but it would be better than sleeping on your ship.¡± Marcus nodded in thanks before he said, ¡°We actually came here to visit a sword dojo and were planning to stay there for a little while if they had room.¡± ¡°Oh, you came to visit Isshin Dojo? Did you come to learn swordsmanship from that boy Koushirou or challenge him to a duel?¡± Kazu asked with interest as he glanced at the sword that rested next to Marcus. ¡°A little bit of both. The real goal is exploring East Blue and getting proper sailing experience. But since we''re here, we might as well check out the dojo and do some training.¡± Marcus said as he smacked Luffy¡¯s hand that was trying to steal food from his plate. Kazu chuckled at the boys as he watched Luffy try to steal food from the other boys who blocked his attempts. He then reached for his own plate and his eyes widened as he found it empty. He glanced up to see Luffy swipe food from another man''s plate as he was distracted talking to someone else. Kazu shook his head as he realized Marcus wasn''t joking about Luffy eating his own body weight in food. The boy just stuffed things in his mouth and barely took the time to chew or even swallow before he shoved more inside. ¡°Can he even taste his food eating like that?¡± Kazu asked while he quickly refilled his plate and made sure to guard it this time. Marcus gave a shrug as he said, ¡°He always says it tastes delicious, but I''ve seen him eat week old moldy bread and say the same thing.¡± Ace nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°I don''t think I''ve ever seen him waste food¡­ Even when we had a food fight, he was eating things off the floor when we finished.¡± Kazu eyed Luffy with a bit of disgust and respect as he said, ¡°After we''re done with lunch, I''ll have someone guide you to the dojo. I would do it myself, but the dojo is about six miles inland just past all the farms.¡± After lunch, the boys headed back to the ship to collect their stuff. While they didn''t bring a ton of stuff with them, they didn''t want to leave it on the ship while they were gone. It was mostly their training weapons, training harnesses and the money they brought with them. Marcus also brought extra training harnesses and the weights to give to people. They had extra, so Marcus figured he could help out Luffy''s future crew and make them stronger. With everything packed up, the boys met their guide to the dojo and bid farewell to Kazu and the others. While it wasn''t that far away, most people near the port didn''t normally head towards the dojo that often, since they had no reason to. A few of the village kids went there each day to train though. As they walked towards the dojo, they passed by a rich farmland full of different types of crops. The fields were currently empty of people since most of the work was done and they were helping out in the village with reconstruction efforts. After a little over an hour or so, a compound appeared in the distance. It was large, with a wall that surrounded the whole thing. The architecture was Japanese inspired, with the buildings having elongated curved roofs, covered in a blue tile. Large pieces of exposed timber supported the bigger buildings, while rice paper windows could be seen throughout the place. It was the afternoon when the boys arrived at the entrance gate and the sounds of people practicing swordsmanship could be heard from outside the wall. Marcus glanced at Luffy for just a moment, thinking about how he was going to meet his future first mate soon before he knocked on the gate. 00051. A fated first meeting? The gate opened to reveal a man with thick, circular glasses, who wore a kind smile on his face. His long black hair was tied into a ponytail and he had on a gray colored yukata. He glanced at the boys for a moment before he asked, ¡°What can I help you boys with?¡± Marcus smiled at the man as he said, ¡°I''m Marcus and these are my brothers Ace, Sabo and Luffy. We came to train here while we stay on the island if that''s possible.¡± The man looked at the boys for a moment before he looked around for other people and asked, ¡°You''re visiting the island? Where are your parents? Are they in the village?¡± ¡°My mom died when I was a baby and my dad took the scenic route to get some milk.¡± Marcus said with a shrug before he asked, ¡°Will that be an issue?¡± ¡°Your dad is getting milk?¡± The man asked as his eyebrows raised slightly. ¡°Pretty much¡­ Does he need to be here for some reason?¡± ¡°No, not really¡­ So you boys wish to train in swordsmanship?¡± The man asked as he studied each of them. ¡°I''m the only one who uses a sword, but if possible we would all like to spar with you and your students while we''re here though.¡± He glanced at the training weapons Ace and Sabo carried as he said, ¡°I have no reason to refuse, but I won''t let you stay here for free. Do you boys have any money? I am not running a charity after all.¡± ¡°How much? And does it include food?¡± Marcus asked. The man rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before he said, ¡°Two hundred belly for each person per night and it will include a simple breakfast. You will have to figure out what to do for your other meals and swordsmanship instruction will cost extra. But the basic training will be included.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Marcus said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out some belly before he handed it to the man. The man quickly counted it before he asked, ¡°This is too much money. Just how long are you planning on staying here for?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°No clue, but probably until we get bored. I will also need a training sword, so that should help cover the cost of one.¡± The man nodded as he stuffed the money into a pocket before he stepped back out of the way and said with a wave of his hand, ¡°I''m Shimotsuki Koushirou and I welcome you boys to Isshin Dojo.¡± Koushirou led the boys into the main courtyard where most of the students were training. There were a little over twenty kids there, lined up in three rows. All of them were dressed in the same dark green training uniform and each of them held a bokken as they practiced an overhead swing. ¡°I''ll take you to your room first, so you can drop your stuff off.¡± Koushirou said as he walked past his students and around the main building. The overall layout of the dojo compound was simple. It had the largest and main building placed in the middle. It was connected to a few other buildings with open air walkways that were raised off the ground and in between those buildings were gardens or resting areas. Marcus looked at one of them as they passed by and saw a zen garden with raked sand weaving around rocks and a single cherry blossom tree that rested on a tiny plot of grass. As they walked by another one with a small fish pond as the main feature. They saw a few small buildings near the back wall of the compound. The buildings were mostly similar to each other besides a sign board that each one had next to the door. Each board had a single word written on it in beautiful calligraphy. The building they stopped at had a sign board that displayed the word, ¡®Sharp¡¯. Koushirou opened the door as he said, ¡°You can stay in here. I''ll have someone bring you some bedding later.¡± After the boys placed their stuff inside what amounted to a single room, Koushirou pointed towards another slightly larger building near the wall as he said, ¡°There''s a bathroom over there that you can use while you''re here.¡± ¡°Is it just a restroom?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ If you want a bath, you can jump in the river or go to town and use the bathhouse.¡± Koushirou said as he led the boys towards the main building. Koushirou stopped outside of it and said, ¡°You can come here for breakfast in the morning around seven. Basic training starts right after that if you want to join. As for sparring, you are free to challenge whoever you want. But whether or not they accept, is another story.¡± Koushirou reached over to a weapons rack placed next to the building and pulled out a training sword which he handed to Marcus as he said, ¡°Also be aware that if someone challenges you to a spar, you can refuse.¡± Marcus took the bokken as he said, ¡°Thanks for the information but we won''t be turning down anyone. We came out to train.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The others nodded in agreement as Koushirou gave the boys a kind smile. He then waved his arm towards the rest of the compound as he said, ¡°You are free to roam around wherever you like. But please don''t enter the other buildings without permission.¡± As Koushirou went back to his students, Marcus slid the training sword into his belt next to eternal rest before he turned to the others and asked, ¡°Should we explore a bit or do something else?¡± ¡°Food!¡± Luffy said excitedly. ¡°We just ate a little over an hour ago.¡± Marcus said as he glanced around looking for Zoro or Kuina. ¡°But we ate fish. I want meat!¡± Marcus turned back to Luffy as he said, ¡°What are you talking about, fish is meat.¡± ¡°No, fish is fish. Not meat.¡± Luffy said as he shook his head. ¡°Fish is meat! That''s literally what we eat from fish most of the time.¡± Marcus said in a slightly raised tone. Luffy leaned right into Marcus''s face as he said, ¡°Fish isn''t meat!¡± ¡°Yes it is!¡± ¡°No it''s not!¡± Marcus grabbed Luffy by the collar of his shirt as he said, ¡°Yes it is!¡± ¡°No it''s not!¡± Luffy said as he grabbed Marcus by the collar of his shirt and shook him. ¡°Yes it is!¡± Marcus said as he shook Luffy back. ¡°No it''s not!¡± As he continued to shake Marcus. Ace nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°Fish isn''t really meat.¡± Marcus stopped shaking Luffy as he glanced at Ace before he turned to Sabo for help but found him nodding in agreement with the others. Marcus let out a frustrated sigh as he let go of Luffy and threw his hands in the air and said, ¡°I give up, you''re all idiots.¡± ¡°Good¡­ I''m not an idiot!¡± Luffy said while he shook Marcus some more as Ace and Sabo said, ¡°We''re not Luffy!¡± ¡°Hey! What is that supposed to mean?¡± Luffy asked as he let go of Marcus and turned towards the other two. ¡°It means you''re an idiot.¡± Ace said as Sabo nodded along. Luffy looked like he was about to jump onto Ace when Marcus pulled out some jerky and held it in front of Luffy as he said, ¡°Have some pocket meat.¡± ¡°Oh, thanks a lot.¡± Luffy said as he instantly forgot what was going on and happily took it. As Luffy stuffed jerky in his mouth Marcus let out another sigh before he turned to Ace and Sabo as he said, ¡°Let''s go ask Koushirou where some wild animals are I guess.¡± Marcus and the others headed towards the training yard where they quickly found Koushirou as he watched over his students. Marcus approached the man as he asked, ¡°Are there any wild animals around here we can hunt?¡± Koushirou turned towards Marcus before he pointed towards the rear of the dojo and said, ¡°If you head that way a few miles following the river, you will find a forest. It has a good amount of game inside it, but it also has some dangerous creatures in the deeper parts. So make sure you don''t go too deep.¡± ¡°Yosh, thanks alot old man!¡± Luffy said as he took off towards the back wall to climb over it. ¡°Thanks for the help, Koushirou.¡± Marcus said with a helpless smile before he took off after Luffy and the others. Koushirou frowned as he watched Luffy and the others disappear around the corner and mumbled to himself, ¡°Do I look old?¡± Luffy was the first one to the wall, but Ace and Sabo beat him as they easily climbed over it. Marcus was a little bit behind the rest but caught up to them within a minute before they all ran along the river bank in the direction of the forest. They traveled for about twenty minutes at a jog before they could see the forest off in the distance. From where Marcus stood, the river flowed down into the forest about a mile ahead and disappeared into its depths. Marcus studied the area for a few moments before he rushed to catch back up to his brothers who never stopped running. It was a few minutes later when the boys reached the edge of the forest and Luffy charged in as he yelled out, ¡°Meat!¡± Ace and Sabo were right behind him but Marcus paused for a moment to note the area before he marked a tree with a small pocket knife he carried. He then followed along behind Luffy and the others and would mark a new tree every once in a while. As for keeping the others in sight¡­ Marcus didn''t worry about it because Luffy would randomly yell out from time to time. It didn''t take long for Luffy and the others to find some animals even with Luffy being an idiot. Most of them were too small to even matter, but they found an extra large boar after half an hour or so and ended up capturing it. They also found a handful of birds that looked like overgrown turkeys which they also caught. The boys ended up spending a few hours in the forest hunting before they decided to head back. While they didn''t collect too much more, they mostly wanted to see what else lived in the forest. Unfortunately they didn''t even make it to the deeper parts of the forest before it started to get dark. So the boys collected their food and then followed the trail Marcus made as he entered the forest. After they were out of the forest and headed back towards the dojo, Marcus and the others encountered someone. It was a boy with two training swords and a head of green hair. He stood on the river bank next to some decent sized boulders as he practiced his strikes against one of them. Marcus was positive it was Zoro since he looked the exact same as in the anime. Zoro didn''t seem to notice Marcus and the others as he hyper focused on his training. Marcus watched him for a little while as they approached closer and noticed large flaws in his fighting style before he said, ¡°Your foot placement socks. You need to adjust it if you want more power in your attacks. You''re also neglecting your guard.¡± The boy stopped his training as he turned around to find Marcus and the others and asked, ¡°Who thinks they know how to fight better than me?¡± Marcus smiled as he said, ¡°All of us.¡± The boy narrowed his eyes and took a stance as he said, ¡°Prove it.¡± ¡°Do you want to spar with me?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°Of course. You insulted my skills.¡± The boy said as he took a stance with both swords raised up. Marcus placed down the bundle he was carrying before he took the bundle Luffy had and pushed him forward as he said, ¡°I choose you Luffy! Go, use gum gum no pistol!¡± 00052. I chose you Luffy! ¡°Yosh! Let''s fight!¡± Luffy said as he cracked his knuckles. Zoro frowned as he pointed his sword at Marcus and said, ¡°I want to fight him, not you.¡± Marcus then patted Luffy on the shoulder as he smiled and said, ¡°You can''t fight the end boss, without clearing the minions first.¡± Ace and Sabo smiled at the comment as Luffy nodded his head in agreement before he said, ¡°Yeah, so let''s fight!¡± Zoro settled back into his stance as he said, ¡°Fine, I''ll fight him then. But he doesn''t have a sword.¡± ¡°He doesn''t need a sword to beat you.¡± Marcus said as he stepped away from Luffy. Zoro wore a savage grin as he said, ¡°Fine, this just makes it easier for me.¡± ¡°Are you both ready to fight then?¡± Marcus asked before both boys nodded their heads. Marcus pointed towards Zoro as he said, ¡°Luffy use gum gum no pistol!¡± As Zoro started to rush forward Luffy threw his arm backwards as he said, ¡°Gum gum no¡­¡± Luffy¡¯s arm stretched backwards some as Zoro closed the distance and was almost within attack range. A second later Luffy¡¯s arm stopped moving and snapped forward as Luffy said, ¡°Pistol!¡± Zoro swung his training sword down on Luffy¡¯s head as his eyes went wide and he attempted to dodge at the last second. The speed of the punch was too much and within a split second Luffy¡¯s fist slammed directly into Zoro''s nose. Zoro was lifted off his feet and thrown backwards before he hit the ground and rolled backwards a few times. ¡°Luffy used gum gum no pistol, it was super effective!¡± Marcus said with a smile. Zoro slowly stood up from the ground with blood pouring down his face from his busted nose. He glared at Luffy as he asked in a somewhat muffled voice, ¡°What the hell was that?¡± ¡°A punch.¡± ¡°Of course it was a punch¡­ Why the hell did your arm stretch?¡± Zoro asked as he pointed one of his swords at Luffy. Luffy grabbed his cheek and stretched it out to the side before he let it go as he said, ¡°I ate the gum gum fruit. I''m a rubber human.¡± ¡°Gum gum fruit?... Whatever, it doesn''t matter. You won''t be able to do that again.¡± Zoro said before he started to charge towards Luffy. As Luffy prepared his attack and stretched back his right arm, Zoro quickly moved towards the left side of Luffy. Luffy attempted to adjust his attack but was still not used to his powers. As Luffy''s attack missed, Zoro closed in and hit him with a double overhead slash with both swords. The attacks both hit Luffy on his left shoulder but bounced off his rubber body. The force of the rebound caused Zoro to stumble a bit and Luffy was able to punch him in the face because of it. Zoro was sent flying again but jumped back up instantly and yelled at Luffy as he asked, ¡°What the hell was that? How are you still standing?¡± ¡°Are you an idiot? He already told you he was made of rubber.¡± Marcus said with a smirk. Zoro gritted his teeth before he charged at Luffy again. As Luffy attacked, Zoro dodged it easily and came in swinging. He didn''t go for overwhelming powered attacks this time, but fast and quick attacks with both swords. Luffy, unused to fighting someone with two weapons, found it hard to dodge all of the fast pace attacks, but his rubber body made it easy to tank them. He would still work in a blow from time to time, but Zoro would manage five or six blows compared to Luffy¡¯s single attack. Marcus watched the fight from the side and could only shake his head in disappointment. Luffy seemed to be lazy and not trying to dodge any of the attacks that looked slow to Marcus. After five minutes or so, Zoro was having issues catching his breath and his attacks were slowing down. Luffy used that opportunity to start raining down attacks on Zoro and within a minute the boy was knocked out on the ground. Marcus focused his gaze on Luffy as he asked, ¡°What the hell was that? Why didn''t you dodge or try to parry any of his attacks once you figured out his rhythm?¡± Luffy turned around as he picked his nose and said, ¡°He didn''t hit hard enough for it to hurt.¡± ¡°What would have happened if that was a real fight, with a real sword?¡± ¡°I would have dodged.¡± Luffy said matter of factly. ¡°You should''ve used that opportunity to train dodging against someone who dual wields swords.¡± Marcus said with a hint of annoyance. ¡°But it didn''t hurt.¡± Marcus pulled out his bokken as he asked, ¡°So you''ll only dodge if it hurts?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Marcus picked up one of the bokken¡¯s Zoro dropped as he said, ¡°Okay, I understand¡­¡± ¡°Good.¡± Luffy said before Marcus smacked him in the head with one of the bokken. Luffy grabbed his head and was about to ask what was going on before Marcus hit him with another attack. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Marcus kept hitting Luffy with both swords and the more attacks he performed, the smoother he was able to do it. Luffy was attempting to dodge and run away, but Marcus went for his legs to slow him down as he asked, ¡°What happened? I thought you would dodge if it hurt?¡± ¡°It does hurt! But you''re too fast!¡± Luffy complained as he was hit again. ¡°You think I¡¯m too fast? I am still getting used to wielding two swords. Just give me a little while and I will show you how fast I can be.¡± Marcus said and he continued to beat Luffy with both training swords. ¡°Help! It hurts! Help! I¡¯m Sorry! Help!¡± Luffy cried out as he tried to run away from Marcus. Ace and Sabo who were off to the side watching both laughed as Marcus treated Luffy like a pinata. Marcus heard both of them and glanced towards them before he said, ¡°Just wait, you¡¯re both gonna have to learn how to defend against this too.¡± Ace and Sabo stopped laughing and shared a glance as Luffy ran towards them for help. Marcus didn¡¯t let him get far as he hamstrung Luffy and then proceeded to beat him more as he said, ¡°Why are you running? You should be practicing how to dodge these! This is your problem and why you are so weak! You never take training seriously! How are you supposed to be the pirate king if you are so weak?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I promise I¡¯ll train properly from now on!¡± Luffy said with a lisp because his face was swollen. Marcus stopped his attacks and rested both bokken on his shoulders as he asked, ¡°You promise?¡± Luffy nodded his head quickly as he said, ¡°Yes! I promise!¡± ¡°Since you promised, I guess I will let you go this time¡­ Have a good nap.¡± ¡°Nap?¡± Luffy asked before Marcus used all of his strength to slam both bokken into his head. With Luffy laid out on the ground along with Zoro, Marcus turned to Ace and Sabo as he said, ¡°Let''s make a bonfire and cook our food out here, so we don¡¯t have to carry these two back to the dojo.¡± Ace shrugged as he said, ¡°Fine with me, I¡¯ll go collect some firewood.¡± Sabo nodded in agreement as he pulled out a knife and said, ¡°I¡¯ll start preparing the meat then.¡± ¡°I guess I¡¯ll set up the fire pit and get a fire started.¡± Marcus said as he dropped the extra bokken on the ground. Marcus quickly found an okay spot for a fire near the river bank and set up some stones around it before he went to search for some kindling. Within ten minutes he had a small fire going before he turned towards Zoro and Luffy and decided to move them close to where the fire was. A few minutes after he placed them near the fire, Ace returned with a large pile of wood and started to build up the fire. Once the fire was going, Sabo set up their food on spits around the fire to cook. Zoro awoke to the delicious smell of meat being cooked. He sat up from the ground a little groggy as he tried to remember what happened. After a few seconds he noticed the other boys around the fire and remembered he was beaten by a boy who didn¡¯t even use a sword. That¡¯s when he noticed someone next to him, someone with lumps all over their face. It took him a few moments to realize it was the boy he fought and then he was confused. Did he actually win the fight? Zoro shook his head to himself, he knew he didn¡¯t win the fight¡­ But he at least injured the other boy during the fight, which made him feel a little better about losing. As Zoro was lost in thought, someone said, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re finally up.¡± Zoro glanced over to see the boy who started the fight in the first place with a smile on his face. The boy waved him closer as he said, ¡°Come join us, the food is just about ready to eat.¡± As Zoro stood up and moved around the bonfire the boy said, ¡°I¡¯m Marcus by the way. That¡¯s Ace over there, Sabo is the one who is cooking and you fought with Luffy.¡± Zoro sat down as he said, ¡°I¡¯m Zoro.¡± Marcus nodded as he asked, ¡°Do you train at the dojo?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Zoro said as he glanced at the other boys before he asked, ¡°Did you come here to train at the dojo as well?¡± Marcus shrugged slightly as he said, ¡°Kinda. We will be training a little bit, but we mostly came here to spar with people.¡± Zoro frowned before he asked, ¡°If you came to spar, then how come you didn¡¯t want to fight with me?¡± ¡°Because my brother needs to train more than I do.¡± Marcus said as Sabo handed him a piece of meat. As Sabo was handing out food, a hand snaked out and grabbed one of the pieces of meat on the fire and pulled it away before Luffy cried out, ¡°Ahhhhh, it¡¯s hot!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t just grab the meat you idiot, hold it by the stick.¡± Marcus said as he glanced over to Luffy who was juggling the hot meat in his hands. Once Luffy finally grabbed the stick, instead of the meat directly he smiled and said, ¡°Thanks.¡± Before he tried to take a big bite out of the meat and failed as he said, ¡°It¡¯s so hot, I can¡¯t eat it!¡± Marcus rolled his eyes as he mumbled to himself, ¡°How come he doesn¡¯t have common sense most of the time?¡± Zoro watched Luffy as the boy kept trying to eat the overly hot meat over and over again before he asked, ¡°Did I really lose to him?¡± Marcus smiled and patted Zoro on the shoulder as he said, ¡°Yup. You lost badly too.¡± ¡°At least I beat him up and made him look like that.¡± Zoro said as he pointed towards Luffy¡¯s swollen face. ¡°Oh, I did that.¡± Marcus said, which made Zoro wipe around to look at him. Marcus gave a shrug as he said, ¡°He didn¡¯t take your fight seriously, so I needed to teach him a lesson.¡± Zoro ended up spending a while with the boys eating and chatting as the sky started to darken. While there was still light out, but just past sunset as the meal was done, Marcus asked, ¡°Do you stay at the dojo or do you live somewhere else?¡± ¡°I live at the dojo mostly.¡± Marcus nodded as he stood up and said, ¡°We are staying at the dojo too. Do you want to head back with us?¡± Zoro stood up himself as he said, ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± After the boy put out the fire and prepared to leave, Marcus glanced towards Zoro as he said, ¡°Since you''re the local, how about you lead us back.¡± Zoro made sure both of his bokken were placed into his belt before he said, ¡°Sure.¡± Marcus and the others watched as Zoro turned in the opposite direction of the dojo and started walking away. After a moment Marcus asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t the dojo in the opposite direction from here?¡± Zoro glanced around in confusion for a few moments before he said, ¡°But I always go this way to reach the dojo.¡± Marcus glanced over his shoulder towards the dojo as he said, ¡°But if we follow the river that way, we will easily reach the dojo in like ten minutes.¡± Zoro glanced in the direction of the dojo as he said, ¡°Really? It normally takes me an hour or more to get there.¡± 00053. Luffy has a one track mind. Early the next day as the boys were going to join everyone for breakfast they heard Zoro from across the dojo compound as he yelled out, ¡°Fight me, Kuina!¡± By the time they arrived near the main building for breakfast, they found Zoro laid out on the ground as a tall girl with short cut hair stood over him. She placed her training sword into her belt as she said, ¡°You need to train more, you still lack proper skill Zoro.¡± Zoro jumped up from the ground as he said, ¡°Just you wait, I''ll beat you some day!¡± Zoro was about to go inside to eat when he noticed Marcus and the others, so he pointed at Marcus as he said, ¡°The same goes for you too!¡± Kuina turned to look at who Zoro pointed at before she stopped to study each of them. She then bowed slightly as she said, ¡°Greetings, you must be the guests my father mentioned. I''m Kuina, if you need help with anything while you''re here, feel free to ask me.¡± Marcus nodded in return as he said, ¡°I''m Marcus. These are my brothers Ace, Sabo and the one with drool coming out of his mouth is Luffy.¡± Luffy wiped his forearm over his mouth before he said, ¡°Let''s go eat, it smells delicious.¡± Marcus smiled a little bit as he said, ¡°Sorry about him, he only really cares about food.¡± ¡°It''s fine. I unfortunately know someone else with a one track mind too.¡± Kuina said as she glanced towards Zoro. Zoro glanced at Kuina as he asked, ¡°What? You want to fight again?¡± Marcus chuckled before he said, ¡°As much as I would like to watch you eat dirt again Zoro. How about we all go eat breakfast.¡± Before Zoro could say anything Luffy ran past everyone else as he said, ¡°Food time! Come on, let''s go! I''m starving!¡± Marcus gave Kuina and Zoro a forced smile as he said, ¡°I need to go make sure he doesn''t eat all the food.¡± As Marcus took off after Luffy, Kuina turned to the others as she asked, ¡°That was a joke right?¡± Sabo shook his head as he said, ¡°No, Luffy eats enough to feed five or six people most of the time.¡± Ace nodded along as he said, ¡°We should probably hurry up if we want to eat.¡± Kuina still thought they might be messing with her a little bit but said, ¡°Alright, let''s go. I''ll show you the way myself.¡± Kuina turned around to start walking to the dinning area before she reached over and grabbed Zoro by the collar of his shirt and pulled him along as she said, ¡°Come on, I don''t need you getting lost again.¡± ¡°I didn''t get lost.¡± Zoro protested but didn''t try to remove Kuina''s hand as she pulled him along. When Kuina and the others arrived, they found Luffy seated at a table with his cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk as his hands quickly stretched around him to steal food from unsuspecting victims. The other kids who were busy chatting with each other didn''t seem to notice, at least not yet. Kuina froze in place at the sight as Marcus said, ¡°Don''t mind it, that''s normal for him.¡± ¡°How is any of that considered normal or even logical for that matter?¡± Kuina said as she waved a hand at Luffy with his arms stretched longer than three times his height. Marcus shrugged as he moved towards the line to get breakfast as he said, ¡°When it comes to Luffy, it''s best not to bring logic into the discussion¡­ Or to even think about it too much. Also guard your plate around him or you won''t have anything to eat.¡± Kuina turned to the others who just nodded in agreement as they followed after Marcus. Kuina then turned to Zoro who shrugged as he said, ¡°They said he was a rubber human if that helps.¡± ¡°Hey! What happened to my breakfast!?!¡± One of the kids said as he glanced at the other people at his table. One of the other kids also noticed his food was missing and said, ¡°Someone stole my food too!¡± A chorus of other kids started to complain about missing food before one of them said, ¡°It''s him! He''s stealing everyone''s food!¡± Everyone in the room turned to see Luffy, lost in his binge eating as his arms darted out to steal more food before he stuffed it into his already overfilled mouth. One of the kids attempted to stop Luffy from stealing his food by grabbing onto his arm when it came towards them. Unfortunately Luffy was stronger than them and the boy also didn''t factor in the tension of Luffy¡¯s outstretched arm. When Luffy¡¯s arm came back towards him, the young boy with his tight grip on said arm was rocketed out of his seat as he flew towards Luffy. Luffy didn''t even notice the boy and only turned his head slightly to stuff the incoming food into his mouth. Instead the boy ended up slamming into Luffy¡¯s head and knocked both of them to the ground. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The boy was in a daze while Luffy jumped up perfectly fine before he picked the other boy up and asked him, ¡°What''s the big deal? Why did you head butt me?¡± ¡°You were stealing my food!¡± The boy said as he tried to focus on Luffy. Luffy dropped the boy on the ground before he crossed his arms over his chest and said, ¡°I wasn''t stealing it. I was just helping you clean off the leftovers on your plate.¡± ¡°I hadn''t even started to eat yet!¡± The boy yelled as he stood up and got into Luffy¡¯s face. ¡°Really? It looked like you were done to me. Your plate was almost empty.¡± Luffy said as he scratched the back of his head while a goofy smile played across his face. ¡°How the hell do you consider a full plate of food, almost empty?!?¡± ¡°Because there was so little food on the plate.¡± Luffy said matter of factly. The boy froze for a moment while he tried to process Luffy''s statement and after a moment as he poked Luffy in the chest, he said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how much food was on my plate, you shouldn''t steal other people''s food!¡± Other kids voiced their agreement before Koushirou''s voice silenced the whole room as he asked, ¡° What''s going on in here?¡± Everyone turned to look at Koushirou who wore a gentle smile as he scanned the room. The boy in front of Luffy pointed at him as he said, ¡°This person was stealing everyone''s food.¡± ¡°I wasn''t stealing, I just thought you were done eating.¡± Luffy said. Koushirou glanced at Luffy for a few moments before he said, ¡°Even though he is a guest here¡­ If anyone has an issue with him, you can settle it the normal way.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Everyone who Luffy stole food from asked as they looked towards Koushirou. Koushirou nodded before he said, ¡°But only if he accepts the challenge.¡± The boy in front of Luffy turned to him before he said, ¡°I challenge you to a duel! Do you accept? Or are you a coward?¡± Luffy, who stopped paying attention to the conversation as he picked his nose, glanced at the boy and asked, ¡°Uh? Were you talking to me?¡± ¡°Of course I was you, idiot! I challenge you to a duel!¡± Luffy¡¯s eyes lit up as he asked, ¡°Oh, you want to fight?¡± Before he quickly frowned as he asked, ¡°Can I finish breakfast first?¡± ¡°Just duel him for his breakfast.¡± Marcus said as he approached with a tray of food. ¡°I can do that?¡± Luffy asked in excitement as his eyes lit up with joy. Marcus sat down at the table before he shrugged and said, ¡°I don''t see why you can''t.¡± ¡°Sure, we can duel for each other''s breakfast if you want.¡± The boy confidently said with his chest puffed out. ¡°Hey, no fair! I wanna fight him too!¡± ¡°Yeah, he stole food from me too!¡± Marcus, who was about to eat his breakfast, said, ¡°Just add food to the duel and he will fight anyone who asks.¡± ¡°But he¡¯ll be beat up after the first fight.¡± Said one of the kids. ¡°Maybe¡­ But if he isn¡¯t, you can still challenge him when he¡¯s already worn down from fighting someone else.¡± Marcus said with a hint of a smile. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a good idea!¡± A boy said before he pointed at Luffy and said, ¡°Hey food thief! Let¡¯s fight for my breakfast if you¡¯re still standing after Katsu duels with you.¡± Luffy nodded in agreement as he said, ¡°Alright! Let''s go right now!¡± ¡°Hey, fight me too! If you win you can have my breakfast!¡± Other kids started to say before the boy named Katsu stepped in front of Luffy as he said, ¡°No. He needs to duel me first. Let''s go outside and settle this.¡± ¡°Yosh!¡± Luffy said as he threw his arms in the air before he ran outside. Pretty much the whole hall emptied out besides Marcus, Ace, Sabo, Kuina and surprisingly enough Zoro. Kuina raised an eyebrow at Marcus and the other¡¯s actions as she asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to go support him?¡± ¡°Luffy won¡¯t need support against those cannon fodder.¡± Marcus said as he glanced towards the door. Kuina frowned and was about to say something when they heard Katsu¡¯s voice carrying in from outside as he said, ¡°Hurry up and get a sword so we can fight.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how to use a sword.¡± ¡°Then how do you expect to duel me?¡± Katsu asked in a frustrated tone of voice. ¡°With my fists!¡± ¡°Whatever, you asked for this.¡± Katsu said before it quieted down outside. Ace glanced towards the door as he asked, ¡°How long do you think that kid will last?¡± ¡°One punch should do it.¡± Marcus said before he turned to Zoro and asked, ¡°I¡¯m surprised you didn''t go challenge him too.¡± Zoro was almost finished with his breakfast when he paused as he said, ¡°I want to finish my breakfast first so he can¡¯t take it if he wins.¡± ¡°You think he might beat you in a fight?¡± Kuina asked with a bit of interest. Marcus smirked as he patted Zoro on the back and said, ¡°It¡¯s not ¡®might¡¯ win. Luffy already beat Zoro and I don¡¯t see Zoro winning a fight with Luffy anytime soon.¡± ¡°I just need to get used to fighting someone who doesn¡¯t use a sword.¡± Zoro said before he went back to eating. Kuina narrowed her eyes a tiny bit as she asked, ¡°He beat Zoro without using a sword?¡± Ace nodded as he said, ¡°Luffy might not use a weapon, but he¡¯s a decent brawler. Besides, you saw how his body moves. He uses that as his weapon.¡± Before the conversation could continue, Katsu flew through one of the paper screened doors and crashed into one of the tables completely knocked out. Luffy appeared near the broken door a moment later and looked in before he turned around and asked, ¡°Alright, who¡¯s next?¡± Koushirou who was in a different room heard the commotion and peaked into the room before one of his eyes started to twitch slightly as he turned to Marcus and said, ¡°That door and table are coming out of the money you gave me.¡± Marcus smiled as he said, ¡°Why do you think I gave you so much.¡± 00054. Spreading Garps fitness program. After the boys finished breakfast they headed back to their room and put on their training harnesses. When they came back out to the main training area Kuina noticed them in their harnesses first and asked, ¡°What are you wearing?¡± ¡°A special training harness that makes everything harder to do.¡± Marcus said as he started to stretch his body as part of his pre-workout routine. Kuina looked at the harnesses with a bit of skepticism as she asked, ¡°How would those things make anything harder to do?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°No idea and I never bothered to ask. Then again, my grandpa is a big dumb gorilla and wouldn''t have any idea how they work if I asked him in the first place.¡± Zoro, who was in the middle of practicing his sword swings, stopped before he asked, ¡°Do those things really make everything harder to do?¡± ¡°We have some extra if you want to give them a try.¡± Marcus said. ¡°If it will help me get stronger, then of course I wanna try it.¡± Zoro said with an excited glint in his eyes. Kuina''s eyes lit up too as she said, ¡°I''d like to try it out too.¡± ¡°Sure, follow me.¡± Marcus said before he led them towards the boys room with a hint of a smile that played across his lips. It didn''t take long to get them both in a training harness before he activated each one. Both Kuina and Zoro immediately felt the pressure and feedback from the harness as they started to move around in wonder at the sensation. Marcus watched them both try different things for about a minute before he said, ¡°Not bad, it almost looks like you both can use the second level of the harness already.¡± ¡°Second level?¡± Zoro asked as Kuina asked at the same time, ¡°It gets harder?¡± Marcus almost blurted out, ¡®That''s what she said.¡¯ But held himself back as he smirked to himself before he said, ¡°Yeah. there are seven levels the harness can be set too.¡± ¡°Set it to the highest level for me!¡± Zoro said in a serious tone as he focused on Marcus. ¡°I''d like to try the second training level.¡± Kuina said as she gave Zoro a worried look. ¡°Alright, hit that button first to deactivate them and I will grab the level stones for you both.¡± Marcus said as he headed back inside. Marcus came back out and installed the stones into each harness before he said, ¡°Alright, hit that button again.¡± Kuina turned on her harness just fine and while it was tough, she was at least able to move around. Zoro on the other hand was basically frozen in place as he attempted to move even his finger. Marcus watched him struggle for about a minute before he said, ¡°Just so you know that is only level three. If I installed the level seven stone, you would probably die.¡± Zoro frowned as he asked, ¡°Why is level three so hard, when level one was so easy?¡± ¡°Because you already trained your body past the point that level one can really affect you. The harnesses are designed to make you stronger in stages. Once you no longer feel restricted by the level of the harness is when you can increase it to the next level.¡± Marcus deactivated Zoro''s harness and switched out his level stone to stage two before he reactivated it. Zoro tested it out for a few moments before he asked, ¡°How long can I use this for?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°At least until we leave the island.¡± Zoro nodded with a savage grin before he asked, ¡°What level is Luffy on?¡± ¡°We''re all currently on stage three, with Ace and Sabo being a little ahead of me and Luffy.¡± As Zoro and Kuina got used to moving around in their harness, Marcus stored the extra stone back in his room. When he came back outside Zoro asked, ¡°You guys are going out to train, right?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Good, I''ll join you.¡± ¡°Zoro. You can''t just invite yourself. You have to ask.¡± Kuina said with a slight frown before she turned to Marcus and asked with a smile, ¡°Do you mind if I join you for your training? I wanna see what you do for your workout routine.¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°You''re free to join us¡­ But I doubt if either of you will be able to keep up with us.¡± Kuina frowned as Zoro took that statement as a challenge and said, ¡°Oh yeah? I doubt your training routine is that hard.¡± Marcus smiled to himself while he led them back to his brothers as he said, ¡°You¡¯re problem right, since our grandpa was the one who first taught it to us.¡± When they reached the others, Ace said, ¡°We¡¯re ready whenever you are.¡± Marcus glanced back at Zoro and Kuina as he said, ¡°Try to keep up.¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Ace led the group out of the dojo and towards the forest a few miles away at a brisk run to warm everyone up before the real workout started. While both Kuina and Zoro trained each day, they didn¡¯t train like Marcus and the others. The first four hours were so intense that it almost equaled Kuina¡¯s normal workout and after five hours it matched Zoro¡¯s daily workout. When Kuina and Zoro collapsed to the ground completely exhausted around lunch time, Marcus approached them with a smile as he asked, ¡°How do you feel?¡± Zoro tried to rise up from the ground as he said, ¡°I can keep going.¡± But before he could fully get on his feet he fell down again. Kuina didn¡¯t try to get up but turned her head towards Marcus as she asked, ¡°How much is left of your workout?¡± ¡°We are gonna hunt real quick which is also part of training and then eat lunch. After lunch there will be sparring practice until dinner. Once we finish dinner, you can relax or self train until bedtime.¡± Marcus said as he glanced between both of them on the ground and tried to gauge if they would last the rest of the day. Kuina nodded slightly before she said, ¡°Wake me up once lunch is ready.¡± Zoro tried to stand up again as he said, ¡°I wanna hunt too.¡± Marcus waved him off as he said, ¡°Maybe in a few days once you¡¯re used to this type of training. Just rest for today, it will help you recover some for later.¡± Marcus wasn''t sure if Zoro decided to follow his advice or just gave up after they fell down again. But Zoro stopped trying to get up as Marcus walked into the forest to hunt for lunch. Within an hour Marcus and the others had a bonfire going with large hunks of meat being cooked around it. Marcus waited till the meat was finished before he woke up Zoro and Kuina for lunch. With the nap and a belly full of food, both of them seemed to recover enough that they were eager to spar with everyone. Zoro challenged Luffy first because he wanted to make up for the loss he suffered yesterday. But the fight ended up much the same as the day before, except Luffy actually dodged as many attacks as he could. Kuina watched the fight with interest at first but quickly turned her attention to Ace and Sabo as they dueled each other with their respective weapons. The fight was a lot more interesting and as she watched them it made her want to fight too. Kuina turned towards Marcus who was seated close by as he watched everyone fight and asked him, ¡°Do you wanna spar with me?¡± Marcus didn''t look towards her as he said, ¡°If we spar, you better be prepare yourself to lose.¡± Kuina frowned slightly as she said, ¡°Don''t underestimate me just because I''m a girl. The only person who can beat me in a spar on the island is my father.¡± Marcus''s eyes glanced towards Kuina as he said, ¡°It has nothing to do with you being a girl.¡± Kuina stood with a hand on her training sword as she asked in a challenging tone, ¡°So you think you''re more skilled than me?¡± Marcus stood up as he shook his head and said, ¡°I don''t think anything, I know I am.¡± Kuina pulled out her training sword as she said, ¡°Then prove it.¡± Marcus rested a hand on his own bokken as he said, ¡°Take off your training harness first.¡± Kuina barely thought about it for a second before she hit the button to deactivate her harness and took it off. When she looked back at Marcus with a frown as she asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to take off your harness?¡± Marcus pulled out his bokken as he said, ¡°It wouldn''t be fair if I didn''t have a handicap.¡± Kuina frowned more and was going to say something before Marcus asked, ¡°Ready?¡± At that moment Kuina made a decision to teach Marcus a lesson with this duel and nodded her head as she adjusted her stance slightly. Marcus nodded in return before he said, ¡°You better not blink.¡± Kuina wanted to ask what Marcus ment but as soon as he finished talking he was in front of her performing an overhead slash. Kuina''s eyes went wide as her body reacted on instinct and her sword raised up to block the attack. When their swords collided, a shock shot through both of her arms down to the bones as she strained to hold back Marcus''s attack. Marcus quickly disengaged from the attack and by sliding in front foot behind himself was able to attack again. Kuina was barely able to catch Marcus''s blade in time but couldn''t block it completely this time and ended up having to retreat. Marcus gave her no chance as he pushed forward to chase and attacked her again. The next few minutes were a blur for Kuina as she did her absolute best to defend against Marcus''s relentless assault. For the most part she did okay and was able to dodge, block or parry most attacks. But the handful that slipped through were painful reminders that motivated her to not let another attack land. More time passed while Marcus and Kuina sparred until another hit caused Kuina to drop her bokken as she collapsed to one knee. Marcus stopped his next blow instantly as he said, ¡°I''ll admit, you have a lot more skill than I thought you did.¡± Kuina held an arm over her rib cage that currently felt like it was on fire before she hissed out, ¡°So do you.¡± Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°I was actually holding back.¡± Kuina frowned as she asked, ¡°You held back?¡± Marcus pointed towards his training harness that was still active as he said, ¡°Besides having this on, I only used basic sword attacks.¡± Kuina frowned as she thought back over the spar and after a few moments realized he was right. While the harness was a big handicap already, the fact he only used a handful of basic slashes was another. Kunai didn''t really want to admit it, but Marcus was extremely skilled compared to her and it made her wonder what he would be like if he didn''t hold back. Would he be able to beat her father in a spar, she wondered. Marcus placed his bokken back in his belt before he took off his training harness and set it aside. He glanced down at Kuina afterwards as he said, ¡°Since you didn''t pass out, I''ll show you one of the moves I am still trying to perfect.¡± Kuina focused on Marcus as he said, ¡°Ace, Sabo!¡± They both paused their spar and glanced towards Marcus before he said, ¡°Try and block this attack.¡± Ace and Sabo shared a glance before they both settled into a defensive stance and nodded towards Marcus when they were ready. Marcus placed a hand on his bokken and relaxed his lower body before he changed his breathing slightly. With his left hand already on his bokken where the sheath would normally be, Marcus gripped the handle with his right hand. Kuina, who was paying close attention to Marcus, heard him whisper, ¡°Thunderclap¡­¡± Marcus disappeared from her view before she heard Ace and Sabo yelp in pain. Kuina¡¯s mouth dropped open in shock as she found Marcus, who now stood behind both of them with his sword still in his belt, while Ace and Sabo were now on the ground as they cradled their heads. Marcus for his part turned around with a smirk on his face before he asked, ¡°What do you think?¡± When Kuina finally recovered from the shock of Marcus basically teleporting fifty feet in a second she asked, ¡°How do you consider whatever that just was, not perfect?¡± ¡°It should be faster if I¡¯m being honest.¡± Marcus said with a shrug. 00055. Luffy has a big mouth. It was well past dinner and everyone had separated to do their own thing. Marcus decided to do his normal sword practice routine and hopped over the back wall of the dojo. There was a spot he found back there earlier today that would be perfect for his type of solo practice. As for why he wouldn''t just train in the main courtyard of the dojo that was designed for it? Other kids were still there training and he didn''t want to be bothered by anyone else. Marcus quickly settled into a stance when he arrived at the spot and started to move through each stance he knew. He first went through the ones he made himself, then moved onto the ones Bogard showed him before he switched to the ones his sword taught him. It didn''t take long to move through each one as his constant practice and natural talent allowed him to effortlessly link them together. Marcus lost himself in a deadly dance of slashes as he pretended he was sparring with Shanks. Sure it wasn''t as good as a real spar, but Shanks movements were burned into Marcus''s mind from how many times they fought and it helped him improve his form. As Marcus raised his sword to block an imaginary slash he heard Kuina''s raised voice as she said, ¡°I will not!¡± Marcus paused his practice as he moved closer to the dojo''s back wall as Koushirou said, ¡°Kuina you have to be realistic. A woman just isn''t meant to fight. You should give up your pursuit of the sword.¡± ¡°But I can beat everyone who trains at the dojo and even the adults who come to challenge you!¡± Kuina said with a raised voice. ¡°You only beat those men because they were amateurs at best. Any man with proper skill could easily overpower you.¡± ¡°That just means I''m inexperienced and need to practice more.¡± Kuina said. Koushirou let out a sigh before he said, ¡°Kuina, experience will only take you so far. When you get older most men will be able to overpower you in a fight.¡± ¡°You don''t know that!¡± Kuina said before it sounded like she stormed off. ¡°Kuina¡­¡± Koushirou let out another sigh before he said to himself, ¡°I should have never taught her how to use a sword...¡± Marcus shook his head to himself before he went back to training again. When Marcus started to get tired he sheathed his sword and hopped back over the dojo¡¯s wall to head to his room. When he was back inside the compound he heard someone still training so he decided to go check who it was. He found Kuina who looked exhausted in front of a training dummy as she practiced with her bokken. Slash after slash she chained together into one almost fluid continuous motion as she attacked over and over again. Marcus watched her for only a moment before he said, ¡°You should go to sleep.¡± ¡°I need to practice.¡± Kuina said in a tired tone of voice. ¡°No, you need proper rest. Especially because you used a training harness today, otherwise you¡¯ll injure your body from over training.¡± Kuina stopped her next attack and turned to Marcus as she said, ¡°You trained after dinner.¡± Marucs nodded before he said, ¡°I¡¯ve also used the harness for years now and my body is used to it. You started today and it will take your body time to adjust to it properly. It took me almost a month before I could train like I do now and even then, I don¡¯t do it every day.¡± Kuina was about to say something when her body gave out and she started to fall backwards. Marcus used soru to move next to her and catch her before she hit the ground. Marcus let out a sigh as he held Kuina in a princess carry before he carried her towards the main building. When he got there he found Koushirou seated at a chabudai as he drank tea and read a book. Koushirou noticed Kuina in Marcus¡¯s arms and raised an eyebrow before he asked, ¡°Did she challenge you to a duel?¡± ¡°Passed out from over training.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Her room is the third door on the right side of the hallway.¡± Koushirou said before he turned back to his book. Marcus carried Kuina to her room before he laid her down on her futon. He didn¡¯t bother to cover her with a blanket since she was still dressed, but he made sure she had a pillow before he left the room. As he walked back out into the main entryway, Koushirou asked, ¡°You must agree with me, right?¡± Marcus glanced towards Koushirou as he asked, ¡°Agree with you on what exactly?¡± ¡°Kuina should give up the sword.¡± Koushirou said as he turned to look at Marcus. ¡°Why? Because she isn¡¯t a man?¡± Koushirou nodded before he said, ¡°She has talent but she was unfortunately born the wrong sex. Once she is older she won¡¯t be able to keep up with other swordsmen in physical strength.¡± ¡°If physical strength is so important, why haven¡¯t giants taken over the world? Or why are fishmen looked down on when they are ten times stronger than humans?¡± Marcus said with a shrug before he walked out of the building. Koushirou watched him leave before he let out a sigh and returned to reading his book. Marcus returned to his room for the night and inside he found everyone already asleep with Luffy spread out over his futon. Marcus shook his head as he thought, ¡®Not again.¡¯ Marcus stripped off his top layer of clothes before he moved to his futon and kicked Luffy off of it. Luffy flipped back over onto his own futon without waking up but his new piston caused him to start snoring. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Marcus kicked Luffy again to make him roll over onto his back and stop snoring before he laid down onto his futon. A few minutes after he closed his eyes and started to fall asleep a hand smacked him on his face which woke him up. He glanced towards Luffy who had rolled back over closer to him and his hand that was currently resting on his face. Marcus moved Luffy¡¯s whole arm away from him before he attempted to fall asleep again. Not even a few minutes later Luffy¡¯s hand smacked Marcus in the face again so Marcus sat up and pushed Luffy away before he stood up. He picked up his futon and moved it across the room from Luffy before he placed it back down and laid down on it. Within a few minutes Marcus was fast asleep and didn¡¯t wake up until morning. At breakfast Zoro and Kuina joined the boys for breakfast again and it looked like the other students learned to eat quickly much to Luffy¡¯s dismay. He still attempted to duel a few of them for their breakfast, but after yesterday morning no one took the challenge. After breakfast the boys along with Zoro and Kuina headed out to train again. After morning training and lunch, Zoro approached Marcus as he said, ¡°Fight me!¡± Marcus pointed towards Luffy as he said, ¡°You still haven''t beat my minion yet.¡± ¡°I wanna fight with swords.¡± Marcus pointed at the swords on Zoro''s waist as he said, ¡°Then use your swords and go fight someone.¡± Zoro pulled out both of his training swords and pointed them at Marcus as he said, ¡°I wanna fight someone who uses a sword!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ You should have said that in the first place.¡± Marcus said as he started to stretch his arms a little bit. Zoro smiled as he thought Marcus was actually going to fight him before Marcus said, ¡°Hey, Kuina!¡± Kuina, who was seated not far away from Marcus, glanced over as she asked, ¡°Yes?¡± Marcus pointed at Zoro as he said, ¡°Take care of my light weight.¡± ¡°Light weight?¡± Zoro asked as Kuina also looked over with interest about what Marcus ment. Marcus laid back on the grass with his hands behind his head as he said, ¡°Yeah. You are like some light weights to me, something I might use for a warm up at best.¡± Zoro frowned as he said, ¡°Don''t look down on me! I''ll be able to beat you and your brother one day!¡± ¡°Maybe¡­ But it definitely isn''t today, so go spar with Kuina.¡± Marcus said as he closed his eyes and relaxed under the sunny afternoon sky. Zoro was about to argue back but Kuina stood up as she said, ¡°Come on Zoro, let''s spar and see if you have improved at all since yesterday.¡± Zoro quickly forgot about Marcus as he turned to start dueling with Kuina. Marcus quickly fell asleep in the grass as everyone else was training. Luffy was off to one side as he practiced with his devil fruit powers. While Ace and Sabo sparred with each other as Zoro and Kuina did the same. It was about an hour later when Marcus was woken up by the sound of a den den mushi ringing. Pururu pururu pururu Marcus groggily sat up and looked around as he tried to figure out what was going on. As the ringtone went off again Marcus realized someone was trying to call him. Pururu pururu pururu Marcus lazy reached into his shirt pocket before he pulled out his den den mushi to see a very familiar yet different face on the sail. Pururu pururu pururu gacha ¡°You little brats! Just who do you think you are, leaving the island!?!¡± A very angry Garp practically yelled from the other side of the den den mushi. ¡°Thanks for calling Roscoe''s Chicken and Waffles, is this for pickup or delivery?¡± Marcus asked with the deepest voice he could muster. ¡°Uh? Did I dial the wrong number?¡± ¡°Did you want to place an order sir?¡± Marcus asked as everyone else who was close by turned to look at him. ¡°No, I was trying to reach my ungrateful grandkids.¡± ¡°Alright sir, I wish you the best of luck in reaching them.¡± Marcus said before he hung up the den den mushi. ¡°He¡¯s gonna be pissed when he calls back.¡± Ace said with a slight smirk. Marcus stood up and stretched as he said, ¡°Did you hear him? He¡¯s already pissed off.¡± Luffy who was the farthest away walked closer as he asked, ¡°Was that grandpa?¡± ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s probably looking for us.¡± ¡°Should we run? He¡¯s probably gonna beat us up when he finds us.¡± Luffy said as he unconsciously rubbed the spot on his head where Garp liked to punch him. Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t tell him where we are, so we¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Why are you hiding from your grandpa?¡± Kuina asked. ¡°We aren¡¯t really hiding, but our goal was to explore East Blue and fight pirates while he was away¡­ But now that he is back we will have to be careful for a little while until he goes back to the grandline.¡± Marcus said. Pururu pururu pururu pururu gacha. ¡°City morgue, you stab ¡¯em, we slab ¡¯em. How may I assist you today.¡± ¡°Uh? Did I dial the number wrong again, one¡­ Six, three¡­ Eight, two, one¡­ Yeah that¡¯s what I dialed from the paper¡­¡± The den den mushi¡¯s face contorted as Garp snarled, ¡°Marcus!!! You little brat! I know this is your den den mushi number, I just double checked with your dad.¡± ¡°Oh no! What do we do?!? He knows it¡¯s us!¡± Luffy said in a panic. Marcus face palmed himself as Garp said, ¡°Of course I know it¡¯s you brats! Why else would I call this number? Where the hell did you go? You¡¯re supposed to stay on Dawn Island, not roam around East Blue!¡± ¡°Marcus took us out on an adventure, we are training in Shimots¡­¡± Ace forcefully covered Luffy¡¯s mouth but it was already too late as Garp said, ¡°Shimots? Hey, is there a place in East Blue called Shimots?¡± Marcus hung up the den den mushi and pinched the bridge of his nose as he said, ¡°Alright, we need to leave. The sooner the better.¡± Zoro frowned as he asked, ¡°You''re gonna leave?¡± ¡°Why are you running from your grandpa?¡± ¡°Besides the fact he is gonna beat us black and blue whenever he catches us?¡± Marcus asked. Kuina nodded before Marcus smiled as he said, ¡°Because it will make sailing around East Blue more fun.¡± Ace smirked as he said, ¡°He¡¯s right. Trying to run from grandpa will make this whole thing a lot more fun.¡± ¡°But we haven¡¯t even dueled yet!¡± Zoro said as he pointed one of his swords at Marcus. Marcus pulled out his training sword before he said, ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll duel you once, right now. But afterwards we need to get to our ship and get out of here.¡± 00056. To be strong you need... A feral grin spread across Zoro¡¯s face before he said, ¡°Good.¡± Zoro pulled out his other training sword and took a stance as Marcus did the same. Marcus narrowed his eyes slightly as he asked, ¡°You ready?¡± As Zoro nodded his head, Marcus blasted forward as he slashed downwards with his training sword. Zoro attempted to parry the blow but his first sword wasn¡¯t enough to hold back Marcus¡¯s swing and he was forced to use his other sword to help. Once Marcus¡¯s attack was properly blocked by both swords, Marcus disengaged from the attack at the same time he used a sweep kick with his back foot. As Zoro¡¯s legs were kicked out from under him and fell onto his back, Marcus brought his sword down and stopped it over Zoro¡¯s neck. Zoro was stunned as he looked up at Marcus in shock before he said, ¡°No fair! You kicked my legs out!¡± Marcus raised an eyebrow at that as he asked, ¡°And? It was a spar, did you expect me to only use my sword?¡± Zoro jumped up from the ground as he said, ¡°Of course! It was a duel between swordsmen!¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°Maybe for you, but just because I use a sword, doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m purely a swordsman. When I spar, I treat it like it¡¯s a real fight and use every tool I have at my disposal unless I am trying to teach someone.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s not honorable.¡± Kuina said as Zoro nodded in agreement. ¡°What good is honor if you''re dead?¡± Marcus asked as he glanced between Zoro and Kuina for a moment. When neither of them responded after a few moments, Marcus asked, ¡°You know who I fight the most besides my brothers?... I fight pirates and bandits. Do you have any idea how much honor those types of people have?¡± Both of them shook their heads in response before Marcus said, ¡°None. They will stab their own friends in the back if it will keep them alive or give them a better cut of loot.¡± Marcus slid his training sword back into his belt as he said, ¡°I have no idea what is motivating either of you to train with a sword¡­¡± ¡°I wanna be the world''s best swordsman!¡± Zoro said confidently as he cut off Marcus. Marcus nodded at that before he glanced at Kuina who looked a little lost before Zoro asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t that your goal too?¡± ¡°I. I don¡¯t know.¡± Kuina said as she glanced down at the training sword on her hip. ¡°What do you mean, you don''t know? Isn''t your goal to be the best?¡± ¡°If I was born a boy it would be, but I was born a girl.¡± Zoro frowned as he asked, ¡°What the hell are you talking about? What does being a boy or girl have to do with being the world''s best swordsman?¡± ¡°Being a girl, I''m already weaker than most of the boys my age and it''s only gonna get worse as I get older.¡± Kuina said as she unconsciously rubbed the hilt of her training sword. ¡°Bullshit! Is that what you plan to say whenever I finally beat you in a fight? Are you just going to dismiss all of my training and effort with some pathetic words about being weaker?¡± Zoro asked with anger in his voice. Kuina shook her head with mist gathering in the corners of her eyes as she said, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that. It¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°Are you trying to look down on me and everyone else who¡¯s ever lost in a fight with you?¡± Zoro asked as he cut Kuina off and locked eyes with her. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then shut up about girls being weaker than boys because that¡¯s just stupid.¡± Zoro said with a bit of heat still in his voice. Marcus nodded in agreement as he said, ¡°Zoro¡¯s right. If physical strength mattered so much, why aren¡¯t fishmen and other physically stronger races more dominant around the world?¡± ¡°Fishmen?¡± Zoro and Kuina both asked at the same time. ¡°They come from the grandline and are ten times stronger than a human¡­ And yet the one¡¯s that practice swordsmanship aren¡¯t considered some of the best swordsmen in the world. Do you know why that is?¡± Marcus asked as he reached for Eternal Rest and slowly pulled it from its scabbard. When both of them shook their heads Marcus stepped away from them and turned to the tree line a few feet away from everyone as he said, ¡°Because they only have strength but no real skill to back it up.¡± Marcus turned off his training harness and took a stance with his sword as he said, ¡°Watch carefully and I¡¯ll show both of you something one of the worlds best swordsmen once showed me during training.¡± Marcus changed his breathing as he hyper focused on the tree line in front of him before his body tensed up and he gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. His body became taunt like a bow as he flexed all the muscles in his body before he said, ¡°Divine departure!¡± Marcus¡¯s sword whipped out at a speed that wasn¡¯t visible to the eye and a moment later Marcus was down on the ground as he gasped for breath. Everyone glanced at Marcus and the tree line before him and after a few moments Zoro asked, ¡°Was something supposed to happen?¡± Marcus, who was still recovering, glanced up at the tree line before he mumbled to himself, ¡°I could have sworn it was some type of modified air slash, but it must really need haki to work properly.¡± Just after Marcus caught his breath and stood up, the tree directly in front of him split at the trunk and fell to the ground with a loud bang. It was a chain reaction as more trees started to collapse after that and once everything finished more then ten trees were cut in half along with a handful of other trees partly damaged from the attack. Marcus turned around to see everyone looking at him with their mouths hanging open and their eyes as wide as saucers. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. As Marcus sheathed his sword, Luffy was the first one to snap out of his shock and asked with star shaped eyes, ¡°That was so cool! Can you do it again?¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°No¡­ And I probably won''t be able to for a few days at least. That took more out of me than a full power air slash.¡± ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Zoro asked excitedly as he glanced at all of the tree¡¯s on the ground. ¡°That was an attack anyone with enough drive and skill can learn.¡± Marcus said as he glanced at Kuina who was also focused on the treeline. Kuina turned towards Marcus as she asked with a bit of hope in her voice, ¡°Anyone?¡± ¡°Maybe. It really depends on the person.¡± Marcus said as he watched Kuina closely. Kuina frowned slightly as she asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say anyone with enough drive and skill could learn it?¡± ¡°Yeah, but you need to have those qualities. I know you have the skill, I¡¯ve seen it¡­ But do you have the drive? The willpower to push your mind and body past their limits and keep going?¡± Marcus asked as he locked eyes with Kuina. Marcus watched as Kuina¡¯s eye¡¯s slowly cleared up from the uncertain fog that filled them earlier and a new resolve slowly infused into them turning them crystal clear. Once Kuina¡¯s mind was completely made up she said, ¡°I wanna be the world''s best swordsman!¡± Zoro¡¯s head whipped around to look at Kuina before he asked, ¡°Really?¡± Kuina nodded as she said, ¡°Yeah.¡± Zoro stuck his hand out towards Kuina as he said, ¡°Then let''s make a promise that no matter what, one of us will be the world''s best swordsman!¡± Kuina smiled as she grasped Zoro¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Sure¡­ But once either one of us gets the title, the other person has to challenge them for it.¡± ¡°I wouldn''t have it any other way.¡± Zoro said with a predatory grin. Marcus, who was off to the side, threw his arm over Luffy¡¯s shoulder before he asked, ¡°As the future pirate king, shouldn''t you have a powerful swordsman on your crew?¡± Luffy looked at Marcus as he asked, ¡°Don''t I already have you?¡± ¡°Who said I was joining your crew?¡± Marcus asked as he pushed Luffy away. ¡°But we''re brothers, we''re supposed to stick together! You''re gonna join my crew, just like Ace and Sabo are and we''ll be the strongest pirate crew to ever set sail!¡± ¡°Like hell we are!¡± Ace, Sabo and Marcus all said at the same time before they punched Luffy over the head. Zoro and Kuina glanced over before Kuina asked, ¡°Why do you guys wanna be pirates? Didn¡¯t you say you fight them all the time?¡± Marcus pointed at Luffy who was crouched on the ground as he held his head and said, ¡°This idiot made a promise to become the pirate king one day because some drunk guy with a sword gave him their straw hat.¡± Luffy grabbed his hat and cradled it in his arms as he said, ¡°Shanks isn¡¯t some drunk guy with a sword! He¡¯s the coolest pirate in the world and one day I¡¯ll meet him in the grandline just like we promised each other!¡± ¡°Shanks was a pretty nice guy, but Marcus is right. I never once saw him not within arms reach of some type of alcohol.¡± Sabo said as he rubbed his chin while Ace nodded in agreement. ¡°Anyways, I am pretty sure all of my idiot brothers will end up being labeled as pirates sooner or later just because of how they are.¡± Marcus said with a hint of a smile. ¡°So you¡¯re not planning to be a pirate?¡± Zoro asked. ¡°I don¡¯t plan to be, but just like my brothers I am sure someone will label me as one sooner or later.¡± Marcus said as he shrugged slightly before his den den mushi started to ring again. Pururu pururu pururu gacha ¡°You little brats! I know you''re in Shimotsuki village, you better¡­¡± Garp was cut off by Marcus as he said, ¡°Hi, this is Marcus. Sorry I couldn¡¯t answer your call right now, but if you would please leave a message after the beep with your name and phone number I¡¯ll call you back as soon as I can. Thank you and have a good day¡­ BEEP!¡± ¡°Uh? You have one that records messages? Maybe I should get one so people can¡¯t bug me all the time¡­¡± Garp said as he trailed off in thought for a moment before he said, ¡°Marcus, you little brat! This is your grandpa. You and those other idiots better wait for me in Shimotsuki village if you know what''s good for you! Call me back when you get this, my number is¡­¡± After Garp hung up the call Marcus couldn¡¯t stop himself anymore as he burst into laughter as he said, ¡°I swear only grandpa and Luffy would fall for something like that.¡± Ace let go of Luffy''s mouth as he said with a chuckle, ¡°It¡¯s kinda scary how similar they both are.¡± ¡°I¡¯m nothing like that big dumb gorilla!¡± Sabo nodded in agreement as he said, ¡°You''re right about not being a big gorilla, but you''re definitely a stupid little monkey.¡± After messing with Luffy a little bit longer, Marcus reminded everyone they needed to leave the island as soon as possible, so they all headed back to the dojo together. As they headed back, Zoro and Kuina lagged behind as they talked together while the boys were in more of a rush to pack up and high tail it out of there. Once they were back at the dojo, Marcus and his brother split up from Kuina and Zoro as they went to collect their things. Since they didn¡¯t bring too much stuff and hadn¡¯t really unpacked yet, the boys were able to clean out their room in less than half an hour. Marcus didn¡¯t worry about collecting the harnesses he gave out to Kuina and Zoro since he never planned to take them back in the first place. He did take out a set of level stones for both of them and planned to leave them behind in case he never made it back to the island though. As they all headed towards the front of the dojo, Marcus veered off from the group with the level stones and moved towards Koushirou. Koushirou smiled at Marcus as he approached before he asked, ¡°It looks like you boys are in a rush today. Is something going on?¡± ¡°Something came up and we have to leave the island earlier than planned.¡± Marcus said with a shrug. Koushirou nodded slightly in understanding before he said, ¡°Give me a moment and I can get you a refund.¡± Marcus shook his head before he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Keep it in case we come back¡­ Also take this.¡± Marcus handed the two sets of level stones to Koushirou as he said, ¡°Those are for Kuina and Zoro. They will know what to do with them.¡± ¡°Are you not gonna tell them you¡¯re leaving?¡± Koushirou asked as he set the two packages off to the side. ¡°They already know.¡± ¡°In that case, I won¡¯t hold you up then. I wish you a safe journey wherever you¡¯re going.¡± Koushirou said with a soft smile. Marcus nodded back before he sped off to catch up to his brothers. A few minutes after the boys left, Kuina and Zoro appeared in the main courtyard with small bundles on their backs. Kuina glanced around for a moment and when she didn¡¯t see Marcus and the others she grabbed Zoro by the collar and pulled him towards the main gate as she said, ¡°Look, we already missed them because I had to go find you. I told you we shouldn¡¯t have split up¡± Koushirou smiled slightly at the sight, it looked like Marcus was wrong about Kuina and Zoro who both looked like they wanted to give the boys a gift before they left. After Kuina and Zoro disappeared from sight, Koushirou turned back to his students as he watched them practice some more. 00057. Finally a chef! ¡°I can''t believe you. I turn around for just a moment and you disappear!¡± Kuina said as she pulled Zoro along by the ear. ¡°I didn''t disappear, I was trying to catch up to everyone.¡± ¡°I found you walking back towards the dojo!¡± Kuina said as she tugged on his ear a little harder. Kuina let out a little huff before she said, ¡°Hopefully we didn¡¯t miss them because I had to find you a couple of times.¡± ¡°I''m sure everything will be fine.¡± Zoro said before he winced a little when Kuina pulled his ear again. ¡°I hope so, but we should still hurry.¡± ¡°If you let go of my ear I would be able to run properly.¡± Zoro said with a hint of indignation. ¡°And let you get lost again? I don''t think so.¡± It was about half an hour later when Zoro and Kuina arrived in the village and headed directly for the dock. At the dock they found Marcus and the others loading some supplies they bought from the villagers. While the village was still recovering and normally wouldn''t sell anything at this time. The boys had helped them out and even let them use the boat while they were visiting the island. Sure it was only for a couple of days, but the village was grateful and sold the boys some supplies. Kuina and Zoro reached the dock right as they finished loading the last batch of goods and were in the process of saying goodbye to the elder they met when they first arrived. The elder Kazu shook hands with Marcus as he said, ¡°I wish you boys a safe journey and hope you visit again sometime.¡± ¡°Thank you and if we get the chance, we¡¯ll definitely be back.¡± Kazu noticed Kuina and Zoro as they approached and said, ¡°Kuina, Zoro, what are you two doing here?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going¡­¡± Kuina covered Zoro¡¯s mouth before she said, ¡°We came to wish Marcus and his brothers a safe trip and give them a small gift before they leave the island.¡± Kazu smiled at that before he said, ¡°Oh, well I¡¯ll let you kids say goodbye then. Make sure you stop by my house before you go back to the dojo, I have something for your father.¡± Kuina nodded as she said, ¡°Yes, elder Kazu.¡± As Kazu left the dock Kuina released Zoro from her grip before she said, ¡°You idiot, you almost told him our plan.¡± ¡°What plan?¡± Marcus asked even though he already had an idea of what it might be. Kuina and Zoro shared a quick glance before they asked together, ¡°Can we join you in sailing around East Blue?¡± Marcus raised an eyebrow as he asked, ¡°And why exactly do you want to do that?¡± ¡°Because I still want to spar with you and I need to beat up Luffy.¡± Zoro said before Kuina added, ¡°I wanna get stronger and the only person on the island currently stronger than me is my father and he never trains me seriously. All of you are stronger than me and I want your help in getting stronger.¡± Marcus glanced at both of them for a moment and noticed they both brought a pack, their training swords along with their real swords. Kuina had her sword, Wado Ichimonji, strapped to her waist while Zoro only had two plain looking black sheathed swords. Marcus thought about it for a few moments before he asked, ¡°Have either of you ever sailed before?¡± Both of them shook their heads so Marcus asked, ¡°What skills do you have besides knowing how to use a sword?¡± ¡°I can fish, but I rarely catch anything.¡± Zoro said before Kuina smacked the back of his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s because you always fall asleep and lose your fishing rod.¡± As Zoro rubbed the back of his head, Kuina said, ¡°I can cook. I¡¯m not the best at it, but I¡¯ve helped out in the kitchen a bunch and picked up a few things.¡± Marcus nodded as he said, ¡°That¡¯s fine. We will teach you both how to sail and Kuina will be in charge of the kitchen¡­ Just try to keep Luffy out of it when it¡¯s not meal time otherwise he will eat everything he can get his hands on.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try my best, but I¡¯m pretty sure he can beat me in a fight.¡± Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°Just yell for help and someone will come beat up Luffy for you.¡± Marcus led Kuina and Zoro onto the ship where the others were before he said, ¡°Listen up, Kuina and Zoro asked to join us on our journey around East Blue. Zoro said he can help fish and Kuina said she can cook.¡± Marcus glanced at his brothers before he asked, ¡°Do any of you have any objections to them joining us?¡± ¡°No, not really.¡± ¡°Having someone who can cook will be helpful.¡± Sabo said. ¡°Yosh! More members for my pirate crew!¡± Luffy said as he threw both arms into the air. Marcus slammed his fist into Luffy''s head which knocked him into the deck before he said, ¡°You¡¯re not the captain and we aren¡¯t a pirate crew!¡± ¡°You have a captain?¡± Kuina asked before Ace and Sabo pointed to Marcus. Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°I¡¯m just the leader for now, since it was my idea to sail around East Blue.¡± Marcus showed Kuina to the kitchen and a bedroom that connected to it she could use before he led Zoro to another bedroom. Once they dropped their stuff off, Marcus and the others gave them a crash course about how the ship worked before Marcus said, ¡°Alright, let''s cast off!¡± ¡°Zoro, help Luffy with the anchor. Kuina, help Ace and Sabo with the mooring lines.¡± Marcus said as he headed to the helm. After the anchor was pulled and the mooring lines released, Marcus said, ¡°Lower the aft sail until we clear the docks, then drop and set the mainsail!¡± As they started to clear the dock Marcus turned to port slightly before the main sail was lowered down. From there they set course towards the Calm Belt and adjusted the sails to get top speed. Once everything was set and the sails were properly trimmed, everyone approached Marcus before Ace asked, ¡°Where are we headed this time?¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°The Calm Belt for about a day or so and then we will change course and head to another island.¡± Luffy picked his nose as he asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t we just go to the island instead?¡± Ace put Luffy in a head lock and started to give him a noogie as he said, ¡°Because we don¡¯t want grandpa to find us, you idiot!¡± Luffy squirmed as he tried to break free and with a ¡®POP¡¯ his rubber head slipped out of Ace¡¯s grip. A moment later Luffy threw back his arm and said, ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot, you stupid jerk face!¡± Luffy¡¯s arm whipped forward and caught Ace off guard which knocked him to the ground before he jumped up and said, ¡°That¡¯s it you little cry baby! I am gonna beat you black and blue!¡± Luffy pulled down one eyelid and stuck out his tongue before he took off running. As Ace chased after him, Kuina glanced at them before she asked, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we stop them?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°Naw, that¡¯s pretty normal for them.¡± Sabo nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°Yeah, that happens at least once a week.¡± As they watched Ace chase Luffy around the ship, Zoro asked, ¡°How do you guys train while on the ship?¡± Marcus handed the helm over to Sabo as he said, ¡°Go grab your training harness and I¡¯ll show you.¡± The rest of the day was pretty uneventful as the ship sailed towards the Calm Belt and Marcus helped Zoro and Kuina train till it was dinner time. After dinner Marcus took over the helm as everyone else hung out on the deck and played cards. For the night shift Sabo took over again and in the morning Ace took his shift. After dinner the next day Marcus finally changed the ship''s course to the island he wanted to visit and made sure to inform Sabo when he came to take over for his shift. Over the next couple days, Kuina picked up on how to hold a steady course and was slotted into the helm rotation. Zoro had some of the same issues as Luffy at keeping the ship on course, so Marcus decided against putting him on the helm rotation. Besides with three people they had it handled just fine and the fourth person just made everything a little easier. Since they headed out towards the Calm Belt for over a day, the part of the sea they passed through was totally empty of other ships. There were no islands in the area so no shipping lanes passed through it and most people avoided it unless they were trying to save time. As they sailed through the area, Marcus was the first person to notice a tiny black dot on the horizon. It was off to their port side and after five minutes Marcus used his spyglass to get a better look at whatever it was. It was still a fair distance from them, but Marcus was able to tell it was a ship and kind of headed towards them. He studied it for a little while before he said, ¡°Ship off of the port bow.¡± Instantly everyone on the deck stopped training and glanced in that direction. After a few moments Luffy said, ¡°I can''t see anything yet, let me borrow your spyglass.¡± Marcus stared daggers at Luffy as he asked, ¡°And let you break another one?¡± ¡°That wasn''t my fault!¡± Luffy protested with a pout. ¡°You dropped it from the crows nest trying to juggle it!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ Well how was I supposed to know it would break like that?¡± Luffy asked as he absently scratched the back of his head with a goofy smile on his face. ¡°Because I yelled at you for breaking the one before that for the same reason!¡± Marcus snapped back at Luffy. Luffy rubbed his chin in thought before he said, ¡°But I wasn''t in the crows nest that time.¡± Ace smacked the back of Luffy''s head as he said, ¡°You were still trying to juggle the spyglass, idiot!¡± Something seemed to click in Luffy''s eyes before he slammed his fist into his palm and said, ¡°Ohhhh¡­ So that''s what you meant.¡± ¡°Of course that¡¯s what he meant!¡± Ace said as he punched Luffy in the head again. ¡°Don''t throw him overboard, he''s just a selfish idiot¡­ And your brother.¡± Marcus mumbled to himself before he turned his focus back towards the approaching ship. Marcus kept a steady course but continued to observe the ship before he noticed another black dot on the horizon behind it. He pulled out his spyglass again to get a better look at both this time. The first ship was a little clearer this time and didn''t wave a black flag, while the ship behind it was too far to see any details. After he put his spyglass away, Marcus said, ¡°There''s another ship following behind the first one.¡± Ace glanced into the distance as he said, ¡°Maybe it''s a convoy headed for Shimotsuki.¡± ¡°Maybe, but something feels off¡­¡± Marcus said as he watched the two dots. Marcus held course for another five minutes or so before everyone heard the muffled sound of a cannon blast off in the distance. Marcus whipped out his spyglass and focused on the two dots in the distance and was able to make out the second ship this time. The first ship was definitely a merchant ship, while the second one Marcus confirmed was a pirate ship. He still couldn''t make out the details, but the one thing he could see was the black flag raised over the main mast. Marcus put away his spyglass and turned the ship to port slightly as he said, ¡°The second ship is a pirate ship, everyone get ready for battle.¡± ¡°We''re really gonna fight pirates?¡± Kuina asked as she looked at the dots in the distance. Luffy excitedly laughed before he ran towards his quarters as he said, ¡°Finally!¡± ¡°It''s about time.¡± Ace said as he headed to his room to get his weapon followed by Sabo. Kuina looked back to see if Marcus was just like his brothers who were excited about the coming battle. Marcus had no outward reaction that she could tell and if anything seemed calm about the whole situation. Kuina glanced at the dots one more time before she headed to her own room to get ready. Since Marcus was on helm duty, he didn''t really need to get ready, but Sabo did bring him his sword. Over the next fifteen minutes or so they heard cannon blast after cannon blast. But each time Marcus checked the shots missed the merchant ship. It wasn''t perfect and they had taken a couple hits, but whoever was at the helm of that merchant ship was one hell of a helmsman. At that point in time Marcus was able to get a better look at both ships. The merchant ship was smaller than the pirate ship and just slightly bigger than the boys ship. The pirate ship was a larger three mast ship that at one point was a cargo huller, but now it was in disrepair and run by pirates. As Marcus studied the two ships, he noticed whoever was in the merchant ship''s crow nest was waving flags trying to warn them off. Marcus smirked to himself before he said, ¡°Everyone get into position and trim the sails with our new course. I want the best speed possible!¡± Everyone scrambled to their position around the ship and started to work the lines to quickly adjust the sails. Once they were set, Marcus said, ¡°Stay in position and be ready to furl the sails on my command!¡± Time seemed to tick by slowly as the three ships slowly converged on each other. Marcus and the others watched as the merchant ship gracefully dodged cannon blasts from the larger vessel and Marcus was honestly surprised they kept trying to hit the other vessel. As they approached closer the merchant ship''s crew kept trying to wave off Marcus and the others, but the only response they received back was Luffy happily waving back at them in return. When they finally reached a point where the other ship could yell at them, Marcus and the others heard someone from the merchant ship yell out, ¡°What are you doing? Do you have some kind of death wish?¡± Marcus waved back towards the other ship as he said, ¡°Don''t worry about us, you guys just get out of here and we will collect their bounty!¡± The other crew seemed to freeze for a moment as they stared at Marcus and the others before a cannonball slammed into the water between the ships. They quickly went back to work and didn''t attempt to stop Marcus and the others again. As for the pirate ship, it changed its sight at Marcus''s ship since they were headed straight towards them now. Marcus turned the ship slightly so they would come alongside the pirate ship instead of directly ramming into it. And whoever was at the helm of the pirate ship seemed to have the same idea as they adjusted their own course slightly. They also stopped firing their single bow mounted cannon. After a few minutes as the ships got closer together Marcus said, ¡°Furl the sails!¡± In less than a minute the sails were fully collapsed and the ship was only carried forward by its momentum as it crept closer to the pirate ship. The crew of the pirate ship also furled their sails as they got closer and Marcus said, ¡°Prepare for combat.¡± A few moments later grappling hooks flew out from the pirate ship and latched on to the ship. As the two ships were pulled closer together by the pirates, Marcus let go of the helm and stared up towards the deck of the pirate ship while he rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. As the two hulls smacked together a voice on the other ship said, ¡°Make sure you don''t damage the ship boys! We''ll use this one to finally catch those crafty bastards.¡± 00058. Robbing pirates. As the pirates jumped over to their ship, Ace, Sabo and Luffy started to attack them. Zoro being the battle junkie he was, quickly followed suit along with Kuina who trailed a little bit behind. Marcus stayed out of the initial clash so he could observe the situation and also get a proper gauge on the enemy''s strength. Most of the pirates quickly fell before his brothers combined might. But a handful were also dropped by Kuina who put her superior sword skill on full display. Zoro was the only outlier of the group who was still fighting his second opponent. Sure he was going to win, it was just taking longer than it should. As most of the first batch of pirates were almost dealt with, the next batch landed and attacked with renewed vigor. As the minutes ticked by and the amount of pirates coming over slowed down, someone on the other ship yelled out, ¡°What the hell is taking you idiots so long to capture that ship?¡± A moment later a fat man with a captain''s hat glanced over the railing of the pirate ship and frowned. Most of his men were on the ground with a good portion of them knocked out and the rest groaning in pain. He glanced to his left as he said, ¡°Ivan, go handle those kids and get me that ship.¡± Another man grunted in response before everyone heard the loud thud of heavy footfalls approach the edge of the pirate ship. A massive man appeared soon after near the edge of the pirate ship''s railing and glanced down at the other ship. He smiled which showed large gaps of missing teeth before he reached out and grabbed a rope to use. As the man attempted to use the rope to transfer to the other boat the captain yelled out, ¡°You can''t use a single rope, you idiot!¡± But his warning came too late and the rope Ivan used snapped a moment later when he put all of his weight onto it. Ivan for his part, comically flapped his large arms as if he was a bird. It didn¡¯t help and he slammed face first into the deck which caused part of it to shatter. A couple moments later Ivan stood up and spit out a tooth before he turned towards Ace and the others. There were only a handful of pirates left on the ship still standing, so Marcus said, ¡°Kuina, try out the big guy.¡± ¡°No fair, I wanna fight him!¡± Both Luffy and Zoro said at the same time as they both fought with a different opponent. Marcus ignored them both as he stared at Kuina who just knocked out her last opponent. She looked up at Ivan who was easily four times her height and mostly made of muscle before she gulped as her eyes contracted. She instantly wanted to refuse, to say she didn''t think any of them could beat the man. But then she noticed Marcus''s and the other''s gaze as they looked at Ivan. They didn''t look at the man with any hint of fear, instead they looked at him with a predatory glint in their eyes. As Ivan moved towards Ace who was the closest to him, Kuina¡¯s initial fear was replaced with determination. Kuina used her speed and quickly cut off the ponderous man before he could reach Ace. Her first attack was a probing slash to the man''s knee with her training sword. It stuck true because the man was too slow to dodge the blow, but Kuina¡¯s hands went numb from the impact. She felt like she had just slammed her training sword into a boulder. As Kuina tried to recover from the attack, Ivan swiped down towards her but missed as she rolled out of the way. When Kuina recovered she attacked Ivan in the knee again but it was the same result. The blow made her hands go numb and she almost dropped her training sword. Kuina frowned as she quickly moved around the slower man and lightly attacked him a few more times. While the man was too slow to hit her, Kuina also felt that she had no way to damage the man in return. After a couple minutes of attacking Ivan, Kuina was exhausted and could barely lift her sword. Ivan on the other hand was completely fine, but seemed rather annoyed as he attempted to swat Kuina again. Kuina barely dodged the blow but didn¡¯t have the energy to retaliate any more as she backed away from the man. Ace and the others were finished fighting at this time and the pirate captain was glaring down at everyone before he said, ¡°Hurry up Ivan, you''re wasting time.¡± ¡°She''s too fast to catch, cap''n.¡± Ivan said as he barely missed Kuina again. ¡°Fine, I''ll help," The captain said as he pulled out a gun and pointed it towards Kuina. Luffy reacted before anyone else as he jumped in front of Kuina and said, ¡°Gum gum no human shield!¡± The pirate captain sneered as he pulled the trigger of his gun. As the bullet slammed into Luffy''s chest both Kuina and Zoro yelled out, ¡°What are you doing!?!¡± A moment later as Luffy''s body stretched around the bullet, Zoro, Kuina, Ivan and the pirate captain''s mouth dropped open and their eyes popped out of their heads. Luffy''s carefree laugh as his body returned to normal and the bullet flew off in a random direction brought everyone back from their shock. Kuina, who was closest, grabbed Luffy by the neck before she shook him as she asked, ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± Luffy laughed even harder before Marcus said, ¡°Don''t lose focus, you''re still in the middle of a fight.¡± A heavy thud stole everyone''s attention as the pirate captain landed on the deck. He glanced at everyone else before he drew his sword and said, ¡°I''m not sure what just happened, but that little brat is right.¡± He swung out at Ace who was closest to him as he said, ¡°Never let your guard down in a fight.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. A new battle erupted on the ship as Ace and the captain started to fight each other. Zoro also took the opportunity while Kuina was still holding Luffy to rush in and attack Ivan. Marcus kept a hand on his sword as he watched carefully from the side as the two fights began in earnest. Kuina didn¡¯t complain about having her opponent stolen but Luffy said, ¡°Hey, no fair! I wanted to fight him.¡± ¡°Just switch with Zoro once he is too tired to fight.¡± Marcus said as he observed both fights. ¡°That won''t happen.¡± Zoro said through gritted teeth after he realized how tough Ivan''s body was. While Zoro was running into the same issue as Kuina had while fighting Ivan. Ace didn''t have any problem fighting against the captain and Marcus estimated it wouldn''t be long before he won. He was quickly proven right as Ace landed a brutal blow against the man''s right knee and with a sickening crunch the man dropped to the deck. As he screamed out in pain, Ace landed another heavy blow on the man''s head which knocked him out. With only the man named Ivan left standing Marcus said, ¡°Luffy, jump in and help Zoro finish him off. Everyone else tie up our loot.¡± ¡°I don''t need any help.¡± Zoro said as he barely dodged another blow. ¡°Yosh! Gum gum no pistol!¡± Luffy said excitedly as he attacked Ivan with his powers. Marcus glanced towards the now two on one fight for a moment before he started to help tie up the other members of the pirate crew. They made quick work of it all and by the time they were finished, Ivan was passed out on the deck. While his body seemed to be incredibly tough, Luffy took him down with a solid punch to the temple that knocked the man out. With the thirty plus pirates now tied up on the deck, Marcus turned to the others and said, ¡°You know what to do.¡± Ace and Sabo shared a smile as Luffy threw both fists in the air and said, ¡°Time for the best part!¡± Zoro and Kuina shared a confused look before Kuina asked, ¡°Uh, what are we supposed to do?¡± ¡°Loot the ship of course.¡± Marcus said with a grin. Marcus waved them off towards the pirate ship as he said, ¡°Go on, I''ll wait here and make sure anyone who wakes up doesn''t try anything.¡± As Zoro and Kuina went to follow after the others Marcus said, ¡°Be careful though, there still might be some pirates on that ship.¡± Marcus''s warning made Kuina cautious and Zoro eager as they climbed up to the pirate ship''s deck. It was about half an hour later when Ace appeared back on the deck and leaned over the railing as he said, ¡°These guys suck, there is almost no loot.¡± Marcus glanced towards the group of pirates tied up on the deck before he said, ¡°It might be hidden, give me a minute.¡± Marcus went to each pirate and started to smack people awake, all of which started to curse and threatened to hurt him if he didn''t release them. Once he had everyone including the captain awake he yelled out, ¡°I am only going to ask this once. The first person to tell me where the loot is stashed on your ship will be set free.¡± The pirate captain''s laugh bellowed loudly for a moment which drowned out everyone else''s voice before the captain yelled, ¡°I''ll kill the first rat bastard that talks!¡± As the captain death glared at the rest of his crew, Marcus watched them all for a few minutes before he let out a sigh and slowly drew his sword. Marcus slowly stalked towards the captain who noticed him but only sneered as he said, ¡°Are you trying to intimidate me boy? It will take a lot more than a little kid with a sword to do that.¡± Marcus said nothing as he casually swung his sword towards the main mast of the pirate ship before he started to sheathe it. All the pirates including the captain burst into laughter before the captain asked, ¡°What was that supposed to do?¡± The sword made a soft click as it was fully seated in its sheath and a moment later the main mast of the pirate ship collapsed. It crashed onto the deck of the pirate ship before it fell into the water a few moments later. All of the pirates were quiet with their eyes popped out as they stared open mouthed at what just happened. The deathly silence was broken by Ace who appeared on the deck again and yelled out, ¡°What the hell Marcus! Warn me next time you do that! The mast almost hit me!¡± All of the pirates mechanically turned to look back at Marcus before they erupted all at once as they each tried to tell him where they hid stuff on the ship. It took about an hour but Marcus was able to find out about every single hidden compartment on the ship. Luffy and the others made short work after that and within a couple hours the ship was stripped of everything valuable. With the ship already in bad shape, along with the mast now ruined, Marcus used a barrel of oil and dosed part of the ship in it. Afterwards they lit the ship on fire and watched it burn for a few minutes before Marcus checked his map for the nearest marine base. As Marcus and the others started to prepare to set sail again, one of the pirates asked, ¡°Didn''t you say you would set one of us free?¡± Marcus glanced towards the pirates as he said, ¡°That was only for the first person who talked, but all of you talked at the same time... So work out amongst yourselves who you want me to set free and I''ll do it.¡± As all the pirates started to argue with each other over who should be set free, Sabo who was close to Marcus said, ¡°You know they''ll never come to an agreement over that.¡± Marcus smirked before he said, ¡°That¡¯s the point.¡± Over a week flew by quickly as Marcus and the others traveled to an island near the edge of the Calm Belt. It was also the closest one with a marine base on it. Well that was if the map Marcus had was still accurate. It wasn''t old, but at the same time maps weren''t that reliable either. While the pirates were a slight hassle to deal with, Marcus made sure to feed them each a bowl of stew once a day. It was just enough to help their hunger cravings but never enough to give them strength. Marcus also made sure they stayed lashed together and on the deck of the ship. Which baked them under the harsh sun and made it almost impossible to sleep. Was it cruel? Maybe a little, but Marcus wasn''t going to give them any help in trying to escape. Sure they wouldn''t be able to get very far, but Marcus didn''t want to deal with the hassle of it all. So he made sure the pirates wouldn''t die and that was about it. On their way to the island and the marine base it possibly held. Marcus and the others didn''t run into another ship the whole way. It was a little strange but then again they were going through a stretch of sea most people didn''t normally travel through. It was on the tenth day after they captured the pirates that they spotted land in the distance. Marcus and the others quickly adjusted the ship''s course towards the island. It was a little over an hour later when they luckily found the marine base and slowly approached their dock. The marines at the base were already on alert while a small contingent were on the dock and waiting as they watched the ship warily. 00059. Zombies in East Blue? A very short middle aged man in a captain''s coat greeted the ship as he said, ¡°I''m Captain Madison, commander of B-3. Please state your business for being here.¡± Marcus glanced over the side of the ship to look at Madison before he said, ¡°We came to turn in some pirates and collect their bounties.¡± Madison nodded as he asked, ¡°How many?¡± ¡°Thirty six.¡± Madison turned to one of his men and said something which made the man run off before he turned back and asked, ¡°Do you want us to come aboard and collect them?¡± ¡°No, we''ll bring them down to you.¡± Madison and his men stayed on the dock and watched as Marcus and the others slowly marched their prisoners down the gangplank. Once they were finished, more of Madison''s men came to collect and process the pirates. Madison oversaw everything at the start but as they were finishing up he approached Marcus. Marcus''s first impression of the man was spot on as the man stood about four and a half feet tall. While he was a good foot taller then Marcus, Marcus was a kid and had a lot of room left to grow. Madison glanced over Marcus and the others before he said, ¡°I''ll need to see your captain before I can turn over the bounties.¡± ¡°That would be me.¡± Marcus said which made Madison frown. After a few moments he asked, ¡°Is there an adult on your ship?¡± ¡°No, just us.¡± Madison¡¯s frown deepened before he asked, ¡°Why are you kids sailing around on a ship with a group of captured pirates and where are your parents? Actually how did you even find these pirates in the first place and who captured them for you?¡± While Marcus expected something like this might happen. He really didn''t wanna deal with it. They would definitely need to find someone older that could be used as a front man next time. But since they were already here, Marcus focused on Madison as he said, ¡°We captured them ourselves. As for where our parents are¡­ Do you have a den den mushi I can use to call them?¡± ¡°Here, you can use my personal one.¡± Madison said, still frowning as he handed Marcus a small den den mushi. As Marcus dialed a number he asked, ¡°By the way, do you know who Monkey D. Garp is?¡± ¡°Of course I know who the marine hero is, he is the pride of East Blue! I even met him once.¡± Madison said as his chest puffed out a little. ¡°I see, that will make this easier.¡± Marcus said as he nodded his head. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Madison asked as he cocked an eyebrow right as the den den mushi connected and a man said, ¡°Vice Admiral Garp speaking.¡± ¡°Hey grandpa, it''s Marcus.¡± ¡°Marcus!? Where the hell are you and why aren¡¯t you returning my calls?¡± ¡°My den den mushi is seasick and hasn¡¯t been working¡­ As for where I¡¯m at? That¡¯s why I called you, I''m at a marine base and currently trying to collect some pirate bounties but the base commander is giving me a hard time.¡± Marcus said as he glanced at the base commander whose mouth dropped open. ¡°Eh? Didn¡¯t I tell those idiots to let you and your brothers collect bounties?¡± ¡°That was the Goa Kingdom marine base, this base is near the Calm Belt.¡± ¡°Oh, well let me talk to whoever¡¯s in charge.¡± Marcus glanced at Madison again as he said, ¡°He can hear you, grandpa.¡± Madison stood up a little straighter as he said, ¡°This is Captain Madison speaking.¡± ¡°Madison? Madison... Oh, you''re that little runt who runs B-3, right?¡± Madison was almost glowing when Garp called him a runt and said, ¡°That¡¯s correct sir.¡± ¡°Don''t give my grandsons a hard time and give them the bounties they collected.¡± ¡°Yes sir. You can count on me.¡± Madison said as he saluted the den den mushi before he moved away to talk to his subordinates. ¡°Good¡­ Wait a second¡­¡± Garp said before he stopped talking for a few moments and as Marcus saw the den den mushi start to snarl in anger he hung it up. Madison was busy as he grabbed the bounties for the boys and didn''t notice what happened but Ace and Sabo did. As they started to snicker, Marcus shot them a look and whispered, ¡°Grandpa might call back and ask them to detain us¡­ Go get the ship ready to leave.¡± As Ace and the others went to get the ship ready, Madison turned back around with a sack of money a subordinate gave him and said, ¡°Here you go, this is a little over eleven million belly for all the pirates you captured.¡± Marcus accepted the bag with a smile and handed back the den den mushi before he said, ¡°Captain Madison it''s been a pleasure.¡± Madison noticed the others starting to untie so of the lines and asked, ¡°Oh, are you kids planning to leave already? Don''t you need to resupply?¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°We are fully stocked still and should make it to our destination with ease.¡± ¡°If that''s the case, I hope you kids have a safe journey.¡± Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°Thanks.¡± Marcus hurried to help everyone get the ship ready to leave and within a few minutes or so they were already pulling away from the dock. As that happened Madison''s den den mushi rang and he quickly picked it up as he said, ¡°Moshi moshi, Captain Madison here.¡± ¡°Madison, are my grandsons still there?¡± ¡°They just pulled away from the dock sir.¡± Madison said as he glanced towards the ship a few hundred feet away. ¡°Those damn brats¡­ Where are they going? Did they say?¡± ¡°I overheard them talking about Loguetown and the ship is currently heading in that direction.¡± Madison said as he watched the ship get further away. ¡°Loguetown uh? Those stupid brats, just you wait till I get my hands on you.¡± Garp said to himself before he hung up and left Madison slightly confused. Back on the ship Luffy excitedly said, ¡°I can¡¯t wait to get to Loguetown. I wanna see where the pirate king was executed!¡± ¡°We aren''t going to Loguetown, I have a different destination in mind.¡± Marcus said as he glanced back towards the island that was slowly getting smaller. Luffy grabbed Marcus by the shoulder and shook him as he said, ¡°But you just said we were going to Loguetown! I wanna go see where the pirate king was executed!¡± ¡°I said that, so if grandpa called back, they would tell him what they heard. We can go there later, but not yet.¡± Marcus said as he turned back to check their current course. ¡°But I wanna.¡± Luffy was cut off as Marcus punched him over the head and knocked him to the deck. Marcus glanced down at Luffy as he asked, ¡°Do you wanna get caught by grandpa and go back home? Or do you want to keep sailing around and having fun?¡± Luffy sat up and rubbed the bump on his head as he said, ¡°I wanna keep having fun.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I thought¡­ Now go up to the crows nest and keep watch.¡± Luffy grumbled to himself but followed Marcus¡¯s order as everyone else focused on trimming the sails. After an hour or so and about half an hour after Marcus could no longer see the island with his spyglass. He started to turn the ship in a new direction as he called out, ¡°Trim the sails!¡± Over the next five hours or so, Marcus changed the course of the ship to their next destination. While he could have made a direct line for it at first, he wanted to make sure he didn¡¯t accidentally go back towards the marine base. He wasn¡¯t sure if they had a ship or not, but by changing course a few times he was hoping they wouldn¡¯t run into it if they did. Once he was satisfied he traded with Ace and headed below deck to eat a late lunch. The next couple days passed in relative peace as they sailed to the next island Marcus wanted to visit. Since the area they were in was near the Calm Belt and no islands were around, they didn¡¯t see any other ships as they traveled. Marcus and the others kept themselves busy with training each day, but they never pushed it too far. It was just in case they ran into pirates and needed to fight. While the training wasn¡¯t intense, the sparring was another matter at least for Kuina and Zoro. Marcus would train both of them for about five hours a day in swordsmanship. About three hours was spent helping them improve their forms and the last two hours was used for sparring. During the spars Marcus used his overwhelming skill to train both of them at the same time and would constantly target their weak points. Both Kuina and Zoro flourished under the intense training method and their improvements were clearly visible after each session. After seven days out at sea and never seeing another vessel, a black dot finally appeared far off in the distance. It was far to port and if it wasn¡¯t for Sabo being in the crows nest, they might have missed it because he was the only person besides Marcus with a working spyglass. Since Luffy would get his hands on them and break them. Marcus took out his own spyglass to take a look but from the distance couldn¡¯t tell what it was. With the hope that it might be a pirate ship, Marcus turned the ship as he called out, ¡°Trim the sails, let''s go check out whatever that is!¡± ¡°I hope it¡¯s pirates!¡± Luffy said as he pumped his fists in the air and Zoro nodded in agreement. About ten minutes after the ship changed course Sabo called out from the crows nest, ¡°Looks like it¡¯s just a rock in the middle of the sea!¡± As Luffy started to complain about it not being pirates, Marcus asked, ¡°Should we check it out anyways, since we¡¯re here?¡± Sabo studied it a little more with his spyglass before he said, ¡°It honestly just looks like a rock.¡± Marcus pulled out his own spyglass to study it before he thought the same thing as Sabo. With that in mind he started to turn the ship when Sabo yelled out, ¡°Wait! I think I see someone on the rock!¡± Marcus and everyone else turned to look at the black dot in the distance before Sabo said, ¡°Yeah, I can see someone!¡± Marcus pulled out his own spyglass and looked towards the rock and after a moment he saw what Sabo was talking about. It was still too far away to really tell it was a person, but someone was using something to reflect light towards the ship and signal them. Marcus kept a steady course for another ten minutes or so before Sabo said, ¡°I can definitely see two people on the rock!¡± Marcus locked the wheel before he pulled out his spyglass again and almost dropped it in shock. Through his spyglass he saw two people, a man and a kid. While it was still too far to make proper details, he could easily tell one of them was a kid and the other person was an adult. And Marcus had a damn good idea who both of them were, but was surprised to find them here. While Marcus knew the backstory of Luffy¡¯s crew, he didn¡¯t know when things happened. As they got closer to the rock, Marcus was able to get a better look at both of them and was positive it was Sanji and Zeff. He placed his spyglass away and said, ¡°Kuina! Go start preparing some soup, they both look like they¡¯ve been starving.¡± Kuina wasted no time as she went towards the kitchen and Marcus adjusted course a little to not run right into the rock. Another ten minutes passed before Marcus yelled out, ¡°Start furling the sails!¡± The ship started to slow down as it got closer to the rock with most of its sails furled and once they were a hundred feet from the rock, Marcus turned the ship away from the wind. As the ship slowed to a stop Marcus said, ¡°Furl the last sail, drop anchor and prepare the tender.¡± Ace and the others quickly followed orders and within five minutes or so Marcus was rowing towards the rock alone in the tender. While the boat was big enough that a couple more of them could easily join him, he wasn¡¯t sure how much treasure Zeff had and didn¡¯t want to make more than one trip. With him he carried a water skin and two loaves of bread. While it wasn¡¯t much, it would help and he didn¡¯t want them to eat too much at first since it wasn¡¯t good for people in their situation. Marcus arrived at the rock and found a spot he could tie his boat off too before he climbed up to the top of it where he found Zeff and Sanji waiting. Seeing them in person compared to what he remembered from the manga was startling to say the least. Both of them were mostly skin and bones and to see it in person made his stomach churn so he said the only thing that came to his mind, ¡°You guys both look like zombies.¡± 00060. More pirates. Marcus and everyone were in the galley eating with their new guests. Zeff and Sanji were slowly eating soup while everyone else was eating mostly meat, bread, cheese and some rice. While Kuina could cook, her skill set was pretty small overall. So while their meals were better than they used to be, they were still pretty basic. Once Zeff finished his food he relaxed in his seat and watched everyone else eating before he finally asked, ¡°Where''s the captain and the rest of the adults?¡± Luffy lifted a big piece of meat above his head as he said, ¡°I''m the captain!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind him. Our grandpa might have given him brain damage and he thinks he''s gonna be the pirate king.¡± Marcus said with a sad smile as Sabo and Ace nodded in agreement. Luffy jumped up from his seat as he said, ¡°I will be the pirate king!¡± ¡°See what I mean?¡± Said Marcus as he shook his head slowly before he added, ¡°Grandpa hit him over the head one too many times.¡± Zeff glanced between the boys before he asked, ¡°So then where¡¯s your captain?¡± When Luffy opened his mouth to talk again, Marcus shoved a piece of meat inside it as he said, ¡°I''m technically the captain and there are no adults on our ship besides you.¡± ¡°Why are you kids sailing around alone and where are your parents?¡± Zeff asked as he glanced over all the kids while Sanji looked up in interest. ¡°We wanted to explore East Blue and get stronger fighting pirates before we turn them in for their bounties.¡± Marcus said with a shrug before he said, ¡°As far as our parents go, my mom¡¯s dead and my dad got lost when he went to get some milk.¡± Zeff didn¡¯t have much of a reaction to Marcus¡¯s statement but Sanji¡¯s eyes widened as he looked towards Zeff with concern. Marcus caught the look and smiled before he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry little zombie, we aren¡¯t gonna turn in the cripple for his bounty.¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t?¡± Sabo asked as everyone else looked towards Marcus. Marcus patted his sword as he said, ¡°He might be a pirate, but he isn¡¯t really a bad one. Besides, Red Leg Zeff was the captain of the Cook pirates and a well known chef.¡± ¡°And?¡± Ace asked after a few moments when Marcus stopped talking. ¡°He is gonna be our cook from now on.¡± Zeff frowned as he said, ¡°Just because I am missing a leg doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t handle a couple of brats. What makes you think I¡¯ll even entertain the thought of being your cook?¡± ¡°Well for starters, we saved your life.¡± Marcus said as he held up an index finger. ¡°I was gonna give you half the treasure I have as thanks for that.¡± Marcus held up a second finger as he said, ¡°We might be young, but we could easily wipe the floor with you in your current state. Maybe if you were in your prime we might have issues, but missing a leg and how weak you currently are, even Zoro could beat you solo and he is the weakest person on the ship¡­ Well little zombie boy takes that place now, but you get the point.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the weakest!¡± Zoro said as he shot a glare at Marcus. ¡°I¡¯m not little zombie boy! My name is Sanji!¡± Sanji said as he also glared at Marcus. ¡°Oh wow! The little zombie boy finally talked! I was starting to think you didn¡¯t know how.¡± Marcus said with a mocking tone. Sanji frowned slightly before Zeff put a hand on his shoulder and said, ¡°Settle down little eggplant.¡± Marcus smirked as he held up a third finger as he said, ¡°If you don¡¯t wanna be our cook, then we have no use for you and we¡¯ll turn you in for your bounty.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t do that, he saved my life!¡± Sanji yelled as he stood up with both hands placed on the table. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter if he saved your life, he¡¯s a pirate with a bounty. So he either makes himself useful and we don¡¯t turn him in, or he becomes extra cash for us.¡± Marcus said with a shrug. As Ace and Sabo nodded in agreement Zeff asked, ¡°For how long?¡± ¡°Till we finish sailing around East Blue or grandpa finds us. Whichever happens first.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t grandpa capture Zeff if he catches him with us?¡± Sabo asked. Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure grandpa wouldn¡¯t do that if I asked him¡­ Maybe.¡± Marcus stared at Zeff for a few moments as he rubbed his chin before he said, ¡°Actually, we could always have him change up his look and pretend he is someone else. If he was clean shaven and his hair was dyed black, combined with how much weight he¡¯s lost. He would look like a completely different person.¡± ¡°Is your grandpa a bounty hunter or something?¡± Zeff finally asked. ¡°No, our grandpa is a big dumb gorilla who likes to beat us up!¡± Luffy said as he unconsciously rubbed the top of his head. ¡°And that¡¯s exactly why he hits you.¡± Marcus said as he let out a sigh before he looked back at Zeff and said, ¡°Don''t worry about who our grandpa is, just tell me if you want to be our cook or not.¡± Zeff chuckled slightly before he asked, ¡°I don''t really have much choice now, do I?¡± ¡°You do, but one is clearly better than the other.¡± Zeff let out a sigh before he said, ¡°Fine you brat. I''ll be your cook.¡± Marcus smiled as he said, ¡°Pleasure doing business with¡­¡± Marcus was cut off by the sound of a cannon blast going off. Marcus and the others quickly jumped up from the table to run outside and see what was going on. Which left Zeff alone with Sanji who didn''t leave the table and said, ¡°Sorry.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°What are you sorry for little eggplant?¡± Zeff asked as he looked towards Sanji. ¡°If it wasn''t for me, you would still have your leg and wouldn''t have to agree to work for them.¡± Zeff patted Sanji on the shoulder as he said, ¡°That brat is right, even with my leg I wouldn''t be able to refuse them in my current state. Besides, these brats seem interesting and I can put off building my restaurant for a little while.¡± The ship shuddered slightly before they heard some muffled yelling as fighting could be heard coming from above them. Zeff glanced down at Sanji and said, ¡°Help me to the deck, I wanna see what''s going on.¡± It took a couple minutes for Zeff and Sanji to finally reach the deck and they were greeted with chaos. Everyone except Marcus was in a vicious melee with a bunch of pirates and it looked like they were going to win. Zeff watched quietly as Sanji glanced around with his mouth hanging open and his eyes almost popping out of his head. Marcus pushed Sanji''s mouth closed as he said, ¡°Close your mouth little zombie or you might just swallow a fly.¡± Sanji shot a glare at Marcus who smiled as he said to Zeff, ¡°I told you, we could wipe the floor with you.¡± ¡°They''re okay for a bunch of brats¡­ But why aren''t you fighting?¡± Zeff asked as he glanced towards Marcus. ¡°It would end too quickly if I stepped in. Besides this is training for others.¡± Marcus said as he watched over everyone else. ¡°The strongest brat is still just a brat.¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°Think whatever you want old man.¡± After another couple of minutes passed by, most of the pirates were defeated. As Marcus was about to tell everyone to tie up the pirates and loot the ship. A scream rang out and everyone looked over to see an older woman in pretty bad shape being held hostage. The captain of the ship apparently saw what was going on and decided to use her to help turn the situation around. The pirate captain was tall with a thin build and when he smiled you could see some of his teeth were black with decay. He placed a knife close to the woman''s throat before he said, ¡°Now that I have your attention, I want you to surrender or she dies.¡± ¡°Are you trying to add a murder charge to your record, just before you''re caught?¡± Marcus asked as he stepped forward with his hand on his sword. The captain pulled the woman closer and said, ¡°I said surrender or she dies.¡± ¡°I fail to see how that''s my problem.¡± Marcus said as he gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. ¡°Because I said I would kill her if you don''t surrender. Are you stupid boy?¡± The pirate captain asked as he focused on Marcus. ¡°I¡¯m not stupid, I just think you''re misunderstanding something very important here.¡± The captain narrowed his eyes as he asked, ¡°And what''s that?¡± ¡°When you take a hostage, it should be someone important that the other party cares about.¡± The man pulled the knife a little tighter and drew blood as he said, ¡°What the fuck are you talking about? A hostage is a hostage, you stupid brat. You either do what I say or she dies.¡± ¡°And I just told you she doesn''t matter to me or anyone else on this ship. Which means she holds no real value as a hostage to you or us.¡± Marcus said as his body tensed up and he added, ¡°Do we look like marines or some kind of hero to you? Do you really think we would surrender just because you asked us to? Just how stupid are you?¡± The pirate captain pulled the knife away and pointed it at Marcus as he yelled, ¡°What the fuck is¡­¡± The man was interrupted as Marcus disappeared from his spot and a second later the pirate captain''s arm flew through the air as blood shot out of where it was just attached. The pirate captain screamed like a stuck pig as he tried to clutch his shoulder to stop the bleeding while everyone else froze in place. Marcus appeared behind the man a second later and punched him in the back of the head to knock him out before he said, ¡°Someone grab some gunpowder and a match before he bleeds out.¡± It was like a damn broke as the woman screamed in shock and everyone else finally reacted. Sabo ran to get what he asked for as Ace and the others started to tie up the other pirates. Sanji stared with his mouth open and his eyes wide, while Zeff''s reaction was different as he watched everything that just happened with an indifferent expression. The woman stopped screaming well before Sabo reappeared, but she was now sitting on the deck staring down at the man who threatened to kill her. Sabo attempted to help her as Marcus poured gun powder all over the captain¡¯s wound before he lit a match and tossed it on it. The gunpowder ignited which woke up the man in the process and as he was screaming in pain, it cauterized his wound. Marcus then kicked the man in the temple to knock him out again before he carried him over to be tied up with the others. After the pirates were taken care of, Marcus said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go search their ship for more prisoners.¡± As the other''s jumped over to the other ship, Marcus turned to Zeff and Sanji before he said, ¡°If something happens just yell for help, old man.¡± Zeff snorted but nodded his head slightly before Marcus jumped back over to the other ship. Once everyone was gone, Sanji quietly asked, ¡°How was he so fast? Isn¡¯t he just a human?¡± Zeff, who was seated on a bench that was built into the cabin wall beneath the helm''s deck, raised an eyebrow before he asked, ¡°You haven''t seen much of the world, have you little eggplant?¡± After Sanji nodded in agreement, Zeff said, ¡°When you go out and sail the seas, you''ll run into all kinds of people. Some are so powerful you won''t believe your eyes and question whether what you saw was real or not.¡± Zeff glanced off towards the endless blue horizon in the distance before he said, ¡°When me and my crew traveled the Grand Line, we ran into many people just like that brat and they weren''t even considered that strong compared to everyone else there. If anything he could be considered still a beginner for that place.¡± ¡°But I couldn''t even see him move, everything was over in a second.¡± Sanji said as he glanced towards the pirate captain who was now tied up. ¡°That just means you need to get stronger.¡± Sanji looked up with mixed emotions as he said, ¡°But I just want to cook and find the All Blue some day¡­¡± Zeff placed a hand on Sanji¡¯s head and rubbed it slightly as he said, ¡°You''ll never find the All Blue if you don''t have proper strength. The physical strength to not only protect yourself and your companions, but also the mental strength to set out on the journey in the first place.¡± As Zeff and Sanji talked with each other, Marcus and the others cleared the other ship. They found a few more women in bad shape chained up below deck along with a bunch of treasure. After Kuina released the woman, she helped them onto their ship as the boys moved the loot over. After they found what they could, Marcus moved back over to their ship and glanced over the women who were all in terrible shape. While not too badly malnourished, all of them were basically in rags with cuts and bruises all over their bodies. Kuina looked horrified as she tried to help the women, but didn''t have much luck as they were all pretty much unresponsive to her efforts. Marcus pulled Kuina to the side before he said, ¡°Go to the other ship and find them some better clothes for them to wear. I''ll see what I can do.¡± After Kuina left, Marcus looked over the women for a few moments before he glanced over to the twenty or so pirates tied up on the deck. After a few moments Marcus decided to try something and moved over towards the pirates before he grabbed the captain. He dragged the captain''s unconscious body over towards the women and dropped it in front of them. The women all flinched back in response and some started to shake being so close to the man. Marcus glanced over the six women and found one who had a burning hate in her eyes as she stared at the man. She was actually the one he held hostage earlier. She was the oldest among the women found and was in the worst shape compared to the others. Marcus watched her for a few moments before he walked over to the pile of weapons they collected and grabbed a dagger. He walked back over to the women and tossed the dagger in front of the older woman before he said, ¡°You can do whatever you want to him and the rest of them if you want.¡± All the women collectively looked up with widened eyes at Marcus who said, ¡°I have no clue what any of you went through and I know giving you the chance for revenge isn''t the best idea. But if it helps out any one of you in some way, then I guess it''s worth it.¡± 00061. Math savant or... Marcus moved away from the woman and ended up next to Zeff as the pirate captain started to scream before he quickly went deathly silent. As the older woman, now covered in blood, started to talk to the other women Zeff asked, ¡°You know they¡¯re going to kill all of them, don''t you?¡± ¡°Probably¡­¡± Marcus said as he waved over Ace and Sabo who were looking towards the women in concern. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we stop them?¡± Ace asked as he watched the older woman as she urged the other women towards the tied up pirates. ¡°No. This might be the best way to help them work over what happened to them.¡± Marcus said with a slight frown. One of the pirates screamed out before he quickly went silent as Sabo nodded in agreement and said, ¡°While I didn''t kill my father, beating him half to death did make me feel better.¡± Sanji¡¯s head snapped to look at Sabo as he asked in surprise, ¡°You beat up your own father?¡± ¡°Yeah. He thinks he¡¯s better than everyone else just because he was born a noble. It felt pretty good to take him down a peg.¡± Sabo said as he watched the women work over the pirates who started begging for mercy. Zoro and Kuina appeared on the deck of the other ship to see what was going on a few moments later. They each had mixed reactions to what they saw, but none of them moved to interfere and quickly disappeared back into the ship. After a minute or so Marcus turned towards Zeff and said, ¡°They might need a good meal after this. Do you feel up to cooking? If not, I''ll have Kuina make more soup.¡± Zeff grabbed his makeshift crutches and struggled to stand up before he said, ¡°Come help me in the kitchen, little eggplant.¡± Sanji stood up and helped Zeff back towards the galley as Ace and Sabo went back to the other ship to help move everything over. About ten minutes later when the women were almost finished enacting justice, Kuina and Zoro came over from the pirate ship with a large trunk of clothes. They placed it down next to Marcus who nodded in thanks before he said, ¡°Toss that in the bathroom and then go to the other ship and collect some buckets and mops if they have any.¡± After Zoro and Kuina left, Marcus walked over towards the women who were now sitting on the deck covered in blood. He glanced over their handy work before he said, ¡°If you''re all finished, clean up your mess.¡± The women all looked at Marcus with a hint of confusion before he pointed at the bodies of the pirates and said, ¡°You made a mess of my ship and I expect you to clean it up. Toss those bodies overboard and then I want you to mop up all of this blood.¡± All the women had slightly different reactions but the older woman stood up and said, ¡°Okay.¡± As she started to drag a body to the side of the ship the other women started to get up to help. By the time they had half the bodies cleared away, Zoro and Kuina arrived with a few mops and buckets filled with seawater. Marcus stood off to the side and watched as the women cleaned the deck over the next half an hour. Once they were done he pointed at Kuina and said, ¡°Kuina will show you where the bathroom is. There are some clean clothes there you can change into after you get cleaned up.¡± None of the women said anything as Kuina led them away and Marcus glanced over the now clean deck. As he took the buckets and poured the dirty water over the side Sabo came over and said, ¡°The pirate ship is pretty much cleared out. What do you wanna do with it?¡± Marcus glanced over to the ship that was still in decent shape and said, ¡°Let''s just anchor it here. There''s no reason to scuttle it and it would be a pain to take it with us.¡± ¡°Why don''t we give it to those women?¡± Ace asked as he walked over. ¡°Maybe, but I doubt any of them know how to sail and besides. If we let them go off alone, what are the chances they don''t get captured again?¡± Marcus asked as he glanced towards the other ship. ¡°That''s a good point.¡± Ace said as Sabo nodded in agreement. ¡°Well let''s go to the galley and finish lunch¡­ Actually where''s Luffy at?¡± Marcus asked. All of them looked around for a few moments before Sabo asked, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen him in a while, you don''t think..?¡± ¡°No, he one hundred percent did¡­¡± Marcus said with a hint of exasperation. Marcus and the others headed towards the galley and when they made it inside they found Luffy asleep. His body was in the shape of an extra large beach ball, with tiny hands and feet stuck out to the side that just added to his comedic look. Marcus looked over the completely cleared tables and let out a sigh before he said, ¡°Let''s clean this up.¡± As Marcus and the others started to clean up the dishes Zoro walked into the galley and after a moment of looking around asked, ¡°Wasn''t I just on the other ship?¡± ¡°Maybe, but you''re here now so help clean up.¡± With Zoro¡¯s help they managed to clean the galley up just before Kuina arrived with the women they rescued. All of them looked a lot better after getting cleaned up and putting on fresh clothes. They still had cuts, bruises and looked a little malnourished, but it was a far cry from earlier. All of the women came to a complete stop when they noticed Luffy in his ball form, sleeping in the middle of the room. Marcus waved them over towards a table as he said, ¡°Don''t mind the idiot. Have a seat over here, we need to talk.¡± All of them glanced at the older woman who nodded before she approached the table and sat down. Marcus studied her for a moment before he said, ¡°Food should be done soon.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Marcus took a seat across from the women before he asked, ¡°Do any of you know how to sail a ship?¡± It took a few moments but eventually all of them shook their heads no, so Marcus said, ¡°Alright, I guess you''ll be sticking with us until we reach the next island.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Zeff hobbled out of the kitchen door on his crutches a moment later as he said, ¡°I made enough food for everyone, so you brats come help bring the food out.¡± Marcus glanced at Ace, Sabo and Zoro as he said, ¡°The old fart was talking to you guys.¡± ¡°I was talking to you too, you stupid brat. And don''t call me old!¡± Zeff said as he shot a glare at Marcus. Marcus stood up from his seat as he said, ¡°Don''t be upset that you''re old, old man. It''s not good for your blood pressure.¡± Zeff decided not to reply before he headed back into the kitchen. Marcus and the others followed him and within a few minutes the galley was filled with a bunch of food. As everyone sat down to eat Marcus said, ¡°It''s a little late, but we should probably introduce ourselves.¡± After Marcus introduced everyone on the ship he asked, ¡°What are your names?¡± ¡°I''m Zoe.¡± The older woman said before she glanced towards the other women. Each of the women said their name afterwards before everyone started eating. The meal was pretty quiet with no one really talking until Luffy woke up and asked, ¡°I can smell food, is it dinner time already?¡± Marcus glanced over his shoulder to see Luffy wiggling his arms and legs around to try and move but it wasn''t working so he said, ¡°Someone help, I can''t move!¡± ¡°You can''t move because you ate all of our food from lunch you idiot.¡± Marcus said as he turned back to eat. ¡°But everyone stopped eating, I thought you were done and I didn''t want to waste food!¡± Marcus''s eye twitched slightly as he said, ¡°Don''t lie to me, you disappeared while we were still clearing out the pirate ship.¡± ¡°I don''t know what you''re talking about.¡± Luffy said as he tried to whistle nonchalantly and failed. Marcus attempted to ignore him but Luffy started to complain that he wanted to eat too, even though he was already a massive ball. Marcus ended up tying a gag around his mouth since he was too big to move out of the room. With relative peace returning to the galley, everyone enjoyed the meal. Once it was finished Marcus had Kuina lead Zoe and the others to a bunk room they could use. After the galley and kitchen were cleaned up, Marcus and the others headed up top to start sailing again. After separating from the pirate ship, Marcus gave orders to raise the sails and he checked their course. As they started to sail away from the rock, Sanji came out onto the deck to look around. Marcus noticed him and asked, ¡°Zombie boy, do you know how to sail?¡± Sanji frowned at Marcus as he said, ¡°My name is Sanji!¡± ¡°Well you look like a zombie right now, so your name is zombie boy until that changes¡­ And you didn''t answer my question.¡± Sanji frowned again as he said, ¡°I only really know how to work in the kitchen.¡± ¡°Alright, well then you¡¯ll help the old man in the kitchen from now on. But you¡¯ll also need to learn how to help run the ship.¡± Marcus pointed at Sabo as he said, ¡°I don''t expect you to really help until you are properly healthy. But I want you to shadow Sabo and learn from him.¡± Sanji didn''t argue and headed towards Sabo to learn as he went about his duties on the ship. Marcus himself pulled out a compass and checked it before he adjusted the ship''s course slightly. After half an hour or so, Zeff appeared on the deck and slowly climbed up the stairs leading to the helm. Once he was on the helm''s deck he made his way over to Marcus and asked, ¡°Where did this ship come from? Is it your grandpa''s?¡± ¡°It was some noble''s pleasure ship. We confiscated it because they were colluding with pirates.¡± Marcus said with a grin. ¡°That explains the kitchen, it''s one of the best ones I''ve ever seen.¡± Zeff stared out over the open sea for a minute or so before he said, ¡°I took stock of the kitchen''s inventory. We have a good supply of meat, some rice and cheese¡­ But not much else. Also the last of the bread you have is starting to show signs of mold.¡± ¡°Anything that''s starting to go bad, just feed it to Luffy.¡± Zeff raised an eyebrow as Marcus added, ¡°My brother is like a human garbage disposal¡­ I''ve seen him eat food out of a trash can before because he considered it still edible.¡± ¡°I''ll keep that in mind going forward¡­ But we still need supplies so I can cook properly. There is only so much I can make with what we have on hand.¡± ¡°We''re currently headed towards our next destination and should be able to resupply there. I think it''s a week or so away, depending on the weather.¡± Marcus said as he glanced out over the currently clear skies. Zeff ended up leaving to start on dinner after a little while and had Sanji tag along to help. A few hours later Marcus switched with Kuina at the helm after she finished her own dinner. When Marcus went down to the galley he found everyone still there eating including Luffy who was back to his normal size. Marcus took his seat and started to load up his plate as he asked, ¡°Hey old man, how long were you and zombie boy stranded for anyways?¡± Zeff frowned slightly before he said, ¡°We were trapped there for over seventy days.¡± Luffy''s jaw dropped to the table and the large hunk of meat inside it fell out onto the table as everyone turned to look at him. Marcus who was next to him slapped the back of his head as he said, ¡°That''s disgusting! Don''t spit your food out¡­ And make sure you chew it properly too!¡± Luffy''s rubber jaw snapped back into place before he said in horror, ¡°You missed over two hundred and ten meals!¡± While the newcomers had different reactions, Marcus, Ace and Sabo all stared in wide eyed wonder at how Luffy somehow did math. Sabo, thinking he was dreaming, quickly asked Luffy, ¡°What''s three times five?¡± Luffy held up his hands with one hand completely spread out and the other with three fingers out. He glanced at it for a few moments as smoke started to come out of his ears before he said confidently, ¡°Eight!¡± Marcus, Ace and Sabo let out a sigh of relief and realized Luffy doing math was just a fluke. There was no way someone like Luffy could actually do math. But then Marcus had a disturbing thought and said, ¡°Luffy, you eat too much. I think I should lock you up and not let you eat for the next twenty seven days.¡± ¡°No! You can''t! I would miss eighty one meals!¡± Luffy said as he grabbed Marcus by the shoulders and shook him, with a look of terror on his face. Everyone except Luffy and Marcus collapsed to the floor in shock at Luffy''s statement. Marcus would have also collapsed if Luffy wasn''t holding him up by the shoulders at the moment. After a few moments as everyone slowly recovered Marcus said, ¡°If you let me go I''ll think about making it only five days!¡± ¡°No! That''s still fifteen meals!¡± Everyone collapsed to the floor again at the absurdity of the situation. Apparently Luffy was some kinda math savant, but only when it came to how many meals he would miss¡­ So maybe Luffy was a meal savant instead? Marcus finally told Luffy it was a joke and eventually everyone went back to eating. The rest of dinner was pretty normal after that and before long everyone returned to their rooms for the night unless they were on night duty. There was also a room change that happened. Since Kuina was no longer going to run the kitchen, she didn''t need her room anymore. So she moved to an empty room next to Zoro, while Zeff took her old room and Sanji was given his own room next to Zoro and Kuina. The next few days passed in a relatively normal routine for the boys, Kuina and Zoro. The six women mostly stayed in their rooms besides meal times, with only Zoe coming out to get some fresh air every once in a while. Sanji would also come out a lot and would watch everyone else train, but never attempted to join in. He also shadowed Sabo and Ace a lot as he learned how to sail the ship. 00062. Its the thought that counts. Marcus was at the helm of the ship as he checked his compass and adjusted the ship''s course slightly. Just over a week has passed since they picked up Zeff, Sanji and the women they rescued from pirates. In that time, not much happened on or to the ship and they were still about a day or so from their destination. The women still mostly kept to themselves and stayed inside their bunk room each day, but they did start to talk a little more which was an improvement. As for Sanji and Zeff, both of them stopped looking like zombies. They weren¡¯t healthy by any means, but they at least looked almost human now. Sanji even started to help out a little more around the ship. Mostly sweeping and mopping since he was still weak compared to everyone else, but it was an improvement. As Marcus put his compass away, Sabo yelled out from the crows nest, ¡°Ship,aft starboard!¡± Marcus turned to the right as he looked behind the ship and saw a small black dot on the horizon. Aftering watching it for a few moments he said to Sabo, ¡°Watch them and let me know if they close in or not.¡± Since the ship was partly behind them, it took a while for it to get closer. But after an hour or so Sabo said, ¡°I can see a pirate flag over the main mast!¡± ¡°Pirates?¡± Ace asked from his spot on the deck where he was training against Kuina and Zoro. Marcus glanced back at the ship with his own spy glass and after a few moments put it away as he said, ¡°Furl the sails and prepare to greet our guests!¡± Everyone quickly followed his orders and within a few minutes the ship started to slow down as all the sails were furled and tied off. After the ship lost all forward momentum it started to drift slightly with the current as the boys went to grab their weapons. As Marcus exited his room with his sword, one of the women ran into him and with a worried voice asked, ¡°Sabo said pirates are coming, why did the ship stop? Why aren¡¯t we running?¡± Marcus smiled as he said, ¡°We¡¯re pirate hunters. We chase pirates, we don¡¯t run from them.¡± The woman looked scared as she asked, ¡°But what if they¡¯re stronger than the other pirates? What if you can¡¯t win?¡± ¡°If I don¡¯t think we can win¡­ I¡¯ll do my best to hold them off while everyone else escapes.¡± Marcus said as he stepped past the woman and headed towards the main deck. She followed behind as she asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid to die?¡± Marcus glanced back at the woman for a moment as he said with a smirk, ¡°Why should I be afraid of death?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯ll be dead?!¡± The woman asked in confusion as Marcus kept walking and mumbled to himself, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be the first time.¡± When Marcus reached the deck he found his brothers, Kuina, Zoro, Zeff and Sanji. Marcus glanced at Zeff and Sanji for a few moments before he said, ¡°I don¡¯t think either of you will help much.¡± Zeff, who was still using crutches, shrugged and patted a gun in his belt as he said, ¡°I just planned to watch, but if I need to I can protect myself.¡± Marcus turned towards Sanji afterwards, who frowned slightly as he said, ¡°I can fight.¡± Marcus raised an eyebrow as he asked, ¡°Oh yeah? How about you try and punch me then?¡± Sanji stepped towards Marcus and clenched his fists before he took an awkward stance and threw a terribly telegraphed punch at Marcus. Marcus didn¡¯t dodge and took the punch to his chest before he glanced at Sanji and asked, ¡°Is that what you call a punch, zombie boy?¡± Sanji frowned as he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t really try because I didn¡¯t want to hurt you.¡± Marcus rolled his eyes as he said, ¡°You have no idea how to fight and you¡¯re still too weak to be useful in a fight anyways. If anything, you''ll just get in the way.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t get in the way!¡± Sanji tried to protest before Zeff placed a hand on Sanji¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Let the others fight this time. Once you¡¯re healthy, you can help out.¡± Marcus nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°Once you''re healthy, I¡¯ll even let you train with us.¡± Sanji started to nod in agreement as a cannon blast rang out and everyone turned towards the direction of the pirate ship. The cannon ball itself went wide of the ship, but it was close enough that water sprayed across the deck. Marcus frowned slightly as he asked, ¡°Why do they always fire a warning shot like we don¡¯t see them? Are all pirates retarded?¡± ¡°Well Luffy wants to be the pirate king.¡± Sabo said with a smirk as he glanced at Luffy who was off to the side picking his nose. Marcus sagely nodded as he said, ¡°Now that you mention it¡­ If all pirates are retarded, Luffy wanting to be the pirate king makes perfect sense.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Ace frowned slightly as he said, ¡°Hey, I was planning to be a pirate too.¡± ¡°You might not be as bad as Luffy, but you can be retarded sometimes too.¡± Marcus said and Sabo nodded in agreement. Ace narrowed his eyes as he asked Marcus, ¡°Do I need to remind you who the older brother is?¡± ¡°You might be older, but you act younger than me¡­ And the last time I checked, you still lose most of your spars against me.¡± Marcus said with a smirk. ¡°That¡¯s because no one can beat you when you use a sword!¡± Ace said with a huff. ¡°Then get good, loser.¡± Marcus said before he pointed to the pirate ship that was closing in and said, ¡°There is your training for the day, get ready.¡± ¡°We¡¯re gonna spar after this.¡± Ace said with a frown before he turned his attention to the pirate ship. Marcus turned towards Zeff as Zoe appeared from the cabin door with a dagger in her hand. Marcus glanced at her for a moment before he asked, ¡°You planning to fight?¡± Zoe nodded her head as she said, ¡°I want to help.¡± ¡°Do you even know who to use that thing?¡± Marcus asked as he glanced at the dagger. Zoe held up the dagger and said, ¡°I just shove the pointy end into other people.¡± Marcus shook his head and put his hand out for the dagger as he said, ¡° Hand it over. I don¡¯t need you to accidentally kill someone.¡± Zoe frowned as she asked, ¡°But they¡¯re pirates. Who cares if they die?¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t just talking about the pirates. You could accidentally stab one of us too. Besides, pirates are worth more alive than dead.¡± Marcus said as he laid his hand flat in front of Zoe. Zoe frowned but placed the dagger into his hand as she asked, ¡°Then why did you let us kill those other pirates and have us toss them into the water?¡± ¡°Because you needed that more, then we needed the money.¡± Marcus said as he walked over to the ship''s railing and stabbed the dagger into it before he grabbed an unused belaying pin. Marcus walked back over and handed the belaying pin to Zoe as he said, ¡°Use that for now and stay to the sides of the fight so you won''t get in everyone''s way.¡± As Zoe nodded, the ship rocked to the side slightly as the other ship came alongside it and tossed ropes over. As the two ships were getting pulled together someone on the other ship yelled out, ¡°Captain, I see a woman on the ship!¡± ¡°Good. Bring her to me after you capture the ship!¡± The captain said from somewhere on the ship. Marcus glanced at Zoe who¡¯s eyes narrowed as he glared towards the pirate ship. Marcus stepped back out of the way as some of the pirates started to swing over to their ship. Ace and the others wasted no time and before the first wave of pirates even finished coming over, they were on them. Zeff stood off to the side with a gun resting in his hand with Sanji next to him, while Zoe moved off to the left where a single pirate landed. Marcus stayed out of the fight like normal as he watched over everyone, especially Zoe who had no idea how to fight. She at least kept the solo pirate at bay with her wild swings, but unless she got lucky, she had no chance to win. As for everyone else they were quickly working through the pirates that kept coming over. Ace and Sabo were the main power houses that could take on almost five people at once, while Luffy easily handled two to three. Kuina and Zoro were weaker, but with the sword skills Marcus was drilling into them they could take on two people now without major issues. As the deck started to get overcrowded with defeated pirates, the pirate captain finally showed himself as he asked, ¡°What the hell is taking so long?¡± The captain was a larger man shaped like a barrel, with thick arms and legs to match, along with an unruly beard on his weathered face. His long, dirty blonde hair was unkempt and matted into dreads that fell to his shoulders. While on each side of his waist rested an oversized hand axe. He glanced over everyone fighting below before he asked, ¡°How the hell are you losing to some brats, a woman and a one legged old man?¡± ¡°They¡¯re tougher than they look, cap¡¯n.¡± One to the pirates said before Ace caught him in the neck and knocked him to the deck. The captain frowned before he pulled out his hand axes and jumped over from his ship. He landed on the deck between Ace and Sabo who shared a glance before Sabo said, ¡°You take him, I¡¯ll fight the next one.¡± The captain lifted both axes up as he said with a sneer, ¡°There won¡¯t be a next time boy. I¡¯m Erik the Bloody Butcher and I never leave my prey alive!¡± As he attacked Ace with a fierce combo attack from his axes, Marcus¡¯s eye¡¯s lit up as he said, ¡°I knew he looked familiar! He has a bounty of almost sixteen million belly!¡± Zoe, still fighting the same pirate, paled slightly at the same time Luffy punched a pirate in the face and happily asked, ¡°How much meat can we buy with that?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t buy anything with my bounty, you¡¯ll all be dead!¡± Erik said as he furiously attacked Ace who was being pushed back by the unending assault. Marcus shifted his hand to his sword as he said, ¡°Sabo, you might want to step in and help Ace.¡± Sabo took down his last opponent and turned towards Ace¡¯s fight before Ace parried another attack and said, ¡°I don¡¯t need help!¡± Sabo planted his weapon on the deck and leaned on it as he said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll just watch for now.¡± Erik kept the pressure up on Ace and the last of his men were defeated, including the pirate who was fighting Zoe. While Ace was on the back foot the whole time and didn¡¯t have much of a chance to attack, he never once took a direct hit. Erik on the other hand started to slow down slightly as he became winded from his constant attacks. After a few minutes or so, Ace finally countered and stuck a solid blow to Erik¡¯s right elbow. It wasn¡¯t enough to disarm the man but it caused his attacks to slow even more and after that it just got worse. It took a little while to win, but Ace was able to completely defeat Erik without taking any damage. As they started to tie up the pirates the other women who were hiding below deck finally charged out with weapons in their hands as they screamed. Marcus and the others glanced over towards them to see them stop and look around in confusion, which made Marcus smile as he said, ¡°If you wanted to help, you''re a little late.¡± 00063. Shells Town. After they looted the pirates ship and took everything of value, along with some food and a few other things. Marcus had them scuttle the thing, since it was in pretty bad shape. Afterwards, Marcus and the others got the ship underway again and set a new course. While Marcus had an island he wanted to visit already, he knew they didn¡¯t have a marine presence so he decided to head to an island with a marine base first. It would add about a week to the journey to the original island, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. After Marcus arrived in the galley later to eat dinner, he turned to Zoe and the other girls before he asked, ¡°So do any of you want to learn how to properly fight?¡± ¡°I do.¡± Zoe said immediately before the other girls started to nod in agreement. ¡°If that''s the case, I want all of you to get up early tomorrow and meet me on the main deck at sunrise.¡± Marcus said as he glanced over each of them for a moment. After they all agreed, Marcus focused on his meal before he called it a night. Early the next morning instead of taking over the helm, Marcus waited on the deck as he watched the slowly brightening sky. As the sun started to peek at the edge of the horizon, Zoe led all the women onto the deck. All of them looked a little tired and half asleep, but otherwise they were all standing in a line as they waited for Marcus. Marcus glanced over them all for a moment before he said, ¡°If you wanna learn how to fight and defend yourself¡­ The first thing you''re gonna need is stamina.¡± All the girls looked a little confused before Zoe asked, ¡°How is stamina gonna help us?¡± ¡°Stamina is one of the things that will help you train harder and longer than normal. It will also help you stay alive in a longer, drawn out fight.¡± Marcus said before he pointed at one of the nets leading to the top of the main mast and said, ¡°I want all of you to climb to the top of that net ten times.¡± All the women looked towards the top of the net before one of them asked, ¡°Ten times?¡± ¡°Yup. Now get to it. I expect all of you to be done before breakfast, which should be in an hour.¡± It looked like some of the women were going to argue or say something when Zoe walked over to the netting and started to climb it. The other women watched for a few moments before they also joined Zoe and slowly started to climb to the top. Marcus watched them for about a minute before he walked up to the helm deck and greeted Sabo as he said, ¡°I can take over for you, if you want to grab breakfast.¡± Sabo nodded as he handed the helm over to Marcus before he turned his attention to the women who were about a quarter way up the net and asked, ¡°That¡¯s pretty light for training, isn¡¯t it? Shouldn¡¯t you have at least given them a training harness?¡± Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°I don''t want to scare them all off on the first day with grandpa''s style of training. Besides, I plan to gradually increase the difficulty so they work up to what we do.¡± Sabo rubbed the back of his head with a slightly embarrassed smile as he said, ¡°I''m so used to grandpa''s training, I kinda forgot that it''s actually kinda crazy what we do.¡± ¡°Pretty much. Even that old man, Zephyr, said grandpa''s training was too much.¡± Marcus said with a smile as he remembered Zephyr yelling at Garp about his training methods after he tried to make the recruits on the training island do them. After Sabo went below deck to eat breakfast, Marcus pulled out his compass and adjusted the helm slightly before he turned his attention to his trainees. Marcus chose the task for three reasons, the first being it would give him a good gauge of their strength. The second reason being, it would give him an idea of how coordinated they were. The last reason was testing their resolve. If they didn¡¯t have the will power to push themselves to finish something like this, he wasn¡¯t sure if they would make it through any of the feature training. Marcus watched them over the next hour as they slowly climbed to netting repeatedly. There were a handful of times that one of the women would fumble or miss a hold and almost fall. But fortunately none of them fell completely off and the women around them helped them to recover each time. By the time breakfast was ready and Sabo came back to take over the helm, all the women barely finished the task. They were laid out on the deck, covered in sweat, while their hands had some rope burns and blisters. Marcus looked them over for a moment before he said, ¡°Good job, you all did better than I expected.¡± Zoe and the other glanced at Marcus who smiled and said, ¡°Go wash up real quick in the bathroom and then come eat breakfast in the galley.¡± After breakfast, Marcus led them out onto the deck again where he said, ¡°Your next task is simple. I want you to run around the entire ship''s deck.¡± Marcus pointed towards the bow and said, ¡°You will start here and run to the bow before you turn around and run to the aft on top of the helm¡¯s deck. Circle around the helm and run back to the bow passing by here to count as one lap.¡± Marcus glanced over all the women before he asked, ¡°Any questions?¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°How many laps do you want us to run?¡± One of the women asked. ¡°However many you can do. You can jog or even walk if you get too tired, but don¡¯t stop until you can¡¯t move your legs anymore.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡± A woman asked with a frown. ¡°This is to help you build up stamina. The best way to do that is to push yourself to the limit. It¡¯s also meant to test your commitment. All of you said you wanted to get stronger and learn how to fight, then prove it to me and yourself.¡± Marcus said before he crossed his arms over his chest and said, ¡°Otherwise, don¡¯t waste my time.¡± Marcus¡¯s words seemed to spark something inside the women as they each turned and started to jog towards the bow of the ship. Marcus smirked after they left before he headed over towards Kuina and Zoro who were waiting for his training. Well before the time lunch rolled around, all the women were wiped out. For the weaker ones it took about an hour or so and for the stronger ones like Zoe it took two hours or so before they collapsed. Marcus checked on each of them and gave them some water before he took them to their cabin to rest. After a couple hours of rest they all made it in time to eat lunch before Marcus had them climb up the netting again five times before he let them rest for the day. The next few days followed that same routine before they sighted land off in the distance early on the third day. Marcus called off the training and told everyone to rest since they were going to be reaching the island in an hour or two. Marcus was at the helm of the ship as he guided it towards the island and as they got closer everyone could make out the unique layout of the island. There were rows of builds layered on top of each other as they climbed up the island to a large plateau. On top of the plateau were massive walls along with big power plant looking buildings colored with blue stripes dotting their otherwise grey surface. Marcus took in the sight for a little while before he said, ¡°Furl the main sails!¡± After the main sails were furled the ship slowed down a lot and slowly creeped into the harbor, where not long after it reached the dock and the boys furled the rest of the sails before they tossed out lines to some men working the dock. Once the ship was secure and the gangplank was down, Marcus turned to Ace and Sabo and asked, ¡°Who wants to watch the ship for now?¡± Sabo shrugged as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Marcus nodded and as he turned to look at Ace and said, ¡°I¡¯ll need your help with.¡± Marcus was interrupted as Luffy yelled out, ¡°I¡¯m going to find a place to eat!¡± Marcus turned just in time to see Luffy stretch his arms out to the railing before he blasted off like a rocket towards the city as he laughed. Marcus turned back to Ace as he said, ¡°Finding Luffy and making sure he doesn¡¯t cause trouble¡­¡± Ace smirked as he said, ¡°That¡¯s too late¡­ He probably crashed into someone''s house already.¡± Sabo nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°Take some money with you so you can pay for everything.¡± Ace nodded and hurried below deck to grab some extra money as Marcus turned towards Kuina and Zoro as he said, ¡°Start getting the prisoners ready for transport and make sure the ropes are still tight.¡± Marcus then turned to Zoe and the women who were resting on the deck before he said, ¡°We finally made it to an island. If you give me a little bit, I will give all of you some money and then you¡¯re free to do what you want. I would suggest heading towards the marine base and telling them what happened to you. I am pretty sure they will help you get back to your home island.¡± Zoe and the others shared a glance with each other before Zoe stepped forward and asked, ¡°Would it be possible to stay on the ship and travel with everyone for a while longer?¡± ¡°All of you want to stay on the ship?¡± Marcus asked as he glanced over them all as they nodded their heads. ¡°Why do you want to stay?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t really have anything to go back to. Our villages were razed to the ground when the pirates kidnapped us. Plus you said you would train us.¡± Zoe said as the other women nodded in agreement. Marcus glanced over all of them for a few moments before he said, ¡°That¡¯s fine with me, but besides training you will all be learning how to help out on the ship from now on.¡± As the women all nodded in agreement Marcus said, ¡°Good, then you will help us transport the pirates up to the marine base to collect their bounties. Go help Kuina and Zoro get them ready.¡± As Zoe and the others went off to help, Marcus went below deck to the galley to find Zeff and Sanji. Zeff was in the middle of teaching Sanji something when Marcus entered the kitchen and said, ¡°We reached Shells Town and are getting ready to go turn in the pirates.¡± Zeff glanced up before he said, ¡°Alright, just give us a few minutes.¡± About ten minutes later everyone was on the deck and ready to leave. Marcus glanced over everyone for a moment including Zeff who was now disguised and nodded in satisfaction before he said, ¡°Alright let''s move out.¡± It took Marcus almost an hour to lead their whole group up the steep streets of Shells Town towards the marine base. Along the way they ran into Ace who had successfully captured Luffy, but not before Luffy had broken two walls, some windows and eaten enough food to feed four people. Luffy wasn¡¯t a giant ball, but he currently had a pretty decent sized belly and waddled like a duck as he walked with a satisfied smile on his face. At the gate of the marine base they were greeted by some guards who eyed the large group of over fifty people warily before one of them asked, ¡°Who are you and what do you want?¡± Marcus stepped forward and pointed at the tied up pirates as he said, ¡°We are a group of bounty hunters and we came to turn in some bounties.¡± The marine glanced over the pirates for a moment before he hit a button on the wall next to a speaker. A moment later someone on the other side of the speaker asked, ¡°Go ahead, front gate.¡± ¡°This is Sargent Iko. I have a bounty hunter group here that wants to turn in some bounties.¡± ¡°Give me a moment and I will inform the commander. You can let them into the courtyard for now.¡± The speaker box said before the gate clicked and started to open up. The now named Sargent Iko stepped aside as he said, ¡°The commander will meet you shortly. You can wait inside here for now.¡± 00064. A stop over for? After collecting the bounty money, Marcus split up the group a little bit since he didn''t plan to have them stay in Shells Town for long. One group was made up of Zoe and the other women along with Kuina and Zoro. Marcus gave them money and told them to go buy more clothes since the women didn''t really have any and Kuina and Zoro barely brought any. The other group was made up of Marcus, Ace, Luffy, Sanji and Zeff. They also went to buy some clothes for Zeff and Sanji, but afterwards they went and found a doctor to check out Zeff¡¯s leg and get him some type of prosthetic. Unfortunately the best they could find was a peg leg, which would work for now, but Marcus had a couple ideas to make something different when they had time. After they finished getting Zeff set with his new peg leg, he still couldn¡¯t walk properly and needed to use his crutches for now. But with time and practice he would be able to walk without them. Leaving the doctors they went to the main market of the town where Zeff dragged them around to buy a ton of ingredients. It was during that time that Zoe¡¯s group met back up with them and with their help, carried everything back to the ship. Once back at the ship Marcus took over watching the ship and let Sabo take off with Ace and Luffy to go explore the city for a couple hours. Kuina and Zoro ended up tagging along with them also, which left Marcus, Zeff, Sanji and Zoe¡¯s group on the ship. Once Zoe and the others helped put away all the food and organize the kitchen under Zeff¡¯s lead, they came back up to the deck and started their daily training that they paused earlier. Marcus, who was up in the crows nest, smiled slightly as he watched them start to run laps around the ship before he adjusted the sun screen, leaned back and got comfortable while he read the newspaper. Marcus only found one interesting point of information in the newspaper and it was news about Garp being in Loguetown and taking down some pirate group. He smiled to himself as he read the article and wondered how mad Garp was at the moment. After a few hours everyone finally returned to the ship and after eating a late lunch, they set off from Shells Town to their next destination. Well after Shells Town and the surrounding Yotsuba Island Region disappeared from view Marcus¡¯s den den mushi started to ring. Marcus pulled it out and noticed the face on it before he decided to answer it as he said, ¡°Good job in Loguetown grandpa.¡± ¡°Same to you brat. I heard you just turned in some pirate trash in Shells Town a few hours ago.¡± Marcus¡¯s eyes went wide as he asked, ¡°How?¡± Garp¡¯s boisterous laugh rang out for a few moments before he said, ¡°You think I am gonna let you lead me all over East Blue on some wild goose chase? I contacted all the bases in East Blue about you and told them to inform me if you brats showed up.¡± Marcus clicked his tongue before he said, ¡°That¡­ Was unexpected and a pretty smart move, gramps. I¡¯m surprised you thought of doing something like that.¡± ¡°Huh? What is that supposed to mean? Do you think your grandpa is stupid or something?¡± Garp asked with a slightly raised tone of voice. ¡°I would never think that grandpa¡­ It¡¯s just that idea sounds more like something Bogard would do.¡± Marcus heard another man chuckle on the den den mushi before he said, ¡°I told you he would figure it out, Marcus is a lot smarter than you give him credit for.¡± ¡°Bah, he¡¯s still just a little brat.¡± Garp said. ¡°I¡¯m actually surprised you¡¯re with grandpa right now. Isn¡¯t grandpa on vacation?¡± ¡°He was, but he¡¯s spent all of his vacation trying to catch you kids and Sengoku sent me to bring him back.¡± Bogard said with a bit of mirth in his voice. ¡°Really? You have to go back to work, grandpa?¡± Marcus asked in surprise. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve wasted too much time in East Blue and Sengoku needs me to take care of some pirates in the New World.¡± Garp said before the den den mushi¡¯s eyes narrowed and he said, ¡°Don¡¯t think you''re getting off easy though. I¡¯ll definitely teach all of you brats a lesson when I come back.¡± Cold sweat ran down Marcus¡¯s back at Grap¡¯s tone of voice before he chuckled nervously and said, ¡°What makes you say something like that grandpa? We haven¡¯t slacked off in training and if anything, fighting so many pirates is making us stronger.¡± ¡°Bah! We¡¯ll see what happens when I come back you little brat... And you better not lose to some pirates in the meantime either, or I¡¯ll really let you have it.¡± ¡°Unless some pirates come from the grand line, I doubt if we¡¯ll have any issues grandpa.¡± Marcus said as he glanced out over the open water in front of the ship. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter where they come from, you better not lose to some pirates, brat.¡± ¡°Understood, grandpa.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Garp said and an awkward silence formed for almost half a minute before Marcus heard the sound of Garp eating which made him frown and asked, ¡°Is that all, grandpa?¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Eh? This thing¡¯s still on? I thought I hung up.¡± Garp said before the den den mushi clicked off. Marcus stared at it for a moment before he let out a sigh and put it away. Over the next week the ship sailed in relative peace for its trip to their next destination. Training was the one main consistent thing that happened every day, but otherwise it was pretty boring. Sanji was finally deemed healthy enough to join in and started on basically the same training as Zoe and the others. Marcus also trained Zoro and Kuina in swordsmanship each day and even sparred with Ace, Sabo and Luffy once a day. They never got too crazy with their own training just in case they ran into pirates, but they did push themselves a little each day. It was about ten days into the journey when they spotted an island in the distance. The journey they took from Shells Town was slightly weird since Marcus first went a different direction from where he wanted to go. While he was pretty sure Garp was gone for now, he would rather not get caught just yet, so he was still being cautious. As they got closer to the island, the first thing they noticed was the lack of settlements. As far as they could tell no one lived on the portion of the island they were approaching. As they got closer, Marcus checked the map he had along with his compass to make sure he was in the right area before he turned the ship slightly to port. As the ship slowly made its way around the island, the dense forest finally gave way to some gently rolling hills and a city on the coast with a small dock. As they approached, Marcus gave orders to prepare the ship to dock as he steered the ship closer and people in the town took notice of the ship. When they were finally in range of the dock, a handful of people were there to catch the lines and help tie off the ship to the dock. After the ship was secure and the gangplank was lowered, Marcus walked off the ship alone to greet the small welcoming party. Of the people on the dock, only one stood out as recognizable to Marcus, it was an older man with small round glasses on with white hair that was surprisingly stylized into a mullet. Marcus smiled at the man and the others with him before the man asked with a smile of his own, ¡°Greetings, I¡¯m Boodle, the mayor of Orange Town. This is Henry, Yugi, Natalie and Jasper, who are part of the city council.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Marcus, it¡¯s nice to meet you all.¡± Boodle smiled again before he said, ¡°Same to you, Marcus¡­ If I may ask, what is the purpose of your visit and would it be possible to speak to your captain?¡± Marcus smirked as he said, ¡°You''re speaking to the captain. As for the purpose of our visit, we mostly wanted to explore the city, possibly trade a bit and maybe talk to a blacksmith if you have one.¡± Boodle raised an eyebrow as he glanced over Marcus for a few moments before he said, ¡°You and your crew are free to explore the city. The same goes for trading, just talk to the shop owners to work out a deal.¡± Boodle glanced at another man in his group as he said, ¡°As for talking to a blacksmith, this is the only one in the city.¡± The man was large and stood at least a head taller than the others around him. He wore a brown leather apron that was now mostly black from being around fires and metal for long periods of time. His shoulders were wide, while his arms were thick braids of corded muscle. He wore a friendly smile on his face as he looked down on Marcus and said, ¡°I''m Henry. What can I help you with, young man?¡± ¡°I wanted to commission something if you were up to the task.¡± ¡°I would need to have a drawing and dimensions of what you want created first before I''ll even think about taking on a commission. But if you have that, then we can talk.¡± Marcus nodded in understanding before he said, ¡°I don''t have that, but I could probably draw something up for you¡­ As for the dimensions, it would take a lot of explaining to understand what I want you to make and probably a lot of testing to get it right.¡± Henry looked a little intrigued as he said, ¡°If that''s the case, follow me to my shop and I can have you draw it out for me and explain it in detail.¡± ¡°Alright, just give me a minute to get someone else first.¡± Marcus turned to Boodle afterwards and asked, ¡°Is there a docking fee or anything?¡± Boodle shook his head as he said, ¡°We are still a relatively new village so we don''t get too many ships that pass through here currently.¡± ¡°Alright, well we plan to stay at least a week or more, depending on if Henry takes on my commission or not. So just let me know if you want us to pay some kinda docking fee.¡± Boodle waved it off with a smile before he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. And if you need anything while you''re here or have any questions.¡± Boodle pointed to one of the first houses near the dock as he said, ¡°That''s my house, feel free to come find me.¡± Marcus nodded before he said, ¡°Alright, will do.¡± Marcus quickly moved back onto the ship and everyone else left except Henry who was gonna take Marcus to his shop. Marcus quickly organized everyone and told them what he wanted done before he headed back down the gangplank with Zeff in tow. They soon followed Henry back to his workshop where he gave Marcus a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. It took a few minutes for Marcus to fully sketch out what he wanted made. But after he was done, both Zeff and Henry looked at the design in confusion before Zeff asked, ¡°What the hell did you just draw, brat?¡± ¡°Your new leg.¡± Both Henry and Zeff looked at the design again before Zeff asked, ¡°How the hell would that work for a replacement leg?¡± Marcus pointed at the curved design as he said, ¡°This makes it so it is possible to move around easier compared to your peg leg. The tension in the metal would act as a spring that would help you walk or even run if you wanted.¡± Henry nodded in agreement before he said, ¡°It would be pretty heavy though, especially if it was fully made of metal.¡± ¡°That''s why I said it would take a lot of testing to get right.¡± Marcus said as he glanced over the design again. ¡°It will cost you a good bit of money too. Just making this will take me a while to figure out and get the quenching process right.¡± Henry said as he pointed at the curved part of the leg. Marcus smiled as he asked, ¡°We have the money to cover it, don''t worry about that. I just wanna know if you''ll do it?¡± Henry looked up with a smile as he said, ¡°I always like a good challenge, count me in.¡± 00065. Like father, like son. The first week in Orange Town went by quickly and was mostly filled with training and trading. Marcus was able to off load most of the normal stuff they looted from the pirates along with a little bit of jewelry. As for the extra weapons they collected from the three pirate groups they defeated, they couldn''t find a buyer that wanted them. Marcus thought about selling them to Henry to be melted down, but decided against it. Most of the weapons were in good condition and worth a lot more as weapons then as scrap metal. At the end of the week, Henry had a working prototype for Zef to use. It was easily four times the weight of his peg leg and made it difficult to walk. So Henry hollowed it out in places which made it weaker but cut the total weight in half. Zeff tested it out for a few days and they quickly found the weight savings made it bend easily. So Henry and Marcus worked on different designs to figure out how to fix the issue. During the second week of their stay, Marcus gave Zoe and her group training harnesses along with Sanji and increased their training. All of them were currently at level one with the harness and surprisingly no one even complained about the increased training¡­ Well that was after they watched Marcus and his brothers punch boulders for over an hour straight. Marcus also kept up with Zoro and Kuina''s swordsmanship training along with sparring with everyone else. While Ace and Sabo didn''t use swords, their sparring practice with Marcus helped improve their overall combat skills. Luffy was still lagging behind Ace, Sabo and Marcus in skill but he could beat everyone else which made him happy. The only one who didn''t train or spar was Zeff, but Marcus planned to make the old man train once he had a better prosthetic leg. The process of developing the prosthetic leg ended up taking five months and four different redesigns. Getting the weight down and keeping it structurally sound took a bulk of the time and money. Henry ended up using some weird alloy of metals that made it stronger than steel and about a quarter of the weight. After he figured out a solution for the weight, then it came to testing the leg itself. Each design was made after Zeff tested the leg for a couple weeks or more. The current leg he used was almost two months old and he had no issues with it at all. Marcus even got the old man to train and spar with the leg and it worked great so far. Marcus was even surprised at how skilled the old man was when he sparred with him. For someone who pretty much used his legs, he was an impressive opponent and Marcus ended up losing to him each spar. Marcus was sure if he used a real sword for the matches it would be closer. But even then Zeff would probably seriously injury him in the process. The worst part was that Zeff still wasn''t back to his previous state before he helped rescue Sanji. Sure he was healthy again, but the muscle mass he lost hadn''t returned and with his age probably never would. While they mostly spent their time on the island training, they ended up hanging out in the town once a week on rest days. Well, only after they went fishing early in the morning to help take care of their food needs. While they had money to spare, Marcus didn''t want to waste it on food. So part of their training involved fishing with the net installed on their boat. It only took a couple hours on their rest day and provided them with enough meat to last the week. One thing that happened that Marcus expected to happen sooner or later was that Zoro and Sanji liked to argue a lot. Sure Sanji didn''t have his personality quirks towards women yet, but something about Zoro and Sanji was like oil and water. They both argued a good bit and even fought a few times over stupid stuff. Unfortunately Sanji is just too weak and easily lost each time. Marcus was sure that would change as time passed and Sanji got stronger, but for now he kept getting beaten up. Like that a total of six months passed in Orange Town with only training and no real action. All of the boys were getting kinda restless, even Zoe and the other women wanted to test themselves against some real enemies and not just spar at this point. Since Marcus also wanted to explore East Blue some more, he commissioned Henry to build a few more copies of Zeff¡¯s leg before they finally left town. As they prepared to set sail, Boodle, Henry, Hocker, Chouchou the dog and a few others they made friends with all came to see them off on their journey. Boodle happily waved at everyone on the ship as he said, ¡°Come back and visit again!¡± Everyone waved back as they went about their duties on the ship and it slowly pulled away from the dock. Luffy was the most excited as he waved back since that was the type of person he was. But once they were out of sight he quickly got bored and went below deck to probably eat a snack. Marcus shook his head as he watched Luffy disappear before he adjusted the ship''s course slightly. Over the next few days training slowed down during travel, mostly in case they ran into pirates. As luck would have it they ran into pirates on the fifth day of their journey. The pirates were in the process of chasing down another ship when Zoe spotted them from the crows nest and pointed them out. So Marcus and the others quickly changed course with the intention to intercept them. With their smaller and faster ship, they were able to easily overtake the pirate ship which decided to target them when they got closer. With the pirate ship''s focus now on Marcus and the others, the other merchant ship quickly escaped from the situation and didn''t look back. Just before the ship met and were pulled together by grappling hooks, Marcus looked over everyone on the deck for a moment. Zoe and the other women were spread out between the other more experienced fighters. Sanji and Zeff were also on the deck but only Sanji was going to fight. With Zeff¡¯s strength it would be pointless for him to fight so it was decided ahead of time that he would act like Marcus. Their job was to watch for issues and step in if someone would potentially get seriously hurt or killed. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. It didn''t take long for the pirate crew to start boarding their ship and it didn''t take long for them to get beaten. It was actually a slight disappointment with how easy it was to win. Sure Sanji, Zoe and the other women needed the experience. But compared to sparring matches against Marcus, Ace, Sabo, Luffy, Kuina or even Zoro¡­ The pirates were pretty pathetic and everyone was disappointed. Once the pirates were taken care of, they looted the ship completely before they scuttled it. Afterwards Marcus checked his current location compared to the closest marine base and set off towards it. They were in luck because there was a base near the island they were heading towards, it was just on a different island in the same archipelago. With the destination set, Marcus changed course slightly and headed to drop off the pirates. Since they were already close to their original destination, it only took them a couple of days to reach the marine base and turn over the pirates. Unfortunately the pirate crew was so new, most of them weren''t worth anything. It also helped explain why they were so weak to begin with. After they finished at the marine base, Marcus set course towards their original destination. It only took them just over a day to reach the place and as they approached Marcus studied the island bathed in early morning light. In the series it was shown that the island only had two ways to enter it, but that wasn''t true here. Sure there were two slopes that led up to the main area of the island, but the island also had a decent harbor and dock on one side of it. Since they had a dock and it led up to the town, Marcus decided to use it, instead of docking by one of the beaches. As they slowly pulled into the small harbor and prepared the ship to dock, Marcus scanned the area. It was still early, just before sunrise but there were at least a dozen people working on the dock already. Marcus aimed the ship towards one of the two empty piers where they ended up docking. After the ship was secured, Marcus talked with the harbormaster about port fees before everyone took off to explore the island. Marcus himself stayed behind to watch over the ship for now, since Zeff was going shopping. Once Zeff came back with supplies, he would take over watching the ship and Marcus would be able to go explore the island. Marcus was resting in the crows nest reading a newspaper when Zeff, Sanji, Zoe and a few others returned with supplies. Marcus checked in with them for a couple moments before he headed towards the town. It was around noon by the time Marcus reached the town and found it was definitely bigger than he thought it would be. It still looked like a quiet and peaceful place to live, but instead of calling it a village, it was more like a large town. Marcus could also see farm land just outside of town along with a large mansion on a hill. Since it was noon, Marcus decided to find a place to eat before he looked around more. The place he decided to eat at was called Meshi and it looked more like a cozy cottage than a restaurant. As Marcus entered the place he was greeted by the sound of his brothers laughing and quickly found them eating at a table. The table was packed full with his brothers, Zoro, Kuina and another young boy with a long nose. As Marcus approached the table he heard the boy with a long nose as he said as he raised his head up proudly, ¡°Once they realized they couldn''t beat me in a fight, the entire pirate crew gave up and promised to quit being pirates.¡± After the long nose boy finished his story, Luffy said, ¡°Wow, you must be really strong!¡± The boy puffed out his chest as he said, ¡°Of course I''m strong, I''m captain Usopp and I once beat a giant in single combat!¡± Marcus raised an eyebrow at that comment, but didn''t say anything since he knew whatever Usopp said always came true at some point. Luffy took notice of Marcus a moment later and said, ¡°Marcus! Look who we found, Yasopp''s son, Usopp!¡± Marcus glanced at Usopp for a moment before he said, ¡°Oh yeah, that loser did mention having a kid¡­¡± Usopp frowned as he asked, ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Marcus grabbed a chair and placed it at the end of the table to join them before he said, ¡°It means your dad is a loser.¡± ¡°My dad is a pirate and a brave warrior of the sea. He isn''t a loser!¡± Usopp said with a hint of pride. ¡°Your dad might be a brave warrior of the sea, but he is a trash father and husband. Which makes him a loser.¡± Marcus said before he grabbed a large chicken leg from Zoro¡¯s plate and took a bite. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s mine.¡± Zoro said with a frown. ¡°No he isn''t! You take that back!¡± Usopp said with an angry tone as he pointed a finger at Marcus. Marcus ignored Zoro as he shook his head before he said, ¡°What else do you call a man who abandoned his family?¡± ¡°My father didn''t abandon us, he followed his dream!¡± Usopp said with a hint of anger. ¡°If that''s the case, explain why he didn''t come back to visit you when he was just in East Blue within the last year or so and could have easily done it?¡± Marcus asked as he looked directly at Usopp. Usopp frowned but doubled down as he said, ¡°He followed his dream, he had no reason to come back.¡± Marcus let out a heavy sigh before he said, ¡°You¡¯re just as delusional as your father¡­ Like father, like son I guess.¡± ¡°If you keep talking about my dad, I¡¯ll beat you up.¡± Usopp said as he glared at Marcus. Marcus waved off the comment with the chicken leg in his hand as he said, ¡°You can¡¯t even beat the little zombie we have on the ship. Much less fight me.¡± ¡°But he fought a giant before!¡± Luffy said with some excitement. ¡°You keep a zombie on the ship?!?¡± Usopp asked with a hint of fear in his voice, while he pulled out a cross from who knows where. ¡°I doubt he¡¯s fought a giant if he¡¯s scared at the mention of a zombie.¡± Marcus said before he finished off the chicken leg. ¡°Zombies are different then giants, of course normal people would be scared of zombies¡­ Right?¡± Usopp asked as he glanced at everyone at the table. When no one agreed, Marcus smirked and said, ¡°Looks like you¡¯re the only normal person here.¡± 00066. Usopp the... Even though Marcus and Usopp didn''t start off on the right foot, as long as neither one brought up Yasopp, they seemed to get along. Marcus had no issue with Usopp and actually liked him, so after their first encounter he didn''t antagonize the boy anymore. Which worked out well since over the next couple weeks Usopp basically hung around them every day and even trained with them¡­ Well Marcus forced the boy to train since he was there. Usopp himself was content just to practice shooting his sling shot every day, but after two days of that Marcus stepped in and said, ¡°You know in a real fight your opponents won''t let you sit back and sniper them. They will charge you and fight you up close where that slingshot won''t help much.¡± ¡°I''ll just run away and keep shooting them.¡± ¡°Okay, let''s see how well that works.¡± Marcus said with a smile. Usopp started to sweat as he asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡± Marcus drew his training sword as he said, ¡°Let''s fight and see how you handle an enemy that wants to get close.¡± ¡°Uhhhh, I wouldn''t want to hurt you because of how powerful my slingshot is, so let''s not fight.¡± Usopp said as he backed away from Marcus. Marcus shook his head as he took on a predatory grin before he said, ¡°You better defend yourself because I won''t hold back.¡± ¡°Wait, I can''t fight! I need to go use the bathroom first!¡± Usopp said as he took off running. Marcus used his almost mastered soru to appear in front of Usopp path with his sword in an attacking stance as he said, ¡°I''ll give you the chance to defend yourself and even attack first. But if you try to run again, I won''t show you any mercy.¡± Usopp gulped before he pulled out his slingshot and loaded a wooden pellet into it. He stepped back a bit before he said, ¡°This might not be metal, but it will still hurt if it hits you.¡± ¡°You can use the metal ones if you want, they probably won''t hurt as much as my grandpa''s fist.¡± ¡°Your grandpa sounds scary.¡± Usopp said while his knees shook and he pulled back on his slingshot strap. ¡°He''s a monster of a man and I hope I can be even stronger than him one day.¡± Even though Usopp was practically shaking in fear, he aimed his slingshot at Marcus and let his first shot fly. The pellet flew towards Marcus''s head and with a quick downward slash he blocked it. Usopp''s mouth dropped open and his eyes almost popped out of his head as Marcus said, ¡°You shouldn''t drop your guard in a fight.¡± Usopp recovered from his shock and quickly tried to reload with shaky hands as he said, ¡°That shouldn''t be possible.¡± ¡°You''re right, it was just luck.¡± Marcus said with a smirk as he stepped forward one and reset his stance. Usopp was able to load another pellet as he stepped back before he took aim and shot again. Marcus easily used his sword to smack the pellet away which made Usopp''s eyes widened as he asked, ¡°How is that even possible?!?¡± ¡°It''s just luck, don''t think about it too much.¡± Marcus said as he stepped forward two times and reset his stance. Usopp quickly reloaded his slingshot and took aim as he said, ¡°If you have luck, so do I! Take this!¡± Another pellet flew at Marcus which he knocked aside before he said, ¡°It looks like you have bad luck.¡± Usopp quickly reloaded and shot again which Marcus deflected away again as he moved towards Usopp and said, ¡°If this is all you have, you¡¯ll lose.¡± Usopp grabbed something else from his pouch and loaded it as he said, ¡°Fine, take this! Usopp special pepper ball!¡± Usopp released his sling but a moment later the ball inside his sling exploded in front of his face before it could properly shoot. A black cloud of dust covered Usopp and a moment later he started to sneeze and cough like crazy. Marcus watched him with a raised eyebrow for a few moments before he closed in and slammed his sword onto the boy''s head. Usopp crumpled to the ground a moment later with a large bruise forming on his head. Marcus ended up beating Usopp four more times that day before the boy agreed to join in the training with the others. He was given a training harnesses a few days later and worked out with Zoe, Sanji and the others in the less advanced group. He still complained a little about the training, but he at least did it. During that time Marcus found out that Usopp''s mom already passed away almost a year ago. As for who took care of him, it was a couple of neighbors who were good friends with his mom. He actually lived at home alone now, but the neighbors would make him food and help out with other things since he was still young. As for adopting him or putting him in an orphanage? Usopp refused to live with anyone else and the island didn¡¯t have an orphanage, so he lived in the house he used to share with his mom. As for Kaya and her family, Marcus ran into them a couple times in town. But at that point Usopp didn''t really know Kaya or her family so they never ended up properly meeting. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. A month quickly passed with everyone hanging out and trying on the island before they got bored and wanted another challenge. So Marcus made the decision to resupply the ship and head back out to catch more pirates and explore East Blue again. A few days before they planned to leave, Marcus approached Usopp after training and asked, ¡°We are gonna leave in a few days, do you wanna come along?¡± Usopp was collapsed on the ground breathing heavily after being pushed to his limits and while he was recovering, Luffy excitedly said, ¡°Come with us Usopp! We can fight pirates and go on adventures, it¡¯s the best!¡± Usopp¡¯s eyes widened slightly at that and once he caught his breath he said, ¡°I feel my I''ll-die-if-I-leave-the-island disease acting up.¡± ¡°Oh, if that''s the case you can stay here then.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Usopp and Luffy both asked in surprise. Marcus shrugged as he asked, ¡°If Usopp doesn¡¯t want to leave, who are we to make him? Besides, it¡¯s not like he has a dream to be a brave warrior of the sea or anything, right?¡± Usopp¡¯s eyes widened again as he said, ¡°Yes I do!¡± ¡°You do?¡± Usopp nodded his head seriously as he said, ¡°Of course, I wanna be like my dad.¡± Marcus held himself back from commenting on Usopp¡¯s father and instead said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you need to join us when we leave or you¡¯ll never leave this island.¡± Usopp shook his head as he said, ¡°But I''m too young, I can¡¯t leave the island yet¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re the same age and I¡¯ve already left my home island to go explore and have adventures.¡± Marcus said before he pointed at Luffy and added, ¡°He is the same age as us and also went out to sea.¡± ¡°Both of you are way stronger than I am!¡± Marcus raised an eyebrow as he asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you beat a giant in solo combat?¡± ¡°I. I. I did beat a giant¡­ But it was a small one.¡± Usopp said as he patted his chest with one hand. ¡°Then there is nothing to worry about, you''ll be fine fighting normal pirate scum.¡± Marcus said as he smirked. Usopp argued against leaving the island for the next few days but on the day they planned to leave he showed up with his slingshot and a backpack filled with stuff as they were preparing to set sail. Marcus, who was on the dock as he collected a crate of supplies, noticed Usopp first and asked, ¡°Come to see us off? Or did you decide to join us?¡± ¡°Of course I came to join you as the captain!¡± Usopp said proudly. ¡°If that''s the case, you can stay here. The only open spot on the crew is a marksman.¡± Marcus said as he turned around and headed towards the ship with the crate in his hands. Usopp hesitated for a few moments before he said, ¡°Okay, I''ll join as the marksman!¡± Marcus kept walking as he said over his shoulder, ¡°If that''s the case, grab one of those crates and follow me.¡± Usopp struggled to lift one of the crates but was able to do it and even carried it up onto the ship where he was forced to set it down. Marcus glanced at Usopp who was on the deck sweating and breathing hard as he said, ¡°Even with a month of training you are still so weak¡­ You definitely need to work out more.¡± Marcus picked up Usopp and carried him down to the dock where he placed him next to the other crates and said, ¡°Grab another one.¡± ¡°It''s too much, I don''t think I am cut out for this.¡± Usopp said as he looked at all the crates on the dock. Sanji, who was still skinny compared to the other boys, walked down from the ship and easily lifted a crate before he headed back to the ship. Marcus glanced down at Usopp as he pointed at Sanji and said, ¡°If little zombie boy can do it and not complain, so can you.¡± Usopp reluctantly stood up and grabbed another box which he was barely able to carry and slowly made his way back onto the ship. Usopp managed to carry six boxes onto the ship before everything was loaded and while he didn''t take them to their final destination. It was still an impressive feat for the boy who was weaker than everyone else. Once everything was properly stored away, Marcus took over the helm and started directing everyone to prepare to set sail. Usopp who was lost being on a ship for the first time ended up next to Marcus who glanced at him and asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Ummmm, I was just¡­ Making sure you were doing a proper job.¡± Usopp said with a hint of confidence in his voice. Marcus pulled out his spare spyglass from his pocket and handed it to Usopp as he said, ¡°Take this and go up to the crows nest.¡± As Usopp took the spyglass into his hands Marcus added, ¡°No matter what you do. Do not let Luffy use it.¡± Usopp glanced down at the spyglass for a moment before he looked towards Luffy who was helping release the ship from the dock as he untied the lines before he asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with letting Luffy use it?¡± ¡°He¡¯s broken ten of them.¡± ¡°Ten?!?¡± Usopp asked with widened eyes. ¡°He broke the ones we had on the ship after we first set sail, so when they were replaced. We banned him from even touching them. But whenever we raid a pirate ship he always finds one or two of them and will break them within minutes to hours of getting one.¡± Marcus said as he shook his head. Usopp glanced at the spyglass in his hands before he quickly hid it in his pockets. Marcus nodded in satisfaction before he pointed to the crows nest and said, ¡°Head up to your post and keep a lookout. Someone will trade out with you around dinner time.¡± Usopp glanced up to the crows nest at the top of the main mast and gulped. It was at least sixty feet in the air and the only way up was the netting that hung down from the mast on each side. Usopp started to sweat and his knees shook as he said, ¡°My, I''ll-die-if-I-climb-that disease is acting up, you should have someone else go up there.¡± ¡°I can try and throw you up there if you want¡­ Or have Luffy try and pull you up once he is in the crows nest.¡± Usopp¡¯s eyes widened as he said, ¡°Throw me up there?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°I might be able to do it. If not I¡¯ll at least aim for the net so you don¡¯t land back on the deck and worst case you will just fly out and land in the water.¡± Usopp quickly sprinted to the netting as he said, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I think my disease went away! I¡¯ll just climb it myself!¡± Marcus smirked as he watched Usopp struggle to climb up the net as the ship finally freed itself from the dock and slowly started to pull away. He turned the helm to navigate out of the harbor and into the open sea for the next adventure and to hunt some more pirates. 00067. Some words of wisdom? Over a week passed on the open sea as Marcus and the others sailed towards the next island. Usopp took to sailing pretty quickly and with guidance from everyone else, was now able to help with most things on the ship. He still complained about not being able to do certain things because of some made up disease once in a while. But Marcus would just threaten him with extra training which made him quickly do the task. As for running into pirates, they haven''t had any luck and were still looking. They did pass by a few merchant ships and a cruise ship. But all of them stayed a certain distance from the boys ship and never got within half a mile of them. On the tenth day out at sea just before lunch, everyone still out on the deck noticed storm clouds approaching on the horizon. Marcus, who was in the middle of training Kuina and Zoro, paused and pulled out his spyglass to better observe the dark clouds. After a few moments Marcus put his spyglass away and said, ¡°Normal training is done for today.¡± Kuina glanced at Marcus as she asked, ¡°Don¡¯t we still have at least an hour left?¡± Marcus pointed towards the storm clouds as he said, ¡°We are going to train sailing in that storm.¡± Usopp who was up in the crows nest heard what Marcus said and stuck his head over the side to look at him as he asked, ¡°You can''t be serious?¡± Marcus shook his head and moved over to the door that led into the ship. He opened the door and just inside was a bell about a foot wide and a foot and a half tall. It was tucked into the wall and sat inside a shaft that ran down to the bottom of the ship. The shaft itself had openings on each deck and was designed to easily master the crew quickly. Marcus pulled out a stopper that kept the bell in place before he rang it a few times. Once done he waited a moment before he placed the stopper back in place to silence the bell and headed up to the deck. It didn''t take long for everyone on the ship to reach the deck before Ace asked, ¡°Why''d you ring the bell?¡± Marcus pointed towards the storm clouds in the distance with a massive grin and said, ¡°We are gonna do some storm training.¡± Ace, Sabo and Luffy all shared a glance before they smiled, while everyone else except for Zeff looked apprehensive. Zeff glanced at the storm clouds approaching before he said, ¡°That storm looks to be bigger than normal.¡± ¡°That just means better inclement weather training.¡± Marcus said as he watched the clouds for a few moments before he said, ¡°I want everything secured and properly tied down in the next half an hour.¡± Usopp who was still in the crows nest asked, ¡°What about me?¡± Marcus glanced up at the crows nest before he said, ¡°Collapse the shade and tie it down properly before you come down to help on the deck.¡± ¡°But the storm¡­ Shouldn''t we avoid it.¡± Usopp said with a hint of fear. Marcus waved off Usopp''s concern as he said, ¡°A storm is nothing, we''ve sailed through worse.¡± Ace nodded as he added, ¡°Our first time on a ship, our grandpa took us sailing through a hurricane.¡± ¡°A hurricane? Are you sure?¡± Zeff asked in surprise. The boys all nodded before Sabo said, ¡°Grandpa didn''t even tie off to anything and just laughed anytime one of us was almost thrown off the ship.¡± ¡°Just what kinda family do you have? No normal grandparent would ever act that way¡­¡± Zoe said in disbelief. Marcus glanced towards the approaching clouds as he said, ¡°Our grandpa considered that just another type of training. Just like this storm will be training for all of you, now get to work!¡± As everyone started going around the ship and securing everything, Marcus headed below deck to secure his swords. While he could probably carry them during the storm, he decided to secure them in his room. Once he was finished he went down to the hold and started to double check everything there. It wasn''t really needed because everything in the hold was already tied down properly, but Marcus just wanted to make sure. Once satisfied he headed back up to the deck where he found almost everyone else. Zeff and Sanji were missing, but he heard them working in the galley on his way to the deck. Marcus did a quick walk around the ship and found everything was secured and ready for the storm so he said, ¡°Nice work, now put on your rain ponchos and start getting tied off to the ship!¡± After slipping on the ponchos, Zoro, Kuina, Usopp, Zoe and the other women looked a little confused until they saw Ace, Sabo and Luffy grab rope and start making a harness with it around their waist. After a couple loops around their waist they tossed the rope over their shoulder and looped it back down under the rope around their waist before they repeated it over their other shoulder. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Once finished and tied properly, they wore what looked like a vest made out of rope over their ponchos. Afterwards they tied another rope that was secured to the ship tightly around the rope belt around their waist. It added a lot of weight once the ropes were wet and the length of rope they had connected to the ship would add even more. But it was the best way to ensure they wouldn''t be swept overboard. And on the small chance that it did happen, it would be easy to recover them by pulling on their rope. Zeff and Sanji soon appeared on the deck with a small snack for everyone before they also secured themselves to the ship. Marcus was already at the helm where he had tied off to it already. While they still hadn''t reached the storm itself, rain already started to fall and the waves were already choppy as the wind picked up. Marcus studied the storm before them for a little while as they got closer before he yelled out over the increasing noise, ¡°Furl all the sails and wrap them! Then deploy the storm jib! Everyone quickly got to work to collapse the sails and a few minutes before they entered the storm itself, everything was ready. Zeff was the only other person on the helm deck with Marcus as they entered the storm fully. Even though it should only be just after noon, the clouds overhead were so thick it almost made it seem like it was night time. Only the bright sunny weather miles behind the ship said otherwise. As they entered deeper into the storm, Marcus deftly steered the ship into the large incoming waves. While most were about half the size of the ship, a handful were easily taller than the railing. Those waves would sometimes crash against the hull and soaked everyone on the deck. Within half an hour of sailing through the storm, the blue sky from earlier could no longer be seen and rain pelted everyone relentlessly. While the ponchos helped keep everyone mostly dry, it didn''t cover everything and most of their feet and legs were soaked to the bone. As Marcus glanced over the deck and everyone below he noticed Usopp. Even though everyone was covered in a poncho, his nose stood out. He was currently hugging on to Luffy as he said something probably about not wanting to die as Luffy laughed like an idiot. Marcus could only shake his head slightly as he turned back to watch the incoming waves and try to pick the smaller ones to ride into. Zeff who was nearby also watched the bow of the ship and approaching waves. Every once in a while he would point out a better path forward through the storm when Marcus turned in a different direction, but otherwise he was just enjoying the ride. The journey through the storm lasted a long time and by the time they cleared it, the moon was already past its midpoint. Once out of the storm Marcus quickly had them lower the storm jib and raise the normal sails before he asked Zeff to make something to warm everyone up. About half an hour later after everyone finished checking over the ship for damage. They changed out of wet clothes, dried off a bit and were treated to a nice hot soup and tea. Which made everyone happy including Luffy who didn''t even complain about the lack of meat. Once everyone finished eating, Marcus told everyone to rest while he took care of the helm. Zeff was the only one who didn''t rest and climbed up to the helm deck a little while later. Marcus glanced at him as he approached and said, ¡°I''m surprised you''re not tired, old man.¡± Zeff frowned slightly before he said, ¡°It would take more than a tiny storm to wear me out, brat.¡± They both settled into a comfortable silence for a while before Zeff said, ¡°You make a pretty decent captain for still being a kid.¡± ¡°And you make a pretty decent cook for being a pirate.¡± Marcus said before they both chuckled slightly. After some more silence only filled with the creak of wood, flapping of sails and lapping of waves, Zeff asked, ¡°You planning to be a pirate?¡± Marcus shook his head as he said, ¡°My brothers want to be pirates, but I don''t wanna deal with all that hassle. I would rather explore the world and fight strong people.¡± Zeff chuckled again before he said, ¡°If you travel the sea''s and keep getting stronger, you might be labeled a pirate one day, even if you don''t want to be.¡± Marcus glanced at Zeff who shrugged and added, ¡°Me and my crew weren''t originally pirates. At first it was just a group of friends who wanted to explore and see the world. Each of us had different reasons for going out to sea, but the spirit of adventure is what binded us together.¡± Zeff glanced up at the stars above for a while before he said, ¡°For years we traveled around, enjoying ourselves and the adventures we had along the way¡­ During that time we fought countless pirates on our journeys and became stronger because of it.¡± Zeff smiled to himself as he said, ¡°Even made a lot of money doing it too. We didn''t really bounty hunt like you boys do, but if we ran into pirates we would dispose of them and loot their ship.¡± Zeff frowned slightly before he said, ¡°After five years or so, people took notice of us and we were approached because of it. It was someone who worked for the world government and they offered us a job¡­¡± ¡°I refused and so did the rest of my friends at the time¡­¡± Zeff said as his voice trailed off and he shook his head slightly. After a few moments he glanced at Marcus and added, ¡°Not even a week later we were labeled as pirates and I was given my first bounty.¡± Marcus frowned slightly as he asked, ¡°They did it that quickly? What did they charge you with?¡± ¡°Piracy.¡± Zeff said with a helpless chuckle before he added, ¡°Within a month we ended up fighting against five Navy ships and a handful of bounty hunters. After that the list of my crimes and the rest of the crew just kept growing.¡± Zeff glanced towards the stars again as he said, ¡°I eventually just embraced the label and started acting more like a pirate. But I kept my morals and also made sure my friends and crewmates never passed certain lines¡­ It''s probably why my bounty never got too crazy.¡± After another round of silence Zeff turned and started to head towards the stairs as just before he walked down them he said, ¡°Good luck on not being a pirate kid, you''re probably gonna need it.¡± Marcus glanced towards where Zeff disappeared for a few moments before he also glanced up at the stars lost in thought. 00068. Dont make me turn this ship around. The next day around noon Usopp spotted an island on the horizon which Marcus decided to visit since he didn''t see it on his map. He double checked their location with Sabo just in case but they both confirmed where they most likely were and there shouldn¡¯t be an island in the area. So with an unmarked island in front of them, no one could resist going to explore it. When they got closer to the island, Marcus decided to circle it once to check it out and see if it was worth landing on. The island was a decent size with a small harbor on one side protected by a natural breakwater that separated most of it from the sea. It was actually the perfect place to build a dock, but with no sign of human habitation on the island it was currently empty. Marcus sailed the ship into the small harbor area behind the large breakwater and dropped anchor close to the shore. Once the ship was parked Luffy immediately tried to go explore the island. If it wasn''t for the fact he couldn''t really use his gum gum no rocket yet, he would already be on the island. Instead he was forced to wait as a boat was lowered before half the ship went to explore the island. Zeff left with everyone to watch over them and look for some fresh ingredients, while Marcus stayed on the ship to train with Kuina and Zoro. As he trained them in swordsmanship, Zoe and the other women did their normal training. Once Marcus finished training he moved up to the crows nest to relax and read the newspaper that arrived not long ago. The first thing Marcus saw when he unrolled the newspaper was Jinbe on the front page. In bold print it said, ¡®Captain of the Sun Pirates Jinbe joins the new warlord program!¡¯ Marcus''s eyes narrowed as he read through the article and near the end of it, it mentioned that fishmen were being released from prison because of the deal. Marcus quickly skimmed the rest of the newspaper and when he found no mention of Arlong or his bounty he relaxed slightly. But already decided on the ship''s next destination and where they would stay for the foreseeable future. As it started to get dark, Zeff brought the small boat back to the ship filled with different stuff he found on the island. After he unloaded and stored it on the ship, he collected some spices and his knives before he said to Marcus, ¡°We are gonna BBQ on the island for dinner.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Marcus said as he glanced towards the beach where he saw a couple large animals and a big bonfire being built up. Marcus collected his sword as the other boat was being lowered into the water before everyone headed to shore. Once he arrived he was greeted by Usopp in the middle of a story of how he took down the massive ox he stood on. As he finished Luffy burst into laughter before he said, ¡°You shot it once before you ran away, I was the one who took it down.¡± ¡°My shot was what helped to knock it down, if I didn''t shoot it, it wouldn''t have collapsed.¡± Usopp said with confidence. Marcus shook his head as Luffy seemed to be agreeing with Usopp and turned to look at the other large animal which was a bird. Well it looked like a bird and had feathers, but it was massive like the ox and had tiny wings, so it probably couldn''t fly. Which explained how they were able to catch the thing. It didn''t take long for Zeff with help from Sanji and a few others to start getting the animals. By the time the sun was setting, Zeff finished preparing the meat and started placing them around the bonfire that was already going strong. As Zeff cooked, Sanji watched from the side as he learned but occasionally his eyes would wander towards Luffy, Ace and Sabo who were playing and joking around with Usopp, Zoro and Kuina. Marcus watched the boy frown slightly a few times as jealousy flashed in his eyes. It was whenever he caught Sanji looking towards Luffy and the others. Marcus had an idea what the issue might be given his history, but decided against mentioning it for now. Everyone was having a good time, there was no reason to potentially ruin the mood. The impromptu BBQ and party lasted well into the night and everyone ended up sleeping on the beach. The next day was the boys normal rest day so instead of setting sail Marcus suggested staying on the island another day and relaxing. The next day everyone explored the island for a while before they had another BBQ for lunch. Afterwards they packed up and headed back to the ship as they prepared to set sail. Marcus checked his map as they sailed out of the harbor to make sure the new course was correct with his compass. The next few days passed in relative peace as the ship sailed towards its next destination until midway through the fourth day. Usopp was up in the crows nest as he glanced around with his spyglass that was slightly damaged. He hadn''t taken Marcus''s advice to heart and let Luffy use his spyglass which Luffy quickly broke. It was luckily only the middle housing unit and not the lenses, so Usopp managed to fix it. But the spyglass could no longer fully collapse like before and made it harder to focus with. Usopp studied the horizon all around the ship for a few minutes before he placed his spyglass down and went back to working on a new type of pellet for his slingshot. After ten minutes or so he picked back up his spyglass and scanned the horizon again but stopped where he found a black dot off the port bow of the ship. He watched it for a few moments before he called out, ¡°I see something off the port bow, possibly a ship.¡± Marcus, who was in the middle of a training session with Zoro and Kuina, blocked both of their attacks before he said, ¡°Let me know when you can identify them.¡± Marcus focused back on training for a while before a panicked Usopp said, ¡°It''s a pirate ship!¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Marcus quickly stepped away from Zoro and Kuina, while he signaled them to stop training before he pulled out his spyglass. He turned towards the port bow and quickly found the ship with its pirate flag waving in the air. He studied the ship for a few moments before he said, ¡°No more training, go prepare for battle.¡± ¡°Battle?!? Shouldn¡¯t we be running?¡± Usopp asked with fear in his voice. Marcus smiled as he glanced up at the boy who was leaning out of the crows nest with wide eyes before he asked, ¡°Didn''t you say you wanna be a brave warrior of the sea?¡± Usopp nodded but stuttered as he said, ¡°Y-Y-Yes! I-I wanna be-be like my dad!¡± Marcus pointed towards the approaching ship before he said, ¡°A brave warrior of the sea wouldn''t be scared of some no name pirate crew.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Marcus cut off Usopp as he said, ¡°Then get your shit together and prepare to fight. Otherwise go below the deck and hide while the rest of us fight.¡± Usopp smiled in relief for a moment before he frowned as Marcus turned away and said, ¡°If you decide to hide, you might as well go pack up your things because I''ll turn this ship around and take you home after we finish this fight. We have no need for cowards on this ship.¡± Usopp''s eyes widened as Marcus walked below the deck to get ready. Usopp fell back into the crows nest as he debated what to do. He really wanted to go and hide, he knew he couldn''t fight real pirates. He couldn''t even beat anyone on the ship in a normal fight, let alone pirates¡­ Usopp gritted his teeth as he thought of being taken back home. He didn''t want to go home, he wanted to stay with his friends and keep having fun¡­ But he knew he stood no chance in a real fight. As Usopp sat in the crows nest, the rest of the ship prepared for battle and within ten minutes everyone was on the deck with their weapons. Marcus took over the helm and aimed the ship towards the incoming ship before he pulled out his spyglass to watch it. The ship was bigger with five masts and riding high in the water as it quickly approached them. Marcus watched them for a little while before he put his spyglass away and said, ¡°Furl the sails and prepare to be boarded!¡± As they started collapsing the sails, Sabo glanced towards the approaching ship before he asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t this a little early?¡± ¡°No, they are faster than us. We might as well wait for them here.¡± Marcus said as the ship slowed down. As the ship approached closer Marcus stood on the helm deck and observed the rest of the ship. Everyone seemed excited besides Usopp who was still in the crows nest which he would peek out from every once in a while. Marcus thought about ordering him to come down, but decided against it for now. If Usopp fought from the crows nest it was fine, as long as he actually participated in the battle¡­ Marcus glanced up towards Usopp and smirked to himself. While Usopp might think he was safe being up in the crows nest alone, the truth was he was separated from not only the enemy but any help if he needed it. Marcus wondered what would happen if one of the pirates managed to reach Usopp. Would the boy panic or face the situation head on and fight? Marcus rested a hand on the hilt of his sword as he glanced back at the approaching ship that was collapsing some of its sails to slow down. Within a few more minutes the ship was within range and started throwing grappling hooks over as all the sails were furled. As the ships were being pulled together a man''s voice rang out from the other ship and said, ¡°Thanks for not running, I hate it when my target makes me chase them.¡± An older man with a bandana wrapped around his head glanced over from the taller ship. He glanced over the ship and frowned slightly when he noticed everyone was relaxed with no sign of fear. If anything most of them looked ready to fight, which made him second guess if taking this particular ship was a good idea. As the ships got closer he had a gut feeling something was very wrong and instantly yelled out, ¡°Drop the lines and raise the sails!¡± To the man''s credit his crew didn''t even question his orders and the grappling lines were dropped and sails started to rise a few moments later. Marcus raised an eyebrow in surprise but after a moment of thought he smiled. If these pirates wanted to give them a different type of training he wouldn''t mind. Ace and the others glanced towards Marcus as the pirate ship started to pull away. Marcus pointed at the ship and said, ¡°Prepare to chase them!¡± Marcus quickly moved to the helm as everyone else scrambled to raise the sails and chase the other ship. As Marcus took the helm he looked up towards the crows nest and yelled, ¡°Usopp! Get below deck and prepare the bow cannon!¡± Usopp peeked from his spot as he said, ¡°Cannon?!? I don''t know how to use a cannon.¡± ¡°Sabo! Go teach Usopp how to use a cannon and aim for the enemy ship''s sails and masts.¡± Within five minutes they were basically turned around and in the process of chasing after the pirate ship. While the pirate ship was faster than them, it wasn''t that much faster and its higher water displacement made it unstable which slowed it down a little. By the time Marcus lined the ship up behind the pirate ship they were a few hundred yards in front of them. It was about a minute later when Usopp fired the cannon for the first time and the cannonball splashed down to the port side of the ship. After that first shot, the enemy ship started to turn slightly to try and throw off the next shot. Marcus didn''t adjust the ship''s own course and decided to let Usopp adjust the shot on his own. It seemed to be the right decision because the next shot slammed into the ship near one of the masts. Over the next half an hour a few more shots hit the pirate ship as it tried to evade. Marcus watched as another shot was fired and ripped through the main mast. As it collapsed it broke some of the spars on two more masts and tangled up in the rigging before it dropped into the water. With it still connected to the ship by most of the rigging it caused the ship to tilt towards the starboard side and slow down considerably within minutes. Sabo and Usopp came up onto the deck a few moments later and Usopp was beaming with pride, his head held high and tilted back with his nose in the air. Marcus let the boy have his glory for a few moments as he bragged to Luffy and the others before Marcus said, ¡°Everyone get ready, we have pirates to fight!¡± Usopp instantly deflated and even looked like it wanted to run away as they got closer to the pirate ship. Marcus maneuvered the ship to the port side of the ship to not hit the mast the pirates were desperately trying to cut from the ship. Once they were close enough Marcus yelled out, ¡°Furl the sails and prepare for boarding action!¡± 00069. Usopps first real fight. Usopp couldn''t hear Marcus''s orders over his heart beat that drowned out everything else as it thundered in his ears. Around him everyone prepared themselves to raid the pirate ship they were chasing and yet here he was scared out of his mind. His palms were coated in sweat and as he wiped them on his pant legs he had to hold them there to stop his knees from shaking. Someone patted his shoulder which caused him to flinch before they placed a rope in his hand. Usopp looked from the rope to Luffy who smiled wide and pointed at the pirate ship as he excitedly said something. Usopp could only nod in silence, his throat too constricted to even be able to speak. When Luffy turned away, Usopp''s eyes darted around looking for a place to run to, to hide as every fiber of his being screamed. As Usopp glanced around he missed that they already reached the other ship and grappling lines were tossed out. A few moments later the line in his hand which he held in a white knuckled grip nearly ripped from his hand. But in a funny twist of fate his fear kept his hand firmly attached to the rope. The same rope that now launched him into the air as he let out a startled scream of terror. Time seemed to slow down as Usopp flew through the air. Next to him was Luffy who was also holding a rope and was laughing with joy as he sailed through the air. Usopp glanced around to see Ace, Sabo and others also holding onto ropes as they were pulled into the air. Only a few seconds passed before they were all over the railing height for the enemy ship. The rope stopped its ascent but the motion swung them towards the pirate ship before they all let go of the rope. Usopp also let go on accident and ended up on his butt as everyone else landed on their feet. As everyone else jumped into a wild melee, Usopp scrambled backwards in a crab walk. When he finally slammed into the ship''s railing he attempted to pull himself up as he glanced around looking for a place to hide. As his eyes scanned the chaotic deck he pulled out his slingshot with shaking hands and loaded it just in case someone got close to him. A moment later he noticed someone about to hit Luffy from behind and he instinctively took aim and fired without a thought. The metal pellet cracked the man in the back of the head and gave Luffy a chance to notice him. A quick uppercut finished the man off before Luffy gave Usopp a thumbs up and turned to his next opponent. Usopp stood there for a few moments with an open mouth at what just happened before a pirate ran towards him with a dagger. Usopp''s eyes widened as the pirate approached him and scrambled to grab another pellet. In his haste he grabbed one of his experimental ones which he loaded and fired in moments. The pellet hit the man''s chest and exploded into a cloud of black dust that covered his head. A second later the man started to sneeze as he attempted to rub his eyes clear. Usopp took the opportunity to grab another pellet, one he confirmed was metal this time before he loaded it and shot the pirate again. The metal pellet hit the man right above the bridge of his nose with a sickening crack which dropped the man to the deck. Usopp had no time to think about the man as another pirate rushed towards him from the melee on the deck. Usopp loaded another shot and this time took the man in the knee which dropped him as he screamed in pain. Another pellet hit the man''s head and he went quiet before Usopp quickly found another target. Usopp had no idea how much time passed as he just kept loading his slingshot and shooting any pirate who got closer. He also helped a few other people with well timed shots but he mostly attacked anyone who moved towards him. By the time the pirate raid finished there were seven pirates on the ground around Usopp. Usopp''s eyes were still wide and wild while his heart thundered in his ears when Luffy approached him with a smile on his face as he said something. Usopp blinked before he asked, ¡°What?¡± ¡°That was awesome! You didn''t miss a single shot!¡± Luffy said as he practically bounced on his feet. Usopp slowly looked around as he took in everything around him before he started to chuckle as he said, ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Usopp threw his head back as he said in a confident tone, ¡°Of course! I''m captain Usopp, I once shot the wings off two flies at the same time!¡± ¡°Wow! That''s amazing!¡± Luffy said. ¡°There''s a pirate behind you Usopp, watch out!¡± Usopp screamed in terror as he jumped towards Luffy and hugged him before someone burst into laughter next to both of them. Usopp glanced towards the laughter to find Marcus who winked at him and said, ¡°Still a coward, but you at least have some potential.¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Usopp let go of Luffy who was laughing at him and straightened his clothes before he said, ¡°I''m not a coward, I just took down over ten pirates.¡± ¡°Ten? Those are rookie numbers, you gotta pump those numbers up.¡± Marcus said with a chuckle before he added, ¡°Help tie up the prisoners and then start looting the ship.¡± Marcus helped move the captured pirates back onto their ship before he kept watch over them as the others looted the ship. It didn''t take long as it seemed like these pirates were pretty poor. As for usable loot, Usopp lucked out and ended up finding a couple of spy glasses which he used to replace his broken one. Once the ship was cleaned out, the boys scuttled it and set sail again to their next destination and the marine base that was in the same island chain. During the trip, Marcus forced Usopp to be one of the people helping take care of the prisoners. He only did it once he noticed Usopp was still afraid of them even while they were tied up. Marcus hoped it would break the boy of his cowardly habits. About a week passed by as they traveled without running into anything until the eighth day where they found an island. When Marcus checked his map and estimated their location he was happy to find they were close to their destination. The marine base they wanted to visit wasn''t far from the island they were at. Marcus quickly changed course to head around the right side of the island and the shortest path to the base. Over the next few hours they passed by a handful of small uninhabited islands which only confirmed they were headed in the right direction. Around sunset they spotted the marine base with a couple of ships docked in the man made harbor. The marine base had a good amount of buildings, all of which were marked with the number sixteen. Of the buildings, one of them stood out, which was placed in the middle of the base and was a giant dome with a rat head on top of it. Marcus studied it through his spyglass for a few moments as they approached before he issued commands and most of the sails were quickly lowered as they coasted towards an empty spot on the dock. When they finally reached the docks, a full company of marines were there and waiting for them. At the head of them was a slim, dark haired man with a mouse like appearance. He wore a captain''s coat with a hood that had mouse ears on it and what looked to be a set of whiskers sprouting from his upper lip. Once the boat was docked and tied off, Marcus had Zoe go to negotiate with the marines for the bounty turn in. Marcus quietly watched from the ship as Zoe started to frown at whatever the marine captain was saying to her. The longer the man talked, the worse things seemed to go as he started to point at the ship which made Zoe step in front of the gangplank to block them. As it looked like a fight might break out between Zoe and the marines, Marcus took action and yelled out, ¡°What the hell is going on?!?¡± Zoe didn''t take her eyes off the marines in front of her as she yelled back, ¡°This marine captain wants to take the bounties and not pay us for them, captain.¡± Her statement made most of them look towards the ship and see Marcus who focused on the marine captain. The man turned to see Marcus before he put on a slimy smile and asked, ¡°The captain of your ship is a child?¡± Chi chi chi chi chi chi, the man laughed before he asked, ¡°Who lets a child captain a ship? Are you stupid, woman?¡± Zoe gritted her teeth as she thought about attacking the marine captain but he was behind a line of soldiers. Marcus on the other hand, pointed at the man and said, ¡°And I have no idea who was stupid enough to promote a corrupt person like you to a captain''s rank, Nezumi.¡± Nezumi''s laughing stopped and he focused on Marcus with narrowed eyes before he asked, ¡°What did you say brat? Did you just insult a marine officer?¡± ¡°Insult? I asked a question¡­ Maybe you are not only corrupt, but also stupid to boot.¡± Marcus said with a smirk. ¡°I will not be insulted by a brat! Someone bring him to me! I want to beat some sense into him!¡± Marcus moved before anyone else and appeared right in front of Nezumi before he said, ¡°Here, I saved your men time.¡± Nezumi''s eyes went wide as he stared in shock at Marcus who looked up at the man and asked, ¡°Weren''t you going to teach me a lesson? Go ahead, I''m waiting for you to do it.¡± Nezumi backed away from Marcus as he squeaked out, ¡°How did you do that?¡± ¡°Do what? Move? It¡¯s simple and the same thing you''re doing, one foot in front of the other.¡± Marcus said with another smirk. Nezumi hid behind some more men as he said, ¡°No it''s not! You moved too fast! Just who the hell are you?¡± ¡°Oh, now you want to know who I am? I thought you wanted to teach me a lesson?¡± ¡°No, no I don''t.¡± Nezumi said as he furiously shook his head. ¡°Really? Then what exactly did you say?¡± Nezumi started to sweat like crazy as he stared at Marcus who grinned back at him. After a few moments Zoe who was still guarding the gangplank to the ship said, ¡°I believe he said he was going to double the bounty payout for our hard work.¡± Nezumi looked like he was about to protest when Marcus appeared in front of him again and asked, ¡°Is that true? You offered to double the bounty payout?¡± Nezumi jumped back as he screamed in fear before he retreated behind more marines. When he finally recovered he said in a shaky voice, ¡°Sure¡­ Double the bounty payout, no problem.¡± Marcus smirked at the man before he appeared back on the ship and yelled out, ¡°Prepare the prisoners for transfer to the marine¡¯s custody.¡± The bounty payout was quickly totaled and doubled by a different marine since Nezumi ran away to hide in his office. After collecting their money, the ship set sail to another island in the area where Marcus planned to make a temporary base. 00070. Meeting a little thief. Over the next couple days, Marcus charted a course to their next destination as they sailed through the island chain. Most of the islands they passed were tiny with only a couple of trees. While others were big enough to support small fishing villages. They stopped by a couple of them because Luffy and the others wanted to check them out. But after the third village had nothing interesting to do, no one asked to stop at the fourth one they found. On the third day they finally reached their goal, or at least that is what Marcus assumed when he saw a grove of trees on a hilltop. He studied the area with his spyglass before he said, ¡°Trim the sails! We are going to stop here.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this just another boring village?¡± Luffy asked as he picked his nose. ¡°No idea. But we should stop here and get some training in so grandpa doesn''t beat us up for slacking off.¡± Marcus said as he put his spyglass away. ¡°Like grandpa needs a reason to beat us up.¡± Ace said as Sabo nodded in agreement. ¡°That''s true. But I still wanna get more training in.¡± As the ship slowed down, Marcus aimed for the small dock near the main area of the village. It was big enough to fit their ship without much issue and probably used for visiting ships. Since there was a smaller dock not far from it which was filled with small fishing boats. It was close to noon as the ship approached the dock and while most people were probably eating, a handful of people were on the dock. The most prominent among them was a dark haired man with a thick mustache. He was wearing a brown, short-sleeved police uniform with sandals and his eyes studied the ship as it prepared to dock. After lines were secured and the gangplank dropped, Marcus walked off the ship as he said, ¡°Nice to meet you, I''m Marcus.¡± Genzo stepped forward as he said, ¡°I''m Genzo, the sheriff of Cocoyasi Village. Could you please get your captain so I could ask the purpose of your visit?¡± ¡°You''re talking to the captain.¡± Marcus said with a grin before he added, ¡°As for our purpose, we came to visit and possibly trade some of our goods.¡± Genzo watched Marcus for a few moments with narrowed eyes before he said, ¡°You better not be lying to me son.¡± Marcus smirked as he yelled over his shoulder, ¡°Everyone is free to disembark!¡± ¡°Yahooo!¡± Luffy said as he rocketed off of the ship while pulling Usopp with him who was screaming like a little girl as they flew through the air. Genzo and the other people with him stared with their mouths open as Luffy and Usopp flew over their heads. A few moments later they slammed into a wall before Luffy jumped up laughing as he pulled a protesting Usopp with him. Ace and Sabo appeared a moment later before Ace said, ¡°I''ll go make sure Luffy doesn''t break...¡± Ace was cut off by the sound of something crashing down before he said, ¡°I''ll stop him from breaking more stuff.¡± Genzo looked at the cracked wall of the house Luffy hit as he said, ¡°Someone better be paying for that.¡± Marcus nodded and pulled out a stack of money as he asked, ¡°Do you guys have a docking fee?¡± ¡°We only charge if you stay longer than a couple days.¡± ¡°We will be here for at least a month.¡± Marcus said as he handed the money in his hands to Genzo. Genzo glanced at it and tried to return most of it as he said, ¡°This is too much.¡± Marcus shook his head and refused to take back the money as he said, ¡°Keep it since I know my brother is gonna cause more trouble.¡± As Genzo was about to speak and refuse the money again, Zeff, Sanji, Zoe and the others walked off the ship. Genzo eyed Zeff before he looked at Marcus with narrowed eyes as he asked, ¡°I thought you said you were the captain?¡± Marcus glanced over to Zeff before he said, ¡°I am the captain.¡± ¡°Then who is that?¡± Genzo asked as he pointed at Zeff. ¡°Him? He''s the cook.¡± ¡°Cook? Why isn''t he the captain?¡± Genzo asked as he studied Zeff. ¡°Because this isn''t his ship.¡± Marcus said with a shrug. ¡°Hey brat, I''m going shopping for supplies. Do you want me to look for anything special?¡± Marcus glanced at Zeff as he said, ¡°We''re gonna stay here for at least a month, so don''t worry about resupplying just yet.¡± ¡°A month? Didn''t you want to hunt more pirates?¡± ¡°We will, but I want to properly train for a while and this place seems nice.¡± Marcus said as he glanced towards the village. Within a few moments everyone left to go explore the village before Marcus asked, ¡°How is the security around here? Do I need to worry about anyone trying to steal from my ship?¡± ¡°I might be the sheriff, but it''s mostly an honorary title. Our village is so small, everyone knows each other. So we don''t have any issues with crime.¡± Genzo said with a hint of pride. ¡°Great, since I also wanted to check out the town too. Any places you recommend and do you have a bath house?¡± ¡°We have a decent restaurant that also acts as the village''s bar¡­ As for a bathhouse, we have one near the center of town.¡± Genzo said as he pointed to a set of buildings and added, ¡°I can show you the way if you want.¡± Genzo disbursed his helpers before he walked with Marcus towards the center of the village. As they walked he asked, ¡°So you hunt pirates? Aren''t most of you too young for something like that?¡± ¡°Most of us can wipe the floor with someone four times our age, so why should age matter?¡± Genzo glanced at Marcus as he asked, ¡°Where are all your parents at?¡± ¡°Do you always ask so many questions when a ship visits the island or is it because I''m so young?¡± Genzo frowned slightly before Marcus said, ¡°Anyway thanks for showing me where to go, I''ll be fine from here.¡± Marcus disappeared from Genzo''s view moments later which made the man quickly look around trying to find Marcus. After he couldn''t find him, Genzo let out a sigh and headed back to his office. Marcus stopped by the restaurant to eat lunch and then went to the bath house to rest for a while before he headed back to the ship. Once back at the ship, he took up a post in the crows nest and relaxed as he read the newspaper. As he was reading the newspaper his den den mushi started ringing so he answered it and said, ¡°Hello.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Brat, is that anyway to greet your grandpa?¡± ¡°Grandpa? Why are you calling? Are you coming back to visit already?¡± Marcus asked as he skimmed the newspaper. Garp sounded upset as he said, ¡°No¡­ Sengoku has me staying at HQ to help keep the warlords in line.¡± ¡°Warlords? Is Jinbe there?¡± Marcus asked with some interest. ¡°The big blue one? Yeah he''s here, why?¡± Garp asked through a mouth full of what Marcus assumed was either crackers or donuts. ¡°Can I talk to him?¡± ¡°I don''t want you talking to some pirate scum. Your brother is bad enough, I don''t need you getting any ideas.¡± Garp said in an annoyed tone. ¡°Remember my issue? I need to talk to him about that.¡± Garp went quiet for a few moments before he let out a sigh and said, ¡°Give me a little while and I''ll call you back.¡± Garp hung up before Marcus could respond which made him smile as he placed his den den mushi away. Marcus went back to reading until he heard someone on the deck below making noise. Marcus didn''t think about it much at first, but still glanced over the side of the crows nest to see an orange haired girl. The girl was in a faded dress with green trim as she crept around the boat. Marcus watched her for a few minutes before she quietly disappeared through the door leading in the ship. Marcus shook his head slightly as he placed the newspaper down and grabbed the rope that led to the deck. Within moments Marcus was on the deck and quickly followed after the girl. Marcus, being used to the ship knew exactly where to step to not make any of the boards creek as he searched for the girl. It didn''t take long to find her as every board made a sound when she moved. Marcus found her near in the hold going through items they collected from pirates over the past year. As she searched she mumbled to herself, ¡°I wonder what''s worth the most money that they won''t miss?¡± Marcus carefully picked up a jeweled candle holder without making noise and handed it to the girl as he said, ¡°This would probably work.¡± ¡°Oh, thanks! This is definitely worth a lot of money.¡± The girl said before she froze in place and her head slowly turned towards Marcus. Marcus smiled at her as he asked, ¡°You know what the punishment for thievery is on my ship?¡± The girl''s eyes widened as Marcus placed a hand on his sword and said with a predatory grin, ¡°We cut off the person''s right hand.¡± A blood curdling scream erupted from the girl''s mouth as she bolted out of the hold of the ship. Marcus smirked slightly to himself as he followed after her and couldn''t help but notice she didn''t let go of the candle holder in her panic. Marcus wasn''t in a rush and kept a certain distance with the girl as she escaped the ship and headed towards the village. When the girl realized Marcus was still chasing her she started to yell for help as she rushed towards the middle of the village. People on the street and in the buildings all approached to find out what was going on until Genzo appeared. The girl bolted for him like she found her savior the moment she saw him and said, ¡°Help! He said he was gonna cut off my hand! He''s evil, he must be a pirate!¡± Genzo''s eyes narrowed as he scanned the area to find who the girl was talking about before he found Marcus. As Marcus approached closer the girl pointed at him and said, ¡°He has to be a pirate, just look at him! He looks evil with that scary face and sword!¡± Marcus stopped in front of Genzo as he said, ¡°We have a bit of a problem here.¡± ¡°You''re the problem!¡± The girl said before Genzo placed a hand on her shoulder and said, ¡°Settle down Nami, I need to find out what''s going on here.¡± ¡°He''s an evil pirate and wants to cut my hand off!¡± Nami said as she pointed at Marcus. ¡°Is that the hand you want me to cut off?¡± Marcus asked with a smirk, which made Nami jump and hide behind Genzo who let out a sigh before he looked at the gathered crowd and said, ¡°Go on, nothing to see here. I''ll handle it.¡± As the crowd dispersed, Genzo focused his gaze on Marcus and said in a stern tone, ¡°No one is cutting off anyone''s hand¡­ Now tell me what happened.¡± Marcus motioned towards Nami as he said, ¡°That little brat trespassed onto my ship and stole from me. I told her she would have to lose a hand over it.¡± ¡°Don''t call me a brat you stupid pirate!¡± Genzo placed a hand on Nami''s head as he said, ¡°I said to settle down.¡± As Nami went quiet Genzo turned back to Marcus and asked, ¡°I don''t wanna call you a liar, but do you have proof?¡± ¡°The jeweled candlestick holder in her left hand was taken from my ship''s hold.¡± Marcus said as he pointed to the object still in Nami''s hand. Nami and everyone else glanced at it before they focused on Nami who nervously said, ¡°I just found it.¡± ¡°Found it uh?¡± Genzo asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°I have five more exactly like it still on my ship.¡± Nami started to sweat a little as Genzo grabbed the candlestick holder and asked, ¡°And where exactly did you find this at Nami?¡± ¡°Ummm, I forgot.¡± Genzo narrowed his eyes as he stared down at Nami and asked, ¡°Tell me the truth, where did you find it?¡± ¡°On that pirate ship at the dock.¡± Nami said before she added, ¡°But it should be okay to steal from pirates because they steal from other people.¡± Genzo chopped Nami over the head as he said, ¡°Stealing something someone else stole doesn''t make it right!¡± As Nami rubbed the top of her head, Genzo handed the candle stick holder back to Marcus and said, ¡°I''m sorry about this. Nami is a little rebellious and likes to get into troublesome situations.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t apologize to him, he''s a pirate!¡± Genzo shot a glare at Nami as he said, ¡°He isn''t a pirate.¡± Nami shook her head as she said, ¡°No way, just look at him! He looks just like an evil pirate and the hold of his ship is full of treasure, so he is absolutely a pirate!¡± ¡°Your ship is full of treasure?¡± Genzo asked with a raised eyebrow. ¡°We hunt pirates and also strip their ships of anything valuable when we''re finished.¡± Marcus said with a shrug. As they talked, a woman with pink hair and another young girl with blue hair approached them at a fast pace. When they arrived the woman asked, ¡°Who wants to cut off my daughter''s hand?¡± ¡°I do.¡± Genzo glanced from Marcus to the woman with pink hair as he said, ¡°No one is going to cut off Nami''s hand.¡± ¡°What happened? Why does this little brat want to take her hand?¡± The woman said as she placed her hands on her hips and frowned at Marcus. Genzo pointed at the candle stick holder as he said, ¡°Nami snuck onto his ship and stole that from the cargo hold¡­ Marcus wanted to take her hand as compensation.¡± The woman glanced at the candle stick holder before she turned to Nami and asked, ¡°Did you really steal that?¡± Nami nodded her head before she said, ¡°I wanted to buy some books and new clothes after I sold it.¡± The woman chopped Nami over the head before she said, ¡°Just because we don¡¯t have much money, doesn¡¯t give you the right to steal from others. Now apologize to him.¡± As Nami rubbed her head she frowned and said, ¡°But he¡¯s a pirate.¡± ¡°I said, apologize!¡± The woman said as she chopped Nami over the head again. Nami looked like she was about to cry as she said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry I took your stuff, you stupid pirate.¡± The woman nodded in approval before she turned to Marcus and asked, ¡°You have what she stole back and she apologized. Does that work or do you still want to take her hand?¡± ¡°Did she really learn a lesson if I don¡¯t take her hand?¡± Marcus asked with a cocked eyebrow. The woman nodded her head as she said, ¡°Fine, you can take my hand instead.¡± ¡°NO!¡± Both girls screamed at the same time as they grabbed onto the woman while Genzo¡¯s eyes widened. As Genzo was about to say something, the woman leaned forward towards Marcus and placed her breasts almost in front of his face as she said in a teasing tone, ¡°Or I could pay you back with my body.¡± Marcus gave her a flat look as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t like old women or used goods.¡± The teasing smile fell from her face as she asked in an icy tone, ¡°Used goods?¡± Marcus shrugged as he said, ¡°You have two kids and are probably four or five times my age. You are practically a grandma compared to me.¡± ¡°You little brat!¡± The woman said as she punched towards Marcus¡¯s face. Marcus disappeared from his spot and was over ten feet away as he shook his head and said, ¡°And violent too? Not lady like at all and definitely not wife material. I feel bad for your husband.¡± ¡°Get over her you little brat, I¡¯m gonna teach you some manners!¡± The woman said as she ran towards Marcus who smirked and said, ¡°I¡¯m good, thanks.¡± Before he disappeared again which left the woman fuming.