Ultimate Fruit

Chapter 40: East Blue

When Sengoku heard Hina’s report, he was surprised!

He didn’t think that Lucas would actively want to go against a pirate from Roger’s era!

Shiki isn’t some normal pirate. This is the man who had cut off his own legs to escape! He was incredibly more tenacious compared to the normal pirate.

This man had also stood alongside the likes of Whitebeard and Roger!

Yet Lucas wants to deal him? Moreover, kick his ass to the ground?

Sengoku thought for a moment before agreeing to his request. He made a few calls to have a ship capable of sailing the Calm Belt to be sent to Alabasta as soon as possible!

Knowing the opponent he was about to face, Lucas stopped dallying and continued with his training as soon as he can.

In fact, he even stopped making his rounds in Alabasta anymore and simply focused on training. The citizens didn’t mind. Over time, they had already accepted him after he rounded up some pirates and criminals. He was also able to make rain without the use of Rain Powder so eventually, the people no longer hated him.

Plus, the soldiers had explained to them that Lucas would be dealing with the pirate that caused the islands to disappear in East Blue so they all understood.

Even though the matters in East Blue doesn’t really affect them, they still wanted to feel safe knowing that whoever was behind it to be put behind bars.

Watching over Lucas, Hina also didn’t stay idle.

She’ll still be accompanying Lucas to the East Blue so she naturally should help as much as she can. Especially when it concerns a pirate like Shiki.

Hina knows that Shiki isn’t a normal pirate. She also needs to power up if she wants to be of some use.

Vivi watched the two train and couldn’t help but clench her fists.

Despite being of royalty, in the face of truly powerful people...she simply cannot do anything but watch and worry!

Kohza was also pretty busy. He was ordering the people to stock up some rations and other necessities for their travel.

Right now, he was simply too weak. The only thing he can do is to support Lucas from behind and make sure he doesn’t need to bother about the small things.

Five days passed, the ship finally arrived.

Lucci and the others also arrived a day earlier and heard of the situation.

Lucas gathered everyone on the deck of the ship.

“Listen up! It doesn’t matter who you were in the past. Now, you are a part of the Guardian Wing Pirate crew! For our debut, we will be going to the East Blue to stop a pirate. He is known as the Golden Lion Shiki, a pirate from the era of the Pirate King Roger! Thinking excessively, he is on the same level as Whitebeard. Thinking optimistically, he is old and has grown weaker...if any of you want to leave now, then get out!”

“...”

Lucas saw no one was leaving. He nodded.

“Good. Now, to your stations! We sail for East Blue!”

“Aye!!!”

His crew quickly went to their stations to prepare for setting sail.

The only ones not moving were Kohza and the rest of the former CP9.

Lucci chuckled.

“Whitebeard’s level huh?...I look forward to it.”

“Seriously, never a dull moment.”

Kaku shook his head with a smile.

“Lucas-sama, do you want to take a bath?”

Hearing Kalifa ask, Lucas nearly tripped.

What the...Lucas...sama!?

Lucas looked at Kalifa weirdly.

“Umm, no thanks...I’m fine.”

At this time, Vivi approached him. She seemed to be smiling, yet at the same time, not…

“Lucas~ Come here~”

“A-ah? B-Bibi, wait, stob bulling my cheeks!”

Vivi ignored his protests and dragged Lucas to the side while pulling on his cheeks…

Lucas thought...why does this situation seem familiar…?

When they were far from earshot of the rest, Vivi turned to glare at him before sighing.

“Here, your phone.”

“Ah, I was wondering when you’d return it…”

Lucas smiled and reached out to take the phone but Vivi suddenly pulled it back.

The next moment, Vivi’s lips were already touching Lucas’!

Lucas was surprised for a moment but eventually gave in and kissed her back as well.

Kohza saw this and scratched his cheek helplessly.

These two are too bold! To do this in front of a marine captain and the King…

Right, King Cobra was actually present as well as he wanted to see Lucas off along with Vivi.

He didn’t expect...didn’t expect...to see this scene!

King Cobra fainted, seemingly unable to bear the shock!

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty! Hang in there!”

“Ah! Igaram fainted too!”

“Over here! Chakka and Pell also fainted!”

“...”

Hearing the commotion, Vivi quickly pulled away, her face still red.

“Umm, I should go…be safe.”

“...Yeah.”

Lucas scratched his head embarrassingly.

He really is in deep shit now!

Vivi went to her father’s side but before she steps out of the ship, she looked at Kalifa and stuck out her tongue.

Kalifa’s face darkened and she was on the verge of using Rankyaku to slice her off!

At the side, Hina rubbed her temple in frustration.

Sigh, can’t these two find a better place to do that!?

Hina feels like Sengoku’s gonna give her an earful if she reported what just happened so she decided not to…

Lucas looked around.

The ship that Sengoku lent them has already been repainted to a white and gold color scheme. The preparations are also finished.

It was time to depart.

“Raise the anchor and drop the sails!”

“Aye!”

Standing on the port, Vivi watched on as Lucas’ ship disappear from her view. This was the second time she’s seeing him off again...the next time they meet...who knows when that would be?

Vivi inhaled and exhaled deeply to calm herself. The next moment, she opened her eyes with a smile as she heads back to the palace.

If she wanted to be of help in the future, first...she must become a great Queen!

On the other end of the sea, Lucas was also looking back until Alabasta was no longer in sight.

Finally, he sighed.

Hina saw this and asked.

“Miss her already?”

“...I guess.”

Lucas shook his head and no longer thought about it. He was worried what Nami and Robin would think if they knew...but that’s still a thing of the future.

I’ll deal with it when the time comes...somehow…

Right now, Lucas needed to focus on the current problem, Shiki.

From what he remembers in the movie, Shiki wanted to release a bunch of ferocious beasts that had evolved in a strange way onto East Blue due to his hatred of losing to Roger.

In the timeline of that movie, he appeared before Luffy and the rest reached Sabody and after they got Brook. They got a newspaper of islands disappearing in East Blue when they met Shiki.

Now, that news seemed to have come a bit early, he has no idea where in the sky Shiki is so he can only go to East Blue and wait for him to attack again.

Since there is still some time before he reaches East Blue, all he can do now is train.

Shiki was not shown to have used Haki in the movie, but someone from Roger’s era can’t possibly be that weak. The only good thing here is that he isn’t a logia user so it was still fine for Lucas not having learned Armament Haki.

Whenever Lucas thought about Armament Haki, his head hurt. He really needs to be able to do this sooner rather than later!

He tried to ask Lucci again but when he explained it, he didn’t quite understand it at all...maybe it is as Betty says, it’s better to find a strong teacher.

If possible, he wanted to go find Dragon and ask him to teach him but…

Lucas turned to Hina.

...Nope, with this girl here, it would be troublesome...plus, Shiki wouldn't likely stay put while he trains.

Thinking that, Lucas stopped with his physical training for now and focused on strengthening his Heatman mode.

Just like this, 2 more days passed. They finally reached the Calm Belt.

“Captain! There is a ship sighted on the east!”

Lucas frowned when one of the crew knocked on his door to report while he was training.

A ship? In the Calm Belt? Is it the marines as well, or…

Lucas stood up as soon as he thought of something and got out of his room.

When the door opened, the crewmate was taken aback from the sudden hot air that was released in the room!

“H-hot!?”

“Ah, sorry about that. I was training a bit.”

Lucas felt guilty so he cooled down the crewmate with his water.

“Ah, thanks...rather than that, the ship! Our scouts had looked ahead, it seems to be a pirate ship as well!”

“Pirate ship…”

Lucas nodded and went to the deck to have a look.

He expanded his observation haki to reach the ship that was at the distance.

That ship and flag...like I thought, it’s the Kuja Pirates!

Which means…

Lucas turned to Hina and asked.

“Are we actually near Amazon Lily?”

“No...that should not be the case. Amazon Lily is nearer to the Red Line leading to the New World.”

Hina was also confused why the Kuja Pirates would appear here.

Lucas continued to look at the ship and scanned it.

“...Boa Hancock isn’t there. They probably went out for supplies or something.”

“Lucas! Are we going to engage them?”

Kohza asked when he saw Lucas on the deck.

“...No, there’s no time. Head straight to East Blue!”

“Aye!”

Lucas gave them one last look before going back to his room. It was a pity Boa wasn’t there. If she was, maybe he can ask her to train him.

At the Kuja Pirate’s ship.

A short blonde haired woman with a snake on her shoulders looked at the white and gold ship at the distance.

“A ship?”

“That ship can actually travel the Calm Belt...it doesn’t look like a marine ship. There’s also a skull flag on its sail.”

“Whose flag is that?”

“It seems to be from the new Shichibukai, the Guardian Wing Lucas. I heard he’s close with the marines so they probably gave him that ship. What do we do, Marguerite?”

Marguerite thought for a bit.

Seeing as the other ship doesn’t seem to show signs of approaching them, there was no need for them to bother themselves.

“Ignore them. Right now, we need to get back to Hebihime-sama.”

Back in Lucas’ ship, they sailed smoothly in the Calm Belt for another 2 days before finally entering East Blue.

Apart from meeting the Kuja pirates, the entire trip was so uneventful that Lucas thought.

As expected, this is normal. It’s Luffy that’s weird for always bumping into strange scenarios everywhere he went…

Though it is a bit boring, Lucas can’t really afford to waste any more time.

As they got out of the Calm Belt, Lucas looked at the peaceful sky above.

“So this is the East Blue…”

The sea where Roger and Luffy was born...I wonder if there is something special about this sea?

Even Shanks visited it...he can’t just visit without any reason right? He wasn’t even born in this sea himself.

Come to think of it, even Buggy is here...well, he might’ve stayed when Roger was executed at that time.

Lucas stopped thinking about all these things and started to give out orders.

“Kohza, get men to visit every island in this sea and report immediately if there are signs of Shiki attacking.”

“Understood. What about you? Are you going to remain on this ship?”

“No, I’ll be visiting some islands as well and see if I can recruit some more people.”

Hina raised a brow.

“East Blue is known as the weakest out of all the seas, do you really expect to find strong people here?”

“Oh? Is Captain Hina worried for my pirate crew?”

“...”

Pissed, Hina snorted and no longer cared about this bastard.

After deciding for a bit, Lucas decided to head towards Conomi Islands first, Nami’s hometown, Cocoyasi Village.

He just wanted to make sure they are fine.

Lucas gave his orders again and patiently waited.

Since the climate and weather here isn’t as extreme as in the Grand Line, it was quite fast to reach their destination.

Seeing the pirate flag on his ship, everyone in the village immediately picked up weapons at the ready and hid their children.

A man with scars all over his face wearing a hat approached Lucas.

“Leave, we don’t want your kind here!”

Lucas didn’t mind being pointed with a gun. He simply smiled and looked back without any malice.

“Please don’t be alarmed. You must be Genzo, correct? Nami spoke about you.”

“Nami? You know Nami?”

Genzo raised a brow and lowered his weapon slightly.

Lucas nodded.

“Un, I...used to be a part of their crew. She often spoke about her hometown when she tends to her orange trees. They were very delicious.”

At this time, a woman with short light blue hair appeared.

“It’s good that she’s taking proper care of those trees...how is she?”

“You’re Nojiko, correct? Nami’s older sister? She’s gotten stronger. There were plenty of times where she saved us just by navigating the seas.”

Lucas felt his pockets and took out stacks of papers.

After getting the marine ship, Sengoku also lent various kinds of denden mushi and devices.

He was able to print the photos on his phone by showing it to the specialized denden mushi.

Right now, what he had in his hands were pictures of Nami that were taken in their voyage.

Nojiko and Genzo looked at the photos with excitement.

Finally, Genzo ordered the villagers to lower their weapons.

Seeing as the situation has been resolved, Lucas decided to cut to the chase.

“As much as I want to catch up, I still need to make sure of a few things first. Due to circumstances, I am now working with the Marines at the moment to catch a pirate who seems to be targeting East Blue.”

Genzo nodded with a grave expression.

“That’s right. Several islands has already been hit, which is why we were so hostile at the start. I figure it is the same to every island. Everyone is worried that their island will be next.”

Nojiko looked at Lucas and to Hina who was wearing a marine captain uniform.

“Still...is it okay for pirates and marines to be together?”

“Ah...I know you have your history with the Arlong Pirates and some bad marines...but you can trust her. Though she looks like a statue and can be annoying sometimes. Also nagging, and speaks childishly in third person all the time, she is still...umm...good, I guess?”

Hina’s face twitched multiple times, completely annoyed with how Lucas introduced her!

“Don’t listen to him. Hina is tasked to monitor him so he doesn’t create trouble.”

“See? Speaks in third person!”

“...”

Nojiko and Genzo looked at the two and no longer bothered about it.

Lucas cleared his throat and continued.

“Anyway, I will leave some people here to make sure you are safe. They will report back if there is any sign of trouble and I will immediately come rushing.”

“...How long do you plan to stay?”

Nojiko suddenly asked.

Though Lucas was confused why she asked that, he still answered.

“There are still some islands I needed to visit so after a bit of rest, we will be leaving.”

“In that case, come with me. You can rest over at my place. In the meantime, tell me about Nami.”

“Ah, sure thing.”

Lucas nodded and followed Nojiko. When he turned around and saw Hina following, he immediately shooed her away.

“Go, go away. I wouldn't do anything geez. Go somewhere else.”

“...”

A vein popped up in Hina’s temple again.

She glared at Lucas before snorting and walking away to report to Sengoku.

“Phew, that ice block finally left. It’s really annoying being watched every time.”

Nojiko just smiled wryly at that and led Lucas to her house.

After settling down, Nojiko gave Lucas an orange juice and asked.

“So, are you and Nami a couple?”

“Bfft- cough!?”

Surprised by the sudden blunt question, Lucas choked and nearly spat out the orange juice.

He patted on his chest forcefully before looking at Nojiko.

“How...how did you know!?”

“Ah, I was right. Actually, I was just guessing.”

“...”

Damn this woman’s intuition!

Sure enough, they are really sisters…

Nojiko just smiled and placed her palm on her chin.

“Tell me about Nami.”

“...Fine.”

Lucas sighed and showed a wry smile. He then told her about some details in their time together.

At the end, when he told her about Robin and Vivi, he was afraid that she’ll scold him. Instead, there was no change in her expression at all...which is even scarier!

After telling him about his plan of making a separate crew to back the Strawhats when needed, Nojiko nodded.

“I understand the gist of it now, thanks.”

“Well...as long as you're happy…”

“Then, this crew of yours. Let me join.”

“...Hah?”