The Paper Fruit Among the Pirates

"All the mates are together again, so let's have a party—"

"wait,"

On the ruined cake island, Roman reached out and stopped Luffy who was about to "get local materials". Not to mention that it's not the time to celebrate, just the surrounding cake buildings...

"This is just the illusion of the Red Earl. Even if you eat it now, it is exactly the same as the real cake food, but after the illusion is released, you will be eating dirt..."

No, if you think about it carefully, Luffy's stomach can easily digest even dirt?

"Let me do it,"

Brin knelt down and put one hand on the ruins of Cake Island,

"Memory wipe!"

brush--

As Brin activated the 'memory fruit' ability, the surrounding scenery immediately trembled like a mirage in the desert, and the huge cake building was also turned into moss-covered ruins. The bright sky also restored the moon and stars, and Luffy also:

"My cake~!!"

"Brin, you pay me for—"

"Hey, hey, hey...these are all fake, Luffy. If you want a cake, Sanji and I will make it for you when we get back on the boat."

"Hee hee hee, it's all right~~"

"In short,"

Roman rubbed his temples, planning for the Straw Hats' next move.

"Now that our people have been gathered, we can choose to sail away regardless of the plans of the Red Earl. ——Anyway, we have nothing to lose, and strictly speaking, we have gained a lot."

Originally, the Red Earl had no malice towards the Straw Hats, otherwise, if he had directly killed the Straw Hats when he used the "fake companion" at the beginning, now only Luffy and Roman were left in the Straw Hats.

By the way, Roman knows that because of the passive mind reading of the Red Earl, Roger, Whitebeard, and Garp are the only people who can really be called 'friends'. And these older generations are basically inextricably linked with the Straw Hats, so:

"Hee hee hee, how can you let it go like this?"

Luffy pressed the straw hat,

"Although the adventure tonight is quite interesting, there is still an unresolved grievance between us and that uncle. Padong—"

Luffy looked at Tanuki who was as tall as Chopper.

"You still have something to say to your 'boss'? Before that, I won't let you be my partner!"

"Hey... what I said to the boss... I... raccoon... raccoon..."

"By the way, we played half the night. But—"

Robin held his chin,

"What is the purpose of the Red Earl? If we know the purpose, maybe we can pre-empt the layout."

"It's strange to say, we shouldn't have any conflicts with that legendary pirate, right?"

Franky also took up the topic. As for Luffy, who was jumping up and down next to him and shouting "I am the one who will become the One Piece", that is of course the daily background board of the Straw Hats.

"Whatever his purpose is, don't you know if you find the other party and ask?"

Facing the enthusiastic Sauron, Usopp sharply pointed out his attempt:

"Are you simply excited to meet the great swordsman?"

"Boss said he came to find a 'devil fruit'."

The little raccoon raised its head,

"Although I don't know what kind of fruit..."

"Thank you for telling us... But is it okay to tell us such an important thing?"

Facing Brook's question, Padong shook his head.

"As long as I really want to be a partner, you will let me join, right?"

"In that case, I think at least I can help everyone..."

"But, even if we know that the Red Earl is looking for a Devil Fruit, we don't have any clues, do we?"

Facing the frowning Nami, Roman certainly couldn't just say, "I know what the Red Earl is looking for: Zoology, Bat Fruit, Phantom Beast, Vampire Devil Fruit." Instead, he spoke with a normal staff thinking:

"If you want to know what the devil fruit is, it's the easiest way for us to continue tracking the Red Earl. —Of course, I still say the same old saying, we have nothing to lose, so we can just leave."

"Okay, so it's decided! Let's continue to chase!!"

"I see you just want to go on a big adventure?"

Usopp clutched his chest.

"I got the 'disease that can't go to the island'..."

"Aren't we on the island now?"

Facing Sanji's complaints, Usopp immediately changed his words:

"I got the 'disease of not being able to go deep into the island'..."

"We're deep inside the island now."

The honest man Jinbe made up the knife, and Usopp burst into tears:

"Then I... I have the disease of not being able to get close to the Red Earl..."

"Okay, isn't your disease too accurate?"

Roman rolled his eyes and pointed to the front:

"Everyone else is gone. If you don't want to move on, you can stay here alone."

"No~~~ Wait for me!!"

Don't blame Usopp for "returning to old ways". It's really the Red Earl's previous kick and sword. Even the main players of the Straw Hats can't stand it. Beat up.

It's a pity that the group of enthusiastic guys in front didn't take his words to heart at all.

—————

"here is?"

"do not know·····"

"I don't know either."

"Unknown scenery +1"

"Strange, how come all of us have no impression?"

Because the previous 'levels' correspond to the events and powerful enemies that the Straw Hats have experienced, basically you can tell where they are at a glance, and you can immediately know who the 'BOSS' is to deal with, but only in front of you of this village:

No matter how you look at it, it is just an ordinary village. There are few two- and three-story wooden houses, and the fences form patches of pastures. A winding dirt road stepped on by people extends through the small village to the port.

If you want to say the only special thing, it is that there are several tall windmills in the village, which are slowly turning by the sea breeze.

"Ah! Here is—"

"Luffy, do you know this place?"

Facing everyone's eyes, Luffy nodded in surprise.

"That's right, this is where I grew up: the windmill village in the East China Sea' Goa Kingdom."

Luffy took everyone to "visit" his hometown with emotion on his face. Although he had no relatives, all the familiar things made him talk endlessly:

"This is Sister Makino's tavern. I used to listen to pirates telling stories here. Usopp's father, Jesus, mentioned him every day..."

A tavern that is not spacious, but it carries the dream of Luffy when he was a child.

If there weren't those bragging adventure stories that the pirates talked about, wouldn't Luffy think about going to sea?

"This pier... At that time, Shanks gave me this straw hat here,"

Luffy took off the straw hat on his head, looked at the empty pier, and showed a rare serious expression of nostalgia.

"I once said here that I want to gather a group of partners who can't lose to Shanks and the others, and find the world's number one treasure—"

The voice of the boy who opened his arms echoed in the pier, just like back then.

"I'm going to be the Pirate King!!"

"So--"

Putting on the straw hat, Luffy turned his head and looked at his friends behind him with a smile.

"Guys, how are we now compared to the 'Four Emperors'?"

······

"Need to say?"

"One Piece, I only admit it's you!"

"We must be the number one pirate group in the world!"

"Of course, that's what we've come to do now..."

Everyone standing here has no doubt that Luffy can climb to the top! It is also because of this that top talents in various fields, even Roman, are willing to board his boat. Although Luffy has a lot of bad habits, he has never wavered in the slightest in his attachment to his dreams and his partners!

and this:

That's enough.

"Hee hee hee, next I will take you to visit my childhood 'home'!"

As everyone climbed up a mountain next to the windmill village along the lower road, Luffy introduced while walking:

"This is 'Mount Golbo', where I met Ace and Sabo for the first time."

Although it is just an ordinary hill, it carries the happiest time of Luffy's childhood. As well as the most innocent dream, it was also at that time that Luffy made a promise to be the freest person in the world.

"Ace?"

Faced with the little raccoon Padong's doubts, Chopper explained to him:

"It's Luffy's brother, two years ago..."

"No, nothing."

With Luffy leading the way, a group of people came:

here is?

Roman's eyes fell on a stump with three glasses of wine on it. In an instant, he thought of a possibility!

"Ah, this is where I became brothers with Ace and Sabo."

"Brother's sworn wine?"

Facing Sauron's emotion, Roman had already guessed:

"In other words, the opponent this time is—"

He raised his head and looked at the tree trunk next to him. There is a log cabin built between the branches, and of course more importantly:

"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Luffy~"

!

"Ace?!"

As others looked up, it was a man squatting on a tree trunk with a shirtless upper body. He pressed the cowboy hat with two badges of "smiley face" and "sadness" on his head, and a face with freckles was smiling.

"Che, is the fruit still the same thing?"

Sanji snorted unhappily, even facing the Four Emperors, is it better than facing this?

"Don't fight...it doesn't look right?"

Facing Nami who opened the book, Ace next to the tree house nodded.

"Yes."

"Luffy,"

Nami, who was covered in thunder and lightning, was already thinking about how to deal with the 'flame'.

"Leave this one to us..."

"No, I'll do it."

"But···"

Nami, who still wanted to say something, was held back by Roman,

"Luffy said he would come by himself, so let him go."

And... the real Ace didn't die. It wasn't that Roman wanted to hide it deliberately, but Ace asked Roman to keep it a secret. But—it shouldn't be long before you can give Luffy a surprise, right?

Just when Roman was distracted, Ace jumped down from the tree, and at the same time as he assumed an attacking posture, raging flames burned on his arms!

"I'm going, Luffy!"

"Well, I will not lose to you."

Ace, even if I have never won you once before; but it is different now, for my partner, for the dream of One Piece——

"Rubber Eagle Rifle!"

"fire punch!"

As the fists of the two brothers collided with everything, Roman created a suspended 'platform' to carry the others and retreated to watch the battle. After all, this is a forest... and Ace's ability is fire.

This fight is not just as simple as 'a fire on the mountain', but a battle of flames! The sky is full of red flames! For a moment, 'Ace' and Luffy fought inextricably in the flames. but:

"Luffy is going to win,"

Domineering is always a vital part of fighting in the new world. Strong armed domineering can make people stand tall, and sensitive knowledge-colored domineering can make people dodge attacks, discover the opponent's intentions, and even:

Predict future····

"Great Flame Precept, Emperor Yan!!"

Falling into a disadvantage in the fierce battle, Ace directly chose to leap to the high altitude to gather his big move, and a fireball as huge as the second 'sun' appeared on the top of the mountain, radiating light and heat wantonly! Everyone in the Straw Hats who watched the battle from a distance was sweating and evaporated as soon as they broke out! The tongues of several fur- and animal-type people all over their bodies are almost dragging to the ground... on the paper.

"Luffy, be careful!"

Facing the giant fireball crashing down, Luffy instantly entered the fourth gear mode, and at the same time made a gesture of punching without fear.

"come on--!"

"Rubber industry fire snake cannon!"

boom--! ! !

Like the sun erupting, only the scorching white light and crimson flames remained in the eyes of everyone watching the battle! The terrifying high temperature left patches of colorful colors in everyone's retinas, which could not disappear for a long time. Under this shocking impact, the entire 'Golbo Mountain' became the 'Golbo Basin'. And as the flames and smoke dispersed, in the huge pit that melted into magma:

"Luffy won."

There is no doubt that Luffy's winner is standing, while Ace has sat down on the other side with his head down, and the huge pit behind him speaks of the impact he received.

"I do not understand····"

The little raccoon cat Padong looked at everything in front of him, of course he was not doubtful about the intensity of the battle, but:

"That person should be very important to Luffy, right?"

"Why is he still fighting seriously..."

"Precisely because it matters,"

Roman let the paper platform lower slowly while explaining casually.

"That's why we have to fight seriously. Isn't the communication between men just expressed with fists?"

"Because it's important, do you take it seriously..."

"Don't always care about others, little Padong."

Nami knelt down and patted the civet cat's head,

"What about yourself? Wouldn't it matter to you if you were replaced by that kind of 'replica' next to the important person?"

"Boss... the position next to you..."

Recalling the happy time when we were on the sea together, those who talked about ideals with Roger, and had a drink with White Beard...

"Because you don't know the boss at all, that's why you say such things!"

"Ah, we don't understand."

Luffy who came over looked at the civet cat,

"Of all the people here, the one who knows him best...is you!"

So, should we face our true heart, or should we continue to avoid it?