OP:FS Chapter 03 (Patreon)

I took cover behind the ship railing and peeked my head out to fire at the marines. I had to be honest they were not giving up. I should hav

I took cover behind the ship railing and peeked my head out to fire at the marines. I had to be honest they were not giving up. I should have winged the lieutenant before revealing myself instead of shooting off his hat. That only pissed him off. Nami and Usopp were in the process of getting the boat ready to sail. Nami yelled out. “We have a ship incoming!”

I yelled out next. “Yo, that’s mine. Move a bit out from the shore I’ll come in for a strafing run.” She pulled the ship out to sea and I came in. My ship wasn’t big but it was effective. I had unsummoned most of my clones and it took a while for my bodies to readjust. That still meant I had a surplus of about fifty to play with.

I didn’t need speed as the ship was heading into the tailwind. I lined up my below-deck cannons and fired the rubber grapeshot. The marines who were almost routed were all knocked down by the bullets. I threw a rope to Usopp and Sanji who jumped on my boat. A sudden tornado appeared sucking up everyone still on land.

I asked. “That rubber boy got a tornado power too?” Usopp answered with a slight fear in his words. “N-no. I wonder-” His response cut off as he noticed Luffy on shore. I almost gasped at the shock of their luck. This rubber man had more to him than he let on as I recognized that storm that saved him.

He flung himself and Zoro at my boat as the straw hats had already gotten further away. They’re about to miss so I make a tiny clone with one of my bigger clones and throw it into the air. Once it’s in the path they’d barely miss hitting the sails I poofed ten clones into existence for them to hit.

Poofing in and out of existence quickly made my other clones shake from the mental pressure it put on my head. The steam engine crew was prepared for it fortunately and the rowing crew was firmly holding their oars. My main body was woken up with a nosebleed. “Gods I still haven’t gotten used to this.” More than thirty clones were poofed or died in a short period.

The mental fatigue of that many dying almost knocked me unconscious but I still had enough practice to work through it. We drew closer to their ship but I still wanted to show off a bit more. “Hey you want to jump on that speedboat down there and I’ll take you over to your ship?”

They all jumped off before heading towards Nami. The speedboat had no sails. Instead, it had a more modernized steam engine compared to the big one on my main ship. While it paddled at about four times the speed it was prone to overheating. That plus the ten clones I brought from my ship to use hand paddles and the ten from the steam engine to jump on the bike peddle propellers the boat could go shockingly fast. At least twice the speed of normal ships.

After reaching their boat I combined my mini clones into one and climbed up to join Nami and my surviving clone. I still had a few clones back on Loguetown as well. The mental focus was still low enough for me to not need to summon them back. I made sure they were gathering information and helping the Marines catch some of the pirates who were freed during the storm.

Luffy spoke. “I’ve made my decision. With Storm joining we’ve got our fleet strategist now. I don’t care about that stuff so I’ll leave it to you. Shi shi shi shi.”

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Smoker stood in the rain facing the direction the straw hats fled in. He spoke to Tashigi. “This isn’t good. The straw hats were small fry but if they’re working with Storm who knows what they’ll be able to accomplish. We haven’t been at Loguetown for very long but I could tell how dangerous he was.”

With the last bit of indecision squashed he made his decision. “Prepare a boat. We’re going after them. They must be stopped before they get too far.” There was no hesitation from the crew as they knew how dangerous the group was. “Yes sir!” Everyone quickly began to move and prepare. Tashigi asked. “So you’re just abandoning your post here? The upper ranks aren’t going to like it.”

He dropped the butt of his cigar to the ground. “I don’t care.”

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The straw hats all placed their leg on a barrel and stated their goals. I had been low-key trying to stay in the background in case Luffy didn’t want me to join in but as he looked at me with a smile on his face I approached as well. 

“To find the all blue.” 

“To become pirate king.”

“To be the greatest swordsman.”

“To draw a map of the world.”

“To become a brave warrior of the sea.” 

I smiled as I walked up and placed my leg on the barrel.

“To protect the weak and help my friends.”