"Really?" The young man was surprised. "Not once in an entire month? Well, if you're so curious, my full name is Monkey D. Luffy."
No one present noticed Robin's eyes widening in surprise.
"...I should have worked it out long ago." After a brief pause spent 'digesting' the answer, Law sighed heavily. Despite that heavy sigh, however, the young man immediately relaxed noticeably, as though he had stopped constantly waiting for a 'blow' from the person opposite him. "Every sign was obvious from the beginning." Law wearily massaged the bridge of his nose.
"You know my grandfather?!" Luffy instantly became wary. "No, wait, you don't mean my appearance," he corrected himself at once. "D... You know about D?"
"Trafalgar D. Water Law."
The attention of everyone present was focused on the two young men speaking, so Robin's strange reaction once again went unnoticed.
"Aha-ha-ha-ha!!! If this isn't Fate at work, I'll play 'Russian Roulette' with all six chambers loaded! So what's your true goal? Definitely not the One Piece or the title of Pirate King! I noticed long ago that neither the title nor the treasure interests you. And yet you're here on the Grand Line, and you don't look like someone who set out merely for the pleasure of traveling."
Apart from Luffy and Law himself, everyone else began exchanging puzzled glances, trying to determine from one another's eyes whether anyone present had understood the true meaning behind the conversation. No one had. This time even Zoro—who usually knew and understood more than anyone else whenever Luffy was concerned—failed them.
"When we first met, Roronoa said that if I had a goal, you had the power to help me achieve it."
"Of course! No problem! Come to me anytime!"
"Donquixote Doflamingo. That's the name of my target."
"And what do you want me to do? As far as I know, he's a Warlord."
"My life's goal is his complete destruction."
It would have been difficult to find people better suited to putting such a goal into practice than the Hats. They effectively specialized in destroying everything and everyone—materially, physically, morally, spiritually, and psychologically. Destruction for every taste, so to speak. A broad spectrum of services, so to speak. Or perhaps 'the most complete assortment possible' would have been more accurate?
"Here!" Walking over to the girl seated on the ground and bending down, Luffy handed Robin his revolver and poured the bullets onto the ground beside her. When he straightened, a notebook and pencil had already appeared in his hands. "Right, let's see what's next in the plans... First item completed, second and third haven't happened yet, fourth is destroying Broke Shwarks. That's currently in progress. Fifth is harassing my family while disguised as a Marine. Damn, I nearly forgot that one! Sixth is declaring war on the World Government... Rob the Great Bank... Find the City of Gold... Find a zombie or zombie skeleton for the family... Start a war with the Marines... Ah, here it is, item twenty-seven! Smash every Warlord, Admiral, and Emperor. As you can see, I planned from the beginning to deal with all the Warlords." Luffy showed Law his notebook. "So your Mingo-bird was going to get caught in the beating either way. Still, I can make him our priority target if you'd like. Do you know where he lives and what he does?"
Luffy's list made an indelible impression on everyone who heard it for the first time, and the Heart Pirates were no exception. Unlike Robin, who had met the Hats in general and Luffy in particular for the first time only today—and therefore failed to treat the list with the proper understanding and respect—Ikkaku, Shachi, and Clione had spent more than a month in their company. They had come to know the insane family well enough to take the announced list completely seriously rather than dismissing it as empty boasting or the ravings of a madman. No, it would be more accurate to say that despite being a collection of ravings voiced by a boasting madman, the list had to be treated with complete seriousness. If it included declaring war on the World Government and defeating the Admirals, Warlords, and Emperors, then that was precisely the plan every Hat would follow. Even if they could not survive so much as declaring war on the World Government or meeting a single Admiral, none of the Heart Pirates doubted that the abnormal family would still attempt to carry out every item on the list. It was easier for Law in that respect. Such madness was not exactly expected from a person with the initial 'D.' in his name—the young man himself would never have dared it—but it was entirely plausible.
"...It has been eight years since Doflamingo became king of Dressrosa," Law began speaking to the point after 'digesting' another dose of Luffy's signature madness. "The country itself lies in the New World, and Doflamingo uses it as a base for arms trading. The world knows him as a king and a Warlord, but few know that he wears another mask. Taking the alias 'Joker,' he became the largest underground arms dealer in the world in only a few years. By encouraging conflicts—or personally igniting them—in every country neighboring Dressrosa, he sells weapons to every side involved. Unfortunately, I know no other details. Even what I've already told you is supported only by my word. I intended to begin a full-scale information-gathering operation only after reaching the New World. Then, based on everything collected, I planned to develop a strategy for Doflamingo's destruction."
"All right, silver tongue, you've convinced me! I'll write Mingo-bird down as item seven!" After listening to Law's explanation to the end, Luffy enthusiastically scribbled in his notebook. "It's a shame he's in the New World, though." Having written the new item, Luffy frowned slightly. "I wasn't planning to go there for the next couple of years."
That revelation literally drove not only Law's subordinates but Law himself into a stupor. The Heart Pirates had accepted the entire previously announced list better than this turn, so strongly did it contradict everything they knew about Luffy. They had expected the opposite—that the young man would struggle with all his might to rush into the New World. That was where the most outstanding pirates, pirate hunters, Marines, and most reckless adventurers gathered. It formed a peculiar center of the world, and so all of them found it wild to hear that Luffy had decided not to hurry there.
"Then what do you intend to do for the next several years if you aren't striving for the New World?" Law asked.
"What do you mean, what? Explore the first half of the Grand Line, of course! There must be an unreal number of islands here, so why rush? We'll look around, have some fun, and all my weaklings can train at the same time." Luffy pointed a thumb over his shoulder toward his entire family, among whom he was the only one who could reasonably claim the title of 'weakling.' "Otherwise I'll get sick of rescuing them in the New World. I don't need that kind of happiness! Once every one of them has mastered two kinds of Haki, then we can head to the New World."
Sitting on the ground, Robin could not believe that a man who killed members of his own crew over ordinary dissatisfaction and irritation had the audacity to speak of rescuing anyone. The Heart Pirates knew Yosaku was 'alive,' but even they had difficulty comprehending Luffy's capacity for concern. The young man usually did literally everything possible and impossible to cause trouble for his family and acquire more enemies. His list of plans alone was worth considering; it resembled the cherished fantasy of a suicidal man—death on every side, and a beautiful death at that! After such things, it was strange to hear caution from him.
"I don't mind waiting several years," Law said after once again 'digesting' Luffy's revelation. He had never considered himself slow-witted, but lately he had noticed a constant need to take lengthy pauses to think. The past month had seriously undermined his faith in himself. He had not considered himself weak before either. "I've waited eleven years, so I can easily wait another two."
"Excellent!"
"But that doesn't mean I'll sit idle," Law added immediately. "That list of yours could easily lead your entire family straight into the grave."
"Don't even hope for that!" Luffy waved dismissively. "You and your crew aren't getting away from us now!" he grinned shamelessly. "And I intend to live happily for a very long time, so we have an equally long and happy cooperation ahead of us!"
After operating on the princess, Law had reached approximately the same conclusion—not about 'long and happy cooperation,' but about 'not getting away'—yet only now, after confirmation of the initial 'D.,' did the young man fully understand everything. While he built plans for how to use the conveniently encountered crew of lunatics who considered one another family, he and his people had already undergone a thorough brainwashing. In light of this discovery, Law immediately viewed every event from an entirely different angle.
"I'll go to the New World and begin gathering every piece of information I can about Doflamingo. As long as you and your family remain alive, I won't take any action, but if anything happens to you, I'll begin acting independently. Deal?"
For example, despite the tons of varied medical equipment aboard the submarine, none of it had suffered in the slightest after Luffy's intrusion. The hull plating, bulkheads, and sectional doors had been damaged, automatically eliminating the possibility of submerging. The only things placed in the category of 'beyond repair' were every Log Pose aboard Law's ship, making navigation in the waters of the Grand Line impossible. And an entire month of sailing merely to reach the first island? Brainwashing required considerable time! Could that be the reason they had taken so long to reach Whisky Peak? Only two facts clouded such a coherent theory. How could Luffy have learned the location of every Log Pose aboard the submarine so quickly—Law knew Observation Haki could hear the 'voices' of people, but certainly not the 'voices' of objects!—and how could he have devised and considered all of it so quickly? For that matter, why devise and consider anything at all? There was no point making plans for a crew one had only just met!
"Deal!"
"Then decide for yourself what you'll do with these two," Law said, indicating Robin seated on the ground and Igaram's head attached to the crate-table. "They've heard far too much unnecessary information now."
"Don't worry about trifles!" Luffy replied carelessly, looking as pleased as a cat with cream. And why would he not be pleased? The latest victim had already accepted his fate! "Even if Mingo-bird somehow learns of our plans, it will only make things more entertaining. By the time we head into the New World, our main targets will be the Emperors, so what will one pathetic Warlord matter to us then? It would be easier for him to die on his own! And from now on, always keep your head held high! After all, you're now on the same side as the Pirate King!"
Whatever else one might accuse Luffy of, a lack of self-confidence was certainly not among the possibilities. Quite expected from a possessor of Conqueror's Haki. Self-confidence also had the most favorable effect on the other two forms of Haki. Otherwise, all three abilities would not have been united by the word 'Haki'—Will.
"I always hold my head high," Law replied.
He never pronounced the word 'Captain,' but it practically hung in the air.
"Amazing! I didn't think everything would happen that quickly!" Nami admitted once it became clear that the serious portion of the conversation had ended.
"It seems Luffy's ability to Luffify other people isn't standing still!" Johnny shared his opinion. "It looks like it's become much stronger over time."
Law could not possibly ignore such a comment.
"The ability to Luffify people?" the young man repeated with a strange expression.
"You should know what I'm talking about yourself!" Johnny answered. "That feeling when you realize that at some point he managed to climb inside your head." The young man placed a finger against his temple. "You understand he's sitting in there, slowly changing you, and you recognize those changes—but you still can't do anything about them."
"...That didn't sound particularly pleasant," Luffy muttered without much joy in his voice. "Ryu, in the future, change your wording to something more euphonious. Otherwise you'll frighten people for no reason."
"For no reason?" Sanji raised his curled eyebrow. "As far as I'm concerned, brainwashing is a very good reason."
"Don't slander me! I don't brainwash anyone! I merely force people to look at the world from a different angle!"
"And you call that 'Luffifying'?" Law asked, still wearing the same indescribable expression.
"We call the process itself Luffification," a satisfied Johnny explained.
"Seriously?"
"We had to call this slow descent into madness something," Nami answered.
"Descent into madness?"
"A year ago, I hated pirates more than anything in the world and wished for all of them to burn in Hell forever. Now I've become a pirate myself. I must have gone insane; nothing else can explain such a change in priorities."
"How long have you been with us now? More than a month?" Sanji asked. "Then you must already have caught yourself thinking things that would once have been completely unlike you."
Law involuntarily remembered his decision to allow the bounty hunters of Whisky Peak to capture members of his own crew. In the past, he would never have done such a thing! Everything he had heard suddenly ceased to sound like nonsense.
"Don't worry. There are advantages too," Sanji immediately decided to reassure him.
"Yeah," Johnny nodded. "But there's no point explaining. You'll understand the advantages on your own, much later."
Law found himself thoroughly burdened by all the information dumped onto him. Ikkaku, Shachi, and Clione, standing beside him, fell into a deep daze altogether. The stream of revelations proved too much for them. Apart from Bepo, Law had never shared his future plans with the members of his crew, and so unlike their captain, they had been struck by a double informational blow.
Luffy judged the moment suitable for changing the subject.
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