Really a confident little guy.
Standing before Hawk Eye Mihawk, Monkey D. Luffy spoke of wanting to become the Pirate King, completely unaware of how difficult this task really was.
Hawk Eye Mihawk's eyes glimmered a little, and he spoke in a low voice: "Wanting to become the Pirate King is just as challenging as becoming the world's greatest Sword Master..."
This wasn't Hawk Eye Mihawk boasting.
Instead, Hawk Eye Mihawk believed that to truly become the world's greatest Sword Master, one must defeat that terrifying man, Uehara Naraku.
To become Pirate King...
One must certainly defeat Uehara Naraku too.
Just according to Hawk Eye Mihawk's understanding of Uehara Naraku.
Once Uehara Naraku mentions someone, and that person hasn't joined Akatsuki, it means their life might become quite unfortunate.
In other words...
Whether it's Monkey D. Luffy or Roronoa Zoro, they might face Uehara Naraku's manipulation, and their dreams are as difficult to achieve as asking Uehara Naraku to act like a human.
It's such a shame...
I wonder how far these two little guys can go!
Just as Hawk Eye Mihawk sighed inwardly, Luffy suddenly laughed and stuck out his tongue: "I don't care! Anyway, I'm definitely going to become the Pirate King!"
"You..."
Hawkeye was silent for a moment, then stepped closer to Luffy, "Why do you want to become the Pirate King?"
"Because I want to."
Monkey D. Luffy clenched his fist, a trace of determination flashing across his face: "So I definitely want to become the Pirate King!"
His reasoning was extremely simple.
Compared to others talking about controlling the world and the wealth of the Grand Treasure, Monkey D. Luffy's reason was very simple.
Because he wanted to...
He just had to do it!
However, Hawk Eye Mihawk frowned and punched Luffy in the stomach, causing him to bend over in pain: "What are you doing?"
"Remember this pain."
Hawk Eye Mihawk retracted his fist, calmly watching Luffy and continued: "If you want to become the Pirate King, you must become stronger... stronger than the previous Pirate King Gol D. Roger!"
Even based on Hawk Eye Mihawk's shallow understanding, he believes Uehara Naraku definitely possesses strength surpassing that of Pirate King Gol D. Roger!
Hawk Eye Mihawk flew back to his coffin ship, looking at Luffy and shouted: "Kid, your true test has just begun, this is just an appetizer..."
"What..."
Luffy couldn't help but mutter.
Hawk Eye Mihawk didn't elaborate further, he simply navigated his coffin ship away, leaving Luffy and the others with a final message.
"Soon, a Navy fleet will be dispatched to the East Sea, and the officer's name of that fleet is Uehara Naraku, his power can easily obliterate all pirates in the East Sea, making it difficult for you to enter the Grand Line..."
As he left, Hawk Eye looked at the Crick Pirates causing trouble near the Baladi Restaurant and, with a casual slash, completely broke apart the Crick Pirates.
This could be considered discouragement...
Luffy scratched his head, glancing at the departing Hawk Eye Mihawk, suddenly couldn't help but say: "Huh? Uehara has finally become a Navy officer? I thought maybe that guy couldn't become Navy, I wanted to invite him to join my pirate gang!"
Unfortunately, Luffy's words were not heard by Hawk Eye.
The others didn't pay any attention to Luffy.
The Sea Restaurant Baratie exploded into chaos in an instant.
"Uehara Naraku... is he the Uehara Naraku who once came here?"
"That bastard who dined and dashed and stole three hundred thousand Belly?"
"I heard Sanji was almost furious back then..."
A group of chefs instantly started noisily arguing.
Just as they were arguing, a voice suddenly fell into their ears: "Hey, the Uehara Naraku you're talking about... is he the one who smiles very kindly, but acts nothing like a human?"
The one asking was a youthful and beautiful girl.
This beautiful girl is Nami from Cocoyasi Village, currently serving as the temporary navigator for the Straw Hat Pirates.
Although Cocoyasi Village doesn't have the presence of the Arlong Pirates...
But Nami still hasn't changed her habit of stealing from pirates, especially since she now encounters new trouble, that is the East Sea Branch's Colonel Nezumi.
This Colonel Nezumi, not finding a suitable source of wealth after Arlong's death, happened to hear about Nami's stealing, so he used the matter of the Arlong Pirates to threaten Nami.
Therefore...
Nami suddenly felt a bit lost when she heard Uehara Naraku had become Navy: "That guy actually became Navy?"
Originally, Nami wanted to act together with Luffy's pirate gang, and after reaching the Grand Line herself, she planned to secretly join Uehara Naraku!
Because Nami still remembers Uehara Naraku once said, Cocoyasi Village would still face the threat from the world's strongest pirate gang, the Whitebeard Pirates...
Originally Nami had wanted to rely on Baroque Works, but in these three years, the situation on the sea has been unpredictable.
Baroque Works perished.
Uehara Naraku disappeared, and this was the time Nami heard news of Uehara Naraku again.
And then...
Here she heard that guy became Navy.
This matter made Nami feel somewhat unsettled, as she was constantly blackmailed by the East Sea Branch's Colonel Nezumi using her past identity, forcing her to continue earning money desperately...
"Ah, beautiful lady..."
Baladi Restaurant's chef Sanji gracefully stepped beside Nami: "You also know that bastard Uehara Naraku? I just heard too, the Uehara Naraku you mentioned is the one who once ravaged Baladi!"
After saying that, Sanji didn't hold back.
This chef recounted the time they hosted Uehara Naraku at the Sea Restaurant Baratie, where they meticulously prepared a flawless feast, but ended up with a dine-and-dash...
And even three hundred thousand Belly was snatched under the guise of wasted time.
"Three hundred thousand Belly is nothing..."
A trace of anger flashed on Nami's face, she stretched out her palm: "Three years ago, more than forty million Belly I saved was stolen by that guy!"
Still infuriating when talking about it now!
Because besides stealing her hard-earned Belly, Uehara Naraku also took many of Belle-Mere's orange trees.
The more they talked, the angrier they got.
Monkey D. Luffy landed beside them, explaining cheerfully: "I know about this, Uehara only took your Belly to help people like Sister Makino!"
"Shut up!"
Nami couldn't help but punch Luffy on the head: "You know nothing, that guy sounds like a good person... but do you know how many outrageous things he's done!"
"Yes, yes!"
Sanji also joined in, holding a cigarette by Nami's side.
Nami threw another punch at Sanji's head: "Hey, don't exaggerate, while he's no good person, he's not as bad as you think..."
At least he eliminated Arlong.
At least no one in Cocoyasi Village has died again.
At least Cocoyasi Village reclaimed freedom, but the unfortunate thing was, Nami lost her wealth.
Luffy and Sanji couldn't help but glance at each other, then turned to look at Nami, puzzled by her complex character?
Who is she mad at exactly?
But the two of them didn't continue pondering Nami's matter.
Luffy earnestly invited the chef Sanji to join his pirate gang, the first thing the Straw Hat Pirates needed to do was evade the impending hunt by Uehara Naraku!
In this matter...
Surprisingly, Sanji agreed.
Sanji joined the pirate gang, wanting to find All Blue, also seeking a way to deal with Uehara Naraku's trouble, Sanji still remembers Uehara Naraku's threat.
That guy...
knew he was part of Vinsmoke!
Since Luffy went to sea, his trajectory seemed unchanged, sequentially befriending Nami, Roronoa Zoro, and Usopp, also acquiring the Merry Pirate Ship.
Now, with chef Sanji joining, the Straw Hat Pirates finally formed a complete crew, ready to head for the Grand Line.
However.
Nami worries the East Sea Branch Chief Colonel Nezumi would retaliate against Cocoyasi Village, since that guy seems as greedy as Uehara...
"Forget it, let's take it one step at a time."
Nami glanced at the group beside her, her eyebrow twitching involuntarily: "Can this bunch really make it to the Grand Line?"