One Piece: Struggle of the Weak [Reboot] Chapter 26

For the past 3 years, East Blue experienced many changes.

First of all, the defeat of Krieg and Arlong, the strongest and most active pirates who actively plundered and humiliated the lives of civilians. Their defeats slowly unveiled many filthy truths, such as many Marine Officers making deals with them for petty personal gains. And people eventually came to ask, who was it that helped us get rid of these two notorious pirates?

One who went by the moniker of 'Pirate Slayer,' named Rowan.

They were left in awe. They spread the news among themselves, and within a short period of time, almost everyone in East Blue got to know Rowan's name.

But that wasn't the end. A few days after such, the batches of newspapers were released to the public. It directly stated,

*The Greatest Bounty Hunter of East Blue, Falls Into Becoming His Very Own Prey!*

It revealed the specific details of what happened in Cocoyasi Village. Prior to fighting the Arlong Pirates, 'Pirate Slayer' actively beheaded each and every single marine present—under the command of Marine Captain Nezumi.

"H-How can this be...?"

People expressed their concerns. After all, it was a simple fact that Rowan was stronger than those terrifying pirates whom they couldn't even dare to look at; they groaned from the fear that their nightmare hasn't ended yet, that—

"—Hold on."

Then, one individual said,

"I recognize the name Nezumi. Wasn't he, uhh..."

"AHH! I KNOW!" Another exclaimed with visible anger, "He's that scum who ran away and left us in the hands of Arlong Pirates! What the hell is he doing in that Conami island, the literal base of Arlong Pirates—shit."

Unfortunately, people weren't as dumb as the marines hoped. Nezumi's wrongdoings in the past, Arlong's swift and efficient means of spreading his influence throughout the East Blue, his presence in Cocoyasi Village, and Pirate Slayer's assault... though the civilians didn't know specific details, they had enough to speculate the truth.

"...So, Pirate Slayer hasn't fallen in the end?"

"...Perhaps," Muttered one man as he gazed into the frightening-looking bounty poster of the black-haired man,

*'Grimheart' Rowan. Wanted Dead or Alive. Bounty: 40,000,000 Beli.*

Said man shivered as he read the number that is double the amount of Arlong's bounty.

"...But he looks so scary, you know."

Following said news was the reveal of other marines' exploits, ones who were connected to Nezumi. Captain Jerrymad of Logue Town was one of them, and admitting his wrongdoing, he willingly stepped down from his seat.

Logue Town. Just what place is it, you ask? Not only is it the ground where Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King himself, was executed, but also the final defense for marines to prevent pirates from entering the Grand Line. Though Jerrymad was corrupted and useless in many aspects, his strength wasn't as shabby. Therefore, people were once again filled with concerns, fearing that more pirates may rise, thinking that now is the chance.

Then, in September of the year 1516, one Marine Captain arrived from the Grand Line. He was someone of incredible strength, one whom not even a single pirate could afford to get through.

Wielding a large jitte, smoking two cigars at once—his name was Smoker, and he had this strange devil fruit ability to manipulate smoke at his will.

Subsequently, on year 1517, two years before the present,

<...Grimheart, I've been hearing quite a good deal from you. But unfortunately, this is where your journey ends!!>

Rowan, along with Nami, faced Smoker and his troops in the middle of the sea just before the Reverse Mountain. The two of them clashed in the middle of the storm, and the result was,

<Huff... huff... damn...>

Rowan's loss, due to him being unable to 'touch' Smoker by physical force alone. No matter how many times he punched the Marine Captain, no matter how many times he shot or swung blades, the latter didn't receive a single hit.

<RETREAT!!!>

Therefore, Rowan had to make a decision to return. With Nami's amazing navigation skill and his Observation Haki, they began their run from the tenaciously-chasing 'White Chase' Smoker, and at the end of the chase,

<KYAAAA!!>

the two of them ended up in an extreme storm over the extreme current of water—one that they willingly entered to get rid of marines behind them.

…

'...And who knew?' Nami, sitting down on a rock and gazing at the bonfire set up in front of her, chuckled, 'To think there would be an island like this in the middle of this chaos...'

"—Ah!!"

The blue-haired man opened his eyes and immediately sat up. Then, breathing rapidly from the panic, he quickly checked his surroundings before touching his body,

"Am... am I still alive?" He muttered, unable to believe that he managed to survive through the disaster, "Where am I?"

Then, he managed to see Nami,

"...Are you the one who saved me?"

"You saved yourself. I just watched." Nami shrugged, before pointing at her nose. The man raised an eyebrow before touching his nose—

"—Ah shit, it's swollen." The man grimaced as the pain struck upon realization. Looking around himself once more, he then asked, "Hey, did you see my pouch by any chance?"

Nami smirked before raising up the pouch in her right hand. The man gladly reached out for it, but before he could grab on it, Nami pulled it back.

"...Eh?"

"What's your name?"

The man frowned in dislike, and scratched the back of his head, "None."

"Hah?" It was Nami's turn to be confused, and the man explained,

"Few days ago when I set out to the sea, I abandoned my birth name. So currently, I don't have a name to tell."

"...Boring," Pouted Nami before throwing the pouch at the man. She already checked the content inside, but only found creams, bandages, and other medicinal supplies that she didn't even know what to do with. As the man applied those tools for himself, Nami asked,

"Are you a doctor?"

The man frowned, "What? Hell no. I'm anything but that boring job."

"So that's that in your hand?"

"This? It's just a basic fucidin, an antibiotic that prevents a skin infection..." The man stopped in the middle of his words, before deadpanning at Nami, "...Really?"

"Heheh," Nami grinned, "So you are a doctor."

"I said, I'm not!!"

...

After treating himself, the man lied back down with a groan. Then, looking at the bonfire, he asked,

"...Speaking of the fire, it's been burning for ages—without any new supply of wood."

"Oh, that?" Nami shrugged, "Well, it isn't much of a secret anyway. Watch."

At the next moment, the man found himself standing up in shock, as Nami's hand directly morphed into the fire itself.

"HUUHHHH?!!!!!"

"Hehe... surprise~! I'm a devil fruit user!"

"D-Devil fruit?! It actually exists?!"

"Yep! And one I ate happens to be a very strong one also! Lucky, I suppose!"

The man frighteningly took a step back, and gulping, he asked, "W-Who are you?"

Now that he think about it, it was weird. On this gloomy-looking island devoid of any life, this one girl was literally sitting without any worry. The ability to wield fire, and this calm demeanour—by no means was she a normal person in the man's eyes.

"Me?" Nami's eyes narrowed mischievously, "Rwwr. Ever heard of 'Weather Witch?'"

"...Who?"

Nami's smile stiffened as the man tilted his head,

"No, never heard of it. So you're that 'Weather Witch?'"

"AHHH!!" Then, Nami growled while grabbing the man by the collar and shaking him, "How can you not know who I am?!! You know, you must have heard of 'Grimheart' and his 'Witch,' right?!!"

"Oh, that I did hear before—huh, wait. W-What did you say?" The man began to tremble as his face paled up, "G-G-G-G-Grimheart...?"

"Yeah!"

"U-U-Uh.... uh.... uh c-cool. Um..." The man slowly took a step back while raising his hands up, "C-Chill girl..."

"?" Nami tilted her head in confusion as the man began sweating, a lot.

"I-I... I think I have t-to, um, leave n-now. S-So—" The man turned his head and was met with the sight of a violent sea. He froze, and Nami laughed at that,

"Haha! You're free to leave whenever you want!"

'FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!!!' The man cursed in his mind, wondering what he should do. In front of him was the sole henchman of the East Blue's most terrifying pirate, and behind him was the guaranteed death by the natural disaster. Basically, he was stuck in a dilemma with no way out. And even worse, his stomach was growling—he was starving harder than ever.

"Come on, go ahead!" Nami motioned her hand toward the sea, "Your boat is broken, but you can swim your way out, right?"

'AS IF!!!'

"H-Haha... hahaha... a-actually, I feel like staying..."

Letting out the final laughter, Nami then calmed herself down and looked at the man in amusement.

"I know that you are scared of us, but don't worry." Nami stated, "As long as you don't do anything to us, so will we."

Turning around, she motioned the man to follow her,

"You're hungry, right? Come, it's our treat!"

The man took in a deep breath as Nami began to walk away. He contemplated for a brief moment before groaning as he held his growling stomach. In the end, though his entire body shook from fear, he decided to follow the orange-haired girl.

And when Nami came to a stop, the man came to see a humble-looking wooden house in the middle of the gloomy forest. Walking up to it, Nami knocked,

"Hey, Rowan! We have a guest!!"

"—Gah! Hah?! Wha?" The sound of a man, seeming woke up just now, was heard. Then, a yawn was heard, before the door creaked open, and,

"...Huh."

The man found himself gulping as the familiar face that he's seen many times through the bounty poster—'Grimheart' Rowan—stood right in front of him, blinking his eyes with a plain expression.

"Well, nice to meet ya." Rubbing the tears from his eyes, Rowan held his other hand out, "I'm Rowan. And you?"

Slowly reaching for Rowan's hand with his trembling one, the man said, "I... I, um, a-am... Deuce. Y-yes, that's my name."

"...What?" At that, Nami glared at the man who now named himself 'Deuce,' "I thought you abandoned your name!"

"I-I did, m-ma'am. T-this is my new one that I just made up for myself."

'...Ugh, can't think properly right now. What am I even doing, shaking hands with the infamous pirate like this? So hungry right now...'

"Vahahaha! Deuce it is!" Shaking hands, Rowan laughed before walking back in, "Come! You're starved, aren't you?"

"W-wait," Deuce widened his eyes, "Did I just say it out loud...?"

Nami snorted, "No, you were read by him. That's all there is!"

Walking up to the wooden table, Deuce saw a slab of meat sitting on a plate seemingly made from leaves. It reminded him of those ancient people from his books, but disregarding that, the food indeed looked delicious in his eyes. Forgetting that Rowan and Nami are dangerous criminals, he looked Rowan in the eye, asking for permission.

Rowan grinned, "Go ahead."

Deuce lost all his sanity, going full-on crazy as he devoured the food. It was strange how this seemingly edible-less island managed to get such fine food like this, but Deuce couldn't care. Savouring it down without a care, he finished the entire thing within minutes, before letting out a satisfied sigh.

"By the way," Then, Rowan asked Nami, "How much did that food cost again?"

"Well, it's the rare beef-peach that was imported from the Grand Line. The cost, as far as I remember... was around five million Beli! He ate one-fifth portion, so the charge is one million, plus service, plus incentive, and hm… 2 million it is!"

Deuce, who was wiping his mouth, stopped his motion at that.

"Well, you heard that, Deuce," Rowan smiled while tapping Deuce on the shoulder, "We'll be putting that on your tab,"

"With 10000% monthly interest!" Said Nami as she huffed and crossed her arms.

"...Eh?"

"If you are unable to pay the sum by the end of this year, I'm afraid that there will be consequences." Rowan sighed with feigned sadness, "But the money is quite reasonable, isn't it? After all, your life is priceless."

"...Eh?" Deuce, shaking his head and getting out of the trance, asked nervously, "...Wasn't it free?"

"...Free?" Nami stepped up at that, "Free?!! Listen, Deuce," She leaned in and glared at the man, "Nothing is free in this world. Got that?!"

"But how am I supposed to pay that amount?! And 10000% interest?!" Deuce, forgetting his fear for the two, barked, "Just kill me instead!!!"

Rowan and Nami looked at each other and shrugged. Rowan then spoke up, "Then how about this? I'll make it so that you don't have to pay anything. No interest, nothing. Instead,

join my crew."

Deuce, listening seriously, squinted his eyes midway, "...Wait. What did I just hear?"

"Join my crew."

"...J-Join? The East Blue's worst pirate's crew—"

"Or pay."

Deuce stopped. With a forced smile, he immediately replied, "I'll join."

And on that day, the 3-year-old 'Grimheart' Pirates gained the third member,

"Nice. Doctor for the crew."

"Gahh!! Like I said, I'm not a doctor!!"

Chapter 26: Chapter 26

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Chapter 26: Chapter 26

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