Chapter 2: Chapter 2 - Pocket Hunting Dimension Too??
"Well, there's always something to be impressed by..." Noah looked at that guy with the straw hat and a big smile on his face with a complicated look.
Like every fair One Piece fan, despite Luffy's somewhat goofy personality that straightens up as things get serious, he loved this character and had ideals that fit in, believing that one day Luffy would reach his goal. Perhaps he himself was a bit tougher and perverted, but still he could see some similarities between them that brought him closer to the persona.
'But...' Noah changed his strange face for a grandiose smile, 'Now you have one more competitor for this position, my young man.'
"What are you waiting for, let's go now!" Nami was almost in tears as she found herself stuck to this strange man she just met.
And she is not metaphorically trapped. If it weren't for Noah holding her wrist, she would have run away a long time ago!
"Yes, let's go." Putting aside the surprise of finding Luffy, he didn't give it much meaning. Whether he wanted to or not, he was a real person like any other. And, just like Nami, he needed to get away from there as quickly as possible.
Running towards the staircase leading to the upper part, Noah and Nami tried to be as quiet as possible. Even though all attention was focused on Luffy and Alvida, who was probably being beaten up by now, they didn't want to risk encountering a strong pirate.
"Is there anything else of value that you need to take from here?" Noah asked as soon as they got near the stairs. He knew Nami's purpose here, and he wouldn't pretend he didn't.
With wide eyes, Nami looked at him with a bit of anger, "I only steal from pirates."
"Well, bad for you..." Noah took out of his pocket an extremely flashy and impractical gold necklace, with a huge fluorescent crystal as decoration, "I'm poor and I'm almost certain that the owner of that room was a bad guy."
"Try to convince yourself less." Nami rolled her eyes and mocked him, even though she was impressed. She didn't notice him hiding anything, which could mean he had some thieving skills.
"Whoever has never stolen to feed themselves doesn't know what real adrenaline is." Noah spoke with a smile, and soon followed Nami up.
°°°
As soon as they arrived on the "battlefield", where Luffy was throwing his rubber punches everywhere, Noah accompanied Nami while his attention was completely focused on the unreality of the scene.
'How the hell is this physically possible?? There is no energy or matter conversion, nor even any kind of correlation between the expansion of material and the extreme physical wear of contraction.' Noah rolled his eyes and tried to forget that this world did not obey very concrete laws, 'And there is still the courage to say that he can only use imagination after awakening. What madness.'
Without being detected by anyone, as if by some divine miracle, Nami and Noah arrived in front of a large bag full of treasures, which Nami had proudly stolen from Alvida in secret. And right below in the sea, between the two ships, there was a small fishing boat that she was also stealing.
"I'll jump and you throw the bag, and then you jump and I'll catch you." Noah was about to jump to the boat, despite the nearly five meter drop, but Nami held onto his arm.
"How the hell am I supposed to trust that you won't rob me too?" Nami looked at him with clear suspicion, realizing she couldn't trust someone who had the same profession as her.
"Do I look like someone who knows where the smallest piece of land is around here?" Noah looked at her with a stoic face, and then snorted, "If you don't want to trust me, make a bet as always. If I stay, you win, and if I run away, you swim after me and drown me."
"You!" Nami was about to raise her fist to punch Noah in anger, when a loud bang sounded just a few meters from them, "Go now!"
"Good bet!" Noah smiled at her as he jumped from the ship and fell perfectly into the boat below, his balance being much better than he remembered, 'Managing to knock down adult men with a frying pan, holding a bat with only a slight redness and now this. As I imagined, I am stronger than before.'
"Hold on!" Interrupting his thoughts, Nami threw the treasure bag to Noah, who easily caught and set it aside. Seeing him standing and even opening his arms to her, Nami grumbled under her breath, "Why the hell am I following this guy's orders? I swear I'm going to throw him off the boat when he's asleep!"
With confidence as thin as a spider's web, Nami jumped from the boat and wanted to land on her feet, not believing that Noah would catch her. But then, her fall suddenly became lighter and she felt strong arms catching her and gently placing her on the ground.
"I said you could trust me." Noah smiled at her and quickly took the oars, sitting in the boat, "Now you just tell me where to row and we'll go away."
"Hunf!" Nami blushed at the way he treated her, but looked at his smile and felt a bit of anger. Knowing that he knew nothing about navigation, she merely pointed to a direction, "Over there, a day's journey without interruptions. And you don't need to row all the time, I will hoist the sails when we get out of here."
"Set sail then!" With an unknown vigor, Noah began to row in the direction she pointed, eager to know what would happen on his journey.
°°°
With the sails hoisted, Noah sometimes helped Nami with navigation, doing his best not to seem like dead weight. To keep the day from being boring, they also talked about various things and formally introduced themselves. From topics like hobbies to personal tastes, they just chatted.
This helped to ease and increase Nami's trust in him. At least now she didn't want to drown him at night, since Noah could handle the instructions she gave well.
"Well, I definitely don't have a type of fruit that I like the most, but strawberries and passion fruit are definitely the best ingredients in the world to make anything. But mikans? I'm not sure. I have my reservations about fruits that can blind me if I let their juice fall into my eye." Noah was sitting on one side of the ship eating a fruit and handed a mikan (orange) to Nami. It was part of a bit of food they had stolen.
"Pfft, mikans are definitely the best! You can eat them at any time and you can always make a juice with them. And have you ever eaten a mikan pie? There is no equal!" Nami laughed a little and took the fruit. She was finding Noah increasingly pleasant, but she wouldn't tell him that.
She then looked at the horizon and saw that it was already getting late.
"Is there any nearby island around here, to make a stop?" Noah also knew it was dangerous to stay at sea at night, even though Nami had already said that the area is not dangerous.
"There is a small island nearby, it would be better to go there for a moment..." Even though she wanted to get home soon to be able to gather her treasure, she didn't want to take too much risk.
Counting on her memory and skills, Nami located the island and rowed there. Once they arrived, Noah pulled the boat to the shore and tied a rope to a nearby tree. The island was small and had no animals, just a sparse forest. It was ideal for setting up a small camp at night.
After Nami made a bonfire, just to warm up, Noah came out of the forest with some fruits and coconuts, which they would use for dinner.
"Bon appetit." Breaking a coconut with just one slap, Noah handed it to Nami and opened one for himself.
"Are you always in such a great mood?" Nami grabbed and drank some coconut water, looking strangely at Noah. She always saw him smiling or joking around as a way to cheer her up, so she found it strange. She didn't see any expression of longing or confusion. A normal emotion for someone who just escaped from a pirate attack and got lost at sea.
"And why wouldn't I be?" Noah sat on the grassy ground and looked around, "I have a starry sky, the cool sea breeze, the comfort of the grass, and the company of a beautiful woman for dinner. Where I lived, the amount of money spent to experience any of these things was huge, believe it or not."
"If you say so." Nami drank the water again to cover her blushing cheeks and then leaned against a tree, "I'm going to sleep, so goodnight."
"Goodnight, Miss Nami." Noah smiled at her and drank the rest of his coconut water. Seeing that she had enough trust in him to lie down on the lawn and sleep peacefully, he laid on the ground and closed his eyes.
"For a new beautiful day..."
°°°
Feeling the heat of the day seeping into his skin, Noah woke up and cracked his body's bones as he always does. Opening his eyes and about to wake Nami, he saw that he was in a completely different place from where he fell asleep.
"Again?" Not too surprised that some other magical crap could happen to him, Noah got up and looked around.
He was still in a grassy place and there was no tree in sight. But there was no sea anywhere and there were some cliffs and mountains in the distance, indicating that he was in a very different place.
Without saying anything, he just observed the whole environment, ready for anything. It was strangely quiet, with the breeze passing through him.
And it was at that moment, from a nearby bush, he heard a rustling. And without delay, a large white rabbit one meter tall came bouncing from there, its intense red eyes staring at Noah suspiciously. And when he opened his mouth, you could see his serrated teeth that could easily tear flesh.
"White rabbit, grassy field..." Noah already had a suspicion in his mind. And when he considered he was only in his clothes and without his sword, he was even more certain.
He just need to confirm his suspicions.
Approaching the rabbit slowly, Noah stared directly into its red eyes and paid attention to any movement.
And as soon as he got close enough, the rabbit attacked him, jumping on him and showing its teeth!
Swoosh! Bang!
With a spinning kick, Noah executed perfectly and the kick hit the rabbit's body, sending it far away. Not surprised by his strength at least twice as much as when he was on Earth, Noah ran while the rabbit was still rolling on the ground and kicked the creature's head.
Crack!
With the sound of the bone snapping lightly, Noah continued with an indifferent expression and kick after kick fell on the rabbit's head. When it managed to get up and was about to attack, Noah tripped the rabbit and followed with another kick to the head, as if he were a professional capoeira master.
"So many years of training have really paid off…" Noah commented lightly before running towards the rabbit. And with just one more kick, Noah broke its neck completely and the rabbit exploded in a cloud of ash.
What was left on the ground were two cherry-sized Red Orbs, which finally confirmed his theories. And even more than the theory about where he is, as well as his improved strength, agility, and reflexes. Picking up the red orbs and watching them disappear into a mental space that he would activate when he left, he clenched his fist tightly.
"If I managed to defeat the white rabbit so easily, then my current strength must be slightly above it. But I am just ordinary, I think, so my physiology must be quite different now that I've come to the One Piece world..."
He remembered having read somewhere that the average human in One Piece was much stronger than normal. The rule of the world counted a lot on potential, but the hard work was always well rewarded. That's why he was not surprised that his strength had also increased.
And he still remembers that when he woke up on the ship among the bodies, he vomited a black slime, which could be an effect of his body having been strengthened in some way.
"Well, now..." Noah looked forward and smiled a bit, "Aside from the fact that I could die at any time and this place is extremely dangerous, it's going to be quite interesting from now on... Let's start the Hunt then!"
"But seriously, Pocket Hunting Dimension? And I was expecting some system... pfft!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone