Chapter 6: Through the Jungle
"Gosh, got to find some food," Leo said as he took steps into the jungle not far away from the coast. The jungle seemed dense with trees, and he could not see too far inside. There were a couple of birds that flew to the sky. They were making some 'caw caw' sound as they flew upwards.
The good thing about learning Haki is that finding food is super easy, and he doesn't need to use any strength. All he got to do was stare at them for a second, and the animal would instantly fall to the ground.
If other people in the New World knew that someone was using Haki to find food, they would be angry at that guy for wasting his talent on such a useless purpose. Pirates who can use the Color of the Supreme King are all-powerful beings who could take over an entire kingdom in the East Blue if they wanted to.
As he walks deeper into the forest to find food, he notices a sound coming up in front of him that takes his attention. It seems to be the sound of a young boy, and as he walks closer and closer, he sees a young boy with a scar under his eye getting poorly beaten by a group of monkeys.
"Luffy?" Those monkeys seem to be doing some boxing. Their punches are pretty fast, although not as quickly as the silver monkeys he fought back at the island. 'Why are there so many monkeys wherever I go? Am I cursed to fight monkeys throughout the rest of the story? Argh, the author lacks creativity!'
He watches as he walks closer and closer. The boy's arm seems elastic, which confirms his identity as Luffy for Leo.
"Gomu Gomu no Pistol," the young Luffy shot his hand towards the monkeys but missed as his elastic arm shot back and hit him on the face. Seeing this scene made Leo grin. It is pretty comedic in a way.
In the future, Luffy would have refined this technique to the point he could defeat the Sea King from before with one punch. But that would happen ten years from now.
"Luffy, you okay?" Leo asked as he walked closer to the group of monkeys who was about to continue beating the crap out of Luffy. The monkeys noticed Leo coming toward them.
"Huh?" Luffy, who punched himself in the face, looked in the direction of the voice calling him. He noticed a young boy a couple of years older than him smiling and seemed to be his age.
The boy wore a white shirt that was soaked wet and shorts that were red, and that looked like a swimming trunk. He has jet-black hair and a smile that warms the heart like a ray of beaming sunshine.
But then Luffy saw that the monkeys were about to punch the boy, so he screamed, "Be careful!!"
Leo didn't even bother giving a dozen monkeys a single glance and knocked them all down with Conquer's Haki. It is the most helpful skill out there. You can knock them out effortlessly if you're annoyed by some weak opponent.
"This-" Luffy watches with amazement as all the monkeys he was having trouble with fall down instantly to the ground. He looked left and right, noticing that the monkeys had fainted from something the boy was doing. "It is the same thing Shank did before when he saved me. You're so cool!!"
Leo smiled wider as he extended his hand to the young Luffy to help him up from the ground, "I'm Leo, and I'm glad I finally get the chance to meet you, Luffy."
He scratches away the dirt on Luffy's cheeks and rubs his stomach in hunger. A dozen birds fell to the ground in the sky as Leo still smiled, seeing the food he knocked out. The food is the birds. He has no interest in eating those monkeys. It grosses him out.
"Food!!!" Luffy's eyes glowed with excitement as he picked up the birds that Leo knocked down from the sky with water dripping out of the corner of his mouth.
"We should get a feast going, Luffy. I'm quite hungry too," Leo said, picking some birds up along with Luffy.
In the middle of the night, as they were eating the food, Leo asked Luffy, "Hey Luffy, how come you're stuck in the middle of the forest?"
Hearing this, Luffy gave a sad face, "It is all because of my old Gramp. He threw me inside the jungle as a form of training."
'Garp?' Leo remembers the image of the marine hero Monkey D. Garp. He is truly an inspiring person that he hopes to meet.
Leo watches as Luffy counts his fingers, "I think Gramp will come to pick me up in about a month. I'm not sure how long it has been since I'm stuck here."
"What have you ever been eating this whole time, Luffy? You can't even fight the monkeys," Leo jokes. He takes another bite of the food as he smiles, seeing Luffy grumble about his grandpa.
"Mostly mushrooms and other small animals," Luffy scratches his head awkwardly.
"Leo, can you stay with me? I'm planning on becoming the next Pirate King," Luffy said confidently. "I want you to be my first shipmate!"
Leo smiled and shook his head, "I can't, Luffy. I'm not interested in being a pirate. I want to explore the world unrestrained and on my own."
He looked up at the sky filled with stars glistening like a million diamonds, countless and immeasurably beautiful.
The moon hangs in the sky above. It is like a glowing lamp that lights the entire forest as the sky opens itself fully without the clouds blocking the way.
"That's so boring, Leo! An adventure needs teammates," Luffy jokes. And the both of them laugh together in that silent night.
"You will always be welcome to come on my ship, Leo! You're a cool guy," Luffy smiles widely, and Leo finds that charisma of Luffy to be exceptionally infectious. He is sure that Luffy didn't just eat the Rubber Rubber Fruit. Maybe it also had the Friendship Friendship Fruit. Otherwise, there's no proper explanation for why he always makes friends left and right.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone