Chapter 26: Chapter 25 [Additional :⁠-⁠D]

Luffy, Sanji, and Yosaku were currently walking through the forested part of the island; it had been about ten minutes now. Moments ago, Luffy turned the sky dark and began raining down thunder and lightning as a way of letting the rest of the crew know that he was already on the island.

At first, Sanji and Yosaku didn't mind what he did because they had already seen what Luffy could do during his fight with Don Kreig, but they started to get scared when the thunder sounded so loud that the island they were standing on shook too and lightning struck random parts of the island repeatedly.

After Luffy finished sending his signal to the others, the three of them started walking towards the center of the island. Even though Luffy had finished giving the signal, black clouds were still in the sky, with flashes and bolts of lightning appearing every time.

"I can feel a lot of people in front," Luffy said, getting their attention. "They're quite far... about ten more minutes and we'll reach where they are," he said, causing Sanji and Yosaku to look at him strangely.

"How do you know that?" Sanji asked with a curious expression on his face.

"I use observation and Haki to sense them." "Don't worry, once we finish all of this, I will teach it to all of you," said Luffy, in return for a nod from Sanji.

After walking for ten minutes, the group exited the forest and ended up in a small village. Luffy looked around, hoping to see someone on the street, but no one was there; it looked completely empty.

It was odd because Luffy remembered feeling the presence of people at the exact same location ten minutes earlier. So he decided to use Observation Haki one more time to try and see where everyone was.

Closing his eyes, he began to try and feel the life energy of the people around him. After a few seconds, he reopened his eyes and spoke.

"I sense that everyone in the village is ahead of us," he said, gesturing at them. The three of them then started walking down the street and walked forward; the road they were walking on seemed to be the village's main street. A moment later, they saw a large group of people gathered around a man.

The man was wearing a police uniform with a windmill on his hat, and his entire body was covered in scars, from his face down to his feet. The three of them stood at the end of the assembled group, observing what was going on before they made their presence known to the crowd.

Luffy then tapped Sanji and Yosaku on the shoulder to get their attention, while pointing with his forefinger to focus their attention on the left of the group in front of them. which caused them to look in the direction where Luffy was pointing.

When they looked, they saw a house completely destroyed. Usually, when a house is demolished, the eaves will stay up, but this time the eaves were down. It looks like someone took the house and turned it upside down before slamming it to the ground.

"What could turn a house upside down like that?" Yosaku whispered to them both.

"A fisherman," answered Sanji, causing Yosaku's eyes to widen in fear. It was at that moment that Luffy decided to make their presence known to the people gathered.

"Looks like we just missed a party," said Luffy, attracting everyone's attention. After people began to notice the three of them behind them, the crowd started to clear a path for the three of them to walk forward.

Luffy stood in the center, with Sanji on his left and Yosaku on his right, as they walked through the path the men had made towards the man with scars all over his body.

"Who are you three?" asked the man in police uniform. "I've never seen you guys here before," he said. Luffy stared at her with an emotionless expression on his face for a few moments before he answered in his usual monotone voice.

"We are just some sailors looking for our friends who are coming to this island," she replied as she walked and stood in front of the man. "Have you ever seen them?" he asked. The people in town were starting to get a little nervous; they didn't get many visitors to this island.

"Are you a pirate?" The man in a police uniform asked, making the people in the village even more nervous.

"Yeah, right," said Luffy, causing everyone's eyes to widen in fear before they all began to slowly back away. "Relax, I'm here with no malicious intent; I'm just here looking for my crew." "One of them is a swordsman with green hair; you guys might know him as Roronoa Zoro," Luffy said, shocking everyone with the fact that the pirate hunter who was hit is now a pirate.

"The next one is a man with a long nose whose name is Usopp," he said. When Luffy said that, he noticed everyone's faces changing, indicating that these people had seen Usopp before.

"That brave boy is part of your crew?" the man in a police uniform asked, earning a nod from Luffy. "I see. I don't know about Roronoa, but the long-nosed man is here, but Arlong's men are after him, and they are running that way," he said, gesturing off into the distance. Luffy's eyes widened when he heard that.

"Damn it, Usopp," thought Luffy to himself. He then sighed and started massaging his forehead before he spoke. "Thanks, um, I didn't know your name yet," said Luffy.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Genzo," he said, holding out his hand for a handshake. Luffy took her hand and shook it before he answered.

"Thanks for your help, Genzo. I'm Luffy," he said while shaking Genzo's hand. Luffy, Sanji, and Yosaku then started walking in the direction Usopp was being chased before Luffy stopped and turned towards Genzo to ask another question.

"Hey Genzo!" Luffy called out, getting Genzo and everyone's attention. "I'm also looking for a girl named Nami; do you know where I can find her?" he asked, making everyone there flinch a bit.

However, one thing that caught Luffy's attention was the reaction of a blue-haired girl. Not only did he flinch when he heard Nami's name, but his facial expression changed from serious to worried. By using his Haknya Observation, Luffy could see that the girl's emotions fluctuated, from curiosity to worry.

Before Luffy could ask the villagers about their reactions, he heard Zoro's voice coming from behind him.

"LUFFY!" Zoro shouted as he ran down the street with his only sword in hand to meet Luffy. Luffy turned around and saw Zoro running towards him, but he frowned when he saw that neither Johnny nor Usopp were with him.

Luffy thought Johnny would definitely be with him, knowing how much Johnny and Yosaku respect Zoro. When Zoro finally arrived and caught his breath, he spoke to Luffy. "Luffy, Nami is a member of Arlong's crew," said Zoro, surprising the three of them.