Chapter 7: Chapter 7

They walked in silence until they arrived at the gates of the marine base, where Luffy told the guard there that they were here to cash the bounty on Alvida's head.

The guard then leads them to the cashier at the base, who gives them a strange look after seeing Alvida lying in a thundercloud with a rope made of electricity tied to her.

After verifying it was the real Alvida, the cashier gave Luffy a pouch with 5,000,000 beli inside, which Luffy kept in his coat. Luffy and Koby started to come out of the sea base when Luffy saw something in the corner of his eye.

As they walked, Luffy looked to his left and saw in an open field a man tied to a pole. Luffy smiled to himself.

'So, it's Roronoa Zoro,' thought Luffy before looking straight ahead as they were about to exit the marine base. As they exited Koby was about to say something to Luffy, but didn't get the chance when Luffy turned Left and started walking along the walls until he suddenly stopped in front of one of the walls and started climbing it.

Koby started to panic and screamed at Luffy.

"Luffy! What are you doing!? Someone will see you!" shouted Koby who panicked, but was immediately silenced by the next words that came out of Luffy's mouth.

"So you're here Mr. Pirate Hunter," said Luffy while looking at the man who was tied to a cross-shaped pole. Koby turned pale as he climbed along to look over the wall in the hope that Luffy mistakenly saw someone else and not the demon, but with just one glance at the man, Koby immediately knew he was The Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro.

Zoro is a muscular young man of average height with tanned skin and green hair. He has three identical gold earrings on his left earlobe and a green bandana tied around his head.

He wore black trousers tucked inside black boots, a plain white shirt with three buttons at the collar and his green haramaki. They both stopped observing Zoro when they heard the man calling them.

"Hey you two" Zoro said, getting their attention "You guys are an eyesore. Go." he said in a cold voice making Koby scream while Luffy just looked bored.

"Luffy let's get out of here" Koby said to Luffy who ignored him. Then suddenly they both heard something hit the side of the wall to their left.

When they turned to see what it was, they saw a little girl with a ladder climbing up the wall. she then looked at Luffy and Koby before she put her index finger on her lips telling them to be quiet.

Luffy could only stare at the girl as he threw the rope against the wall and climbed down. The little girl then started running towards Zoro with a big smile on her face. He then arrived in front of Zoro who didn't look pleased to see him.

"What do you want?" Zoro said to the girl in a loud voice trying to scare her but the little girl kept on smiling.

"I thought you might be getting hungry now. So I made you some rice balls (Onigiri)" she said looking at Zoro.

"You want to die kid? Go," Zoro said in a slightly high tone, but the girl didn't seem scared in the slightest.

"But you haven't eaten anything in the past few days," said the girl as he held up two rice balls, "I've never made these before but I did my best so I'm sure they taste good." Said the girl trying to convince Zoro to take the rice ball.

"Listen kid, I'm not hungry. Now stop pissing me off and go!" Zoro shouted at the girl. The little girl's smile disappeared for the first time and was replaced with a frown, before she spoke.

"But-" the girl wanted to speak again before Zoro cut her off.

"Don't make me kick you, brat!" Zoro shouted causing Luffy to narrow his eyes. Suddenly the gate to the field began to open and three male figures were seen entering.

"Calm down Zoro, no one likes bullies," said the man in the middle beside him there were 2 marines, "Roronoa Zoro, you seem to be able to hold on well." Luffy narrowed his eyes at the group that had just entered the field.

For some reason, Luffy doesn't have a good feeling about them. "Look here, some delicious rice balls." said the man in the middle as he grabbed one of the little girl's rice balls.

"That's not for you!" the little girl shouted at the man. When the blonde haired man ate the rice made by the little boy earlier, his expression immediately changed and threw the rice ball on the ground.

"Ahh! This is too sweet! This rice is filled with sugar! You should have used salt, you idiot, salt!" the man shouted at the little girl. The little girl looked as if she had just had her heart broken at being shouted at like that.

"But I thought it would taste better if it was sweet." said the little girl sadly. The man then took another rice ball from the girl and threw it on the ground before stepping on it causing the little girl to cry.

"It seems you haven't read the announcement that was issued today. 'Anyone found to be aiding criminals in any way will be executed. Signed by marine Captain Morgan'" the man said causing the little girl to flinch when she mentioned Morgan's name.

The man chuckled at her reaction before speaking again, "It seems you know my father's name." This gets Luffy's attention.

"So he is Captain Morgan's son," Luffy said to himself, but loud enough for Koby to hear.

"Does that mean he's not a marine?" Koby asked.

"I don't know. However, I highly doubt it because he isn't in a Marine uniform." Luffy said while looking at Koby. When he looked back at the field he saw one of the marines that was there with Morgan's son picking up the little girl and throwing her over the wall causing Luffy's eyes to widen.

Luffy quickly turned his body into Lightning and teleported to catch the little girl. He caught her mid-air and landed with her safely. The little girl smiled at Luffy before she spoke.

"Wow, thank you, Niisan," he said happily. Koby rushed over to Luffy and the little girl.

"Koby how about you bring this little girl home. I have something to do" Luffy said seriously as he turned his body into lightning and disappeared.

Zoro, who was still tied to the cross was shocked when lightning suddenly hit the ground right in front of him and the person who was outside the wall earlier appeared where the lightning had struck.

The only thing she could do was stare at the man with eyes the size of dinner plates.

"H-how did you do that?" Zoro asked. Luffy kept looking at his face seriously as he spoke.

"I ate a devil fruit," said Luffy. Zoro nodded to show he understood, He had heard of a devil fruit but never really believed it existed. Zoro then looked at Luffy with a serious look before speaking.

"So what do you want?" he asked. Luffy didn't say anything for about a minute, he just stared at Zoro with narrowed eyes before speaking.

"Are you really as strong as people say you are?" asked Luffy.

"Mind your own business!" Zoro shouted causing Luffy to sigh.

"Ten days huh? I'll be right back" said Luffy before he turned to leave but was stopped by Zoro's voice.

"Wait a minute," said Zoro, getting Luffy's attention, "can you get it for me?" Zoro asked while looking at the rice ball that had been crushed on the ground. Luffy stared at him like a madman.

"You're going to eat this?" Luffy asked as he bent down and picked up the rice ball "It's already like mud." he said causing Zoro to scream at him.

"Shut up and give it to me! Now" he shouted causing Luffy's eyes to twitch. Luffy then took the rice ball and fed it to Zoro.

After Zoro ate the rice balls mixed with dirt, he looked into Luffy's emotionless eyes before speaking once more. "Tell the little girl that the food is delicious," said Zoro.

Luffy showed no emotion on his face but he smiled inside. He then turned his body into lightning and teleported to where Koby and the little girl were.