It's Good to Be Pirate King

Chapter Five: Zoro’s Hunt

"Onee-chan, you aren't giving up are you?" Nami asked as Robin filed the last of the papers they had acquired from the mysterious underwater base into a box for storage. They had searched the place for nearly a week and found nothing new that would help them, though they did uncover many more unusual artifacts.

"Even though I successfully translated all the texts we recovered they didn't yield anything except nonsense," Robin replied. "They must have been encoded and without the cipher or even a point of reference I'm afraid it could take years to determine what they actually mean."

"But what about the stone tablets, surely they have the locations of some other place like this," Nami persisted.

"No, if other places like this exist then they've been entrusted to other records," Robin said. She was repeating herself now since Nami didn't want to give up on the prospect of more treasure for them to acquire. "Those tablets are either one of a kind, or else like the poneglyphs and scattered throughout the world."

"So, then, that's it?" Nami asked, still not wanting to believe it.

"That's it Nami-san," Robin confirmed. She picked a book out of her little library and tucked it under one arm. "I'm going to go read up in the sun."

"Oi, Nami," Luffy called out. Nami had strolled back toward the upper deck of the ship still a bit depressed that their big lead on the lost civilization and its fabled storehouse of treasures had dried up. "We need help with the helm."

"What have you morons done this time?" Nami asked, storming up to the ship's control room.

"It's not a big deal, but we want to go to Lagoon Island," Zoro said flatly. "It should be near here."

"Why do we want to go to such a nasty sounding place again?" Nami asked idly as she began looking through the extensive collection of eternal poses that they had acquired during their extended trips through the Grand Line.

"The rumor mill from the pelican post says that a guy calling himself "The Slicer" is on that island proclaiming his greatness as a swordsman," Zoro replied.

"You want to fight a guy with a ridiculous name like that?" Nami asked incredulously.

"The marines have given him a three hundred and fifty million Belli bounty," Zoro said, shrugging. That was a high enough number that he could be a worthy challenge, especially if he were as strong as Zoro had been at the time his bounty approached that class.

"Here it is," Nami said, her voice laden with boredom. Some joker had painted the eternal pose green at some point before the Strawhats had acquired possession. She sat the little compass-like device down on the special seat above the helm that would hold it in place even during rough seas. "You idiots can keep that needle straight without my constant supervision, right?"

"Yes Nami-swan!" Sanji replied enthusiastically. Zoro had slumped against the wall and gone to sleep.

"At least this should be a bit of a vacation for the rest of us," Nami said. She walked back outside and gazed up to the sunning deck, so dubbed because that's where she and Robin often went to sun themselves, to see how the older woman was doing. She knew Robin hated to have a historical investigation come to an abrupt end.

"She seems fine," Nami said. Indeed, the calm mannered archaeologist was reading at her normal pace through some obscure book much as she always did.

"No, Usopp, don't touch that," Chopper's voice rang out followed by a boom. Nami shook her head and began walking down toward the galley to see if Sanji had left any snacks in the cooler.

"Oi, nee-chan, what the heck are they doing to my ship?" Franky asked, appearing suddenly. Nami nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Who knows...hey, where the heck have you been these last few days?" Nami asked demandingly. "You're even worse than Zoro for slacking off around here."

"Eh? What are you talking about imouto-san?" Franky replied, feigning a wound to his heart at her accusation. "I've been slaving away repairing the solider docking system ever since Strawhat onii-chan wrecked it up when that guy played him like a skipping stone."

"Oh yeah," Nami replied. "Now I remember that. You've missed a lot since then."

"What?!" Franky exclaimed. "You guys didn't come get me? What am I to you anyway?"

"Sorry, sorry, anyway, we're going to have a vacation right now so that Zoro can fight some guy," Nami said. "Go ask Sanji for the details if you want."

She walked off and Franky continued on, a stream of complaints following behind him until he faded away back into the background noise of the ship. Nami had to admit that without Franky their sturdy ship would have fallen apart long ago, but there was still something about him that she found creepy. Perhaps it was how he never seemed to wear pants.

"Oh, Luffy, I thought you were back up on deck," Nami said. Somehow the rubber man had beat her to the galley and had already finished picking three large hambones clean.

"It was boring up there so I thought I'd eat some meat in case there's a good fight," Luffy replied happily. For all they knew this Slicer guy might have some non-swordsmen friends for the other's to play with.

"Well, just don't get too excited," Nami cautioned. She poured herself a glass of Sanji's green drink special. "If you ask me he sounds pretty lame. I wouldn't even be surprised if he faked his own bounty."

"That wouldn't be nice," Luffy said.

"More than that it wouldn't be safe," Nami thought as she eyed Luffy. Zoro would cut the guy up even worse if he found out that he was a poser wasting everyone's time.

"I hope there's something interesting in the town," Luffy said. He seemed to ponder that for a minute. "I hope they have lots of meat."

"We do need more supplies," Nami commented idly.

"Hey, Nami, maybe they have something you'll like too. Didn't you want some new forks or something?" Luffy asked.

Nami had mentioned once that she wished they could find some expensive designer cutlery and plates study enough to survive on the seas. She smiled fondly at Luffy. He certainly had his fine qualities when one looked past the carefree front that he usually put up. Nami shuddered involuntarily as she thought of some of his other fine qualities that she had been sampling of late. The feeling of his tongue between her legs was only bested by the exquisite experience that taking his unnaturally large tool up into her womanhood always afforded. She felt a little guilty that she had been opting for the former because the latter always carried a little danger, even with him pulling out well in advance of his own peek. She felt even more guilt when she realized that she hadn't even gotten him off on some of those occasions, but instead left it to the always eager Robin.

"Hey, Luffy, don't make any noise," Nami said. She looked around for a second and then lifted up her tank top. Luffy's eyes widened at the sight of her bra-less tits bouncing in front of him, just out of normal reach across the table. "Are you getting hard yet?"

"Yeah, but Nami, what are you doing?" Luffy asked, bewildered as she disappeared under the table. A second later Luffy felt his pants coming undone as Nami's small soft hands drew out his erection.

Fortunately the tablecloth dipped down to the floor so Nami was entirely obscured from view as she perched on her knees under the table. To the outside observer it would appear as if Luffy were simply sitting at the table enjoying a glass of green drink special.

Luffy sighed as a compromise between a low moan and willing himself to silence. Nami's soft hands had been joined by her warm wet mouth and its lovely tongue. She was surprisingly able to take Luffy quite deep into her mouth after she began to get used to the relatively new activity.

Beneath the table Nami's pig tail adorned head was bobbing back and forth furiously as she stroked his shaft. As she worked diligently Nami felt herself getting wet as her body began to get aroused. She started massaging Luffy's balls in order to speed up the process as her treacherous pussy began to crave his cock. Nami's thighs ground together lustfully, but she was determined to deny the impulse to stuff Luffy's manhood into her hole and ride him until she couldn't walk straight anymore. Thankfully, Nami felt Luffy's balls begin to clench and he jerked forward a little as his orgasm approached.

"That's it Luffy, cum for me," Nami thought as she continued to suck on his meaty pole. His first blast caught her by surprise, but she was able to quickly swallow and then accept the next spurt. She drank long and deep before Luffy finally stopped cumming, then licked his shaft to remove the few drops that escaped her mouth.

"Wow, Nami, that was fantastic," Luffy exclaimed as she appeared next to him from under the table.

"Great, now switch," Nami said hurriedly, her frustration apparent.

Nami nearly bit her lower lip to keep from moaning out with relief as his tongue burrowed its way into her slit and began to lavish attention on the nub of her pleasure center. She reached up and squeezed her left breast hard, again resisting the urge to moan. It was then that she noticed a thick white glob on her other breast just above the low cut of her tank top. Nami scooped it up and licked it from her finger, savoring its taste, as the pleasure between her legs continued to build. She felt very contented with her belly full of Luffy's seed, literally, as he drove her safely to orgasm.

"Nami, are you all right?" Choppers voice came from the doorway. Nami's eyes, which had been closed in bliss, sprang open, her racing heart pounded into overdrive with the terror of being caught in such a compromising position.

"Chopper, ah, yes, I'm fine, just fine," Nami said, stammering slightly. Beneath the table Luffy continued probing her core, earnestly attempting to push her over the edge.

"You look like you have a fever," Chopper said. In his brain point form he hopped up onto the table and felt her forehead. He didn't notice the table cloth bunched up in her lap. "You're burning up."

"Ah, well, I feel fine, really," Nami said as calmly as she could.

"Flushed, sweating, trembling," Chopper continued to list his assessment of her condition.

'Chopper," Nami exclaimed. "I'm fine, I just need to be alone for a while, okay? Trust me on this."

"Okay, if you say so," Chopper replied skeptically. "But as a doctor I'm responsible for everyone's health so if you start feeling bad come see me immediately."

"Yes, yes, I'll do that," Nami said. The door banged shut. Her long throaty moan filled the room as she crashed over the edge. If Chopper had stayed a moment longer her behavior would have probably been explicit enough to tip off even Chopper as to what exactly was going on.

"Luffy, what did you think you were doing?" Nami asked when he emerged from under the table. Part of her wanted to scold him and the other part thought he was so cute with his tousled hair that she wanted to throw him onto the table and ravage him all over again.

"I was doing what you like most," Luffy said cheekily. The war was over and Nami grinned, bopping him lightly.

"Okay, let's get back to the helm before we get into anymore trouble," Nami said. "We should be coming up on that island pretty soon anyway."

"So that's it, huh?" Luffy asked once they had emerged on the sunning deck in full view of the rapidly approaching island.

"Did you have fun Nami-san?" Robin asked. When Nami looked at her quizzically Robin pointed to a spot on Nami's hair.

"Oh, I missed a spot," Nami said, blushing furiously as she wiped the errant bit of thick gooey liquid from her hair and consumed it.

Lagoon Island proved to live up to its name pretty well. The entire town seemed to be built on top of a steaming swampy region such that most of the buildings had to be supported on poles above pools of slimy muck. Everything was a bit run down too, even the rickety docks.

"Eh, Luffy, what are you doing?" Nami asked when he took off his iconic straw hat and pushed it down onto her head.

"If it got knocked off in a fight around here I'd never find it," Luffy replied.

Nami didn't have time to marvel at his unusual foresight though since the designated landing party consisting of herself, Robin, Zoro, Usopp, Brook, Chopper, and of course Luffy, began to stroll down what appeared to be the center of the sprawling town. Since they were going to be confronting a potentially powerful enemy they had left two of their best fighters, Franky and Sanji, to guard the ship.

"Welcome strangers, what brings you to this humble part of the Grand Line?" an old man asked. He was wearing an apron and standing in front of a local tavern which seemed to be empty, no doubt due to the early hour of the day.

"We're on vacation," Nami said evasively. "We've been doing a lot of sailing lately."

Since they were out of visual range from the docks no one had apparently noticed that they came from a pirate ship, plus with Luffy bareheaded and acting like a goof no one pegged him as the Pirate King in this out of the way backwater. Of course, that still didn't explain why no one had noticed the equally infamous "three swords" pirate hunter Zoro, greatest swordsman in the world, or the most wanted woman in the world demon child of the cursed land Ohara. Of course, communications weren't the greatest here in the depths of the Grand Line so perhaps it wasn't too suspicious.

Then again, Robin's wanted poster only had a side view of her face and she was wearing a plain t-shirt with faded jeans instead of the form fitting leather outfit that she often donned for trips away from the ship. Zoro's poster was probably the best of them for capturing his face plainly though and he still seemed to be blending in.

"Where is everyone?" Luffy asked. Then there was that. Other than the old man and a few passersby they hadn't seen another person so far.

“Yohoho!” laughed Brook. “This place is barer than my bones! Skull Joke!” Nami clapped a hand to her temple.

"I'm going to get a drink," Zoro said.

"Perhaps it would be best to ask the bartender for some information," Robin said, turning to follow the swordsman.

"This place smells bad," Chopper said. He was leaning against Usopp for support. "This is even worse than Arabasta."

"Ah, so you all are customers after all," the bartender said when they entered. "Its been a while since anyone stayed long enough to spend any money."

"And why is that?" Robin asked.

"They keep dyin' too fast," the bartender said. "The rest get the message quick enough. Locals all in hidin' except for a few of us."

"That doesn't sound very nice," Luffy said. He jumped up on one of the barstools. "Hey, old man, you got anything to eat?"

"Heh, I don't know who you guys are, but you'd best be careful too," the bartender replied. He pulled a large crock of beans out from within the heat compartment of a rusty stove. "Especially you there with the swords. The guy who runs this island now always loves stealin' swords."

"Eh?" Zoro said. His bland expression widened into a rather sinister looking smile. "Does this guy have a name?"

"Probably, but he only calls himself the Slicer," the barkeep said, as if that name should be terrifying enough.

"Um, hey, Zoro, isn't that the name of the guy you were interested in?" Luffy asked innocently.

"Zoro?" the barkeep perked up. "Pirate Hunter Zoro, first mate of the Strawhat pirates?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Zoro replied. The barkeeper was staring at Luffy now.

"T-Then that would make you-" the old man stammered.

"Come on Luffy, let's go find this Slicer so we can get off this island," Zoro said demandingly.

"P-Pirate King Luffy," the old man finished. Nami peeled off a few Belli to pay for the beans as Zoro questioned the barkeeper about their prey's location. That finished Nami followed the rest of the group as they headed out after Zoro.

"Luffy, I'm not here to pick up all your tabs you know," Nami complained once they were back on the road. Apparently Slicer had taken over the biggest, most elegant estate on the other side of the island where there was some firm soil.

"Is this the place?" Usopp asked.

"Perhaps we shouldn't have let Zoro handle the directions," Nami said, her face buried with exasperation in her open palm.

"Let's ask those guys," Chopper said. A small crowd of people had gathered in the grounds that sprawled out from the front of a large two story house.

"Hey, are you guys here with the fresh fish?" one panicked looking man in a chef's hat asked before they could get off a question of their own.

"No, no, sorry," Luffy said, bowing slightly. Nami and Robin both shook their heads.

"Oh man, what are we gonna do?" another chef asked. "He's gonna kill us."

"You guys are weird," Luffy said.

"Who's going to kill you?" Usopp asked. "That Slicer fellow? This is his place, right?"

The man gawked back with disbelief at Usopp. He looked over the group again and seemed to realize that they weren't from Lagoon Island.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's all this commotion out here?" A deep voice asked from the dark doorway to the mansion.

"We heard some braggart was claiming to be the world's greatest swordsman," Zoro said smugly. He had already tied his bandanna around his head, grinning wickedly all the while in anticipation of a fight.

"Now you've done it," someone yelled. The crowd dispersed dragging the Strawhats, except Zoro, along with it.

"Who's a braggart?" the voice asked as a very short stocky man emerged from the doorway.

"Eh? You're Slicer?" Zoro asked incredulously.

"Huh, he looks really weak," Luffy said. The crowd had stopped to observe the outcome of the encounter.

"Three-hundred and fifty million Beli bounty, the Slicer," someone said in awe.

"Woo, go Zoro, cut this guy up," Luffy yelled.

"Zoro?" Slicer asked, his voice quivering with interest. "Pirate Hunter Zoro?"

"You've heard of me then?" Zoro said. He drew the Wado Ichimonji, the katana that had once belonged to his late childhood friend Kuina, and placed it between his teeth. "I'm flattered."

"Then that must make him the Pirate King," Slicer said. "Fortune has smiled on me today. As soon as I finish with you I'm going to take everything in this world away from your Pirate King!"

"Baka, you'll regret it if you manage to get past me," Zoro said.

The crowd had broken out in whispers over the identity of their guests. Robin noted that several of the men who had been eyeing her figure were suddenly looking away, revolted, as they recognized her as the Oharan demon. They probably figured that she would suddenly unleash some terrifying destruction from the void century. Of course, the archaeologists of Ohara had been slandered so much by the World Government that for all she knew they might be afraid she'd come to eat their children.

"Luffy, not right now," Nami said with annoyance when she felt a hand settle unapologetically on her rump. She looked over her shoulder and saw not Luffy, who was focused on the beginning fight, but some slick looking man that probably fancied himself as a lady killer.

"Sorry, slipped," he said, grinning foolishly. His hand withdrew as if burned when he saw the murderous look on Nami's face.

"Who do you think you're touching?" she asked with deadly calm. "If my bounty isn't enough to scare you into showing a little respect then remember my companion is the Pirate King."

"B-But," the now terrified man stammered. He was clearly used to having his own way and now aware that he had severely miscalculated.

"Since I've been with him Luffy has only ever killed one person who he didn't have to in self defense," Nami continued. "The pirate who had enslaved me since I was a little girl, the fishman Arlong. So you see, he can be very protective of me, if you get what I mean."

"Oi, Nami, you okay?" Luffy asked. He had heard her mention his name.

"Yes, just fine," Nami replied. She moved closer to him and draped her arms around his torso, smiling as he placed his arm around her in return. As soon as he looked back towards Zoro Nami looked over her shoulder and glared at the quaking lecher.

Nearby Robin laughed into the back of her hand and smiled happily. Everything was shaping up perfectly.

"Taka Nami!" Zoro intoned darkly (and unknowingly, ironically) as the Slicer pulled out a strange looking sword and lunged at him. Pulses of energy radiated off of his swords into a controlled but deadly cutting gust, but the small and surprisingly nimble Slicer evaded them.

"Go Zoro!" Luffy yelled like a spectator at a sporting event.

"It seems that the Slicer is good enough to hold a sword against our Zoro," Robin said thoughtfully. "But he isn't good enough to win."

Sure enough, Slicer was steadily giving up ground just in order to keep from being completely overwhelmed by the precise flashing blows that Zoro was administering effortlessly.

"So, that's how it is," Slicer said as he leapt back out of Zoro's range for a moment. "I wondered how such a goofy idiot as him became Pirate King, but its obvious now that you put him in that position with this skill of yours."

"A true swordsman can gauge the difference in power without ever drawing his blades," Zoro replied, repeating something that a great man had told him long ago.

"Why did you do it?" Slicer asked, still not comprehending. "Do your enemies focus on him and then drop their guard around you?"

"Oi, you're ticking me off moron," Zoro said. "Listen good, because this isn't something you're going to hear twice. If I fought Luffy I might be able to force a tie, or at best cripple him before he defeated me, but there's no way I could win against him."

"Heh, well, if you want to insist," Slicer said. Zoro's three swords impacted heavily against his sword. "I'll find out in a minute whether you're lying."

"Don't count on it," Zoro said. He let out a grunt of surprise as Slicer's sword broke apart on tiny hinges and clamped down around his three blades, trapping them in place. "What kind of cheap trick is this?"

Zoro's instincts caused him to notice a hail of projectiles that were homing in on his position and tried to wrest free, but it was too late. He braced himself for the impact when a half dozen small explosions intercepted the sneak attack.

"I've got your back Zoro," Usopp said. He looked toward the tree line where the attack had originated from. "Hey, you, don't interfere."

"I'm gonna kick that guy's ass," Luffy said angrily. He was already winding up tension in his arm.

"Wait, Luffy," Usopp said. "That guy is a pretty good sniper. I'll be his opponent."

"Yosh, go Usopp!" Luffy cheered encouragingly.

"He's become a pretty brave warrior of the sea after all," Nami said with a touch of admiration as Usopp started walking toward the tree line.

"Ah, Luffy, if I get in trouble you'll come save me, right?" Usopp said, looking back over his shoulder.

"Don't make me compliment you!" Nami yelled, annoyed by his old habit peeking through momentarily.

"Haha, just kidding," Usopp said nervously.

He pulled back the sling on Kabuto, his great pachinko, and fired off a “Hi no Tori Boshi” that scorched the tops of the trees where the enemy sniper was hiding. A man in a long black mantel dropped down from the tree and fired off another brace of shots from his specially modified weapon. Again Usopp intercepted the projectiles in mid-air, then retaliated with a hail of pachinko balls.

"Looks like your little helper ran into a snag," Zoro said, smirking as Usopp riddled his opponent through with his “Metallic Meteor Shower” attack.

"I can still win on my own," Slicer said, obviously sweating now. He reformed his sword and jumped away from Zoro's reach.

"Oni Giri," Zoro said as he concentrated for his attack, crossing the blades he held in his hands. His katana shimmered and for a moment, a demon seemed to reach up out of his body as he dashed forward. Slicer tried to defend, but to no avail. In a fraction of a second, Zoro appeared behind him, his blades now uncrossed.

Slicer looked on for a second, mouth agape, before a huge wound opened up in what little chest he had.

"Two hundred and fifty million Belli," Nami said excitedly, dancing back and forth around Slicer's fallen form.

"Yeah, but we have to find some patsy to turn him in for us," Zoro commented. He wasn't sure if this had been worth the trip or not since it seemed to make Nami so happy.

"I know just the person," Nami said, her face turning dark. She pointed at the man who had groped her earlier. "Just threaten that guy; I'm sure he'll do it for you. Heh... heh... heh..."

"Scary," Zoro thought to himself as he went off to intimidate the guy.

"Hey, I'm going too," Usopp said. He was dragging his victory along behind him. "I think this guy is worth some cash too."

"I guess we can stay here for a few days while you guys are doing that," Nami said reluctantly. They couldn't very well sail a ship bearing the Strawhat mark up to a marine base, but she hated to sit on this boring island for much longer.

Suddenly the people around them erupted into cheers. Shouts praising Zoro and disdaining Slicer went round about.

"Maybe this will be fun after all," Luffy said, grinning.