【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 85: Finding a Partner

"Don't be lazy!!" A mace suddenly flew over and broke the wine warehouse, knocking the pirates who were talking away.

"Wow!!" Luffy, who was still in the wine barrel, was blown into the forest along with the barrel.

Luffy rolled the barrel, trying to get out of it, when suddenly a figure stood in front of him.

"Excuse me...are you okay? You were just knocked quite far away..." Coby asked worriedly while looking at the boy in the wine barrel.

"Hahaha! I'm fine, I just got scared!" Luffy said with a smile, "My name is Luffy, where is this?"

"This coast is where the pirate Alrita rests. I'm a handyman on her ship. My name is Coby." Coby explained.

"Oh, I see. Actually these things are not important at all." Luffy said as he got out of the barrel.

"Huh?" Coby looked embarrassed.

"Ah! By the way, did you see anyone else? A man with black hair, his name is Qi." Luffy asked with a smile, "By the way, do you have a boat you can give me? My boat seems to have been swept away by a whirlpool."

"Whirlpool? You encountered a whirlpool!?" Coby said in shock.

"Yeah, that really scared me, but out of curiosity, he helped me hide in the bucket, so I didn't fall into the water." Luffy crossed his arms and sighed.

"Most people would have died long ago..." Coby took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "If you want a boat, I have one, but..."

"Really? Then take me there!" Luffy said excitedly, "I still want to find Qi!"

Coby brought Luffy to a hidden corner of the forest, where a broken boat was lying quietly. Luffy and Coby stood in front of it.

"What is this?" Luffy frowned in confusion. "A coffin?"

"It's a small boat, after all... I spent two years secretly building it." Coby twisted his fingers and said anxiously.

"It took two years...you don't want it?" Luffy asked puzzledly.

"Yes, I don't want it anymore. I built it to escape, but I never found the courage to run away. It seems that I will do odd jobs for the rest of my life." Coby said frustratedly while grabbing the edge of the boat. "Actually... I also have things I want to do."

"Then why don't you just run away?" Luffy said directly.

"No... No, Miss Alrita will kill me!" Coby shook his head frantically and said in horror, "That was the day that changed my destiny. I was just preparing to go fishing as usual, but I got on the wrong ship! In order to save my life, I worked as a navigator and handyman on that pirate ship for two years."

"You're so stupid and useless..." Luffy said with a smile, "And you're also a coward! I hate you! Hahahaha!"

"Ha...hahaha" Coby looked shocked.

"You're right. If I had the courage like you..." Coby quickly cheered up and asked about Luffy's situation. "By the way, Luffy, why did you go out to sea?"

"As for me," Luffy said with a huge smile on his face, as if he was not talking about a dream, but a confirmed fact, "I want to be the Pirate King!!"

"Wha...what?" Coby shouted in shock, "So you're looking for the great treasure "one piece" that contains wealth, fame and power!?"

"Yeah!" Luffy responded casually while sitting on the boat.

"You're going to die, pirates all over the world are fighting for that treasure!" Coby yelled in horror.

"I'm going to fight for it too." Luffy said as a matter of course.

"What? No... Impossible... Absolutely impossible!!" Coby denied frantically.

"Boom!"

Luffy punched Coby to stop him from shaking his head madly.

"It hurts!" Coby covered his injured head and said, "Why did you hit me?"

"I suddenly want to fight!" Luffy said innocently, then patted his clothes and stood up. He took off the hat on his head and looked at the hat in his hand. "I have decided to be the Pirate King! I don't mind even if I lose my life for it."

"What a great determination, not even afraid of death..." Coby looked at Luffy in shock, then looked down at his hands and murmured, "Can I...can I do it too?"

"Huh? What do you want to do?" Luffy turned and looked at Coby in confusion.

"Can someone like me join the navy?" Coby looked at Luffy with tears in his eyes, as if this could give him courage. He closed his eyes and shouted to Luffy, "My dream since childhood is to join the navy and catch all the bad guys! Can I succeed?"

"How should I know?" Luffy said with a smile.

"No, I'm going to try. I will definitely succeed. Instead of living my whole life like this, I might as well escape from here at the risk of my life, and then... capture Miss Alrita!!" Coby shouted firmly.

"Coby! Who are you going to catch?!" Alrita suddenly raised her mace and smashed the boat into pieces.

"Wow! Miss Alrita!" Coby looked at Alrita in horror.

"Do you think you can escape?" Alrita smiled ferociously.

"Is that guy the bounty hunter who came to take my head? He doesn't look like Roronoa Zoro..." After Alrita found out that it wasn't Zoro, she stopped caring about Luffy and turned to look at Coby with an evil smile on her face. "Coby, let me ask you one last time, what is the most beautiful thing in this ocean?"

"Ha...haha...of course it is..." Kebi said in horror.

"Who is this aunt?" Luffy interrupted Coby and asked casually.

Coby and Alrita's pirates looked at Luffy in horror.

"What did you say!?" Alrita shouted angrily with a ferocious look on her face.

"Luffy! Take back what you said!" Coby shook Luffy's shoulders in horror.

Luffy just looked at Coby quietly.

Coby looked at Luffy's expression, and remembered his determination just now. He shouted in horror, "Ms. Alrita is the most brutal and hateful aunt!!"

"what!"

Coby looked at Alrita's horrified expression, trembling constantly, and tried to comfort himself, "Don't regret it, I don't regret it!"

"You little brat! Go to hell!" Alrita swung the mace and angrily hit Coby.

Luffy quickly stood in front of Coby and blocked the attack for him, with a huge smile on his face, "This doesn't work on me!! Because I'm a rubber man!" Then Luffy stretched his right arm back and punched Alrita in the face. In an instant, Alrita's huge body lost consciousness and flew backwards.

“The hands have grown longer!”

"Boss!! Miss Alrita actually lost! This guy is a monster!!"

The pirates screamed in fear.

"Give Coby a ship." Luffy pointed at the pirate and said seriously, "He wants to join the navy. You guys just watch and don't stop him!"

"Yes...yes sir!" the pirates responded nervously.

"Nehehehe!" Luffy showed a huge smile on his face.

"Luffy..." Coby looked at Luffy with emotion.

"Luffy, you actually ate the Rubber Fruit! How surprising." Coby exclaimed in surprise while rowing the boat.

"Yes."

"But if you want to find One Piece, you must enter the Grand Line," said Coby.

"That's right!"

"But that place is called the Pirates' Graveyard!" Coby said in horror.