Chapter 346: To the Grand Line: Luffy’s Crew Takes Shape

“It’s no use, because I’m made of rubber!”

It wasn’t until he heard this that Karl slowly stepped out from the ship’s cabin.

What he saw next could only be called theatrical.

Luffy shouted, “Gum-Gum Pistol!” His fist whipped back dozens of meters, then snapped forward, slamming hard into Alvida’s stomach.

Alvida was sent flying right off the deck.

“Go, run for it!”

Watching their boss get launched, the remaining pirates panicked and bolted for their own ship, desperate to get away.

“Clap, clap, clap!”

“That’s an impressive Devil Fruit ability.”

Hearing that voice behind him, Luffy tilted his head. “Huh? Who are you?”

“Let me introduce myself. I’m Ye Fan, from the Loess Highlands. Just a pirate out here for the fun of it.”

Luffy always picked up on the important details. Realizing Karl was alone, he immediately brightened. “Oh, you’re sailing solo too? Want to join my crew?”

“Of course! I’d love to.”

Ye Fan, too, wondered what kinds of changes the so-called main character’s crew might bring to this world.

Could they really be even better than everything he’d spent decades planning?

“Ahahahaha!”

“I’ve finally got my first crewmate! Ace, I’m going to surpass you for sure!”

Watching Luffy so fired up made Ye Fan—this avatar of Karl—smile, then point out toward the open sea. “Hate to rain on your parade, but… the Navy’s here.”

That’s right. Just after Luffy sent Alvida flying, several Navy warships appeared out on the horizon, completely surrounding them.

They hadn’t started firing yet, but come on—they were pirates after all.

“Ahahahaha!”

“We’re pirates, so we’d better scram!”

“Oh, right—Koby, didn’t you say you wanted to join the Navy? Looks like now’s your chance!”

At Luffy’s words, Koby trembled. “Q-Quit joking, Luffy! If I joined right now, they’d just think I’m a pirate and shoot me on sight!”

“Don’t worry, Luffy. There’s a small boat here—if you lower it, you can all escape.”

Luffy and Koby turned at the sound, spotting Ye Fan carrying a small boat several meters long straight toward them.

Ye Fan wasn’t tall, maybe about one-eighty, a perfect clone of his former self.

Still, he’d inherited a tenth of his original strength, so carrying a small boat was nothing.

He reached the big ship’s edge and hurled the boat down into the sea, then everyone jumped after it—Koby included.

Swish, swish, swish!

Right then, Navy cannonballs started flying, rocking both ships from side to side.

“Oh—that’s right! I nearly forgot about you.”

As Ye Fan, Luffy, and Koby scrambled into the little boat, they spotted Nami making a quick getaway nearby.

Without anyone noticing, she’d already packed up every bit of treasure from both ships.

According to the old script, Nami should have escaped now, and they’d only run into her again in Orange Town.

By some twist of fate, that would’ve been her official entry into the Straw Hat Pirates.

But things weren’t going by the book today.

Ye Fan stood up in the little boat, jumped to Nami’s vessel amid her shock, then smashed up her boat, gathered up all the treasure bags, and leapt back to the small boat—Nami tucked under his arm.

“Hey! What are you doing? That’s my treasure!”

Nami glared at Ye Fan as he started rowing, dropping the loot at her feet. She was furious. This was everything she’d painstakingly stolen, and now this complete stranger was taking it all. How could she not be upset?

She needed that money to buy her hometown’s freedom.

Ye Fan just grinned as he rowed. “Well, miss, if I’m not mistaken, those pirates were chased off by our captain.”

“By rights, I’d say this treasure is ours now.”

Luffy, following the conversation, smacked his right fist into his left palm. “Yeah, that’s right! The loot’s ours now.”

“See? Even our captain agrees. Looks like there’s nothing here for you—unless you join us.”

“Enough with the chit-chat, you two! The Navy’s catching up!”

At Koby’s shout, Ye Fan started rowing with both hands, sending the boat shooting across the water like an arrow loosed from a bow.

“Fine, guess I’ll join you guys then.”

“So, that means I get to take care of the money now, right?”

Ye Fan just met Nami’s gaze.

He knew full well she only wanted to stick around until she had her hands on the loot, then she’d try to run at the first chance.

Tricks like that? Ye Fan could see right through them.

“That one’s not up to me. You’d better ask the captain.”

Luffy was sitting on a barrel, gnawing on an apple. Hearing Ye Fan, he turned around to Nami. “Huh? So what can you do?”

“I’m a navigator. I can get you anywhere you want to go.”

Nami was awfully proud of her navigation skills. Anywhere in East Blue—she could get you there, right on time, never a wrong turn.

With talent like that, no wonder she caught the eye of Golden Lion—and plenty of folks online even guessed Nami might actually be the legendary Heavenly King Uranus.

Able to predict the sea’s weather perfectly. She was like a walking, talking weather weapon.

“Aha, so you’re a navigator! Then you can be in charge of the money.”

“Okey-dokey!”

Luffy truly didn’t care about managing money, so he just turned back to his apple, chomping away. After spinning in that barrel for hours, he was already starving.

In no time, Luffy ate nearly all the food on the boat by himself.

Ignoring Nami as she counted the money beside him, Ye Fan asked Luffy, “Captain, any idea where we’re heading next?”

Luffy replied, “I’m looking for great crewmates—then we’re headed for the Grand Line!”

“The Grand Line?”

“That’s supposed to be an untouchable place.”

“I’ve heard the Grand Line is way rougher than anything here. Every year, tons of pirate crews try their luck there—barely one in a dozen come out alive.”

Koby knew just how dangerous the Grand Line was. After all, Alvida had wanted to go there at first, and Koby, worried for his life, had gone out of his way to learn all about it.

All thanks to Karl. After several failed attempts to change the timeline, he’d finally locked down information on the New World and Grand Line once again.

Letting the Four Seas slowly build up under the influence of the Revolutionary Army and various resistance groups.

To make sure the main character’s crew could grow safely, Karl had even sent out some subordinates to help teach each member.

But Luffy, the golden boy at the center of it all—Karl had never given him any special attention.

“I’m going to become Pirate King, to keep a promise I made!”

“Pirates, huh?”

“They’re all bad news.”

Nami finished counting the cash, and when she heard Luffy’s dream of becoming Pirate King, she sneered.

Her own hometown was ruined because of a band of Fishman Pirates.

She hated pirates now. If she had the power, she’d have chased Arlong and his gang out of Orange Town ages ago.