Yoho-yo-ho-ho-Yoho-yo-ho-ho

'That makes sense. Liam is from the future. Because he is changing the past, the world is erasing him.'

'But it doesn't make sense. How did he travel from the future to the past? If it were Devil Fruit ability, it would make sense, no matter how nonsensical it might sound.'

'But he ate his devil fruit when we were together. That shouldn't be possible unless he can eat two devil fruits.'

'So, he is either from the future or can see the future and past like Almighty God. That would make sense why he can predict so many things.'

'Or, it could be like he has some sort of ability that grants him knowledge of everything that happened in a person's life. No, this doesn't work. We have never met Kuma.'

'So, unless he has met Kuma before, this logic doesn't make sense.'

'Damn it! He is still hiding so many things that we need to know. But the more we know, the faster he will disappear.'

'The more we know.'

Suddenly, Sanji's eyes widened in shock as he felt the lightning crawl into his skin.

'That's it. The more we know, the stronger we get, the faster he will disappear. This makes sense.'

'We knew nothing. We did not know the Six Styles of Marines or Haki. We had no idea about Devil Fruit extraction. We were just a bunch of adventurers who had their own dreams.'

'Luffy's grandfather was a Marine Hero, but even he didn't know about Haki. Luffy didn't train much on the ship, nor did he train others.'

'I had my own ways of getting stronger, but the improvement wouldn't have been so massive. The only one who would have trained harder was Zoro, but even he didn't know the correct training method.'

'Usopp might tinker with some of his inventions and even help Nami-chan with her Weather Stick. But that's it. We were never meant to train in this ship.'

'What does that mean? Crushing defeat! If we met a powerhouse, we would be utterly destroyed. Liam knew this very well.'

'He must have known we would encounter a powerhouse, maybe Aokiji wouldn't let us go that easily. After all, he is a marine. He would definitely try to capture us.'

'Maybe Luffy would be freed, but that's it. We are nobodies. Except for Luffy, all of us would either die or go to prison.'

'Maybe this is why Liam knows this. Luffy's obsession with One Piece will never fade. If we are killed, he will fall into depression, but he will definitely take our dreams into his hands and fulfill them.'

Suddenly, he had an urge to laugh as he thought more. But there were some tears in his eyes.

'It would be funny to see Luffy trying to learn Ancient Language from Robin's diaries or personal books, or even find other clues about it.'

'With our dreams and his dream, he will start over. This time, more serious, more ruthless, but also more caring towards his future crew.'

'Maybe he will become a ruthless mentor like Liam. That would be a funny sight to see.'

'And..... He will one day become King of the Pirates. He will achieve everything that the world can give us. And, he will meet Liam one day.'

'Maybe it's Luffy who sent Liam to the past. As long as the World Government is destroyed and Luffy becomes King of the Pirates, anything that changes in between won't destroy the world.'

'But as insignificant as changes they might be, they will have some kind of effect on the person changing it. This idea makes perfect sense.'

Sanji thought to himself, but then he shook his head.

'Unfortunately, I don't know the full truth. So, this is just another speculation.'

He clenched his fist as he felt a strong anger and helplessness churning in his heart.

'Then, we can't keep him. No matter how strong we can get, no matter how powerful weapons we might have, we can't go against the literal world, can we?'

'This is a losing battle. We can't win. If I am right and Liam does disappear after one major change, then it must be something that will happen soon.'

'If that's the case, as long as we don't change that thing, we can keep him. We won't lose him.'

'But what exactly will happen next? What could possibly be related to us that Liam needs to be involved with in order to change the very timeline of this world?'

'If we know that, if we don't change that, we won't lose Liam. We don't need to know more about the future. We just need to keep the present safe.'

'Yes, as soon as I learn about our next move, I can talk to Luffy about this. No matter what the situation might be, Luffy will do his best to keep Liam here.'

Unfortunately, Sanji was completely unaware of the torture that he was about to inflict on Luffy.

After all, how could someone like Luffy choose between his Vice-captain/ best friend and his dear brother?

While Sanji was thinking about so many things, Kuma had a simple thought.

'If so, he must have seen a tragic future, but also the awakening of Nika. Should I take this risk?'

A figure of a little girl appeared in his mind, who had a big smile on her face.

'Let's do this.'

He raised his hand and gave a fist bump to Liam. Then, he turned toward Luffy and said.

"Captain Monkey D Luffy, please take care of me and my daughter!"

Hearing that, Luffy gave his usual smile and burst into laughter.

"Everyone, LET'S HAVE A PARTY!"

This was all Kuma needed as a confirmation that he was accepted into this crew.

"Sanji, food!"

Luffy shouted again.

Everyone went to Going Merry, whose size was increased once again by Merry.

Sanji and Law's cook began working on food while others started having a party.

"Cheers to Law and his crew!" Luffy shouted while raising a jug full of wine.

"Cheers!"

Everyone else did the same and shouted together.

Liam, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Robin, Franky, Brook, Law, Bepo, and even Kuma had wine jugs in their hands.

"Wait a minute, Luffy, we forgot to introduce our new member. Sorry, Brook, we forgot about you." Vivi suddenly remembered someone and shouted.

"It's okay, Vivi-chan!" Brook simply raised his wine jug and spoke.

"Skeleton! Welcome to the crew."

As soon as Luffy saw Brook, his eyes sparkled like laser beams as he rushed next to Brook and shouted.

"Thank you, Captain Luffy! Let me introduce myself. My name is Brook and I am a musician. Since we are having a party, let me play a song."

Brook smiled and introduced himself. He took a piano out of nowhere and started playing.

"Musician!" Luffy's eyes sparkled with joy. He had been searching for a musician for so long.

If Liam hadn't promised him beforehand, he wouldn't have forgotten about the musician.

Of course, he forgot that Liam reminded him about Brook before they even fought Kaido.

But Luffy was already happy with the new additions to the crew.

He didn't dislike Law or Bepo, or Kuma.

He knew deep down Liam hated pirates or marines hurting innocent people. That was the whole reason why Liam trained so desperately to get stronger.

That also gave Luffy some motivation to train.

Seeing him achieve his goal, Luffy, as a Captain, was certainly happy.

"Yohohoho, Yoho-ho-ho Yohohoho, Yoho-ho-ho"

"Yohohoho, Yoho-ho-ho Yohohoho, Yoho-ho-ho"

"Gather up all of the crew.

It's time to ship out Bink's brew.

Sea wind blows.

To where? Who knows?

The waves will be our guide.

O'er across the ocean's tide,

Rays of sunshine far and wide

Birds they sing;

Of cheerful things

In circles passing by

Bid farewell to weaver's town

Say so long to port renowned

Sing a song

It won't be long

Before we're casting off

Cross the gold and silver seas

A salty spray puts us at ease

Day and Night

To our delight

The voyage never ends."

"Gather up all of the crew,

It's time to ship out Bink's brew

Pirates we

Eternally

Are Challenging the sea

With the waves to rest our heads

Ship beneath us as our beds

Hoisted high

Upon the mast

Our Jolly Roger flies

Somewhere in the endless sky

Stormy winds are blowing wide

Waves are dancing

Evening comes

It's time to sound the drums

But steady men and never fear.

Tomorrow's skies are always clear

So pound your feet

And clap your hands

Till sunny days return."

"Yohohoho, Yoho-ho-ho Yohohoho, Yoho-ho-ho"

"Yohohoho, Yoho-ho-ho Yohohoho, Yoho-ho-ho"

"Gather up all of the crew

It's time to ship out Bink's brew

Wave good-bye

But don't you cry

Our memories remain

Our days are but a passing dream

Everlasting though they seem

We'll meet again

The wind's our lullaby

"Gather up all of the crew

It's time to ship out Bink's brew

Sing a song

And play along

For all the ocean's wide

After all is said and done

You'll end up a skeleton

So spread your tale

From dawn till dusk

Upon these foamy seas"

"Yohohoho!" Luffy

"Yohohoho!" Liam

"Yohohoho!" Zoro

"Yohohoho!" Usopp

"Yohohoho!" Nami

"Yohohoho!" Sanji

"Yohohoho!" Chopper

"Yohohoho!" Robin

"Yohohoho!" Franky

"Yohohoho!" Brook

"Yohohoho!" Law

"Yohohoho!" Bepo

"Yohohoho!" Law's Crew

"Yohohoho!" Kuma

"Yohohoho!" "Yohohoho!" "Yohohoho!" "Yoho-ho-ho"

Everyone!

Let's sing along!

To Eternal One Piece and all of the joy and tears it brought to us!

To all of my viewers and all of One Piece's fans

"Yohohoho, Yoho-ho-ho Yohohoho, Yoho-ho-ho"