Escape and Bounty
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a figure rushed toward Ryokugyu and landed a powerful fist on his cheek. Ryokugyu saw it coming but he couldn't dodge it. He could only use the haki to block it.
But, it wasn't the end. At the same time, another fist came from another side. While the first fist was fast, this was overwhelmingly strong. Because Ryokugyu wasn't able to move properly, he could only use the power of his devil fruit and haki to block it.
Bang!
But those fists were too strong. Ryokugyu immediately retreated backward and looked at the two men in front of him. He adjusted his dislocated mouth and spoke.
"Vice Admiral Garp, why are you helping a pirate?"
"You shouldn't have got involved." The man wearing a green cloak spoke while standing next to the old man with thin legs and a massive upper body.
"Shut up, you brat!" Garp turned to the side and shouted to the man who was wearing a green cloak. Then, he looked at Ryokugyu and asked.
"Where did you see me helping a pirate?"
Not just Ryokugyu but even the dragon was stunned. At this moment, Liam's eyes widened when he saw this group. But, he didn't try to wait. He immediately tore up his clothes and blocked the wound.
He went to others. Usopp was in desperate condition so he helped Usopp while others quickly followed Liam's action. Without any hesitation, they immediately started paddling the ship.
Ryokugyu also saw that but this time, he couldn't do anything. Garp looked at him and clicked his tongue.
"Zephyr was right. All of the new marines are being overly reliant on their devil fruits. Your Haki is weak."
But before Garp could say more, the man with the green cloak suddenly moved. He punched forward with his fist, releasing a powerful gust of wind that smashed Ryokugyu out of the ship while increasing the speed of the ship by several folds.
Garp and he quickly stepped into the air while Ryokugyu did the same. The Straw Hat Ship was already several miles away from them.
"Vice Admiral Garp, do you know what your action represents? You are colluding with the revolutionary." Ryokugyu's expression turned ugly as he looked at Garp and spoke.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the man with the green cloak rushed toward him at an extremely fast speed. Garp looked at them and turned around. He knew he had already stepped outside his boundary.
The only reason why he did that was because of Ryokugyu's action. Although he hated pirates, he didn't want his grandson to die.
Few Minutes After, a battle between two of the strongest people in the world ushered in East Blue, shaking it to the very core. The result of the battle only came out after two days.
The man with the green cloak disappeared while Ryokugyu fell into the sea with dozens of injuries on his body. Marines found him quickly but his situation was quite bad.
On other hand, what happened to the man with the green cloak, no one knows.
Two Days Later, Luffy and his crew were already near Logue Town. But, they were barely recovering. Their spirit and core were shaken. If it wasn't for the arrival of those two, they would've died for sure.
Liam was lying on the deck while looking at the blue sky.
'Even Ryokugyu appeared. That Green Island must be the result of his awakening, right? From the conversation of Garp and him, it seems like he has already joined the Marines but he wasn't active during the marine ford arc for some reason.'
'Or maybe, he hasn't joined the marine but is waiting for the position of Marine Admiral to get vacant. This is troublesome. We haven't even started the journey properly and we have encountered one of the strongest people in the world.'
'I need to get prepared. No, we need to get prepared. We have to train. Thankfully, Dragon was already at the East Blue. And, if I am not wrong, Garp was supposed to come here to arrest Ax-Hand Morgan. No wonder, they suddenly appeared.'
'That dragon? He didn't make a move in the original but it seems like this situation forced him to make a move. This is getting more and more troublesome.'
Suddenly, a few shadows appeared above him. Liam looked at the shadow of Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy. Their expression was filled with frustration and helplessness.
"Come on, don't show me such expressions. There was nothing we could do against that man. Be glad that we were able to escape." Liam sighed and spoke.
"B-but, we almost died." Luffy clenched his teeth and spoke. He also recognized his Grandpa. Although his grandpa opposed him being a pirate very much, he still saved him.
And, this frustrates Luffy more than anything else. He understood that his grandpa is a marine and he is a pirate. Luffy isn't a complete idiot.
"Oi, oi Captain, what's with such expression. Don't worry, one day, we will be strong enough to fight those people. Until then, we need to do our best to live and enjoy the adventure."
"Besides, we can't get strong in a single day. Look at me! I have been training so hard, putting my life on the line in every battle but I still haven't reached closer to your strength." Liam was surprised by Luffy's reaction so he tried to calm him down.
"L-l-l-Luffy, are we really going to the Grandline? There are monsters like that in every corner of the Grandline." Nami walked toward them and bit her lips as she asked. She wasn't hurt but terrified by Ryokugyu.
Liam also looked at Luffy. He was wondering what would Luffy's reply be. After all, the only time Luffy has ever wavered like this was during Sabody and after the death of his brother.
Luffy clenched his fist and raised his head.
"We'll go. When I decided to become a pirate, I put my life at the risk. If I die, then I die."
Liam slowly cracked a smile and slowly got up. He patted Luffy's shoulder and spoke.
"Captain is right. We became pirates by putting our life on the line. If we die, then we die. There is nothing we can do. Let's continue our journey to the Grandline and conquer it."
"On the way, let's get as stronger as we can."
Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy nodded their heads simultaneously. Nami sighed but she also expected that answer from Luffy.
"By the way, how is Usopp?" Liam turned to Nami and asked.
"He is recovering but it will still take some time." Nami replied.
"We should be near Logue Town, right?" Liam asked.
Nami nodded her head and said, "We need to stock our kitchen and buy some other things before we leave for Grandline."
"Alright! Let's wait for Usopp to recover and then enter Logue Town. Remember, this time, we need to go flee as soon as possible." Liam spoke with a serious expression.
"By the way Luffy, this town is the place where the Pirate King was born and died."
Hearing his words, Luffy's expression widened.
"A town where the pirate king was born and died."
Liam saw his expression slowly returning to normal. He breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want Luffy to feel frustrated. Luffy actually never got overwhelmed by an enemy that truly wanted to kill him.
Yes, Crocodile was certainly amazing and he did almost kill Luffy but he wasn't ruthless like Akainu and Ryokugyu.
Of course, Luffy's survival has a lot to do with his luck and it was the second main reason why Liam joined Luffy instead of waiting and creating his own crew.
In this world, luck is a very important factor. In fact, finding a powerful devil fruit depends on luck itself.
After some small discussion, the crew finally set their sails toward Logue Town. It would take another day to reach there and until then, Usopp also woke up.
He hadn't recovered completely but he could still move. While they were enjoying their time on the deck, the bird from World News arrived. Nami started shouting at the bird for increasing the price of the newspaper.
As she was reading the newspaper, two papers slide down to the deck. Liam, Luffy, Sanji, and Nami's eyes fell on those two papers. The next moment, their eyes widened.
It was a bounty paper. In the first paper, there was a picture of a kid smiling.
[Dead or Alive
Monkey D. Luffy
B50,000,000]
[Dead or Alive
Liam
B30,000,000]
Seeing these bounty posters, Liam narrowed his eyes.
'What the hell? I told them my name was Lion D. Liam. Although it is not my real name, it is still the name I told them. Why did they remove Lion D? Was it because they forgot or did they try to hide it?'
"Liam, we finally have the bounty." Just when Liam was drowned in his own thoughts, Luffy shook him and woke him up from his thoughts.
Liam cracked a smile and nodded his head.
"We are officially pirates now but the bounties are ridiculously high."