One Piece: Blue Scale Admiral

Ivankov shivered in his sleep, turned over, and buried his face in the blanket.

Chapter 575 Luffy Sets Sail

Donghai Windmill Village, deep in the forest.

Several crocodiles, tigers, and brown bears, their heads covered in bruises, stared with terrified eyes at a boy in a forest clearing.

"Rubber, rubber..."

Luffy muttered something to himself, and suddenly raised his right foot high, kicking towards the top of his head.

His right leg stretched rapidly, quickly exceeding ten meters in length, and was still stretching upwards.

He only stopped when his right leg reached a length of more than twenty meters. Like a rubber band stretched to its limit, his right foot, wearing slippers, began to bounce back little by little and accelerate, stomping down on a huge rock in front of him.

"Battle Axe!"

"boom!"

The rebounding right foot slammed into the hard rock, shattering it with a deafening roar. Broken stones flew everywhere, smashing into the surrounding bushes and trees with a crackling sound.

Several onlookers watched this horrific scene in horror, trembling with fear and huddling together.

Fear made them ignore the bodies that had been hit by the stones.

"Great! I've finally mastered this move, hahaha, now my strength should surpass Ace's, right?"

Luffy stood in front of the broken pile of rocks, hands on his hips, laughing heartily with a smug smile on his face.

Soon, the rumbling sound from his stomach interrupted his laughter.

"I'm so hungry."

Luffy rubbed his stomach, picked up his hat that had been blown off from the ground, turned around and looked at the animals watching behind him, drooling as he scanned the crocodile, tiger and brown bear.

"Awoooooo..."

The animals trembled with fear, their eyes tightly shut, and they huddled together, weeping bitterly.

Seeing this, Luffy scratched his head in frustration and muttered to himself.

"What a pity, now that we've become friends, I can't catch them and roast them for meat anymore. They taste so good."

As he spoke, he licked his lips, savoring the memory.

"Gudong."

Upon hearing this, a crocodile with a bandage wrapped around its right limb was so frightened that its eyes rolled back and it collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Huh? It's dead? If that's the case..."

Luffy's eyes immediately lit up.

The remaining crocodiles shook their heads frantically, grabbed their companions' tails, and ran wildly into the depths of the forest.

The other tigers and brown bears scattered and disappeared from Luffy's sight in the blink of an eye.

Luffy rubbed his rumbling stomach, turned around regretfully, and walked out of the forest, a happy smile returning to his face.

"Since we can't have barbecue, let's go to Makino's bar and buy some cake and juice!"

Luffy left the forest and entered the windmill village.

As he walked through the streets, villagers greeted him with smiles or made jokes along the way.

"Hey! Luffy, have you mastered that secret technique you mentioned a few days ago?"

"Of course! I'm incredibly strong right now."

"Even more powerful than Ace?"

"Definitely. If Ace were here, I would beat him to a pulp."

"boast."

"No, not at all."

Luffy walked all the way to the entrance of Makino's tavern, adjusted his straw hat, and suddenly noticed several villagers carrying newspapers coming out of the tavern. Curious, he asked:

"Uncle, do you have a new newspaper? Any news about Shanks and Ace?"

"Yes, there is." The villager pointed behind him. "Go ask Makino, she's inside reading the newspaper."

"really?"

Luffy's face lit up with joy, and he quickly pushed open the door and entered the bustling tavern.

When Luffy came in, the villagers who were drinking inside greeted him with smiles.

Makino, who was standing behind the bar with a newspaper, looked up, smiled at Luffy, put down her newspaper, and quickly brought over a large bowl of noodles piled high with meat and a glass of juice from behind the bar, placing them in front of Luffy.

"I knew you'd come over to eat at this time. Today's food is beef noodles, please enjoy, Luffy."

"Thank you, Sister Makino."

Luffy grinned happily, and couldn't wait to sit down at the bar. He picked up his chopsticks and stuffed a large handful of steaming noodles into his mouth.

"Ah, it's so hot!"

As soon as the noodles entered his mouth, he screamed in surprise, sticking out his tongue from the scalding heat.

The villagers who were drinking burst into laughter upon seeing this.

"Eat slowly, the noodles are being heated on the stove."

Makino sat down as well, picked up a wine glass and began to wipe it.

Luffy blew on the steaming noodles and ate them slowly, his cheeks puffed out. He glanced at the newspaper next to Makino and mumbled, "Sister Makino, I heard them say that there's news about Shanks and Ace in the new newspaper. Is that true?"

Makino stopped wiping the glass, a gentle smile appearing on her face. She nodded slightly and said with a smile, "It's true."

"What did the newspaper say? Tell me quickly."

Luffy's eyes lit up, and he even forgot to eat his noodles, staring longingly at Makino.

Makino put down her glass, smiled, picked up the newspaper from the bar, and read: "In recent days, the situation in the Totto Land waters of the New World has become increasingly tense. The Whitebeard Pirates, the Red-Haired Pirates, the Beasts Pirates, and the New World Marine branch are vying for ownership of the remaining twenty-odd islands..."

"The Red-Haired Pirates, it's Shanks's pirate crew!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes, a few days ago, Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, clashed fiercely with Kaido, another of the Four Emperors. The aftershocks of their battle completely destroyed Candy Island."

"Destroyed an island?" Luffy's eyes widened, noodles slid down his throat. "Wow, Shanks is amazing!"

Makino continued, "The second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Portgas D. Ace, clashed with Rear Admiral Enel of the G5 branch over the incident of Squard the Whirlpool Spider entering the G5 sea area. The two fought a fierce battle, and both sides suffered considerable losses."

"Enel, the God of Thunder." Luffy stared nervously at Makino. "He sounds like a very powerful person. Is he a Marine like Grandpa? Ace... was he injured?"

"I don't know. Actually, the injury isn't a big deal, after all, he has entered the most dangerous sea area in the world, the New World, which is a paradise for the strong. Fortunately, he didn't encounter the strongest member of the G5 branch."

Makino put down her newspaper and added another spoonful of beef to Luffy's plate.

Luffy, eating beef, asked in confusion, "The strongest member of the G5 branch? Who is that? Is he strong? Stronger than Ace?"

Makino nodded, her expression becoming serious.

"Yes, very strong. I'm afraid Ace is no match for him now. He is the new Marine hero who inherited your grandfather's title of Marine hero, the strongest Admiral candidate in the Marine Headquarters, and the man who single-handedly reduced the number of pirates that surged during the Great Pirate Era."

"He is the base commander of the G5 branch, and also the strongest member of the G5 branch, Lieutenant General Lan Lin, Luo Xia."

"Lieutenant General Lan Lin Luo Xia... a lieutenant general like my grandfather?"

As Luffy ate his noodles, his mind, for the first time, wasn't on the delicious food, but rather on the exciting adventures in the New World that Makino had described.

“Oh, right, Luffy,” Makino suddenly said with a smile, “I heard that Vice Admiral Bluescale is also sixteen years old, the same age as you this year. Moreover, he is also your grandfather’s disciple and is very skilled in using Vice Admiral Garp’s fist and bone techniques.”

Luffy's mouth dropped open.

"The same age as me, even stronger than Ace, Grandpa's disciple, extremely skilled in using his fist bones?"

He swallowed hard, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat for no apparent reason.

"That's terrifying. If I ever go out to sea again, I must never run into him. Grandpa's fists can really hurt when he hits someone."

"Don't worry, Lieutenant General Lan Lin is not at sea right now. He has been imprisoned in Impel Down, the world's most dangerous prison, for some reason. However, we all believe that he has not committed any crimes, but is a true hero."

Makino sighed and looked at Luffy seriously, saying, "But Luffy, you're right. If you ever really go to sea and become a pirate, you must avoid contact with him. His attitude towards pirates is a bit extreme. He hates pirates who use the banner of freedom to run rampant on the sea. Almost no one has ever survived against such a pirate."

Luffy didn't say anything, silently slurping the noodles in his bowl while imagining what kind of crewmates he should find.

Just then, several villagers walked in, arms around each other's shoulders.

One of the villagers saw Luffy sitting at the bar and couldn't help but laugh loudly, "Luffy! So you're here! I have good news for you, your grandpa is about to head back to Windmill Village."

"Grandpa's coming back?" Luffy paused in his slurping of noodles and turned around.

"Yes!" Several villagers smiled broadly. "I heard that Lieutenant General Garp has a long vacation and will be staying in Windmill Village for quite some time."

"A long time?"

Luffy suddenly became alert and quickly asked, "How long will it take Grandpa to come back?"

"I don't know. The village chief said it might be six months, or it might be a year. He might even stay in the village to retire and not go out."

Luffy couldn't hear what the villagers were saying anymore.

He quickly finished the noodles in his bowl, said thank you, and left the tavern in a flash.

In the forest, on a cliff near the sea, Luffy sat on the grass, staring blankly at the three wine bowls placed in front of him for a long time.

As the setting sun gradually sank into the sea on the horizon, it dyed the sea surface a golden yellow.

Luffy looked troubled.

"Oh no, Grandpa is coming back to stay for a few years. How am I supposed to go out to sea then? I'll definitely get caught by that violent old man. Has Ace already entered the legendary New World? That's amazing. I haven't even left Windmill Village yet."

Makino's words during the day made Luffy feel a little itchy.

Remembering his promise to Shanks, the sworn brotherhood drink he shared with Ace and Sabo here, and their vow to meet again on the high seas, Luffy suddenly lost the desire to continue training hard in Windmill Village.

Originally, he wanted to research and develop more techniques for using the Gum-Gum Fruit's abilities. After some time, perhaps around this time next year, he planned to set sail again to find suitable partners, then venture into the Grand Line and the New World that Shanks and his crew spoke of, to adventure on the high seas, find the legendary One Piece, and become the freest Pirate King.

But now, if Garp really does return to Windmill Village and stay there for a year or two, then his plans to go to sea will really be ruined.

Luffy sat on the ground, frowning and deep in thought. After thinking for a full ten seconds, he finally made up his mind, picked up the spring water in the bowl in front of him, clinked it against the other two bowls, and then drank it all in one gulp. He stood up and quietly ran towards a certain direction by the sea in Windmill Village.

A few days later, the village chief of Windmill Village and Dadan, a bandit hiding in the forest, were frantically searching for Luffy throughout the village.