One Piece: In Search of Freedom [Book 1]

CH 9: THE LEGEND HAS STARTED! HEAD FOR THE GRAND LINE!

Inherited will...

The tide of the times...

People's dreams...

These things cannot be stopped.

As long as people seek the answer of freedom, these things will never cease to be!

The hooded figure strode down the empty streets of Loguetown. The rain constantly falling over him, yet he didn't try to avoid it. His green hood hid half of his face, but a wide smirk could still be seen.

Inherited will... The tide of the times... People's dreams... these things cannot be stopped. As long as people seek the answer of freedom, these things will never cease to be! Gold Roger's voice ringed inside his head and his grin only widened as the lightning in the sky brightened the sky, revealing his face.

On the left side of his countenance was a strange red tattoo that went from top to bottom. His sharp eyes never wavering. "A pirate, huh? Fine by me."

"What's with this storm?!" Zoro yelled to the sky.

The storm had come too suddenly that no one had expected it. Even Nami had only seen it at the last minute. It had been said storm that had also saved their captain's life, but now, it was making their escape quite difficult.

The streets were now slippery and with the lack of light, they could barely see a meter in front of them. Their clothes were soaking wet, too, chilling them to the bone. And as if things weren't troublesome enough, the marines had not left their tail for a second and they had no idea which way to go.

[Name] glanced up, "The wind is getting stronger. If we sail now, we should be able to head to the Grand Line pretty fast. If we don't leave soon, it might change and make our trip harder."

"Run! Run! Run!"

With the idiot captain sprinting at the front, the trio hurried behind him. Though it really wasn't the best of ideas to follow someone who could get lost as frequently as the samurai with grass for a brain.

"Do you even know the way, Luffy?" questioned [Name] after still not getting any close to the port even after half an hour had gone by. And from his reaction, it seemed like they were bigger idiots since they let him lead the way in the first place. "Why am I even asking...?"

Zoro finally noticed too, "Which direction is the sea?"

"I can't tell where we're going because of this heavy rain!" tried to explain Luffy, holding his straw hat so it wouldn't fly off again. Even if there was no rain, though, it was doubtful he would know the way.

Behind them, the mass of marines only grew larger. At the very least, because of the rain, their guns were useless so they couldn't attack until they got closer to the pirates. "Stop there, pirates!"

"Who would stop?" growled [Name].

"What persistent bastards! Should we stop and fight?" Zoro was getting annoyed with all the screaming happening back there that didn't give them any time to think of what direction to take.

Sanji stopping him, "We don't have time for that. Oh?" in just a split second, the chef completely forgot the trouble they were in and the "don't have time" he had said, his eyes turning into hearts, "Who's that lady?!"

Standing in the middle of the road was a young woman. Her dark blue hair that only reached her neck was sticking to her face and her clothes were all wet. Even with the thick jacket with fur around the collar and wrists, she should still have been freezing. Yet, she didn't seem to care and just stood there.