Ultimate Fruit

Chapter 87: Z’s Ambition!

“Still, it’s a unique feeling to know that our lives are already written in your world. How much has changed exactly? Are there any dangers that we should know about?”

“Robin! You can’t ask that! How will it be fun to adventure if we know what’s going to happen!?”

Luffy stopped Robin from asking more.

To him, he didn’t care if their lives were written in another world. His life is his life. He’s the one in control. If there’s going to be dangers in the future, he will deal with it himself!

Lucas knew what he was thinking and laughed.

“A lot has already changed so even I can’t tell what danger we’ll be facing. For one, Ace is alive now and Akainu is dead. But Kizaru seems to be a lot more troublesome now. The Shichibukais were also disbanded a lot earlier than expected which will cause a lot of ripples. The former CP9 is also now on our side so there will be more unknown enemies for when we face CP0...basically, there’s no telling how many enemies we will face in the future which I have no knowledge of.”

Not to mention there’s still that Lucius guy who seems hell-bent on believing I am his brother…

Lucas shrugged then noticed that everyone was quiet.

Confused, he saw Luffy staring at me with wide eyes and the others looking at Luffy and Lucas silently.

It took Lucas a moment before realizing that it must be because he mentioned Ace being alive now…

Luffy opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again.

After a while, he sighed.

“...A lot has happened and I feel like I haven’t said something to you yet, Lucas.”

“Say what?”

“Thanks.”

Lucas was surprised by the sudden thanks from Luffy.

“Thinking about it now, you’ve known everything since we saw you that time before we reached Alabasta...right? Probably, you knew all the dangers and deaths that would happen...and yet you still chose to follow us.”

“Well...it’s annoying for me to suddenly be sent to this world without even reading the ending of the story you know? What better way to know the ending than to see it with my very own eyes?”

Luffy laughed.

“Shishisishi! But you said that it’s going to be even more dangerous now because of the changes you made right?”

“What, Luffy...are you scared?”

“Hell no! If anyone’s scared, it’s Usopp!”

“Wh-what are you saying, Luffy!? I’ve changed okay!? I’m no longer weak like before! In fact, I might even be stronger than Zoro now!”

“Hooh? Want to test that right now?”

“Interesting…”

Zoro’s eyes gleamed and his hand touched the handle of his sword. Beside him, Kuina’s eyes also gleamed and she similarly held her sword.

“...A-ahem! I meant Nami! Right! I’m stronger than Nami now!”

“Kya! Luna-chan! You’re mommy’s being bullied!”

“No one bullies mommy!”

*Boom*

Lightning fell from the clear sky and struck Usopp, turning him into a black charred mess…

Everyone sweated at the weird power and silently reminded themselves not to make Luna cry even if they died!

Soon after, everyone laughed at Usopp while Chopper and Kaya treated him.

After some time, Lily, the loli giant, finally woke up again.

“Ahhh! That was some good food!... Huh? Did something happen?”

“Nothing. Right, you haven’t explained how you got here.”

Lucas remembered her and asked. He already knew why she’s here and regarding her objective but he still wanted to ask in case there’s anything different now.

“Well, I was waiting for someone while inside a bottle floating in the sea when you all showed up. Then, who knew you guys would suddenly fly to the sky! I was so scared I didn’t leave the ship! Then, when you guys returned to the sea, a weird water ball suddenly covered me and...well, you know the rest.”

Ah, so she saw the floating island too...it was a good thing she didn’t stay there or it would be even more troublesome.

“Who are you waiting for?”

“My dad...ah! I don’t have time to be messing around here!”

Lily started panicking and caused her head to be bigger than her body. Kinda like a chibi.

Luna seemed to be amused by her appearance and copied it…

...She looked weird so Lucas scolded her from doing it.

“Calm down! Why are you looking for your dad? Who is he?”

Franky asked.

Suddenly, Lily stopped panicking and her head returned to normal proportions. She smiled proudly as she remembered her dad.

“Dad’s only the greatest pirate chef in all the New World!”

Sanji raised a brow at that and asked as well.

“Pirate chef? Lily-chan, what’s the name of your dad?”

“Panz Fry!”

“Ooh! I’ve heard of him!”

Seeing Sanji sound impressed, Luffy was also interested. Of course, his interest is mainly whether he can eat his food later or not.

“Is he really famous?”

“He’s the master of volcano cooking!”

Lily grinned and answered proudly.

“Volcano cooking!? What’s that!? Is it tasty!?”

“Well of course! Just thinking about it...my favorite meal, Sea Monster Churrasco! Ghost herbs that only grow around volcanoes! Salt crystals that formed hundreds of millions of years ago in the lava gaps! He lets the meat of three sea monsters absorb the salt before putting it right in the volcano to flash fry!”

Luffy’s eyes started to shine like the stars while he imagined it in his head.

Only when it comes to food where his mind can comprehend such complex processes!

“Sounds delicious!!!”

“And that ain’t everything! The most delicious of all is…”

“Is what!?”

“A super large frying pan filled to the brim with every kind of food from both the sea and the mountains cooked on top of a volcano! It’s called the Thousand Man Paella! All you need is a single bite...and you'll think you’re lost in a dream! It’s like running through the prettiest field of flowers in Heaven!”

“I wanna eat it! I wanna go to Heaven!”

“...”

Everyone just stared at the two who were seemingly lost in their own imaginations…

At the side, Hancock was already biting her handkerchief upon seeing Lily acting so chummy with Luffy.

Lucas can hear her mumbling something. When he tries to understand what she was saying, he can feel his ears bleeding from the number of curses she is spouting…

Even though she’s been glaring at Lily with immense killing intent, Lily didn’t seem to notice it at all.

Ignoring Luffy and Lily in their fantasy world, Robin spoke up.

“I’ve heard rumors about Panz Fry. He’s a pirate who steals food from the government, the marines, and other pirates and gives it to starving people.”

Hearing that, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper’s eyes widened.

“So he’s…”

“A hero!”

“Ehehehe~”

Lily laughed sheepishly as if she’s the one being praised…

Nami has had enough already with their antics and asked.

“Alright enough. Explain.”

“Ah, right. I was always with dad while he’s traveling around as a pirate...but he suddenly disappeared around 2 weeks ago. The marines probably got him...so I went to several islands to investigate and found from a newspaper that dad’s been taken to Impel Down.”

Luffy frowned when he heard Impel Down. He really didn’t like the place ever since he went there 2 years ago.

“I finally made it here after a lot of trouble...but my ship was torn apart by the crazy weather. I had no idea what to do anymore…”

Everyone can only imagine what it was like for someone so small as her to wander the sea alone to look for her dad.

Franky’s eyes started to pour a waterfall of tears when he heard her story.

“What a kindhearted soul! She cares so much for her dad!”

“But still...Impel Down?”

Luffy looked at her with a grave expression.

“That place is dangerous. You shouldn’t go there without a plan.”

“...”

Lucas sweated when he heard that. What plan? Did you even have a plan when you came there 2 years ago!? Just who are you lecturing here!?

Lily smiled and shook her head.

“I’m not planning on going there. When I snuck aboard a warship, I overheard them say they will transfer my dad through the waters of Mobedumule.”

Nami nodded.

“So this means, the marines will be coming here soon?”

“Going against the marines is also still dangerous, Lily-chan.”

Sanji warned Lily.

“Even so, I must save my dad! No matter what!”

Lily did hesitate at all when she said that. She was prepared to maybe even lose her life if it was to save her dad.

Luffy looked at her silently before turning to Lucas and the others.

“I’m thankful to you all, but there’s no need for me to trouble you guys further. If you can give me a bottle, I’ll be off. You all better get far away from here as soon as possible.”

“...”

Everyone else looked back at Luffy and nodded.

Lily saw that and thought that everyone decided to do as she says. In her heart, she felt a bit disappointed but quickly shook it off.

They aren’t familiar with each other and also just met each other just now. There was no need for them to risk their lives for her.

This was normal.

Not to mention...they are pirates.

It was already good for them to have given her food despite sneaking into their ship unannounced.

There’s no need for them to risk their lives for her…

Lily repeated this phrase in her heart to convince herself.

“Lily.”

Surprised by suddenly being called at, Lily raised her head and looked at Luffy in confusion.

“Let us help you!”

“...Huh?”

“I want to try that Heaven Food that only your dad can make!”

Lily’s eyes widened when she saw there’s no hint of lying in Luffy’s eyes.

“But…”

“Anyway, that’s how it is. Since the captain has spoken, you can’t convince him to say no otherwise anymore. Don’t worry about it.”

Lucas laughed and started to walk towards the rails as if expecting something to appear in the distance.

“Besides...I think they’re already here.”

Luffy stood up and saw several large shadows from the distance.

Usopp used his goggles and zoomed in to verify.

“It’s the marines! They’re here!”

“Men! Time to get Lily’s dad back!”

Kuina saw the warships as well and frowned.

“Still...aren’t there too many warships escorting your dad?”

Robin nodded as well as she thought the same.

“Even going through Mobedumule as well...something seems odd.”

“Maybe Lily’s dad is really dangerous?”

Kaya asked and didn’t understand why they found it odd.

Hearing them, Lucas answered.

“No, Panz Fry isn’t so dangerous as to warrant 4 warships and a Vice-admiral to escort him. There’s another reason why.”

“Huh? There’s a Vice-admiral on board!?”

Usopp shouted in shock but then saw Kaya looking at him so he quickly cleared his throat and corrected himself.

“Ahem, I mean, so there’s a Vice-admiral there huh? I can finally kill a Vice-admiral!”

“...”

No one minded Usopp and continued to listen to Lucas instead.

“Un. If I’m not wrong...Vice-admiral Momonga should be there. The reason why Lily’s dad is heavily guarded is that recently, there have been many attacks on pirate ships lately. In fact, even for marine warships, as long as there is a pirate on board, they will also be attacked.”

“Yeah...Kohza told us about this earlier right? So you're saying that because even marines are being attacked, they have increased their security to protect the pirates they captured?”

Nami asked when she remembered what Kohza told them earlier. Others like Luffy or Zoro might not be listening properly but she had noted the information that they received just in case.

Lucas nodded at her.

“Right. The group that the former Admiral Zephyr is leading is called the Neo Marines. They are former Marines that believe pirates should all be executed. Even locking them up was unacceptable to them.”

Lucas sighed when he remembered the movie.

“Is this also part of the story that you know?”

“Un...I hoped they wouldn’t show this time...but if the Neo Marines are making this much noise now...probably, Zephyr’s ambition is close at hand.”

“Ambition?”

Luffy asked.

Lucas nodded with a grave expression.

“Yeah. He’s planning to...destroy the entire New World!”