21 Chapter 20 (2/2)

”Dolphus, I can feel her coming in our directions. She is of utmost importance, and you better make sure, she is here by the end of the month.” A menacing voice was heard, despite there being no one in the throne room, besides the king.

”There are two more days, and I promise you, we will have her prepared. I have already sent another group after them with our best men.” Trembling, the king responded.

”She better be alive, or you will suffer the consequences.” The voice wasn't heard any more after that, but Dolphus couldn't stop himself from trembling and had a few new grey hairs.

Luffy POV:

A couple of hours after starting our journey, we were attacked by four ships with the Asena Kingdom symbol. I didn't want to take part in fighting them and wanted to observe how my crew will deal with them.

Sanji flew using Geppo to one of the ships and destroyed it using Rankyaku. The wind blades he was able to generate with his legs almost rivaled Zoro's with a sword.

Johnny and Yosaku were unable to use Geppo, nor were they able to jump to the ships, so they swam to one of them. Both of them use dadao swords with red handle and a circular tsuba, and they have seriously been practicing with Zoro. They mostly favor using strength rather than skill, but Zoro has been trying to fix that. They might not be able to send wind blades or cut steel, but they have made a lot of improvements. Johnny and Yosaku were able to sink the ship they boarded within a few minutes. They have the best teamwork from the crew and move as one while fighting, perfectly covering each other.

One of the ships started firing arrows at us, but Nojiko was able to stop all of them with her control over wood. She gathered them all in a giant wooden ball, which she threw back at them, and sank their ship.

I wanted Nami and Ussop to go after the last ship, but Zoro destroyed with a few wind blades before I ordered them. He still has only one sword, but he has been improving at a monstrous rate. I have sparred with him using swords quite a few times and yet I have never even been close to beating him. Despite being trained on how to use a blade to kill when I was in the underground facility, Zoro schools me every time we fight. I can beat him if I use my Devil Fruits abilities, but just using a sword, I stand no chance.

Ahmya was amazed at how easily my crew dealt with the enemy ships. She knew we were strong, but seeing five people destroy four ships was incredible in her eyes. Something like this is simply unheard of in East Blue.

It took us another hour to reach Amarok Island. We docked our ship on a beach far away from any towns. Since we have a lot of inventory on it, we couldn't leave it without protection. Zoro volunteered to stay, saying that the enemy is too weak for his liking.

With the rest of the crew alongside Ahmya, we made our way towards the capital. We were trying to be discreet about it and, we moved through unpopulated areas. Nonetheless, we got swarmed by the residents of the kingdom, both young and old were running at us, like a moth drawn to a flame. And every single one had a mad look on their faces, while constantly muttering about their sacrifice. Ussop and Nami dealt with everyone, by knocking them out as lightly as possible. The journey to the capital should not have taken more than a couple of hours, but due to the number of people coming after us, it took us around four hours to reach there.

The capital has giant stone walls encircling it, and archers were lined up on them. The moment we got close enough, and all hell broke loose. We heard wolves howling, and the gates of the capital burst open, thousands of citizens rushed out from them with a mad look on their faces. Following them behind them were just as many wolves.

I decided to take this more seriously and immediately created four clones. Unfortunately, they were useless since Nojiko walked in front of us, placed her hands on the ground and produced a small forest in front of us. The trees captured anyone within their vicinity and kept them bound. I was astonished at Nojikos power to create an entire forest area in mere moments. While the people on the ground were dealt with by her, Sanji knocked out those on the walls.

Within a dozen minutes, everyone got captured by the trees or got knocked out. We entered the capital and made our way towards the Royal Palace.