Chapter 26: Brunch

As innumerable thoughts filled Thomas's mind, the Going Merry, Luffy's ship, pulled around to the opposite side of the Baratie. This gave Thomas the idea of having Drake relocate the Hind, not to put them closer to the Straw Hats but to ensure they wouldn't be in the firing line when Mihawk showed up to slice Krieg's ship into three pieces.

With such thoughts in mind, Thomas turned around and made his way into the Baratie. As unexpected as this development had been, he still planned to meet Luffy and the other Straw Hats. Fullbody wasn't around to try and sink their ship, so the odds of Luffy accidentally destroying the roof of the Baratie were slim. On that same note, there was a real possibility that Gin, the Combat Commander of the Krieg Pirates, wouldn't show up. Without him to lure Krieg over, the events of the Baratie Arc, including Mihawak's arrival, may not occur at all...

Realizing how drastically even minor actions could shape the course of 'set' events, Thomas exhaled a sigh. If Mihawk didn't show up, they would have no choice but to depose one of the other Shichibukai to secure their nomination. However, the two best options, Crocodile and Geck Moria, were opponents that the Straw Hats 'needed' to overcome to ensure their growth, forge future alliances, and recruit members to their crew...

As Thomas moved over to sit at her table, Musashi remarked, "You look like someone who just found their childhood pet lying dead in its kennel. What happened?"

Smiling wryly, Thomas answered, "Luffy is a woman...and I now have no idea what to expect..."

Raising her brows slightly, Musashi mused, "That must have been quite the shock. However, considering there are many Heroic Spirits who were men in the 'greater' history of their worlds, you shouldn't be too surprised by such an outcome. After all, we wouldn't even be here if this were the One Piece you're familiar with."

As there was a considerable amount of truth to Musashi's words, Thomas inhaled deeply before exhaling a long, exasperated, and accepting sigh. Unfortunately, this was immediately followed by Caenis remarking, "Look on the bright side. If things go well, you might have another hole to shove your cock into. With a body made of rubber, she should be able to accept you no matter how big you grow."

While Musashi's smile became wry, Thomas reached up to massage his abruptly aching forehead. He would be lying if he said the thought hadn't crossed his mind, but there was a difference between thinking something and voicing it aloud...

Before Thomas could fully recover from how taken aback he was, the front entrance to the Baratie was practically kicked open, followed by the petite future Pirate Queen shouting, "Give me some vegetables~!" loud enough to shake the restaurant to its keel. Behind her, Zoro, Usopp, Nami, and two other men whose names Thomas couldn't remember off the top of his head, entered with wry, curious, or bored looks on their faces.

Following her outburst, Luffy looked around the dining area, zeroing in on Thomas, Caenis, and Musashi. Her gaze caused the remaining Straw Hats to look over, Usopp exclaiming, "Holy sea cows!" while Zoro narrowed his eyes, his hand naturally gravitating to his swords when he met Musashi's gaze.

After punching the back of Usopp's head, causing him to bite his tongue, Nami turned to Luffy, asking, "Do you know those people, Lucy?"

Shaking her head, Lucy unhesitantly replied, "Nope. But I can tell those two girls are 'really' strong."

As the group was speaking loud enough that everyone could hear them, Thomas exhaled another tired sigh. He knew his strength was nowhere near Caenis's and Musashi's, but he never expected to be 'disregarded' while sitting between them.

Adding insult to injury, Nami asked, "What about the guy? He seems like their leader or something, doesn't he...?"

As if she only noticed him once Nami mentioned him, Lucy looked at Thomas before crossing her arms in a manner that made it look like her breasts would burst out at any moment. Then, after several seconds of silence, she tilted her head to the side and remarked, "He seems kind of weak...?" as if there was an invisible question mark over her head.

Suppressing yet another sigh, Thomas rose to his feet, forcing a smile as he said, "For now, perhaps. However, so long as I never give up, it's only a matter of time before I stand at the pinnacle of this world..."

Blinking in surprise, Lucy issued a curious "Oh?" before adding, "If that's the case, then you should join my crew. I'm the woman who's going to be the future Pirate King. If you're going to be strong one day, we should be Nakama."

Inserting herself back into the conversation, Nami had a helpless look on her face as she said, "You can't just go around inviting everyone you meet to join your crew, Lucy. Besides, look at the situation. He already has two beautiful women eating with him. Inviting a womanizer onto the crew will jeopardize the safety of our female members..."

Tilting her head to the opposite side, Lucy asked, "How? He doesn't seem like one of the bad guys my Grampa and Dadan told me to avoid. I get the feeling he actually wants to help us."

Blinking in surprise, Thomas opened his mouth, but no words came out. He knew Luffy/Lucy had a powerful intuition, but he didn't think he would be seen through so...effortlessly. She also seemed a lot smarter than the character he was familiar with...not to mention her call for 'vegetables' in place of meat. It was almost like she was a completely different person...

Adopting a broad smile that would be impossible for a normal person, Lucy asserted, "We can trust him." before making her way over to sit at Thomas's table. Nami reluctantly joined her while Zoro, Usopp, and the two 'nameless' Bounty Hunters sat at the table next to them. Around the same time, Sanji emerged from the kitchen with a plate of vegetable soup, asking, "Who ordered the veggies...?"

Raising her hand much higher than a normal person, Lucy replied, "Me, me, me! Bring it over here~!" in a spirited tone.

Following the direction of the voice, Sanji's eyes widened when he saw the bevy of beautiful girls seated around a single table. The presence of Thomas bothered him, but he had already gotten accustomed to ignoring the brutish eyesore that seemed to have the Devil's luck.

Making his way over, Sanji set the soup in front of Lucy, a charming smile on his face as he mused, "One vegetable soup, for the beautiful lady. This one's on the house."

Hearing Sanji's remark, a mischievous smile appeared on Nami's face as she leaned forward slightly, accenting her still-developing charms as she asked, "And what about me, Mister Waiter? Do I get a free meal as well~?"

Though the expression on his face remained fairly calm and composed, everyone at the table heard Sanji swallow as he met Nami's hazel-brown eyes and struggled to hold her gaze. In response to her words, he gave a slight bow and smoothly replied, "Of course. For beautiful ladies, being given the opportunity to prepare your meals is payment enough. It would be criminal of me to charge you more..."

Narrowing her eyes in amusement, Nami replied, "Then we'll need a lot more than a single plate of soup. Despite her diminutive appearance, my friend here can eat her body weight in fruits and veggies. As for me, I'll take the house special and a bottle of your finest wine."

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Despite a bead of sweat appearing on his brow, Sanji retained his smile and replied, "As you will, my lady." before returning to the kitchen without bothering to ask Zoro, Usopp, and the others what they wanted. He also didn't look toward Thomas until the latter said, "Get Beni to help you. I'll also foot the bill and the cost of the ingredients, so feel free to show off as much as you like."

Realizing he had given Thomas a chance to flex his wealth, Sanji clicked his tongue and returned to the kitchen without responding. Immediately following his exit, Nami's eyes were practically sparking as she leaned across the table, smiling radiantly as she asked, "Are you perhaps super wealthy, mister...?"

Though it felt awkward being referred to as a 'mister,' Thomas replied, "Thomas D. Jensen. Feel free to call me Tom. And yes, my crew is...fairly wealthy..."

Keying in on the word crew, Lucy asked, "You already have a Pirate crew of your own?"

With Musashi and Caenis leaving the discussion to him, Thomas shook his head and replied, "Not quite. We might become Pirates at some point, but our current occupation is Bounty Hunters. The three of us are members of the Wild Hunt, sailing aboard a vessel called the Golden Hind."

Hearing Thomas refer to himself as a Bounty Hunter, the bodies of Nami, Zoro, and Usopp tensed. Lucy, however, was completely carefree as she asked, "The three of you are 'members' of the Wild Hunt? Does that mean you have a Captain...?"

Nodding in affirmation, Thomas revealed, "The Wild Hunt currently has ten members, and our Captain is Francis Drake. These two remarkably beautiful women are Caenis and Musashi, the Shipwright and First Mate of our crew. As for me...you could say I'm their patron? I basically get to pick and choose our destination and target."

Exhibiting a complete disregard for the antagonistic relationship between Pirates and Bounty Hunters, Lucy replied, "You seem pretty important. As for me, my name is Monkey D. Lucy, the future Pirate King. And these are my friends and crewmate, Nami, Zoro, and Usopp. If the three of you are Bounty Hunters, I guess that means you'll be chasing us in the future...?"

Shaking his head, Thomas seized the opportunity to assert, "Our group only targets evil and malicious Pirates, the type that harms others and commits all kinds of heinous acts. As far as I'm aware, none of you even have Bounties. Even if you did, I don't think you're bad people. Certainly not like that Arlong fellow we took down a few months ago..."

Slamming the table, Nami rose to her feet, shouting, "What did you just say!? Did your crew really take down Arlong...!?" with a disbelieving yet hopeful look on her face.

Though he was a little taken aback by Nami's outburst, Thomas managed a smile, nodding his head as he replied, "Indeed. We handed them over to the 45th Branch of the Marines around three months ago. We managed to earn around 65 million after turning them in."

Plopping onto her seat, Nami's gaze became unfocused as she muttered, "I can't believe it..."

Choosing to chime in, one of the nameless Bounty Hunters, a bronze-skinned man with short black hair and sunglasses, stated, "He's telling the truth. The Bounties for Arlong and his crew were rescinded around three months ago. However, the identities of the people who defeated them were never made public..."

Nipping Nami's disbelief in the bud, Zoro added, "Johnny's right. I was originally planning to take out Arlong and his crew after dealing with the other infamous Pirate crews in the area, but his Bounty was canceled a few months ago. If these people really took him out, their power must be pretty incredible..."

Seeing another excellent opportunity, Thomas narrowed his eyes as he replied, "Strong enough to take out pretty much any crew in the East with ease. I'm the weakest member of the Wild Hunt, but I'm fairly confident I could give your Captain a run for her money..."

Raising her brows, Lucy offered a surprise "Oh?" before adopting a toothy grin as she questioned, "Are you challenging me to a fight? I may be a girl, but you'll regret it if you look down on me."

With a 'serious' expression, Thomas shook his head, firmly asserting, "I'm not looking down on you. In fact, I 'know' you have tremendous potential. It's one of the many reasons I want to fight you...I want to test my power against the future Pirate King..."

"Hmmm..."

Placing her index finger on her chin and tilting her head slightly to the side, Lucy appeared to be seriously considering her response. She would prefer to fight Thomas's Captain, but if he was 'serious' about fighting her, she didn't see the harm in accepting his challenge. He had also offered to pay for her meal, so she 'owed' him at least that much.

Nodding her head, Lucy replied, "Okay. Once we're finished eating, let's find a nearby island where we can cut loose. I'm pretty curious about the abilities of your crew, so we can have a friendly match to determine who's the strongest."

Immediately following Lucy's words, Sanji emerged from the kitchen with a silvery pushcart full of food, effectively bringing the conversation to an end. Nami looked like she still had a lot she wanted to ask but ultimately remained silent, deciding she would wait until after the fight to ask about the details of Arlong's defeat...

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(A/N: For those who weren't aware, Oda actually revealed a genderbent version of Luffy in one of his AMA/SBSs. According to the man himself, the genderbent version of Luffy is a vegetarian with the same dream, just a more 'delicate' personality.)

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