20 Chapter 19

After our lovemaking session with Nami, we made our way towards the Going Merry. She was having difficulty walking, so I carried in a princess carry style. We didn't have anything to bring with us since Nojiko had already taken everything useful from the house. When we reached the Going Merry, everyone had already gathered on the main deck.

My crew was currently sitting at a table in the middle. Looking around there were other various wooden types of furniture, that were not there previously.

"Took you two lovebirds long enough. The whole village probably heard you, considering we were able to hear you from here." Nojiko said with a smirk. She looked exhausted, but that didn't stop her from making fun of us.

Zoro had an amused look on his face. Ussop, Yosaku, and Johnny were giving me a thumbs up. Aisha kept staring at the ground, but I saw her madly blushing. Sanji looked pissed and had steam coming out of him. He was gnashing his teeth, but he didn't attack me since I was still holding Nami.

Nami snuggled up to me after hearing what Nojiko said, and stack her tongue at her sister.

"You just wish you were in my position." Nami hopped off me and went to say goodbye to the villagers along with Nojiko.

While the girls were saying their goodbyes, I looked around the Going Merry, which was now modified. The first thing I noticed, was the six tangerine trees planted on top of the Captains Room. They gave a livelier atmosphere to the ship.

The two big sleeping rooms have been remodeled into twelve smaller ones by Nojiko. Each room now has a bed, a wardrobe, a table, two chairs, and a tiny shelf. All the pieces of furniture are directly attached to the floor. Thankfully the villagers were kind enough to provide us with mattresses so everyone could get a comfy sleep. The ship halls also have shelves around them and various other decorations, making the Going Merry more pleasing to the eye.

Nojiko has been a part of our crew for no longer than a few hours, but she has already done so much for us with her Devil Fruit abilities. She did look extremely fatigued earlier, so she can't use her powers indefinitely. Nonetheless, I am glad she came with us, with her on board, our ship will always be in top condition.

By the time I finished walking around the ship, the girls had already said their goodbyes and were ready to leave.

We departed towards Loguetown but after an hour of sailing three ships were able to catch up to us. Two of the were Marine vessels while the third one had a howling black wolf for a flag. The ships were gaining speed on us, but they didn't open fire when they got within firing range.

I was able to hear the Marines arguing with the people from the Asena Kingdom. The Marines wanted to fire at us, but the other side was saying that they need Aisha alive and were against shooting at us. Everyone from my crew had gathered around me, and we were waiting to see what they will do.

Shortly they reached us, and the Asena Kingdom ship stopped around twenty meters from us with one of the Marine ones. The other Marine vessel started going past us and was trying to flank us.

A man and a woman stepped up from the kingdom's ship. The woman is very beautiful, slightly taller than Nami, with long jet black hair and blue eyes. Her face greatly resembled Aishas. The man looked extremely jacked, short dark grey hair, and was carrying a bow.

"Filthy pirates, if you give us our sacrifice Aisha Jolderik, I might give you a painless death. If you don't comply, I will skin you all alive. " He declared pretty confidently with a mad look on his face, the woman, on the other hand, didn't say anything, but looked very worried.

"Johny, Yosaku you deal with the Marines, trying to flank us. Ussop you will deal with the other one. Nami, Nojiko you stay here and make sure Aisha is safe. Zoro, Sanji let's go have some fun on the kingdoms ship." I gave orders to everyone and turned towards the Asena Kingdom vessel.

All three of us were able to jump on to the enemy ship, and we quickly subdued those who attacked us, which was everyone except the woman. She kept looking towards the Going Merry the whole time and didn't even bother to check what has happened with the people around her.

The man was dealt with by Sanji, who was stomping on his hands, asking him how will butchers us now. Zoro dealt with almost everyone else while practicing his one sword style, and I beat the rest. Everyone had a crazy zealous look and kept talking about their sacrifice, and how important it is.

I wasn't sure what to do with the woman since she didn't seem dangerous, nor did she seem crazy like the others.

"Aren't you going to capture me as well? I don't have the same value as my daughter, but you will be able to get a higher price for both of us." She asked while turning towards us, with a sad look.

"Huh?" I guessed she was Aisha's mother, but I didn't expect to hear that.

"Are you not planning to exchange her for her bounty? Ah, I see, you are one of those lecherous low-lives, who are after the fleshly body." She had a scowl on her face while talking, but I got pissed at her comment.

"You wanted to offer your very own daughter as a sacrifice. You placed a bounty on her when she escaped and sent Marines after her. Now you come after her to bring her to be sacrificed and you dare call me low-life?" She had tears in her eyes, while I was talking and when I finished, she burst out crying, saying how she didn't want to.

I couldn't question her on any further since Sanji started attacking me for making a woman cry. Once they both calmed down, she introduced herself as Ahmya Jolderik and begged us to bring her on our ship. Sanji was more than happy to pick her up like a princess and jump back to the Going Merry.

Aisha got scared when she saw Ahmya with us, but when we explained the situation, she was furious. A lot of screaming followed, but they were able to work it out in the end. Once they calmed down, Ahmya was able to explain exactly what happened.

No longer than a few moments after Aisha had eaten the fox type Devil Fruit, almost every citizen had received an inexplicable desire to offer her as a sacrifice to the kingdoms sacred beast. The only people without that desire are the servants that helped her escape and her mother.

Ahmya tried to persuade Souta, her husband, that it's inhuman to sacrifice their daughter, but no matter what she told him, he didn't listen. He is usually a very kind man and wouldn't sacrifice his daughter, but the only thing he kept repeating is that they have to satisfy the sacred beast.

After the Marines that they initially sent after her, returned empty-handed and having lost her trail, the king ordered for the best hunters of the kingdom, to go after her with another two groups of Marines. Ahmya had volunteered to come as well to try and help Aisha, should she get caught.

She also told us that the reason they were able to track her down, is because of the inexplicable desire that they have, which was somehow pushing them straight towards her location.

All of us were very surprised at the situation, but we all came to the same conclusion, that a Devil Fruit user is the cause of this. There are a lot of supernatural things happening in this world, but they mostly appear on the Grand Line. This might be one, but such I am almost a hundred percent sure that this is the work of a Devil Fruit.

We contacted Zeff as well to see what he has to say about his, and he confirmed our suspicions. Unfortunately, he didn't know of any Devil Fruit that might be the cause of it.

Aisha and Ahmya looked extremely uncomfortable, knowing that someone is controlling their kingdom from shadows. I was at a crossroad, thinking whether I should continue to Loguetown or whether I should go to the Asena Kingdom and check what's happening there.

"Lu-Lu-Luffy, could you please help my kingdom?" Aisha brought me out of my thoughts with her question. She was holding onto my vest and was looking at me straight into my eyes while trying to suppress her tears. There was no way I could say no to her right now.

"Don't worry Aisha, I promise you, we will go to the Asena Kingdom and deal with whoever has caused all of this." I patted her head, and she beamed the brightest smile I have seen from her.

"Thank you so much, Luffy." Aisha hugged me as thanks, and I hugged her back. Moments later, she squealed, broke the hug and ran away to the Captains Room, while I had to dodge Sanji's kicks.

"Stop hogging all the ladies, you shitty Captain." I wouldn't be surprised if he can enter Second Gear like me since steam was literally coming out of his body again.

After dealing with Sanji, we turned the Going Merry around and made our way towards the Baratie. We will do a quick stop there first and then would we make our way towards the Asena Kingdom.

Once done with giving orders to the crew and turning the ship, I saw Nami tapping her foot with a pissed expression while Nojiko was snickering next to her.

"You and I have to talk right now." Nami took my hand and brought me downstairs to one of our new rooms. While she was dragging me there, I saw everyone was laughing at me.

Our conversation didn't really go anywhere, and before we knew it, we were already naked in the bed.