"Makino-san, I'm back!"
Luffy led Shanks and his crew into Makino's bar.
"You guys head inside first. I need to drop these off out back," Luffy said, turning to address Shanks and the others.
Without another word, he dragged his freshly hunted prey toward the storage area, leaving the pirates behind.
"What a strange kid," Shanks murmured with a shake of his head as he stepped into the bar.
In the warehouse, Luffy took out his dagger and efficiently separated the useful parts from the animal corpses, sorting everything into neat piles.
That dagger hadn't seen combat in over a year now. As the beasts he faced grew stronger, it became less and less effective.
After a full year of using the blade without picking up any real techniques, Luffy gave up on it altogether and switched to good old-fashioned bare-handed brawling.
To his surprise, he found he liked the feeling of landing solid punches. Since then, there was no going back.
After organizing everything, Luffy washed his hands and slipped into the bar through the back door.
By now, the place was packed. Makino bustled between tables, pouring drinks and tending to customers.
"Let me help you, Makino-san."
Luffy hefted a barrel of ale with one hand and began filling up empty mugs on the counter.
"Thanks a lot, Luffy." Makino gratefully picked up the freshly poured drinks and hurried off again.
With all the mugs full, Luffy pulled a jug of milk from under the counter and poured himself a cup.
He'd been drinking this milk for two years now.
For some reason, Luffy's height hadn't increased much during that time, and the Makino family had grown increasingly worried. Fearing he might have some form of dwarfism, they bought him the finest, freshest milk every day. But it hadn't made a difference.
Not that Luffy minded, he loved the taste of milk. He'd always liked yogurt and dairy products in general. And in the world of pirates, animals were far more robust, so milk here tasted even better than anything back on Earth.
He happily went along with Makino's daily milk deliveries.
Sitting at the bar, Luffy sipped his fresh milk slowly.
Suddenly, a mug of ale slammed down on the counter beside him. Its owner sat down with a grin.
"Yo, kid, want a sip of booze?" Shanks teased, eyeing Luffy's glass of milk.
"Oh, right, my bad. Forgot little kids can't drink," he chuckled.
Luffy looked unbothered, as usual, which just made Shanks want to mess with him more.
"Tell me, between us, who looks more like the kid?" Luffy shot back in his childish voice.
"Ahahahahahaha!"
The whole bar burst into laughter at Luffy's bold response.
"Tch!" Shanks clicked his tongue like he'd just lost a round.
"Kid, maybe you don't know, " He leaned in with a mock-threatening glare.
"We're the Red Hair Pirates. Even crying babies go silent when they see us!"
"So what?" Luffy calmly sipped his milk.
"My grandpa is Monkey D. Garp, Hero of the Marines."
The bar fell silent.
There weren't many people on this sea who could make Shanks uneasy, but Garp was absolutely at the top of that list.
Back in the day, when Shanks was just a cabin boy on Roger's ship, he'd seen Garp's Iron Fist in action countless times.
There were even a few terrifying moments when he'd accidentally wandered too close to the aftershocks of Garp and Roger's battles. He'd nearly died more than once.
But that was a long time ago, and Shanks wasn't some wet-behind-the-ears rookie anymore.
Though shaken, Shanks quickly composed himself.
He slammed his mug on the table and leaned in with a fierce look.
"Garp, huh? Kid, you do realize we're pirates, right? The Marine's our enemy!"
Luffy took another sip of milk, calmly glancing at Shanks out of the corner of his eye.
"You're no fun," Shanks grumbled, letting the tension drop. He sat down with a sigh, lifted his beer, and muttered, "You're a strange one, kid."
The noise gradually returned to the bar.
"So, what brings you guys to the East Blue anyway?" Luffy asked casually.
This was something that had puzzled Luffy in his previous life too. By this point, Shanks already had the power of a Warlord-level pirate.
Sure, the East Blue had produced some shocking figures, but it was still the weakest sea. That much was undisputed.
Shanks hesitated at the question, swirling his drink thoughtfully.
"You seem to know a lot about me..."
He glanced up at the clock on the wall. Then, with a low voice, he said:
"I'm here to find the child of someone who once saved my life. That kid's in danger."
"A child, huh..." Luffy drained the rest of his milk and thought to himself: He's looking for Ace. That explains it.
"Sigh..." Shanks suddenly let out a deep breath. His eyes grew misty.
He removed his hat and set it beside his drink, then lifted his mug and downed it all in one go.
"My grandpa said something like that once too."
"What?" Shanks immediately turned toward Luffy.
Luffy walked back to the counter, refilled his milk, and said with a cheerful smile:
"He told me he took in the child of a friend."
Shanks watched him silently, sipping his beer. He wasn't sure what Luffy was getting at.
Luffy raised his glass of milk and continued:
"He's a little older than me, apparently. Grandpa said he'll be my big brother someday."
Shanks's hand trembled slightly, his mind racing.
Garp. A friend's child.
He remembered the chaotic battles between Roger and Garp, the strange aftermaths, the many secrets.
Could the boy Luffy mentioned be the one I'm looking for?
It suddenly all made sense.
Shanks clinked his glass with Luffy's and emptied it again.
By now, not a single pirate in the Red-Haired crew was speaking.
The bar had gone still, only the sound of Shanks quietly drinking and Luffy sipping milk echoed in the room.
Time passed in silence.
The more Shanks thought about it, the more certain he became.
If Garp had taken in the son of the Pirate King... then that kid was in good hands.
And yet,
Shanks looked down at the milk-drinking child before him.
Something about Luffy… it was like he was intentionally telling Shanks something.
"You really are Garp's grandson," Shanks finally said.
"Looks like the Marine's going to have another powerful admiral someday."
"Marine?" Luffy licked the milk from his lips.
"No way I'm working for the World Government."
"But if you're asking what I want to do... or what my dream is..."
Luffy stood up, one tiger-headed shoe on the table, raised his glass of milk high and shouted:
"My goal is the sea of stars!"
Everyone in the bar turned to look at him.
Just a moment ago, this kid had seemed wise beyond his years.
But now, seeing him shout that with such childish earnestness, while looking absolutely adorable, they couldn't hold back anymore.
"Hahahahahaha!"
The place erupted in laughter.
Even Makino, now the bar's proprietress, had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.
They weren't laughing at Luffy's dream.
It was just that seeing such a tiny, cute child deClarus something so grand and embarrassing, it was way too endearing to ignore.
As Shanks and his crew howled with laughter, Makino walked over with a smile, picked Luffy up from the table, and set him back on his stool.
"If you want to be the great captain of the seas, you've got to grow up first. It wouldn't look good if the king of the ocean was a tiny shrimp."
She poured him another full glass of milk.
Luffy felt like he was practically radiating milk at this point.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he stood up again and looked at Shanks.
"Hey Shanks, next time you head out to sea, take me with you!"
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