Back in Orange Town, Luffy was getting somewhat bored with the fight.
He had accomplished his personal goal. This had been the first opportunity he'd gotten to fully push his base body without using OfA.
The encounter had been fruitful. He had fully scoped out his limits and gotten some ideas on how to improve. True, in terms of power Buggy couldn't match him, but his chop-chop fruit made him like a moving training dummy. It was easy to train his movement and control against.
He could easily power up to 5% and speed blitz the clown, but there was a teaching moment to be had here.
Another detached kick whistled toward Luffy's head.
He leaned aside just enough for it to miss before springing over Buggy's spinning torso.
"...Alright!" he called.
Buggy blinked.
"...What?"
Luffy ignored him.
"Nami!"
The navigator looked up from where she was chatting with Zoro and petting Ritchie.
"Yeah?"
Luffy ducked beneath another knife.
"Quick question!"
"...Seriously?"
"What do you know about Devil Fruit users?"
Nami frowned. He had shared his knowledge about devil fruits and their weaknesses, but now hardly seemed like the time for review.
"...What?"
Another detached arm flew toward Luffy.
He casually slapped it away.
"Quiz time!"
Buggy spluttered.
"DONT IGNORE ME, DAMNIT!"
Nami rolled her eyes.
"...Fine."
She folded her arms, thinking.
"They gain strange powers..."
Luffy nodded.
"Good."
"...But lose the ability to swim."
"Keep going."
"They're weakened if they touch seawater..."
She slowed.
"...Seawater..."
Her eyes drifted toward the marble still resting in her palm, carefully considering Buggy's detached hand trapped inside.
"...Wait."
Luffy smiled but said nothing.
Her gaze slowly shifted beyond the marble, toward the harbor just down the street from the fight, then back to Buggy, his detached parts and floating torso flailing desperately at Luffy.
A devious grin spread across her face.
"...Oh."
Zoro caught it immediately.
"You figured something out?"
Nami simply tucked the marble into her pocket.
"Maybe."
She began casually walking away.
Buggy pointed after her.
"HEY! WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!"
"I've got something to test."
"WHAT?!"
Luffy laughed.
"Shishishi!"
"I love working with smart people!"
"STOP ENCOURAGING HER!"
He lunged back into the fight, sending a flurry of detached limbs, each wielding a knife, flying toward the young hero.
After several moments, Luffy stopped, grinning while he leaned his back against a wall.
Buggy, not sensing the change in attitude, lunged forward.
"I'VE GOT YOU NOW-"
Splash.
The noise was faint, just the quiet sound of something small disappearing beneath the surface of the harbor.
Buggy froze.
"...Huh?"
Luffy stopped moving.
He smiled.
"...There it is."
One detached foot dropped onto the street.
Then the other.
A floating arm suddenly lost all momentum and smacked face-first into a wall before falling limp.
His torso crashed to the pavement.
The remaining leg collapsed.
The detached head hit the ground with a dull thunk.
"What..."
Buggy's eyes widened.
"...WHAT?!"
His body refused to respond.
Luffy casually walked over.
"So."
He crouched beside Buggy.
"What'd we learn today?"
Buggy sputtered.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
Luffy pointed toward the harbor.
"Devil Fruits have weaknesses."
He looked toward Nami.
"And the ocean doesn't care how weird your power is."
Nami gave the tiniest victorious grin.
"I knew that."
Luffy laughed.
"Yep," he tapped the side of his head, "But now you understand how to use it."
Nami blinked, then she smiled.
"...Huh…"
Immediately new strategies started flooding her mind. She'd have to remember to keep a few compressed marbles of sea water just in case.
Luffy stood.
"Never forget, every ability has a weakness, even mine."
Nami nodded, fully taking in the lesson.
"Unlike that meat head," he said, motioning to Zoro and ignoring the protesting "OI!"
"You don't have to overpower somebody to beat them, you can out think them."
Buggy groaned from the ground.
"…I hate this kid."
Luffy grinned.
"Good."
He straightened and looked around the ruined street.
The fight was over.
The Buggy Pirates had been defeated, their captain lay sprawled in the dirt, and somewhere nearby Nami was undoubtedly cataloguing all the possessions she had 'liberated.'
But Orange Town itself was still in bad shape.
Many of the buildings were broken, burned down, or both.
The civilians were still sheltered somewhere outside of town, though Mayor Boodle should be leading them back soon.
Luffy's smile faded slightly as he looked at the dire state of things around him.
"Alright."
He clapped his hands together.
"Let's get this place fixed."
Zoro blinked.
"…You know how to rebuild a town?"
"Nope."
"Then what exactly are you planning to do?"
Luffy cheerfully flexed his biceps, "We'll be the muscle!"
Zoro stared at him for a moment, eyebrows raised.
"Come on, Zoro, think of it as weight training. Go gather up all of the heaviest debris. Once people who know construction get here we'll help relocate everything."
The swordsman finally acquiesced.
"Fine," he said, finally standing up and brushing the dirt off his pants. "Let's get started then, that fight got kind of boring anyway."
The three of them began moving through the town.
It wasn't exactly organized.
Zoro hauled fallen beams out of the streets while occasionally complaining about the weight despite being perfectly capable of carrying them.
Luffy followed close behind, intentionally carrying heavier items. Whether it was to push him, or get on his nerves, the green-haired man didn't know, but either way it was working.
Nami returned with several compressed marbles and immediately began sorting through them, occasionally releasing tools or supplies that the town might need.
Eventually, the first few villagers cautiously emerged from the hills.
At first there were only a handful.
Then more.
And more.
Boodle stood among them, his expression almost disbelieving as he looked upon the town.
It was still damaged.
Terribly so.
But the pirates were gone.
For the first time in weeks, people were walking openly through Orange Town without fear.
The next two days passed in a blur.
With knowledgeable supervision, the crew's abilities proved increasingly helpful.
Zoro and Nami continued on as they were, though now with better direction.
Luffy simply did whatever seemed useful.
If something was too heavy for someone else to move, he moved it.
If a wall needed bracing, he held it in place.
If a broken cart needed dragging, he dragged it.
It was at the beginning of the third day that something changed.
"Ships!"
Everyone turned toward the harbor.
Several Marine vessels were approaching.
Nami immediately recognized the insignia.
"Looks like they made good time."
Luffy shaded his eyes with one hand.
"Yep."
Zoro glanced at him.
"That's the Smoker guy right?"
"Yep, I figured we'd see them eventually. This was sooner than I'd expected though."
The lead Marine ship slowed as it approached the harbor.
A figure stood at its bow, white hair blowing in the sea breeze. He wore an open jacket with no shirt, a seastone jitte strapped to his back.
Beside him stood a woman with glasses, a sword at her hip, and an expression that became increasingly determined as she took in the state of the town.
Smoker stared.
Orange Town was a disaster.
But there were no pirates running through the streets. No cannons firing or civilians fleeing.
Good.
That Luffy kid came through after all.
Instead, the townspeople were beginning to return.
Smoker exhaled a plume of smoke as he looked on at the approaching crowd, until his eyes landed on a grinning boy with dark hair and green highlights.
"…So that's Garp's grandson."
Tashigi adjusted her glasses.
"Monkey D. Luffy?"
"Apparently."
She looked around again.
"…Where are the Buggy Pirates?"
Smoker's eyes narrowed.
"Hopefully they captured them before they could flee."
The Marines disembarked.
Almost immediately, Boodle approached them.
"Marine Captain!"
Smoker stopped.
"You the mayor?"
Boodle nodded.
"Yes. Mayor Boodle."
Smoker glanced past him toward the ruined town.
"How bad?"
Boodle hesitated.
Then his expression hardened.
"Bad."
Smoker's jaw tightened.
"We brought supplies. Food, medicine, tools, and enough materials to start repairs."
The mayor's eyes widened.
"You… actually came."
Smoker gave him a flat look.
"Of course we came."
Tashigi stepped forward, offering Boodle a clipboard.
"We'll begin organizing the relief effort immediately. We'll need to know how many people are still missing, which buildings are structurally unsafe, and where everyone has been sheltering."
Boodle stared at the paperwork.
Then at the Marines.
Then back toward the town.
His eyes slowly watered.
"…Thank you."
Tashigi smiled softly.
"You don't have to thank us."
She looked toward the battered streets.
"This is our job."
Behind them, Luffy watched quietly, a small smile tugging at his mouth.
That was exactly what he had hoped for.
Not just Marines who could fight, but Marines who would stay afterward and help put things back together.
This was the difference between an armed force, and true heroes. These were the type of heroic people he was looking for to build the foundations of Vanguard.
Smoker noticed him watching. Their eyes met across the street, and for a moment, neither said anything.
Then, the Marine captain walked over.
"So."
He stopped a few feet away.
"You're Luffy."
Luffy grinned.
"Yep."
Smoker took a long drag from his cigar.
"If you're anything like your grandfather, you'll probably be getting into a lot of trouble."
Luffy's grin sharpened. The amusement on his face was quickly replaced by a sense of challenge.
"Yeah."
Smoker raised an eyebrow.
Luffy glanced toward the Marines unloading supplies, then toward the people of Orange Town working alongside them.
"Guess I probably will be."
Zoro and Nami both looked toward him.
Luffy continued, his voice quieter now.
"People like us tend to cause trouble."
Smoker's brow furrowed.
"People like you?"
"People who don't care much about what we're supposed to do when someone tells us to look the other way. "
Smoker's cigar paused halfway to his mouth.
Luffy's eyes hardened.
"If there's a criminal hurting people, I don't care what some big shot says. If someone's corrupt, I don't care what rank they have or who they're protecting."
His gaze shifted toward the ruined town.
"I'd rather get yelled at for doing the right thing than stand around and let innocent people suffer because following orders was easier."
For several seconds, Smoker simply stared at him.
Then Luffy's serious expression cracked.
A familiar grin returned.
"So I guess that means we're both troublemakers."
Smoker's eyebrow twitched.
Luffy leaned forward slightly.
"Isn't that right, Smokey?"
Silence.
Tashigi's eyes widened.
Nami covered her mouth, desperately trying not to laugh.
Smoker's eye twitched.
"…You really are his grandson."
Nami finally failed and let a small laugh slip past.
Smoker looked past Luffy. His eyes landed on the miserable looking Buggy.
His detached parts were tied up in a bundle, completely submerged in a barrel of sea water. His head, looking sadder than Smoker thought possible.
Smoker stared.
"…Why is the clown in a barrel?"
Luffy shrugged.
"He lost."
"Obviously."
Then his eyes shifted to the scattered remains of his crew, their wrists all tied behind their backs.
Then on the enormous lion. The "Beast" of "Beast tamer Moji" was sitting happily in this middle of the construction area, purring ridiculously loudly as a handful of young children laughed and climbed on him like a jungle gym.
His expression became increasingly incredulous.
"…What the hell happened here?"
Luffy scratched his cheek.
"It's a long story."
Smoker sighed.
"Of course it is."
He gestured toward the Marines beginning to unload supplies.
"Tell me later."
He exhaled a cloud of smoke to be carried away with the sea breeze.
"For now, we've got a town to rebuild."
Luffy's grin returned.
"Sounds good."
The people of Orange Town watched as Marines and civilians began working side by side.
For the first time in weeks, hammers echoed through the streets for a reason other than destruction.
Walls were reconstructed, broken doors were replaced, and food was distributed.
The wounded were treated, and slowly, piece by piece, Orange Town began to live again.
Luffy stood at the edge of it all, watching. Once again he felt the harmony of his fused soul.
The freedom to go wherever he wanted, and the strength to correct injustice wherever he found it.
After taking in the full scene of the town being rebuilt, his eyes instinctively sought out his crew. Nami was looking at him nervously.
From the look, it seemed that the conversation about the Conomi Isles was close.
Searching for that distinctive shade of green, he quickly found Zoro. He had been quiet since the Marines arrived.
He was currently staring a hole into the back of Tashigi's head. The woman in question slightly blushing, obviously flustered by the intensity of the gaze.
He grinned to himself, a mischievous idea already taking root.
It seems there are multiple conversations he would need to have before departing in the morning.