One Piece : The Blood Emperor

"WHAT!?" "WHAT!?"

Two identical disbelieving loud voice echoed in the forest making Luke and Luffy halt their conversation.

"What was that?" Luffy scratched his head in confusion as he surveyed the surrounding trees.

"Probably some birds passing by." Luke replied. However, he vaguely heard two voices and wondered who was the other one other than Killer Bee.

"Oh. Okay! Yahahaha! Now it's settled! You will be my official Vice Captain!"

In the original story, Luffy recruited Zoro with great confidence. This time, his emotion seems different, he was exceptionally happy. Probably because he saw Luke's might and this gives him assurance on a smooth journey.

Also, Luffy saw something from Luke's eyes that made him push his decision for invitation. He could tell that Luke has a story to tell and sincere on joining to be his crew. He just could not explain it but he could feel it at a glance. Especially those nostalgic eyes of Luke and eagerness to join.

...

Meanwhile, Killer Bee was gobsmacked when he suddenly saw a fuming old man beside him.

Earlier when Luke accepted Luffy's offer so easily, he lost his composure and exclaimed in disbelief.

Luke was a great talent. Such absurdity is very unacceptable in his opinion. Who would join to be a pirate especially when invited by a clueless teenager?

When he saw the old man in marine uniform, he was shocked. In addition on how good the old man at stealth that both him and Eight Tails left speechless.

The old man revealed to be Garp who changed his mind and decided to go back to double check if everything is alright. His landing beside Killer Bee was a coincidental but he didn't bother to change another hiding spot.

Then he saw his grandson chatting to a familiar guy and found out that they formed a pack to be pirates.

This revelation greatly angered him but also wanted to know the extent of their conversation. The timing was just right when he saw Killer Bee also reacted like him in same fashion.

"You, follow me." Garp signalled at Killer Bee. His eyes narrowed at Luke before leaving in silence.

Killer Bee had the chance to decline, but he wasn't so oblivious about what's going on. If he heard Luke right, this old man is the great marine hero and the newcomer boy is his grandson.

After weighing some pros and cons, he also followed the trail of Garp.

...

"Ne! Ne! Rooku-sa! How are you so strong? Do you train all day?" Luffy asked while marveling the mess in the surroundings. This caliber of training is what he needed the most. Unfortunately his grandpa never taught him some good techniques since there's a condition he needed to obey, of course it is to be a marine.

"Oh, I wasn't this strong until today. Last night, I consumed a fruit that can enhance my body through manipulating my own blood. If I were to name that fruit, I may call it Blood-Blood Fruit." Luke lied about his power, but it also closest to the truth since Raizel's power mainly intends to govern any kind of blood. While that protagonist have also various skills outside from blood manipulation mainly for convenience like floating in the air and be like an esper.

"Really?! Woah! That's a very amazing ability! Can you enhance my blood too? I wanna try! I wanna try!" Luffy turned hyper when he heard Luke's devil fruit' ability. If it works on Luke, then it should also work on him.

"Now that you mention it, I may be able to enhance others. However, I never tried it so it may also occur some risk." Luke scratched his beardless chin. The possibility is there thanks to Luffy's suggestion.

'Oh yeah, this kid have many gear transformations. I may not be able to open them all but there's this second gear that closely related to blood manipulation. Let's try it now.'

"Come here. Remember, this effect will be like a few seconds only since I'm only doing it for experiment. Plus, your body may not be able to take the pressure so brace yourself." Luke seriously warned. He didn't know if the sixteen-years old Luffy can handle the second gear. If he recalled correctly, the side-effect of second gear is total loss of physical strength and has the high chance of loss control of blood that may affect the brain.

"Yosh! I'm ready!" Luffy took a deep breath. He also know how strong Luke, so he prepared his mind on what's to come.

Luke pointed at Luffy's chest and closed his eyes. It's no surprise that he can actually control everything within. His senses focus on the heart for a few seconds before doing the blood manipulation.

To enter second gear, he needed to just speed up the blood circulation and infused some air to a specific blood section.

"Relax your body. Relax your mind."

Luke is currently looking for a perfect timing where he can pump everything up in one go.

Thump! Swisssssh!

Luffy's skin slowly changed in color to shiny pink. Then his whole body were now steaming.

"Don't smash. Just try to run. Run as fast as you can." Luke reminded. He didn't know how durable Luffy's body so the best way to test the second gear is to run.

"HOT! HOT!! WAAAH!!!" Luffy panicked and immediately run wildly, spanning hundreds of meters in a matter of a second. His fast acceleration causes him to run into a giant tree.

BOOOM!

"Oh sheesh!" Luke closed his eyes upon seeing the impact. He estimated the second gear only lasted three seconds at most. Then he immediately went to check on Luffy's condition.

Luffy laid on the ground panting like a dead dog. He has some little scratches on his body, but overall he was fine. His skin-tone also returned to normal. He was blankly staring at the sky, and clearly he was excited as if he discovered something magical.

"Should I call it failed yet successful? I noticed something though. That is, your physique is lacking to carry this kind of ability." Luke smiled as he leaned on a tree while crossing arms. He didn't actually wanted Luffy to rely on him.

Luffy is a talented kid. He can surprise everyone with his show of power.

"Ha.. ha.ha.. hahaha.. ahahaha!!" Luffy started to laugh making Luke raised his brows.

"Hey! Oh shii! Captain Luffy has lost it.." Luke commented while staying in his post without helping. Naturally, he knew Luffy laughed out loud of happiness... and a tinge of sadness. That's because a teardrop flowed down on the boy's cheek.

Many people misunderstood his pain. In the future, he will suffer still. But fortunately, he has many people he can call friends that will always be there for him.

'It's rare to see this kid shows emotion. Well, it's understandable since he's still young. Maybe he felt lonely being left behind by Ace and Sabo.'

"Shall we go back? Night will arrive soon." Luke suggested. He didn't mind staying anyway.

"We'll go back. Hehehe!" Luffy slowly recovered from the fatigue and sat down. He had a goofy smile on his face.

"We shall celebrate by eating lots of meat!"

"Okay. We'll hunt some wild animals along the way." Luke nodded with a smile. He was curious to see how Luffy gets full.

...

Luke arrived at the secret base led by Luffy carring lots of meat ready to be grilled and various fruits. It was a new base made for training near a seaside cliff. There was a giant tree in the middle of the training ground that serves as a punching target for Luffy's devil fruit control.

The celebration was simple and Luffy entertained Luke by telling him his life story with Ace and Sabo in the jungle. He also expressed his eagerness to set sail next year.

Luke as a esteemed guest, made himself at home and ate some fruits while listening to Luffy's great story and ambition. He was also amazed by how Luffy can talk, eat and drink at the same time without any pause.

"I will help you train with everthing I know in six months time." Luke said. He continued, "In this six months, you need to work harder in training. I will also not help you on doing shortcuts in training like I did earlier. I will only give you some ideas base on what I discovered from your devil fruit."

"Hehehe! I know. I figured that kind of shortcut is boring." Luffy noddel while smirking. He knew what he wanted and Luke perfectly understood his intention. He then looked confused, "Why six months though?"

"I will have to leave to arrange some things." Luke smiled. He continued, "It may take some time that you might sail alone in the process before I could catch up."

"You promise to catch up?" Luffy asked.

"I promise. I can easily find you after you venture on your second or third island. I will come back as fast as I can." Luke nodded in serious manner. By that time, he might already finish the second phase of his plan.

"Okay! It's a promise then! Nshishishi!" Luffy easily agreed. His nature is plain as usual.

"Right. That time, you may already find some crew mates too." Luke appeared enlightened.

"Yahahaha! That's for sure!" Luffy laughed out loud. The excitement hit him when he heard Luke. He couldn't wait to venture the sea already. He asked, "Ne Rooku, what's your expertise by the way? That way, I can give you a proper assignment in the crew."

"Hmm? Let's see. My main expertise should be my vast knowledge. In addition to that, I can guide people like in training. I may not look like it but I can give you a news to ease your doubt." Luke smiled mysteriously.

"What news?" Luffy eagerly waited.

Luke pointed at the straw hat of Luffy, "That hat has a mysterious history. Altough I can give vague news of it, it still pose a great importance to you."

"This hat?" Luffy look at his straw hat in confusion and anticipation.

"You see, there's a great pirate named Red-Haired Shanks in the sea. He also wear a hat that same details as yours. But that's not all." Luke chuckled when he saw that Luffy was interested in his news by those shining eyes.

"The straw hat he wear was passed on to him by none other than Gold Roger, the previous King of the Pirates."

"A-!!!" Luffy was greatly shook by the revelation.

"NANI??!!!!"