Thunder Demon Luffy's

Chapter 81's

It took another 15 minutes before the ship docked at a safe location near the city of Nanohana. When the ship could safely dock, Luffy went down to the main deck and spoke to his crew.

"OK, remember from now on the mark that is below here," he said as he raised his left hand which showed a white bandage wrapped around his wrist. "is what sets us apart from our enemies," luffy said causing them to nod their heads.

Luffy then grabbed into his coat and took out a small sack of money and threw it at Sanji before he spoke again. "Use it to refill the kitchen with whatever you need" Luffy said as he tossed his bag.

"Sure, Captain," replied Sanji.

"And all of you remain vigilant," he said causing them to nod their heads before they all jumped off the Going Merry and made their way to the city.

They all walked through the small desert area before they arrived at the city.

Usopp and Nami give their coats to Vivi and Karoo wear so they won't be recognized by the public, until they can buy clothes to blend in with the locals. As they entered the city, they saw that it was a busy market and Luffy and his entire crew were very prominent.

The group quickly moved and found a quiet part of town where not many people were there and hid there for a while.

"It's bad" Nami said as they hid behind a broken wall. "If we continue to walk around like this, we will definitely be caught by the Crocodile people" Nami said in a worried voice.

"Yes, you're right, but we can't walk blatantly out in the open and buy a disguise" Luffy said as he leaned against the wall. "I have Bounty on my head, Vivi is the princess, then Mr. No matter what it is and maybe someone else has already touched our faces" Luffy said with a sigh.

"They don't know what I look like," Sanji said causing everyone to turn around and look at him.

"Yes, he's right!" Usopp said before he turned around and looked at Chopper. "And he's not the only one, Chopper too!" added with a smile. Luffy nodded his head and took out a much smaller bag of money and handed it to Sanji.

"You guys went to buy a disguise for everyone except me," Luffy said causing everyone to stare at him with puzzled expressions on their faces wondering why he didn't need a disguise. "I will attract all the attention of our enemies, who can give you the freedom to do whatever you need to do" Luffy said as he moved away from the wall.

"So, you're going for a blatant walk while we try and blend in with the locals and operate from the shadows, like that?" Nojiko's question caused Luffy to nod his head.

"That's right," Luffy said as he adjusted his hat. "Zoro, you're in charge of everything except navigation," Luffy said to Zoro causing him to nod his head before he looked at Luffy with a confused expression on his face.

"Wait, why not navigation too?" Zoro asked causing everyone to stare at him with a flat expression on their faces.

"Because you can get lost while walking on the straight path," Luffy replied with sweat on his head while Zoro folded his hands and grumbled softly.

"Fine," Zoro replied with an annoyed tone that made everyone laugh.

"Good, we'll meet later," Luffy said before he turned around and started walking out of their hideout.

"Wait, how do we know when to meet?" Nojiko asked when she saw Luffy leaving. Luffy turned his head and looked at them as he walked away then spoke.

"Oh, you'll know when it's time to leave," Luffy said with a grin on his face causing everyone to sweat on their captain. Luffy left his crew and started walking back to the market in the city. When he got there, he saw the market was quite busy, there were a lot of people buying and selling all kinds of products.

'This may be the right place to get informed, ' Luffy thought to himself as he began walking through the market. As he walked through the market, he saw a small stall with a short old man behind him selling shish kebabs. Luffy walked to the stall and picked up one of the shish kebabs before he reached into his pocket and took out some Berries and handed them to the man. Luffy then bites off his shish kebab and enjoys the taste.

"Wow, this is delicious, old man," he said, chewing on meat.

"Thank you, young man," said the old man with a smile as he kept the money. "It's been a long time since I've had customers" he added with a grateful smile.

"It used to be like that," said the man in a sad voice before his face showed a grim expression. "But that was before those stupid idiots started this stupid civil war because of this stupid powder dance," the man said clearly.

"Dance's Powder?" Luffy asked with a puzzled expression on his face. He had never heard of this so-called powder dance before, so he was interested in this topic, especially since it was the reason for this civil war. The man looked at Luffy with a confused expression on his face before he spoke.

"you're not from here, are you?" the old man asked as he looked at Luffy with a calculating look.

"Right, I just stopped by," Luffy replied as he finished his shish kebab and deliberately turned around to flaunt his Jolly Roger on the back of his captain's coat for the man to see.

"you're a pirate!" said the man whispered.

"Yup, but don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble, just waiting for my Log Pose to record this place," Luffy said causing the man to stare at him for a moment before he nodded his head. "Now, tell me about this powder dance," Luffy said as he picked up another shish kebab.

"Dance powder is a green powder used to make artificial rain," the man said causing Luffy's eyes to widen slightly.

"Artificial rain?" Luffy asked in a surprised voice. He had never heard of such a thing before during the years he had been in the Grand Line.

"Yes, the dance powder when it is burned will emit smoke like fog that will rise into the air. The fog sped up the creation of ice particles in the sub-freezing temperature clouds and caused rain," the man explained, to Luffy's amazement. "However, the powder, unfortunately, caused a long period of drought in other countries," the man said causing Luffy to understand what was going on.

"I see," said Luffy while biting his second shish kebab. "And I'm guessing the rebels want the king to use this powder dance to create rain but the king refuses because of the risk of starting a war with another country" Luffy said among his bites.

"That's right," said the old man while nodding his head. "Young people today don't have patience at all" the man said causing Luffy to laugh.

"But not everything is bad" Luffy said as he looked around. "The city seems pretty good" he said as he watched people happily go about their day in the market.

"That may be true but not everything is as it seems" the man told Luffy. "People may look happy but deep down, they are all afraid of war. The only thing that made them have high hopes was the fact that Crocodile came to their rescue whenever there was a problem," he explained further causing Luffy to raise his eyebrows. .

"The shichibukai?" Luffy asked, acting as if he did not realize that Crocodile was here in Alabasta.

"Yes, it's her, right" said the man with a nod. "These people may believe it in their lives, but I don't believe it" the man said.

"Oh, and why is that?" Luffy asked as he bit the last piece of meat on his shish kebab. "I mean, if he saves people when they're in danger, why don't you trust him?" Luffy asked.

"He's a pirate .. don't take it personally," said the man who caused Luffy to wave his hand. "I've lived too long, and don't believe that he really cares for these people," the man said causing Luffy to smile.

"I guess that's also one of the reasons why your stall is so quiet?" Luffy asked while chuckling.

"I've often been told that I'm a stubborn old man" the man said with a laugh that caused Luffy to chuckle as well, then Luffy grabbed into his coat and pulled out a small bag of money and threw it at the man.

"Thank you for the meat, old man," Luffy replied before he turned to leave. The man looked at the small bag and looked back at Luffy before he spoke.

"Hey, this is too much!" the man yells at Luffy, trying to get Luffy to take back some of the money. Luffy simply raised his right hand into the air and waved at the man as he walked away. As Luffy walked on the busy market streets, he could not help but look at the gazes of everyone locked onto him which caused him to grin in his heart.

'It's only a matter of time now, ' thought Luffy as he put a flat expression on his face. 'News will soon reach you that I am here, Crocodile, ' thought Luffy as he walked through the busy street. Luffy continued walking for about 10 minutes around the market before he suddenly stopped halfway and he turned his head to the right and saw what looked like a restaurant with a grin on his face.

"So, I think Shanks is right, you're here in Paradise ..." Luffy said to himself. "...Ace,"