Next Bonus, 100!!
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After eating a ton of meat in the infirmary, Luffy recovered.
He learned that Zoro and Sanji were also fighting in the Colosseum and went to watch with Usopp and the others.
At sunset, they returned to their lodgings, and from Uta, they learned the truth about "Sabo."
"He's really Sabo?!" Luffy was overjoyed. Sabo was alive. He had just reunited with Ace, and now Sabo. He was ecstatic.
But he didn't immediately rush off to see him. Ace's situation was still unknown, and Sabo was in jail. It was a mess.
Uta had a plan. During her concert, security would be lax. That would be their chance. She would find out where Sabo was being held.
"Thank you, Uta," Luffy said gratefully. "Come be the musician on our crew! Come adventure with us!"
Uta smiled. "No, Luffy. I have a new dream now, a dream even more wonderful than being a pirate. I'm going to heal the world with my songs, to bring hope to people, to sing for the countless ordinary people of this world. So... I can't join you."
Luffy scratched his head.
"But," Uta said, a twinkle in her eye, "you could ask Brook. He's always had a dream of traveling around the world as a pirate, to fulfill a promise he made with his crew."
"Brook..." Violet said. "Isn't he the 'King of Soul'?"
"That's him," Uta nodded. "He's also a Devil Fruit user. A man who came back from the dead."
"I think I've heard of him..." Luffy said. "Who was it that mentioned him?"
"Ah! Luffy, don't you remember?" Usopp said, a flash of inspiration hitting him. "Crocus and Laboon! They told us about him!"
"That's right!" Luffy said with a wide grin. "Then let's go ask him."
"Yohohoho... go out to sea?" Brook said, looking at Luffy. "No problem. But... we'll have to wait until after Miss Uta's concert."
Brook had been working here for a long time, but he had never been able to let go of the regret he felt for his former crew. He wanted to complete his promise to them, and to Laboon, to travel all the way around the world.
Jin, who knew the whole story, had simply sent him back to the Straw Hat crew. A trip around the world wouldn't take that long. And when he was finished, he would come back. It was like giving him a long vacation.
Besides, creating music requires inspiration. Perhaps he would write more songs on his journey with the Straw Hats. And the Music Hall now had plenty of new faces. It was no longer the small, understaffed operation it had been in the beginning. For a "veteran" like Brook, taking a step back for a year or two would be good for his career. The same was true for Uta.
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Uta's solo concert was in three days.
After a day of exploring the island, Luffy and the others spent most of their time at the Colosseum, fighting and honing their skills.
On the third day, the concert was held as scheduled. Fans from all over had gathered early and were now streaming into the venue.
Security around the Music Hall was tight, which meant that security at the Public Security Bureau's detention center was... not.
Luffy, Zoro, Violet, and a shipwright named Royta formed the rescue team. Sanji, a doctor named Floddy, and Usopp were the getaway team.
Royta and Floddy were exactly the kind of specialists the Straw Hat crew desperately needed. They had even sparred with the crew and were quite strong.
After a few days of getting to know them, Luffy had invited them to join.
The journey through the Grand Line so far had made it painfully clear that the crew's lack of professional specialists was a major weakness. Faced with increasingly difficult challenges, Luffy was eager to increase his crew's strength.
As for the bonds of friendship... weren't they all strangers at first? Those things could be improved.
The core of the Straw Hat crew was Luffy. As long as he was there, it didn't really matter who else was on the crew; the spirit would be the same.
The next most important was Zoro, Luffy's most steadfast supporter. On Thriller Bark, he had been willing to endure all of Luffy's pain, to give up his life and his dream, to save him. In Wano, he had taken a direct hit from a combined attack from two Yonko. Sanji had his moments of leaving, but Zoro was always there. The position of vice-captain was his, and his alone.
After that came Robin, Sanji, Nami, and Chopper.
Robin, who could read the Poneglyphs, was theoretically the most crucial member of the crew. But in a world where a hypothetical "Guide to Translating the Ancient Text" existed, her value was diminished.
Sanji was the cook and a main fighter. Nami was the navigator, and Chopper was the doctor, but they weren't irreplaceable.
And finally, Brook, Usopp, and Jinbe, and one unknown.
They were just extras.
With them or without them, it didn't make much difference.
They could be replaced.
The farther they got, the more they were just background characters.
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Luffy and the others carefully broke into the Public Security Bureau. The guards at the entrance were standing at their posts, fast asleep.
They easily found the cell where Sabo, Koala, and the other revolutionaries were being held.
"SABO!" Luffy whispered, his voice filled with emotion.
"Who's there?" Sabo opened his eyes and looked at him, confused.
"It's me! Luffy!"
Sabo was blank. "I don't remember..."
"You don't remember?" Luffy said, his heart sinking. "Me, you, and Ace... the days we spent together on Mt. Colubo?"
Sabo shook his head. "I don't remember."
Koala was confused. She'd never heard Sabo mention this person before. Then, a thought struck her.
"Could it be... from before he lost his memory?"
"He lost his memory?" Luffy said, a wave of understanding washing over him. "In that case, I'll just have to break you out of here first. Gum-Gum..."
"Luffy, don't break anything," Violet said. "I've got the key."
She produced a key she had taken from a desk outside, opened the cell door, and unlocked their shackles.
The CP0 and CIU agents in the nearby cells heard the commotion and began to shout.
"Hey! The prisoners are escaping!"
"Get them!"
Hearing their shouts, Sabo grabbed a pipe. During their capture, the revolutionaries' intelligence network had suffered heavy losses. Several of his comrades had been killed.
He took out the agents.
Then he escaped with Luffy and the others.
The piercing sound of an alarm blared through the detention center. Security personnel rushed in and saw the scene.
"The revolutionaries have escaped! And they killed the CP0 and CIU agents!"
"Dammit! Quick, check the surveillance!"
"It was the Straw Hat Pirates?"
"Quick! Lock down the port! Get them!"
The Hannabal Public Security Bureau mobilized, chasing after the Straw Hat crew and the escaped revolutionaries.
In the pursuit, a dozen more people were killed. There were no survivors.
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~ 70 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon
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