**Chapter 5: You Despicable Marine!**
On the hillside.
Luffy and Zoro had run for a while, but no Marines seemed to be chasing them. They finally stopped.
"That's strange, where are the Marines?"
A question mark popped up above Luffy's head. He looked back, puzzled.
"Luffy, look at that boat. Doesn't it look a lot like ours?"
As if noticing something, Zoro suddenly spoke calmly, pointing toward the sea below.
Luffy followed his gaze and soon saw a small boat slowly leaving the shore. Staring intently for a few seconds, he noticed Allen on board waving in their direction.
"Eh?!!" Luffy's eyes nearly popped out in shock. He pointed angrily at Allen and yelled:
"He actually stole a pirate ship! This despicable Marine!!"
"Stupid Marine! Idiot Marine! Sink! Sink! Go down!"
Luffy waved his arms wildly, cursing Allen.
Zoro looked on with a speechless expression. "No matter how much you curse, it's useless. A boat won't just sink for no reason. We might as well have fought him from the start."
...
Meanwhile, on the small boat drifting away from the coast.
Allen leaned against the boat's railing, lounging leisurely on the deck. He took out a nautical chart from his backpack and studied it.
Unlike those fools who drift in barrels, he had prepared all the necessary supplies for sailing in the East Blue.
Although Branch 153 was just a small base, they still had complete nautical charts of the East Blue.
After looking at the chart for a while, Allen observed the current wind direction and quickly determined his sailing route and destination.
Heading southwest from here would lead to Twin Capes.
Along the way, he would first pass by the Moonlight Archipelago, the former area of activity for the Black Cat Pirates, then the sea where the Baratie restaurant was located—the restaurant run by "Red Leg" Zeff.
That was Allen's primary target.
Before entering the Grand Line, he definitely needed to acquire a proper ship and some crew.
If we're talking about potential recruitment targets in the East Blue worth considering, Zoro and Sanji were undoubtedly in the top tier.
Whether in terms of current combat ability or future potential, both ranked as S-tier in Allen's mind.
Especially Sanji—culinary skills, combat prowess, strategic mind (and perversion), and a perverted level of dedication to his "hobby."
His "beauty radar" was on par with Enel's island-wide Observation Haki.
If successful, Allen thought recruiting Sanji as his right-hand man would be pretty good.
Next was Nami. Although her combat ability was average, her navigation skill was absolutely top-notch.
For entering the Grand Line, his superficial knowledge of navigation wouldn't be enough at all. A professional navigator was essential.
Moreover, if she obtained a climate-related Devil Fruit, Nami's combat potential could also be elevated.
More importantly!
Such a beauty with great looks—even having her on board as eye candy wouldn't be bad.
If the crew expanded into a large fleet later, establishing a dedicated navigator department would be quite necessary. After all, that's how Marine fleets operated.
Gazing at the endless blue sky, Allen gradually became immersed in his pleasant fantasy, completely skipping over the prerequisite of whether he could actually recruit them.
Besides those two, others in the East Blue worth his attention...
Kuro lacked ambition; Allen wasn't interested. Alvida... a hot-tempered old fat woman, no thanks.
As for Arlong...
If he wanted to recruit Nami, Arlong could only be used as a sacrifice.
Thinking it over, the only other character he remembered was that man known as the "Luck King."
Buggy the Genius.
Although weak and cowardly, Buggy actually had some ambition. Moreover, he was well-traveled, having sailed the Grand Line with Roger's crew for a time.
However...
Allen pondered. The benefits of recruiting Buggy weren't that substantial. "Luck" was just talk; he couldn't really rely on that.
On the contrary, he had a feeling Buggy might bring him a lot of trouble.
"Having someone like that on board might not necessarily be a good thing. Better forget it."
Allen shook his head, dismissing the thought of trying to recruit Buggy.
Observing his course again to confirm it was correct, Allen then closed his eyes and dozed off under the sun.
...
At the same time.
On a deserted island at the edge of the Moonlight Archipelago, a dark-red pirate ship was moored by a cliff.
A man wearing red heart-shaped glasses and a blue overcoat jumped down from above, landing on a small rowboat beside the pirate ship.
"Yo, I'll leave the ship to you, Sham and Butchi."
Jango adjusted his hat and called up toward the ship.
On the pirate ship, a line of pirates leaned against the railing looking down. The two leading men were one fat and one thin. The thin one had striking green hair, while the fat one wore a milk-cat headpiece.
They were the "Cat Brothers" combo, Butchi and Sham, the ship guards of the Black Cat Pirates.
"Leave it to us. You go ahead, just remember to signal us quickly."
Sham licked his cat-paw glove like a cat, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes as he smirked:
"The brothers are getting restless..."
"Don't worry, I won't keep you waiting long."
Jango pulled down his hat brim, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold smile.
Three whole years, finally reaching this moment.
Soon, he rowed the small boat away from the shore, heading toward another island within the Moonlight Archipelago, one dotted with a few small villages.
...
Elsewhere.
"1688, 1689, 1700..."
A small boat drifted on the calm sea. The waterline beside the boat rose and fell with the sounds coming from above.
Allen, bare-chested, was doing one-handed push-ups while balanced upside down on the deck.
Sweat trickled down the lines of his muscles, over the single arm supporting his body, down to the one index finger pressed against the deck.
Sailing alone was boring. Besides sleeping, the only way to pass the time was through training.
After finishing 2,000 one-finger inverted push-ups, he switched to the other hand and continued.
Then he did weighted squats with his backpack, then stood at the stern punching the air, then ate...
For now, he could only make do with these dull, basic exercises. The space on the boat was narrow, and there were no tools, especially weighted equipment.
A backpack weighing a couple hundred pounds was better than nothing for his current strength. He was even starting to consider the feasibility of tying the boat behind him and simply swimming across the sea.
Truly carrying the boat while traveling.
...
In the end, he didn't do something that looked so foolish.
As the stars shifted, Allen spent two full cycles of day and night on the sea like this.
Until noon on the third day.
The monotonous blue sea surface finally showed the silhouette of an island!
"Land—!"
Allen excitedly grabbed the oars, his eyes fervent and fanatical. His hands became blurs as he frantically rowed toward the nearest island.
The oars went "Splash! Splash!" churning up spray. The small boat, trailing a white line, sped across the sea surface, rushing onto the beach in the blink of an eye.
Allen's figure separated from the boat, leaping high into the air. He executed two and a half mid-air somersaults under the sun, then landed perfectly with legs together!
Under a rock, three hermit crabs together held up scorecards, awarding the highest evaluation of 2.5 points!