Monkey D. Luffy/History/Paradise

Reverse Mountain Arc
Nami navigated the Straw Hats up the Reverse Mountain where the four ocean currents converge creating an upward draft. They came to an unexpected surprise, which was a gigantic whale in their way. Fortunately, Luffy was able to slow down the Going Merry before it could hit the whale by firing a cannon. However in the process, Luffy's favorite seat, the Going Merry's figurehead, was broken. Angered by this, Luffy punched the whale's eye to the shock of the rest of Luffy's crew. In response to Luffy's attack, the whale swallowed the Going Merry. Fortunately, Luffy was able to grab the whale's tooth and jump on to its back before it could swallow him along with his ship and crew. As Luffy desperately tried to persuade the whale to spit out his ship and crew, Luffy found a hatch on the whale's back leading into the very whale itself.

Unable to do anything else from the outside, Luffy entered the whale through the hatch. While inside the whale, Luffy accidentally bumped into two strangely dressed people and into the whale's stomach as the whale began thrashing at the Red Line. Within the whale's stomach, Luffy was reunited with his crew and witnessed a scene between the two people he bumped into earlier and an old man living in the whale. From the scene, Luffy learned that the duo, Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9, were planning to kill the whale for food and not even allow the old man, Crocus, to stand in their way. Seeing this and Crocus' attempts to save the whale, Luffy took out the two trouble makers. For doing this, Luffy and his crew were led out of the whale by Crocus.



As Luffy's crew and ship were led out through a canal in the whale and outside to a nearby cape, Luffy and his crew were told about Laboon's tale. From it, Luffy learned that Laboon had been waiting for over fifty years for some pirate friends of his who left him behind in the cape to journey the Grand Line. Luffy also learned that after Laboon heard in disbelief that the pirates might have abandon him, the whale was ramming the mountain itself in a futile attempt to reunite with them. Seeing Laboon's loyalty, Luffy decided to ease the lonely whale's pain, by ramming the Going Merry's mast into an open wound. Having caught the whale's attention, Luffy and the whale began to battle. However, in the middle of it, Luffy told Laboon that they would have to put the fight on hold since he was planning to travel the Grand Line. With this statement, Luffy touched Laboon's feelings and the whale agreed. Having given hope once again to Laboon, Luffy painted a crudely drawn painting of his Jolly Roger on Laboon's scars as a symbol of their pact to meet once again.

After rekindling Laboon's hopes once again, Luffy and the rest of his crew suddenly realized that their compass was not working. With that matter at hand, Luffy and the rest were then taught by Crocus about how the Grand Line works and how they needed a special compass called a Log Pose. Having discovered one of these compasses earlier after beating the two people earlier, Luffy presented it to Nami but unfortunately broke while in a small scuffle with Sanji. Fortunately, Crocus had an extra one for Luffy and his crew to use. In the midst of what was happening, Luffy and his crew also encountered again the two people who tried to kill Laboon. Learning that these two needed to report back to the company they were working for, Luffy and the rest were requested by them to give them a ride back to their island of Whisky Peak. Though a bit suspicious, they learned that Whisky Peak is on one of the paths that the Straw Hats needed to follow to travel the Grand Line anyway. Thus, Luffy and his crew took the two aboard and sailed towards Whisky Peak, leaving Laboon with the promise of returning once again.

Pirate-Loving Town of Whisky Peak
Upon arriving in Whisky Peak, Luffy and his crew were caught by surprise. Though the two characters that they took aboard left before they could land, Luffy and his crew were welcomed graciously by the townspeople of Whisky Peak. There, Luffy and his crew were treated as gods with a grand party. Luffy even ate more than the cooks could put out. Eventually, Luffy passed out from all the excitement of such a celebratory day. However when he awoke later that night, Luffy came to a shocking sight. Scattered everywhere before Luffy, were the beaten up bodies of the townspeople that served him and his crew.



Upon learning from one of them that they were defeated by Zoro, Luffy thought that Zoro had beat them up as an act of ungratefulness. Confronting Zoro, Luffy and his first crewmate collided into a battle that apparently nothing could deter them from. The two were so immersed in their battle against one another that they completely ignored and defeated two other characters in same scene, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, who were apparently distracting them for some reason. It was only however when Nami stepped in and interrupted their fight that the two calmed down to listen to reason.

Having been subdued, Luffy learned everything that happened while he was asleep. He also learned that one of the two strangely dressed characters that tried to kill Laboon before, Miss Wednesday, was actually Princess Nefertari Vivi of the kingdom of Alabasta in disguise. From her, Luffy learned that she, along with her pet duck Karoo and loyal retainer Igaram, had infiltrated a secret criminal organization known as Baroque Works in order to learn the organization's reasons for meddling in their country's affairs. From Vivi also, Luffy and his crew not only learned of Baroque Works' scheme to take over Alabasta but also that the criminal organization was led by none other than the one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile. Having gotten involved in all this, Luffy and his crew decided to help Vivi by taking her and Karoo to Alabasta while Igaram distracted Baroque Works with a disguise. However in the midst of this plan, Luffy and the rest witnessed Igaram's ship blow up. Miss All Sunday, Crocodile's partner and vice president of Baroque Works suddenly announces herself as she sits on the ship's sails. Fortunately, apart from some tense formalities between them and her, Luffy and his crew did not have to fight her as she let them go for her own reasons. Luffy and his crew were also warned by her of their next destination and even offered them an alternate route. Luffy however declined her offer despite protests from the rest of his crew.

Having survived from the ordeals of Whisky Peak, and gaining a mission to help a princess, Luffy and his crew sailed forth Whisky Peak to their next destination, Little Garden.

Adventure in a Prehistoric Land


Luffy and his crew eventually arrive in Little Garden. The jungle island fascinated Luffy, not only because of the adventure it could provide, but also because it contained all sorts of prehistoric animals, which ranged from sabre-toothed tigers to dinosaurs. Luffy decided to venture out from their ship and explore. Vivi and Karoo decided to travel with Luffy to escape her boredom. Luffy learned that the reason the island was like this was due to the Grand Line's unique environmental conditions, the islands within in develop much more differently than they normally would, and the very island they were on was still in the dinosaur era. As Luffy ventured around the island with Vivi and Karoo, the three soon discovered something much larger than the dinosaurs on the island. In the midst of Luffy messing around with a Brontosaurus, the other members of the crew met a giant.

Meeting Dorry, Luffy and his companions were invited over to the giant's place. There, Luffy was treated to some dinosaur meat and got acquainted with Dorry. From the giant, Luffy learned that he was staying on Little Garden in order to settle an argument with another fellow giant, Brogy, in battle. As the matter was being discussed, the island's volcano erupted, signaling the next match between the giants. With it, Luffy witnessed a titanic clash between two giant warriors that awed him. Eventually the match ended in a tie and thus Luffy continued talking with Dorry. Learning further about Little Garden's magnetic field from Dorry, Luffy also learned about two of his crew staying with Brogy. Just as things seemed going well at the moment, something suddenly shocked Luffy and those with him. A barrel of sake that Dorry was drinking exploded. Since the sake was taken from Luffy's ship and given to Dorry by Brogy, Luffy and his crew were suspected of sabotaging the barrel. With this, Luffy and Dorry got into a fight. Fortunately, Luffy was able to knock Dorry down during their fight. However with this sudden turn of events, Luffy started to suspect that his crew weren't the only ones in the island as neither they nor Brogy would do such a thing. But before Luffy and those with him could do anything else, the volcano erupted again and Dorry in response got up.

With the next match being signaled and knowing that the giants' fight was tainted by someone else, Luffy tried to convince Dorry to not go. Luffy's words however did not reach Dorry's ears due to the giant's pride and instead Luffy was pinned down by Dorry with the giant's home. Unable to get out of this predicament to help Dorry, Luffy suddenly encountered Usopp, who had wandered into Dorry's home. Reunited with his crewmate, Luffy and Vivi recounted what had just happened and were likewise filled in by Usopp. As Luffy and his companions were figuring out what to do next, they heard the awful scream of Dorry being defeated by Brogy due to the tainted fight. Angered even more by this, Luffy was filled with more determination to find out who blasphemed the giants' fight. Luffy fortunately did not have to wait long though to find out who it was, as two of the perpetrators of the crime, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, suddenly came before Luffy and his companions, bringing a beaten up Karoo, who had seperated from Luffy and Vivi at an earlier time. Because of his current predicament, Luffy was unable to aid his companions and was hit with an explosive kick caused by Mr. 5's Bomu Bomu no Mi powers. Unable to protect Vivi from these Baroque Works agents, Luffy and the other two with him were left for dead.

As Luffy and the two with him were lying, they decided to get revenge for the atrocity caused by the Baroque Works agents. They eventually got back on their feet and charged immediately to where the Baroque Works agents were holding their friends.



Luffy and company arrived and found that their friends were being made into candles by Mr. 3's Doru Doru no Mi powers. Luffy engaged in a battle with the artist while his comrades battled with the rest of the agents. Despite some complications from Mr. 3 and his partner, Miss Goldenweek, Luffy was able to free his captured friends with a little help from Usopp.

After finishing off Mr. 3, Luffy rejoined the rest of his crew to the marvelous relief. Due to the giants' weapons being worn out from one hundred years worth of fighting, Dorry was actually okay and had instead passed out from the wound inflicted. With everything done, Luffy and the rest went back to Dorry's place to treat his wounds. As Luffy and everyone were resting from the ordeal and wondering how to deal with the island's magnetic field, they were rejoined by Sanji, who brought with him some great news and stuff while everything else was happening. From Sanji, Luffy and the rest learned that not only did Sanji trick Crocodile into thinking they were all dead by pretending to be Mr. 3 via a Den Den Mushi call, but the cook also brought with him the solution to their current problem, an Eternal Pose to Alabasta. With the Eternal Pose, Luffy and crew bid their farewells to the giants and set off.

As Luffy and crew sailed off from Little Garden, they were provided by the giants with an act of gratitude. With help from the giants' strength, Luffy and crew were able to pass through a giant goldfish and sail on.

Adventure in a Doctorless Kingdom
After Nami suddenly came down with a terrible sickness, the crew decided to alter their course from Alabasta and instead look for a nearby island to have Nami treated by a doctor. The crew is suddenly attacked by Wapol who demands their log pose. The crew fight back and Luffy knocks him off the boat so they can continue forward as Wapol's crew curses them and warns them they'll get their revenge. The crew eventually comes to a snow-covered land called Drum Island, which was renowned for their advances in medicine. There the current inhabitants try to scare away the crew until Vivi lowers her head with Luffy in humility. The "leader" of the islanders, Dalton, tells the villagers to take the crew to the nearest town, however, Zoro and Karoo were left behind. At the village, Dalton tells the crew about the "witch" of the island, Dr. Kureha, who is the only doctor left on the island. To make matters worse, there is no way to contact her as she lives on top of the mountain in the castle previously occupied by King Wapol. Hearing this, Luffy, along with Sanji, decides to carry Nami up the mountain to the castle.



On the way up, Sanji, Luffy, and Nami run into some Lapahn, which are man-eating rabbits. Sanji fights off the Lapahn's as Luffy, carrying Nami, cannot attack or be hit at the risk of Nami being injured as well. Later, the Lapahn's cause an avalanche, forcing Luffy and Sanji to escape downhill. Unfortunately, the group is about to run into a sharp and rocky cliff when Sanji rescues them by kicking them out of the way, but in the process Sanji is knocked unconscious. In the aftermath of the avalanche the village Usopp and Vivi are at is buried along with Wapol and his crew. Wapol survives and sets up the mountain with Chess and Kuromarimo. Back at the mountain, Luffy, now carrying Nami and Sanji, saves a buried Lapahn. Soon, Wapol catches up to Luffy, and attacks him after Luffy shows his back to them. Luffy unable to attack, runs away. However Chess and Kuromarimo catch up and are about to strike Luffy, when a large group Lapahn's save him in repayment for Luffy saving one of them earlier.



When Luffy climbs the mountain and reaches the top, he nearly falls and is rescued by Chopper, who then takes the three pirates to Dr. Kureha. Later, Luffy and Sanji awaken and see Chopper for the first time, they try to cook and eat Chopper, until he turns into a giant form and smashes them down, which greatly impresses Luffy. Luffy asks Dr. Kureha to join his crew, but she declines.

Finally, Wapol arrives at the castle and begins arguing with Dr. Kureha when suddenly Luffy punches him hard. Wapol then retaliates using his Baku Baku no Mi powers to turn into a house with cannons and fuse Chess and Kuromarimo into Chessmarimo. Wapol then shoots Dr. Hiriluk's flag a symbol Chopper highly values. Wapol shoots once again but Luffy protects the flag. Finally the fight begins and Chopper begins fighting Chessmarimo and Luffy fights Wapol. However, Luffy is distracted by Choppers fight (because of Chopper's ability to transform into several different forms thanks to the Rumble Ball) letting Wapol escape into the castle.



After Chopper wins, Luffy goes in and kicks a now thin Wapol who was harassing Nami. Wapol decides to open the weapons room and eat the weapons but Nami had stolen his one-of-a-kind key. Wapol is chased up to the top of the castle where he tries to attack using his special cannon, but fails due to the snow birds living in there. Wapol then tries to eat Luffy but is stopped so Wapol turns his tongue into a cannon for one final attack but Luffy dodges it and sends him flying getting him stuck in the roof. Luffy then, ignoring Wapol's pleas for mercy and empty promises and send him flying far away.

The Straw Hats regroup at the summit and Dalton thanks Luffy and Chopper. After some persuasion, Chopper decides to go with Luffy and his crew, with Dr. Kureha's blessing. As Chopper leaves, Dr. Kureha initiates Hiriluk's finished research, a powder that makes pink colored snow fall. Chopper seeing it, starts crying loudly. The Straw Hats formally welcome Chopper to the crew and head to their planned destination, Alabasta.

An Okama, a Brother, and a Desert Crossing


With his new doctor on board, Luffy and his crew journeyed onward to Alabasta with Vivi and Karoo. A few days later, while fishing with Usopp and Karoo, Luffy and crew picked up something strange as they passed through the sulfuric steam of an undersea volcano. The thing they accidentally picked up was the Okama Mr. 2 Bon Kurei. Having passed the steam the same time as Mr. 2's ship was passing through, Luffy and his fellow fishermen accidentally hooked the Baroque Works agent.

Not initially knowing who this was, Luffy and along with some of his crew immediately became friends with this flamboyant man as he put on a show for them with his Mane Mane no Mi. It wasn't until Mr. 2's crew came to pick him up that Luffy and his crew realize that he was an enemy. Fortunately, since Mr. 2 did not likewise know who they were, Luffy and his crew were spared at the time. However, since they were fortunate to meet such an opponent ahead of time, Luffy and his crew decided to take measures to protect themselves from his powers. Taking advice from Zoro, Luffy along with his crew and traveling companions wrapped bandages covering an X on their left wrists. This was so they could tell whether the person before them was the okama in disguise or not.



Upon arriving at the port of Nanohana in Alabasta, Luffy immediately ran off ahead of his crew in search in food. Not caring for the recklessness of his actions, his search for food leads him to a restaurant. In his haste to get to the restaurant, Luffy accidentally slammed two men straight through the back of the restaurant and through several houses. To his surprise, one of the men he knocked into was Smoker. Recognizing the Marine, Luffy instantly ran away and was soon being chased by Smoker and his Marines all over the town. In the midst of the commotion, Luffy was saved by the other man he knocked over, his brother Ace.

Regrouping with his crew back on the Going Merry, Luffy explained things to them about Ace. As Luffy was talking, Ace appeared and momentarily asked Luffy and his crew to join the crew he was under, the Whitebeard Pirates. Though Luffy bluntly refused the offer and even stated that he would fight against Ace's captain, Edward Newgate, for the position of Pirate King, the brothers parted ways on friendly terms. Before sailing off however, Luffy received a strange piece of paper from his brother so that they can meet again, and got a little more aid with Ace obliterating some Baroque Works Billions and their ships.

After sailing across the Sandora River and reaching the other side, Luffy and his crew began their journey to Yuba where Vivi hopes to persuade the rebel leader, Koza, and his troops there to stop the senseless violence. Upon landing, there was a little incident wherein Luffy defeated and acquired 100 Kung-Fu Dugong apprentices. Though he could not bring such a large group along with him, he had formed an everlasting deep bond with the creatures. As Luffy and his crew were further explained by Vivi about the Dugongs, they passed through the once green town of Erumalu and were further enlightened regarding the problems and conspiracies facing Alabasta.

After traversing across the huge desert of Alabasta and acquiring a new companion, Matsuge the camel, Luffy and his fellow travelers reached Yuba. There however, they discover that town was plagued by sandstorms and deserted except for one old man. This old man, Toto, was an old acquaintance of Vivi, and from him Luffy and the others learned that the rebellion had transferred bases due to the drought and sandstorms in Yuba. Though Toto was initially hostile to Luffy's group thinking that they were people wanting to join in the rebellion, he changed his hostilities towards them once he recognized Vivi and offered them shelter for the night.

As the rest took up Toto's offer, Luffy however decided to help Toto in his desperate search for water to restore the oasis of Yuba. Though slightly incapable of digging and falling asleep midway in digging, Luffy's efforts however helped Toto dig up some water. The next day as Luffy and the others prepared to travel to the rebel's new base, Luffy was given some of the water he dug up as present from Toto. With this Luffy and the others departed Yuba. Just as they were beginning their journey to Katorea, the rebel's new base, Luffy did something that surprised the rest of them. He announced to all of them that he "quits".

As Luffy's comrades asked him to stopped with this seemingly childish act, he explained to them his reasons. He explained to them that even if they stopped the rebels, Crocodile will not be stopped. To completely solve the matter, Luffy explained that Crocodile himself must be defeated. As Luffy surprised everyone in his insight over the entire situation, Luffy told Vivi that her desire to save everyone was naïve as people die. This little statement started an argument between the two of them which escalated in small battle. As Vivi explained herself and told Luffy that risking her life to save everyone was the only thing she could risk, Luffy asked her why she will not risk the Straw Hats' lives as well since they were her friends. Having stated this, Luffy moved Vivi to tears by his statement of trust and friendship.

Seeing her in this state and seeing how she was the one who wanted Crocodile to be beat up, Luffy asked her where they could find him.

Meeting Crocodile at Rainbase
Having understood each other, Vivi tells Luffy and his crew where to find Crocodile, Rainbase. Regardless of the fact that Officer Agents would be awaiting there, Luffy and his group pressed forward to confront the Warlord. Upon arriving at Rainbase, Luffy and Usopp were sent by the rest to ask for some much needed water after much journeying in the desert island. However, upon finding water in a bar, the two accidentally encountered Smoker and Tashigi. Soon enough, another large commotion was caused with Luffy and his crew being chased all around by the Marines. Regardless of the commotion however, Luffy and some of his crew managed to escape from the pursuing Marines and headed into Crocodile's casino, Rain Dinners.

Though Luffy and his crewmates with him managed to get into the casino, they however entered without Vivi to help them identify what Crocodile really looked like. To make matters worse, Smoker had caught with them and started chasing them all around the casino. As they were running around, Luffy and those with him were tricked into falling through a trap door by the casino. Having fallen for the trick, Luffy and the others, including Smoker, found themselves trapped in a seastone cage. As they were pondering their current predicament, they were greeted by Crocodile.



Having finally met the one who orchestrated the whole mess in Alabasta, Luffy and the others with him were unable to do get at Crocodile because of the cage they were in. As the situation developed with Vivi being brought before Crocodile by Miss All Sunday and the powers of the Devil Fruit Crocodile ate, the Suna Suna no Mi, were revealed, Luffy and the rest learned of Crocodile's awful master plan as he mockingly explained it before them. As it went further, Luffy and the others found themselves being placed in a little game the Warlord decided to challenge Vivi in.

The Warlord explained before Luffy and the rest that due to events being carried out, they needed to get to Alubarna, the capital of Alabasta, fast in order to stop the upcoming war. However, due to the situation Luffy and those encaged with him, Vivi would have to get a key that Crocodile presented and threw into a pit, where it was eaten by a Bananawani. Explaining further that he deciding to self destruct the room they were in, Crocodile presented before Vivi in front of Luffy and the rest, the choice between getting to Alubarna in time or saving Luffy and those with him before the room completely floods. As Crocodile was explaining this challenge to Vivi, Luffy overheard Toto being mentioned by the Warlord and soon learned that it was Crocodile that was causing the sandstorms that plagued Yuba.

Angered by Crocodile's cruelty, Luffy urged Vivi to get the key so that he and the rest can beat Crocodile. Despite Luffy's encouragement, a single Bananawani proved too much for Vivi as it and the rest of group entered the slowly flooding room. Though all seems lost, amidst the ensuing chaos, Luffy and everyone heard a Den Den Mushi ring.

Recognizing Sanji's voice calling from the Den Den Mushi, Luffy and the others realized that there was still hope as Sanji and Chopper weren't captured. As events unfolded with this new development, Luffy and the rest found themselves depending on Vivi finding someone from the outside to get them out. In an attempt to free themselves, Luffy and the others tried to coax one of the Bananawani into biting open the cage. Though their attempt at breaking the cage through this failed, their hopes were however revived as Sanji finally showed up at the scene. With him, the key that Crocodile was found alongside a familiar foe, Mr. 3. Though the Baroque Works agent that came out of the Bananawani threw the key, Luffy and the others with him were however still able to escape the cage via Mr. 3's wax powers. Escaping just in the nick of time, Luffy and the others were able to get out. As the room flooded and they escaped, Luffy told Zoro to grab Smoker along with them.

Having saved the Marine, Luffy and his companions were allowed to go free to get Alubarna. As they were thinking of a way to get to Alubarna fast they were greeted by Chopper who brought Hasami, a giant crab friend of Matsuge whom they can ride on. However just as they were getting aboard, Vivi was literally hooked by Crocodile. Fortunately, Luffy freed her just in time as she was taken away. With Vivi safe, Luffy told his crew to go on as he faced off the Warlord by himself. As Luffy prepared to face Crocodile, he was told that the Warlord would humor him for three minutes. After that, Crocodile would leave for Alubarna to complete his scheme. With the time limit in mind, Luffy fought ferociously against his opponent. Though he attacked the best he could, it was however apparent that no matter how much Luffy attacked, he could not damage Crocodile.

As they continued to fight one another, Luffy's arm was dehydrated by Crocodile. Using the water given by Toto however, Luffy was able to restore himself. Remembering the old man, Luffy declares that no matter how much Crocodile attacks Yuba with sandstorms, it will never be destroyed. As Luffy declared this, his three minutes were up.

As the three minutes ended, Luffy witnessed Crocodile decide to do something horrible. Spurred on by Luffy, Crocodile created a massive sandstorm and sent it towards Yuba. Seeing this new development, Luffy desperately tried to stop Crocodile. Unfortunately in midst of all this, Luffy was impaled by the Warlord and left for dead in the sand.

Despite being heavily wounded and buried in the sand however, Luffy still struggled with the will to fight. As he struggled, in a surprise turn of events Luffy was suddenly pulled out by Miss All Sunday. Having been pulled out from his sandy grave, Luffy was left in the care of Pell, the hero of Alabasta that the Baroque Works agent defeated awhile back.

Battling Crocodile for the 2nd and 3rd Time
With Pell's help, Luffy was able to recover from his wounds and get a ride to Alubarna via Pell's Devil Fruit, the Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Falcon. Through various events that happened in the city, by the time that the two arrived at Alubarna, a great battle was being waged by the rebels and the royal army in the city square with a sandstorm covering the place. As they arrived, they got just in time to save Vivi, who was dropped by Crocodile from the palace walls. With Vivi safe, Luffy flung himself up the walls to face Crocodile again.



During his previous fight, Luffy noticed that water made Crocodile unable to turn into sand as he and the water barrel that Toto gave were pierced by Crocodile's hook. Realizing this, he brought a huge barrel of water to aid him in his rematch against the Warlord. As Luffy thus fought Crocodile again, he soon realized that his barrel of water could easily be jeopardized. Figuring this out, Luffy decided to switch tactics by drinking all of his water and storing it within himself, essentially become what he dubbed "Mizu Luffy". While this new tactic infuriated his opponent, it however proved effective for Luffy. Though Luffy was aided greatly by water this time around, the fight however just made his opponent really mad.

Having landed some good hits on Crocodile and angering the Warlord as well, Luffy had incurred the Warlord to use his most powerful technique. Though Luffy was able to evade Crocodile's devastating powers of erosion, he unfortunately got caught by his opponent. As Crocodile's hand held Luffy, he was severely dehydrated and was once again left for dead. Fortunately however, some water bubbles that Luffy misfired earlier revived him from his near death state. Rejuvenated once again, Luffy set off in search of his foe. Learning from Tashigi while on his search, Luffy headed to royal Alabasta tomb.

As he ran, the wound from his chest unfortunately opened, and Luffy, feeling unusually faint, briefly fell unconscious. Recovering himself, Luffy noticed a passageway and ran down into the tomb. Eventually Luffy caught up with his foe once again in the collapsing ruins. Encountering each other, the two fought each other again, however having been severely wounded from his previous matches with Crocodile, Luffy used his own bloody body to negate Crocodile's powers this time around.



As the climatic battle between Luffy and Crocodile commenced, Luffy was struck by Crocodile's poison hook. This however did not deter Luffy's resolve against his opponent. As the battle continued, Luffy kicked Crocodile into the air. Upon doing so, Luffy was blasted with one of Crocodile's powerful techniques. Luffy however withstood the attack and prepared to retaliate. Using a series of moves, Luffy propelled himself up to Crocodile to deliver the final blow. As a last resort, Crocodile tried to stop Luffy by turning his hand into blades.

This however did not stop Luffy as he broke through the sand created weapons with his bare fist and delivered a flurry of punches onto his opponent. Delivering the punches, Luffy attacked Crocodile with such force that it penetrated a layer of pure bedrock and sent Crocodile flying, defeating the Warlord finally. Falling back into the ruins, Luffy was thanked by Nefertari Cobra for all he had done.

After being given the vial of antidote to Crocodile's poison from Miss All Sunday, Luffy mustered what was left of his strength to carry both the king and the former Baroque Works agent out of the ruins. Having used the last of his strength, Luffy was then carried by the king to his crew.

Farewell to Alabasta and Vivi
For their valiant heroism in saving Alabasta, Luffy and his crew were treated secretly as VIPs by the royalty for three days. Having fully recovered from his wounds from the battle with Crocodile on the third day, Luffy and his crew decided to leave before the awaiting Marines could catch them. Just as they were heading back to the Going Merry which was secured by Mr. 2 Bon Kurei]] before the Marines could find it, Luffy and the others offered Vivi the choice of joining the crew. They gave her until noon the next day.



Setting sail with the reformed Bon Kurei and his men the next day, Luffy and his crew encountered the blockade the Marines set up to capture them. Through a tearful sacrifice by Mr. 2, Luffy and his crew were able to escape the blockade to go to the rendezvous point to pick up Vivi. Arriving there, they found that Vivi had come as promised. However to their disappointment, she told them that she still had responsibilities as Alabasta's princess and could not come along. Despite this, Vivi asked them that if they ever meet again, would she be accepted to come along again.

While Luffy and the others wanted to reply out loud to Vivi that she would still be accepted, they could not out of fear that the nearby Marines would implicate her as a criminal. Instead however, they quietly showed her the mark that they used to protect themselves if Mr. 2 impersonated one of them, a sign of their friendship. Having delivered their silent response to their friend, Luffy and his crew set sail away from Alabasta and onto their next adventure.

Though depressed about not having Vivi on the crew, Luffy and the other came across a new development. Nico Robin, a.k.a. Miss All-Sunday from Baroque Works, had stowed away on the Going Merry and demanded Luffy take responsibility of saving her by letting her join his crew. Without much hesitation, Luffy agreed much to everyone's surprise.

Goat Island Arc
While being chased by the Marines, led by Moore and Minchey, Luffy and his crew get lost in the fog and discover an uncharted island. They find that the island is inhabited only by an old man named Zenny and a multitude of goats. They also find a partially constructed ship on the top of the island.

Because of his bad heart, Zenny probably only has three days to live. Hoping to make his last days good ones, the Straw Hat Pirates help him out and they learn about Zenny's past as a money lender and his dream of becoming a pirate. But realizing that Zenny has outlived Chopper's predictions the Straw Hats decide that after helping him finish his pirate ship, they will leave the island. The Straw Hat Pirates help the old man out while hiding from the Marines and working to get his ship into the water.

With Luffy's help, Zenny and his goats were able to attack the Marines. The Straw Hat pirates then went forth to help him. They defeated Minchey and tied him up. Luffy, then, threw Minchey back on Captain Moore's ship, and Captain Moore allowed them to choose their battle location. Zenny decides to follow his dream and become a pirate, despite his age and they part ways. Luffy, then, pointed to the Marines a foggy area for battle location, which caused Captain Moore's ships to land in a shipwreck due to the rocks.

Dead End Adventure
Luffy and the Straw Hats are now chased by a Marine ship, commanded by Drake. Due to the stormy weather and Nami's exceptional navigational skills, the ship sails away unscathed, leaving the marine pursuant behind.

Luffy and the crew has reached a town om Hannabal Island. Inside a pirate filled bar, they find out there is a great but very dangerous opportunity through a mysterious door in the bar. As the crew enters the mysterious door they are surprised to see it is the opening to a large tunnel. Inside they find themselves in a large cave filled with pirates, the site of the Dead End Race, a very dangerous anything goes sailing competition which the winner can win up to 300,000,000.

The crew is introduced to the favorites to win that year, 2 giants, Bobby and Pogo, a Fish-Man and former rival of Arlong, Willy and the favorited to win, Gasparde, a former marine general who deserted after killing his crew. While Nami registers the crew for the race, Luffy gets involved in a fight against Gasparde's crew along with an infamous bounty hunter by the name of Shuraiya Bascùd, as well as meets Gasparde himself which of course ends on bad terms.

The next morning, Luffy and the crew set sail along with many other pirate ships for the parade start which involves sailing off a waterfall, fighting off other pirates, and navigating sharp turns. Before even reaching the ocean, several pirate crews are wrecked, luckily the Straw Hats manage. However while checking the ship, they find a stowaway, a kid by the name of Anaguma whose come to kill them for the bounty though find that's impossible after witnessing the crew's strength and power and thus sails along with them for the race.

After a few more encounters one involving the pirate ship of Bigalo the Hangman and sea kings, Luffy and the Straw Hats arrive at Partia, the supposed finish line of the race. However it turns out to be a Marine stronghold that quickly sinks any incoming pirate ships. Luffy realizes Gasparde rigged the race and the crew manages to escape the stronghold and track down Gasparde's ship using Chopper's nose.

Meanwhile onboard Gasparde's ship, the Salamander, Shuraiya, the bounty hunter from earlier tries to attack Gasparde but barely defeats his right hand man, Needless. Just when Gaparde is about to finish Shuraiya off, the Straw Hats arrive on the scene and Luffy makes his way onboard Gasparde's ship, taking down his crew angered about what the former Marine did. Shuraiya tries to intervene but Luffy knocks him out to keep from getting in the way. Luffy and Gasparde proceed to fight.



Luffy's fight with Gasparde is not going well but Sanji realizes something and gives Luffy sacks of flour before rejoining the other Straw Hats. When Anaguma realized that his grandpa is still on Gasparde's ship, he begs the Straw Hats to go back but Zoro knocks him out and reveals that Anaguma is actually a girl. Meanwhile back in the ship, Grandpa overloads the boiler causing it to explode and sink the ship. Luffy manages to stay on the sinking remains as does Gasparde who shows Luffy that a cyclone is closing in on their position and that whoever wins can escape the ship and storm via lifeboats. The two strike one another with Luffy actually managing to hit him due to the counter-effects of the flour on Gasparde's syrup powers. Luffy then throws the remaining flour sack at Gasparde, coating him with it, and proceeds to pound on him and sends him flying into the cyclone.

Luffy, then, collapses from exhaustion but is saved by Anaguma's grandpa along with Shuraiya. As they head for the nearby island, grandpa reveals that Anaguma was adopted and her real name is Adelle Bascùd, Shuraiya's little sister whom he thought was dead. Despite the awkward reuniting, the two come to accept each other.

The Straw Hats close in on the real Partia as the winners of the race but the Marine ships suddenly appear and go after them, forcing them to flee from the island and forfeit their prize money. They let Adelle, Shuraiya, and Grandpa off then wish them good-bye individually before sailing off with the marines on their tail. Despite not getting the prize money the Straw Hats continue on for their next big adventure.

Ruluka Island Arc
Luffy and the Straw Hats are being chased by a small fleet of Marine ships led by Major Pasqua and Isoka. Luffy and his crew barely escape when the Marine's Major accidentally sinks one of his own ships. The crew then make their way towards an island named Ruluka.

They soon meet Flip, the son of the mayor and the commander of a troop who collects taxes from the people of Ruluka, The Collection Party and they find out the island is in fact ruled by a former pirate, mayor Wetton, that is over-taxing the people. Luffy, Usopp and Robin meet also Professor Henzo, who's doing research on something called the 'Rainbow Mist', sponsored by the scrupulous Wetton.

Suddenly, a huge galleon, the Tarielishin, appeared in the harbor and Luffy and the others go explore it and turns out to be the pirate ship of Wetton Pirates. When some of the mist shows up, Henzo borrows the Going Merry and Luffy, Usopp, Robin, Henzo and Zoro, who was sleeping on the ship, go inside it.

The inside of the Rainbow Mist is full of wrecked ships and treasure, and is guarded by five kids. The kids are actually friends of Henzo's that got lost in the mist over 50 years ago, along with the Tarielishin and Ian, a member, then, of the Wetton Pirates. Henzo states that the flow of time is different inside the Rainbow mist and the space is distorted, so Luffy and the others try to find a way out of the ship graveyard.

Finally, Flip communicates with Hezno with a Den Den Mushi and the company realizes they are still connected with the outside world. Then, Luffy accidentally propels himself and Rapanui, one of the kids, to the end of the mist. The Mayor, though, uses the Rainbow Tower to make a bridge to the Rainbow Mist and launches an attack inside it, along with Lake, the son of Flip and his grandson.

Luffy, goes back to the Rainbow Mist by throwing himself and Rapanui trough the Rainbow Tower. There he fights Wetton, but the mayor manages to escape and blows the Rainbow Tower away. Luffy and the others, though, escape the Rainbow Mist onboard Going Merry, with the help of Rapanui and the other kids who stayed behind to blow up a marine ship and give the Going Merry a boost to escape with the explosion.

Outside, the Mayor gets arrested by a bunch of powerful Marines that turn out to be older versions of Henzo's friends, who were thrown 50 years into the past by the Rainbow Mist's collapse. The marines let Luffy and the Straw Hats go and the crew departs onward to their next adventure.

A Sunken Ship and a Lawless Town
Not long after Luffy and the Straw Hats left Alabasta, a massive ship fell from the sky and into the sea. From Nico Robin and a brief search of the sinking ship which wielded a map, Luffy and his crew learned that the ship fell from an island in the sky called Skypiea.



Needing more info on the matter, Luffy and his crew decided to explore more of the ship. Using special diving suits created by Usopp, Luffy, along with Zoro and Sanji, explored the sunken ship. As they explored the ship and found few things, their search was cut short as the ship was suddenly clamped and filled with air, and a bunch of other people appeared. After taking care of the intruders within the newly created air pocket, the three encountered a monkey-like person bursting into the room. Although Luffy and the stranger initially got along, they unfortunately got on bad terms when they found out that they were after the same thing.

Fortunately with thanks from his two crewmates, Luffy escaped from Masira and a giant turtle that ate the ship at the same time. As Luffy and the others were about to deal with this new foe, they suddenly witnessed something that completely scared them, the shadowy silhouettes of creatures several times larger than regular giants. After escaping from the creatures and getting rid of Masira who accidentally tagged along, Luffy and his crew learned of Jaya from an Eternal Pose that Robin stole from the guy. Needing info on how to get to Skypiea, Luffy and his crew sailed for Jaya.



Arriving at Jaya at the port of Mock Town, Luffy and his crew found that the place they landed on was a lawless town filled with pirates. Wanting to explore the town as well as get information, Luffy, along with Zoro and Nami, went offshore into town. With a promise not to fight while in Mock Town to Nami, the three explored the place and encountered several of the inhabitants. They eventually end up in a bar wherein Luffy has a small argument with another customer. Though the incident ended without a hitch, Luffy and his companions encountered a much more serious one.

Luffy and his companions soon encountered in the bar Bellamy and his crew with the intention of seeing if Luffy was worthy of joining his "New Age" of pirates. However upon learning that Luffy and his crew wanted to go to a Sky Island, Bellamy along with the rest of the bar started ridiculing them and the notion of dreams such as a Sky Island. Though the situation got worse with Luffy and Zoro taking hits from Bellamy's crew, they however refused to fight. As the two were dragged out by a frustrated Nami, the three were congratulated and encouraged by the pirate that Luffy argued with earlier. Though the man assured them that dreams would never die, Luffy and Zoro however sense something up with him and the people that are apparently associated with him.

Returning to the Going Merry, Luffy and the others soon learn that while their search was unproductive, Robin's was successful. Learning that a man by the name of Mont Blanc Cricket might know something, they headed off to the other side of Jaya.

The Saruyama Alliance and Knock Up Stream


After escaping a brief encounter with Masira's brother, Shoujou, Luffy and his crew reached Cricket's home. There they had a brief misunderstanding with Cricket who they found out apparently suffered from decompression sickness. However upon helping Cricket and clearing things with him, Luffy and his crew were able to get better acquainted with the former pirate. For helping Cricket, they were also able to reconcile with Cricket's proteges, Masira and Shoujou.

As they explained their problem and got acquainted with Cricket and his proteges, Luffy and his crew learned of Cricket's past and his ancestor. Showing interest with Cricket's dream, Luffy and his crew convinced Cricket to help them out in getting to Skypiea. While having acquired help from someone who could aid them in getting to Skypiea, Luffy and his crew however found out that they needed an important thing to aid them, the South Bird. This bird as explained to them by Cricket, was needed to find a Knock Up Stream needed to help them get to Skypiea. Having been told this, Luffy and his crew quickly went in search for the bird.

Splitting into various groups, Luffy and his crew searched the nearby forest for one of these elusive birds. Though they encountered all sorts of obstacles and antics while searching for the bird, they were able to catch one in the end thanks to Robin. With the captured bird, they went back to Cricket's. Upon returning however, they discovered the horrid aftermath of an incident that happened while they were away, Cricket and his proteges were defeated and had been robbed by Bellamy and his crew.



Spurred on by this, Luffy decided to go after Bellamy and get his wounded friends' gold back. At Mock Town, Luffy was engaged by Bellamy who wanted to prove once and for all to those around him that Luffy and Cricket's dreams were nothing. Despite Bellamy's over the top display of his Devil Fruit ability, Luffy however defeated the arrogant pirate with a single normal punch. Having completely obliterated Bellamy in front of his crew and the other pirates, Luffy was able to retrieve Cricket's gold without any further trouble.

As the morning of the next day came, Luffy arrived back to Cricket's house. There he saw the newly modified Going Merry as he gave Cricket's gold back. With the new modifications for the trip up to Skypiea and the South Bird, Luffy and crew set sail with the ships of Masira and Shoujou escorting them. As they were leaving, Luffy and his crew were cheered on by Cricket's final words of encouragement. With that, Luffy and crew sailed off to where they could ride a Knock up Stream.

After a long wait out on sea, the weather and the sea started to show signs of a Knock Up Stream. As Luffy and his crew were preparing themselves for the journey to Skypiea, they suddenly encountered the ship and crew of the pirate that Luffy fought with in the bar. From this encounter, Luffy and his crew learned of his and Zoro's new bounties for which the pirate planned on collecting. The encounter however was brief as the Knock Up Stream started. With the Knock Up Stream shooting the Going Merry into the sky, Luffy and his crew set forth to new adventure as well inadvertently escaping from the pursuing pirate.

Adventure and Trouble 10,000 Meters in the Air
The crew ended up floating on the cloud after passing through it, and as they took in their surroundings, Usopp decided to take a swim in the clouds. When he did not resurface, the Straw Hats realized he was falling all the way to the Blue Sea and Luffy quickly stretched his arm down to try and save him. Robin sprouted eyes on Luffy's arm, allowing her to see where Usopp was and generate arms off of Luffy's to grab him. When Luffy pulled Usopp back up, a giant, balloon-like octopus followed him, though Zoro easily dealt with it. As the crew recovered from this experienced, they were suddenly assaulted by a masked guerrilla warrior who landed powerful blows on Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. However, the "Knight of the Sky" Gan Fall then came flying in on his bird-horse Pierre and fought off the warrior before introducing himself to the Straw Hats. After learning about what the Straw Hats had did to get here, Gan Fall gifted them a free whistle to call him should they be attacked by someone again, and then departed. With the crew unsure as to how to keep sailing upward to the Log Pose's destination, Luffy tried to blow the whistle but was stopped by Nami. The crew then came across a cloud waterfall, and Luffy found that the clouds around it were hard enough to stand and bounce on. Upon climbing up the bouncy cloud, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper found that behind the waterfall was a path. At the end of the path the Straw Hats came to Heaven's Gate, where the gatekeeper Amazon charged them 1 billion extols for entry. The Straw Hats only had belly and were unsure how to convert it, but Amazon then told them that they could pass through without paying. When they did, the Merry was suddenly seized by Speedy Shrimp which took it and the Straw Hats on a winding path to the country of Skypiea up above.

Upon reaching the sea at the end of the path, the Straw Hats found themselves at the coast of Angel Island, a place founded on top of clouds, and Luffy immediately disembarked to explore it. As Luffy examined the various elements on the island, the Straw Hats met a young native girl named Conis as well as her father Pagaya. Luffy rode Pagaya's waver around the sea but ended up losing control and falling in, forcing Zoro and Sanji to rescue him. Nami then tried out the waver and was much better at it, and Pagaya and Conis took the rest of the Straw Hats to their home. There, Conis explained the abilities of Dials, which powered wavers among other things. At that point, Nami was no longer in sight, and Conis became worried that she had wandered over to Upper Yard, the home of Skypiea's "God" Enel which was forbidden for all to enter. This made Luffy very interested in it, and the crew decided to go and rescue Nami if she was in any trouble. The group went back down to the coast, and before the Straw Hats set off Pagaya examined their old waver.

Suddenly, McKinley and the White Berets came marching in and confronted Luffy to charge him and the Straw Hats for illegal entry. They explained the punishment was just a fine of ten times the original entry fee, but after learning the value of extols compared to belly, the crew realized that it would be an exorbitant amount. Nami then returned to the coast on Pagaya's waver, and after learning about the charges she hit McKinley with the waver in anger. Because of this, McKinley increased the charges against the Straw Hats to be punished by execution by Cloud Drifting, and Luffy confronted the White Berets with the intention of fighting. After dodging the Sky Arrows they shot, Luffy pulled against a palm tree and spun himself around, allowing him to wildly attack the force with punches and kicks and take out most of them at once. Zoro and Sanji came ashore to finish the job, and McKinley then proclaimed that due to their crimes, the Straw Hats would be judged by God's priests themselves.

With this news, the Straw Hats bid farewell to Conis and Pagaya and prepared to try to leave Skypiea through Cloud End to the best of their ability. However, as Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji went inside the duo's house to get food, a Super-Express Speedy Shrimp then arrived and carried off the Merry. Pagaya revealed to the trio that their crewmates were being taken to the Sacrificial Altar on Upper Yard where they would be held as hostages; it would be up to the trio to take the Milky Road to Upper Yard and face the trials there in order to rescue the rest of the crew. Conis took Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji down Lovely Street to the port, where she gave them her small boat Karasumaru. Luffy noticed that Conis had been pale and shaking since they had left her house and asked if she was scared. After some hesitation, Conis broke down and revealed that she was the one who called the Speedy Shrimp that took away their crewmates, as failing to turn in criminals was punishable by death. Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji were not angry at her for doing this, instead wondering why she risked her life to reveal it to them. Suddenly, sparks rose in the air, and Luffy quickly grabbed Conis and jumped away right as Enel struck the spot where Conis was standing with a giant thunderbolt. The attack left a gaping hole in the port that Luffy and Conis fell into, but luckily Gan Fall came flying in to save them. Gan Fall took Conis away to a safe area as Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji set sail for Upper Yard.

The Trials of Upper Yard


As the trio entered the heavily forested place, they quickly had to contend with large swinging blades threatening to pulverize them, as well as a giant sky lamprey eel. After making it past those obstacles, they arrived at four gateways, each one leading to a different Ordeal. Luffy wanted to go to the Ordeal of Balls since it sounded the most fun, and so the trio went through that gate. After being dropped off a cliff, they landed back on the Milky Road and found themselves surrounded by large floating balls made of island cloud. However, when playing with one of the balls, Luffy and Usopp were assaulted by a snake that burst out of it, and Sanji tried hitting away an incoming ball only for it to explode. The trio were then confronted by Satori, one of Enel's four priests, who introduced them to his "Surprise Balls" and said they had to defeat him to continue on to the Sacrificial Altar. Luffy attempted to punch Satori, but the priest easily dodged him before striking him with an Impact Dial, which unleashed a powerful blow against him that caused internal damage. Satori sent Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp off the Karasumaru with his Impact Dial strikes, and revealed that the boat would keep moving and leave them behind in his forest if they did not defeat him in time.

Luffy aimed another punch at Satori, but the priest grabbed his arm after dodging it and slammed him into a tree. Luffy then tried attacking Satori with Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun, but this failed to hit Satori and instead struck several Surprise Balls, causing the Straw Hats to be assaulted by their contents. Luffy was sent falling toward one of the cloud rivers and saved himself by grabbing a vine, though ended up having fun swinging on it and became distracted. Eventually, Sanji got him off the vine and beat him up, but Satori then struck Sanji with an Impact Dial. Satori proceeded to overwhelm the entire trio before assaulting them with his Ball Dragon, which would cause a massive chain reaction if a particular ball in its chain was set off. However, Luffy found the string Satori was using to control the Dragon and broke it. Satori responded by pulling the rope to bring Luffy to him; however, Luffy did not let go of the Ball Dragon and sent it crashing into Satori. The priest managed to avoid the massive explosion, but Luffy avoided it as well by hanging onto his back. Luffy then wrapped his arm's around Satori's body, rendering him immobile and preventing him from dodging their attacks, allowing Sanji to give Satori a powerful kick to the head and defeat him. Immediately afterward, Usopp called to Luffy and Sanji that he had found the Karasumaru and told them to come to him quickly. Once they did, Usopp shot a rope from his belt that successfully wrapped around the boat and pulled them up to it, but they ended up hitting several trees on the way up. As the Karasumaru sailed out of the forest, the trio lay dazed on it.

Some time later, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji sailed through a field dotted with skulls. A group of Shandia guerrillas then came flying past them, and their leader, Wyper, fired a bazooka shot at the trio. Luffy deflected it with Gomu Gomu no Fusen, and Wyper chose not to attack further, but warned the Straw Hats that he would treat them like Enel if they caused trouble on the island. The trio continued sailing and made it to the Sacrificial Altar by sunset, where they reunited with the rest of the crew. After checking on the injured Gan Fall, the Straw Hats decided to camp out on Upper Yard for the night. After setting up the campsite, the crew talked about their discovery that the lost city of gold that Noland was looking for was here on Upper Yard, and decided to hunt for the gold the next day. The crew then gathered food and supplies for the next day, and Luffy was put in charge of overseeing the boiling of water for drinking. As the Straw Hats ate some stew, they talked about clues to finding the city from Noland's logbook. Afterwards, Robin said the crew should put out the fire to avoid attracting attention from enemies, but Luffy and Usopp opposed this. Despite Robin's and Nami's warnings, the crew built a giant bonfire and danced around it before going to bed.

Hunting for Treasure and Eaten by a Snake
The next morning, Usopp showed the crew that repairs to the Merry somehow happened overnight, which he claimed to be the work of a spirit. The crew then split into two teams to head to the lost city, with Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, and Robin forming the "Explore Team" that would head to the city on foot. The quartet's expedition had just started when they ran into a giant snake named Nola. Luffy told the group to run away from it, and they became scattered as the snake attempted to attack them with its poisonous fangs. Luffy tried to lure Nola toward him, and ended up being separated from the rest of the group. He remembered the direction to go south, but had no idea which way south was and went in a straight line southwest. He became interested upon hearing the bleating of what sounded like a goat, and when a Shandia warrior tried to ambush him, Luffy quickly beat the warrior aside, being annoyed that he was not a goat. Luffy then ran into Wyper, who asked him what he was doing on Upper Yard still.



Wyper told Luffy that Upper Yard belonged to his people, the Shandia, and Luffy accepted this and walked off. However, Wyper had had enough of Luffy and so decided to eliminate him, and Luffy was very willing to fight back. Wyper shot Luffy with eight bazooka shots, all of which Luffy deflected; Wyper then changed his strategy and fired a stream of natural gas at Luffy before using his Burn Bazooka to create disintegrating white flames. Luffy managed to dodge the sudden burst of fire, and traded blows with Wyper in midair. Wyper then readied another Burn Bazooka strike against him, and Luffy responded by attacking him with Gomu Gomu no Bazooka. The two's attacks hit the other simultaneously, causing a notable amount of injury to both of them. Wyper then called out to Luffy to see if he was still alive, and Luffy responded, but he was then suddenly eaten by Nola and fell through its insides before landing among some ruins.

Thinking he was inside a cave, Luffy examined the treasures in the ruins while walking further down Nola's stomach. He came to a dead end and tried striking it with Gomu Gomu no Bazooka to see if there was a secret door, which caused Nola to spin around. Nola ate some sea clouds which almost drowned Luffy, and the pirate continued hitting the walls of its stomach which caused the snake to rampage through Upper Yard in pain. Nola's movements while fighting in the Upper Ruins of Shandora caused Luffy to constantly fall through its stomach as it repositioned, leaving him aghast as to what kind of cave this was. Luffy then attempted to dig his way out of the stomach, causing Nola to laugh. However, he was then joined by Nami, Gan Fall, Pierre, and Aisa after they had been eaten by Nola, and they revealed to him that this cave was the snake's stomach. Nami decided to ride her waver out of the snake through its mouth, and Luffy hung onto the back of the waver while Aisa hung onto him. However, the exhaust fumes of the waver blew Luffy and Aisa off of it, and they fell back down to Nola's stomach; however, Pierre quickly returned to rescue them. Nola was knocked unconscious by a thunderbolt from Enel, and Luffy, Aisa, and Pierre traveled up to its head. Luffy ended up behind its left eye and opened its eyelid, but was quickly guided down to its mouth. They jarred the snake's mouth open and fell down to the ground below, where they found themselves in Shandora, the legendary city of gold. However, Luffy and Aisa then found Zoro, Chopper, Robin, Gan Fall, and Wyper laying unconscious next to a giant hole in the ground. A barely conscious Robin told Luffy that Enel had done this and was plotting to destroy all of Skypiea; he had taken Nami away to an unknown place. Robin believed that Enel would go to the fabled Golden Bell first, and when Aisa sensed the presence of two people with her Mantra, Luffy told the young girl to take him there.

Fighting a God


Aisa guided Luffy to a cave near the city ruins, and Luffy confronted Enel, who was with Nami on the giant ship Ark Maxim. Luffy pulled himself up to the ship's deck, and Enel struck him with a mighty thunderbolt. However, due to Luffy's body being made of rubber, a natural insulator to lightning, the attack had no effect on him. Enel was left stunned and Luffy charged toward him, successfully punching Skypiea's God in the stomach as his rubber body bypassed Enel's Logia defenses. When Enel got up from the attack, Luffy tried attacking him again, but the God used his Mantra to dodge Luffy's attacks and hit the pirate with his staff. Enel used his electricity to reshape his staff into a trident, and Luffy struggled to avoid being stabbed by it. After managing to dodge one of Enel's attacks in midair, Luffy was able to kick him into the floor. However, Enel was able to grab Luffy's arms on his follow-up attack and slam him into the floor as well, and he proceeded to activate the Ark Maxim to bring it up into the air. Luffy watched in anger as Enel used the Maxim to generate a giant thundercloud he called Deathpiea to wreak destruction on Skypiea, and the two then resumed sparring. In an attempt to work around Enel's Mantra, Luffy shut off his mind and dodged Enel's strikes purely on reflex, though quickly went back to normal since he could not attack in that diminished mental state. Luffy then got another idea and ran toward Enel's throne chamber, which was surrounded by a curved wall. He threw rapid punches at the wall, and those punches ricocheted back and struck Enel, who could not anticipate their randomness. With Enel reeling from those attacks, he was powerless to stop Luffy from pummeling him with direct attacks.



Luffy watched as the injured Enel slowly got up and cursed him for messing with his plans, but as Luffy moved to attack him further, Enel quickly responded by reshaping the gold from the wall behind him and forming it into a giant ball around Luffy's right forearm. With Luffy unable to pull his arm out of it, Enel kicked the ball and sent it rolling off the edge of the Maxim; Luffy tried holding onto the ledge, but Enel sent him falling to the ground far below with his staff. Aisa and Pierre tried to fly in to rescue Luffy, but Enel attacked them with a lightning bolt. The three of them fell down into a chasm, where Luffy had rubble fall on him though he remained unharmed. After pulling himself out, he prepared to follow the Ark Maxim to the place where the Golden Bell was. Aisa took Luffy to the giant beanstalk Giant Jack, which the Ark Maxim was circling near high above, and Robin was there, revealing that the Golden Bell was up at the top of it. Luffy then ran up Giant Jack with his golden ball in tow, intent on freeing Nami, Usopp, and Sanji and fighting Enel. Once he made it close to the top of Giant Jack, Luffy was noticed by Enel, who fired a lightning bolt to break off the top of the beanstalk and send Luffy falling. Luffy was able to grab back onto Giant Jack and pull himself onto the highest cloud platform on it, and right then he was suddenly struck by Nami, who had rode her waver up Giant Jack to fetch him. After watching Enel destroy all of Angel Island with a giant thundercloud called Raigo, Nami told Luffy that Usopp and Sanji had escaped the Ark Maxim and that he needed to go back to the Merry with her so they could escape. However, Luffy told her that he needed to defeat Enel and ring the Golden Bell for the sake of Cricket, in order to show him that the city of gold that Noland wrote about was indeed real.

Luffy tried grabbing onto the Ark Maxim, but Enel easily kicked his hand off, and Enel responded to Luffy's ensuing attempts by striking him with lightning bolts. Luffy then got the idea to write a message on a giant leaf to tell the people at Giant Jack's base to cut down the beanstalk so it would fall westward toward the Maxim. Luffy was surprised to see that Nami was sticking with him, and Nami told him that he needed her to pilot the waver the rest of the way up and so she was willing to take that risk. Zoro, Nola, and Wyper were able to successfully tip Giant Jack toward the west, and Nami drove the waver up the beanstalk as fast as it would go while Luffy held onto her from behind. As the duo shot off the beanstalk and flew toward the Maxim, Enel brought down an even larger Raigo to destroy all of Skypiea. To Nami's shock, Luffy jumped off the waver directly into the Raigo, and while inside it, Luffy threw his golden ball around in every possible direction. The ball conducted the electricity inside the giant thunder sphere, and so Luffy was able to completely disperse the Raigo and save Skypiea.



With the Maxim and the Golden Bell now in his sights, Luffy stretched back his right arm and twisted it around. Enel responded by fully transforming into lightning in a shape resembling a larger version of his body, though Luffy was still able to bypass his transformation and land blows on him. However, Enel was able to reach around Luffy with an arm of lightning and stab him in the back with his trident. Luffy's only options were to either let the trident pierce him further or fall back all the way down to Skypiea, and he decided to let go and fall; however, he then grabbed onto a small piece of island cloud near the Maxim and pulled himself back up. Luffy reared back and twisted his right arm again and sent the golden ball crashing into Enel's giant body, smashing him against the Golden Bell. Luffy cried out for the Golden Bell to ring, and as it did so, Enel's transformation deactivated and the God was defeated. Luffy fell down along with Enel, the Maxim, and the bell, but landed on a small piece of island cloud where Nami was.

Luffy and Nami jumped back down to Upper Yard, with Luffy using Gomu Gomu no Fusen to cushion their fall. They then came across the priests' storehouse and took the large amounts of food from inside it before arriving at Shandora and reuniting with the rest of their crew. Night fell as the crew ate the priests' food, and then they took part in a large party with the Skypieans and Shandia. The party lasted for several days, and one night when everyone was sleeping, Luffy woke the crew up and told them they should steal the city's treasure and run away. The next morning, Luffy took some of the crew inside the sleeping Nola's stomach, where they took the treasures from the ruins that the snake had eaten. The crew then anxiously waited for Robin to arrive so they could depart without being caught, and when Robin came with several Skypieans behind her, the crew quickly ran away with their stolen treasure, not realizing the citizens had come to give them an even greater amount. The Straw Hats sailed to Cloud End, where they bid farewell to Conis and Pagaya. They were then sent off a ledge and fell straight down, but Conis called a Balloon Octopus which grabbed the Merry and inflated itself, giving the crew a controlled descent to the Blue Sea.

The Three Events
Upon returning from Skypiea to the Blue Sea, Luffy and his crew had no time to rest as they encountered a giant wave created by some Sea Monkeys. After the brief incident, Luffy and his crew rested and assessed the good wealth they obtained from their Sky Island adventure. As Luffy discussed with his crew, they all agreed that they would use the treasure to help fix the travel-worn Going Merry and get a shipwright to help maintain it. After encountering the Sea Monkeys once again and a curious pirate ship with no sails or crew, Luffy and his crew reached the next island in their journey. As Luffy, along with Usopp and Chopper, decided to explore the island, they noticed that the animals and plant life were all very long in appearance.

As Luffy and his two companions explored the island more, they encountered a nomad named Tonjit who had been stuck on his stilts for 10 long years. After getting acquainted with the old man and reuniting him with his horse, Shelly, Luffy and his companions felt that they had done small accomplishment. However, in the midst of their enjoyment, Shelly was suddenly shot. Learning immediately that the shot was fired by the pirate, Foxy, who was nearby, Luffy momentarily get angry at this foe. Before Luffy could fight Foxy however, he was suddenly challenged to an official Davy Back Fight.

From Usopp, Luffy learned that this sudden challenge was a set of three games between pirate crews in which the crew members were at stake. Despite Usopp's warnings however and much to the dismay of the rest of his crew, Luffy accepted the challenge from Foxy and his crew to hold a Davy Back Fight on Long Ring Long Land. What happened next was a festival-like event set up by the Foxy Pirates in lieu of the Davy Back games. After the formalities of the beginning of the games, Luffy and his crew decided who would participate in which game. Taking the final and most climatic game, Combat, Luffy awaited for his turn as he watched the rest of his crew participate in the other games.

The first two games of the Davy Back Fight proved to be both surprising and emotional for Luffy and his crew. In the first game, Donut Race, they witnessed Foxy and his crew's cheating tricks, and Foxy's exploit of his Devil Fruit powers of the Noro Noro no Mi. Due to these, Luffy lost Chopper to Foxy. Fortunately, Luffy was able to win Chopper back as his crew won the second game, Groggy Ring, despite the gigantic odds stacked against them. After watching these two grueling games, Luffy was pumped up for his turn in the final game.



With the third game approaching, Luffy with the help from Usopp, decided to dress appropriately for the match. Donning an afro and boxing outfit, Luffy was ready to face against the sly Foxy aboard his ship, the Sexy Foxy. Throughout the whole match, Luffy was constantly tricked by his smarter opponent as they battled all around the ship. With Foxy's tricks and Devil Fruit powers, it seemed like Luffy would lose. Despite this, Luffy persevered to not lose one of his crew forever. In the climax of the battle, Luffy was able to thwart Foxy by using a mirror shard obtained from the battle to reflect Foxy's powers back to himself. Having slowed Foxy down, Luffy delivered the final blow and won the game.

After a lot of rest, Luffy wakes up being told he indeed did win the fight. Foxy comes to congratulate Luffy on how he fought in the match, giving a handshake gesture, then attempting to throw him overhead, forgetting his arm is rubber. As Luffy won, he gets to choose a crew member from the Foxy Pirates, but instead choose their flag, but as the sail is their flag, Luffy opts to "redesign" the flag, then give it back. Luffy's poorly drawn Jolly Roger is given to them, officially ending the Davy Back Fight. Although obviously grateful, Foxy vows revenge on Luffy for losing the match. The Straw Hats return to Tonjit giving him the Foxy Pirates' old flag as a sign of their defeat. Chopper uses it as a bandage for Shelly, the horse.

Encounter with Admiral Aokiji


Just as Luffy and his crew were done with the dealing with the matter with Foxy and his pirates, they soon came across another one. Sleeping beside Tonjit's house was the Admiral Aokiji. Initially, Aokiji was non-hostile to Luffy and his crew, despite him being a Marine and causing Luffy some fear when he told him that he knew his grandfather. Aokiji even helped Tonjit in finding a way to get back to the rest of the old man's nomad clan with his Hie Hie no Mi. However, when hostilities began between Aokiji and Nico Robin, Luffy and his crew faced off against this new foe. Despite their best efforts, Luffy and those who fought alongside him against Aokiji were utterly defeated. Fortunately however, the admiral simply left a frozen Luffy in defeat, but with a warning to be wary with Nico Robin.

The Captain's Burden
Seven days after the encounter with Aokiji, Luffy had recovered and demonstrated his new frozen pose as his crew sailed to their next destination. They then encountered the giant frog Yokozuna and chased after him, with Luffy wanting to eat him. However, they were forced to turn back after getting caught in the path of the Sea Train, and Luffy watched as Yokozuna unsuccessfully tried to attack it. The crew went to the shift station nearby and met Kokoro and her granddaughter Chimney, and Kokoro told them that their next destination, Water 7, was home to the world's best carpenters. Luffy grew excited, hoping to find a carpenter crewmate there. Kokoro gave them a map and a letter of recommendation, telling them to find a man named Iceburg. As they continued sailing toward Water 7, Luffy talked with his crewmates about what they wanted their carpenter to be like.

Upon reaching the island, the crew was forced to dock at a small peninsula in the back, and they marveled at its architecture. Nami forced Luffy and Usopp to go with her to meet Iceburg. They headed to the city center to exchange their gold for money, and Luffy bought Yagara Bulls to take them there. The trio got 300,000,000 from their gold, and headed for the shipyard. There, they met the carpenter Kaku of the Galley-La Company, who revealed that Iceburg was the mayor of Water 7. To make their meeting with him go faster, Kaku went to check out the Merry himself. The trio then met Iceburg, who to their surprise acted very irresponsibly, although his secretary Kalifa attacked them when they pointed it out. Iceburg then offered to give them a tour of the shipyard.

The Franky Family suddenly swooped in and stole the Straw Hats' money, but Paulie took them out, and Rob Lucci forced Paulie to give the crew their money back. Luffy was awestruck when Iceburg took them inside the shipyard's Dock 1, and unsuccessfully tried to get him to join his crew. Kaku then returned to the shipyard, and he broke the news that the Going Merry was damaged beyond repair and could not sail any farther. Luffy refused to believe that they would need to find a replacement ship, but the workers gave him no option but to reconsider. Luffy and Nami then realized that the contents of their suitcases were empty, and overheard Peepley Lulu reveal that he had seen Usopp (whom he mistook for Kaku) with the Franky Family, causing Luffy to immediately run off to find his crewmate.



While looking for Usopp, Luffy accidentally fell in a canal, where he was found and rescued by Zoro, Sanji, and Chopper. They soon found a heavily beaten Usopp in the clearing between the city and the Franky House, and they headed toward the Franky House to teach the Franky Family a lesson. Upon entering the house, the four of them immediately started attacking and overwhelming the Franky Family, not stopping even when they revealed their boss Franky had gone to spend the stolen money. By the end of the battle, the entire Franky House was destroyed, and as the Straw Hats were thinking about what to do next, Luffy announced that he had decided for the crew to bid farewell to the Going Merry.



The group took Usopp back to the Merry, and after he regained consciousness, Luffy told him about his decision to look for a new ship. Usopp refused to believe what the carpenters had said, but Luffy stood firm in his decision as their argument grew more heated. Usopp then decided to leave the crew, and challenged Luffy to a duel for the Merry. The time of the duel was set for 10 PM, and Luffy laid around until then. Luffy and Usopp then confronted each other on the peninsula at the appointed time, and as Luffy went on the offensive, Usopp managed to stop him by pretending to be injured. This allowed Usopp to barrage Luffy with a variety of long-range attacks, culminating in a massive gas explosion that dealt some injuries to Luffy. Luffy was able to punch Usopp in the face, but Usopp countered his next attack with an Impact Dial, which he redirected at Luffy. However, the recoil of the Dial left Usopp unable to defend against Luffy's next attack, which defeated him. Luffy then bid farewell to Usopp, saying the former Straw Hat could do whatever he wished with the Merry as he tearfully headed back toward his crew.

Encountering CP9
The Straw Hats, minus a missing Robin, left the Going Merry for good and stayed the night at an inn. The next morning, Luffy heard from Nami that Iceburg had been shot, and the two of them took a Yagara Bull to go see him. They were met by a crowd as they reached Dock 1, and Franky then arrived to confront Luffy for attacking his family. Franky breathed fire at Luffy and Nami before jumping into the water and attacking their boat. He then punched Luffy by detaching his arm, revealing that he was a cyborg. Luffy and Franky continued fighting furiously in the dock when they were interrupted by Paulie, Kaku, Lucci, Peepley Lulu, and Tilestone.

Paulie, Lulu, and Lucci attacked and overpowered Luffy, with Paulie revealing that the Straw Hats were the main suspects in the attack on Iceburg, as Robin was one of the two attackers he had seen. Luffy refused to believe that Robin had done this and demanded to speak with Iceburg, but the Galley-La workers stood against him as the townspeople subdued Nami. Luffy attempted to escape from the workers as they pulled out sharp and explosive weapons to attack him, but he was quickly cornered and shot by Tilestone's bazooka. However, Franky then unleashed a massive attack on Dock 1, allowing Luffy to escape with Nami.

Luffy and Nami managed to reach Galley-La Headquarters where Iceburg resided, and Luffy pulled himself in through the window. As he ran through the building, Kalifa called out to him and let him enter Iceburg's room. There, Iceburg demanded that Luffy bring Robin in to speak with him. Luffy replied that he was unable to, and he was forced to escape outside as Iceburg shot at him. Luffy and Nami escaped to the outskirts of town and reunited with Zoro, but they were soon forced to hide from the citizens hunting for them. Chopper then found them and revealed that Robin had told him and Sanji that she had framed them for the attack on Iceburg and would be leaving them forever, shocking them. Zoro deduced that Robin and her new mysterious cohorts would likely try to kill Iceburg that night, and Luffy decided to go back to Galley-La Headquarters to confront her and find out the truth.

As night fell, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Chopper hid in a tree near Headquarters, looking for Robin to make her move. They eventually saw a massive explosion be unleashed in front of the building, and Luffy immediately headed toward the building. He was blown into a crevice in another building, but escaped it and pulled himself toward Headquarters. Luffy partially broke into a room where Paulie was with two masked men, and he recognized the masked men as enemies, telling them to give Robin back. The masked men then attacked and subdued him, binding him and Paulie to the ground before leaving. Luffy eventually managed to squeeze out of his bindings and freed Paulie of his before the two of them raced toward Iceburg's room. After initially breaking into the wrong room, Luffy and Paulie reached Iceburg's room at the same time as Zoro, Nami, and Chopper. There, they found Robin with Lucci, Kaku, Kalifa, and the bartender Blueno, who were undercover assassins from the World Government agency CP9.

Luffy intervened when Lucci started attacking Paulie, but Lucci used his Rokushiki techniques to overwhelm him. Robin then told her former crewmates that she was pursuing a goal that she could not reach with them. Lucci told the Straw Hats, Iceburg, and Paulie that the mansion would soon go up in flames, but he and his comrades remained in the room to prevent them from escaping. Luffy tried to get to Robin, only for the agents to overwhelm him with their Rokushiki techniques. As Robin headed to the window, Luffy tried running toward her again, only to be stopped and tossed aside by Lucci as she departed. With the fire starting, Lucci decided to show Luffy's group the power of his Devil Fruit, the Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Leopard. Lucci unleashed a powered-up Rankyaku attack that caused the building to start collapsing, and Luffy attacked the agent when he confronted Paulie and Iceburg. However, Lucci pierced through Luffy's body with a claw-enhanced Shigan before throwing him out of the building, sending him flying far away.

Luffy flew into a narrow gap between two buildings, where he became stuck. A while later, he heard Nami calling out to him from a nearby building, and Nami revealed to him that Robin had fallen in the World Government's grip in order to save their lives. Intent on saving Robin, Luffy pushed the two buildings apart and pulled himself and Nami away from the outskirts of town right before an enormous wave created by Aqua Laguna swallowed the area. However, the waves eventually reached and swallowed Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and Chopper as well, forcing Paulie to rescue them. After finding out that Sanji had stowed away on the Sea Train taking Robin to Enies Lobby, Luffy asked Paulie for a ship to use to go after them. Due to the Aqua Laguna, Paulie refused to do that until the next morning, causing Luffy to decide to take a ship by force. However, Kokoro then interjected and told Luffy that she could take him to another, secret, Sea Train.



Kokoro took the Straw Hats into an abandoned warehouse, where she showed them the runaway prototype train Rocket Man. Iceburg was already there and revealed that he had already got the train's systems running, and as the crew prepared to depart, the Franky Family came in and pleaded to come aboard so they could save Franky. Luffy agreed to this, and the train set off. The Straw Hats soon discovered that Paulie and the Galley-La workers had stowed away on Rocket Man, and Luffy formed an official pact with Galley-La and the Franky Family to defeat their enemies and rescue Robin and Franky together. Rocket Man headed toward a massive, deadly tidal wave, and after the Galley-La workers and Franky Family could not put a dent in it, Luffy and Zoro unleashed a combined attack to create a whole the Rocket Man could roll through.

Having gotten past Aqua Laguna, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami equipped themselves for the battle ahead. They came to some of the Puffing Tom's detached cars, and Luffy jumped into them to see if Sanji was there. He was immediately confronted and shot by several World Government agents, and as Rocket Man approached, Luffy told Zoro to bisect the cars. Soon afterwards, the Rocket Man crew approached the Marine Captain T Bone, who was running toward the rest of the Puffing Tom. Luffy told his allies to leave this to Zoro as well, and Zoro quickly dispatched T Bone. Later, Luffy's group found Yokozuna standing in front of the oncoming train, and Luffy told the giant frog to get out of the way. Yokozuna hit Rocket Man off the rails, but after Luffy pulled him onboard, Kokoro managed to get the giant frog to join the fight as she got the train back on the tracks. Soon afterwards, the Rocket Man crew had Enies Lobby in their sights.

Arrival and Takedown
As they were approaching Enies Lobby, Luffy (before hearing any plans the others can come up with) rushes on ahead straight into Enies Lobby, climbing through with his Gomu Gomu abilities, and begins a rampage across the island, taking out any Marines and Government agents in his path. Indeed, in the 10 minute head start Luffy gave himself, he was able to defeat up to 500 World Government and Marine personnel before reaching the Courthouse of Justice, causing a crisis on the island all by himself, even without his crew, let alone the alliance forged by them. Luffy was soon confronted by Blueno of CP9 on the Courthouse of Justice, who explained that Luffy's presence on the island has already caused an incident on a global scale, and that the invasion meant he has offended the World Government itself, and the retribution will likely be severe. Blueno continues that their last encounter demonstrated that he was no match for a user of Rokushiki (himself and the rest of CP9).



However, Luffy rebuffs this statement saying that this time will be different. It seemed from his initial attack that Luffy wasn't just bluffing: Unlike the battle on Water 7 however, Luffy is a completely different fighter. He is able to keep up and avoid most of Blueno's Rankyaku attacks and even manage to break through his Tekkai defense. Luffy states he does not care about the World Government, and simply wants Robin back. After a pause during the battle Luffy reveals he is thankful for meeting the CP9 as he now learnt a few new techniques to keep his crew safe. He then reveals the new technique, which he calls Gear Second, an ability which is noted by the steam coming off Luffy's body, and radically increases his power and his speed. This shows when not only is Luffy fast enough to keep up even with Blueno's Soru, but is more than strong enough to easily break through his Tekkai. Blueno is eventually overwhelmed by Luffy's new power, leaving Luffy free to call out to Robin. These turn of events force the other CP9 members to come out and confront him. The Straw Hat captain is soon joined by his fellow crew and the group prepare to face off against the rest of CP9.



It is here the dramatic confrontation takes place and they learn of Robin's true situation. Luffy demands that he hear that Robin wishes to live from her own mouth. She declares that she does indeed want to live; and with those words set the following events in motion. After declaring war on the World Government by means of Luffy issuing the order for Sogeking (Usopp) to set fire to the World Governments flag, Luffy grabbed his crew and jumped together into the waiting Rocketman train below; Franky fell down, pushed by Spandam and fell together with the Straw Hats.

Each of them started to search for the key to Robin's Seastone handcuffs which is in the possession of one of the CP9. After defeating the other members of CP9 and successfully releasing Robin, Luffy was the only one remaining to have yet defeated his opponent, Rob Lucci. Luffy begins his fight with Lucci and seemed to be on equal terms with him, but was still no match for his great strength and his Rokushiki techniques. Later, Franky shows up and helps Luffy fight Lucci, but Luffy urges Franky to forget about him and save Robin. When Franky was about to leave, he gets cornered by Lucci, but Luffy goes into Gear Second and strikes Lucci with a Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol. Lucci then goes into his leopard form and fights Luffy. Luffy, thanks to his Gear Second techniques, is finally able to catch up with Lucci's inhuman speed and strength and even the odds against him. But, due to being tired, Luffy gets out of Gear Second and he starts to struggle in his fight with Lucci.



After being hit by Lucci's Tobu Shigan: Hibachi, Luffy stands up once more and enters in Gear Third. He does an extremely powerful blow to Lucci using Gomu Gomu no Gigant Pistol. Lucci falls into a Marine battleship and Luffy goes him using Gomu Gomu no Rocket. He sees Lucci and uses Gomu Gomu no Gigant Axe. He misses and he instead crushes the ship below him. Lucci lands on the mast and Luffy uses Gomu Gomu no Gigant Whip to hit him. He misses and Lucci then goes into his second leopard form and bites Luffy on the shoulder, but Luffy forces him to get away from him by using Bone Balloon. Lucci hits him with a Tobu Shigan and surprises Luffy by going behind him. He now understands that Luffy's speed has decreased tremendously. Lucci strikes Luffy on the ground and uses Rankyaku: Gaicho to kill Luffy, but Luffy barely dodges and goes in his chibi form due to the side effects of Gear Third. Lucci was about to finish off Luffy, but due to the considerable damage given to him by Luffy's Gigant Pistol, he couldn't do so, allowing Luffy to revert back to his normal form. Luffy, ready to resume his long battle with Lucci, enters Gear Second.



Luffy and Lucci's battle continues, with Luffy having the advantage over Rob Lucci using the techniques, Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol, Jet Bullet, and Twin Jet Pistol, and his brute strength. Lucci, now taking Luffy seriously, uses Rokushiki's secret technique, called Rokushiki Ogi: Rokuogan. Luffy is hit hard by the power of its attack, but he still mangages to stand up. Luffy's speed soon starts to decrease and Lucci lands another Rokuogan on Luffy. Luffy falls to the ground, still in Gear Second and conscious, but defeated. Later, Usopp shows up and tells Luffy that he needs to get back on his feet. He also tells him that Enies Lobby isn't hell. Luffy, still in pain by the Rokuogan, stands on his feet and tells Lucci that until he defeats him, he won't drop to the ground ever again. Luffy engages Lucci once again. After he lands a Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol on him, Luffy is struck by Lucci's Sai Dai Rin: Rokuogan.



Luffy, about to fall to the ground, gets back up after he remembers what he said eariler. After thinking about all of the things he and his crew went through, Luffy lands a devastating Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling on Lucci and finally defeats him. Now, their main problem was how to escape the now destroyed island surrounded by battleships. This was solved when the Going Merry appears in the sea below them without a navigator. Luffy was too weak to move after the fight, but Robin drops him into the ship with her powers.

The New Ship and the New Shipwright


With the Going Merry, everyone managed to escape Enies Lobby safely. However, after escaping, Iceburg arrived in a Galley-La Company ship just in time to pick up the Straw Hat Pirates as the Merry suddenly broke apart. Luffy then gave the Going Merry a Viking funeral by burning it as the crew tearfully said their goodbyes. While the ship was burning, the Merry appeared to speak to everyone present, apologizing for not being able to take them to the end of the world, but it was happy.

As everyone relaxed at Water 7, Franky decided to build a ship for the crew out of the special wood called Adam Wood. However, at that point, Marines led by Vice Admiral Garp broke into Iceburg's mansion where everyone was staying, and punched the still-asleep Luffy to wake him up. To everyone's shock, Luffy revealed that Garp is really his grandfather, and revealed the training Garp put him through as a child. Garp soon told Luffy about the Four Emperors and how Shanks was one of them. Soon after, Garp asked Luffy about his meeting with his father as Luffy was surprised to learn he had a father and he encountered him in Loguetown. Garp casually revealed the name of Luffy's father, known as Dragon the Revolutionary, who is considered by the World Government to be the worst criminal in the world. Luffy did not know of Dragon as he is met with surprise from his crew and friends before he turned to Robin, who informed him why his father was infamous. Afterwards, Garp said that it was supposed to be a secret.



Sometime after, Sanji revealed to the Straw Hats that Usopp was planning to rejoin the crew. While Luffy, Nami, and Chopper wanted him to rejoin and planned to invite him back, Zoro insisted that Luffy should be a firm captain on his position, and Usopp shouldn't return so easily as he should return on their terms, not his. Zoro even threatened to leave the crew if Usopp was allowed to rejoin without asking for forgiveness for his behavior. Luffy understood the message and agreed with Zoro's view of the situation.

A few days later, Chimney, Gonbe, Mozu and Kiwi burst in on the Straw Hats to tell them their new ship was complete. Shortly after, Zambai and the rest of the Franky Family also appeared, revealing to the Straw Hats their new Bounties. They then revealed that their boss also received a bounty, which led them to the Straw Hats who they begged to let him join their crew. After the Straw Hats, they excitedly left to Scrap Island, where their new ship was moored. There Iceburg unveiled their new caravel, much to the pirates' delight. After briefly exploring the ship, Luffy asked Iceburg where Franky was. Having discerned that the young captain wished to recruit Franky as their Shipwright, Iceburg advised Luffy that if he really wanted Franky, he would need to use force.

With the help from the rest of the Franky Family, Luffy got a hold of Franky's underwear as a bargaining chip to get him to join his crew. Franky simply posed naked, unabashed, and said, "I'm still a man, naked." Meanwhile, Sanji came running with Zoro to tell everyone that Vice Admiral Garp had sailed on the opposite shore into attack position. Luffy then threw Franky's swim briefs back and told him to sail with them. Franky then stated that he did want to see his dream ship reach the end of the world and become the greatest ship ever built. Franky agreed to join after this.

Shortly after, Garp appeared and started attacking the Straw Hats and their new ship. At that moment, Usopp tried to rejoin the crew, but because of Zoro's speech, he was ignored until he apologized. During the struggle between Garp and the Straw Hats, Usopp finally apologized and admitted that he wanted to rejoin. With that note, Luffy tearfully accepted him back into the crew. With Usopp and Robin's return, Franky wished to grant the ship it's new name, and while most of the Straw Hats gave some suggestions, with Luffy giving some of the most ridiculous ones, they in the end went with Iceburg's suggestion, the Thousand Sunny. After escaping Garp's onslaught of iron balls using their new ships emergency escape feature, the Çoup de Burst', the newly formed Straw Hat crew sailed off to find their next adventure.