Second Wind

23

"Alright Strawhats, gather around!" Luffy yelled as his crewmates yawned and made their way out onto the deck. "Nami tells me we're a few hours away from Alabasta," Luffy began. "So I'd like to know how all of you are progressing. The haki training is going about as well as I hoped, what with having a new learner and all." Chopper had readily begun the haki training when he was told of it, all too eager to join the rest of the crew in their endeavors, however unconventional they were. "But none of you have had any real breakthroughs yet, and you won't be able to rely on that in the upcoming fight. Luckily we accounted for this ahead of time and we've been playing to each of your strengths as well." He turned to Nami. "How's the weapon that you and Usopp were working on coming?" he asked.

"It's done," she answered. "We finished it last night." Usopp nodded in confirmation.

"Alright, good. Make sure you learn how to use it though. You don't want any surprises if you end up fighting someone who's a threat." Nami seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding. Luffy turned to Usopp next. "And how's the expansion going?" he asked the sniper.

Usopp grinned widely. "Oh it's going!" he said proudly. "I've once again increased the intensity and area of effect of my explosive star. I also consulted Chopper, and he gave me a variety of poisons that I've worked into my arsenal. They won't see it coming!" Chopper had been reluctant to use his medical knowledge for something like that, but had agreed when he was told it was to help save Vivi's country, on the condition that Usopp keep a variety of antidotes as well. Luffy seemed satisfied with his answer and addressed Sanji and Chopper next.

"And how's your training coming along?" he asked the chef. Sanji shrugged.

"About as well as it can be," he said. Luffy knew Sanji hadn't trained much during the previous timeline, with the exception of the two years that they had been apart. He had always seemed to keep up anyway though, despite being more laid back about it. This time, Luffy wanted to see how strong the chef could get if he devoted more time to increasing his strength, so he had instructed him to start joining Zoro in his individual training on top of the haki exercises. Zoro reported that his kicks were starting to gain more power and that he was definitely getting faster. This had been good news to Luffy, but he'd been especially proud when Chopper had noticed them both during their training sessions and eagerly asked if he could join.

Even disregarding Luffy and Zoro's strength, which, with the exception of Zoro's duel with Mihawk, hadn't been pushed to the limits since they had arrived in the past, the crew was starting to become significantly stronger than it had been at this time in Luffy's previous life. Luffy and Zoro had discussed it and agreed that they would have to keep it up. They would be ready for anything when the waves got rough.

Even Vivi had been working on refining the skills she'd been force to acquire while infiltrating Baroque Works. Once Chopper had confirmed that she was fully recovered, Nami had guiltily shown her the newspaper that she had been hiding. Upon reading that thousands of royal army soldiers had joined the efforts of the rebel army, she had been distraught. She was increasingly nervous on the route to Alabasta, and the Strawhats could do little to comfort her other than come up with a plan.

"Alright, then we should talk about what we're going to do when we reach Alabasta," Zoro said. "Luffy and I have talked about it with Vivi and we all agreed on the course of action. Our first priority is to get in contact with the rebel army. Vivi knows their leader, and she'll be able to convince him not to engage in the civil war once he learns who is really behind it all. Still, we don't want to put all our hopes into that plan. Crocodile currently has Alabasta in a vice grip, and there's a good chance that he'd find a way to start the war regardless. If that happens, we move onto plan B."