"Are we there yet?"
Luffy lay his head on the railing of Merry and asked.
"Not yet!"
Nami replied. She was standing next to the steering wheel of Merry, and the steering wheel was controlled by Jinbei.
But they were getting closer. After all, they had already entered the East Blue. It took them less than four hours.
After a while, Usopp shouted.
"Luffy, I've spotted our fleet."
"What? Where?"
Luffy excitedly moved his head around, but he didn't see anyone. But then, he began using his Observation Haki and finally spotted a ship full of people.
Unsurprisingly, he didn't sense Liam's presence and immediately became deflated like a balloon.
"What happened?" Nami asked curiously.
"I can't sense Liam on that ship." Luffy spoke with a distressed tone.
"Idiot Captain, he is not the same Liam we know. Our Observation Haki can indeed sense his presence, but our aura changes with time."
Sanji puffed out some smoke and explained it to Luffy.
His explanation immediately brought some life into Luffy as he excitedly held the railing.
But as they got closer, their expression turned weird.
Because the ship looked quite interesting. When they saw the front of the ship, the Straw Hats immediately shifted their attention towards Luffy.
"What?" Luffy innocently asked.
"Nothing!" All of them replied at the same time.
"Looks like we got some crazy fans." Robin chuckled.
"Yeah! Who would be stupid enough to use us as the model for the ship?" Sanji nodded.
"This is crazy. Is that their ship or ours?" Nami speechlessly questioned.
"Yohoho! This is amazing. I can't wait to enter that ship." Brook laughed.
"Dad, look, that ship looks so cool." Bonney excitedly pointed her finger towards the ship and shouted.
"Is that me?" Chopper shouted in shock.
"Yeah! It looks quite amazing." Bepo nodded his head. But he instantly got depressed and said.
"Captain, we don't have one."
"Bepo, I am no longer the captain. And, it is best if we don't have a crazy fan." Law's lips twitched as he replied.
To be honest, he was kinda jealous of Straw Hat.
Not only does he have an amazing Vice Captain like Liam, he also has a swordsman like Zoro, a cook like Sanji, a Navigator like Nami, an Archeologist like Robin, and a shipwright like Franky.
Luffy had recruited people with the best abilities in their field. And, most importantly, all of them were stronger than the fighters of his previous crew.
He didn't resent that he was 'forced' to join the Straw Hats.
After all, this crew was perfectly stacked to become Pirate King's Crew. But that didn't mean he couldn't feel resentment towards his cursed luck.
Soon, their ship sailed closer to Luffy's ship.
Yeah! They decided to call it Luffy's ship since it was pretty much him as a figurehead.
When they landed on the ship, they met people with glowing eyes.
"Wow! Laser Eyes!" Luffy opened his mouth in shock.
"What? Are those Laser Eyes?" Chopper instantly believed in him, and his expression was similar.
Bepo instantly believed in Chopper, but he questioningly asked.
"Why are you so excited about laser eyes?"
"Because I am a man." Chopper proudly replied.
Suddenly, Bepo burst into tears.
"Captain, I am not a man."
Law's expression darkened, but before he could do anything, Nami slammed her fist on Luffy's head and shouted.
"That's just the special effects."
"Ara! Looks like we got fiercely crazy fans. So, who is Druk?" Robin moved her eyes around and asked.
"Me! Me! I am Druk."
A short guy with black hair and a red t-shirt shouted with some excitement.
"Take us to meet him!" Robin replied.
"Yes, Miss Robin!" Druk nodded his head and immediately took them inside the cabin.
When they got there, they found a man tied up on a chair. His eyes were half closed, but it didn't look like he was tortured.
He wore a necklace with a cube attached to it.
Druk immediately found several eyes staring at him for an explanation. He freaked out and shouted.
"Wwwweee couldn't watch him all the time. And he wanted to escape the entire time. So, we had no choice but to tie him."
Sanji nodded his head and said.
"Well, we understand. You can wait outside."
"Yes, Master Sanji!" Druk sighed a breath of relief and hurriedly left the cabin.
"He is not Liam."
Luffy spoke with darkness in his eyes. He clenched his fist in anger but didn't explode it.
"Idiot Captain, we already knew that. Now, we need to figure out his situation."
Sanji rolled his eyes and walked towards a skinny guy with green hair and asked.
"Hey, you said you only remember Alvida's attack, right? Can you recognize these two?"
The so-called Liam raised his head and stared at Nami and Luffy. He didn't show any reaction towards Luffy, but he immediately recognized Nami.
"Aren't you the one who danced with me on that ship?"
But just as he said that, he suddenly placed his hand on his head and screamed.
"Ahhhhh!"
"What happened?" Chopper was about to leave when Law stopped him and explained.
"He is remembering something painful. This is probably caused by something that happened to him afterward."
"Let him recover! Only then will we know more about his situation."
Chopper nodded his head.
The scream didn't last long. The man hissed for a while, though.
Finally, as he recovered, he had a pale expression as if he were dead.
"I remember something. I was shot in the chest. I felt like I was dying."
Luffy and others immediately narrowed their eyes at this revelation. The fact that he was shot meant he was going to die.
They didn't think he had the power to live after being shot by a bullet.
Law used his room and scanned him.
But he shook his head and said.
"No, there is no bullet wound or anything. His body feels normal."
At this moment, Zoro interjected.
"Then, is he lying?"
"No, he isn't. That memory was true, but somehow his body had been healed to its previous state before he was shot."
'Touch me!'
At this moment, Luffy heard a weird voice, but he ignored it.
Instead, he curiously stared at Liam and asked Nami.
"Didn't you say you were there? Did you see him getting shot?"
Nami rolled her eyes and said.
"I went there to steal Alvida's treasures. How can I have time to look at him? I just ditched him after the pirate attack and went after Alvida's ship."
Robin placed her palm on her cheek and thought for a moment.
"From what we know, Liam comes from a higher dimension than us. But his body didn't come here; instead, it was his soul that got attached to his body."
"Although we are not sure how, this incident also healed his injuries. From what you told me, Liam did show incredible recovery."
"But he never relied on a Mythical or any kind of Zoan Fruit to achieve such recovery. This means everything special about him comes from Liam's soul."
'Touch me!'
Luffy heard the voice again and gently placed his hand on Robin's shoulder as she explained.
Feeling his touch, Robin turned towards him and asked.
"What's wrong, Luffy? Did you not understand anything?"
Zoro and Nami rolled their eyes while Sanji cried with envy.
Looking at the gentle expression of Robin, they knew she was gonna explain this simple thing in detail just for Luffy.
But Luffy looked at her with confusion and asked.
"No, I understand what you said. Didn't you just ask me to touch you?"
Robin's smile disappeared as she replied.
"No, I didn't."
Luffy removed his hand and touched his chin. He looked at his other side, where Usopp was standing, and asked.
"Did you ask me to touch you?"
"No, I didn't." Usopp looked at him with some confusion.
"What's wrong, Luffy? Did you hear something?" Robin asked.
Luffy nodded his head.
"I have been hearing these words 'Touch me' 'Touch me' for a while. I thought one of you was saying it."
"No, we didn't."
Everyone simultaneously shook their heads.
"Luffy, this is your hallucination. There must be something here calling you."
At this moment, Luffy suddenly remembered something.
A long time ago, Liam told him something about something called Voice….
'Luffy, you have an incredible ability to understand animals' speech or thoughts. But this is just a beginning.'
'Soon, you will be able to hear sound or meaning from poneglyphs and others. Although you might not understand it.'
'But of course, if you train harder, you will be able to talk to those stones much quicker.'
'What? Really? I can talk to a stone?'
'Yes, so why don't you train three more hours?'
Luffy shuddered for a moment as he remembered that training, but it also helped him remember the crucial information.
He closed his eyes for a moment as he released his Observation Haki. Soon, he found where the voice was coming from, and he stretched out his hand.
He held the necklace that Liam was wearing, and suddenly, his Conqueror Haki burst out.