Journey to One Piece

72. Worship

The nearby shops closed very quickly. They were afraid that a fight would break out and it would lead them to be in harm's way. Soon the street was deserted with almost nobody on it. Those who remained were now hiding behind half closed doors and windows.

They didn't want anything to do with this weird axe wielding guy but on the other hand they were curious. They were hopeful that this new person would change things here. And there were very few who had already recognized him from the posters and had run as fast as they could.

Ken waited for at least 20 minutes before he saw some movement on the far end of the street. There was a group of people approaching and a person who had punk styled green hair was leading them.

Bartolomeo was here with his full gang.

But from the way he walked, it didn't seem like he was here to fight. His way of walking seemed like someone who was in fear and even the ones who had run to Bartolomeo to complain about Ken, had their knees shaking in fear as they were forced to walk and follow Bartolomeo.

Bartolomeo came and stood face to face against Ken. He looked scared and after gulping down his saliva, he went down on his knees and bowed his head.

"I am sorry Punisher Kenny. They had been disrespectful to you. They didn't recognize you. I hope you can forgive them."

Ken was a little surprised that Bartolomeo recognized him and even asked for forgiveness.

"How do you recognize me?"

"There is a poster of you on our place and these idiot friends of mine didn't recognize you before. I am sorry for that, the heroes of East Blue would be insulted by my friends."

"I am not a hero. Stop idolising people."

Bartolomeo looked embarrassed when Ken said this. Ken and Luffy were now celebrities of East Blue. There had never been anyone with such bounty in their seas. It was even rumoured that even in other seas there hasn't been any pirate that had such high bounties before going to the Grand Line.

And many already had a sense of worship for these two. And Bartolomeo was one of those who had joined the 'cult'. Ken had a little headache seeing this. Bartolomeo had already been transformed into half of a fan even before Buggy could swing his sword on the neck of Luffy.

Buggy and Alvida weren't here as Ken could already sense from his Haki but some things remained the same. Ken sighed seeing the everyone was still bowing down and said

"You all get up. I didn't call you here to teach you a lesson." Ken shouted.

"Thank you Ken-dono."

"Long Live Ken-senpai.."

"Long live Ken-senpai."

"Stop with shouting already." Ken screamed on top of his lungs again. This finally put a stop on the cheers.

"How is your grandmother?"

Ken asked. Bartolomeo looked at Ken for a second and the broke down in tears. Forget about Bartolomeo, even his friends and subordinates broke down in tears. Seeing this Ken got a little scared. He thought his grandmother had died.

"I am sorry.." Ken said.

"Why are you sorry Ken-senpai? We are so happy that you care for us so much and even asked about my grandmother. I am sure that my grandmother would be so happy when she hears this."

Ken understood that Bartolomeo had broken down in tears of happiness. He really felt like beating this guy now. He really was a pain in the ass. Much bigger than Luffy.

"Stop crying." Ken said. With this command everyone had stopped but Ken could see the happy smiles on the faces of these people.

"Since I am here you should stop terrorizing the people here." Ken recalled the main problem that Bartolomeo had been called for. He needed to calm these people down by diverting the topic.

"Ken-senpai. Uhh.. I can stop it.. But we don't know how to feed ourselves." Bartolomeo said. Ken understood what Bartomeo meant. He didn't have any qualities other than hooliganism that could help him survive and this came with a baggage of his subordinates who were like him. Ken thought for a second. He came from modern society. Surely there was something with which he could help these people.

"Start a parcel service and transportation."

"What is that?"

"Start the service which would allow people to send any kinds of things across the seas. It will be like a letter service. But instead of sending letters, you would be sending things. This will be a tough job but I believe you have the strength."

"Parcel service.. I will ask my grandmother for advice."

"Good. She will support you I think."

Ken remembered that Buggy had started that service after he became a Warlord and made it a huge empire. He had made such an influential empire that even Crocodile and Hawkeye had allowed him to join their cross guild. Influence was also important when there were too many people.

One of the main reasons Ken had decided to join Luffy was because of his connections, his future potential and his journey. Buggy did the same thing with the Cross Guild Organization. He joined for his influence and connections.

The people who had been hiding around were disappointed a bit, but they got to know a crucial piece of information. This person was the infamous Punisher Kenny, one of the new and the most notorious pirates of East Blue. People realizing this had more fear now as the 'cruel' pirate was here. Many had already made a 'run for their life' realizing this while some had gone to the Navy branch to alert the Captain there.

Ken had 'seen' this but he didn't mind. He was looking forward to meeting Smoker anyways. Bartolomeo asked if Luffy was here and Ken nodded.

"Yosh!! We are going to meet the Captain of Straw-Hats pirates too." Bartolomeo said as he ran along with his friends after knowing where Luffy could be. Ken just shook his head. Bartolomeo might not be as fanatic as his future version in Dressrosa was but it seemed like it was already on the way.