East Blue - Arlong park.
After calling back all his subordinates, Austin stood beside Erya, and opposite him stood Brain, Zero, and Sebas.
The three men were looking at the new addition standing beside their master. They could easily tell that this blonde-haired man was probably their new 'brother' since they could feel a familiar feeling of kinship with him.
Their speculations were proven right after their lord introduced the man.
" This is your new brother, Erya Uzruth! He is now a part of the family!" Austin introduced Erya to the rest.
" Brain Unglaus, the right hand of our lord!" Brain, as always, was the first to jump as he raised his head proudly while extending his hand, adding, " Welcome to the family!"
" Zero, the left hand of our lord!" Zero quickly said while cursing his timing again as he was late again. He extended his hand, stating, " Welcome to the family, brother!"
" I'm Sebas. Welcome to the family, mister Erya!" Sebas said gently and extended his hand as well, smiling as he remembered his first time meeting his brothers and lord.
Erya kept his face serious as he shook everyone's hands, starting with Brain and, lastly, Sebas.
" Thank you for your welcome. It's a pleasure to meet you, my brothers!" Erya added with a firm voice," I hope we can work together to bring our lord to the top, where he belongs."
" Well said!" Brain nodded in approval at his new brother's remark. The blue-haired swordsman could clearly feel that he would easily get along with this new brother of his, unlike that bald dumb muscle head Zero.
" Indeed, that is our goal, after all!" Zero smiled widely, puffing his chest and raising his head proudly.
" I wouldn't expect nothing less from a brother created by our glorious lord." Sebas smiled gently in response to his new brother's enthusiasm.
On the side, Austin was surprised and satisfied by their exchange, prompting him to nod in approval.
" Now, since everyone is here!" Austin smiled and added, " It's time to start my new plan!"
" Should I bring that Lieutenant Commander Rayan, my lord ?" Brain smiled slightly.
This question surprised Austin, as he felt that Brain had probably guessed part of his plan. He smiled, answering, " Yes, bring him over!"
Brain left quickly to bring the still unconscious Navy officer, Rayan. It didn't take him long to return with Rayan on his shoulder.
Austin briefly examined the unconscious Lieutenant Commander before killing him with his favorite killing move, 'Wind Bullets'. The wind bullet pierced Rayan's head and killed him on the spot.
Austin glanced at Rayan's corpse ( Lvl 4 ) with an excited look, thinking. - ' It's time for my fifth loyal Subordinate and first Spy to be born!'
After buying a Crystal Soul Grade 1 from the Shop for 10 Shopping points, he started the creation of his first Spy and activated the creation Part of his Skill, 'All For One'.
" Arise!" Austin commanded.
Shortly after, a black shadow materialized under his feet and covered Rayan's body. The shadow kept wriggling around for a minute before a human being with no gender or facial expression appeared.
Immediately afterward, Austin received a notification informing him of his success!
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Congratulations to the Host for creating a new Subordinate.
The results of the Operation are as follows.
Name: Unnamed
Race: Human
Level: 2
Strength: 20
Agility: 20
Stamina: 20
Charisma: 10
The Host is advised to give it a fitting name and appearance!
Warning! The moment the Name and appearance are chosen, they can not be changed again!
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Austin was delighted with the outcome. He didn't think long about an appearance or a Name because it was already decided.
" From now on, You will retain the same Name and Appearance as the original body!" Austin declared with a deep voice.
Reacting to his master's command, the human being started changing his build and appearance until it looked exactly like Lieutenant Commander Rayan again.
The being, or Rayan now, kneeled on his knee in front of Austin while looking at the ground and declared with a firm voice.
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" Rayan, greet my Lord and Creator !"
Austin was very excited to see the first part of his plan work and nodded his head in acknowledgment.
He then looked at his interface, and surprisingly, this time, the system didn't deduce any Shopping points for the clothes Rayan wore.
Apparently, if the newly created subordinates kept the same clothes they wore before, the system would not charge anything. Because, in this case, there weren't any new items or clothes generated during the creation process.
Austin examined the rest of the bodies still on the ground. There were only 6 corpses left, 4 corpses of fishmen ( Lvl 1 ), Lieutenant Commander Roko's body ( Lvl 4), and Lieutenant Commander Peter's body ( Lvl 4).
After ordering Rayan to prepare for the upcoming mergings, Austin began strengthening his new subordinate.
He first merged Rayan ( Lvl 2 ) with Lieutenant Commander Roko's body ( Lvl 4), which resulted in Rayan gaining two levels as he became level 4.
He then repeated the same process again by merging Rayan ( Lvl 4) with the other officer, Lieutenant Commander Peter's body ( Lvl 4). As a result, Rayan leveled up twice and became Level 6.
Lastly, Austin merged the 4 last corpses of fishmen ( Lvl 1), creating a strong Body LVL 2, and merged that body afterward with Rayan ( Lvl 6).
After finishing all the merging operations, Austin used 'Detect' on Rayan to check his final stats and level!
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Name: Rayan
Race: Human
Level: 7
Strength: 80
Agility: 80
Stamina: 70
Charisma: 10
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Austin was pleased by the sight of his first Spy getting stronger. And since Rayan was only Level 7, he couldn't share with him 'Rokushiki' ( The Six powers ), so instead, he transferred to him the 'Melee Combat' Skill and the 'Sword Art' Skill.
Rayan didn't take long to regain his cool since Austin only shared two Skills with him. So after doing so, he kneeled before Austin and expressed his thanks.
" Thank you, My lord. I, Rayan, pledge my sincere and utmost loyalty to you till the end of my life! " Rayan said as he lowed his head in reverence toward his lord and master.
" Good!" Austin examined this special subordinate of his for a while before asking. " Did you receive the memories and knowledge of the original body ?!"
" Barly half of them, my lord!" It took Rayan a while to answer since he was going through his memories.
" Hmm, so only half, huh?" Austin murmured to himself, " Well, It can't be helped!"
" Do you have any Visual Den Den Mushi? The Cameko's one?" Austin asked.
" Hmm." Rayan thought for a moment, " I think we do have one on the ship, my lord."
" Brain, where did you dock that ship again ?" Austin asked Brain.
" It's at quite a distance from here, my lord! It will take him 5 to 10 minutes to arrive there since he can't use 'Soru'. " Brain replied apologetically.
" I see!" Austin shook his head and opened his Inventory. After searching randomly between the stuff he found in Arlong park, luckily, he discovered many Cameko Den Den Mushis, which was basically like a camera, able to take pictures.
Austin took out one of the Cameko Den Den Mushi and gave it to Rayan, stating. " Now, take some pictures of us."
" My lord, are the pictures for the wanted posters ?!" Zero asked, grinning, clearly excited by what was coming next.
" Indeed, sooner or later, we are bound to have ones," Austin paused as he smiled " So, we may as well choose our pictures ourselves!"
" My lord ... isn't it a little earlier for us to be known?!" Sebas asked curiously.
" No, it's time. We are already the strongest on East Blue!" Austin looked at the sky for a moment and continued, " ... And I don't think the Navy HQ will send someone very powerful to hunt us down right now ... After all, we are still some small fries in their eyes!"
" My lord is right! We should make our existence known!" Zero added excitedly.
" Humph! You just want to get a wanted poster!" Brain scoffed at Zero's behavior.
" My lord, should I start ?!" Rayan asked while holding the Cameko Den Den Mushi.
" Yeah, start with me first! " Austin said and started thinking for a moment about his pose.
Nodding his head, he signaled to Rayan to take the picture, which the latter quickly took.
The picture showcased the upper half of Austin, with his handsome yet expressionless face, his muscular chest, and his broad shoulders with the long black coat on his back.
Austin examined the picture and was happy with the result.
Next, Brain, Zero, and Sebas took their turn in taking pictures. But when it was Erya's turn, Austin interjected.
" Erya, there is no need for you to take a picture this time," Austin smiled, explaining, " We don't want to give the Navy all our information at once. So just in case, I want your face to be unknown for now."
" Indeed! They may know that we are 5 now, but without clear pictures, they wouldn't know what we look like exactly." Brain added in support.
" Yes, my lord!" Erya nodded as he accepted the command.
" There will be a lot of chances in the future for you!" Austin said, comforting Erya.
Alas, the blonde samurai didn't need comfort because, to him, his master's words were above all.
" Now, it's time for you to leave!" Austin glanced at Rayan, adding, " Report back what happened here, and of course, cover up some facts."
" Like what, my lord?" Rayan inquired.
" Don't report our true strength or my Devil fruit!" Austin stated.
" What should I state in the report about how you took down Arlong pirates, my lord?!" Rayan asked.
" I don't need to tell you everything, just came up with a believable story," Austin added with a playful smile " Take this as your first test, Lieutenant Commander Rayan!"
" I will not disappoint you, my lord!" Rayan said as he straightened his poster.
" Good! This is my personal number ..." Austin gave Rayan his personal number." Contact me only when there is something important, and make sure no one is spying on you before you call."
Rayan nodded in response with a serious face.
" One last thing, your task afterward will be simple," Austin added, " Try to rise in ranks and do your job normally as any Navy officer."
" Yes, my lord!" Rayan replied.
" Now, after you submit those pictures and report back what happened here, the Navy will likely issue bounties on our heads," Austin said, " So, try to contact me a day before the bounties become public."
"Until then, we will stay on this island and wait for your call" Austin smiled warmly at his subordinate, saying, "That's it! I wish you good luck, Rayan."
" Take of yourself, Lieutenant Commander Rayan!" Brain smiled and said playfully.
Zero and Sebas followed suit and expressed their goodbyes to Rayan, wishing him luck in his upcoming task.
Rayan then left afterward toward the Navy ship docked far away, leaving his brothers and lord behind at Arlong Park.
Watching Rayan's silhouette disappear on the horizon, Austin couldn't help but smile slightly and thanked Arlong for his inspiration.
What he did here was just a test because if that Spy didn't get caught and things went well, then he would start his true plans, a bigger and more ambitious plan!
" Erya, the people here haven't seen you yet, so leave quickly to Gosa village's shore and wait for us there. We will be coming there soon." Austin ordered Erya.
" Yes, my lord!" Erya responded with a bow before using 'Soru' and left toward Gosa village, which was located west of Arlong's Park.
After that, Austin and his group toured the entire Park's building, storing everything they deemed valuable or useful.
After 10 minutes of salvaging Arlong's previous properties, the group then left the building.
" Carry those heads, and let's leave this place!" Austin said, pointing at Arlong, Kuroobi, and Chew's heads in the yard.
Austin then exited the Park, followed by his three loyal subordinates, each carrying a Fishman's officer head in their hands.
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