Just under three years later
Tomorrow is the day, the day of my seventeenth birthday, and the day we leave Dawn Island. So much has changed yet again. Ace is gone. He left under the cover of night a month before he was supposed to, over a year ago. We haven’t heard word from him since, not one letter, the jackass. Gramps has visited only one time since the first time I succeeded in beating him, luckily it was two weeks before Ace left, so he at least could say goodbye. He came bearing plenty of gifts, one of which Makino convinced me to at least look over. Good thing she did before I trashed the relic of ship. It seems that my grandpa can still be sneaky in his old age. For underneath the barnacles and the dirt, and the trash, was the frame of a more than decent vessel. Plans still had to be drawn up to get the ship back to fighting shape, but by the end of the refurbishment period of six months, you wouldn't have thought it was the same ship. So many differences. A solar generator to run the few appliances off of, including an actual fridge with a walk-in freezer, not a larder. Other appliances included a heater for hot water, though my control of my mana was good enough well before to do the job if need be. The vessel is a midpoint between that of a Caravel and a Galleon for ability and size. Weaponry is three fifteen-pound strength cannons on each side, with two more facing the front. We took some of the space away from the crew’s quarters to add to the captain’s cabin, but still leave them with enough room for up to four people in each of the three spaces. Part of the renovations was to install actual plumbing, with one bathroom for the captain’s cabin exclusively, the other for sharing among the rest of the future crew. Learning how to sail the ship wasn’t too hard, the once-a-week lessons from Captain Pike himself being a huge help.
The girls keep coming up with surprises for me as well. The biggest is when I saw three, twenty-pound little darlings that were spitting images of the girls when they were younger. I actually missed a step when using my Observation Haki on them and got my answer. They were the same girls, their signatures identical. Turns out they were working outside their comfort zone as well. They modeled the ability of sorts after my Werewolf transformation. They still take as much time as I do to change between puppy and adult forms, but this way they could eat less, use less energy, and for those who don’t know, give them a big surprise. When I first had them show Makino, she fell in love with them all over again, almost smothering them with attention.
Makino herself has improved a lot as well. It is barely a second at a time and only eight times in total before she is exhausted, but she can use Armament Haki. She can also use Kami-E and is close to achieving the requirements for a proper Soru. She is at thirteen kicks in one second, that is how close she is, just two more, but her stamina needs work for her to be able to use it for more than a minute. She has no real ability in any of the other techniques, but nonetheless, I’m proud of her for getting this far. As far as looks, she has only improved as the days have gone by, all the training having done wonders for her body, with the only true evidence of fat being her still huge breasts, and her hips with her ass that you can bounce Beri coins off of. Since I love to be attentive to her, I still give her weekly massages, along with making sure that she has nothing else to worry about.
Now we come to me. I still haven’t completed that crazy control exercise I developed for myself, being stuck at step five, the rotation of the elemental shells in different directions simultaneously. Just because I haven’t completed it yet, doesn’t mean the extra control hasn’t had a huge change to my elemental abilities. I can form four molten boulders bigger than myself with ease, as in one second ease as I flick my wrists. My grenades are a nasty surprise too, with up to ten that can be formed and manipulated in less than a second. As for my personal physical growth, I’ve gained another eight inches in height, and now weigh in at over three-hundred pounds of lean, compacted muscle.
One of the things we have painstakingly made sure of is having easy access to our fortune, which has grown to exceed nine-hundred million Beri. While we will have one-hundred-fifty million Beri aboard our ship the ‘Wandering Wolf’, Makino has been making contacts with other banks on the major island/continents via letter coos. This ensures easy access should we need to spend huge amounts. Of course, any bounties we happen to collect along the way will just be added to what is in the hold. Speaking of bounties, Gramps gave us a set of Den-Den-Mushi and a list of people to contact to turn in bounties if we are unable to at our current locations. That is a side issue, with the main being a payday depending on what, if any, corrupt Marines we come across in our journey. I just need to make sure that I have proof to present before I start cracking skulls of said corrupt Marines. The rest of the supplies have since been loaded onto our ship, our new home for the foreseeable future, including plenty of food that can be kept for up to a month at a time without spoiling. The rest of the worked claws from Thunderstep make up a more valuable part of our cargo, each of the remaining sixteen claws being worth between four and seven million Beri each. Hellfire has her place of honor on the ship, right above the headboard of mine and Makino’s bed in the captain’s cabin, so we are always close when we sleep.
Speaking of Hellfire, our connection has grown further still. I can be a half-mile plus away from her and still communicate with no issue. Another plan has been hatched, to give Hellfire a human form in the real world. The problem is going to be finding either a Zoan, or possibly even a Logia type devil-fruit that fits the bill. Her personal power hasn’t grown, and we think we know the issue. I haven’t used her to kill anyone with a truly black heart (or at all), hopefully that will change even before we get to the Grand Line. Of all the secrets that Grandpa has kept from his superiors, Hellfire is definitely the biggest, as my threat rating jumps more than a few levels with her in hand, possibly enough to kill even an Admiral if we were so inclined, which as of right now, that is a no, but we shall see what the future brings. Also with her help, fire is by far my strongest element, to the point of the ocean starting to evaporate during use when I’m also using Geppo to stay six inches above the waves.
The night before we leave is that of celebration city wide as everyone knows of mine and Makino’s leaving. Not a thought crosses my mind of staying and just living out my years here. I want growth and I want to explore. While Makino is mainly coming with me just to stay by my side, her wanting to make more money via business deals or otherwise regularly lights her eyes up, but thankfully that brightness is less than when we get busy.
The next morning just after breakfast we leave the docks on a westward heading. We don’t get even an hour away before our first bit of excitement happens. A loud noise heralds a massive creature emerging from the water in front of us. I let out a sigh of exasperation. I climb to the top of the figurehead so that I can stare at this creature. The creature is a Sea King, a cross between a cow and a sea serpent, with this one being much longer than the ship. Strength can vary, with the stronger ones either being in the new world or the calm belt, though other areas will see the occasional one, like now for instance. They can still be easily dealt with by one such as me. A simple “Boo” from my lips with a blast of Conqueror’s Haki being done at the same time, results in them taking off in such a hurry that they generate a twenty-foot wake in their haste to get away.
The next few hours are peaceful, with a good wind to power us forward. The only other ship in the vicinity is that of a cruise ship two miles away with a heading pointed almost perpendicular to us. The peaceful day is broken by the sound of cannon fire splitting the air, followed by a bang as a cannon ball impacts, not on our ship, but that of the cruise ship that is starting to smoke. I may not want to be a hero, but my morals tend to fall on the side of the angels, in other words, good. Not like the wishy-washy ones that I have met in the past. Me and Chaos head out using Geppo, leaving Makino, Abyss, and Gaia behind to change course and steer our ship closer to the cruise ship.
A few minutes later we arrive at the ship, and with a good push off the water we get high enough to land on the main deck. We landed right in the middle of the commotion. People dressed in fancy clothes and a much lower number of pirates running about. With barely my normal walking speed, my fingers are flicking out in light strikes, and the strength of these pirates is proven to be vastly underwhelming. Arms, rib cages, and heads are flying with the slightest ease. In only a minute between me and Chaos, we have probably killed at least thirty, and many more are in critical or knocked out conditions. The deck starts to shake as we traverse to the other side where the ship of the pirates is attached. The cause of the shaking is a huge, ugly woman. She is seen berating a small boy who has pink hair of all colors.
“Who is the most beautiful in all the seas?” This female pirate asks.
The boy is shaking in his boots and neither of them seem to notice me or Chaos, even as we continue to critically injure, or outright kill more pirates as we walk over to them.
“You are Lady Alvida.” The boy says with a wavering voice. I think this is my clue to cut in.
“Your glasses must be defective kid, because the only thing I see in front of me is a cow that should be out to pasture, not on a ship.” I say knowing full well that it is rude, but I’m grinning the whole time.
They finally notice that we are there, and there are two vastly different reactions. The boy has the expression like I'm nuttier than a squirrel, while ‘Alvida’, is cycling through several different colors in her rage.
“I am the most beautiful woman in all the seas you mongrel.” She almost screams at me. She then swings her mace at me.
I can tell she doesn’t get the reaction that she is hoping for, that of me going splat. The reason is the head of her mace is being stopped with just one finger from me. A quick poke, not even using Shigan, has the mace shattering into countless pieces that rain on the deck, scattering with a tinkle of sound. “About what I expected. Oh well, not every fight can be fun, or even entertaining. I need you alive in case you have a decent bounty (and some require the person to be alive), so count yourself lucky.” I say in a bored tone right before I dart forward to pat Alvida’s head lightly. With a thud, that ‘light pat’, embeds her into the decking. She is also slumped forward as a result of that tap making her go unconscious too.
I turn to the kid, “So what is your story? Ie how did you end up with this waste of space?” I hike a thumb at Alvida’s body.
“I wandered onto what I thought was a fishing trawler, only to walk into hell. I have been her cabin boy for several years now.” The boy replies glumly.
“Yeah, those glasses haven’t done you any favors. Give me a few minutes to clean up the rest of Alvida’s mooks and then we’ll talk more.” I say all nonchalant.
Over the next ten minutes I rooted out the last of Alvida’s crew, Chaos helping me and then tossing the bodies overboard while I tried to calm down the cruise ship crew and passengers to limited success. The only person I have observed not panicking or being in distress is an orange-haired young woman, possibly close to my age. She has got curves, and it seems, sticky fingers, as I see more than one piece of jewelry disappear into the bag at her side as she moves between the crowd.
By the time Makino anchors our ship close by, the people are calm, and Marines have been called. Chaos has been sitting near Alvida’s ship as I consider that salvage, and while money is money, the ship would be too much immediate effort to turn around. Thankfully a cutter style ship arrives in just another half hour. They confirm Alvida’s bounty, a measly five million Beri.
“Since you have verified her identity, and you have confirmed her bounty to be for the full amount for either state, want me to make sure that you have nothing to fear from her?” My statement clear as I put my foot to her neck.
The Marines are a bit shocked at my nonchalant attitude for offering to kill her, but the fact that she is known to kill even her own crew (Colby told his part that confirmed this), they take me up on my offer. So, with a quick stomp, Alvida is no more. They can’t pay me the bounty here and tell me to head to Shells Town to turn in said bounty. They provided me with a writ to verify this.
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Colby, the former cabin boy tells me of the former Alvida’s nearby base where the rest of her meager loot is kept. In thanks for this, I offer to transport him to Shells Town afterward.
Alvida’s ship only has a meager five-hundred thousand Beri on it and no real supplies. I had expected this however, after all Colby had told me of how Alvida normally operates.
Makino simply gives me a hug after me and Colby come aboard the Wandering Wolf. Colby’s eyes get really big, and his jaw just goes poof when he sees Makino. Heer long, lustrously shining green hair, her cleavage bearing shirt and her ass packed into her shorts. She is whom Alvida and so many other women wish they could become. Brains, so much beauty, and a few other characteristics are some of the many reasons that I’m so glad she returned my affections, so long ago. Though he does get nervous seeing that Chaos has two siblings. I tell him that they are family and won’t hurt innocents, but despite the girls just lying about, Colby is nervous around them, maybe it’s the teeth, ha ha ha.
Another four hours later and we are just leaving the former Alvida’s base of operations, another two million Beri richer. Makino and the girls also subtly informed me of a stowaway in one of our lifeboats during this time. My Observation Haki tells me that they are not a threat, as their presence is maybe half of Alvida’s very miniscule power, so I leave them alone for now until they prove otherwise.
We arrived in Shells Town the next morning. Colby had expressed his desire to be a Marine, and this was even after I told him the road would be long, grueling, and full of hardships to be at any rank other than grunt. That alone tells me that like I’m pursing my dream to be free, he possibly has the conviction to see his goal through to the end, possibly becoming a high-ranking Marine, but considering that he is only five years younger than me and has zero fighting experience, there is not much if any chance of that happening, but I will not live his life for him, so it is up to him.
Makino guides our ship into an open berth. Before we leave the ship, I suggest that the girls become their puppy forms, to lessen the chances that they would frighten folks. Colby has another jaw dropping moment as the wolves that were two and a half to three times his size of a mere one hundred pounds become not even a fifth of what he weighs over the course of fifteen seconds.
“Good morning, folks. The fee for docking is one thousand Beri. I’ll need the captain’s name and any permanent crew, along with what the nature of your business is here in Shells town.” The dock master says as he approaches with a ledger in hand.
“My name is Monkey D Luffy. My permanent crew are Makino, and the three pups you see. The kid here Colby is just a passenger we were dropping off here since we have business with the Marine base. That business is to exchange a bounty writ for the amount promised.” I say casually as this guy is just doing his job, so I don’t give him any grief. As he finished writing things down, I flipped him the docking fee in the form of a one thousand Beri coin. We then headed into town towards the Marine base that juts up into the sky in the distance.
As we walk through the open gate thirty minutes later having taken our time, we see a very odd site. A guy not much older than me is tied up to a cross almost at the other end of the courtyard. He has a black bandana covering his hair, and a couple of gold earrings dangling from his left ear. He is wearing a white shirt, and a green haramaki sash over black pants. His appearance doesn’t ring a bell for me and since I don’t know the circumstances of why he is there, we leave him be as we head to the entrance of the building.
We come across a marine standing guard at the door. “Hello. I have a writ of bounty that I need to exchange. Could you please tell me where the appropriate office is?” I ask nicely.
Instead of answering me directly he calls over another marine and directs us to follow them, so we do. A few doors later we came to the bounty office, then the marine heads back on his rounds.
I walked up to the counter. “Hello, I have writ of bounty to exchange.” I say to the marine sitting on the other side as I set said writ down.
He looks it over and then verifies the signature. He then gets up and leaves through the doorway behind him and walks out of sight. A few minutes later he comes back out with a briefcase. After the amount is verified, I close the briefcase up and turn to leave. Justing coming in the door is a lanky blonde-haired brat of guy. Like many guys that see Makino for the first time, his eyes don’t go higher than her neck.
After five seconds of this, I clear my throat loudly to see if he will do something other than gawk at Makino’s beauty. He gets an angry look on his face as he turns to the cause, me. His face then changes to what he thinks of as suave as he turns back to Makino, this time with his eyes on her face.
“My name is Helmeppo. I don’t know what a beauty like you is doing with such a plebian, but I will happily show you around town. I have authority in this town you see. My father is the captain of this base, the famed Axe-hand Morgan.” His voice comes out sounding high pitched and very annoying, like he didn’t finish going through puberty and his balls stopped about half-way down.
I casually lean into Makino’s shoulder, and she leans into me as she replies. “No thanks. Me and my husband were just leaving.” She says with a straight voice, hoping that the explanation will be enough of hint for Helmeppo to leave them alone.
“Husband, him? Yeah right. I also wasn’t asking; I was telling you that you will be shown around town by me. Or do you want him to be executed (points at me).” Helmeppo replies, his face turning into a haughty look, like he has got the upper hand in this situation.
“You don’t have the right to do that. If you don’t get out of our way, at the very least you will be taking a swim in the sea.” I reply, with an annoyed look taking over my face.
Helmeppo isn't getting the message, still thinking he has the upper hand. “Just like the pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro wasting away outside as he waits to die for killing my wolf, so too will you join him. Of course, I’ll make sure that it happens immediately. Also, my father will gladly enforce my decree if you try to resist.” He talks like I should be afraid of Morgan, but instead my annoyance turns to greed as this could be another pay day and a much bigger one for ferreting out a corrupt marine, I just need to gather a little more proof. Him also telling me who and why said person is tied up outside has intrigued me. Zoro is a bounty hunter and swordsman from what little I have heard of him.
“A bounty hunter would have had to do some shady stuff to get a punishment like that. I can’t imagine that he killed your wolf for nothing, so what was it?” I ask, believing (more hoping) that this idiot will be stupid enough to tell me as he seems like the kind of person to gloat.
I’m right as Helmeppo responds gloating, “A little crap stain of a brat wouldn’t let my wolf eat what he wanted from the bar, so when Zoro interfered and attacked my wolf, I gave him an offer. If he could survive thirty days with no food and minimal water, I would set him free. But you see I’m bored so to spice things up we’ll have a double execution tomorrow, you and him.” He still has that grin, like my threat is all bluster, but now I have enough evidence for him and his dad to go down.
One step, not even using Soru enhanced speed, and I have Helmeppo’s shoulder in a vice grip, him screaming like I’m killing him, as I apply just the tiniest fraction of pressure. “Makino darling, go ahead and make the call, looks like we are earning some more money today.” I tell her.
While Makino pulls out one of the special transponder den-den-mushi to make the call, I then turn to the marine behind the counter, who is in shock at my speed. I then say, “By the authority granted to me by Vice Admiral Garp, I’m starting an active investigation into the corruption and overall cowardness of this base. Any resistance or otherwise interference will incur additional charges to the person in question.” I say with a serious look on my face.
I then frog-march/drag Helmeppo outside to where Zoro is tied up. Zoro looks up at our footsteps and is shocked by what he sees, the spoiled brat Helmeppo being reduced to tears while someone manhandles him.
“Hello Zoro, my name is Luffy. Helmeppo here is going to tell you the truth of what he planned for you. If he doesn’t (here I turn my head to squint my right eye at Helmeppo), I’ll tear this arm of his off that I have in my grasp.” Here Helmeppo starts hyperventilating as that fear sets in. I also have to hold him further away as certain bodily functions are malfunctioning as my threat sets in.
“I was going to have you killed tomorrow because I’m bored.” Helmeppo tells Zoro fearfully, snot and tears running down his face in rivers.
“You fucker. You promised. I had twenty days left. If I had my swords, I’d slice you up into bite-sized pieces for the fish to feast on.” Zoro replies to Helmeppo, as he begins to foam at the mouth in anger.
“Don’t worry Zoro, Helmeppo and his father are going to get what’s coming to them. I just need to find out what else they have done to this town, since what Helmeppo confessed to can’t be all of it. But before all of that, you need to be freed, so let me help you with that.” Here I flick my finger three times, thus allowing me to launch mini-Rankyakus to cut Zoro free without hurting him.
Before anything else is done, I hear a scream of pain come from the main building. I looked over and it must be Axe-hand Morgan, for Abyss (back in her full-sized form) has the elbow of a large man with an axe for a right hand in the grasp of her teeth. Chaos and Gaia have also reverted to their full-sized forms and are flanking Makino as she walks in between them, still talking into the transponder snail. The scream was loud enough to get the attention of some of the nearby townsfolk, as they looked through the gate to see the commotion. What they see has them happy as cheers go up and word quickly spreads. The reaction of the townsfolk tells me that the marines here in Shells town (or mainly Helmeppo and Morgan) have long lost the trust of the people under their direct protection, which just adds more damning evidence to the list.
Not even ten minutes later as the word has spread, there must be ninety percent of the town looking on at this spectacle. Zoro is strapping on his swords (all three of them) after Helmeppo told him where they were. Axe-hand Morgan has tried to get free multiple times, but Abyss kept increasing the pressure of her jaws until he screams bloody-murder after the fourth attempt, for she just crunched through his elbow and he is now bleeding heavily, almost to the point of being fatal, upon the ground. A face shows up on the transponder snail demanding to speak to me at that moment.
“My name is not important at this time. Garp will send his congratulations later, but it seems that he won the bet. Not even a week, and not only have you turned in a bounty of decent size for East Blue, but you have also found evidence of corruption within our forces. Unfortunately, the Shells town marine base has insufficient funds to pay you the twenty million Beri authorized for this. The base located at Logue town however, does in fact have more than the necessary funds and will be available for pick up at your leisure.” The voice then continues but this time talking to all the marines within hearing range. “To all marines stationed at the Shells town base, Axe-hand Morgan and Helmeppo are hereby stripped of all ranks and titles, effective immediately. They are to be clapped in irons and held in the prison until transport can be arranged. Additionally, all marines are hereby ordered to go to minimal rations for a period not to exceed three weeks as minimal punishment. Further punishments, including demotions and dishonorable discharges will be handled at the time of the prisoner hand-off. That is all.” The voice stops and the snail goes back to being motionless.
The cheer let out by the townsfolk at the declaration of the punishments is almost deafening. A young girl even runs up and hugs Zoro in happiness. She then gives him a plate of rice balls, just as his stomach makes its demands known.
Later as we are all feasting and partying at the tavern, I’m sitting across from Zoro, a mug of ale in my hands, as he talks of what he wants to accomplish. “My dream is to be the greatest swordsman in the world. The man that currently holds that title is known as Dracule ‘Hawkeyes’ Mihawk. I don’t care what I must do to get better, but I will beat him someday.” His passion for being a swordsman is almost overpowering, the passion is that great.
“I also have a dream Zoro. I want to be the freest man in the world. Of course, to reach that goal I also have to be strong enough that no one can make me bend the knee in servitude. There is a catch that I’m already working on. It is lonely at the top most of the time, so I want to have strong friends and family around me to enjoy the freedom with. I have already started on that with Makino as my wife, the Dire Wolf girls, Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss are between sisters and daughters to me for how close they are. There is currently a final person that I might introduce you to, if you accept what I’m offering. I want you to join my adventuring crew. I plan to within the next month, leave East Blue and travel to the Grand Line, and eventually, the New World. All in a search for good friends and family, but also strong opponents for me to test myself against. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very strong now, but I have so much room to grow still, and to reach that potential, I need those great life or death fights.” I finish, the passion of my words overshadowing Zoro’s passion in turn by several levels. I look over at the bar, Makino is talking recipes with Ririka, while her daughter, the girl who hugged Zoro earlier, Rika, is having a grand old time with several other kids as they play with Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss in their puppy forms.
Zoro gets another drink, drains it quickly, then gives me my answer. “What the hell. Yes, I’ll join you. Seems like it will be fun. How good are you with a blade, captain?” Zoro accepts but has a question.
“I’m so much stronger than you with a blade, that currently it is not even funny. I might even measure up to Hawkeyes matter of fact. Though my blade of choice isn’t a traditional sword, but a scythe called Hellfire. If I have to carry Hellfire around even casually, be aware that means that shit has gotten real and thus I expect life or death battles to be around every corner.” I say with a serious tone in my voice.