Anyone who thinks the ocean floor is quiet is an idiot. Either nature documentaries narrated from inside submersibles didn't prepare me in the slightest, or the Grand Line wildlife doesn't care about such things as 'eating enough food to sustain their hugeness', or both.
The ocean floor is fucking noisy, is what I'm saying. There's whale-sized creatures all over the place, judging from the sheer amount of calls I'm hearing.
Not that I can see them, since the Lamp Dial I'm using can only send light so far.
At least the local sea beasties have learned to keep their distance. Eviscerating and eating anything that attacks you tends to send a message that even Sea Kings pay attention to, I guess.
I trudge through the knee-deep mud, keeping track of how far I've gone thus far.
Honestly, I'm glad for the breathing exercises the Old Man started me on, before he got too sick to demonstrate the advanced techniques he'd been planning to pass on. Pity the only book of those he'd had was in a language and text I couldn't bloody well read...it's still up in my cabin somewhere, come to think of it.
Fucking Key Rattan secrecy bullshit…
I'd mutter, but that would let the water in. I can survive that, but it's not exactly pleasant.
Still. All this will be worth it.
See, finding seastone is normally a pain in the ass. It only shows up on specific low-lying mountain ranges, and just about every one of the mines are under World Government control. Vinci probably could get his hands on some thanks to being a Warlord, but it'd draw a lot of suspicion.
I'd asked him for a solution after getting thrashed by Smoker. He'd locked himself in his lab for six hours with a crateful of geology books and Lauren, caused six explosions and a dozen shrieking noises that went right through the soundproofing (and scared the shit out of the work crews infesting the Ends), and emerged with a grin and directions.
It was a lengthy explanation involving edges of continental shelves, deep sea currents and mineral outcroppings, and I listened and nodded along until he got to the point and told me where to go to try and dig some of the stuff up.
Hence my underwater excursion, aided by the simple expedient of very heavy ankle weights and the fact that I'm basically my own digging equipment.
I trudge a bit longer, then pause. All right, if Vinci is on the money…
Forming tails underwater always feels weird. Takes longer, and it's harder to move them under all this pressure. But it works anyway, and all six sink through the mud until they hit rock, moving at blurring speeds as they begin to clear some working space. Once I've got a decent-sized pit clear of mud, I start drilling.
Ten meters down, I hit pay dirt. And by pay dirt, I mean an obstruction that my tails hit and immediately shred themselves against, unable to affect in the slightest. I reform them, and start excavating around the vein, feeling out it's limits. Twice, I hit an outcropping I wasn't expecting, and it's slow work trying to remove enough rock to be able to pull the damn thing out, but after nearly an hour, I finally have enough space to heave the fucking thing free.
It's incredibly heavy, a mass of mottled gold and grey ore nearly as large as I am, but I finally have it. I'd laugh, but again, water in lungs isn't fun.
Hey, scaley, you listening?
I am.
So, there's two ways to go about this. One, I drag it up to Herman in secret, he fucks around with it, and we get to carry around some new weapons.
I decline. We can be separated from those too easily. As a backup, maybe, but such a thing should not be our only resort.
Yeah, same line of thought. Even if we worked together…
The result against a Logia without a clear weakness would be the same. Perhaps we could counter the Ice logia, but even that would be unlikely given what we know of his strength.
You've spent some time thinking about this.
I will keep you safe, child. I regard you trying to fight an Admiral as an inevitability, given your...our...attachment to mortals.
And causes, don't forget that.
Hrmph. You do tend to be single-minded once you decide on something.
Hush. The second option is easier, if we can manage it.
Oh?
Do you think our tails could break down and corrode seastone to eat and incorporate?
Hrrm. It is harder than anything we have attempted before, isn't it? But if we could break it down...crystalline structures form the hard surfaces of everything we are forged of. Imitation and fixation of it should not be beyond us. But why go looking for so much more power? We can become whole at a moment's notice.
Well, Haki isn't exactly in my repertoire, is it?
Unless we happen to find, overcome, and devour one of our own who has such an ability, it will take years of training to use it with reliability.
So, yes.
Yes.
You sound a lot like Vinci, half the time, have you realized that?
He is an increasingly wise man, despite his youth. Perhaps you should listen more.
You do realize you're talking about the guy who literally just yesterday threw a pig with wings at his cousin to make a point?
I said increasingly. It is not difficult when the bar has been lowered to levels approximating that of an ocean trench. Now, let's see if we can eat this particularly shiny rock.
I wrap my tails around the fragment of ore, noting how the water around them starts to bubble and boil.
The rock under my feet shakes, disrupting the chorus of ocean sounds around me, and I smile.
Looks like the others are hard at work as well.
On some level, Vinci was quietly outraged at Jack, for assuming he needed bodyguards. Ten picked men, given the latest weapons Lauren and Herman turned out in collaboration (six combinations of gun-halberd and immense tower shields, two with cut-down assault cannons, one with a flamethrower derived from Lauren's own, and the last with what could best be described as the unholy lovechild of one of the Cog's lightning cannons and a rocket launcher) and armored just as excessively as Jack himself was, said armor ornately carved with both protective runes (from Herman's Huscarls, and Vinci was willing to indulge their superstitions just this once) and carefully crafted artistic murals, embossed in copper and gold. They were the best-trained, most lethal of the Wolf-type Augments, loyal beyond reproach, deadly beyond reckoning. Kaneki had sparred each of them, and all of them had lasted at least ten minutes against him. Jack had called them the Companions.
It was still vaguely insulting to assume that he actually required help against the current crop of opposition he would be facing.
So, outrage. Still present.
On the other hand, they were a remarkably bolstering presence against a clearly furious Rear Admiral Gripper.
"So let me see if I understand this correctly," the Rear Admiral (and really, that rank was an insult, the man had the requisite ability to be a Vice Admiral, and not one of the weaker ones) gritted out. "You decided to conduct a training exercise. On top of a mountain. With two Devil Fruit users. Whereupon, the interaction between their powers caused a magnitude four earthquake that shook the entire island."
Vinci shrugged. "I'm pretty sure we found Arlen's resonant frequency by accident."
Not by accident in the slightest, mind you. That'd been careful tuning, collaboration between Six's knowledge and versatility and Gin's durability and raw power. And it'd yielded results, oh so sweet results, in the fact that the tremors had rung the entire island like a bell...and between them, it had let Six and Vinci figure out what lay beneath the isle of Arlen.
Specifically, the rough shape of the immense bunkers beneath the Center for Disease Prevention and Research.
"By accident," the Rear Admiral said dubiously.
"Yes, accident," Vinci stressed. "Trust me, pulling a Whitebeard was the last of my intentions. Was there any significant damage?"
"No, luckily," Gripper allowed, clearly reluctant to cut Vinci even that measure of slack. "I trust you won't attempt such a thing again?"
"What would the point be, beyond pissing you off?" Vinci asked, very carefully not answering Gripper's question. "I've got work to get back to. And quite frankly...I don't take orders from you, Rear Admiral." He cocked his head, grinning. "Warlord, after all. Ciao."
He walked away, leaving the man fuming on the grounds of the Marine base. The Companions followed him.
He did have work to do, after all...just not the kind that was going to be particularly helpful to the World Government.
Kaneki was his own digging equipment, and him going off and hunting Sea Kings was something the Marines had already gotten accustomed to at this point - helped more than a little by Jack carefully disseminating the first mate's circumstances and dietary necessities to said Marines, and the implication that if he didn't, he'd start snacking on them - and the mere fact that he did his work underwater made it easy to hide any digging. He'd ask him to get to work, give him a map, and hope for the best - a tunnel to those bunkers seemed like the best option for a breach, after all.
And while Kaneki worked...Vinci would keep playing along. The World Government was far, far too paranoid to outright accept his designs, even if Doctor Franz Josef was surprisingly enthusiastic about Augments. And Vinci was perfectly willing to let that paranoia and obstruction occur - it would make the inevitable cleanup easier.
He didn't feel particularly bad about what that would entail - namely, the mass slaughter of every single scientist in the Center. They'd made their choices when they'd thrown in with the Government, every single one of them.
He figured he'd save his cousin and T-Bone for last, when the day came.
Or….if the day came.
Because while the Center clearly had something to hide, it'd be the nature of that something that would determine whether or not Vinci followed through on scorched earth tactics. He was...beginning to reconsider his ability to inference and understand people. First the Hunt, then Kaneki, then T-Bone...his record at understanding people's motivations was not precisely stellar.
There is nothing I can say that can change the past, the gaunt bastard had said that night. But to see you where you are today...your parents would have only felt shame, to see how far you have fallen.
So...perhaps his initial assumptions about the nature of the Center were in error. At the very least, there appeared to be some sort of semi-legitimate quarantine, for all that actually finding information on it was proving...surprisingly frustrating. The most Jack's efforts had yielded was that whatever the local plague was, it was ubiquitous in the population, difficult to transmit beyond it, and being carefully contained by medical supply shipments. It seemed suspicious, but plagues in the Grand Line, like just about everything else in it, were not obligated to follow traditional rules.
A pity that the local authorities seemed hesitant to let him anywhere near the plague city. A cover-up was a possibility, but one balanced by the simple consideration that, well, if he did get genuine plague samples, there was all the possibility in the world he'd find a use for them.
Ah, well. He had an idea of how to circumvent that, anyway. He just had to be at the top of his game tonight.
He'd been planning to work on T-Bone instead of Smoker, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
Lauren was a little bit pissed at Kaneki and Herman, to be honest.
Less Kaneki, more Herman, on reflection. Kaneki had only provided raw materials.
She dodged to the side, avoiding Tashigi's descending cut, and swung out with her hatchet, forcing the other woman to move to block. The blow didn't connect - that new blade of hers treated steel like butter, and Lauren was on her backup hatchet and backup for her backup knife's backup to boot - but it was enough to put her opponent on the back foot, and she pressed that momentary advantage ruthlessly. Axe and knife wove, constantly probing Tashigi's defenses, never giving her a moment to go back on the attack.
Brush up on knife work, she'd thought, but what was probably a spar to test Herman's newest baby had quickly turned into a fight just short of them actively trying to murder one another.
Herman might've been willing to forgive the bitch for starting a fight with him, but Lauren hadn't. Her crew might've been the stuff of nightmares and monsters in the dark, but they were still hers, and Tashigi had been an utter cunt at first.
'Decent' Marine or not, that called for a price to be paid.
Lauren grinned viciously, leaning back to avoid a swing of the blade that would've taken her neck if she hadn't, and threw her knife at Tashigi's head. The woman leaned to the side to avoid the flying blade, and as she went off-balance Lauren's free hand latched onto the wrist of her sword arm. The sword clattered to the dirt, followed shortly by Tashigi herself.
"That's three times now," Lauren said shortly. "Your balance is still crap." She offered a hand up (be better, always be better, that was how she'd balance the scales, make her see that). "Who the hell taught you?"
"Nobody," Tashigi mumbled as she got to her feet, blushing slightly. "Not since basic training. Had to learn by myself, because there wasn't a single sword master who'd take me on."
Lauren cocked her head. "Let me guess...they didn't want a swordswoman?"
"It's none of your business," Tashigi growled.
Lauren snorted. "Is if it's left your fighting style completely fucked. The big guy wants me to help, I'll make sure you won't be fucking around with whatever kludge you've been using till now."
"Why isn't he here, anyway?" the Marine muttered, dusting herself off.
"Way he put it, he figured you and him clashing again would make Smoker burst a blood vessel. Also, I'm about as close as you're going to get to you, build-wise. Easier to adjust."
It would've been easier with Ostavila - she had seemed to know how to use just about any weapon, and she'd also been built like Lauren and Tashigi, but…
Lauren shook her head, ignoring the memories and the emotions they brought. Later. She'd deal with that later.
"I don't get it," the swordswoman said. "I was able to cut Herman...but you're a ranged combatant, not a swordswoman, and I can't land a hit on you."
Lauren chuckled. "One, Herman's a dumbass who's used to tanking with armor and his bastard version of the Six Powers. He'll take the hits, I won't. Two, he's nicer than I am, under the growly facade. I'm Nightmare, through and through. Three...how many people have you fought who don't use a sword?"
Tashigi blinked. "Not many," she said hesitantly. "Not at all, really."
Lauren made a finger gun. "Exactly. Teach yourself to fight swordsmen, and that's all you're gonna be good at, soon enough." She grinned, and cracked her neck. "Lucky for you, I'm here to fight you with everything else."
"Why?" Tashigi asked.
Lauren narrowed her eyes. "Why, what?"
"I just...I don't get it. Why the hell are you being so...helpful? You, Herman, your Captain, the damn Butcher Bird, all of you - it doesn't make any sense!"
"Okay, let me nip that in the bud," Lauren said. "I don't like you, Marine. You're a self-righteous cunt with a sword fetish, and it's only the fact that Herman fucked you up already that's kept me from putting a hole in your head for what you did." She paused, silencing the half-formed exclamation from Tashigi with a glare. "I'm not your friend. Nor am I doing this to be nice. I'm doing it because the big lunkhead thinks you've got potential, and he seems to tolerate you, for some reason." She folded her arms. "That said...you're making a big mistake, assuming we're supposed to hate you. Not like we're all scum."
"You just said you-"
"I don't like you because of who you are, not what," Lauren growled. "Haven't had much trouble with Marines, and…" She paused. "They've been decent," she said. "But if half of what Kaneki says is true, that's not the typical Marine. And we're not typical pirates."
"I'm not sure I believe you," Tashigi said skeptically.
"Well, let's look at the officers. You know how Kaneki's life's been fucked up, and he joined because the Captain said he'd try to find a workaround to having to eat people. The amount of Sea King bones piling up outside Port Roybal should tell you enough about that. The Captain himself got slapped with the death penalty for resisting arrest, if that hadn't happened he probably would've ended up in the merchant marine. Herman was basically raised by pirates, Jack was born into the life, Gin...Gin's had it the worst out of anyone, from what little he's told people. C was an accident and it really isn't his fault he's so fucked in the head, and Six...Six, honestly, we can say we rescued and gave a better life to. Some of the crew might've signed on because they wanted the loot or an adventure...but they don't give the orders. We do. And we're only pirates because life fucked us over. And then someone like you...you come along, and say we're evil, for making the only choices we could." Lauren shook her head. "Thing is, we're not. We're people, same as you. And it's in us to give a shit about people like you, Marine or not."
"So why'd you join?" Tashigi asked. "What made signing up with the Nightmares the only choice you could make?"
Lauren chuckled. "Guess you could say I'm the black sheep of the bunch," she admitted. "What the hell. Let me tell you about Crucix, and how I decided to balance my own debts."
