After we left shu and that town behind with their treasure to rebuild we got going to the next island and I just let carrot know what we just learned.
"Oh my! James is careful if you run into this Kengo ino there is no telling what he can do if he hasn't changed from the memory you have" carrot said.
" Don't worry I will good news is that I have the feeling we will have a proper ship alongside a fellow marksman soon don't know why but I think we are going to meet someone connected to someone Luffy knows to keep up the training we might find that we may need you at some point. I'm going to see if I can get a proper forge for the ship at our next destination plus supplies. I still miss seeing you carrot but I won't let my 'relatives' try to cause the end of the world. This is a situation that just adds more questions the more I learn" I said sighing.
" It will be okay just make sure you get back to me safely," carrot said.
" I know I love you too and good luck with your training I know how harsh what your training to be is since I was taught how to aim by the musketeers too," I said recalling the training the year before I left and kept up all these years.
"Right I swore I'd be by your side when we confront your past and I won't break my promise for anything" carrot cheered before hanging up the denden mushi.
" So that was your fiancē she sounds like a dependable girl," Zorro said.
" Considering she's a rabbit with electrical-based abilities that's a given," I said deadpan.
"Rabbit" Luffy, nami, and Zorro asked.
I pulled out a picture of us as kids.
" This is me and carrot just before I left to find answers to my past. The mink tribe consists of humaniod animals. You can say they're like the land version of fishmen but a lot more varied and kind. They don't understand the term human thinking they are lesser minks as a result. Took a member of the tribe becoming a pirate that managed to help me get Carrot to understand what a human is. She's the source of my rabbit bottle and thus it's a sign of our bond" I explained.
" Huh you both look very cute" nami noted.
" Being raised together since we were infants is why we just click. I honestly can't see myself with any other person but her. Wanda a friend of ours yelled my ears off on spotting the ring I gave carrot and explaining the significance to Carrot. She was like the elder sister me and carrot knew" I said chuckling at the memory. Carrot couldn't stop stuttering for a month after she learned just what I felt for her. Wanda knew what an engagement ring looked like. Though how would she know as she's a couple of years older than me and carrot being 19 now.
"You proposed to your friend as a kid and it took someone else to point it out to your fiancē" nami deadpanned.
" If you wanted to marry your best friend wouldn't you make things clear if given the opportunity? Besides I knew for about a month before I left carrot was in love with me seeing as she never actually interacted with other minks our age and stuck by me and even once sent a wolf mink to the hospital for trying to kill me unable to have children if that isn't love I don't know what is" I deadpanned.
" Yep, that sounds like love alright to me. And remind me not to get on her bad side" Zorro said.
Soon enough I spotted syrup island and we made landfall and I deadpanned at ussop's attempt at intimidation.
"Guys remember that strange feeling I had about a fellow marksman we might pick up for our crew who is connected to someone Luffy knows? That feeling is back and it's saying the guy with the slingshot is the person we are looking for" I said.
Luffy blinked before looking closely at ussop.
" Now that you mention it he looks like one of Shank's crewmembers yassop I think his name is," Luffy said snapping his fingers.
" You know my dad!" Ussop tripped in surprise by that revelation and I shared a look with Luffy who had told me his life growing up.
"Well guess this guy has things in common with you and me that expression is something we both have seeing as we both don't know our dads" I mentioned to Luffy knowing what that look in ussop's eyes was.
With that affirmation, ussop had quickly become our friend acting like we grew up together.
The wonders of having common ground. When we mentioned why we came to this island ussop did mention that there was a ship though I grunted as a paper hit me in the face and I pulled it off to find a wanted poster of kuro of the black cat pirates.
"Wait that looks like the butler of my friend who owns the ship I was talking about," ussop said seeing the poster.
I went wide-eyed.
"Ussop was there any strange deaths since he showed up," I asked.
" My friend's parents did pass away shortly after he appeared and my friend has been ill since wait are you saying," ussop said as things started clicking into place in his head.
" That he's killed your friend's parents and maybe trying to kill her to get her fortune with likely poison? Yes, I'm afraid so. Guys we don't have much time to lose we got to warn the town and get your friend some help" I said as I looked to the manor.
" I'll go show this to the town ussop you try and find out if the black cat pirates are on their way as I heard this guy has a hypnotist on his crew and nami you Luffy and Zorro handle defending the town" I suggested.
The only reason I could think of for Kuro's wanted poster to be here was if Jango was already on the island and lost it so after we all nodded we split up and I went around showing the poster to the townsfolk and they believed me when I pointed out I was from the grand line and that I saw authentic wanted posters before so the townsfolk was heading to bunkers to wait out the coming battle as I ran to warn merry about what I found out luckily I ducked into a bush as I saw kuro possibly getting away from where Jango was.
Though I found an old game that had been discarded in the bush so that gave me the game full bottle. I made it to the Manor and luckily I got there before kuro so I was able to warn Kayla and merry both with the proof I had just in time for kuro to arrive. He grew shocked and angry on seeing the wanted poster.
"How did you get that I thought I hid all traces of my past" kuro said glaring.
"Blame your hypnotist for dropping it and the wind blew it onto my face" I deadpanned.
He slid on his cats' glove as I pulled out my default full bottles.
" Henshin!" I called as my armor formed.
-Unite the steel rabbit! full-frontal assault! rabbit tank! ora!-
"Catch me if you can kuro" I taunted as I sped out of there with kuro tunnel vision going chased after me at his speed.
Soon enough I found where the rest were fighting as I dashed in jumping to the ship.
"Union what are you doing!" Nami asked.
"I lured Kuro over here so I didn't have to worry about Kayla getting in the crossfire," I said summoning my blade to block Kuro's attack.
" I'm going to enjoy tearing you to ribbons," Kuro said a mad look on his face.
" Sorry but I'm the worst opponent you could face," I said pushing him back as I switched full bottles to my only other match right now.
-are you ready?!- was heard as I spun the crank.
"Unite up!" I called.
-the high-flying shooter! Hawkgatling ora!-
Now in my mainly orenge with grey trim flight-based armor, I took flight dodging Kuro's lunge with his cat step technique.
Aiming with my gatlinger I shot homing bullets at his sword claw.
Landing I ducked as a member of the black cats got up and transformed into the Strong smash.
"Oh for crying out loud," I said seeing that as Kuro looked surprised.
"Does Faust have plants in every pirate crew in the east blue" I swore as seriously this is not what I expected at all?
Spinning the drum on my gun I sent out homing bullets at the smash after spinning a roundhouse kick with my left leg at Kuro's face knocking him out.
Zorro, Luffy, ussop, and nami were doing a good job taking out the normal crew members while I switched back to rabbit tank and used the speed to dodge the Punch's the Strong smash sent.
Ussop helped my launching an egg at the smash's face blinding it for me to switch rabbit with a hedgehog.
"Time to see what a trail form can do," I said spinning the crank causing the red of my armor to bleach to white as the rabbit motif turned hedgehog with my arms now armed with launchers that I used to send spikes out to strike the smash.
With it rolling around I switched rabbit back in and started turning the crank again.
-Ready go! Unite finish!-
Was heard as I jumped a good sixty feet in the air.
"Metal rabbit Break" I called going into a dropkick as a projection formed of a giant mechanical rabbit as I shot forward to land a rider kick on the smash causing it to explode and I skidded on the sand a bit as I stood up. Turning around I pointed an empty bottle at the smash before turning it into the gorilla full bottle and put it away leaving a groaning pirate where the smash was.
By this point, the black cat pirates were defeated and I gave my fellow straw hats a thumbs up.
"Bravo nephew! I see you figured out killbas' trick to generate a bottle and I can see that you got quite stronger since we last met" evolt's voice said making us look up the cliff to see blood stalk sitting there.
" Evolt I see you still in the blue though I was not showing off for you," I said frowning.
" Ah but I am impressed your armor is unique in that it fully merges two different things to form its look. But I can tell that you haven't formed your bottles to use with your armor. Oh, and I did you a favor in removing that poison for that Kayla girl. I even left her a gift so she can go with the sniper if she wants. Found a plant-based devil fruit that's the medicine model. Believe it or not, he didn't hesitate to shoot an egg at a smash meaning under that cowardice he can be brave enough to reach his dream. Seems to have inspired and lit a fire under that girl so she wants to go with you guys it seems" stalk said before he was suddenly before me and tapped my head.
"Hazard level 4 not bad for a few weeks" whistled evolt before he plunged his arm into my body making me scream before he pulled out two bottles one that was a full bottle that looked like a fox while the other was an Evol bottle of a fox head.
"Ah, so you're a fox! Your clever enough for it to be appropriate! Now I'll see you later nephew" evolto said dropping the full bottle and teleporting away as I collapsed my armor fading.
"Damn!" Zorro said as I started coughing up blood as he rushed to me. I reached out my arm and grabbed the bottle before my consciousness faded.
When I came to I was bandaged around my chest with Luffy, nami, Zorro, ussop, and Kayla looking at me.
"Ugh damn from what I 'remember' evolt usually takes over a person's body before doing that. And he took his version of a full bottle with him when he did that stunt" I groaned wincing at the pain in my chest.
" He punched a hole into your body you're lucky he missed your heart and lungs. As it is he turned most of your ribs into many fragments had to call a doctor to remove them and try to use them to make transplants. One of your bottles took some kind of mist off him though" nami said showing me a smash bottle.
" Ah, so I now have the doctor bottle to go with the game one. Got another bottle before I warned Kayla and merry about Kuro" I said.
I slowly took the smash bottle and purified it into the doctor's full bottle.
" That makes a legend form called Ex-aid so those two don't count among the sixty keys to Pandora's box," I said before shaking the doctor bottle making my torso glow as my torso turned transparent showing my ribs was rapidly healing from the transplants until all that was left was a scar and I felt the pain fade.
"Okay, right doctor so of course it's regeneration" I deadpanned at the bottle as I pushed myself up.
" As it was you been out cold for two days I managed to get you that forge you needed onto our new ship and the supplies you needed the town gave us the forge as a thank you for warning them about Kuro's true colors," Zorro said.
" We may be pirates but that doesn't mean we can't also be heroes plus imagine how the Marines will react that pirates are doing what they are supposed to do so things like grey terminal never happen again," I said grinning.
Getting out of bed I looked at Kayla.
" Are you sure you want to join us? You saw my supposed uncle give me quite the injury and there might be a lot of horrors ahead" I said.
" I'm sure because ussop is my only friend and now I can support him better on the ship as it's not just medicine I can make but manipulate plants in general now so I can help repair the ship if needed," Kayla said.
" Let's go with the medic at least until we can get a proper doctor to teach you that and it's going to take years for you to train your body up to handle life on a ship. That poison did a number on you so your body can't take much and the grand line is not a place to take lightly" I told her.
" I don't care how much I will have to do if I can stand by ussop's side then my mind is made up," Kayla said.
" You will get along with carrot very well with that determination," I said knowing my rabbit fiance will find Kayla a kindred spirit.
"I tried to talk her out of it but she insisted," ussop said.
"Ussop she's just like my fiance she loves you too much to let you leave her now after you risked your life defending the town from the black cat pirates" I deadpanned.
" That and I don't have anything tying me here anymore merry has agreed to watch over my house but without ussop, I just don't feel like I belong," said Kayla not denying the love confession as well when the only other person your age tries to cheer you up with stories while sick you can't help but admire the kindness to do that.