"If that's all you have, then you might as do yourself a favor and fall over a sword or something before I reach you," I said while looking at the portal man in what I assumed was his eyes.
He didn't reply as his hands began moving quickly, conjuring more portals and throwing even more random things into them, causing me to activate my phasing ability as I started moving towards him.
Many portals with different projectiles shooting out of them appeared all around me as I charged toward the portal man. Knives, bullets, spears, cannonballs, you name it, it was there, but I phased through everything without a scratch.
I quickly closed the distance between us, promptly swinging Triton at the man's head, trying to end with one swift stroke. But he reacted quickly by creating a portal beneath him, falling into it and emerging from a different portal some distance away.
"How long do you think you can keep this up?" I asked with a grin as I quickly flew towards him again, noticing the bounty hunters' fleet getting decimated by my crewmates.
"No matter how long you think you can last, your friends won't last as long," I added as I began dodging his attacks instead of merely phasing through them.
"And you'll run out of space to run to before you know it," I concluded as I began sending flying slashes toward the man, causing him to start creating portals in front of himself for protection.
The portals devoured my flaying slashes as new rifts appeared, shooting my projectiles back at me, and I merely grinned as I swatted them away with Triton or dodged them all together, causing them to hit the portal man's allies behind me.
...
As he continued to fight the portal man, fence, Johnny's crewmates weren't idle as they each jumped into an enemy ship, except for Bob and Doc Q for obvious reasons.
And Wilson was by far the most flashy out of the bunch as he flew into the air, transforming into his original, now downright gigantic gorilla form and landing in the middle of a bounty hunter ship.
To say that Wilson's landing was catastrophic would be an understatement, as the galleon class ship almost sank into the sea by the power of the impact alone.
Wilson then proceeded to beat the living crap out of all the bounty hunters on the ship while tearing the ship to shreds, using nothing but his brute strength.
And surprisingly, Laffite acted just as flashily, forgoing his usual stealthy style as he made full use of the cloud fruit, creating thunder clouds, iron cloud barriers, and even swamp clouds, which he used to drown the bounty hunters in their own ships.
However, Elly merely flew around while sniping bounty hunters from the air with her trusty rifle as she kept a watchful eye on the battlefield, prepared to help any cremate in need.
Byron's actions were a mixture between Elly and Wilson as he too transformed into his gigantic crow form, flying overhead and raining flames on the unsuspecting bounty hunters, effortlessly sinking the first ship in his line of sight.
And Kozue strategically positioned herself on Byron's back, using her bow and rapidly shooting arrows, both mundane and explosive. While Law and Bepo kept teleporting from ship to ship, beating everything that moved.
...
The same situation continued to repeat itself, where I would close the distance between the portal man and myself only for him to create another portal, jump into it and emerge in a different location.
But that quickly ended when a man wearing too many guns on his clothes came running towards the portal man. "What the hell do you want, Memento?" asked the portal man in an annoyed tone.
"Don't you see I'm busy?" He scolded, all the while deflecting attacks and creating new portals to attack me without bothering to turn around. "We need to get out of here. Most of our allies are either dead or dying!" Memento said in an urgent tone, causing the portal to pause his actions for a second to look around.
He hesitated for a second or two, which was the time I needed to close the distance again. "O, no, you don't!" I remarked with a grin reached the portal man and his friend, swinging Triton to cleave them both in half.
I, however, didn't reach the portal man in time despite using my fastest speed as Laboon's towering form emerged from beneath the ship, breaking it in half and sinking it.
I had lost sight of the portal man because of the flying water vapor and wood shrapnel, but I did hear the unmistakable sound of a portal opening, meaning the bastard had at least survived.
I quickly checked the surroundings, searching for where they would emerge, but found nothing. And in the end, I had to sigh and give up after looking around for a minute or so.
"Whatever, I'm sure he'll show up again sooner or later," I murmured with a shrug, smiling as my crewmates quickly began gathering at the portal man's ship.
"And that, ladies and gentlemen, was our first victory in the grand line!" I exclaimed with a grin, spreading my arms to the side for dramatic effect, causing my companions to cheer.
"Now get to work. I want you to gather every coin and item of value that isn't nailed to these bounty hunters' ships," I instructed, and everyone nodded with eager expressions on their faces.
"Then I want you to get hammers and get everything that's nailed as well, Rehahahahaha," I concluded with a loud laugh, causing some of my companions to murmur joking complaints as others merely chuckled as they got to work.
...
"Reporting, sir," the same marine soldier from earlier barged into the fleet admiral's office, saluting as he did. "Speak," Sengoku instructed as he raised his head from the paperwork he had buried in with a frown on his face.
"The battle between the silver hand pirates and bounty hunters at the twin capes has just ended, sir!" the soldier reported, still in the posture of a salute. "So quickly?" Sengoku replied with a question, his frown becoming more pronounced.
"What happened?" the fleet admiral asked again, giving the young soldier his undivided attention. "The pirates defeated, no they obliterated the bounty hunters, but their leader, Fence, seems to have escaped unharmed!" the soldier explained, hesitating as he spoke, trying to choose the best words to describe the conclusion.
"Anything else?" the fleet admiral asked. "The silver hand pirates seem to have new members, sir," the soldier replied, pausing and waiting for permission to elaborate, earning a nod from the fleet admiral.
"There are three new members. One of them is a renowned doctor and wanted criminal from north blue called Doc Q, and the other two are unknown, with one of them being a polar bear mink, sir!"
"I see. Dismissed soldier!" Sengoku instructed, holding back a sigh as he watched the young marine soldier turn around and leave his office.
"They're growing too strong too quickly," Sengoku murmured to no one in particular, heaving a deep sigh as he opened his drawer, intending to retrieve and indulge in a snack of rice crackers.
He sighed again as he opened his drawer upon noticing it was empty.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAARP!" the fleet admiral exclaimed with a bulging vein on his forehead, and his voice reverberated all over the marine ford, causing many new recruits to trip and fall out of surprise.
...
As my companions went to work, I made my way back to the black pearl, and after greeting Doc Q and Bob with a light nod, and took a moment to finally get a good look at Laboon, who had already started bashing his head against the red line.
And let me tell you, no amount of preparations would make you ready to witness a giant whale bash its head against a similarly massive mountain range, causing the sea itself to tremble from the force of the impact.
"So this guy is still banging his head against the red-line...," Bob remarked as he made his way to stand beside me, gazing at Laboon's act of self-harm.
"I wonder why he's doing that?" Bob added as he turned to look at me with a meaningful look on his face that blatantly said; you seem to know everything, so explain.
I deadpanned, struggling to keep my eyes from twitching as I shrugged my shoulders while pointing towards the twin capes. "If anyone knows what's happening, then it should be the old twin capes keeper."
Bob raised an eyebrow in amusement at my answer while twirling his mustache. "Fair enough," he replied with a shrug of his own.
"Well, I'm going there to have a few words with the old keeper, so feel free to tag along if you're that curious," I remarked with a shrug as I turned around, launching myself into the air with Geppo.
"I'll pass," Bob replied in his usual carefree tone as he turned around and resumed lazing around the black pearl's deck.
...
I landed in front of the left lighthouse in the twin capes, smiling and waving my hand as I noticed Wilson and Laffite flying their way towards me.
"What are you up to, Johnny?" Wilson asked with a smirk as he landed in front of me, followed by Laffite, who nodded at me in greeting after landing with a curious expression on his face.
"Not much," I replied with a shrug. "I just want to have a few words with the old twin peaks keeper," I added while pointing towards an elderly man with a strange haircut who seemed to be ignoring our presence for the most part.
"Hmm? Is that geezer interesting?" Wilson asked as he turned to look at the elder, squinting his eyes as he did. "Well, that depends on whether you find an old crewmate of the pirate king interesting," I added with a shrug, causing both Wilson and Laffite to look at me with surprise.
"A companion of the pirate king?" Laffite remarked with a confused expression. "How is that even possible?" he questioned with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Didn't the marines catch the pirate king's crew along with the man himself?" Laffite concluded, alternating his gaze between Crocus and myself.
"The marines didn't cath the pirate king," I dramatically stated, spreading my arms apart and smirking at Wilson and Laffite's shocked expressions. "Gol D Roger, the pirate king, willingly surrendered to the marines."
"Why would he do such a thing?" Laffite asked with his eyes wide in shock. "Wait, pirates have a king?!" Wilson asked with an even more exaggerated shocked expression, causing me to burst out laughing.
"Maybe I'll tell you about some other time, Laffite," I remarked with a shrug, still chuckling slightly at Wilson's dumfounded expression at the revelation that pirates have a king.
I turned around and began walking toward Crocus with a smile on my face, feeling a mixture of expectations and excitement at meeting one of my favorite one-piece characters.
Crocus continued to read his newspaper while sitting on a garden chair, seemingly unaware of my presence until I was standing ten or so steps away from him.
The old doctor raised his head from the newspaper and looked at us with sharp eyes, his expression one of smoldering intensity, causing both Laffite and Wilson to go tense, frowning as they did.
'Here it comes.' I couldn't help grinning upon seeing Crocus' reaction as he slowly gave my companions a once over, inspecting us with his sharp pair of eyes.
I could hear the drums dramatically echoing in the surroundings as Crocus' eyes widened in focus as if preparing to do something only for him to lower his head and resume reading the newspaper.
"Say something, you asshole!" Wilson exclaimed in frustration, and I could barely stop myself from laughing as Crocus raised his head, giving Wilson a bored look.
"Calm down, Wilson," Laffite said in a placating tone, putting his hand on Wilson's shoulder to calm the four-armed gorilla as he took a step forward.
"Greeting," Laffite remarked in his usual cheery, polite tone. "We've just arrived at the grand line, and we were hoping to get some information about the area," the navigator added while tipping his hat in Crocus' direction.
Crocus looked at Laffite, and his expression turned tense and dangerous again. "Don't you know it's impolite to ask someone for a favor without at least introducing yourself?" the old doctor remarked.
"Ah, but of course," Laffite replied with a chuckle. "I'm Laffite-" the navigator said, trying to introduce himself, only for Crocus to interrupt him.
"My name is Crocus, and I'm the keeper of the twin capes' lighthouses. I'm 69 years old. Gemini, Blood type B." Crocus began babbling, and I couldn't help it anymore as I started laughing while looking at Laffite, who had a constipated expression out of annoyance.
"Can I kill this man, captain?" Laffite asked with twitching eyes while clenching his cane and looking at the old doctor. "Calm down, will you? Don't you know how to appreciate a running gag?" I said while wiping tears from my face after laughing for a good half a minute.
"Oh, I see you're also a man of culture," Crocus exclaimed with an approving nod, grinning as he did. "At any rate, feel free to ask whatever you want," he added with a smile, putting away the newspaper.
"Sure, let me just call a buddy of mine first," I replied with a nod, taking out my transponder snail and calling Byron, instructing him to come over.
...
"Do you need something, captain?" Byron asked as he turned to his human form while landing in front of me. "No, but I think you need to hear this," I replied with a shrug as I turned to look at Crocus.
"What is the meaning of this, young man?" Crocus asked while giving Byron a once over, wondering what the blonde musician could want to hear from himself.
"You see, this guy's grandfather was a pirate from west blue, who disappeared several decades ago," I replied while pointing towards Byron. "And finding out what happened to his grandfather is one of the reasons he came out to the sea," I concluded with a shrug.
"So you're hoping that I would remember his grandfather and possibly know what happened to him?" Crocus reasoned with a nod as he turned to look at Byron.
"More or less," I replied with a smirk nodding my head. "I don't mind, but I don't know if I can be of any help since I have met many pirates during my time at the twin peaks," Crocus remarked with a nod.
"Why don't you tell me your grandfather's name and the name of his pirate crew first?" Crocus asked as he turned to look at Byron again.
"His name was Yorki, the captain of the Rumbar pirates!" Byron replied, his expression a mixture of nervousness and expectations. "They were a crew of pirate musicians, and only people who loved music were allowed to board the ship," Byron added with a smile.
Crocus heard what Byron said but didn't react, merely alternating his gaze between Byron and Laboon, who was still banging his head against the red line.
"So you don't remember them, after all?" Byron asked while heaving a sigh in disappointment. "I never said that," Crocus replied, shaking his head while heaving a sigh of his own.
"Are you saying that Yorki and the Rumbar pirates didn't come back home after all this time?" Crocus asked, frowning with a complicated expression.
"No, they disappeared into the grand line," Byron replied while scratching his head, seemingly confused by Crocus's question. "Then, perhaps I might have misjudged them," the old doctor remarked while shaking his head.
"You see, I had met the Rumbar pirates almost 50 years ago, right here at the twin capes," Crocus explained with a reminiscing expression.
"Crossing the reverse mountain had damaged their ship, so they stayed here for three months to repair it," he added as he turned to look at Laboon, who was wailing sadly.
"I became good friends with them at the time, but they had to leave sooner or later," Crocus stated as he got up and began walking towards the shore. "But they didn't come alone from west blue as a baby whale had followed them from west blue all the way here," he added while pointing towards Laboon.
"They had met Laboon when he was a baby separated from his pod, lost and confused," the old doctor remarked. "So they tried to cheer him up the only way they knew how; music," he added with a fond smile.
"The baby whale, Labbon grew attached to them and considered them as his pod, following them all the way here from west blue," Crocus concluded with a sigh.
"So this gigantic whale was with my grandfather?" Byron asked with eyes wide in astonishment as he turned to look at Laboon. "But why is he here then?" he asked again with a confused expression.
"He was still a baby, half my size when they left," Crocus replied, chuckling lightly with a fond expression as he gazed at Laboon. "They didn't want to take him along because they feared he would get hurt," he added, still smiling.
"So the Rumbar pirates left the twin capes, leaving Laboon here in my care after promising they would return after three years for him," he stated as he turned to look at the horizon. "But they never came back," he concluded with a sigh.
"I went out to the sea in search of them, but I found no trace," Crocus stated while shaking his head. "And I had assumed that they merely fled the grand line somehow," he added while rubbing the back of his head.
"But it seems I was mistaken," he concluded with a smile. "So you don't know what happened to my grandfather and his crew?" Byron asked with a sigh, earning a negative headshake from the old doctor.
"Well, I know what happened to them, but I'm not sure you two would want to hear it," I remarked from the side after clearing my throat to get everyone's attention.
"Of course you do," Laffite murmured from the side, causing my eyes to twitch as I turned to look at him as he chuckled while shrugging his shoulders.
"Wait, you do?" Byron turned to look at me with wide eyes, causing me to nod with a shrug. "Then why didn't you tell me, captain?" he asked with a frown.
"I didn't know Yorki was your missing grandfather for sure, and I had my reasons not to ask," I replied with a shrug, causing the blonde musician to sigh.
"And how do you know what happened to them, even though they disappeared long before you were born?" Crocus asked with a raised eyebrow, giving me a side glance.
"I know many things, like the fact you were a member of Gol D Roger's crew," I replied with a smirk as I turned to look at the old doctor.
"And the fact Roger willingly surrendered to the marines in order to start the great age of pirates, but that's neither here nor there," I concluded with another shrug.
"Youngsters these days sure are scary," Crocus said with an amused chuckle while giving me another once over. "Let's hear it then," he added with a sigh, giving me his undivided attention.
"Yorki, and many of the Rumbar pirates contracted some sort of incurable illness sometime after leaving here," I explained, frowning while trying to remember the details.
"So Yorki appointed humming Brook as the new captain and procured a new ship," I added, causing Crocus to frown. "He took all the infected crewmates with him to save the others and tried to leave the grand line through the calm belt," I remarked, causing both Byron and Crocus to sigh.
"It goes to say that no one heard anything from him again," I concluded, pausing and waiting for Crocus and Byron to process my words. "I see. Then what happened to Brook and the others?" Crocus asked in a sad tone after several seconds' pause.
"Another pirate crew ambushed them in the Florian Triangle," I replied, swallowing a sigh as I began remembering the scene where Brook and Rumbar crew would play one last song.
"Though they managed to repel the attackers, they were already as good as dead because the attackers used poisoned weapons," I explained, shaking my head.
"They died doing what they loved to do the most, playing one last song," I concluded, causing byron to sigh while Crocus closed his eyes and looked away with a pained expression.
"But, there could be one survivor," I said after a minutes pause, causing both Byron to turn around, intensely looking at me. "Humming Brook should have eaten the Yumi-Yumi devil fruit," I added, pausing to think about how to describe the fruit.
"It's a paramecia devil fruit that resurrects the user after they die," I explained with a thoughtful expression. "So, for all I know, humming Brook might still be alive," I added with a smile.
...
"For all I know, humming Brook might still be alive," I remarked with a shrug of my shoulder, smiling. "He could be at the bottom of the ocean or stranded in the Florian Triangle, where the Rumbar pirates perished," I added as I alternated my gaze between Crocus and Byron.
"But he is most likely alive thanks to the Yumi-Yumi fruit," I concluded, pausing and waiting for Byron and Crocus to process my words.
"Doesn't mean that Brook would have been all alone for the past 40 something years?" Crocus asked, immediately understanding the implications of my words.
I looked at Crocus and nodded my head without saying a word, causing the old doctor's frown to become more pronounced as he went quiet, seemingly thinking about something.
"Captain!" Byron remarked in an urgent tone, turning to look at me. "If my grandfather's friend is still alive, and stranded somewhere out there, then I would like to help him," he added with a resolute expression, looking me in the eye.
"Please let me leave so I can help him as soon as possible!" Byron remarked in a firm tone, bowing his head in front of me.
I merely looked at Byron with a neutral expression as Laffite moved immediately after the musician finished speaking, kicking him in the abdomen and sending him crashing into the lighthouse.
"What do you think a pirate crew is?" Laffite asked calmly in an icy tone that differed notably from his usual cheery, polite manner of speech.
"Do you think we're playing pretend or something?" the navigator asked after using soru to reach Byron as he turned to look down on the blonde musician who was still on the ground.
"Calm down, Laffite," I sighed as I too made my way towards byron with a quick soru step, looking at the musician with the same neutral expression, waiting for him to explain his words.
"You and the rest of our crewmates have already done much for me, captain," Byron said as he slowly got up, bowing his head in front of me again.
"I'm already in more debt to you than I can pay for the rest of my life!" he added, and I still said nothing, knowing that he still had more to say.
"But I have to save my grandfather's crewmate," Byron said with a complicated expression. "And I've heard about the Florian triangle and how dangerous it can be," he remarked, gathering his resolve again.
"I can't ask you or the others to venture there for my sake, so please allow me to leave until I can rescue him, at least!" Byron concluded, bowing his head even deeper this time.
I looked at Byron with the same neutral expression I had on my face for the past couple of minutes and raised my hand, causing Byron to close his eyes and clench his fists, preparing for the pain.
I lowered my hand and placed it on Byron's shoulders, smirking, causing the musician to open his and raise his head to look at me with a confused expression.
"I appreciate your concern for the crew and me, Byron," I said with a smile while patting the musician's shoulder. "But you should learn to have some trust in your crewmates and captain," I added with a smile as I raised my hand again, clenching it into a fist and punching him in the face.
"The Florian triangle? A dangerous area that swallows pirate ships whole?" I remarked with a smirk as I picked Byron, helping him to his feet.
"What about it? You're following Johnny fucking silver hand, the man who will become the strongest!" I stated with a toothy grin, stretching my mouth from ear to ear.
"A mere Florian triangle is nothing but a vacation spot for me," I added while dismissively waving my hand to the side. "So, take a minute to think about your request again, and tell me, do you still want to leave, or maybe you want to ask something else from me?" I asked as I took a step back, waiting for the musician to process my words.
Byron looked at me for an entire minute, with his eyes opened wide in shock and expression full of awe. "Please help me save my grandfather's friend, captain!" Byron stated after sending me a grateful glance, bowing his head again.
"That's more like it," I remarked with a smirk, patting the musician's shoulder and helping him get rid of the dust and dirt on his shit, causing Byron to rub his neck awkwardly in embarrassment.
Laffite looked at this scene and nodded in satisfaction as his expression reverted to his usual cheerful one.
"Shame. Beating some sense into this blonde idiot would have been a fun distraction," Wilson commented from the side, causing Laffite and me to chuckle while Byron began sweating.
"Hmm, so you're aiming to become the strongest, eh?" Crocus commented from beside me, causing me to look at him in astonishment as I had seen him still standing far away from the corner of my vision merely a second earlier.
My astonishment immediately disappeared as I remembered I was dealing with a former crew member of roger's crew, and I nodded my head with a smirk while looking at the old doctor.
"You've chosen a hard dream to make into a reality, young man," Crocus remarked with a smile, staring into the distance with a wistful expression on his face.
"Even roger, for all of his strength and fame, wasn't the strongest," he added as he turned to look at me in a provoking tone. "And even old Whitebear himself became the strongest after roger's death as the two of them we equal in strength," he added while giving me a once over, seemingly evaluating me.
"Do you think you can achieve what even the pirate king couldn't do?" he asked with a smirk, raising an eyebrow in amusement.
"I know I can," I shortly answered with a confident smirk, and Crocus didn't reply, merely looking at me with the same evaluating expression on his face.
"It sure is good to be young," Crocus chuckled with a nod of his head. "Then I will look forward to hearing about how you will accomplish your dream," he added with a smile, chasing me a shrug with a smile of my own.
"But in any case, Brook is also my friend, and I would like to help him too, but I'm old and already retired," he stated with a sigh, shaking his head. "So if you need anything of me, then don't hesitate to ask," he added as he turned to look me in the eye.
"I will do my best to help you as repayment for saving mine and Laboon's friend," he concluded while gesturing towards the giant while, who had finally calmed down and stopped attacking the red line.
"I was hoping you would say that," I replied with a chuckle. "I have two people who need some medical attention, and who better to do that than the pirate king's ship doctor himself?" I added with a smile.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, young man," Crocus replied with a snort, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "However, depending on how much medical attention your friends need, I might not be of much help," he added with a sigh.
"I had sold most of my medical equipment to commission and purchase specialized tools that would help me in maintaining Laboon's health," he concluded with a shake of his head.
"I know a place where we find advanced medical equipment," I replied with a nod of my head. "But it's on another island, the drum Kingdom to be more precise," I added, pausing and giving Crocus time to think.
...
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