Chapter 3
Lesson on Piracy
For the majority of the day, the ship girls went around Marineford to get themselves familiar with the place and the locales, some in groups and some by themselves.
Dido came to a food court where there were several Marines dining at the moment. Seeing the waiters and waitresses having their hands full with the situation and the fact that she was a maid, she asked for permission to lend a hand. When the head of the place said he could use a hand, she responded in quite a literal fashion.
She amazed the folks when she summoned out of black smoke multiple floating white hands with black sleeves. The hands, under her command, took orders from surprised Marines and carried food around the place.
Because of this surprising sight, the once noisy food court became silent as everyone glued his or hers to the floating hands that were serving everyone and also the presence of Dido herself.
Elsewhere, Taihou and Prinz Eugen were together when some Marines walked by and commented on their beauty, and hearing their positive comments made those two smile. Those two have great pride in their beautiful appearances and love it when people praise them and fall for their good looks.
"They're as beautiful as the Pirate Empress Hancock!" said one Marine.
"I dare say they're even more attractive than her!" said another one.
"Careful, Hancock won't like it if she hears this, I think…" a third Marine warned them.
"Pirate Empress Hancock?" said Eugen curiously.
"Sounds like we have competition around here," said Taihou, sounding like she was eager to meet this Hancock person.
Z23, Javelin, Laffey, and Ayanami were at a book room, reading a book about all the known Devil Fruits in the world. They were amazed at the kinds of powers the fruits were capable of granting users. Some of the powers were more somewhat bland and generic, while some were bizarre and powerful.
"Here's one that grants invisibility to the user. I bet perverts will have a field day with this…" said Z23, sounding unimpressed, as she read about a Devil Fruit called the Clear Clear Fruit. She was the one sitting down and holding the book, while the other three stood around her. She then flipped to a different page.
"Here's one that lets you turn whatever you touch into doors. Strange…" commented Javelin upon reading one called the Door Door Fruit.
"It sounds useful for breaking into buildings," commented Ayanami.
The next page showed one called the Cook Cook Fruit. "You can turn any object into food? Sounds useful," commented Laffey.
They continued to look through the book and found out that Devil Fruits are categorized into three categories: Paramecia, Logia, and Zoan.
Zoan allows users to transform into animals. Logia grants users elemental powers and also render them intangible due to being able to transform into said elements. Anything that doesn't call into the aforementioned two categories belongs to Paramecia, which grants the users all sorts of powers, and there seems to be no limit as to what sort of powers there are.
"Wow… I can't imagine any of us being able to do anything to Logia users… They seem to be invincible!" commented Javelin.
"The Marines must have some way to deal with them," said Ayanami.
"Yeah, here's one page talking about Seastones," said Z23 as she came to a page that talked about Devil Fruit weaknesses. "It's a type of stone as hard as diamond capable of releasing an aura related to the sea and prevents Devil Fruit users from using their powers. I can only guess that the Marines use these Seastones to forge weapons capable of dealing with Devil Fruit users."
"It also says here that haki is another method for dealing with them," said Laffey as she pointed as a certain paragraph.
"At least we know they're not completely invincible," said Z23. "I still think it's not a smart move to trade your swimming capabilities for power, especially when you travel out to sea all the time. These pirates must insane, putting their lives at such great risk…"
"Yeah… I don't think we should be eating one ourselves either, considering that we move on water," said Javelin. "It might render us unable to stand on water any longer…"
"Laffey agrees," said Laffey with a nod.
"We should show this book to the others. It is important information, I think," said Ayanami, and the others agreed.
Later that day, the ship girls were summoned to an auditorium. Sakazuki wanted them to familiarize themselves with some of the more notorious pirates in the Grand Line, so he requested that they head over there, where they would be told about this.
Arriving at the auditorium, the ship girls saw a few Marines, most of them high-ranking ones. They took their seats up front and got ready for the presentation.
Brannew, the Marine in charge of placing bounties on pirates and giving out all sorts of information on them, was in front of a white screen. A Transponder Snail was on table in front of it, shining light onto said screen as if it was a projector.
"I heard that you girls come from another universe, as unbelievable as that is, so the Fleet Admiral requested that I give you a lesson regarding the pirates you may have to face during your stay," Brannew said to them.
The ship girls watched with enthusiasm, hoping to find out what sort of dangerous pirates they might come across in this world.
"First off, I would like to introduce to you the Shichibukai," continued Brannew. "They are seven powerful pirates who have allied themselves with the World Government and the Marines, thus making them our allies. They all possess tremendous power."
"Pirates working for the government…?" said Z23, sounding confused.
"Privateers… That was indeed something back in the olden days of our world as well," said Hood.
"The Shichibukai are allowed to pillage places that are not under the jurisdiction of the World Government, and they must offer a sum of their loots to them," explained Brannew. "They must also take orders from the Marines and the government. If they refuse to cooperate one too many times or abuse their power for evil purposes, they will be strip of their positions. Even though these seven pirates are rowdy people who are hard to control, they are nevertheless very important assets of power to the Marines.
"The government must have great confidence in controlling these pirates," commented Prinz Eugen.
"Or maybe they have some sort of leverage against them," said Kaga.
"I don't like the sound of allowing them to pillage just because a location isn't affiliated with the government," said Enterprise with a look of disapproval.
"In the likeliness that you run into them, here are some info on each of the seven members," said Brannew. He switched the screen to show a picture of a man wearing a black fedora. Some of the ship girls felt a bit of chill when they saw his eyes.
"His eyes are scary…" commented Javelin.
"It's almost like a… hawk's…" said Ayanami.
"This is Dracule Mihawk, also known as Hawk Eye," explained Brannew. "He is considered to the world's strongest swordsman, a title that many swordsmen have been trying to claim, but none have ever come close to beating him. He is a dangerous foe capable of sinking entire fleet of battleships in mere seconds and cut down mountain-sized things in a single slice.
The ship girls were amazed to hear his feats. "Are you for real?!" said Shigure.
"Incredible! I have never heard of such impressive swordsmanship skills!" said Zuikaku in awe.
The next slide showed the picture of an attractive woman with long black hair. "This is Boa Hancock, the Pirate Empress," explained Brannew. "She is the queen of the Amazons, an island inhabited exclusively by women. She has a Devil Fruit that allows her to turn anyone with lust in their hearts into stone."
"So she's the woman the Marines were comparing to, huh?" said Taihou with interest.
"She does have quite the looks," said Eugen.
"But I doubt she knows how to steal a man's heart as good as me!" said Taihou with confidence. She then turned to a couple of Marines sitting at the side and then winked and blew a kiss at them. The lower ranking ones responded with looks of lust and excitement, while the high ranking ones simply blushed.
Brannew then changed to a slide showing a blue-haired clown. "This is Buggy the Clown. He used to be part of the Pirate King's crew."
"A clown…?" said Laffey.
"A pirate being a clown… That's a new one…" said Javelin.
"Part of the Pirate King's crew? Does that not make him the strongest of the group?" asked Belfast.
"Well, about that… He does have quite a reputation… I'll leave it at that…" said Brannew, avoiding the question somewhat, before switching to a new slide, this one showing a man with a massive body, at least when compared to the head. "This is Bartholomew Kuma, also known as the Tyrant. Of the seven members, he is by far the most attentive obedient and therefore considered the most valuable to the World Government."
"Wow… What did he eat to be that big…?" wondered Shigure.
"Are those bear ears on his head?" asked Alabama.
"I'm sure Avrora will have some nice things to say about them!" commented Gangut.
The next slide showed another large man with a white, crescent-shaped moustache. "This is Edward Weevil," said Brannew. "He claims to be the son of the late Edward Newgate, also known as Whitebeard, the former strongest man in the world. "Of the seven, he's probably the most problematic, as he causes mass destruction wherever he goes and doesn't discriminate what he destroys for the most part. Despite this, the government still wants him to be part of the group."
"Man, he's ugly…" commented Gangut. "I wonder what his parents look like to give birth to someone like that."
"You shouldn't disrespect people just because of their looks," Hood told her.
"I think whatever I want! You got a problem with that?" Gangut rudely said to her while slouching against her seat.
"A confession has to be made now…" said Brannew. "Despite saying that there are seven, we actually only have five members in the Shichibukai at the moment… Two of them have gone rogue and therefore stripped of their positions, and the government has yet to find replacements for them. One of them formed an alliance with a notorious pirate crew that we will get to eventually, while the other one was found posing as a false king of a certain country and operating illegal businesses in secret."
Bismarck said with arms crossed, "Guess it indeed isn't easy keeping pirates on the leash…"
"Putting aside that, the notorious pirate crew I talked about…" Brannew told the ship girls. "That is the Straw Hat Pirates. Though they only made their debut two years ago, they have already shocked the world with their antics, quickly becoming one of the most well-known and dangerous pirate crews in the world."
He then showed them the picture of a cheerful young man wearing a straw hat. "This hear is Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates."
"Such a peculiar name…" commented Alabama.
"He looks harmless…" commented Z23.
"Looks can be deceiving," Brannew told them. "Luffy may look like an innocent young man, but he and his crew are the only crew in the world where every single member has a bounty. The captain himself is incredibly powerful when it comes to fighting, as Marines who battled him and lived to tell the tale can testify. His Devil Fruit power turns his body into rubber, thus allowing him to stretch great distances and has a degree of immunity to bullets and blunt impacts."
"Rubber? Doesn't sound that dangerous to me…" commented Akagi.
"Perhaps he has the strength to back up his stretching capabilities," said Kaga. "We've already seen that the humans here are capable of great strength, so for all we know, he might be strong enough to punch holes in walls with his bare fist."
"If blunt impacts won't do, then I shall use my sword to cut him down!" said Zuikaku.
"His bounty is 1,500,000,000 Bellies," said Brannew. "And by the way, our currency here is called Belly, assuming it's different from your world."
The ship girls were shocked to hear such a high number. "1,500,000,000?!" gasped Z23.
"What a massive number!" said Graf Spee.
"I don't know how much is that when converted into our currency, but with a number that high, it sounds like you'll become rich from capturing him…" said Prinz Eugen.
"Does bounty equate to power?" asked Enterprise.
"It mainly equates to how dangerous this pirate is to the World Government, but generally, the more dangerous they are, the more powerful they are as well," replied Brannew. "So yes, bounty number equates to power level for the most part. From this number, you can tell that Straw Hat Luffy is no pushover when it comes to fighting. He is a dangerous and powerful fellow!"
"He shall be a worthy opponent, then," said Zuikaku.
"Ha! All we have to do is blow up his ship!" said Shigure. "Let's see how a Devil Fruit user like him stay afloat afterwards!"
"Now I would like to talk about the top four most powerful pirates in the world, the Yonko," continued Brannew. "The Yonko are not only known for their monstrous powers, they also have massive armies under their command. They take over several islands at once and rule over them as if they are emperors, so going against a Yonko is more or less equivalent going to war against multiple nations at once."
"Impressive…!" said Hood in awe.
"I can't believe that pirates can have such power!" commented Belfast, also in awe.
The slide then showed a red-haired man. "This is Red-Hair Shanks," Brannew told the ship girls. "He also used to be one of the Pirate King's crew members. His bounty is 4,048,900,000 Bellies."
"That's even higher than Luffy!" said Z23 in shock.
"And just so you know, he lost his right arm a long time ago somehow, but even with only one arm, he is still very powerful," Brannew warned the ship girls. "He is one of the few swordsmen who can go toe to toe with Mihawk."
"If Mihawk can destroy entire battleship fleets in seconds and cut down mountains with a single of his sword, then this Shanks must be incredibly skilled with the sword to be able to stand up to him with only one hand…" said Enterprise in disbelief.
"A one armed swordsmen? I'm sure there is a movie about that back in our world," said Zuikaku.
"Next up is Blackbeard," said Brannew as he switched to the picture of a fat man with an ugly smile containing multiple broken teeth.
"Blackbeard… Somehow, I'm not surprised there is someone with that name here," said Hood.
"That seems to be the go-to name when it comes to pirates," said Eugen.
"His bounty is 2,247,600,000 Bellies," said Brannew. "It may be low compared to Shanks, but he is still incredibly dangerous. You were told about the war between Marines and pirates that happened two years ago, didn't you? He started the war by capturing the son of the Pirate King, Ace, and therefore invoking the wrath of the previous Yonko Whitebeard.
"He is also notable for being the only person in the world to have two Devil Fruit powers."
The ship girls were surprised to hear this. "Recalling information: I remember being told earlier that it is only possible for each person to have one Devil Fruit power, as continued attempt to consume a second one will result in the death of the devourer," said Gascogne.
"That's true, but somehow, Blackbeard managed to have two Devil Fruit powers, and how he did it, nobody knows!" replied Brannew. "The power he originally has is the Dark Dark Fruit, a Logia type that allows him to manipulate darkness, which according to eyewitnesses has power over gravity."
"Logia…!" whispered Ayanami, remember what she read from the book about that category of Devil Fruit and how it is considered the most powerful kind.
"His second power originally belongs to Whitebeard, the Tremor Tremor Fruit, which allows him to create earthquakes at will," continued Brannew. "Blackbeard currently possess both these powers, which makes him extremely powerful and dangerous."
"Create earthquakes at will… That's terrifying…!" commented Enterprise in awe.
"Imagine using it to create tsunamis… Even ship girls like us won't be able to withstand a giant wave crashing down on us…" said Bismarck.
"I don't want to run into him… I'm scared…" said Dido, trembling in fear.
"Moving on," said Brannew as he changed the slide to a picture of a large and fat woman with pink hair, not to mention an ugly face.
"Ugh… What a hag…" commented Gangut.
"I've seen barnacles prettier than her…" said Shigure.
"This is Charlotte Linlin, better known as Big Mom," explained Brannew. "Her bounty is 4,388,000,000 Bellies. She is best known for having a large amount of offspring, more than 80."
The ship girls were shocked to hear this. "That's a lot! How is she still alive-nya?!" said Akagi in disbelief.
"As much as I love the commander, I can't imagine giving birth to more than 80 children for him!" said Taihou. "I don't even know if ships like us can give birth!"
"Her Devil Fruit power allows her to steal the souls of people and manipulate them in some form," said Brannew. "People who had been to her base of operations, Whole Cake Island, reported that nonliving things there are all sentient, made possible by Big Mom inserting human souls into them."
"Manipulating souls… That's sounds powerful and scary, but also interesting!" commented Akagi with interest.
"This makes me wonder if ships like us actually do have souls, even if we are just like humans," said Zuikaku.
"Lastly, the King of Beasts, Kaido," said Brannew. "His bounty is 4,611100,000, the highest so far among living pirates. One can say that after Whitebeard's death, he's currently the strongest living thing in the world. We Marines actually successfully apprehended him before, but we were unable to execute him. He survived every single execution attempt until he escaped."
"How is that possible?!" said Javelin in shock.
"There is a belief back in our world that is a criminal is able to survive execution enough times, then he should be allowed to go free," said Zuikaku.
"I'm not sure that guy looks like someone who deserves to run around freely, though…" said Graf Spee. "Is he even human, by the way?"
"Pretty much every we've just learned about don't even behave like humans…" said Zuikaku.
Soon afterwards, the presentation was finished. As everyone began to leave the auditorium, Sakazuki went up to the ship girls and said to them, "I hope that was an informative presentation and that you learned something."
"That was indeed informative. We thank you for this presentation!" Bismarck said to him.
"With this knowledge, we will be able to take on the pirates," said Enterprise.
"Still, don't get too cocky. These folks are unlike anything you've faced," Sakazuki warned them. "Just because they're human doesn't mean they're pushovers compared to whatever the Sirens are. When you do encounter any pirates out there, don't show any mercy and do whatever you can to get rid of them. Evildoers like them deserve everything you give them!"
"They should consider themselves unlucky if they run into us! You can bet on us in beating the crap out of them!" said Shigure with confidence.
"Be on standby and get ready for any missions I may give you. I'll also give you a list of wanted posters for identification purpose," Sakazuki told them. "Until then, you are dismissed."
With that, the fleet admiral left. The ship girls tried to process everything they've learned as they left the auditorium as well. They were still having a hard time believing some of the incredible feats these pirates are capable of. It almost made them doubt they could actually do anything to these people.
Regardless, they told themselves that they would have to try their best if they were given missions to go after any of these pirates.
At the same time, they wondered how long they would be staying here until they can return to their own world.
TO BE CONTINUED
Not sure if the reactions here are good enough for you, but I still hope you found enjoyment to some extent. The ship girls were heading out to sea to see the world out there for the first next chapter. Please look forward to it!
Yes, Dido can summon floating hands, as seen in her Anxious Bisque Doll skin.
And Shigure's comment about barnacles being prettier than Big Mom is supposed to be a reference to the ugly barnacle story in SpongeBob. Ha!
