Welcome to the sixteenth chapter! This chapter will cover a very very very shortened Long Ring Island. This is because I dislike that arc as it felt very filler-ish. However it will also cover them heading to Water 7. Hopefully you guys enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: Don't own HP or OP
Death's Gift to His Master
Most of the trip to the next island consisted of Usopp telling stories to everyone about Skypiea and showing off his dials that he somehow acquired by trading rubber bands of all things. Of course, Luffy somewhat understood why the Skypieans accepted rubber bands as a form of currency considering that rubber was non-existent up there. On top of that Robin was showing off the pictures that she had taken to the ones that hadn't gone, having used her Devil Fruit ability to get good angles for all the photos. Somehow, without anyone noticing she had also recorded the battle between Enel and Nami. This had Nami blushing from all the praise that was thrusted upon her by everyone congratulating her. After everyone finished congratulating her Nami went to estimate how much Belly they were going to get from all the gold. When she told everyone, everyone was gaping at her.
"A-are you sure it's one point seven billion Belly?" Usopp asked, shocked.
"Mhm, we have about a thousand pounds worth of gold here and a pound of gold goes for about one point seven million Belly." Nami said.
"We'll be rich after this! We could buy a nation!" Chopper cheered.
Nami laughed and shook her head.
"Not at all, kingdoms, from what I know, are about ten billion Belly." Nami said, remembering an article from a long time ago.
"But still, it is a lot of money." Luffy said.
"True… but we shouldn't spend it all at once. We should save it." Nami said.
Robin seemed to be thinking, not really paying attention to that until she refocused on them.
"We need to invest in a vault for the Belly. Just in case we do get attacked they can't sneak in and steal the money." Robin said.
Robin did have a point. If they were ever attacked by someone they'd need a way to protect their treasure.
"I… might have something but I'd need your help again Usopp." Luffy said, turning to their resident experimenter.
"Alright, it should be an interesting project. I did like working with the D-Phones." Usopp said.
They dispersed then, Usopp and Luffy heading off to Usopp's workshop while everyone else remained on deck or headed off to do their paperwork. Down in the workshop Luffy conjured a set of blueprints. At first, they looked like blueprints for your average kind of safe. That was until Usopp looked closer.
"… There's wires inside the vault, what are they for?" Usopp asked.
Luffy directed him to a drawing of a panel to the right of the door.
"It's for that. It's a special type of handprint sensor that runs on magic. It'll only open the door if the person's magic, or in this case Haki, matches the signatures it has on file." Luffy said.
Usopp's eyes widened at that. It was a really neat idea and it'd be perfect to prevent thievery. Although Usopp had a question.
"Can a person mimic another person's Haki?" Usopp asked.
Luffy shook his head and smirked.
"Nope, each Haki signature is unique to a person. The only way a person can mimic it is through a potion that only I have the recipe and ingredients, to make." Luffy said.
"… Why would you be the only one with the ingredients for it?" Usopp asked hestitantly.
"Shishishi, because it requires my blood, more specifically it needs magical blood. Sure, there are other magical people out there but… they don't know they have magic." Luffy said.
Usopp shivered at the thought of drinking something that required blood. He already didn't like one of the potions that Kaya and Chopper had to give them after they trained particularly hard, specifically the Bone Repair Potion. Luffy had told them that a lot of potions can be flavored but the one that everyone didn't like couldn't because it'd cause it to explode. Although Usopp was very fond of the potion that removed muscle soreness. It tasted like blueberries and made him feel a hell of a lot better. Anyways, Usopp's thoughts were getting off topic so he refocused on the problem ahead.
"So, what is the vault going to be made of? It's all fine and dandy if nobody can get in but what if they try to blow it up?" Usopp said.
Luffy smirked mischievously at that and Usopp felt like that he was going to like the idea.
"So… I heard that you got some of those Impact Dials?" Luffy said.
Usopp started smirking as well, he definitely liked the idea. Luffy's idea turned out to be a special type of metal that could be only created through Alchemy, something that Usopp had only heard of through fairy tales. Luffy assured the long-nosed man that Alchemy was real. The type of metal they were making was called Perfection Metal otherwise known as Orichalcum. It was called such because the alchemical recipe could be changed based on what you wanted as well for one other reason. Three materials however always stayed the same. The first was a base metal for it to start from with the amount changing based on how much you needed. A vial of magical blood to power the transmutation, not changing based on amount needed. And lastly, crystallized fire to forge the new metal, also not changing. For the metal Luffy conjured enough titanium for the vault. They were using titanium not because it was the strongest metal, but because titanium worked the best for what they were aiming for. The strength was just a plus. For the blood, they had to have Chopper draw the blood as Kaya was taking care of a few patients. Personally Usopp thought the creation of the crystallized fire was the best part. It was a mind-bending event to see Luffy conjure fire in his hand and slowly watch it turn into a crystal that still held heat like fire.
The number of other materials depended on what you wanted. The other reason it was called Perfection Metal was because the metal took on the quality of the items that you alchemized into it. When Luffy had mentioned this Usopp instead handed Luffy a Reject Dial instead which held a lot more power. So Luffy was intending on using the reject dial and a diamond he had conjured. Their intent was to create a metal that if someone tried to blow it up it'd throw the force right back at them and not take damage from the recoil. Of course, the quality of diamond would prevent people from outright cutting the vault open. So, it was in the cargo room, where they had more room, that Usopp and Robin, who wanted to watch, were looking on at a giant diagram with various symbols on the ground.
"I can't believe I'm going to see someone use Alchemy, an art thought fiction." Robin whispered.
"I can't believe I get to work with a fantasy-like metal." Usopp added.
Luffy chuckled at them before dusting his clothes off as he finished the last symbol, which happened to be the Greek symbol for change, known as Delta. He stood up and looked at the diagram to make sure each item was in their required place. In the center of the diagram was the Titanium as it was what was going to change. In the circle that represented the cardinal direction, South, was the crystallized fire to represent the fire that would melt and mold the new metal. In the circle that represented West was the reject dial and in the circle that represented East was the diamond. The diagram changed based on how many materials you were using, but Luffy chose this one because it held a lot of meaning in terms of magic. This was why he made his way to the empty circle that represented North. In many magical cultures North had represented illumination and discovery. So, it would make sense for him to use his blood here because with magical blood this alchemical formula was discovered and they were illuminated with the idea of Orichalcum.
"Here we go," Luffy said before uncorking the vial.
He quickly upturned the vial and dripped the blood onto the circle's border. He then closed his eyes and spoke.
"Mutatio, imperfecto ad perfectum." Luffy chanted.
Suddenly the blood started to move and fill each and every groove of the diagram. It was as if there was instantly enough blood to fill the diagram, and fill it, it did. As soon as the diagram was filled with blood it started glowing red followed by the titanium in the center glowing. The crystallize fire then flew into the large glowing pile of metal which instantly turned into a liquid state. After that the dial and the diamond flew to the liquid and merged with it. Suddenly there was a flash and when it dissipated, in the center was now a pile of pure white and gleaming metal that glittered like diamond.
"There you have it, enough Orichalcum to make a vault. Uh, you might want me to make the vault by the way." Luffy said.
"…Why's that?" Usopp asked.
"It was made with a reject dial and a diamond. Any force you use against it will be reflected back onto you." Luffy added dryly, causing Usopp to pale.
"Right. I'll let you get at that." Usopp said.
They soon got to work at making the vault, Luffy conjuring the materials to make the panel for Usopp. Robin stayed behind because she wanted to ask Luffy questions about Alchemy, which he was happy to oblige.
It took them a week filled with a lot of caution on Luffy's part to not get himself killed but they did it. The Commanders were standing in awe at the giant pure white sparkling vault that took up the back of the cargo hold. It was there that Luffy had each of the Commanders register their Haki signature with the panel. He also gave Nami the ability to lock out someone if she feels that they've been taking too much. It made sense since Nami was the Finance Commander. Though he did tell her that she couldn't lock people out just because she wanted to be the only one to have access to the treasure. Yeah, he saw her pout at that. It was a day after they finished the vault that they arrived at their next island. It was there that Luffy sensed a powerful signature on the island. The crew got off the ship and made their way onto the island.
The island was pretty weird as all the animals and plants had a long something, whether it be neck, legs, body, or a combination of the three. They wandered around until Luffy stopped dead in his tracks.
"Everyone, get back to the ship now." Luffy said.
"Why Cap'n?" Alvida asked, curious.
"I hate to interrupt but… I think your captain's referring to me." A voice sounding in front of them spoke.
The crew looked forward and when they saw the person, Robin froze on the spot. A few of them recognized the man but others didn't. It was a man with puffy black hair wearing a sleeping mask over his hair, a blue shirt and yellow tie with a white vest and pants. The man was lazing around, lying on the ground.
"Admiral Aokiji, what are you doing here?" Luffy asked, icily.
"Arara, why do you have to be so hostile. I'm just here to check up on Robin here." Aokiji said calmly, standing up and dusting off his pants.
"Why would you need to check up on Robin? What has she done to warrant the attention of an Admiral?" Nami bit out.
Aokiji simply raised an eyebrow and yawned.
"Did Robin not tell you why she got a bounty as a child?" He asked.
"No, she did. But we want to know why you are here." Carmen replied.
That seemed to surprise Aokiji a slight bit.
"Oh, so you did tell them, interesting. I didn't come here to fight, nevertheless." He said, aiming to walk away.
"No you don't. I have a bone to pick with you of all people. Everyone, return to the ship." Luffy said.
"But Luffy!" Kaya shouted.
"Captains Orders! None of you are ready to hear this conversation." Luffy shouted.
Reluctantly everyone returned to the ship, Nami and Carmen pulling Robin around.
"Oh? We're going to have a conversation?" Aokiji asked, ice starting to pour from his body.
"Yes, you're going to explain to me your Justice and why you of all people decide to side with the Marines." Luffy said, conjuring fire into his hands.
Aokiji's eyes widened a bit at that before his eyes narrowed.
"There were rumors about that but the Marines were never sure…" Aokiji muttered.
Luffy smirked and raised a brow.
"Ah, so the Admirals do know the secret that the World Government keeps. But do you know the full secret?" Luffy asked before launching the fireball at Aokiji.
Aokiji's reaction was rather instant as a block of ice formed and stopped the fireball, barely even melting in the process. Luffy and Aokiji kept up this dance, Luffy launching fireballs that increasingly got hotter as Aokiji would block the fire with ice that would progressively melt more.
"Yes, we know that your kind killed millions." Aokiji said with a narrowed look.
Luffy broke out into a fit of laughter that stunned Aokiji. Aokiji then glared at Luffy.
"Why are you laughing! That's not funny! It makes you a menace!" Aokiji shouted throwing a lance of ice at Luffy.
Luffy rolled his eyes and dodged the ice lance.
"You're cute you know? You honestly believe the lies of the Accursed Dragons?" Luffy sneered at Aokiji.
"What are you talking about?" Aokiji asked, his eyes narrowed once more as he started throwing more ice lances.
"Did they even tell you why my kind killed millions? Why there was a war between the Great Kingdom and the Twenty Kingdoms to begin with?!" Luffy shouted, dodging each and every ice lance as if it was nothing.
Each word that Luffy spoke seemed to create a crack in Aokiji's calm. Soon enough though the man seemed to be panicking, albeit it was only slightly visible.
"Shut up! Ice Block! Pheasant Beak!" Aokiji shouted, throwing his strongest attack at Luffy.
Instantly a giant pheasant made out of ice formed and started flying at Luffy. Luffy whipped out the Elder Wand and roared out a spell name that he didn't think he'd have to use. The ice appeared to be too cold to melt otherwise.
"Fiendfyre!" Luffy roared.
Instantly a giant Phoenix of pure fire spewed out of the wand and slammed into the ice pheasant. The two beasts of elements clashed as if they were actually alive. The fiendfyre was sentient to a point but Aokiji was probably controlling the pheasant. With each clash of talons of fire and ice there was a massive shockwave that rippled throughout the entire island. Luffy decided he had enough of Aokiji's stubbornness.
"You know what, I'll tell you why we killed millions." Luffy said.
"Stop it!" Aokiji shouted, not wanting to listen.
Well, Luffy was going to force him to listen one way and another. He then spoke something that would forever shatter Aokiji's faith in the World Government.
"The reason that the Great Kingdom killed millions was because they were the defendant! The Twenty Kingdoms were hunting down each and every magical to experiment or to kill! The Twenty Kingdoms consisting of twenty families slaughtered almost four billion magicals in a world where the population was twelve billion!" Luffy roared.
Instantly Aokiji broke down in a panic which in turn shattered the ice pheasant due to his break of control. Luffy took that time to dismiss the Fiendfyre and walk up to the man and sit down.
"It can't be." Aokiji muttered to himself.
"Oh, it is. What do you expect from people who endorse slavery? The magicals were people that the twenty families wouldn't allow live." Luffy said.
"But how could the magicals plan to beat eight billion people?" Aokiji asked hoarsely.
Luffy laughed and smiled at that.
"We weren't four billion people strong, we were eight billion people strong. We had four billion people worth of non-magical allies. The only reason that we lost was because of the weapons they had." Luffy said with a sigh.
"How… how do you know all this?" Aokiji asked.
"Shishishi, maybe one day you'll find out. More than likely sooner rather than later" Luffy said.
Luffy's eyes softened when he saw how despondent Aokiji looked. He sighed and held out a hand. The man gave him an odd look.
"Why are you helping me?" Aokiji asked.
"Because you look like you need it. If you trust in us, you'll find the truth one day. Plus, I plan to bring peace to this world." Luffy said.
Aokiji laughed at that.
"Peace? In a world like this? It's impossible." Aokiji said darkly.
"How would you know if you didn't try?" Luffy asked.
Aokiji gave a chuckle and accepted the hand. Luffy pulled the man up and gave him a smile.
"Well, I guess you're right about that." Aokiji said.
"Shishishi! Well then, welcome to the Straw Hat Pirates." Luffy said.
Aokiji smiled at that before Luffy led him back to the ships. There Robin froze when she saw Aokiji but Luffy eased her worries.
"He's one of us now." Luffy said.
"Wait, you recruited an Admiral?" Usopp asked, confused.
"Well, I'm a former Admiral now. I ditched the coat after all." Aokiji said.
Robin however wanted to ask a question.
"Why did you accept him?" She asked.
"Because Robin, he was only in the Marines because he believed the lies the World Government created. Trust in me." Luffy said, sending her a smile.
That completely eased her and she smiled back.
"So, what's his rank?" Carmen asked.
"Well, I figured we'd need someone who can lead our forces when we're at war. So, I figure Commander of the Assault Forces?" Luffy said.
The crew seemed to think about it for a second before nodding. However, Alvida wanted to know something.
"What does he have jurisdiction over?" She asked.
"Well, he has a bit of jurisdiction in each of the combat-type divisions. He'll be getting reports from you guys because he'll need to know what's going on." Luffy said.
Alvida nodded, understanding what he meant.
"By the way, you guys can call me Kuzan. Aokiji was my epithet." Kuzan said.
After that they had a party for their new Commander which at first Kuzan was uncomfortable with, as Marines really didn't party. However, they managed to convince him to participate. While they were partying Luffy contacted Marco.
"Marco, yoi." Marco answered, his face appearing on Luffy's phone and sounds of partying in the background.
"Hey, what's the progress on trying to contact or find Ace?" Luffy asked.
Marco gained a frustrated look on his face.
"Irritating, yoi. Ace seems to have gone off the grid, yoi. We can't contact him at all, yoi. Please tell me you have good news, yoi." Marco practically begged.
Luffy gave him a big smile that made Marco relax in relief.
"We recruited an Admiral." Luffy said, causing Marco to gap in shock.
"What, yoi?! How, yoi?!" Marco almost shouted.
"Well… I may have shaken the man's views but he's fully on our side now. It's Admiral Aokiji." Luffy said.
Marco ran a hand through his hair before sighing.
"Well, Aokiji was the nicest of the three Admirals, yoi. But it's still surprising that you managed to recruit him, yoi." Marco said.
"But still it's good, he's the only one, at least as far as I know, that can stand on equal grounds with Akainu." Luffy said.
Marco lit up at that, as if just realizing it.
"Yeah, that's actually a great point, yoi. With him we'll have it much easier when it comes time for war, yoi. Speaking of that, what's the status of your forces, yoi?" Marco asked.
Luffy shuffled around some papers on his desk before he found what he was looking for.
"Well, it appears that we managed to recruit a few people at Jaya due to our fight with Teach. So far it seems we have around five hundred people. If we want any more we'll need more ships." Luffy said.
Marco nodded before similarly pulling up a sheet of paper.
"Alright, we have over around sixteen hundred people in our crew and over five hundred allies so that brings our total to around two thousand six hundred, yoi." Marco said.
Luffy repeated Marco's earlier action by running a hand through his hair, pushing his straw hat off his head.
"Hmm, the problem is that the Marines are a force of over a hundred thousand strong. But thankfully Marineford, from what I know, isn't large enough to support that many people. So even if they do bring most of their forces, they'd be forced to keep them on warships." Luffy said.
Marco nodded at that and leaned back in his chair.
"Thankfully though you have Kuzan now, yoi. He can easily take care of all the warships with his Devil Fruit powers, yoi. This war will be a long one, not in terms of time but effort, yoi." Marco said.
"But it'll be worth it. We'll be one step closer to ending the threat of the World Government." Luffy said.
Marco steeled his eyes at that and gave another nod.
"That's very true, yoi. Anyways, I think I should get back to the party as its about to end soon, yoi. Gotta get ready to kick everyone back to their rooms, yoi." Marco said.
"Alright then, let me know as soon as you get information on Ace, Luffy out." Luffy said before ending the call.
The next morning their ship made their way to the next location. About a week in they ran into what looked like a train speeding by and hitting a frog-like sea king. It was there that they spotted a train stop. There, was an old lady, a rabbit, and a little girl.
"Grandma! It's pirates!" The little girl shouted, causing the old lady, who appeared to be on a phone call, hang up.
"Hey there youngsters, what are you doing here so close to the Sea Train?" The old lady asked.
"I apologize, we're following our Log Pose which seems to be pointing in the direction the train came from." Luffy said, bowing.
The old lady laughed at him before smiling.
"Oh, a young man who has manners, that's refreshing. Well, the location that the train was coming from is Water 7, the place with the best shipwrights in the world. Even the World Government uses them. Speaking of that, why is an Admiral traveling with pirates?" She asked.
Kuzan sheepishly rubbed the back of his head before speaking.
"Former Admiral, mam. Captain here showed me the darker side of the World Government." Kuzan said.
The old lady nodded, understanding very well how the World Government could hide their dark side. Luffy however, had a question.
"Wait, best shipwrights? That's great! We're in need of one. I mean our shipwrights are good but they don't have any formal training." Luffy said.
The old lady seemed to perk up at that before turning around to write something down. She then held it up and Luffy grabbed it using his rubber powers.
"Take that to Dock One in Water 7. The President of Galley-La, Iceburg, will help you. Tell him Kokoro sent you." Kokoro said.
Luffy nodded but seemed to notice that Aokiji had stiffened when hearing Iceburg's name. Before he could ask the little girl spoke up.
"Before you go I wanna introduce myself! I'm Chimney and this is my cat Gonbe." The little girl said, holding up the rabbit.
"Meow." The rabbit said, causing everyone to sweatdrop.
Nevertheless, the group introduced themselves before they left. When they left Luffy turned to Kuzan.
"What's wrong?" Luffy asked, everyone having a curious look on their face.
"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we might have a problem." Kuzan said.
"What's the problem?" Carmen asked.
Kuzan sighed before sitting down on the nearest chair, which happened to be right by him.
"Cipher Pol 9 is currently undercover in Water 7 at Galley-La." Kuzan said, causing everyone who knew of CP9 to stiffen, which turned out to be more than half.
"Who's Cipher Pol 9?" Usopp asked.
Robin braced herself against a wall before speaking.
"Cipher Pol 9 or CP9 is a secret government agency, the ninth tenth group of Cipher Pol. To go against Cipher Pol means to go against the World Government. CP9 specializes in assassination. What are they doing there?" Robin asked.
Kuzan sighed again before answering.
"They are there to retrieve the blueprints for the Ancient Weapon Pluton from Iceburg by any means necessary." Kuzan said.
Everyone stilled at that, especially Luffy and Robin.
"Why does Iceburg have the blueprints?" Luffy asked.
He would have thought that those blueprints had been destroyed centuries ago.
"Because apparently the blueprints are passed from master to student to protect them. Iceburg got them from his master, Tom." Kuzan said.
Luffy sighed before stepping forward to address everyone.
"Well, looks like we're heading into another potentially hostile situation. Everyone, be ready because it looks like we're going to war with the World Government." Luffy said.
Alrighty! Water 7 arc here we are and a new friend! After the next two chapters it will get rather crappy because I'll be speeding past Thriller Bark straight into Amazon Lily then after that chapter is Impel Down + Marineford, both very shortened as well. This is because I dislike Thriller Bark, Impel Down, and Marineford. The first because it's eh, and the other two because both are rather sad. Suggestions are always welcomed!
