Disclaimer: I do not own One-Piece nor any of it's characters. Those belong to Oda Eiichiro.

Nunya Bizniz

Chapter Thirty: An Offer

Ace was sitting on the railing, casting a fishing line. Until breakfast was ready he would have nothing to do. Zoro was nearby, napping away. The sound of someone climbing the ramp drew Ace's attention. He looked to see Sabo's hat just starting to become visible. He reeled in the line and set the pole down. Last time he lost a fishing pole Rachel and Missy had him scrubbing the deck with a toilet brush, not fun.

Ace started to greet Sabo, but stopped short. A man in a green cloak was following him on board. "Hi Ace," Sabo cheerfully greeted. "Where are the others?" Ace looked to the side. Sabo followed his line of sight to see Zoro snoring away. The blonde male just shook his head. "That's fine, he can stay asleep. Do you know where Rachel is? Is she in her workroom?"

"No she's in the kitchen," Ace answered. "She decided to make use of her time that way instead of just waiting around."

"That makes sense," Sabo nodded. "I brought with me someone that wants to meet her. Do you think we could go down there?"

"I'll go and see how things are going," Ace said. He then disappeared below, making a beeline for the kitchen.

Upon entering the room in question, Ace found Rachel just closing the oven. "Can you spare a few minutes?" he asked.

"What did you do?" Rachel demanded.

Ace sighed then walked over to the blackboard. He made a mark under Rachel's name then turned back to her. "Actually, Sabo is back from making his report. He brought with him someone that wants to meet you."

Rachel's face visibly paled at that. There's only one person that Sabo has to report to. Not to mention that said person was curious about her. She didn't like to be on the receiving end of too much attention. "Son of a bisquit eater," she cursed. She then stared Ace down, drawing him into a staring contest. When he blinked she spoke again. "Keep an eye on the oven," she said. "After fifteen minutes, pull out the pan. Otherwise our meal will be burnt. If that happens, I'll make you eat it all while I cook something for myself."

"You worry too much," Ace waved dismissively. "For now though, you really should go and see what Sabo and his 'friend' want."

"Probably the secrets to mass destruction," Rachel muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," Rachel bolted out of the room. She stopped by her room to change into a fresh T-shirt. If he was expecting her to dress up on short notice he was in for a surprise. Rachel then headed up onto the deck. She quickly spotted Sabo waiting for her. Not to her surprise, Dragon was standing next to him.

"There you are," Sabo grinned. "I was expecting you to run off." He had a teasing smile on his face.

"The ramp would have made too much noise," Rachel joked. "You would have been able to catch me in the act. Well, you or Zoro, depends on his mood." She walked up to the two men and stopped. She stared pointedly at Sabo.

"Rachel, I would like to introduce you to the leader of the Revolutionists." Sabo stepped to the side so that she and Dragon were facing each other. "This is Monkey D. Dragon, Luffy's father. Leader, this is Rachel. Ace, Luffy and I have adopted her and her sister Missy as our sisters as well."

"It's nice to meet you sir," Rachel grinned. "I like the work you do."

"The work I do?" Dragon asked.

"Giving the Government hell."

A large smirk spread across Dragon's face. "I take it you don't agree with the way the government runs things?"

"What exactly are they running?" Rachel asked. "I see them running the common folk further into the ground if that's what you mean. In which case, I would have to answer that I don't agree with it."

"Leader," Sabo cut in at this point. "Rachel has an interesting take on how the government should be run." Dragon glanced at him, then back to Rachel.

Rachel let out a sigh and glared at Sabo. "Way to put me on the spot," she growled. She then took a deep breath and looked at Dragon again. "It's nothing complicated if you think about it. A government for the people, with the people and by the people."

Dragon raised an eyebrow at that. "What, exactly, does that mean?"

"The people vote out of a group of pre-selected individuals. Those individuals are not of the noble or royal classes. They're everyday citizens, perhaps with experience in leadership and fair guidance. Those that are voted to rule will do so for four years. At that time a new rotation of individuals will be decided to vote between. Those that ran the office before may also be among the list. This makes the government officials want to do what's best for the people. In that way they will be well liked and have a higher chance of being voted back into power. However, they are only allowed to run for leadership in the government so many times before they are required to retire. This keeps the system in a constant rotation of checks and balances. More than one person, preferably fifty, is voted in to serve as advisors to a single individual, a president if you will. Any laws the advisors make have to go through the president. If the president deems them unacceptable then the law will not be passed, or vetoed. In retrospect, the president can not pass any laws without the express permission of his advisors. On a whole, any new laws should take a few years to be considered if they put the effort and consideration into them and how they will effect the common people. All laws that restrict individual rights should be abolished. An example would be having to bow to Celestial Dragons. I want to know what the Celestial Dragons of this day and age have done to earn respect. Not a damn thing if you ask me."

Dragon listened to what Rachel had to say calmly. "I like the idea of your proposal," he finally said. "It's something to consider as we work towards abolishing the World Government." Dragon took a long look around the deck of the ship. "I would like to discuss that at a later date with you if you have the time. Now, however, I have a few questions about your ship."

Dragon started walking to the front of the ship and back again. "Sabo tells me that you have this ship armed and ready for combat. Yet I see no evidence of that."

Rachel had a sly smirk on her face. "We have a saying back home," Rachel said. "'The dog that barks the loudest is often the weakest'. You see no weapons because we're not barking and showing our fangs." Rachel went to one of the turrets and hit the raise lever. When the guns were within full view Dragon came closer to inspect them. "These things are one of the Nunya's best kept secrets."

"They look like cannons," Dragon observed. "Yet, I don't see how they can work at all."

"It's not that complicated," Rachel explained. "I build a special kind of ammo that I refer to as shells. They all vary in size, depending on the gun I'm using them for." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a dark blue shell. It was about three inches in length. "This is just one example. It's not the smallest shell I make and by no means is it the largest either. I use this type of shell for my sniper rifle. The tapered tip and length give it extra distance and speed. This particular one I made out of a sea prism stone, that's why it has a blue tint to it. The others I make I'll use mostly copper for the casing. The normal bullets themselves are made of iron. Except my turret shells and torpedos. Those are made with a little something more. Anyway, inside each casing is a blend of gun powder with a few other ingredients. The bullet's intended use depends on what blend of gun powder I will use. Some are more explosive than others."

"Sabo gave me a brief explanation of torpedos," Dragon admitted.

Rachel nodded her head at that. "It doesn't surprise me he would be impressed with it," she answered. "The torpedos themselves have to have their own energy source so that they can travel through water without decreasing in speed. It takes a lot of effort to build one, not to mention money. The materials needed are hard to come by. But for larger and harder to sink ships, they work the best." Rachel continued to explain to Dragon how the weapons worked on the Nunya. She offered to take him to her workroom and show him the different guns she used. One of them included the sniper rifle that saved Ace and killed Trebol. Ace chose that moment to interrupt them, telling Rachel that the fifteen minutes were up.

"Then I guess it's breakfast time," Rachel announced. She turned to Dragon and Sabo. "The tour will have to wait. Would you care to join us?" she asked. Both men nodded in agreement. "I'll go and get Zoro. I'll see you all when we get there." The three men went below deck as Rachel went to go wake Zoro.

Rachel crouched next to Zoro and lightly shook his shoulder. "It's breakfast time Zoro," she announced. He didn't move an inch. Rachel shook him a little harder and still got no response. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out Rachel renewed her efforts. She leaned even closer to Zoro, shaking his shoulder a bit more. "Wake up Zoro," she spoke normally.

Before Rachel could react, an arm shot out and grabbed her waist. She was pulled into Zoro's lap at that point. She let out a squeak of surprise. "Now that was interesting," Zoro's voice sounded. "So you squeak when you're surprised."

"Don't tease me," Rachel pouted. She mock slapped Zoro's shoulder. "It's time for us to eat. Let me up you goof."

"I kind of like where you are right now," he argued.

"I suppose we could stay here," Rachel wore a knowing smile. "But that will mean giving your portion to Ace and Sabo, along with our guest." As she expected Zoro stood up at the provocation. He didn't, however, release his grip on her. Instead he carried her down below the decks. "I have two perfectly good legs," she snapped. Before Rachel could mount an explanation as to why he should let her down they were in the galley, three men watching them. "This is so humiliating," she moaned.

Not paying her any mind, Zoro strode into the room. He set Rachel down in a seat and took the place next to her. During the meal, Dragon started asking questions about the Nunya. Rachel answered the best she could until the subject of it's power supply rose. "I don't have that information," Rachel said regretfully. "You see, I specialize in the weapons systems. It's my sister Missy you should ask about the engine. She knows more about it than I do. She built the thing after all. I can answer a few basics, but the details that you want are lost on me."

Once the meal was complete, Rachel escorted Dragon through the ship, Sabo and Zoro tagging along. She explained that they used solar power to keep everything running. The ramp was shown, the turrets when they weren't in use and the torpedo launcher. She finished the tour with showing him what she had in her workroom.

"It's time for me to head back," Dragon announced. "Before I go I have a question. Would you and your sister consider putting these weapons and energy sources onto our own ships?"

"Are you going to use them only on the Government vessels and pirates that really deserve it?" Rachel asked.

"If you hadn't noticed," Zoro started. "We're pirates too."

"But we don't deserve to be shot at."

"This is true."

"I can make that promise," Dragon agreed.

"In that case, I'll take your request into consideration. It's not just up to me on who receives our technology. Especially since she'll be the one installing the power supply generators." Dragon nodded in understanding. He's waited this long to cause an uprising, he could stand to wait a little longer.