Chapter 29
A/N: I don't name my chapters. But if I did, this one would be titled 'Phone Calls'.
Kivuruk Island, Jack's Favorite Hilltop
It's been five weeks since 'Hornigold's war' and things have been...slow.
Well, slow for me at least. It seems everyone else around here is just bustling constantly. The Marine presence across South Blue has been continuing to tick upward every few days. Ships that normally would have to go out patrolling are instead staying in port to do crackdown operations. Seedy towns and bars full of lowlifes are one by one being cleared out in much the same way that Timber Bay was.
Mori's been picked up for some fast-track to officer program which is good for him I suppose. All the details I really know about it is it's some three month training course seclusion thing. If he passes he'll emerge out the end as a full fledged Ensign. Gets to walk around with a fancy white coat on his back and everything. Supposedly he gets one phone call a week but since I imagine he's going to use it for his wife each time it means my friend's gonna be on radio silence for awhile now.
Barker's good. Guilford's good. The village here on Kivuruk is continuing to build. Everyone's just advancing along whereas I..am just not. Oh sure I've had some progress. Managed to find a few onesie-twosie pirates still in the ocean that hadn't fled to other waters in the aftermath of Hornigold's defeat. Helped clear out some of those aforementioned seedy towns too. Both added a few tick marks to my Billion Beri [Quest] but nothing terribly substantial.
[Natural Growth] is still bumping up my STR stat on its weekly schedule. I even got the second tier [Perk] when it hit 500 a few days ago. I won't bore you with the details of all the numbers and fancy text windows that the [Game] hit me with. I'll just give you the cliff notes version.
[Berserker's Blood]
1) Gain a 1% passive boost in STR for each 1% of my Health lost while in combat.
2) The boost doesn't disappear as [HP Regen] heals me of any damage taken.
3) So long as I keep fighting and healing the bonus can theoretically stack indefinitely.
4) And once I've exited combat it takes a full 10 minutes before the gained STR starts to wane back down to normal levels.
A self-depreciating chuckle manages to escape me. It's like a bad joke isn't it? Yet another ridiculous power to make me a monster among minnows. I'm no doubt one of the strongest humans in South Blue by this point. I'm so stupid rich from bounty payouts I could retire for life in a mansion of my own design. And yet I'm sitting here on a hilltop, metaphorically twiddling my thumbs, paralyzed by indecision.
On the one hand things are stable here. Should be for awhile. I'm more than ready to take that big step like so many others before and make my first foray into the Grand Line. I mean hell, not to sound like an overconfident jackass but with how many abilities I've got tucked under my belt there's a fair chance that much of what Paradise has to offer won't even phase me.
That was true before 'Hornigold's war' and its even more true now. I earned such goodwill in the newspapers during the week after the event that the upper brass lifted that annoying little moratorium preventing me from turning in corpses. Getting the cash payout for Kowalik and crew finally triggered the [Game]'s completion of my last bounty related [Quest] -besides the big big one that is- and let me walk away from the counter with enough EXP to propel my Lv. all the way up to 74.
And though the 'catch a 50+ mil bounty' [Quest] didn't come with any major stat boots like it's predecessors had, it did award me a Lv.5 [Skill Disk] which is an absolute hell of a nice thing to have saved in your back pocket.
There's only one major problem holding me back. Preventing me from saying my goodbyes and just hopping on Kiwi to gun it straight for Reverse Mountain.
..South Blue who's bounties total at least One Billion Beri. Progress:(941,233,050/1,000,000,000)
Reward: 99,000 Exp, +25 LUK, and ?
I am so close.
So close it hurts.
Surely I could have found those extra few numbers somewhere. I mean don't get me wrong because I made a shitload of progress over the course of that battle. 15 mil for that Chevill guy. 36 on Fumori and his Calm-Calm Fruit. Double-dipping on Zōken and Garna. A million here, a million there. All the tens of dozens of low-tier fodder that had small little prices that only seem to matter in aggregate. Not to mention Hornigold's lieutenants followed by the big man himself and all the scraps I continued to clean up in the hours after.
Those numbers added up.
It's just frustrating to think about, that if I had done things a little differently then that number might have hit the goal by now.
'Nothing says you're "required" to finish that [Quest] y'know? You could just put it aside and go after Eustass now. You have to do it soon anyway. Clock's ticking.' With a shake of my head I banish the traitorous thought. It's unwise to think like that. My desire for a rematch with the redheaded bastard shouldn't trump the benefits of staying and finishing the job I've set for myself...even if that insidious voice in my head is right about one thing.
The timeline.
As I said earlier it's been five weeks. Five weeks and two days since Crocodile's expulsion from the 'Seven Warlords of the Sea'. The Skypiea arc is surely done by now. Water 7 most likely as well. The events of Enies Lobby could kick off tomorrow for all I know. Fuck, the newspaper hasn't arrived this morning yet either. It might already be over.
If that's true, that just leaves a little travel time, Thriller Bark, a little more travel time, and then...Sabaody. My mood briefly spikes at the reminder. I know where he's going to be. Eustass and his ilk butchered more than half of my adopted home, the people who took me in, and time's running out and I know where he's going to be and time's running-
A calming breath passes through my nose as I force myself to settle. Letting anger rule my choices is how I lost a life to him stupidly in the first place. We have to be better than that.
A soft munching of leaves distracts me from my thoughts and I turn to look at the Den-Den-Mushi grazing next to me. A totally neutral expression on its face as he slowly chews the cabbage I've set out for him.
He has no idea that I'm dreading the fact he could ring at any time. Ring with a potential phone call that's hanging over my head like the Sword of Damocles.
Even now I'm still divided on what I'm supposed to do about it.
Flashback
"Kee wee. Kee wee kee?"
"I know buddy. I know.' I whispered, stroking my hand gently through his feathers as the figure silently approached. "Just relax. We'll see what he wants."
The Cipher Pol agent comes to a halt a few steps in front of me and simply stares down at where I'm sitting. His white suit is immaculate. His posture nigh perfect. It's difficult to get a read on him.
Sure I can see his title. And [Observe] is doing its usual trick just fine. But outside of the words I read there I couldn't pick up a single thing. No emotions. Nothing from his demeanor. Just a stone cold business face partially obscured under that hat.
He moves the medium-sized box cradled under his arm center-stage and slowly props it open for me to look inside. I stand up to do so and my eyes widen at the three objects inside.
The first item is mundane. A simple letter. It's ornate I'll give it that. Just looking at it I can see the crispness of the cardstock. The thickness of it. A deliberately expensive form of stationary. It even has a fancy wax seal right on the front.
The second is also relatively plain, if not a bit more rare. A white coat with 'Justice' stamped on the back. I've been offered one before but it's different to actually see it right in front of me. I can also see by the rank markings present on the shoulders that it's for the position of 'Captain'.
There are so many Captain Jack Sparrow jokes I could make it's insane. A goddamn plethora of 'em. But I'm too distracted to think of them. The third item, the last of them, has got my ability to focus properly stopped flat.
It's never really explained in One Piece on exactly 'why' some Den-Den-Mushi take on the appearance of those whom they call. Trafalgar Law's snail has droopy eyes and bears his iconic spotted hat. Blackbeard's has a thin scratchy mustache and a sinister grin that's missing teeth. Katakuri's hides its mouth behind a large fur-lined scarf.
Are these snails simply being 'dressed up' by their owners? Is the copying of hair and facial features related to the snails telepathic abilities somehow? As I said, it's never explained. I suppose at the end of the day the answer doesn't 'truly' matter.
Maybe I'm just trying to distract myself because the design of the last item in the box, a Den-Den-Mushi if it hasn't been blatantly obvious by this point, has caught me uncomfortably off-guard.
Four spikes of white hair standing straight up and pointing to the sky. Three more on its chin acting as a beard. A disgruntled stern visage with the remnants of a scar running down below one eye.
Only one man in One Piece has a face like that.
Kong.
Rest of name unknown. Approximate strength unknown. Sengoku's predecessor as Fleet Admiral and current 'World Government Commander-in-Chief'. A man who's political authority is second only to the Five Elder Stars.
In total silence the government agent lifts the receiver and hands it to me.
There's a delay of course. I can't even imagine what Kong's daily workload looks like, but eventually, after perhaps a full two minutes of that iconic 'puru-puru-puru-puru' the snails eyes finally open and a voice comes out.
"Am I speaking to the bounty hunter Jack Parker?"
A nervous swallow catches my voice in my throat. "Ye-Yes. This is Jack speaking."
"Good. I'm not a man who enjoys wasting my time so let's keep this nice and quick shall we? Your file made it onto my desk about two weeks ago and it's still sitting here as I speak. Now, as I understand it, this isn't the first or even second time you've received a sales pitch to join our ranks. I also understand that some of those previous offers made to you may have been undercut by some vague implication that you'd be branded a rogue element if you didn't accept."
There's a heavy pause as the snail looses a large breathy sigh.
"On behalf of the entirety of the Marines, please allow me to apologize for that." The snails eye-stalks dip just a touch. "That type of behavior is unbecoming of our ideals and the officers who are charged with maintaining them."
The eyes come back up and I can almost see the mental image of Kong sitting straighter at his desk.
"There. Now with that out of the way let me be perfectly blunt kid. We want you. Hell, I want you. You've performed some excellent work down there. Truly. You should stand proud with what you've accomplished. Now I have a note here in the folder that says one of your cited reasons for not joining is that you prefer to work independently. We can talk about that. Offer you more wiggle room than others get while pursuing specific targets. If you want the freedom to roam across borders instead of being attached to a specific area then we can talk about that too."
I open my mouth to respond. "Sir, respectfully.."
"So here's what I want from you."he continues, barreling straight through my quiet objection. "I want you to take that coat and all the fancy little papers that come with it. Look it over. Go home. Sleep on it. Weigh all the pros and cons. And then once that's done you call me back in the morning with a 'Yes'."
...that was three days ago.
Well, two days plus this morning. I don't know what to do about it. What's the least-bad option here? There are benefits to joining but I still feel like overall the negatives outweigh them. Should I just give in and call the number in the letter? Will they finally write me off as a potential recruit if I just keep ignoring it? Kong's apology strongly implied I wouldn't be branded a 'rogue element' but can I trust that as an ironclad certainty? What about my Billion Beri [Quest] and going after Eustass? Will both suddenly be off the table? Will one but not the other? Maybe I can call and ask for some time? God this is stressing me out just thinking abou-
"Puru-puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru-puru."
My hands stop fiddling as that inner dread transposes into reality. I stare at the snail, not sure if that sound really did just happen or it was a bad mixture of imagination and too much anxiety.
"Puru-puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru-puru."
It...it might not be them? 'But it could be.' They don't even have my number. 'You don't think Cipher Pol, the goddamn sole intelligence agency of the world, couldn't get a simple phone number?' It could be that tinkerer I gave my number to in Baterilla! 'Unlikely.' Or..or maybe its any one of the number of people I gave snails to when trying to track down Kowalik! 'Pirates attacking now? When the oceans more peaceful than ever?'
"Puru-puru-puru-puru. Puru-puru-puru-puru."
Ah shit. Fuck. Why am I so nervous about this? Get your shit together and answer the phone goddamn it. 'And make a note to invent Caller ID someday.'
With deliberate slowness my hand reaches out and un-clicks the reciever. I bring it carefully to my lips, internally debating on what manner I should answer in...when a far too peppy voice beats me to the punch.
"Jack! Jack old buddy old pal old friend! How's life been treating ya? Probably pretty good if the newspapers are to be believed ey?"
My brow screws up. It takes a second for me to place the voice. "Korka?"
"The one and only!" the Revolutionary replies in a boisterous tone. "So...uhm..anyway. You're probably wondering why I'm callin'. See the reason is-"
"If it's about another protection gig then I'm going to pass." I interject. "Not to say that the first wasn't a valuable experience, just that I'm not interested in repeating it."
"No no no, nothing like that." he quickly assures. "I'm uh pretty sure you've outgrown just about anything I can pay you anyway. Besides, our efforts in Centaurea are done. We won by the way. No it's uhh..mmm..look I'd rather talk in person. It's a bit of a touchy situation. I'm on an island that's only a couple days sail from your hometown. You could probably make it here in an hour or two riding on that famous bird of yours. You willing to meet? Drinks are on me."
I glance around the grassy hilltop as another soft breeze rustles by. 'Well...better than just continuing to sit around here I suppose.'
Stelsano Island, Hidden Revolutionary Outpost
I reach out to shake my old employers hand and am delighted to see he's reached Lv. 35 since we last met. I know he doesn't care for fighting so real opportunities to get stronger are probably few and far between for him.
"Jack. Welcome." The Ostrich-Zoan says with a bright smile as he claps me on the shoulder, though it is a bit hard to see since him and all his compatriots are wearing those silly brown cloaks from the anime. "I trust you've been well?"
"Well enough." I answer with a grin of my own. "I hope it's not impolite to bring up, but you guys haven't been too negatively affected by my efforts have you? I imagine a more freed up Marine presence in South Blue isn't really..conducive.. to your organization."
One of the cloaked men steps forward, an air of authority in his gait. "We hold nothing against you if that's your concern. While it's true that the previous status quo worked better for us, our job is ultimately to fight for the people. If lives are improved by less pirates and more marines..then we will simply adapt."
"Ah." Korka smiles awkwardly at the speaker stepping up. "Well I wanted to hold off on this for a little bit..talk some more first..catch up and swap a few stories.. but uh.." he glances at the man. "I guess not. Jack, this is my superior Joel. Though everyone around here calls him 'Bunny Joe'. He's the one who recommended I reach out to you."
The figure removes his hood and offers a firm handshake of his own. I take in his dark bowler hat adorned with a teal feather and 'Oh hey...I think I recall seeing you somewhere in canon. Wait a sec..' I glanced between the two revolutionaries, noticing the similarities in facial structure and near identical brown frizzy hair. "Are you two brothers?"
At the question Korka looks away pained while Bunny Joe's hand subtly stiffens in my grip. "We have the same father." Bunny eventually answers in a curt tone. "If you'd please follow me Mr. Sparrow. I'm afraid the matter is time sensitive."
'Yikes. Looks like that's a touchy subject.' Korka throws me an apologetic wince but does gesture that following the man is the way to go.
It's a brisk but quick walk into one of the nearby buildings and I'm slowly lead into a backroom where even more people are wearing the same identical brown garment. Two men are setting up what seems to be a rare projector-type Den-Den-Mushi on a table while a third is fiddling with a rudimentary television screen.
"Korka?" I voice, a hint of something in my tone."You want to give me a hint about what's going on? Because I was under the impression I was here to talk about something with you."
"Ah hah." My friend laughs sheepishly. "Sorry that we're kind've rushing this. But it's not actually me who was the request for you. It's my boss." He glances again at Bunny Joe. "Our boss actually. Just uh..do me a solid and hear him out? If you want to get up and leave after then that's fine."
With a raised eyebrow I take a seat in the chair that's just been offered to me and rest my hands on the simple wooden table. I drum my fingers along its surface for a minute, watching the two men finish setting up the projector.
The last wire is finally plugged in causing the screen to light up in a flash of white revealing...wow that's a lot of orange. And brown. And steam piping. Damn I'm looking at a whole steampunk workshop right now aren't I? In the middle of it all though, taking up the middle chunk of the camera, was an individual with dark green hair and tiny blue goggles over his eyes.
Oh. And he was also a cat.
If that's something worth mentioning.
'Well, fuck. This is why you shouldn't answer the phone Jack.'
"Yo yo yo! Pleasure to make your acquaintance!" The mink asserts in a much too excitable tone. "I've heard a lot of good things about you Bounty Hunter!"
For the second time in a three day period I find myself struggling to get the right words out. It's not the same stricken silence I experienced with Kong. That was fueled by nervousness. This one's more of an exasperation paired with the sinking feeling that with one flick of a TV switch my life just got way too complicated.
"Bit of the ol' silent-type ay? Well that's fine! Name's Lindbergh! I'm one the four Commanders in the Revolutionary Army and that means I pretty much run the show when it comes to operations here in South Blue."
"Must keep you pretty busy." I manage to squeeze out with an affable chuckle. One designed to hide the fact I'm now considering the implications of what would happen if the government learned I had taken this meeting.
"Ah ha! That it does but its not nearly as impressive as you!" The general wags his finger at the camera. "The newspapers certainly have been offering you some credit but I think we all know they've been underselling it. Almost definitely at the governments behest. I mean, can you imagine it? If they were to actually print in the headlines that one of the Blue's became nearly pirate-free just because of one mans assault on crime," The mink laughs again and shakes his head at the idea. "Well it would be an exciting day around the world I'll guarantee you that."
Bunny Joe lightly clears his throat from the corner, getting his boss to side eye him. Once he has the cats attention he gestures to a manila folder in his grip and the general seems to remember we're here for a specific reason. "Ah. Right. To the point then. Tell me Sparrow, or Jack if you prefer, what's your opinion on our movement? I've heard a bit of your position from Korka's old reports but I'd like to hear it from you. Be honest, please."
I lean forward a bit, steepling my fingers together as I think about it. Before, when I was back on Earth, I would've given one answer, but now having actually lived here… "It's difficult for me to say. I think...I really don't know enough. I've heard stories of the abuse World Nobles are allowed to get away with. I know slavery is still allowed in certain regions of the globe. The current system is definitely...not great. But there are real tangible benefits to having widespread law and order from that system, even if the top is rotten. You guys.. I don't know enough about what you do. I can read the papers and see the political upheavals. I know you arm and fund civilian militia's. But when it comes to your success stories...what do those Kingdoms look like 5, 10, 15 years down the line? Does the WG try to reclaim countries once your main forces have pulled out? Even if they don't, what are the specifics of the alternative you offer? How many revolutions have you tried to jump start only to get civilians brutally crushed by the retaliation? My final answer… I don't know what I think of you all."
Lindbergh whistles at my miniature rant, breaking the lull that had started to overtake the room. "Well I'll skip the recruitment pitch then. Let's get straight to why we asked you here. Bunny, the file please."
At this prompting an open folder was slid onto the table in front of me. It held reports, sightings, a dozen pictures at different angles and a bounty poster all of the same individual. To describe him, well, he almost looked like a picture perfect double of Zangief from the 'Street Fighter' series. The only major difference being this gentleman, whoever he was, had the sense to wear more than just a pair of bright red wrestling tights.
"This.. is Mengsk." Lindbergh announces in a substantially more sour tone. His goggles are scrunched downward and much of the previous levity has fled from the commanders face."He was one of our field captains during the war in Centaurea. Has gotten our boys out of many a bad spot over the years. We brought him in from the Grand Line after things started getting particularly ugly."
"Was?" I questioned, picking up the key word in the mink's sentence. "Should I take it something happened to him?"
Something annoyed and..distinctly dark flashes over Bunny Joe's face in the corner. "..that would almost be preferable." the man mutters. Lindbergh briefly offers his subordinate a look of concern before turning back to me. "Worse than that I'm afraid. He's turned bandit. Well, mercenary technically. Not that there's a great difference. Once he decided that the only side he should be fighting for is his own pockets he abandoned those under him and slipped away after leading them all into a government ambush."
A second folder joins the first on the desk before me. "Yateron Kingdom." Bunny Joe announces, spreading out the photographs inside for me to look over. "I'm sure you're familiar. It's in the top three largest land masses in all of South Blue. Currently ruled by one King Edmund Rosenwald. Mengsk has been spotted co-leading a band of mercs who've been acting as enforcers of the crown. Murder. Racketeering. Kidnappings in broad daylight. This group can basically do anything they want so long as it's under the guise of 'hunting dissidents'. And now an ex-revolutionary officer is one of their most prominent members."
"Jack," Korka slides up next to me. "I don't know how much it matters to you but...the R.A. functions off the common people believing we are fighting for them. That we stand against oppression in all its forms. That belief has to remain unassailable. If the news breaks that one of us, someone high up in our ranks especially, became a turncoat and started tyrannizing innocents just for a payday.. that will ripple out and be detrimental to our efforts everywhere. It's a small miracle that it hasn't happened already."
"I understand." I said, pushing the papers away slightly. "I do have to ask though," I peer around the parties in the room before landing eventually on Lindbergh. "Why did you call me for this? It seems like something you'd prefer to handle in-house."
"Ah! Funny story! Two reasons really!" the mink speaks up, some of the vibrancy returning to his mood. "See Korka here once told me that you were originally a last minute replacement after someone else he hired dropped out? Well almost the exact same thing happened here! We were going to send a highly capable two-man grab and bag team but one of them had some very personal things come up last minute. Then we thought of you! The most famous bounty hunter in the history of South Blue? He could probably get it done!"
I nodded along, filing away the 'grab and bag' tidbit for later. "And the second reason?"
"Dragon doesn't know yet." Lindbergh answered as though he didn't just name drop the most wanted man in the world. "Not about Mengsk's defection a few weeks ago, that fact that we've tracked him down afterward, none of it. I'm trying to have this all nice and tidied up before he learns of it ya feel me? Otherwise it'll just distract him and the boss man really doesn't need any more of those."
"I see." My fingers start to work through the folders, taking closer looks at the reports within. "Two questions I want answered now though before we get too deep into this. One, if I were to accept, -and let me tell ya that's a pretty hefty IF right now- what are you offering me to do this? I can tell you money doesn't mean much to me these days but my time does. And second, what if it goes sideways and I have to put this prick down? Is that a deal breaker for you?"
The Commander laughs in his typical upbeat way. "Well ideally we really do want him back alive so we can court martial him ourselves but if the mission goes sideways then it goes sideways. Life isn't always clean. As for payment, how about this?"
Lindbergh scoots his chair forward and leans directly into the camera. Every speck of the 'fun wacky inventor persona' drops from his face and his voice turns so serious that goosebumps snake along my skin when he speaks.
"I will owe you."
His rolling chair flies back again and just like that the spell is broken. His arms are spread wide and he gives a quick little spin for fun. "So how about it Mr. Bounty Hunter? Will we be counting on you to solve our issue this day?"
I lifted Mengsk's handbill from the folder to get a better look at it. Intending to read the details posted in tiny font along the bottom. Surely there'd be a long list of fun things a previous freedom fighter from the Grand Line would have done to earn the governments ire. But instead of reading those though my eyes are drawn to the giant number posted in bold I just uncovered.
Bounty: 60,000,000
Just over the exact amount I'd need to reach my goal.
"Alright," I acquiesced, setting the brown paper down. "Tell me more."
"Hah hah! Wonderful!" Lindbergh gave an excited spin in his swivel chair. "Well to start with if you would kindly direct your attention to the scowling sourpuss who just walked in you can meet your partner for this exciting grab & bag venture! And hey your names are almost the same too! How about that!"
At this prompting I of course tilted my head to examine the individual with crossed arms and yellow skin skulking along the back wall.
"Jack meet Hack! He's a Fish-Man!"
A/N 2: A few of Jack's more relevant [Skill]'s leveled a bit via some training exercises during this small five week skip. I didn't wish to break the flow of the narrative by forcing them in somewhere so they are instead posted below.
Rokushiki Technique #5 of 6. (Kami-e). Lv. (47/50) → (49/50)
Bladed Weapon Mastery Lv. (19/150) → (24/150)
Firearms Mastery Lv. (9/10) → MAX
A/N 3: Rather than do the usual thing of posting Jack's [Status] bio, I thought the majority of readers might enjoy something simpler that won't require going back to check what his stats looked like before.
This shows how Jack distributed his points from the level ups obtained. (Plus the STR boost from [Natural Growth])
Health: (6,100) → (8,160)
STR: (440) → (500)
VIT: (305) → (408)
DEX: (609) → (705)
INT: (155) → (163)
WIS: (155) → (163)
LUK: 77 (Unchanged)