I'm back.
X
X
「[Set Sail!]
The ship you took from Buggy the Clown is in no condition to challenge the seas. Find a way to repair it or, alternatively, find a new ship.」
「Completion Rewards: [4 322 EXP]
Bonus Rewards: [?]」
「Begin now? [Yes/No]」
"We need a new ship," I said.
I was sitting on Yamato's club; I had just dragged it out from under a pile of torn-up wooden planks.
"I— I don't even know what happened," Koby mumbled. He was in his own little world right now. "One moment we were being attacked by pirates, and then… was that a tidal wave?"
Nami and Zoro were sitting on the sand on each side of him. They almost looked as upset as I was.
Koby buried his head in his hands.
"We don't even know where we are right now. A ship isn't something that we can come across so easily, right? Can't we just fix this one?"
Nami clicked her tongue.
"Who do you think we are? Even if we knew the first thing about repairing a ship, that thing's just about snapped in half. I hate to say it, but Luffy might be right. At the very least, there will probably be a fishing boat or two at the closest village if we follow the shoreline. It might not be able to support the weight of that giant club, but if we have to we can always come back—"
"No!" I shouted. I stood up, crossed my arms and pouted. "We're not leaving Yamato's club here."
Nami shot up to her feet and opened her mouth. Nothing came out at first, though. Her expression went from angry to totally blank when I turned my head to look at her.
"Nami? Is there something wrong?"
"...No, sorry."
I scrunched up my face even more.
"..."
"..."
Zoro hummed.
"Didn't we have the clown's head with us?"
Oh yeah! I forgot about that.
I cupped my hands around my mouth and started wandering closer to the shipwreck.
"Big Nose! Biiig Nooose! Are you alive?"
No one answered. I turned back around to stare at the others with a sad expression on my face.
"Sorry. I think he's dead."
"You barely tried!" Koby shouted.
Silently, Zoro got up and walked through the big hole in the beached ship's hull. We just waited for a bit until he came back out with Big Nose's head. It was all beaten and bruised and still missing the rest of his body with his tongue sticking out but he didn't look too dead to me.
"Can you wake him up?" I asked.
"Why would you want to?" Koby whined.
I frowned.
"Why not?"
Zoro slapped Big Nose's face a few times before Koby could say anything else.
"..."
Nothing happened.
"Are you sure he's alive?" I asked.
"He's breathing," Zoro told me.
"So?"
"So he's alive."
"Okay."
"..."
Now what?
I tapped my chin and hummed.
"Hey, Nami. You said there was a village on this island, right?"
She took a moment before answering.
"Captain. Do you see those bollards over there?" I turned my head to where she was pointing. There were some rinky-dink wooden poles sticking out near the shoreline. "That means people have been mooring their vessels here. We're bound to find something."
I slammed my fist into my palm.
"Okay, then. Let's go exploring!"
The others gave me a confused look. Were they slow in the head or something?
"What's up?" I asked.
"'Exploring'?" Nami repeated. "Through the forest, you mean?"
"Yeah. Let's go find a village or something."
Koby shook his head.
"That's not a good idea. Until we know what island we're on, going into the forest is bound to get us lost—dead, even!"
Huh? It was just a forest with animals and trees and deep pits and stuff. Didn't they know what a forest was? Were they dumb?
Zoro nodded his head at me and grunted.
"Okay. Let's go."
At least Zoro was smart.
"Hold it!" Nami reached forward and grabbed Zoro by the arm before we could take off. "At least think it through a little first. Who's going to guard the ship while you're gone? And—give me that! You want people to catch you with this thing in public?"
She snagged Big Nose's head out of Zoro's hands, stared at it for a second, then dropped it with a grossed-out look on her face.
I tilted my head.
"Guard the ship? We don't need to do that, do we?" Zoro complained.
"You—of course you do! Most of the treasure is still there! What if scavengers find it?"
Zoro looked offended. "Me? You do it since you care so much."
"You're telling a poor, defenceless girl like me to fend for herself? What are you, some sort of monster?"
"Hah!"
"I, uh…" We all looked at Koby. His head was down. "I'd do it, but I don't think I would be able to do much."
I noticed Koby's ankle. It looked pretty swollen.
I decided what to do.
"Okay. Zoro, you stay here with Koby. Nami and I'll go find a ship somewhere."
He looked like he wanted to argue but instead, he just scoffed and dropped down onto the sand and leaned onto his side.
I nodded.
"You ready, Nami? Guess it's just you and me."
She stared at me blankly for a second. She looked like she ate pickled meat thinking it was roasted meat.
"Nami?"
Koby and Zoro were giving her looks too. She snapped out of it.
"Oh! Yeah. Sorry. Let's go, Captain!"
She sounded happy all of a sudden. Strange. Wasn't she being really grumpy with Zoro just a second ago? She was weird.
We waved goodbye to Zoro and Koby and we were on our way.
X
「A new location [Syrup Village] has been discovered!」
It took us a little while to find a village, but sure enough, just like Nami said, we eventually found one at the bottom of a hill. It wasn't anything super big—it reminded me a lot of Foosha, actually—but I hoped they could still help us out.
I threw my arms up and cheered.
"All right! Let's—hm?"
I tried running ahead but something was tugging at my vest, holding me back. I looked over my shoulder and blinked confusedly at Nami.
She had been pretty quiet until now, actually. She wouldn't talk much and she never stepped out in front of me. She still wasn't over whatever it was that was bothering her back on Big Nose's ship.
Nami frowned at me.
"Something's strange. I don't see anyone walking around. Let's not act recklessly before we can find out what's going on—er… That's my suggestion, at least."
I nodded silently. It made sense to me, probably; if Nami thought that was the smart thing to do then I was fine with listening to her.
Cautiously, we walked down a path that seemed to split through the village; I kept turning my head left and right to inspect the houses and shops on either side of me.
Things didn't actually look as much like Foosha as I had originally thought. The buildings were a lot rounder. Tinier too.
Nami nudged me.
"Let's try here," she suggested, pointing at a tavern.
Without waiting for her, I walked up to the doors and pushed them open. I stuck my head inside and looked around.
There were people staring back at me. It seemed like I caught them off guard.
I smiled and raised my hand.
"Yo! Does anyone have a ship I can take?"
There was a long silence before they started whispering into each other's ears.
"...Who's that?"
"I've never seen him around before.
"Do you think he's—"
"No way. He looks a little dim."
I frowned.
"Hello?" I tried again.
Just then, Nami burst through the entrance. The sudden noise made everyone in the bar jump a little.
Again, she didn't say anything even though she looked like she really wanted to.
Her heart was beating really fast. I could hear it.
An older-looking guy with scrunched-up eyebrows stood up.
"Who are you two? You're not from Syrup Village."
Nami nudged my foot before I could say anything. I was about to ask her what she did that for but before I could, she stepped forward and smiled brightly.
"We're actually from… Mori Village, the hamlet west of here. My friend and I were just passing through town, and couldn't help but notice that things seemed a little off. Is everything okay?"
「Map information has been updated!」
The people at the bar exchanged cautious looks.
"...You're right, Missy. There are rumours circulating that there might be Pirates on the island so everyone is a little jumpy. Forgive us for being suspicious. I'm not saying that either one of you looks the part, but you have to understand that it's important for us to keep a lookout right now, especially around strangers."
「A quest flag has been raised!」
「[Pirate, the Infiltrator]
There are rumours of pirates having stepped foot on the island, but not all things are as they seem! The fate of the people is dependent on the truth you perceive to be reality; it's time to make an informed choice.
Objective: Uncover the truth behind the pirate rumours
Clues found: 0/4
Bonus Objective: No deaths」
「Completion Rewards: [400 EXP], lumber]
Bonus Rewards: [crewmate], [?]」
I was a little upset that he said that we didn't look like pirates but Nami nudgedme again before I could. What was her deal?
"Thanks for letting us know!" Nami's smile hadn't budged. "We'll keep that in mind and make sure to be careful."
The bartender looked up from the glass he was currently cleaning and asked a question of his own.
"Say, you two're from Mori, is that right? Why come all the way out here, then?"
Nami didn't waste a second.
"We're looking for a ship, actually. We—a few of our friends too—want to join the Navy but there's no Naval base—" she dug her heel into my toes "—on the Gecko Islands. Since there are a few fishermen here, we figured—"
"Aye we follow, Lass," spoke another man, interrupting her. His nose was a little red and he barely had any hair left on his head. "Sorry, but don't think there's much that we could do to help you. The best that one of our boys could offer is a dinghy; if you've got a crew coming with you, that won't be enough."
"How about Miss Kaya?"
Everyone turned to a group of three kids that were sitting at their own table in a corner.
The old man with the red nose coughed.
"Tamanegi! Piiman! Ninjin! What are you doing here? Didn't you leave with Usopp?"
「Roleplay Aficionado [Tamanegi] (LV2)」
「Roleplay Lover [Piiman] (LV2)」
「Roleplay Enjoyer [Ninjin] (LV2)」
The chubby kid with glasses shook his head.
"Nuh-uh!"
Nami crouched over so that she could look them in the eyes. They all blushed.
"Hey there! What was it you fellas were saying just now? Is there someone you think could give us a hand?"
The one with the shaggy hair and a hat stammered.
"Y-yeah! If you go up the hill further into town you'll—"
The pepper one slapped his hand over his friend's mouth.
"We might be able to help you, but," he looked around before lowering his voice, "you have to do something for us first in exchange!"
I blinked but stayed out of it. Nami seemed like she knew what she was doing.
She narrowed her eyes.
"Oh? Like what?"
The three of them looked stumped. They took a moment to form a huddle then split up a few seconds later, looking all confident.
"Get us the bounty posters! The ones behind the bar."
"Yeah! We're kids, so the barkeeper won't let us see them."
"We just wanna peek!"
Nami hummed.
"Suspicious," she said. Their backs straightened. "But that's fine. You have a deal."
She stuck her tongue out and walked toward the barkeeper.
The man gave her a flat look and sighed.
"I don't know what those three could possibly want with these."
Nami clasped her hands together.
"It couldn't hurt, right? Just for a second."
He clicked his tongue.
"Fine, but make sure they give them right back."
"Deal!"
She grabbed the stack of bounty posters and idly thumbed through them.
She choked on her own spit.
I tilted my head.
"Nami? You okay?"
"Uh—yeah! All good!"
She turned around; I saw her pocketing one of the posters when her back was to the barkeeper. What was that about?
"Here ya go!" she chirped, handing the rest of them over to the kids. They looked all excited when they grabbed them out of her hands but their excitement kind of died down after a while.
"Tche!"
"It's not here, Piiman."
"But I could've sworn—"
"So?" I interrupted them. "You said you knew someone, right?"
The chubby one grumbled.
"I mean… I guess we did have a deal. The Lady on top of the hill is pretty rich and I think I've seen her boat docked on one of the shores. It's a caravel. She doesn't go out much, though, so I doubt she's actually ever used it."
My eyes widened and I smiled.
"Great! Thanks, you guys!"
I grabbed Nami by the arm and ran out the door, ignoring her shriek.
She slapped me on the shoulder.
"Hey! Don't just grab me like that, please Captain!"
I let go of her arm and stared at her blankly for a sec. Her grimace melted away. She looked scared, almost, but then that disappeared too.
"Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to step on your foot like that earlier. I just wanted to make sure things would go well and I was… trying to help."
I really didn't get what was up with her. I smiled again.
"You did a really good job of speaking to those guys; they didn't know you were lying at all! I wouldn't have been able to do that."
It would have been better if she didn't keep pretending that we weren't pirates, but it bothered her for some reason right now so I let it go.
She sighed and propped her hand on her hip.
"It was pretty easy once I knew where we were. He mentioned Syrup Village, which is a hamlet on the Gecko Archipelago. I know the area well enough to make up an alibi."
I was confused.
"Wait, so you've been here before?" I asked.
"No, I just make it a habit of staying informed. As a navigator, I take pride in knowing the East Blue like the back of my hand."
My mouth fell open.
"Seriously!? All of it?"
She looked away.
"...Yeah. It's not that impressive."
"Of course it's impressive! I have the greatest navigator ever!"
I laughed.
I stopped laughing. I just remembered something.
"Say, why did you take that bounty poster?"
"No reason."
"Oh! Okay."
X
"PUT ME DOWN YOU FLASHY BASTARD! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU! YOU WON'T LIVE TO SEE TOMORROW! I'LL—HMFF fmffmm!"
Zoro let out a relieved sigh as he muffled the screeching head with a chunk of driftwood. The moron had just woken up a few minutes ago and hadn't shut up since.
"Would you calm down already?" grumbled the green-haired man. "You're making the kid uncomfortable."
The kid in question was staring at the animated remains of Buggy the Clown despondently. He was probably still having a tough time wrapping his head around the idea of a devil fruit existing let alone allowing its user to survive decapitation as though it were a minor inconvenience at most.
Zoro was sure that Koby wouldn't mind a distraction right about now. The swordsman had his own nagging thoughts that he wanted to bounce off someone else, so a distraction he could definitely provide.
"Hey. What do you think of Luffy?"
Koby was caught off guard by the question. He started.
"Luffy? Uh… what do you mean?"
Zoro scoffed.
"I mean 'what do you think of him?'. It's not a complicated question."
Koby looked down at his feet.
"He's… nice? For a pirate, I guess. I mean, not that I know a lot of pirates—I'm not trying to say that you guys are bad! The opposite actually! It's just—"
"Shut up. I get it."
"Okay," squeaked Koby meekly.
There was a silence between them for a moment, only disturbed by the sounds of a struggling Buggy in the background.
"I think something's off," Zoro admitted. "At first I thought that Nami was just being overly cautious and dramatic, but it might be that she knows something about the guy. Remember the way she looked at him when the News Coo brought the bounty posters? On the last island."
Koby knitted his brow.
"I… guess? Wasn't it that Arlong guy that she was upset about?"
Zoro drew Wado Ichimonji and stared at himself through the blade's reflection. His expression was stony.
"My guess is that it was Luffy's bounty that she saw. Not Arlong's"
Koby stammered.
"Wha—Luffy's? Why do you—you think—"
"It makes sense. There's a pirate she wants gone and she found someone who can get rid of him for her. That means he's stronger; it's no wonder why she's so jumpy around him."
Koby shivered.
"But… Arlong has a twenty million beri bounty! There's no way that someone like Luffy has a bounty larger than that, right?"
If Koby thought Zoro was joking, he'd be disappointed to find that the man wasn't smiling.
"This is just an informed guess on my part, but if Nami is so sure that she'd be willing to put all of her eggs in one basket on the spot, she's either lying and trying to screw us over—which I don't think she's stupid enough to do—or his bounty is makes Arlong look like an ant by comparison."
Koby shook his head wildly.
"Impossible. Impossible! They're saying that Arlong is a shoo-in to be a Warlord of the Sea!"
"My guess is fifty million."
Koby's mouth clamped shut. He gulped.
"..."
"Ptoo!"
They both turned to look at Buggy's head. The clown had found a way to spit out his makeshift gag.
"Fifty?" Buggy repeated incredulously. "The two of you really don't know anything, do you?"
Koby didn't know how to react. Zoro narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
Buggy grimaced.
"Screw—gack!"
In the time it took for the captured pirate to spit back an insult, Zoro had dug his heel in his cheek, pushing the man's head further into the sand.
"Get off of me!"
"Quit it with the attitude."
"Fine! Fine!
Zoro dropped back down on the sand with a grunt. Buggy let out a sigh of relief.
"What do you know about the Grand Line?"
Zoro and Koby looked at each other unsurely.
"It's… a sailor's graveyard," started Koby unsurely. "No one but monsters can survive there. Beyond that… it's all rumours. It's not like there are many people coming and going from that place."
Buggy had a serious look on his face, though it was offset by how silly he looked with all the sand stuck in his hair.
"The Grand Line is split into two halves," explained the clown. "The first half, the half you're most likely familiar with, is lovingly called Paradise by the great pirates."
"'Paradise'?" Zoro repeated. "What, are you saying everything we've heard is made up?"
"Not at all. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll be dead before you know what hit you. In the East Blue, I'd wager that the percentage of pirates that would be able to even make it into the Grand Line illegally is effectively Zero."
Both Zoro and Koby paled.
"Then why—"
"It's called Paradise because, compared to the second half, the first half of the Grand Line is just that. A paradise. A cakewalk. A flashy little vacation spot. That's the difference between Paradise, the first half, and the New World, the second half."
Zoro clicked his tongue.
"Is this exposition going anywhere or do you just like the sound of your own voice?"
"You flashy—" Buggy bit his own tongue in an effort to stifle the insult that was about to come out. "Let's just say that I've had first-hand experience with New World pirates. That Straw Hat idiot is definitely one of them, which means there's no way that his bounty is anything lower than a hundred million beri."
Koby was bumbling incoherently, but Zoro just scoffed.
"Really? Why's he here, then?"
"Isn't that the question of the hour! Gyahahaha!"
While Buggy was laughing at himself, Zoro's eyes were fixated on the giant club a few paces away. After what he'd just heard, it stood out to him like a sore thumb.
He pointed at it.
"What about that?"
"Gyahaha-huh?"
Buggy's eyes raised curiously to find what it was that Zoro was pointing at and they quickly widened in panic.
"AH! Why is that here!?"
"It was on your ship," Koby helpfully provided. "Luffy said it belonged to a friend."
"I told my crew to toss that thing in the ocean! Those idiots… Once I get my hands on them I'll—"
"So you know what it is," Zoro remarked. Maybe they could learn a little bit more about this Yamato character.
Even lacking as much of his body as he was, Buggy's nerves were very clearly frayed.
"Not a damn clue," was the captured pirate's unusually soft-spoken answer. "But you can probably tell, can't you, Roronoa? That weapon doesn't belong to anyone I'd ever want to meet."
"..."
Buggy wasn't talking about the club's size. Zoro recognized that right away.
He was talking about its aura.
Amongst swordsmen, it was common to hear of stories such that a blade could carry the weight of its wielder's convictions. The way that a sword was made, used and cared for was tangible to those competent enough to perceive such things; if you wanted to gauge a swordsman's worth, then you looked no further than at his weapon.
Buggy the Clown was absolutely right. He had never seen anything like that club. The closest comparison that came to mind was Wado Ichimonji, and even that was different in a way that he couldn't really describe.
Buggy cackled.
"You can tell. If whoever it belongs to comes back for it, I don't want to be there to get in their way. You should just ditch it now while you have the chance."
A nagging part at the back of Zoro's head agreed with the man.
Luffy said that it belonged to a friend, but then again, how much did he really know about Luffy?
Did he think he was a good guy? It was nothing more than a gut feeling, but yeah, sure. Yamato on the other hand… even the way that Luffy described her didn't instil much confidence.
"Clown. Have you ever heard the name 'Yamato'?" Zoro asked.
Buggy blinked dumbly for a second.
"Huh? Yama-what? Never heard of the guy."
The fledgeling pirate was unimpressed with his captive's discouraging gaps in knowledge.
Maybe if he told the clown what he knew, it would jog his memory. It wasn't like the captain told them all those things in confidence.
"Yamato is my captain's friend, apparently. He claims that she's the daughter of one of the Four Emperors."
"...One of the Four…"
Buggy stared at the club vacantly for a few seconds, trying to piece everything together. Koby and Zoro saw the moment when everything seemed to click: the decapitated head was sweating bullets.
"Oi. Is this Yamato person kind of tall?"
"Supposedly."
"Does she have horns?"
"Supposedly."
"THAT FLASHY BASTARD KAIDO HAS A BRAT!? WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO FIND HER YOU PSYCHOS!? LEAVE ME OUT OF THIS!"
…Kaido?
Buggy the Clown's strong reaction honestly unnerved Zoro a little bit. The man was without a doubt an eccentric, but there was a genuine panic in his tone that resonated with every part of Zoro that spoke when something just wasn't right.
Buggy glared at him. Zoro hid his thoughts the best he could and stared back impassively.
"...Look, Kid. You wanted my honest thoughts? If that's the sort of company your captain's keeping then I haven't the slightest clue why he's keeping his head down in the East Blue. He's planning something, and if you have any intention of living long enough to do anything with your life I suggest you figure out what.
Koby crossed his arms in front of him in an "x" shape.
"Not possible! Luffy-san? He's—I wouldn't call him dumb, but—"
"I've met smarter rocks," interjected Zoro, his tone definitive. "If he turns out to be some sort of cunning mastermind, I'll eat my bandanna."
X
「A new location [Lady's Mansion] has been discovered!」
"Huaaaa! This house is so big!"
"Captain, it's important that you be on your best behaviour. A ship, regardless of its size, isn't a small ask, so—STOP RUNNING AHEAD! PLEASE LISTEN WHEN I AM SPEAKING!"
Nami was being all naggy again so I ran away before she could catch me. I wanted to see the ship already!
Oh! I needed to meet the rich girl first though. Was she a good guy? Those kids didn't say she was mean or anything, so she was probably a good guy.
"...and I don't think that this recurring behaviour of yours is in my Lady's best interest, boy."
"You—I know you don't like me, but you have to listen! Kaya needs to leave."
"In her condition? Because of a baseless rumour? The only way such a tall tale could seem any more fantastical than it already does is if you were the one spreading it."
Hm? There were people arguing in front of the house.
"I know we don't get along, but for once can't you put Kaya first!? If there are really pirates on the island, wouldn't it be better to be safe than sorry?"
"I don't like you insinuating that—"
"Hey, do you guys know the lady with the boat?" I asked. I didn't get what they were talking about so it probably wasn't all that important.
「Persuasion check failed!」
The two guys stopped arguing and turned to face me. One was a butler guy who looked all butler-like and the other guy had a really long nose.
Butler Guy pushed up his glasses.
"Who are you supposed to be?" he asked.
I ignored him.
"Is your nose longer than my finger?" I asked Long-Nose. I stuck my finger next to it and tried to compare.
"Wha—"
"Wow! It's longer!"
The butler's hand pushed me in the chest. He shoved me back a few steps and I stared at him confusedly.
"We don't take kindly to trespassers. Again, please state your business or leave."
"…Oh! Okay. Can I have your ship?"
「Persuasion check failed!」
"...No."
"No?"
「Persuasion check failed!」
"No. If that is all—"
"Ca—Luffy!"
I heard Nami scream my name. I turned around just in time to see her slide past me.
"I'm sorry about—"
She started to apologize to Butler Guy but then she stopped. Nami looked back like there was something scary behind me.
Then she smiled.
"Ah! Sorry, sorry. I got a little carried away."
…Why did she keep apologizing to me?
Butler Guy stared at us blankly for a few seconds longer before just turning around and walking back into the house.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"So… you two are…?"
Long-Nose was staring at us suspiciously.
Nami stopped her hand right before it was about to hit me again. We both froze in place.
I smiled and stood up straight.
"Hi! I'm Luffy. This is Nami. We're looking for—"
"A boat, yeah," interrupted Long-Nose before I could finish. "But why? Where did you even come from? You just showed up out of nowhere and asked Klahadore for Kaya's ship. I've never seen you around the village before."
"That guy? I want to talk to this Kaya person about a ship, not him."
"No, that's—"
I heard someone opening a window on a higher floor of the house. I looked up and saw a blonde girl looking down at us with wide, curious eyes.
"Usopp?" she called out. What was an Usopp? "Who are your friends?"
I waved my hand at her and smiled.
"Hey there! Are you Kaya?"
X
X
"Cap'n! I hate to be the one to say this, but… I don't know how much longer some of the other boys will be able to hold on. Not me, of course—I'm as fit as a fiddle—but I've been hearing—"
"Yes, Warrant Officer Gouda," grumbled Smoker, cutting the man off. "I understand our current circumstances very well, but we need to keep time. Thank you for the report."
The "thank you" was pointed enough for his sailor to understand that he wanted to be left alone for the moment. The officer saluted and left his office post-haste.
Smoker took a long drag of the two cigars clamped tightly between his teeth. It was no small miracle that their contents hadn't spilled out with how tightly he had been clenching his jaw recently.
He stared impassively at the strange mutt that was taking a nap in the corner of his office. Admittedly, he had grown used to the damn thing, if not attached to it, but it would be a lie to say that he wasn't a little annoyed that it still managed to seem completely unbothered while his crew was on the verge of passing out as a result of starvation, exhaustion, or both.
Where did it all go so wrong?
X
Mirrorball Island was definitely one of the more well-known islands in the east blue. Famous for its sightseeing, shopping districts, and culinary experiences, there was never a shortage of tourists crowding the streets as they came and went.
The harbour docks were just as crowded, naturally.
Captain Smoker grumbled as another unaware civilian bumped into him. As big as he was, it was impossible not to be shoulder-to-shoulder with someone.
"Have you people found that dog yet?" he moaned.
In a frustrating development that he should have really seen coming, Tashigi's mutt went and disappeared the very second they stopped for their scheduled resupply on the island. If he were a smarter man then he'd just ditch it here like he promised he would, but something came over him and so here he was, forcing a good chunk of his men to waste all of their time looking for the damn thing. He would blow a gasket if the dog wasn't on deck before the next week's stock was brought in.
"No, Sir," an officer responded dejectedly. Her dishevelled state made it obvious that they had done the rounds. "We'll keep looking, though."
"Do that. It'll be another hour before—"
"Hey, you. Are you the Marine in charge here?"
Smoker paused mid-command in order to address what would inevitably be a new grievance for him to deal with. With a frown in place, he turned to face a no-nonsense-looking woman in a suit.
"That's me," he admitted. As a Naval Officer, it was his job to serve the people but it would be nice if they could have a little more social awareness than to interrupt him while he was acting on his managerial responsibilities. "Can I help you, Ma'am?"
"You can, Sir," she affirmed in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "There are your men, correct?"
He looked at the nervous and sheepish men and women awkwardly shuffling in place behind her.
What the hell did you do, damn it!?
"They are," he declared reticently.
"It would seem that some of my merchandise went missing while they were passing through my shop."
He didn't like where this was going.
Smoker quirked a brow. The group of marines looked even more nervous now.
"And you're here to tell me that my men are at fault?"
"I am."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, I don't think I caught your name."
"I never introduced myself." She handed him a business card. "You can call me Ms Lorelei. I'm the General Manager of Doskoi Panda and the head of the flagship store here on Mirrorball."
Doskoi Panda, huh? The super-expensive luxury brand?
"W-we didn't take anything, Sir!" one of his men pleaded. "Honest!"
He believed him. Those under his command were hand-picked. None would stoop to petty theft.
Nonetheless, he wasn't about to start a commotion over this.
"How much do we owe you?"
"Sir!"
He ignored the pleas.
"One hundred and fifty million beri," the woman told him.
He was stone-faced.
"How much do we owe you?" he repeated.
"One hundred and fifty million beri, Sir."
He was able to keep his composure externally, but—
"W-we don't have that kind of money on hand."
We're talking about a few teeshirts and not a galleon here, right? How can clothes be that expensive!? This is theft!
The woman's smile was unsettling.
"Ohoh. That's no good, then, is it? Of course, if you return the stolen merchandise, we can pretend this whole affair never happened."
"We really don't have anything!" pleaded a particularly large officer.
The Doskoi Panda manager shot him a glare.
"The missing items are fitted for someone twice the size of an average man. Wouldn't you be the prime suspect, sir?"
The officer recoiled.
Smoker wanted to groan.
A prime suspect or not, he fully believed his subordinate when he said he didn't steal anything. It was purely coincidental that they happened to be passing through the wrong place at the wrong time.
"We can't do anything about that, unfortunately," the captain told her. "Is there any other way that we could settle this?"
The World Government had a lot of sway over East Blue. If he could, he would like to avoid contacting his superiors about this, but—"
"Absolutely not. Either pay for the items, return them or get off our island. Doskoi Panda will make sure that no World Government vessel will be allowed to dock on this Island ever again, otherwise."
A cold sweat ran down Smoker's back.
"Maybe I could—"
"Absolutely not. One or the other, no exceptions."
This woman is way too unreasonable!
He gritted his teeth. Doskoi Panda basically ran Mirrorball Island. The World Government couldn't risk losing access to it—definitely not over something as asinine as this—and he wouldn't be the reason it happened.
Damn it.
"Men! Board the ship. We're setting sail."
He could only hope that they were prepared for a premature departure.
X
They were not.
They had no fresh foods on board at the moment, only half their water supply and whatever rations and preserved foods they had in case of emergencies.
They still had a few more days before they were in actual deep shit but they were already operating under suboptimal conditions. How could he expect this group to chase a dangerous pirate if they were moaning and groaning through basic chores?
And so, here was Captain Smoker: in his office, head in hands, wondering what to do while he glared at the damn animal that just so happened to be holed up in his office the entire time they were looking for it.
With a violent sigh, he pushed his chair to the side and stormed out of his office.
"Sir!" An officer—the same one that came in to see him earlier—saw him come out. He was greeted with a salute. "Is there something we can do for you?"
"We'll delay the search if we have to. Our main priority is to get back on track. What's the quickest way for us to get some damn food on this ship?"
The officer's eyes brightened for a moment but he was quick to force his expression into something more neutral.
"Well, Sir, the closest island is about a day's travel away, but it's off course. However…"
"However?"
Straying too far off course was definitely suboptimal. At this point, Smoker was open to any and all suggestions no matter how unprofessional.
"There's a floating restaurant that's usually near these waters. It's pretty well-known, actually."
Smoker's eyes widened by a fraction. It might cut into their budget more than he would like, but allowing Monkey D. Luffy to get past him was not an option. He'd sooner cough up the extra cash.
"A restaurant, huh?" he mulled it over as the words left his mouth.
"Yeah! You might have heard of it before. It's called The Baratie."
X
X
So… yeah. As you can probably imagine, it was a little bit more than writer's block that has kept me away from you guys all this time. It's been close to half a year now, which is crazy to think about.
I'm like 90% sure that nothing will be holding me back in the immediate future; Sherlock is nailing me down to my chair to get FtS banged out in the coming days.
Big thanks to Gregguto (bloodlusted) for beta reading this chapter and Sherlock for intermittently opening this document and making sure that I knew that I needed to write faster.
As an important side note: I made a big oopsie in the last chapter in that I forgot about Koby. Like, entirely. It wasn't on purpose or anything and it wasn't some giga-brain 4d chess play. I briefly considered rolling with it and turning it into a gamer system canon interference schtick but it felt so convoluted once it was all said and done that I just decided to own up to my mistake and go back and fix it. If you don't feel like rereading the previous chapter you don't have to, it's legit the exact same except koby is there now.
