Worldwide Smoke gathered in the ground floor lobby of the (now former) Kemurchant HQ building. It was a very large, ornate room, surrounded on all sides by pillars and statues of Miwagyo. Between the Kemurchants, Worldwide Smoke grunts, and the officers, over two-hundred fifty fighters and the thirty man Medical Corps were present. In front of the crowd were Shaska, Schwarz, and Lulupo, surveying their fighting force, while the rest simply chatted amongst themselves.
"So, we've got a force of nearly three hundred troops right now," Shaska said, rubbing her chin with her freshly reattached hand. "Hey, pretty b—Schwarz. Think that's enough…?"
Schwarz slumped his shoulders and said "you… you really think this is enough to take on a world conquering navy…?"
"Shaska, darling, we're going up against a force that even the Marines are too scared to fight. Von Esens is an emperor level threat! And the emperors each have forces that number in the tens of thousands!" Lulupo said with an air of worry in his voice. "We barely have one percent of that!"
"Right now, at least," Shaska replied, blowing smoke. "Between all the branches scattered throughout the world, I have something like fifteen thousand employees. I ordered some grunts to put the word out and head for Fishman Island."
"But we only have a week until the king gets to Vicks Davis Island!" exclaimed an exasperated Schwarz. "How the hell are we going to rally fifteen thousand troops from all over the world to Fishman Island in a week?!"
"Simple," Shaska began, flicking ash off her cigar and blowing smoke, "we're not."
"WHAT?!" Schwarz and Lulupo shouted in unison. This caught the attention of the makeshift battalion, who looked up from their conversations.
"Then why on Earth did you call for the branches to come to Fishman Island, darling?!" Lulupo shouted.
"Y'know I'm still your boss, right?" Shaska nonchalantly asked. "You'll treat me with respect."
"Just… why?!" Schwarz shouted. "We're sailing into a suicide mission with a force this small!"
"Respect, please."
Schwarz and Lulupo both slapped their foreheads, then the latter said "darling, what is the plan?"
"We're gonna have the rest of our navy wait here on Fishman Island on standby while this vanguard goes to Vicks Davis," Shaska explained. "After we crush the king guy at Vicks Davis Island, we're gonna sail to his Twilight Kingdom and stamp out the rest of his forces at their main hideout."
"V-Vicks Davis…?" Zinnia stammered. Ruth nuzzled into her cheek as her owner went into a thousand yard stare.
"Yes?" Shaska asked. "Weren't you listening when I made our victory announcement a few hours ago…?"
"I am sorry, Miss Shaska, I must not have noticed by virtue of having a glass spike impaled through my torso. The pain was quite distracting."
"Did… did you just get flippant?" Shaska asked, somewhat dumbfounded by Zinnia's change in tone.
"Vicks Davis Island was where I was enslaved before I was a performer in that amusement park," Zinnia explained. "In all likelihood, my former 'owner', Saint Legree, is still there." She cracked her knuckles and added "I would like to, as you would say, 'put the hurt on him.'"
"Absolutely not. That's out of the question, snake girl," Shaska responded, crossing her arms. "We can't have an admiral showing up and throwing a monkey wrench into our plans."
"Do Marine admirals typically carry monkey wren—" Zinnia tried to say, but she was quickly interrupted.
"An admiral means more chaos, which could be good and bad. Sure, that's more help fighting the king guy, but he could just as easily turn on us," Shaska said. "And I'd wager he's gonna go for us first if we attack a Celestial Dragon. No, what we want is a quick strike with as few corpses left behind as possible. Officers, meet me in the war room on the second floor. We're gonna discuss strategy further. Grunts, search the building for any Devil Fruits that might have appeared after our little skirmish."
She puffed on her cigar one last time, blew smoke, then flicked the butt away. "And don't even think about deserting, you pansies. Actually, y'know what? Pretty boys, stand guard at the front and back entrances so nobody deserts. See, when a Fruit user dies, their Fruit respawns on a normal fruit somewhere nearby. I think. So that snake, Miwagyo and Beegyoven's Fruits should probably be in the third floor kitchen. Just look for any discolored fruits with a swirl pattern on it."
"Shaska, darling, I have a much more productive solution for potential deserters," said Lulupo. He proceeded to grow his hair out to the point the entire building was surrounded by hair. "Now, no one gets in or out without me knowing," he said with a wink.
"You heard the queen! No running!" Shaska declared as she pulled out a new cigar and lit it up. "Now get searching! Officers! Second floor!"
All of Shaska's subordinates nodded, and went their respective ways, either to the war room or scattered throughout the rest of the building to find the newly-spawned Devil Fruits. That, or clean up the mess from the battle, including the corpses.
—-
The war room on the second floor was another large room (though nowhere near as large as the lobby on the first floor). In Shaska's absence, the room was now decorated with portraits and busts of Miwagyo. In between the portraits on the walls were maps of the four Blue seas, a map of the first half of the Grand Line (Paradise), and an incomplete map of the second half of the Grand Line (the New World). In the middle of the room was a long table with numerous chairs, and an exceptionally large chair at the head of the table.
The nine officers (Shaska, Schwarz, Roxanne, Lulupo, Puerco, Ren, Zinnia, Johnson, and now, Isha) filed in and took their seats. Shaska made sure to smash a bust of Miwagyo as she took her seat at the head of the table. She reclined in the chair and put her tentacle feet up on the table, flicking ash off her cigar as she did so.
"Alright!" Shaska declared, crossing her arms, "so, who knows how to actually reach Vicks Davis Island?"
The other officers shot confused looks among themselves, before Ren piped up with "do… do you not know?"
"Kid, I've only been to the New World a handful of times. It's an absolute nightmare world. There are places where it rains lightning, or a hole in spacetime will open up and suck you in. The only people who have successfully navigated it fully are Gold Roger and his crew, It's not a place even someone as tough as me is keen on going to again…"
She puffed her cigar and sat up. "That being said, we have to do what's necessary to put a stop to that crazy king guy and his creepy sister."
"I vote against any and all suicide missions," said Puerco, raising his hand.
"Oh, don't worry, there are much worse things that can happen to you there besides dying," said Johnson. "We could run afoul of one of the Three Emperors. Who knows what they'll do to us if we encroach on their territory?"
Puerco let out an audible gulp.
"C'mon, Puerc, you're getting paid good money for this quote unquote 'suicide mission'," Shaska responded with a sly smile. She pulled out a stack of cash and said "you'll even get a bonus if you survive!"
Isha rolled her eyes and said "we're not in this for the money, Shaska, we're in it to save the world."
Lulupo interjected with "oh no, darling, I'm very much still in this for the money. I'm still a mercenary after all is said and done."
Ren pinched the bridge of her nose and exclaimed "can we please get back to topic at hand?!"
"Right, actually getting to Vicks Davis," said Shaska. She stood up and walked over to the map of the New World on the wall.
"Alright, Worldwide Smoke, here's the deal. The New World is impossible to traverse unless you have a special Log Pose, different from the normal kind," Shaska explained. She pointed to the large, thin landmass that encircled the world on the map. "This here is the Red Line that divides the seas. We're right underneath it on Fishman Island. From here, we have three options if we follow the Log Pose normally: Risky Red Island, Raijin Island, and Mistoria Island. One of the islands after Raijin Island… is Vicks Davis."
"Why'd you pause like that?" Schwarz asked.
"Because we're gonna need to spend three days on Raijin Island in order for the Log Pose to reset. And…" She grimaced. "Raijin is the place I mentioned where it rains lightning. So unless we can somehow find an Eternal Pose to Vicks Davis, we're gonna have to survive the lightning rain."
She pulled out a pencil and drew lines from Fishman Island, to Raijin Island, and finally to Vicks Davis.
"With any luck, we should make it there before the king. From what I've heard, Vicks Davis is a nice place. As long as you're a Celestial Dragon or one of their guards, of course. For everyone else, you're just a slave, or close to it. Isn't that right, sna—Zinnia?"
Zinnia took a moment to respond, having been entranced by the talk of one of her favorite subjects, navigation. "Y-yes! It is horrible!"
"Right, so once we get there… we'll drop anchor and… and…"
Shaska's expression became one of puzzlement; the other officers were less than impressed. "Hmmm…" was all Shaska had to say as she took her cigar out of her mouth. "Guess I didn't think that far ahead…"
"YOU GOT US INTO A WAR WITHOUT THINKING AHEAD?!" the other officers (except Zinnia) shouted, eyes going white and their teeth becoming daggers.
Shaska held up her hands and said "now, don't panic, I—we can figure this out."
She thought for a moment, then punched her palm and exclaimed "got it! We sneak in and steal the clothes of the guards!"
"All nearly three hundred of us?" Schwarz asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Of course not, pretty boy! We'll leave the Robinson in a secluded area, then send a small scouting force out onto the island and blend in with the guards. Then, when the wannabe king shows up, our forces will rush onto the island as an ambush!"
"B-but… they know we'll be there," said Johnson. "Didn't you undergo military tactics training with Funagyoshi?! Why are you doing something so stupid?!"
"I think 'bold' is a more accurate term," Shaska responded. "Don't worry, after our training, we're gonna crush him, his creepy sister, and his navy."
"Shaska, I'm serious," Johnson said. "There are so many things left unaccounted for. Like what happens if a Celestial Dragon gets hit in the crossfire? What happens if we wind up getting routed?!"
"Well, for the first one, we can always stage a tactical retreat and let the king and the admiral duke it out. As for the second… we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Shaska said, flicking ash off her cigar.
"We're gonna die…" everyone but Zinnia collectively thought; Zinnia was staring off into space, before Ruth hissed in her ear. It was then that Zinnia also thought "we are going to die…"
Zinnia then spoke up. "The Celestial Dragons are allowed to take anyone they want as a slave. What happens if one of us gets taken as a slave?"
"Surprisingly good question!" Shaska exclaimed. "Let's see… hmm… beat them up and blame it on Minus World."
"I will try not to be offended by that last statement, ma'am," Zinnia said. Ruth gave an agreeing hiss.
"So! We know what we're doing now?" Shaska asked.
"Sailing to our deaths?" Johnson replied.
Shaska rolled her eyes and said "that's the spirit, bird kid. C'mon, snak—Zinnia! Let's get you a New World Log Pose!"
Zinnia nodded, and gradually the officers dispersed from the war room. The only ones left were Schwarz and Ren, sitting across the table from each other. Schwarz leaned back and put his feet up on the table.
"You ready for this?" Schwarz asked dryly. "We could very easily not survive this ordeal."
"I know…" said Ren wistfully. "It's… sobering, really. But I want to help. If fate of world is at stake, then we must stop von Esens!"
"Exactly. But mostly, I'm hoping we can get info about the man who killed my family out of him. He may even be with him. And since we're going to the New World, we could very well run into that crooked Marine who slaughtered your island. Do you think you're ready for that?"
Ren blushed and said "ready as I'll ever be. Heh, it's interesting how we both have grudge. We both have lust for vengeance."
"Mmhmm. But hey, if you ever need help, just say the word. After what happened to… everyone, I want to protect my crew. You guys are… basically all I've got these days, even if Shaska's kinda…"
"Bitchy."
Schwarz laughed, then said "yeah. Let's both try and survive this, okay?"
He spawned a hole under himself and fell through, landing in the chair right next to her. She blushed even harder. "I don't want any of my friends dying on me. Even if you guys are a bunch of peasants."
Ren's blush faded at that last statement, and she rolled her eyes. "Let's go, Schwarz. We need to meet up with crew," to which Schwarz nodded, and they both left the war room.
—
The near-three hundred man crew reconvened in the lobby. Once again, Shaska stood in front of the crowd, though this time, she was alone. She turned to face them as Lulupo retracted his hair from all over the building. Zinnia fiddled with her newly acquired New World Log Pose as Shaska began to speak.
"Alright, maggots, we're shipping out for Vicks Davis tonight! Did anyone find any Devil Fruits?"
Freddie stepped forward and pulled out what looked like a large sky blue strawberry with darker blue swirls on it. "Is this a Devil Fruit?"
Deacon stepped forward too with a similar question, this time holding what looked like a bunch of yellow and black colored grapes.
Shaska's eyes turned into berry signs at this, and a few coins poured out of her mouth as she clapped her hands together. A wide grin plastered itself on her face.
"Hee hee hee, indeed! Those things are worth a fortune! We'll keep 'em safe in my vault on the Robinson until we need to sell 'em!"
"Shaska, darling, wouldn't it be more sensible to give them to our troops so they can fight better?" Lulupo asked.
"And cut into my funds for the war effort?" Shaska replied, to which Lulupo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Besides, how are we going to decide who gets them?"
"Half of our officers don't have one," said Schwarz. "Maybe they should get priority?"
"Not me, I like being able to swim," said Isha. "Nor do I particularly care for fighting."
"I'll do it," said Ren. "I got little too roughed up in my last fight. Give me blue strawberry. Whatever it is, it will help me defeat crooked Marine."
Freddie handed it over to her, and she took a large bite of it. Her eyes shot open at the taste; it was absolutely godawful, like rotten fruit.
"So, which one is it, darling?" Lulupo asked. "When I ate mine, the fruit's name popped right into my head, but the same didn't happen for Roxanne."
Ren focused. Suddenly, her body became entirely transparent glass. She looked at (or rather, through) her hands and said "this will take getting used to," as she curled her glass fingers.
"Give me the other one," said Puerco. "Despite my six months of training, I was just this side of useless in that last battle. I wanna help fight too. I wanna take 'combat medic' literally if I'm not gonna be the head medical officer anymore."
"Hey, kid! A doctor's first job is to do no harm!" Isha declared.
Puerco's eye's became hearts for a split second, but then changed back to normal. "I choose to apply that only to my patients. World-conquering cultists need no mercy!"
Deacon handed over the odd grapes, and Puerco pulled one off and ate it. Like Ren, he retched at the taste of it.
"Hive Hive Fruit…" popped into his mind. He held up his hand, and a small hole appeared in his palm, out of which flew several bees.
"Cool…" he muttered.
"So now everyone but me and Zinnia has a Devil Fruit," Shaska mused. "We're basically a bona fide New World crew now! Or, we will be once the other Kemurchant ships make it to Fishman Island eventually."
She punched her palm and blew some smoke, continuing with "but as for right now, we got a king to stamp out! Let's roll, Worldwide Smoke! To Vicks Davis Island!"
TO BE CONTINUED