Party Island
Karamakura 8 sailed the waters of the Grand Line as it approached Party Island, while its crew members each carried out their respective duties on board.
Lieutenant Zaimokuza was in the training section practicing phrases or dialogues as if he were to encounter the pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro. He moved his body, believing that when his destined encounter with one of his rivals for the title of the greatest swordsman occurred, it must be epic, or else it would insult the moment. Beside him was Ensign Saika, applauding the bizarre but amusing movements of Zaimokuza. Saika also provided his opinion on which phrases might be better for when Zaimokuza faced Roronoa Zoro, even mimicking the pirate based on the Marine records they had to make the practice more realistic.
Lieutenant Commander Yui was in her quarters conducting maintenance on her rifles and preparing the flower bullets provided by the Marines to disarm enemy pirates without killing them. Yui was a pacifist and therefore always avoided killing. Her room was what one would expect of a girl, a place that would never be inspected by her captain due to nervousness about the smell of a girl's room. Thus, the girl might have a somewhat compromising photo in a heart-shaped frame on her dressing table.
Commander Yukino was with Captain Hachiman, establishing the strategies they would employ on Paradise Island. They were both studying the map of the island and planning how to imprison Wang-okl without violating the island's liberal treaties, which discouraged confrontation between Marines and pirates as long as the latter didn't break the island's rules. Yukino thought the strategy they had devised was somewhat dirty and vile, but for Hachiman, there was no better way to find a legal loophole in the situation.
Ensign Saki was in the sickbay office taking inventory of medicines such as bandages. As a doctor, it was her duty to keep records of everything in that space. Nearby was her service weapon, a pistol, and some throwing knives.
The only one who was bored and at her lookout post was reading a gossip magazine about famous Marines and pirates to pass the time. This was Ensign Iroha, who was also the only one wearing a bikini to combat the heat of her position. She had a Den Den Mushi playing the best songs of her favorite singer, Uta.
"Uta singing New Genesis and my gossip magazine are all a girl needs to pass the time in this boring job," exclaimed Iroha, not believing what she was reading. She even doubted that the most beautiful woman in the world, the Empress Pirate Boa Hancock, could be in love with that simian-faced Monkey D. Luffy. She believed it was just another sensationalized story in the magazine to attract gullible readers.
"If we had to choose someone from the Worst Generation to make it believable, I would have picked the current Shichibukai, Trafalgar Law. Damn, that guy just makes the whole bad boy and loner charm that makes the captain cringe look attractive. If he weren't a pirate, I wouldn't feel bad about going on a date with such a bad boy," expressed Iroha as she took a sip of her drink, reminiscing about the life she could have had on Captain Hayama's ship.
"At least the ship has a nice name, and since the captain is a Logia, most missions will be pretty easy, so I could get used to the easy work," she added optimistically. With renewed vigor, she approached the edge and took out her binoculars to observe in the direction of the bow to see where they were. Then her eyes widened, and she immediately stood up to confirm what she was seeing.
From a distance, Party Island rose like a flash of colors and movement in the midst of the vast ocean. Its beaches of white sand merged with the turquoise blue of the sea, creating a paradisiacal landscape that invited exploration and fun.
As the seagulls approached, the bustling activity that defined this unique island could be seen. Its streets were filled with people of all shapes and sizes, some dressed in extravagant outfits and others in typical regional attire. The tempting aromas of street food wafted through the air, mingling with the lively music that resonated everywhere.
The center of the island was dominated by the imposing Grand Festival Hall, a majestic building adorned with flower garlands and bright lights. From outside, one could hear the sound of music and the cheers of the crowd, promising endless party and joy.
Beyond the main city, the lush green jungle stretched into the interior of the island, hiding secrets and dangers in its thickness. The treetops swayed in the wind, and the singing of exotic birds added to the chorus of natural sounds.
In every corner of Party Island, there was a palpable energy, a feeling of excitement and possibility. Pirates mingled with traders, sailors exchanged stories of adventures, and children ran through the streets with laughter and joy.
It was a place where dreams came true and where every day was a new adventure waiting to be discovered. Party Island was more than a destination; it was an unforgettable experience that enveloped you in its magic from the moment you set foot on its shores.
"Captain, Party Island in sight!" exclaimed Iroha joyfully into a Den Den Mushi that connected to the captain's chamber, as she was about to go to one of the tourist spots that had always been in her dreams. She quickly descended from the watchtower to feel the festive atmosphere of the island closer.
The Den Den Mushi also connected to a general speaker, so all the crew members left their activities and gathered at the bow to confirm the lookout's words.
"Whoa, these autopilots created by Vegapunk are worth every penny of their investment. Who would have thought that they only need a route to be traced and the helm to be monitored periodically or have a lookout to take them anywhere on the wide sea? This makes the job so easy that even a child could sail," exclaimed Hachiman in amazement as memories of his time as a marine on a captain's ship who died in Marineford flashed through his mind. The memories of being a cabin boy, watching over the sails or the helm to prevent accidents, had now been made easier with the magic of technology provided by the genius Vegapunk.
"They're being tested on small boats, but they're still extremely expensive for larger ships, and even for small boats, outside of the Marines, they could only be found in the wealthiest people on the planet," added Yukino, also fascinated by navigation technology, as her memories of being a cabin boy were the same as Hachiman's.
"Now that we're close and everyone's here, it's time for me to tell you the plan we're going to pursue on this mission to avoid any conflicts," said Hachiman as he turned around and began to walk towards his cabin, trying to avert his gaze from Iroha, or rather from her exposed body, as she wore a bikini that highlighted all her curves, which were hidden by her Marine uniform, and his lack of experience with women outside the military sphere might come to the surface if he kept looking at Iroha.
With that in mind, and accompanied by his team, and Iroha, who fortunately for Hachiman put on her Marine jacket that hid most of her bikini, they arrived at the cabin, and with a quick hand movement, he ordered his crew around the table to explain what they would do, quickly making sure that Iroha was out of his central view, so he placed her in a distant corner.
"We're all gathered, so it's time to explain what we're going to do, but first let's explain who the target we're going to capture is," said Hachiman as he made his hand disappear and reappear on his desk to pick up some papers, then he made his hand reappear to show that he had already picked up the papers.
"Wang-Okl, a 25-year-old from Gang Island in the South Sea and the son of two island office workers, so as you can see, before becoming a dangerous pirate, he was a normal young man you could find on any moderately urbanized island," Hachiman explained as he showed a photo of a young man with brown hair and a normal appearance wearing a semi-formal outfit because it was his job interview photo.
"But we believe that young Wang-Okl's life was twisted by society two years ago when, for some reason, he became the possessor of the power of a Devil Fruit, the Not-Not Fruit of the Paramecia type," he continued.
Hachiman pronounced as he drew attention to a Devil Fruit shaped like a pear and colored resembling notebook leaves. "We don't know how he got the fruit and learned to use its powers, but we know that at that moment his mind turned to crime, committing all the crimes that a contaminated mind like his could commit, from robberies to perverted acts that I wouldn't like to mention," Hachiman's words showed his displeasure at the crimes committed by this pirate.
"Our investigators discovered how Wang used his powers," Yukino added to lighten the burden and feelings of Hachiman at that moment. "According to what they found, Wang can pull out a piece of paper from his wrists and on that paper, he must write the name of his victim and beside it, the order he wants them to follow. After that, he crumples the paper and swallows it," Yukino said as she showed images from bank security cameras where Wang attacked.
"In these images, you can see the movements made, which somehow mesmerized the cashier who easily handed over 10 million berries without arousing suspicion from any other worker," Yukino continued. "The cashier didn't realize he was hypnotized, and when the effects wore off, he didn't remember anything about meeting Wang or seeing him, indicating that Wang's presence quickly disappears if it's of little use."
"If the use is prolonged, the woman you see in the picture was one of Wang's victims of perversion and who only managed to break free from his control when he had to be forced to escape the island with the kidnapped captain. She revealed to us details of how her mind was distorted by Wang's proximity, causing Stockholm syndrome," Yukino pointed out as she shifted the pages and showed another of Wang's crimes.
"Thanks to her brave testimony, we were able to get an idea of how Wang's hypnotic powers fade. The first is that if Wang moves away from the victim by 1 mile in every direction, the connection is lost, and the second is when Wang loses consciousness. This was discovered when he was captured on Coffee Island after the husband of one of his victims, who had great political power, put a price on his head," Yukino said as she displayed his first wanted poster, which was for 6 million berries.
"That would have been his end, but I must guess that no one knew about his Devil Fruit powers..."
Saki added, disgusted by Wang, "Exactly, Kawashoshima. The police who captured him had no records of Devil Fruit, and therefore many fell under the power of his Devil Fruit. With control of the headquarters, he managed to escape and, along with several police officers, decided to attack the Marine base, which was controlled by the Pirate Cutter, Captain June," Hachiman said as he showed a photo of the captain's Marine base, which was a woman with long brown hair and a mole under one of her eyes that gave her a charm that could be the downfall of any man.
"Captain June, 35 years old, was a woman with a happy marriage of almost ten years that was cut short by the perversion of a pirate, who using his powers managed to trap a large number of women at the base and some men to use as cannon fodder to escape," Yukino added, feeling sorry for a woman who was quite well-known as one of the strongest captains in the South Sea and was a candidate to be sent to the New World.
"Captain June was an example for Marine swordsmen, her kidnapping is a loss for all," Saika added with a sad expression.
"The plan was very successful for something that was planned in the heat of the moment, so it is believed that he allowed himself to be captured as part of his plan and in that way, have a force to attack the Marine base, where his target would be the strongest woman on the island, and with that, the Marines stopped considering him a common criminal, so that action caused his reward to increase to 66 million," Hachiman said as he showed his current reward.
"With the power of the captain and a Marine ship that he remodeled to be his pirate ship, he began to wreak havoc on the South Sea, and his crimes exceeded all expectations, which would have caused his reward to increase if he had not found a certain sponsor," Yukino added as she pulled out a reward poster that was crossed out and left everyone surprised.
"The Shichibukai Donquixote Doflamingo, what does one of the allied pirates have to do with this criminal?" Yui exclaimed in surprise.
"He's his sponsor, Yuigahama. Somehow Doflamingo's spies found out about what happened on Coffee Island and offered him protection quickly, which caused all his actions in the South Sea to be ignored by the Marines and his reward remained frozen," Hachiman responded as the image showed a blonde man smiling with a reward of 320 million.
"But aren't the Shichibukai allies of the Marines? Why would a justice ally be helping such a despicable criminal?" Yui innocently asked.
"Yui, the Shichibukai are not always allies of the Marines; most of the time, they prefer to take advantage of the benefits that the Marines promised them and commit evil. An evil that the Marines decided would be lesser with the advantage of having a powerful ally against the dangerous pirates of the sea," Yukino responded to her friend.
"But what could Doflamingo be interested in Wang for? I know that mind control power is useful since he possesses a similar power, but it's noticeable that it has disadvantages due to the limitation of the paper size and orders," Iroha added, curious about the situation.
"Those limitations may limit Wang's usefulness, but for the market that Doflamingo manages, direct orders are very beneficial. Who needs complicated orders for slaves?" Hachiman added, dropping a bombshell to his companions who immediately understood Doflamingo's interest in Wang.
"And where there are luxuries, there will be a black market, and slaves can always be found. For that reason, we are heading to Party Island because it is the most luxurious island outside the Grand Line or the New World, not only because it may have a slave market where Wang could shine with his powers but also because of Wang-okl's star client," Hachiman said as he showed the last photo that left everyone breathless, as the image showed a man in poor health but with a bubble resembling a helmet on his head.
It was the image of a Celestial Dragon, the image of one of the rulers of the world.
"Saint Charlos is the Celestial Dragon interested in Wang-okl's powers and who, according to our informants, will arrive on the island in 3 days," Hachiman said with a serious tone that made the silence heavy.
"We all know how troublesome it is to deal with the Celestial Dragons, but nothing can be done because they are the World Nobles, and their voice as a decision could condemn us all to immediate death," Hachiman was direct with the situation, preferring to be honest about the situation rather than trying to disguise what was happening with lies.
"If the client is a Celestial Dragon, why were we tasked with capturing the seller?" Yukino expressed sarcastically to try to hide her anger about the situation.
-"I thought the same until I discovered who was in charge of the mission, because it's not the high ranks of the Marines, but the Cipher Pol, and not just any Cipher Pol, but the Zero," Hachiman said calmly, trying to hide his nervousness as he remembered the man with the painted face he encountered on the island prior to this one, where they handed over the captured pirates and received payment for their contribution.
While Hachiman counted the money received in the base's hold where they delivered the pirates, either due to his distraction or the skills of the one who interrupted him, he was intercepted by a man of medium height with tanned skin. Hachiman remembers that his face was completely painted white, with one eye darkened, a scar, and some beard. He wore a white suit with a cape, a black scarf over it with dots of navy blue, a slightly loose black tie, a white top hat, blue shoes, thick brown gloves, and a decoration on the left side of his chest.
"You're Captain Hachiman Hikigaya..." the man spoke with a strong but clear voice that put Hachiman on alert. Even if he was in the hold of a Marine base, one never knows what kind of enemy they might encounter on the seas.
"Yes, that's me. Who's looking for me?" Hachiman asked, placing his hand under the table to start charging plasma energy.
"Someone who could be considered a friend in this situation, so you would be very kind to deactivate your powers," the man said as he took a nearby chair and sat down, to Hachiman's surprise at being discovered, he deactivated his plasma hand.
"Well, a fight could be very problematic, especially when we're both servants of the government," the man spoke with a relaxed tone, but Hachiman could feel that in his relaxation there was a certain confidence, the confidence that a winner gives when victory is within arm's reach.
"He must be a skilled user of Haki. Fighting could be counterproductive for me," Hachiman thought as he placed both hands on the table.
"You're a smart kid. If you keep it up, you'll go far in the Marines," the man spoke still in a relaxed tone. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Guernica, and I'm an agent of Cipher Zero."
Upon pronouncing his occupation, Hachiman's body tensed, as he realized that the man's relaxed voice wasn't one of excessive trust. If Hachiman had sought a fight, he would have been annihilated with a single move of his hands.
"What brings the presence of a respected member of Cipher Zero to this place so far from the realms of the gods?"
Hachiman expressed, trying to sound polite while hiding his fear. "Not much, I just wanted to give some clues to the captain who accepted the mission we assigned to the Marine headquarters," Guernica said as he took out an information envelope and left it on the table. "When you read the information, you'll realize that the mission is more important than you might think, and failure cannot be allowed," Guernica pronounced. When Hachiman took the document, Guernica disappeared as he had arrived, leaving Hachiman both astonished and relieved. Somewhat calmer, he opened the documents and was completely stunned by what he read in his glance.
Back in the present, his team was trying to comprehend all the words their captain had spoken, and the first to speak was Yukino. "That explains why you were nervous when you returned to the ship. An encounter with Cipher Zero is something that only high-ranking officers like rear admirals or vice admirals deal with, not rookies like us."
"So all this information is from Cipher Zero. That explains why everything is so detailed with records of all the events…" Zaimokuza added, trying to calm himself by moving his shoulders, as the mission had increased in difficulty.
"In summary, Cipher Zero discovered that Wang-Okl's powers are a scam, so they are preventing him from coming into contact with the Tenryubito, and that's why they assigned the situation to the Marines. If they avoid him, they could provoke the fury of a Tenryubito," Hachiman explained, trying to instill confidence in his team. "While we, not having direct relation with the Tenryubito, could be considered bad luck, and with that, the Tenryubito might lose interest. It's a win-win situation."
"And on the other hand, if we fail, we'll be the scapegoats of Cipher Zero, and I thought being selected as your commander was going to be the worst thing that could happen to me," Yukino expressed with a sigh due to the increased difficulty of the mission.
"We still have three days before they meet, and I believe Hachiman, under the pressure of Cipher, must have planned something," Saki added, trying to calm the situation.
"That's why I like you, Kawashima. Like she said, I have a plan for this situation, and I developed it with the commander," Hachiman exclaimed happily, making Saki blush with his first comment.
"A plan we designed without knowing the weight of the mission, since the captain kept a lot of information from me. But even with the new information, it's still a great plan," Yukino commented, still worried about the situation.
"The plan is simple. As you know, the island has 5 entrances, easily recognizable by the materials they're made of. The Copper Gate, the furthest one, connects to the island's jungle and is where pirates or other smugglers enter," Hachiman explained, unfolding a map of the island and pointing out the gates. "Obviously, this is where Wang and his ally entered, and it's also where we'll avoid entering because it would be too obvious that we're searching for something, and at the same time, we might provoke many of the pirates on the island."
-"The second gate is the Silver Gate, used by traders or local tourists. It connects to the main port and leads to the most common residential or commercial areas of the island. This is another gate we won't use," Hachiman continued, moving his finger to another gate. "The third gate is the Gold Gate, reserved for the wealthy, directly connecting to the island's luxury hotels and upscale shops. Unfortunately for Lieutenant Ishiki, this isn't our gate," Hachiman teased, eliciting a pout from Iroha that drew some much-needed laughter, lightening the mood.
-"Our gate is this one, the Platinum Gate. In another situation, we might have been sent to the Silver Gate, where lower-ranking Marines go, but thanks to Cipher Zero, we have a special permit to use these gates," Hachiman stated.
-"A little help for the guinea pigs never hurts..." Saki added suddenly, her tone reflecting her and Yukino's anger at the higher-ups' decision.
-"I wouldn't call it a little help, but tremendous assistance, as this path is the only one used by nobles or high-ranking Marines. It's also the only one with a land route for the Marines to reach the other sector, completely exclusive to the gods," Hachiman remarked, pointing to the Diamond Gate, a gate no ship other than those of the Tenryubito would pass through. Crossing it without being a Tenryubito or with a very special permit granted only to admirals is enough to be declared an enemy of the government, with a minimum bounty of 100 million on your head.
-"In the worst-case scenario, this place, which in the other sectors requires a connector that transports them by small boats through underground caves, we could enter through the slave market," Hachiman's words made everyone understand the plan.
"Thus, we must kidnap them; the grand plan is a kidnapping, from outside in case the mission encounters no problems, and in the worst-case scenario, within the slave market itself. If it weren't for Yukino-senpai's support, I would be calling for mutiny," Iroha expressed with difficulty in accepting the situation.
"I would think the same, Ishiki, and I would support it with all my strength, the mutiny. But unfortunately, after much thought, we discovered that the only legal loophole in the government on the island is kidnapping, as it allows us to take them off the island and therefore apply the law as it should be without risking breaching treaties," Yukino's words were understanding, aimed at her junior.
"It's a technique discovered by pirates to get rid of their enemies, also applied by intelligence services or even some marines, so save the mutiny energy until things are truly dire," Hachiman expressed, not particularly pleased with the mutinous comments, but he quickly ignored them as the success of this mission took precedence.
The plan was something that didn't sit well with everyone on deck, but with Yukino's supportive words, they began to understand that it was the only possible method to fulfill their mission without damaging the treaty and provoking the wrath of the wealthy.
Reluctantly, they accepted the situation, and Hachiman began to explain the steps to follow to each one for the greatest success, as their ship headed towards the Platinum Gate.
Their time limit was three days, and now the clock was ticking.
.
.
.
I altered the name and abilities of Wang's devil fruit to make combat and techniques easier for him, a pirate with a bounty of 66 million, to make him more reliant on the power of his fruit.
Principio del formulario
Principio del formulario
Principio del formulario