Hello everybody. I am just an old reader who decided to give writing a shoot.
It is my first time trying something like this and my orthography is average at best, so please be patient with me.
I found the cover of the fic while I was surfing the web and it is not mine. if somebody recognizes it from some manga or anime, know that it has nothing to do with the story beyond being the appearance of the main character with a little touch on my part.
With nothing more to say, I hope you all enjoy my first fanfic!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Human Hunter: Chapter 01
In the tranquil waters of the East Blue, the most peaceful of all the seas, a solitary ship sailed smoothly through the waves as it approached a cluster of islands.
Inside the captain's quarters, a lone man sat at a table cluttered with charts, compasses, nautical almanacs, and other navigational tools.
The man was focused intently on a specific map detailing the archipelago the ship was nearing.
He was a tall, lean, and elegant man with fair skin and long, flowing blonde hair tied into a thick braid that draped over his shoulder and down his back. His slightly messy bangs framed his face and partially covered his eyes. He wore a dark, formal outfit reminiscent of military attire, consisting of a black jacket, dark gray pants, gloves, and black boots. The jacket was adorned with layered epaulets on the shoulders and a high collar, giving him a regal and authoritative appearance. His outfit was detailed with small buttons and fitted cuffs. His gloves were dark gray.
However, his most striking feature was his heterochromatic eyes—one green and the other red—giving him an exotic and mysterious look.
His name was Cassian D. Zephyr, captain of the ship and leader of the band of bounty hunters known as Gilead.
.
Despite his focused expression as he studied the maps, Cassian was thrilled. They were heading toward the group of islands to complete one final job before finally setting sail for the Grand Line.
Cassian stepped back from the table and spread his arms wide, a huge smile on his face.
"Hahaha!" He couldn't help but laugh in delight.
After capturing all sorts of pirates across the Four Blues, it was finally time to embark on their great adventure.
It had taken him five years, but the time was nearly at hand. Five years since he began this journey, five years of wandering through these weak seas, hunting down petty pirate scum, but now he was finally ready.
He had a strong and loyal crew, a powerful ship, and, once this little job was done, the resources necessary to take on the journey through the most dangerous sea in the world.
The thought of entering the Grand Line filled him with such glee that he felt like bursting into song.
In fact, what was stopping him?
He parted his lips and was just about to begin when...
"Please don't do that," said a feminine voice behind him, surprising him and stopping him in his tracks. "We both know singing isn't one of your strong suits," she added with evident amusement.
Cassian quickly turned around and was met with a vision of beauty.
She was a slim young woman with shoulder-length light pink hair that covered her right eye and curled upward at the tips. Her purple eyes gleamed as she wore light pink lipstick. She had distinctive curly eyebrows that spiraled like the number 6. Both her thighs were tattooed with the same number.
She wore a thin purple headband in her hair, a short white satin dress with a frilled neckline, a pink cravat, and dark high heels. Over her dress, she donned a red cape with gold accents.
She was his first mate, the first person he recruited for his little band of bounty hunters, and her name was...
"Reiju!" he exclaimed, swiftly approaching the pink-haired woman.
"Captain," Reiju greeted him with a smile. "We're rapidly approaching the island, so I think you should—Captain!" she cried out as the blonde man wrapped an arm around her waist, took her hand with his other, and began twirling her around the room. "Cassian, put me down right now!" she demanded firmly, though amusement laced her tone.
Cassian just laughed as they spun and twisted all around his quarters.
"Come on, Reiju, we're finally near the end!" he exclaimed as he continued dancing. "After this one job, all our preparations will be complete. We'll get our sponsor from the Marines, and we'll finally be able to enter the Grand Line with all their resources at our disposal," he said with a grin.
Technically, entering the Grand Line wasn't illegal, but given that they were a crew of bounty hunters, it was always better to have the World Government's endorsement. Otherwise, they risked being seen as too unhinged and difficult to control, which could lead to a bounty being placed on them, forcing them to live on the run.
So why be enemies when they could be allies?
As if tired of being manhandled, Reiju swiftly hooked her leg between Cassian's, tripping him.
"Waa!" he yelped as he started to fall, but with a quick twist, he managed to land in a chair near the table—with Reiju tumbling onto his lap, much to his delight.
"Ugh," she muttered as they both settled into their seats. She placed her hands on his shoulders to steady herself.
Before she could get up, Cassian wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her in place. He was clearly enjoying the situation.
Reiju shot him an unimpressed look before feeling something poking her rear, making her expression shift to one of irritation.
"Really, Cassian? We're about to start our final job in these waters, and all you can think about is sex?" she said with a deadpan tone.
Cassian just chuckled at her words.
"Come on, don't act like you don't enjoy it," he teased, making her blush. "But seriously, after all this time, we're finally at the finish line. We can finally begin our real adventure!" he said, a huge smile spreading across his face. "Aren't you even a little excited?"
Reiju looked at her captain's beaming face and couldn't help but smile back. That almost childlike joy he felt whenever something good happened was one of the reasons she chose to follow him.
Still, she was the first mate, and she had a job to do.
Crossing her arms behind his neck, she responded.
"You know I am, love," she said, meeting his gaze. "But we haven't done the job yet, so it's a little early to start celebrating," she added, giving him a quick kiss. The gesture distracted him enough for her to slip out of his grip and stand up.
Cassian watched her for a moment before also rising to his feet.
"Of course, let's finish this job quickly and then celebrate," he said, eyeing her up and down, making it clear what kind of celebration he had in mind.
Reiju just smiled at that as she walked toward the door.
"How's the crew?" he asked, following her.
"Restless and impatient," she replied. "They've been waiting a long time for the chance to enter the Grand Line."
Cassian nodded at her words.
"As expected—they've been patient as we've led them through the Blues," he chuckled. "They must be thirsty for a real adventure!" he exclaimed.
Reiju didn't respond, simply smiling at his words. She could have pointed out that the crew hadn't followed her—they followed him and only him—but she knew it was pointless.
He might not be modest, but in everything they achieved, he saw it as a team effort.
"And what about our new recruit? How's she holding up?" Cassian asked.
They had picked up a new crew member on the last island where they made port, and she hadn't been tested yet.
"A little nervous about the upcoming fight, but in good spirits. After all, this won't be her first battle," Reiju responded.
"That's good, that's—" But his next words were cut off as they exited his quarters and saw that their crewmates were at each other's throats... as usual.
Reiju sighed while Cassian simply smiled.
"Well," Cassian said as he approached his crew, "it looks like they're excited, don't you think?" he asked laughing.
The only response he got was another sigh as Reiju followed her captain toward the rest of the crew.
The sun shone brightly and the wind blew smoothly that day as the ship approached the archipelago. A group of people was sitting at a table and eating their lunch while enjoying the pleasant weather.
The crew was looking forward to finally arriving at their destination and doing the work they had been hired for.
Or at least that was how it was supposed to be. But…
"Hey, how many more of these little gigs are we supposed to do? I'm tired of capturing or killing small fry like this one!" a female voice said loudly. She then proceeded to eat a big piece of pizza while angrily looking at another member of the crew.
She was a slim, curvaceous young woman with long, light pink hair and brown eyes.
Her outfit consisted of a white, low-cut tank top that exposed both her midriff and cleavage, along with a pair of orange-and-black striped buckled shorts with long, thin suspenders. She also wore black high-heeled boots that reached up to her calves with large laces coming from the openings, and a pair of hot pink and dark red stockings with a yellow sun-like motif on them. The hat she wore was a green Furażerka with a light green lining. She had an anti-eyebrow piercing below her right eye and bright red lipstick on her lips.
Her name was Jewelry Bonney, an ex-pirate native from the South Blue and the chef of the crew.
Her interlocutor looked at her with irritation before responding.
"I don't know, Bonney, you should ask the captain that. According to him, this is supposedly the last one, but he said the same thing last time. So why not do us all a favor and just keep eating quietly, as that's the only good thing you've done lately," he said as he massaged his forehead.
He was a slim young man of relatively tall height. He had faint shadows under his yellow eyes, and his face was usually seen with a smirk. He wore a northern-style fur hat, which was white and had a spotted pattern along the bottom and the bill. He had short dark hair, most of which was obscured by his hat, save for his sideburns and a small goatee.
He was wearing a yellow hoodie with black sleeves and a black hood. The hoodie had a heart printed on the front of the chest area in dark ink, and he kept the sleeves rolled up. He also sported a pair of jeans with odd dots on both the knee and ankle areas, similar to the ones on his hat, but darker in color. He sported a pair of dark, pointed shoes. He had a pair of small earrings on each ear.
He was Trafalgar Law, a native of the North Blue.
He was the doctor of the crew and one of the few sensible people on this ship. But even he had his limits.
"Why you!" responded Bonney to his insult as she rose from her chair with her fists clenched. "Do you want me to turn you into a fetus?!" she threatened him.
"Bring it on, bottomless pit!" he responded as he also stood up, grabbing his sword.
But before a fight could start, someone intervened.
"Now, now, how about we all calm down and eat in peace," said another one of the people seated, trying to defuse the situation.
She had a thin and curved body, dark brown eyes, and wore her long black hair pinned up by a clip. She wore rectangular glasses with red frames.
She was wearing a floral button-down shirt, blue capris, dark pink gloves with a white trim, and dark pink boots.
Her name was Tashigi, born in the East Blue, an ex-member of the Marines and the newest member of the crew.
Another person also intervened but with less benevolent intentions.
"Ufufu, it's true, we shouldn't fight with each other. Besides, we're almost there, and we'll all have the opportunity to blow off some steam," and then she gave them a sly smile. "Well, at least you will, Law. I know Bonney prefers to… de-stress in a different way," she said as she smiled when Bonney blushed.
The person who spoke had short curly blonde hair, blue eyes, red lipstick, and red-painted fingernails. She had a thin and slightly curved body as well as exceptionally large breasts.
She was wearing a white dress with a pink necktie, a white matching cape, and gloves. She also donned fishnet stockings with fluffy rims and a garter belt.
She was Stussy, an ex-agent of Cipher Pol.
"Shut up, mosquito!" said Bonney, still blushing while redirecting her anger at her.
But before things could escalate, the captain and his first mate arrived at the group.
"Alright, that's enough, we're almost there," said that person, making the rest of the crew calm down and look at him.
They had all been recruited by this person and had decided to follow him on this journey. And while some of them were recruited in a… less than orthodox way, and all of them had different objectives in mind, they were all loyal to Cassian.
And the first step in their journey was to enter the Grand Line.
As the crew calmed down, they directed their eyes toward the front of the ship.
They were approaching the small group of islands named Conomi Islands after their last recruitment to detain, alive or dead, a group of pirates that had been terrorizing the population for more than ten years.
This was usually a job for the Marines, but because it seemed that it was a strong crew of pirates—and because the mercenaries were in the vicinity—they were asked to take care of them.
They would, of course, receive payment for doing this job, in addition to any bounty that any member of the pirate crew had.
And if all goes according to plan, it would be the last job on these waters.
"Okay, listen up," said the captain to the members of his crew. "I've already received confirmation from my contact in the Marines. If we complete this final assignment, we'll finally receive approval to enter the Grand Line without being labeled as pirates. And who knows," he said, giving them a half-smile that the rest of the crew recognized, "we might even gain a new crew member," he said, making the people surrounding him sigh.
They all knew what methods he used when he was 'recruiting' members for his band of bounty hunters. After all, he had used similar methods with most of them.
And, unfortunately, it worked.
Most of them gave a silent prayer for the possible poor soul that was waiting for them on that island.
"Captain!" A person approached them, shouting. "There's land in sight!" he shouted, stopping in front of them.
He was a thick-built man with shaggy brown hair and sideburns. He had an unusually smooth and tubular torso.
He sported a dark green cape with a white frill collar. He wore puffy blue and yellow thick-striped pants and black shoes. He had the number "13" tattooed on his left side just below his ribs.
He was Sai, the last member of the band of bounty hunters.
"Sai, report," said Cassian.
"We'll be arriving in half an hour, captain," he said. "But we may have a problem," he added.
The rest of the crew focused on him.
"What kind of problem?" Reiju asked.
Sai turned his eyes to her.
"It appears that the pirates are Gyojin," he said, making the rest of the crew grimace.
The Gyojin was one of two humanoid races that inhabited and ruled the bottom of the seas. They had great physical strength compared to humans, which alone made them a pain to deal with, but the real problem was that they could breathe underwater and swim at extreme speeds. And considering that they were on a ship…
"Did they see us?" Cassian asked.
"Yes, they did," Sai said. "They've already sent three men toward us."
"How much time do we have?" Law asked.
"Ten minutes at most," Sai finished saying.
Cassian thought about what to do. It was out of the question to engage with them underwater. Not only would the Gyojin have a clear advantage, but most of Cassian's crewmembers were Devil Fruit users, so they couldn't fight in the middle of the sea.
He observed the rest of his crew, looking for anyone with a brilliant idea. Then his eyes focused on the doctor.
"Law, do you think you could transport them to the deck?" he asked him, hopeful.
Law thought about this for a moment before nodding.
"Yes, I think I could manage that, as long as they're close enough to our ship," he clarified.
The rest of the crew sighed in relief. If he could do that, then it wouldn't be much of a problem.
Cassian nodded at that before starting to give them orders.
"Okay, ladies and gentlemen," he said, making most of them snort. There weren't many of either in the crew. "We'll have company soon. Bonney, I need you to be the helmsman. Navigate the ship and, if necessary, defend the helm if any enemy approaches it," he said to the pink-haired girl.
She crossed her arms and gave him a serious look.
"Of course, no problem," she said.
He nodded at her and then looked at the rest of the crew.
"The rest of you, prepare yourselves; we'll have enemies on board," he said to them. "And if you can, try to avoid killing them. They pay more if they're alive," he finished saying.
Hachi was swiftly swimming toward the enemy ship with a bored expression.
He was kind of tired of doing these kinds of jobs.
At first, when they arrived at this island in the East Blue, it was exciting. They had separated themselves from the traitor Jinbe, who preferred to work for the humans rather than fight them.
They settled on the islands to withdraw, regroup, and become stronger again. And once that happened, they planned to go to the Grand Line once more and continue the great work that Fisher Tiger began.
That was the plan, but…
It had been a decade since then, and they were still here. Still doing nothing but terrorizing the humans on the island.
He didn't have a problem with humans. Yes, many of his friends enjoyed tormenting them, including Arlong, their captain, but not him. He even had some human friends in the Sabaody Archipelago.
But that didn't mean he would try to help them.
Many of his Gyojin companions had been slaves to the Celestial Dragons, so if they needed to be cruel to other humans to ease their pain a bit, then so be it.
Still, he wondered what they were still doing here. They should have departed from this place by now. But they hadn't, and he didn't know why.
They had been doing the same thing for the last ten years: dominating these parts of the East Blue, collecting taxes from these humans, and killing the few Marines they couldn't bribe.
If it were up to him, they would have left this place by now. But it wasn't. Besides, he trusted Arlong. If they hadn't departed yet, he must have his reasons.
But enough of that, he should focus on the task at hand.
They had detected a ship approaching the island, and he, along with two of his friends, Chew and Kuroobi, were in charge of sinking it.
He was supposed to move a cliff under the ship so that when it passed over the rock at tremendous speed, it would cause a maelstrom that would sink the ship.
A couple of minutes later, after finishing his task, he approached his friends to see if they needed any help. But when he arrived at the ship, he saw the two of them just floating loosely, doing nothing.
"What are you doing? Did something happen?" he asked them.
Chew, a muscular, blue-skinned, thick-lipped smelt-whiting Gyojin, responded.
"Ah, Hachi, there you are. No, there's no problem," he said.
"Then why aren't you two attacking the ship?" he asked, clearly confused.
His other partner, Kuroobi, a ray Gyojin with black hair, responded.
"We were waiting for you," he said with a smile.
"Eh, for me?" he asked, more confused than ever.
"Yes," Chew said. "The last couple of days, we noticed that you seemed kind of down, so we thought that fighting together might lift your spirits. You know, like old times," he said, throwing an arm over his shoulder.
Hachi's eyes began to fill with tears.
"For me?" he stammered, covering his face with one of his arms. He couldn't help but get emotional.
Of course, his friends had noticed his bad mood. They had faced many difficulties together and wanted to help him.
If they were willing to help him now, he would do the same for them, including Arlong.
He was a fool for doubting his friends. If they were still living on this island, it had to be for a reason.
Through hiccups, he responded.
"Thank you, guys," he managed to say. "Thank you."
"No problem," Kuroobi said. "Now," he said, showing a predatory smile, "how about we have some fun?"
"Yes!" said Hachi as the three of them started swimming toward the ship.
The three were about to make contact with the ship when a strange sphere of light blue aura surrounded them and the ship.
"What is this?!" Hachi exclaimed, but before he could say anything else, his surroundings changed.
One moment they were looking at the keel of the ship; the next, they were a few meters above the deck.
"What the hell!" Chew yelled as they started to fall.
The three of them crashed onto the deck.
Disoriented, Hachi tried to focus his sight but struggled to regain his balance.
"Here they are," someone said.
He focused his eyes on the person speaking and saw that it was a young man with a fur hat.
"Indeed, good job, Law," another person said.
Having recovered his senses, Hachi and his companions quickly stood up.
"Who are you all?! How can it be that we're here when a few seconds ago we were underwater?!" he shouted at them.
One of the females, with blonde hair, mocked him.
"Oh look, the Takoyaki can talk," she said teasingly.
"What?!" he yelled, drawing his swords.
"Now, now, Stussy, don't be mean," said a blonde man. From his clothes and demeanor, Hachi assumed he was the captain.
"Good evening, gentlemen. My name is Cassian D. Zephyr. I am the leader of the bounty hunter crew named Gilead," he said, giving them a slight bow. "We have been hired to capture or kill any pirate that inhabits those islands..." he said, pointing to the island that had been their home for the last decade, "...and free all the civilians living on it. So if you could do us all a favor and surrender, we'd be really grateful," he finished.
They listened to the human's speech before bursting into laughter.
"Hahahahaha!" They continued laughing for a few seconds.
Could anyone blame them? They were only humans—a species far inferior to them. They couldn't even breathe underwater! If they simply threw one of them off the ship, there was a good chance they'd drown!
They managed to control their laughter before responding to the offer.
"Haa, good joke, human," said Chew. "But I think we'll just kill you all instead!" he declared as they each attacked the nearest human.
Hachi chose the captain of the bounty hunters, Chew targeted a human female with a strange eyebrow, and Kuroobi went after a man with a bladed polearm.
Hachi jumped with his six swords pointed at the man, who was just smiling.
"Die, human!" he shouted as he aimed to slice the human into six pieces.
Or so he thought.
But the moment the blades were supposed to make contact, the man disappeared from his sight.
"What the..." he muttered, looking around.
"You're pretty slow," a voice casually remarked beside him.
Before Hachi could react, something struck his right side, sending him flying toward the port side of the ship.
He collided with the ship's railing, nearly breaking it.
Breathing heavily, Hachi tried to get up, but his ribs were probably broken, and the pain was overwhelming.
What the hell hit him? He looked back at where he had been standing moments ago and couldn't believe what he saw.
The human he had lost sight of was standing there, fist extended.
Was he seeing this right? That human they had mocked just seconds ago had done this with a simple punch?!
And now, that same human was calmly walking toward Hachi. If he reached him, Hachi was sure he'd be finished!
Desperately, he began looking for his friends to help him.
But what he saw filled him with despair.
None of his friends seemed to be doing well.
In fact, they were losing, and losing badly.
.
Chew was spitting shots of water from his mouth at his opponent, but they weren't doing anything to her. Which should be impossible!
His water shots were as powerful as bullets, yet the woman was taking them as if they were nothing. What was her body made of?!
"You shouldn't be spitting at a lady, Gyojin," said the pink-haired woman.
"Shut up, lowly human!" Chew snarled, enraged.
Seeing that his attacks had no effect, he decided to rely on his superior strength and went for a physical assault.
He threw a series of punches at her, but she either evaded or blocked every one of them.
Which should also be impossible. Chew could understand if she dodged them, but blocking them? And his hands were starting to hurt. It was like punching a block of metal. Just how tough was her body?!
Suddenly, she slipped inside his guard, placed her hands on his shoulders, and kneed him in the jaw, sending him crashing to the ground.
Chew quickly got back up, massaging his jaw. That had really hurt. She was incredibly strong for a human.
"You hit hard for such a lowly species, but don't think that'll be enough to take me down!" he shouted, readying himself to attack again.
"Oh, really?" she asked with a sly smile.
Chew tried to respond when he noticed something was wrong. His breathing had started to become irregular.
"Haa… haa…" he gasped, clutching his throat as his breathing grew more erratic. He fell to his knees, holding his stomach. He was feeling tremendous pain in it.
Finally collapsing onto his hands and knees, his bloodshot eyes locked onto his opponent with hatred.
"Wha- what did you do, bitch?!" he demanded, struggling to stay conscious.
The woman just kept smiling at him.
"Who knows? From the looks of it, it seems you've been poisoned. But that can't be it, right? That's the kind of thing that only harms lowly humans like me, not an all-powerful Gyojin like you," she said, her smile widening as she reveled in his hateful glare before Chew finally lost consciousness.
.
"Chew!" Hachi shouted, seeing his friend collapse. At least, he hoped Chew was only unconscious and not dead.
"HAAAH!" He heard someone scream just before his other friend's body crashed beside him, already unconscious.
"Kuroobi! Are you okay?!" Hachi shouted as he shook his friend's body, desperately trying to wake him up.
While doing so, he noticed that Kuroobi's body was in terrible shape.
Both his arms appeared to be broken, with multiple bruises and cuts covering his torso, and his head... it was practically flattened! Looking closely, he noticed a mark on his head. Was that... was that a boot print? What the hell happened?!
A person then landed in front of him, and Hachi recognized Kuroobi's opponent. The man had some scratches on him, but nothing serious. It was clear that he had completely overwhelmed Kuroobi.
Hachi's terror grew as the rest of the bounty hunter crew approached him.
He didn't know what they would do to them. If they managed to defeat the rest of his crew, what next? Would they turn them over to the Marines? Or, more likely, would they sell them as slaves?
There was a high price for Gyojins on the black market, and he knew that bounty hunters only cared about one thing: money.
The leader of the crew stopped in front of him. With trembling lips, Hachi asked:
"Wha- what will you do with us?" His voice shook, already fearing the worst.
The leader—Cassian, if Hachi remembered correctly—just looked at him, that insufferable smile still on his face.
"My crew and I will be arriving on the island in a couple more minutes. Then, we'll capture the rest of your friends and turn them over to the Marines," he said.
Hachi felt a slight sense of relief that at least they wouldn't be sold into slavery. It was a small comfort, but better than nothing. But then Cassian added, "You, on the other hand," as he began cracking his knuckles, "are going to sleep for a while."
Hachi tilted his head in confusion. 'Sleep?' he thought. 'What is he tal—'
Before he could finish the thought, a fist swiftly closed in on his face, and then everything went black.
"Law," Cassian said to the crew's doctor, "can you put them in the cells below deck? And put on sea stone handcuffs too, while you're at it," he ordered.
After a swift hand movement from Law, Cassian watched as his new captives vanished from view, likely confined in the ship's cells.
Turning to the rest of his crew, he said, "Good job, everyone. That went perfectly."
"Speak for yourself!" someone shouted from behind. "You guys got all the fun while I couldn't do shit!" Bonney complained.
Cassian turned to see a very dissatisfied Bonney glaring at him.
Internally sighing, he walked toward her. For someone who initially didn't want to join his bounty hunter crew, she could be surprisingly needy when she spent too much time without a fight.
Stopping in front of her, he cupped her face with a smile. "I know you wanted to fight too, Bonney," he said, gently caressing her cheek. "But we needed someone to guard the helm, and I knew I could count on you," he said, making her blush a little.
He smiled internally. For all her tough exterior, Bonney could be one of the most innocent members of his crew.
Reiju sighed at her crewmate's reaction. She knew what kind of person her captain was and that he was quite attractive to women. She had accepted long ago that if she wanted to be with him, she'd have to share.
But really? One little caress and the pink-haired girl was putty in his hands. Could Bonney be any easier to comfort?
"But don't worry," Cassian continued, reassuring Bonney. "Once we land, someone else will guard the ship while the rest of us capture the pirates," he said, lowering his face to join his lips with hers.
It was a simple kiss, not too deep since they were on a mission, but it managed to calm her down.
As they ended the kiss, Bonney looked him in the eyes and said, "Fine, but I expect more of this after the mission is over," she demanded, her blush deepening.
"Of course," Cassian said, caressing her face a bit longer before letting her go.
"Ah, isn't that sweet?" teased another voice, ruining all the progress that Cassian had made.
"Shut the fuck up, you damn leech, or I won't wait until we reach the island to begin fighting—I'll start with you!" Bonney snapped, pointing at Stussy, their regular troublemaker.
This was typical on the ship—the mischievous crew member provoking the hot-headed one.
"Okay, okay, don't get mad, I was just joking," Stussy said, raising her hands defensively. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with those Gyojin," she added, calming Bonney down.
Cassian and Reiju both narrowed their eyes at Stussy. It was unusual for her to give in so easily.
Then, with a devious smile, Stussy quickly moved behind Cassian and hugged him from behind. He could feel her chest pressing against his back.
"Meanwhile, the captain and I will guard the ship," she said, her hands roaming over Cassian's clothed chest, making Bonney grit her teeth. "I'm sure the two of us will find something to do to pass the time. After all..." Cassian could practically see steam rising from Bonney's head with every word Stussy said. "I'm sure he'll want a preview of what awaits him after he gets bored of a certain... disappointing partner," she finished with a sly grin.
Cassian was relieved when Stussy finally stopped talking, but feared it was too late.
Any good vibes from Bonney were gone. He knew he was seconds away from being caught in her wrath.
"You little...!" Bonney started, raising her fist, but thankfully, someone intervened.
"Sorry to interrupt this... amusing discussion," Law said with a sadistic smile. "But we're about to reach land," he pointed out, directing everyone's attention behind him.
After freeing himself from Stussy's grasp, Cassian looked back and saw they were only a minute or two from arriving.
Turning back to his crew, he said, "Okay, ladies and gentlemen, here we are. Law, I need you to guard the ship while we take care of things. Thanks to your devil fruit, you'll be able to detect if any Gyojin tries to attack the ship from underwater. If that happens, capture or kill them, but capturing them is preferable," he instructed.
"Okay, boss," Law nodded.
"Good," Cassian said before turning to the blonde troublemaker. "Stussy, I need you to scout the village and surrounding area for any useful information," he said, receiving a nod from her. Satisfied, he addressed the rest of the crew. "The rest of us will go capture or kill these pirates. Remember, it's better if they're alive so the Marines can interrogate them, which will earn us some goodwill. Any questions?" he asked, but no one spoke up. Nodding, he said, "Very well, let's go!" and the band of mercenaries disembarked on Conomi Island.
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.