An update a week after the previous one? Am I finally starting to become more consistent with these releases? I meant to update the next day, but I got lazy.
Shoutout and thanks and love to those who joined the 10 dollar Advanced Tier
Angel Zamora
Joshua Scott
Robert Clegg
Temple12
…
Chapter 9
Aftermath of a Demon Unit Attack!
"So good!" Luffy moaned in delight as he ate Sanji's cooking. He wasn't the only one, either, the whole crew was digging into their meals as if it was the best thing they have ever eaten. And it just might be. "This is really good, Sanji!"
The crew was eating together for breakfast. Even Nami and Robin, the two crew members with the best table manners by far, were struggling not to act like the guys and just stuff their faces. Sanji's food was always incredible, but this morning it was even better than before.
"Dammit, Sanji!" Usopp cried. "Why is your food even better than usual?!"
"Yeah, why?" Chopper asked in between bites.
"It really is incredible today!" Nami swooned. "What's different, Sanji?"
"Thank you for your kind words, Nami-swan!" Sanji swooned. "I'm so happy you and Robin-chan are loving my food! As for what's different," he said, returning to his normal state. "Nothing really. I just adjusted my approach a little. I just listened to the ingredients."
Confused, they asked him what he meant.
Sanji explained that what he learned from observing Ryuuhei yesterday was that he wasn't just throwing a bunch of ingredients together, but acting precisely and with a plan. Nothing unusual for any trained and skilled chef, but what he did went beyond standard practice. He listened to the food. He paid attention to the dish and listened to what it needed to be the most delicious.
"The food spoke to you?" Luffy said, confused. He eyed his plate curiously. "Food is alive?"
"Not with words… I just paid better attention to the ingredients," Sanji said with a distant look. "I hate to say it, but that Ryuuhei jerk was a true cook. And him being here one day taught me a lot."
"I think I actually understand what you're saying, Sanji," Nami said. "Obviously, not as chef, but as a navigator. I have a lot of tools and techniques I use to predict the weather and keep us on course, but if I only relied on just that, we'd be in trouble. Especially on the Grand Line. I need to keep my senses attune to the wind and the weather patterns. I need to be connected to it all. Just like you need to be connected to the ingredients in your dishes, right?"
"That's absolutely correct, Nami-swan!!!" Sanji swooned. "You're so beautiful and brilliant!"
"Obviously!" She said smugly.
"I can relate, too, in my own way." Robin said. "As an archaeologist, I don't just study history. I strive to truly experience the cultures I study in order to truly understand them. The ways of the people, their struggles and circumstances, as well as the similarities and differences of their time compared to ours."
"You understand, too, Robin-chan!" Sanji swooned. He didn't fully understand what she was say, but he was just happy that he could connect with Nami and Robin in such a way. Of course they weren't the only ones with something to contribute. Usopp, Chopper, and Franky also spoke in great detail about how deeply connected to their own disciplines.
Luffy half listened to his crew speak passionately at their respective crafts, and he found himself thinking about his youngest sisters, Riruka and Layla. 'Creative people sure are weird sometimes.'
"Hey, guys!" Zoro shouted from outside. He was only crew member not in the dining area for breakfast. He was in the crow's nest on look out. It actually wasn't his turn to take on the role, but he insisted, wanting to take the opportunity to work out and train. "Get out here! There's something you need to see!"
"What now?" Luffy groaned. If this was another attack, he'd be really pissed. The others felt the same. Getting attacked repeatedly got old real quick. They went to go see what was happening. "What's up, Zoro?"
At least on the ship, nothing was happening. The green haired swordsman was up in the crow's nest and shouted. "See for yourself!"
They all looked in the direction he pointed at, and gasped.
It was a ship that was obviously a pirate ship, but it wasn't attacking. It was in no shape to attack them.
The large ship was bigger than the Sunny, but in much worse condition. It was probably a great vessel before, but it was practically in ruins now. They might've assumed it survived a horrible storm, but no storm could cause the kind of damage that ship had.
Every inch of the ship had been damaged horribly. There were multiple breaches on its sides that seemed to be caused by either a cannon or something equally devastating. A whole section of the ship had been sliced cleanly that eerily reminded Zoro, Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji of what Mihawk did to Don Krieg's ship.
The ship was mutilated. It was basically floating wreckage now. However, by some miracle, it's flag-it's Jolly Roger the skull and crossbones over an iron fist-was still intact, somehow.
This kind of damage could only be caused by people. Although, the wreckage seemed only possible from monsters.
"…That flag belongs to the Iron Fist Pirates," Robin said, the first to break the silence that had fallen over them. "They are a notorious pirate crew from West Blue."
"Their ship is totaled," Usopp said, not sure what else to say.
"Not totaled," Franky said, analyzing the wreckage with his shipwright's eyes. "But it'll be a bitch to repair. Too bad, it seemed like a fine ship."
"What could cause that?" Nami asked.
"They must've gotten into a bad scrape," Sanji guessed. "Which I'm guessing they lost. If they didn't, I'd hate to see the other guy."
"I don't think you could ever call ending up like that a win, no matter the result," Usopp said. "…Do you think anybody is alive over there?"
"I want to go see!" Chopper said, looking resolved.
"What?!" Usopp said at the same time as Nami asked, "Why?!"
"Peopl could be hurt!" The young reindeer doctor said in a brave voice. "I'm a doctor. I treat the injured!"
"But it could be dangerous!" Usopp pointed out. If anybody was alive on that ship, they were probably in no mood to deal with good intentioned young doctors. Since they were pirates, it was extra risky and dangerous.
"Can I Luffy?" Chopper asked. "Please?"
"Sure," Luffy said, without hesitation.
Chopper beamed. "Thank you, Luffy!"
"Luffy!" Usopp and Nami snapped, glaring at him disapprovingly. "Think about it first! Moron!"
"Chopper's a doctor," he shrugged. "And he wants to help. I don't see a problem."
"There's tons of problems!"
"We should go," Zoro said, matter of factly.
Nami glared at him. "And why do you want to go, Zoro?"
"That damage is fresh," he said grimly. "I don't think it happened more than an hour ago."
"I can agree with that estimate," Franky said.
"Whatever ever did this to them, they're still nearby, which means they could come after us, so we should investigate and gather as much information as we can so we can be prepared. Don't you think that's the smartest move?"
Some of them looked up at him with surprise. "You're being surprisingly smart, Zoro!"
"I'm always smart, you assholes!"
It was decided they would go to the Iron Fist Pirates ship and see if they needed help and also to investigate what happened to them.
The investigation team consisted of Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, Franky, and Nami.
"If they let me, I can at least patch up some of that damage," Franky said.
"I'll go to at least try to keep things civil," Nami said, sounding unsure.
"Then us three will keep the Sunny safe," Usopp said, but looked skeptically at him.
"Sure. Thanks Sanji, Robin."
"What about me?!"
The five of them took the Mini-Merry to the ship. The Iron Fist crew didn't seem to making any moves to stop them. In fact, they didn't actually see anybody. They were either all dead, or too hurt to stop them. When they got close, Luffy used his rubber power to climb up the enormous ship, as the others used grappling hooks to climb.
"This is rough," Luffy said, looking at the destruction inside the ship. It was worse than he had expected. It was like a horde of monsters had rampaged on the ship. There was even a giant hole at the center that seemed to be caused by some kind of attack similar to what he could do with Third Gear. "Is anybody alive here?"
There was countless beat up and bloody bodies laid out all over the ship. He heard Nami and Chopper gasp when they climbed aboard along with Zoro and Franky.
He was answered when he heard multiple groans and saw the stirring of bodies. There were survivors.
"I'm a doctor!" Chopper said immediately. He had transformed into his human form and had his medical supplies on hand. "I came here to help."
"Hey." A hoarse yet strong voice sounded in a calm but firm tone. Stomping towards them was a huge man with a build similar to Garp's. He had dark skin and dark blue hair. It was cleared he had been severely beaten up in a fight. He moved as if every step caused him pain, but he didn't let any discomfort show on his face. "Who are you people?"
They all instantly recognized him as the captain of this crew
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy," Luffy grinned despite the situation. "This is my crew. I'm going to be King of The Pirates."
His eyes widened at him. He scrutinized Luffy with his gaze. "Monkey D. Luffy?! Straw Hat… scar underneath his left eye… self inflicted… don't tell me… You're Lu-chan, aren't you?"
They stared blankly at the large captain. "…What?"
Luffy looked flabbergasted. "W-Wait… who told you you could call me that? The only one who ever called me that was…?"
Luffy's eyes widened with surprise. His friends stared at him in confusion.
"You're Sona-san's best buddy!"
Sona. The other friend of Luffy, and also the daughter of Sairo.
"What?!" Luffy screamed, his eyes popping off their sockets. "You know Sona?!"
The man looked like he was about to speak, but then he grunted in pain and fell to his knees. "Seems like I'm in pretty bad shape…"
"Let me help you!" Chopper screamed, running to him. "Where does it hurt?"
"I'm fine, doc," he grunted. "I don't need the help of a rival pirate's doctor. Our ship doctors are plenty capable here. Although, it's just those three for the rest of my 200 guys. If you want to help them out, I won't complain."
Chopper nodded. He went to go help the injured pirates.
"I'm Igor," the captain said in labored breaths, looking at Luffy. "They call me Iron Fist, because I fight with an iron gauntlet… although, I seem to have lost it."
He helps up his naked arm. Iron gauntlet or not, it would definitely hurt if someone got hit by him.
"Nice to meet ya, Lu-chan!"
A vein popped in Luffy's forehead. "The only person who can call me that is Sona. And I hate it when she does!"
Igor grinned. "She called you that so many times, I feel like I should call you it, too."
"Don't!"
"Okay, hold it, everyone," Zoro said. "This is all very interesting, but right now we just want to know one thing. What happened to you all and who did it?"
Igor looked solemn. "We picked a fight with the wrong marine ship. A crew of demons. With a terrifying bird as on one of their warriors."
In Alabasta, at the royal palace, the kingdom's top two soldiers, Pell and Chaka, were sitting in a room having tea together after an intense spar.
"Well, you certainly bounced back, Pell," Chaka said, rubbing his hand. "You weren't kidding when you said you were even stronger than before."
When they fought, Chaka was caught off guard by how much stronger and faster Pell was compared to before. It led to a very one sided match. Pell always had the upper hand in their matches before, but they were always evenly matched. There was now a noticeable gap between them, which annoyed Chaka.
"It's simply the result of surviving something dangerous," Pell sighed, sounding humble.
"Do you mean the explosion?"
"I mean Yuki-san."
"The girl who the She-Demon put in charge of your training and recovery?"
"Yes. I had to become stronger faster just to stay alive," Pell said a grim voice.
"I know she's strong," Chaka said. The Demon Unit did a lot of fighting for them during their time in Alabasta. They repelled hundreds of pirate crew that tried to invade their weakened nation and defeated all of them easily. Yuki alone destroyed multiple ships on her own. "She's incredible, but aren't you exaggerating?"
"Chaka, my friend. Believe me I'm not. I never felt closer to death than during my training with her. It felt like one wrong move and I would certainly have lost my life."
They spared both with swords and hand to hand. They fought both on the ground and in the air. Yuki of course took it easy on him given his injuries, but her version of "easy" felt awfully more intense compared to someone else's.
"I had to get stronger in order to stay alive. That girl's strength is… unique. If I were to ever be asked who the strongest devil fruit user with the ability to fly is, I probably would have said it's with Marco The Phoenix of the Whitebeard Pirates or King of Kaido's Beast Pirates. I would definitely have said it was either of them, but that was before I met her."
Chaka's jaw dropped. "You're saying she's on the same level as the top men of the Four Emperors of the Sea?!"
"I am merely saying her potential warrants such a comparison. Or rather, I felt it was bottomless. Similar to the pirate that saved our country. She may just be stronger than him." Pell looked up at the ceiling of the room they sat in. Beyond the walls of the castle was the wide open sky. It was thanks to Yuki that he could fly again, and he was incredibly grateful to her for helping him.
But he never wanted to be trained by her again.
"Princess of Hell… huh? A fierce title, but it'd be a shame if that was all she ever became. She could be more."
…
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