After talking with Crocus and Laboon for a while, Marcus kept his promise and played music for Laboon again. He ended up playing for a few hours and then chatted with Crocus for a while about his adventures on Roger's ship until dinner time. Crocus actually invited Marcus inside Laboon and they ate dinner at his house there. After dinner they talked a bit longer before Marcus called it a night and headed back to his ship.
The next morning after breakfast Marcus played some more songs for Laboon before he said goodbye and set sail for Alabasta. While his dream was to explore the world, he had no plan to do it now since his main concern was gaining strength. Once he had enough strength, then he would worry about chasing his dream. Plus who wants to explore the world alone? It's better to do it with friends.
With that in mind Marcus headed towards Alabasta at top speed as he used the hydrofoils and drive train to cruise over the water. Within hours of setting out Marcus ran into a large tropical storm, but the sealed bridge kept him dry as he continued to pedal during the rough water. The strom itself wasn't that bad and within an hour Marcus passed through it. It wasn't the only weather he ran into though as within a few minutes of leaving the storm he entered a thick fog bank.
The fog bank wasn't a problem for Marcus who focused his observation haki directly in front of his ship. The fog bank only lasted a few minutes before the sky was covered in clouds again and it started snowing. The snow turned into hail which pelted his ship for almost an hour before the sky cleared and it was blazing hot for half an hour. Marcus who was inside the bridge realized that while he was protected from most of the weather, it wasn't insulated very well. So when the temperature changed he quickly felt it inside the bridge.
After the blazing heat Marcus ran into massive cyclones that towered into the clouds above. Marcus didn't want to mess with them so he turned the ship to avoid them. It took him slightly off course for an hour, but it was better than possibly losing his ship. The rest of the day was spent dealing with erratic weather patterns and Marcus only stepped away from the helm a couple times to eat and use the bathroom.
Throughout the day Marcus saw ships and even an island in the distance, but Marcus focused on his goal. Even at night Marcus didn't stop peddling and kept his ship running at full speed. With his current strength it wasn't hard to do, but he still took a few breaks to rest as he just used the sail. The night was thankfully less chaotic then the day and Marcus only ran into a few weather related issues.
The next day was much the same with Marcus not sleeping as he considered the whole trip endurance training. While the original journey going island to island took the straw hats around twelve days to reach Alabasta, Marcus made it in three with no sleep. Not only was his journey mostly a straight line, his ship's top speed was easily three times the speed of a normal caravel sized ship. With those factors Marcus easily reached the coast of Alabasta a little past sunrise on the third day.
It took him another hour or so to reach the port town of Nanohana where he docked his ship and paid the port fee before he passed out in his bed. Marcus had no idea how much time passed before a cannon blast woke him back up. Still half asleep and grumpy from being woken up, Marcus grabbed his sword and headed above deck.
When he exited the bridge of his ship, he spotted a pirate ship that just docked and pirates were pouring out of it as another cannon blast went off. Marcus narrowed his eyes in annoyance before he disappeared from his ship. A moment later Marcus appeared where the pirates were clashing with city and port guards and started sending them flying with his fists. Within moments the wild melee turned into a one sided massacre as Marcus tore through the pirates like they were paper.
After Marcus helped the guards out he turned towards the pirates that stopped short of the fight. They were all staring in his direction with fear in their eyes before he rocketed towards them and sent them flying like bowling pins. The pirates quickly realized they couldn't win and tried to retreat to their ship but Marcus didn't give them a chance. He was so fast that the only reason people knew he moved was because another pirate went flying.
It took Marcus not even ten minutes to dismantle the entire crew along with its captain who didn't even last a single exchange. Once finished Marcus turned to head back to his ship when he was stopped by the captain of the city guard who arrived. He bowed to Marcus as he said, "Thank you for your help, if you like we can pay you out for the pirates bounties and turn them into the navy instead. We would take a small percentage of the money though as a convenience charge…"
"That's fine, you can do the same thing for their ship and whatever loot you find. Just sell it and add it to the bounty reward, I'll collect it later." Marcus said as he started to walk back to his ship as he let out a yawn.
The captain glanced at the ship for a moment before he said, "We normally turn the ships over to the marines because of the piracy law in place…"
Marcus glanced over his shoulder as he asked, "Are there any marines here?"
The man shook his head as he said, "No, our kingdom has no marine presence and we will have to call them for pickup."
"Then tell them the ship was sunk during the fight and then get it sold or I'll sink it for real." Marcus said before he headed back to his ship.
The captain stared at Marcus as he walked away before he let out a sigh. If there was one thing he learned over his long career it was to just follow orders as long as it didn't affect the people he was protecting. If someone that strong wanted him to sell the ship and treasure he wouldn't argue with them since he didn't have the proper strength to do so. With that in mind he started having his men clear out the pirate ship and went to find a buyer.
Marcus on the other hand went back to his ship, stripped out of his clothes and took a hot shower before he dried off and went back to sleep. Marcus ended up sleeping through the day this time and woke up around dinner time. After getting dressed, Marcus headed out and after asking around was pointed in the direction of the city guard headquarters.
As Marcus walked inside a woman behind the front desk looked up and asked, "Welcome, what can I help you with?"
"I came to collect money from the pirates who attacked this morning."
The woman took a second look at Marcus before she said, "Please wait here."
She disappeared into the back for a few minutes as a man came out and took her place. The man glanced at Marcus but said nothing as he stood behind the desk with his arms crossed over his chest. When the woman reappeared, the guard captain was behind her and when he saw Marcus he said, "I was wondering when you would show up."
"I figured I would give you time to sell everything." Marcus said with a shrug.
The guard captain held up a large bag as he said, "I had everything taken care of by the afternoon. This is just over one hundred million."
Marcus raised an eyebrow as the woman and the other guard who hadn't left yet both asked, "One hundred million?!?"
"The captain was a famous pirate from North Blue and had a bounty over fifty million alone."
Marcus nodded in understanding before he took the bag and tossed it carelessly over his shoulder as he said, "Thanks for your hard work."
Marcus didn't wait for anything else as he quickly headed out of the building while the woman and other guard asked the captain about Marcus. The captain could only helplessly explain he didn't even know Marcus's name. Marcus with a bag full of money decided to go shopping for some supplies first before he went to dinner. While he didn't really need to buy anything, he figured it was better to be safe then sorry about his supplies.
After restocking his ship, Marcus asked around for a good restaurant and quickly found one near the port. It had a nice view of the sea and even though it was now dark, Marcus found the view of the dark water lit by a waning moon beautiful. Dinner itself was great with Marcus ordering almost half the items on the menu. While he couldn't eat as much as Luffy, Marcus could still pack away a lot of food and had already figured out the basics of Life Return. At least to the point where his body quickly digested food within minutes.
After his meal, Marcus ended up walking around the city for a few hours as he explored the port town. It was definitely a major trade hub with a massive port that seemed to run twenty four hours a day. At least that's what it seemed like as ships kept arriving as Marcus headed back to his ship around midnight. Marcus took another shower to relax before he headed to bed for the night.
The next day Marcus woke up well after sunrise and headed into town for breakfast. His plan was to rest for the day and then leave first thing tomorrow morning for Water Seven. After breakfast he walked through a large open air market and bought a few things for himself. He also searched for high end alcohol that he bought by the barrel. He mostly focused on stuff that was considered good and hard to find. Since if he was gonna ask the Dark King for training he figured it was best to come with gifts.
Buying the alcohol proved to be a bit of a problem at first, since Marcus even with his scar still looked like a kid even though he was about five feet tall at this point. At the first vendor who refused to sell Marcus alcohol. He just took out the money for the barrels and placed it on the table before he reached over and took them. The vendor quickly raised a big fuss about it and guards arrived within moments to find out what was going on.
When the vendor accused Marcus of stealing, Marcus just pointed at the money still on the table as he said, "That's the money for both barrels."
"You're a minor and not allowed to purchase alcohol!" The vendor said in response, which caused the guards to nod in agreement with the man.
Marcus glanced at the man and two guards as a lot of people in the market watched and he said, "I already paid for these, if he doesn't want to take my money that's his problem."
Marcus narrowed his eyes as he stared at the guards and added, "But if you want to stop me, that's your problem and we can easily settle it."
Both guards tensed as one of them said, "Just return the barrels and collect your money, then there won't be any issue."
Marcus set the two barrels on his shoulders down and a moment later both guards dropped to the ground as Marcus walked away from them. Everyone around took a step back and said nothing as Marcus picked back up the barrels and walked back to his ship. By the time Marcus returned to the market he found the guard captain talking to people before someone pointed at Marcus and said, "There he is!"
Everyone turned to look at Marcus and the guard captain frowned slightly before he waved everyone off and approached Marcus. Once he was close the man asked, "Can I ask why you attacked my men and apparently stole alcohol?"
"The merchant refused to sell me anything, so I placed the money for it on his counter and took what I needed…" Marcus said as he glanced towards the two guards who were mean mugging him and added, "Your men tried to stop me even though I clearly paid, so I talked it out with them."
The guard captain's left eye started to twitch before he let out a sigh and asked, "Look I appreciate what you did yesterday, but can you please not cause any trouble while you're here?"
"Sure… Just make sure no one refuses to sell me alcohol and there won't be any issue."
The man stared at Marcus for a few moments before he let out a sigh and waved the two guards over. They both approached with smug grins but those disappeared when the captain said, "Follow him around and make sure he can buy whatever he wants."
Marcus smirked as he said, "Perfect, I could use some extra hands to carry things."
Both men looked like they were about to refuse when the captain said, "Just do as he asks and you'll have tomorrow off with pay."
"Yes, sir!" Both men said as they saluted.