Chapter 10: Mountain Bandits
Luffy was irritated as he stared across the table at the pair of other youths, one surly looking and the other politely smiling. He had…underestimated…Garp's reaction to his Devil Fruit. He had been right that Garp put him through a period of hell training to adjust to the Fruit's powers. Garp had, in fact, spent the longest period of time on Dawn Island since original Luffy's accident. But, after nearly four months…he'd removed Luffy from Makino's care and dumped him on Curly Dadan, gruffy telling Luffy to 'stay the fuck out of sight.'
The comment made sense in a way, since having a Mythical Zoan Fruit was exactly the sort of thing that could paint a target on Luffy's back. It did not fit with his plans, though. And without Makino nearby, he wouldn't have any idea about when Garp would make his infrequent visits. Any trip away from Dawn was going to be exponentially more risky now. Not that he could or would allow that to stop him. Not when he still had so much to do. He'd just have to try and get a feel for Garp's new pattern.
In the meantime, he supposed this wasn't entirely bad. He'd been surprised to see Sabo here rather than off with the Revolutionaries, particularly as he knew the Grey Terminal Fire had already happened. He'd considered trying to interfere with that and, well, technically, he had. Just not directly. Instead, he'd ended up proving a theory he'd had developed about Makino over the years correct. He'd spent time near the capital, observed Bluejam…then told Makino about what he'd learned. She had, quite calmly, told him she'd take care of it. He'd been curious about that and kept an eye on the situation to see if his guess had been right.
It had been.
The Revolutionary Army had shown up far before the fire and had acted swiftly. They couldn't prevent the Grey Terminal from being burned without trying to take the Goa Kingdom, which would never have stuck with Garp's semi-frequent visits. They had gotten nearly the entire population out, far more than Luffy suspected they would have…if it wasn't for the fact that Makino was a plant. Presumably one that was there to look out for Luffy for Dragon. His observation Haki had picked up her meeting with the Revolutionary Forces, and he suspected that the other Haki he'd brushed up again had been his 'father's.' He wasn't sure if he was relieved or not that the man had chosen not to visit him.
All of which probably explained why events with Sabo had changed. But none of which made the fact he was stuck here, at least until Garp's first visit back, any less annoying. Still, he could at least use this as a chance to get to know Ace a bit. Hopefully he was passed his complete asshole phase.
"So what are you two in for?"
Ace scowled, but Sabo cracked a grin. The blonde was clearly the more personable of the two, even if Ace hadn't yet done anything too assholeish.
"Well, I'm planning to be a Revolutionary and he's planning to be a Pirate! Hanging out with Mountain Bandits just seemed like the thing to do, don't you know?"
Luffy snorted and jabbed a finger at Ace.
"Right. Guess that explains why Garp dumped him here. Didn't want him drawing attention before he could protect himself."
Ace looked offended, but Sabo looked curious.
"Is that why you're here?"
Luffy mulled over his answer for a moment, then nodded.
"He didn't exactly say as much. Gramps isn't exactly good at the whole communication thing, you know. But I doubt it was an accident he dumped me here and said to 'keep the fuck out of sight' after I ate a rare Devil Fruit."
Both of the fourteen-year-olds across from him blinked, then Ace scoffed.
"Bullshit. Those aren't real."
Luffy quirked an eyebrow, grinned…and raised one hand. When he was sure their eyes were on it, he activated his Devil Fruit, turning the entire hand into lightning. He didn't show how hard that was, of course. His fruit wasn't a Logia, the ability to turn into an element wasn't its primary purpose. Worse, he'd quickly discovered that, by default, shifting into an element required changing form too. Usually to one of the animal forms he'd discovered, though he could technically just shift into just a ball of lighting. So far, his hand was the extent of what he could transform without shapeshifting, and even getting that far had actually risen his System-measured skill with the Fruit more than anything else he'd done so far. Still, the effect it had on Ace and Sabo, who were staring with jaws-dropped, was a nice reward all on its own.
"Of course they're real. And you're going to run into a fuck ton of them if either of you intend to go to the Grand Line. They are rare as hell outside that ocean, but nearly every worthwhile pirate crew on the Grand Line has at least one Devil Fruit user. A lot of the higher-level Marines have them, too."
The two fourteen-year-old looked at each other, having a silent conversation. A few moments later, Sabo, clearly by far the politer of the two, asked an important question.
"Can you tell us about them, please? If they are truly that important, we should know all we can."
Luffy grinned hugely, knowing he had an in with these two now.
"Sure! I know a fair bit about them, since I was lucky enough to meet a Grand Line crew a few years back that had a couple of Devil Fruit users! So, depending on who you ask, there are either three or four types of Fruits…"
Sabo listened with close attention, even as Ace pretended not to do the same. Luffy wasn't fooled a bit, as he saw Ace's eyes dart to Luffy's hand every time he used a bit of lightning to emphasize a point…
-Luffy Age 13-
"Too slow!" Luffy crowed as he dodged the punch from Sabo, a tap of his blunted-steel Jian sending the blonde off course and into Ace. He laughed as they went down in a heap. "Should I find you a third? This isn't going well for just two of you!"
Both boys growled, Ace lunging from where he'd gotten his balance. Luffy danced away, leaning on his Observation Haki to keep ahead of the older youth. Ace and Sabo were both just as monstrous of outliers as Luffy himself…and they had four years on him. Still, between his work with Kuina and Zoro, the fact his Devil Fruit had accelerated his thought processes quite a bit, and Observation Haki, he currently had an undefeated record against each of them individually…and won four out of five fights even when they teamed up.
This was destined to be another such, as he kept forcing them to waste more and more stamina getting in each other's way. They were getting better about that, but this was the first time Luffy had used his sword, the two having gotten to the point where they could almost beat him in one on one when restricted to just fists. The extra reach and the fact that they couldn't read his movements as well with the unfamiliar weapon had made the result of this particular fight obvious from the start.
It took them another half an hour to admit that, collapsing in exhaustion…only to glare again when he cheekily offered them both canteens of mildly chilled fruit juice. He'd refused to tell them how he produced it from seeming nowhere, saying he would only ever tell his crew. Which irritated them to no end, even if they still swiped the drinks from him. He grinned and sat down across from him.
"Oh don't look so grumpy, you two, you've gotten loads better! Someday, you might even beat me if I used my Devil Fruit!"
Ace threw a fistful of leaves at him, causing Luffy to laugh.
"Keep doing that and I won't tell you how I keep doing it~!"
That got both of them to perk up. Sabo actually managed to sit upright and point an accusing finger at him.
"I knew there was a trick to it! Damnit!"
Luffy laughed, having grown surprisingly close to these two in the last year. Which was why he was about to teach them what he was, despite knowing they'd never be crew.
"Alright. What I've been using is called Observation Haki. I imagine at least Sabo remembers me mentioning Haki as a counter to Devil Fruits back when we first met…but that's Armament. What I've been using against you two is…"
The discussion would be a long one, and it would be hard work for the two to unlock theirs. But he suspected they could do it. It might just save Ace's life, in the end. He had little doubt he'd have learned it in the New World, eventually. But learning it now would only make him stronger in the long run…
-Luffy Age 14-
Luffy was pleased as he caught sight of the slim shape, topped with half-concealed bright red hair, slipping onto the pirate ship he'd been stalking. He was a little frustrated that it had taken so long to track her down, but Garp's visits to Dawn had become too randomized to risk longs trips away. He'd still managed several trips to Shimotsuki Village to train with Kuina and Zoro for a few weeks at a time, but that was mostly due to the extreme speed his Catamaran had compared to most sailing vessels. He could make the trip to Shimotsuki in just three days, most trips, as opposed to the five or six most sailing vessels would have needed. And even that assumed it was something like a schooner he was trying to beat the time of. Cruising speed for a decent schooner was only around 12 knots, where his Catamaran could comfortably cruise at 18 or better in the same wind.
It was only now, as he'd fully mastered his shapeshifted bird form of a simple swift. To his embarrassment, his need to be cool had insisted he become a falcon first. They were fast! Super birds of prey! They just…weren't the best at endurance. Oh, they weren't bad by any means. They could easily cover 100km in a day! But, well, swifts spent the majority of their life in the air and could cover five times that distance per day on sheer endurance, all at a surprisingly similar cruising speed. Despite his grumbling, learning enough about the species of bird to shapeshift into it had provided the ability for him to scout the East Blue much faster than simply sailing. The fact that he'd boosted his Luck over 50 with a few of his points had helped as well, guiding him in which pirates to follow after he'd finally picked up rumors of a thief that specialized in robbing pirates. Sometimes by joining up with them and betraying them, but more usually by simply sneaking aboard their ships.
Now, he watched her sneak aboard one such ship in dock and cocked his head. Would she get off with their treasure? Or would they set sail first. The familiar sensation of dice tumbling gently in the back of his head started and, with a grin, he knew the answer. Whatever Nami intended, she wasn't going to make it off the ship before it set sail. Which means his plan to 'casually' meet her would work nicely. All the better than this particular crew had a decent bounty, when wrapped up all together. Nodding to himself, he headed back to where he'd hidden his own ship. The one disadvantage of his catamaran was that is stood out, meaning he was rarely willing to actually dock it properly…
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Luffy flicked the blood off his jian before sheathing it. The majority of the pirates he'd just fought weren't actually dead, though he hadn't been able to avoid killing at least a dozen of them. Given that this crew was definitely the 'rape and pillage' sort of crew, he didn't feel at all bad about that. He wasn't blasé about killing…but he'd come a long way from his first kill in Higuma. He'd created his own rules for when killing was acceptable and not, and murderous pirates that would likely be hung by the Marines when he turned them in anyway were fair game. Not that the dead and unconscious pirates were his focus, at the moment.
"You can come out you know. I saw you sneaking aboard my targets' ship back at the port, so I'm well aware you aren't one of them. A stowaway or a thief, I don't particularly care. I'm only here for the bounty on these pirates. Hell, if you can help me manage this ship to the nearest Marine base, I'll even cut you in for 20% of the bounty, plus whatever you might have stolen from them."
There were long, long seconds of silence. But the offer was exactly the sort that would draw his target out, despite the fact she was currently radiating a certain degree of fear. Which was fair, honestly. She'd just watched him dice his way through an entire pirate crew solo, after all. Despite that, she put on a good front as she slid out of hiding behind a stack of crates. She was young, of course…but already beautiful enough that he was thankful for Gamer's Mind keeping him from blushing. Having to go through puberty a second time sucked. Luffy did not recommend it. Despite barely being fifteen if he had his ages right, Nami managed a decent saunter as she tried to look confident.
"A bounty hunter, huh? Well…I can certainly help you manage the ship…for 50%!"
Luffy laughed, shaking his head.
"I technically don't need the ship, but the Marines often pay for them, since they can usually offload them for a profit. Tell you what, I'll make it 25% of the bounty and 50% of whatever the Marines give for the ship."
Nami looked surprised at the idea the Marines would pay for the ship. She frowned, then asked how much they would likely pay for it. She clearly had no idea and hated having to trust his answer blindly. Still, Luffy had no intention of cheating her, so that was fine. He'd give her a straight answer.
"Lots of factors for that. Size of ship, quality of make, state of repair. This is actually a pretty well put together little schooner. Probably cost nearly 70 million belli to build her, originally. She's a merchant model and they've not taken overly good care of her, though. Best estimate I could give you is that they might pay between 10-15% of her original build price. Probably on the lower side of that, to be honest. They'll be reselling her, after all, as she's not a good enough ship for them to consider using her themselves. Call in 7 million as a safe bet, so 3.5 million for you. Total bounty on the crew is right around 8 million. So a total of 5.5 million for you, plus anything you managed to steal."
Nami's eyes were wide and he knew he had her. It was unlikely this crew had possessed more than two or three million in belli in treasure, despite being relatively successful. Running a pirate ship was expensive, after all. And this was the East Blue, besides. Even if she took everything not nailed down, he was probably offering to triple her profit. Given how much she needed and what for…
"Yes! I'll help you. The nearest Marine base is branch 77! I know where we can find it…"
Luffy grinned.
"So do I, but your help will be appreciated. Let me just make sure my own ship is secured for towing first…"
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The trip to Marine Branch 77 had been surprisingly pleasant. Luffy had been worried he might be facing an uphill battle with getting to know Nami…but he hadn't counted on how utterly fascinated she would be with his catamaran. He should have, perhaps, given its potential as an exploration vessel. He just hadn't realized how quickly Nami would realize that was true as he explained the ship to her. Nor had he quite realized how much less worn down she would be with three fewer years of grinding work for Arlong. She clearly wasn't exactly doing well, he could see the strain behind her eyes at times. But she wasn't nearly as broken as she might have been in a few more years. This Nami still had some hope and her Dream. Not a lot of hope, bit a few flickering sparks of it. Sparks which Luffy fully intended to encourage into a proper flame.
Her fascination, his complete lack of trying to screw her on the bounty and ship sales money, which had actually ultimately netted them a bit more than expected, had even convinced her to tag along with him for the next leg of his trip. She wanted to see the catamaran actually sail properly, and he was happy to oblige. He'd sold it even harder by telling her if she helped him track down his 'next bounty' faster than he could have alone he'd cut her in for a full 40% of the bounty, and the same 50% of any ship sale. He'd seen the belli calculator going behind her eyes as she realized that this might be a much better way for her to earn the money she still needed. She'd agreed, but warned him she'd need to take a trip after that to 'store the money.' Which Luffy easily read as a need to report back in to Arlong. Understandable, and something he could work with, given that he was risking missing Garp by staying out even this long.
Now, he watched with a huge smile of his own as she practically radiated glee as she ordered him about, getting the catamaran to truly stretch it's legs. While its usual cruising speed was around 18 knots, it was capable of hitting 30 even with just Luffy aboard. In Nami's capable hands, on a beautiful day for sailing…they'd just hit 34. Nami was blatantly basking in the sheer descendant speed. As they leveled out, Luffy shouted back to her.
"So what do you think of my baby, Nami? Fast enough for you?!"
For the first time, he actually heard her laugh, a pure sound of exhilaration he fully intended to hear more often.
"Hell yes! This ship is amazing. Where the hell did you find it!"
Luffy puffed up in pride, even as he let his own joyful tone match hers.
"I didn't find it, I designed it! Built it too! So thanks for the compliment! Bet you'll love the larger, improved version I've been designing even more~!"
Nami gaped at him for a long moment, then yelped as they hit a wave oddly. It snapped her out of her surprise and she quickly called out more orders…
Chapter 11: The Start of a Crew (Luffy Age 15)
Luffy gaped at Kunia. He looked at Zoro next to her and realized they were both dead serious.
"Well? Will you take us or not, Captain? That is what I should call you, yes?"
Luffy gathered his scattered thoughts, wrestling his whirring brain back into order after Kuina's totally unexpected plea for him to take them away from the village.
"I…had always intended on asking you two to crew with me. You're both strong as hell, and you'll need to travel far for one of you to take the title you want. So, to be clear, I'm absolutely saying 'yes.' But why now? I hadn't intended to set sail for my own proper journey to the Grand Line for another couple of years."
Kunia looked…furious. She'd become far more emotive, with Luffy and Zoro at least, since he'd first met the pair. But she was very rarely this expressive. Clearly, he didn't know the whole story yet. Given she looked like she was about to attack the next thing that pissed her off, he was actually sort of glad it was Zoro that answered.
"Her old man decided that, since she's eighteen now, it was time to arrange to marry her off. Regardless of what she wants."
There was anger in Zoro's voice too, even if it was more understated than Kuina's. Perfectly understandable, given the way the two of them had been dancing around each other for the last few years. Luffy grimaced, then grinned.
"Well, sure then! I've been doing some bounty hunting on the side anyway. With you two along we can clean up some of the bigger names in the East Blue, properly challenge ourselves a bit before we hit the Grand Line! And, of course, you two can finally act on your mutual crushes!"
Luffy laughed as Kuina went from red with fury to nuclear blush in three seconds flat, with Zoro making an incoherent choking noise right next to her. Of course, the next moment he had to dodge four blades. But that was okay, hopefully their moment of mutually homicidal rage against their new Captain would finally get them over the awkwardness!
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Luffy's, by now slightly worn, catamaran slid into the hidden bay on the far side of Goa from Foosha or the Capital with its usual near-silent grace. This wasn't the original, tiny bay that he'd build his current smallish catamaran in. Instead, it was a much larger bay with a full drydock. Something he'd put together himself with years of painstaking work, aided by Ace, Sabo, and some of the Mountain Bandits. Ace and Sabo had been gifted a modest ship of their own for their help. Not a catamaran like Luffy's, but a solid caravel that would be a perfect starter ship for Ace. Sabo had set out with him at the time, intending to tag along until Ace picked up a few crewmen, than head off to the Revolutionaries. The bandits had cheerfully taken supplies in exchange for their own help, glad for a steady source of some of their harder to get luxuries.
Sitting in the sole, unusually shaped drydock cradle was the frame of a new, far larger, catamaran. At 145-feet in length, with a 54.5-foot beam, she was impressive even as just a frame. Finished, she'd be comparable in size to most Marine schooners, but faster and considerably more stable. Comparatively more lightly armed, as well…but Luffy had some ideas there to make the few guns she would carry pack an unreasonable punch. Given how nearly-immune to regular cannon fire high level Pirates and Marines made their vessels simply by being able to intercept said fire, he considered the trade off of fewer but better guns to be reasonable. Particularly as it meant being able to run with a smaller crew. As few as three people could handle her for sailing, as few as six in battle. Though he'd designed the ship for a total crew of around fifteen. There was enough leeway to increase that up to twenty comfortably, just in case. He wanted a larger crew than original Luffy might have settled for, but he fully intended to maintain a high standard in who he recruited.
"Okay, wow. I can see why you're not planning to fully set sail for another two years, Luffy."
The comment had come from Kuina as both she and Zoro stood on the deck, looking over the project as Luffy took their smaller ship in. The pair had both been extremely impressed with his current catamaran. Despite being made so one person could sail it, he'd designed it to comfortably hold three or four people. He'd been thanking himself for that foresight, as it had helped the older pair take him seriously. They knew he was strong, and access to a clearly exceptional ship suitable for carrying them around the East Blue had obviously been a major point towards them seeing him as an actual leader. As had his competence in handling said ship. Seeing his drydock and the ship being built there was clearly only reinforcing that idea.
"That's an impressive ship, even if I still say the design is odd. You're sure she'll hold up to the Grand Line?"
Zoro's voice was more skeptical than Kuina's, but Luffy could tell it was forced. The green-haired teenager was clearly impressed he'd managed to do this all effectively on his own, while keeping it hidden, too.
"Absolutely. I'm confident she'll hold up to at least the half the veterans call Paradise. The second half of the Grand Line, the New World where the true monsters like the Yonko rule…that might take some upgrades. Hard to say, really. We'll have to see how she handles Paradise. One way or another, I know she's a hell of a lot tougher and harder to sink than anything else built in the East Blue."
Luffy was proud of his ship design, okay? He had every damn right to be, too, considering it was actually his highest skill other than Observe. He'd pushed hard these last few years to make the most important part of his long-term plans real. He'd even taken some perks to help make the ship better than just his skill would have allowed.
"Anyway, clearly she's not ready to live aboard yet. But I've actually got a small hideaway hidden nearby. I built it when my sworn brothers hadn't left for their own journey's yet, so there are a couple of free rooms the two of you can use when we aren't out to sea. Assuming you don't want to share one~!"
Both of them blushed darkly at his teasing tone…but they didn't react with violence this time. To his immense satisfaction, his teasing over the last three days had actually caused them to take the plunge and become a couple. Even if they were still feeling their way into their new dynamic. He was happy for them, even if his own teenage hormones were also mildly jealous of Zoro's good fortune. Kuina was unquestionably gorgeous, after all.
She'd grown into refined features on lightly-tanned skin, a surprisingly large chest considering how active she was, and gorgeously sculpted muscle. Not a weightlifter's bulging biceps, but a swordswoman's understated but powerful musculature, built for the amazing speed with her sword that let her match all three of Zoro's. Add in dark eyes and raven-black hair kept in a artfully arranged ponytail, and there was no question that she was a beauty. The fact that, once she'd ditched her training kimono for fairly tight pants and a loose top, it had become obvious she had legs for miles and the sort of tight rear only a lifetime or training could produce? Yeah, Luffy wasn't ashamed of the fact his eyes had lingered a few times, even if he'd done his best to keep from perving on her, given her and Zoro's status as a new couple.
Zoro, meanwhile, was already most of the way to the powerful frame he'd have in a few more years. His sword style was far more strength-oriented than Kuina's and it showed in the far more prominent muscle he boasted. Luffy himself would likely end up somewhere between the two of them in build, though he still had a few years of growth left. Despite favoring a fast, dexterity-based style like Kuina, without the Gomu Gomu no Mi, Luffy's genetics had shown through. Garp and Dragon were both tall and broad, and Luffy's general build was following the same lines. It was only his training, and perhaps his Gamer stats, that were streamlining that size into something more like a swimmer's. Ironic, given he definitely couldn't swim, despite years of working with his Spirit Fruit and making some serious progress with the help of the Guide.
"So, we live and train here, while taking bounties and helping finish the ship?"
Kuina had broken the silence again as they'd tied off the smaller vessel to a small pier in the cove. Luffy shrugged and nodded.
"If you're alright with that plan, yes. I won't hold it against you if you want to take on more bounties than I can afford to split my time toward, what with the ship construction and my crazy gramps still visiting to put me through hell-training from time to time. He does that a lot less these days, though."
It was true. With Ace gone and Luffy already something of a dangerous powerhouse, Garp had been going longer and longer between visits. Something which suited Luffy just fine.
Kuina nodded.
"We'll see how it goes. But I imagine we'll get more out of training with you, if you stop holding back with your Devil Fruit, than just taking bounties."
Zoro added his own nod, along with a scowl. He'd grown more and more irritated that Luffy wouldn't use his Fruit powers anywhere off Dawn Island, still trying to keep a low profile. He was clearly looking forward to Luffy no longer having that excuse, wanting to get a true feel for where he stood again his new 'Captain.' Luffy only smirked, more than willing to let him find out. After all, Luffy had a good idea where they all stood. In fact, as they made their way to the small cave Luffy had dug out farther to create his hideout, he took a solid look over their respective stat blocks and compared it to his own.
... ... ... ... ...
Status
... ... ... ... ...
Name: Shimotsuki Kuina
Title: Sword Saint
Age: 18
Level: 31
Spirit Fruit: N/A
Stats:
Strength: 70
Dexterity: 117
Endurance: 79
Intelligence: 58
Wisdom: 49
Charisma: 63
Luck: 35
Description: The Youngest member of the Shimotsuki Family and heir to its famous sword style. Irritated with her father's misogynistic views, she had struck out on her own to prove she can be the World's Greatest Swordsman.
Relationship to Gamer: Admiring Friend, Loyal Crewmate. Despite being three years older than Monkey D. Luffy, Kuina had grown to greatly admire her new Captain's strength and capabilities. She believes following him will provide her the path to overcome her greatest challenges.
... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ...
Status
... ... ... ... ...
Name: Roronoa Zoro
Title: Sword Fiend
Age: 17
Level: 29
Spirit Fruit: N/A
Stats:
Strength: 115
Dexterity: 85
Endurance: 112
Intelligence: 38
Wisdom: 37
Charisma: 41
Luck: 70
Description: An orphaned (distant) descendant of the Shimotsuki Family, Zoro has created his own Three Sword Style, proving him to be an exceptional talent with a blade. Defined primarily by his love of swords and love/rivalry of/with Kuina, Zoro is determined to one day beat not just her, but anyone else he has to in order to be acknowledged as The World's Greatest Swordsman.
Relationship to Gamer: Admiring Friend, Crewmate. Despite being two years older than Monkey D. Luffy, Zoro respects new Captain's strength and capabilities. His loyalty is still primarily to Kuina, however, seeing overcoming her as his best path to being the World's Greatest Swordsman.
... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ...
Status
... ... ... ... ...
Name: Monkey D. Luffy
Title: The Shipwright
Age: 15
Level: 33
Spirit Fruit: Mythical Zoan - Model Raijū
Money: 8,345,000 Belli
Shop Points: 5,550
Perk Points: 9
Spirit Coupons: 0
Stats:
Strength: 95
Dexterity: 105
Endurance: 123
Intelligence: 100
Wisdom: 75
Charisma: 72
Luck: 69
Free Stat Points: 150
Perks
Gamer's Body: Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. Wounds healed on rest. Status Effects removed on Rest.
Gamer's Mind: Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Gamer can suppress negative emotions at will.
The Will of D: Bearer holds the inherited will of the Family of D. Effect: Live in Interesting Times, ?, ?
Outsider's Perspective: Imported save data increases relevant stats, as well as relevant skills when acquired.
Danger Sense: A combination of Haki and gut instinct for trouble lets you sense dangers to you and others near you. Whether or not you can do anything about them is up to your skills.
Designer (General): You're exceptionally talented at more than one field of design! You have an intuitive sense of how best to optimize designs you've come up with!
Empathy: Beyond merely your Haki, you have a very good idea what the people around you are feeling. You're nearly impossible to lie to and everyone finds you easier to open up to.
Gifted Hands: You are naturally good with your hands. Anything from art to martial arts gets a helping hand. Your instincts for all such things are 10% better than they should be, and you get a 5% boost to XP gain for any skill based around working with your hands.
Gun Nut: Despite your age, you've managed to learn a lot about guns! How to clean them, how to make them, and even a little bit about how to shoot them! Gain instinctive knowledge of any gun you handle, as well as 10% faster XP gain for the Gunsmith and Gunslinger skills.
Haki Expert: Having proven talented with all three forms of Haki at a young age, you are 20% better at wielding it and 10% better at teaching it.
Inspired Design (Ships): You never run out of inspiration when working on designs for a ship! The results of you following your inspiration improve the end quality of any ships you personally work on by 20%.
Inspired Design (Weapons): You never run out of inspiration when working on designs for a weapon! The results of you following your inspiration improve the end quality of any weapons you personally work on by 20%.
Intuitive Combatant: You are naturally gifted at learning combat. You are 15% faster at learning any type of combat, from the use of guns to punching lights out with your bare fists!
Training Expert 3: Get the most out of training! Not just for yourself, but for your crew too! Gain instinctive knowledge of the best ways to tweak your training for those GAINS BRO! +35% XP for Training your own skills, or for Training others in skills in which you outrank your trainee by at least 10 points.
Sage's Curve: You learn intellectual pursuits much faster than normal, and retain the knowledge more completely. You have a 20% boost to learning speed and memory retention of any intelligence or wisdom-based skills.
Sword Enthusiast: Despite your age, you've managed to learn a lot about swords! How to clean them, how care for them, and how to identify them! Gain instinctive knowledge of any sword you handle, as well as 10% faster XP gain for the Blacksmith(Sword) and Swordsmanship skills.
Sword Savant: You have created a new sword style at an incredibly young age. Know its flaws and how to fix them instinctively.
Quick Shot: You have incredible accuracy with firearms while on the move. +100% natural aim while firing without sights.
Quick Draw: You are an incredibly fast draw with any weapon, be it sword or blade.
Weather Sense (Intermediate): You can predict normal weather with considerably accuracy, everywhere but the Grand Line.
Spirit Manipulation: By training with both Haki and your Spirit Fruit, you've learned how to manipulate Spiritual energies in their raw form. You can temporarily boost your speed, strength, or endurance at the cost of being exhausted when the boost wears off.
Spiritual Recovery: Meditation allows you to tap into the Spirit of the World to recover your own more quickly.
Spirit Healing: By learning a certain amount about medicine and a great deal about the manipulation of Spiritual Energy, you've learned to heal others by infusing them with your Spirit. Accelerate someone else's healing by 500% so long as you are actively healing them.
Status Effect Resistance: You are extremely resistant to being poisoned and virtually immune to disease.
Bonus(Dex): Ambidextrous! Through hard effort, you've become genuinely ambidextrous. Provides a major bonus to attempts to dual wield, the ability to pat your head and rub your belly at the same time, and more!
Bonus 2(Dex): Heightened Precision! Through extreme training and body awareness, your movements have become far more precise than a normal person can achieve. From dancing to heart surgery, your body moves the way you want it to, often in ways that baffle others.
Bonus(Endurance): Damage Mitigation. You've toughened up to the point that 15% of all physical damage dealt to you is mitigated outright.
Bonus 2 (Endurance): Damage Mitigation 2. You've toughened up to the point that 30% of all physical damage dealt to you is mitigated outright.
Bonus(Intelligence): Accelerated Thought. During moments of intense effort or danger, you can think much faster than a normal person, allowing you to break through blocks in your workflow or create desperate plans on the fly!
Bonus 2 (Intelligence): Eidetic Memory. You remember everything you've ever read or heard with near perfect fidelity. Works retroactively do to synergy with The Gamer status.
Bonus(Strength): Power Strike. You've gained the ability to focus all your strength to a fine point, doing far more damage with your hits than you ought to, though only in short bursts.
Bonus(Luck): Fortune's Favor. Lady Luck likes you, in any situation involving luck, you can feel what the results will be, as if dice were tumbling in your head. Is it truly chance if they fall more often in your favor than not?
Bonus(Wisdom): Voice of the World (Faint). You can hear the history of a place or objects speak to you, from time to time. Grants a type of Psychometry that lets you know the history of objects or places that had a strong enough spiritual presence.
Bonus(Charisma): Magnetic Personality. People are drawn to you, even if they don't know why. How that manifests varies from person to person. Friendship, hate, love or lust, all of them can be the result of your magnified Charisma. Everyone agrees that you simply stand out in a way they find pulls them to you.
Skills
Brawling: 68
Blacksmithing: 64
Carpentry(Ships): 78
Gunslinger: 57
Gun Smithing: 53
Haki(Conquerors): 25
Haki(Observation): 87
Haki(Armament): 59
Knowledge (World History): 54
Knowledge (Navigation): 49
Medicine: 37
Observe: 80
Sailing: 63
Sciences: 56
Spiritual Manipulation: 35
Spirit Fruit (Model: Raijun) Master: 33
Sword Mastery(Wave Dancer Style): 73
More…
... ... ... ... ...
Luffy was both happy with how far he'd come…as well as seriously impressed with his two new crewmembers. Even without the Gamer ability, the two of them were within shouting distance of his own power. Admittedly, that was in part his own doing, having pushed both of them and introduced them to several abilities and techniques over the years. Not just Haki, but also Soru once he'd mastered it, among other things. Ultimately, though, he'd rarely been able to be present more than a month out of any given year, meaning that these two had mostly pushed each other to the heights they were at. And now he had two years to sharpen them even farther. Though, if he wanted any of his other potential recruits in the East Blue to be even close to as good, he probably ought to try giving them a boost now. Nami he'd already started on, working with her on her staff skills and introducing her to the concept of Observation Haki during their second bounty together.
The others, though…Luffy sighed as he realized he was coming to a decision point. Soon, he would have to determine if he wanted to recruit two people he'd found annoying as fuck to watch as Alex, just because they were potentially quite good. One of them he was likely going to recruit. The other, well, he'd wait and see. Hopefully, the show Alex had watched had played up both of their particular...eccentricities.
Chapter 12: Bounties and Beauties
"Nami! Over here!"
Luffy waved from the café table halfway down Main Street of Orange Town as he spotted the distinctive red hair weaving through the crowd. Since Luffy had originally been intending to be away from Dawn Island for a few weeks, he and his new crewmates had taken only a few days to settle Zoro and Kuina in. Both of them were chomping at the bit to start seeing where they stood compared to the rest of the East Blue, and Luffy had a good target to point them at anyway. Thanks, as it happened, to Nami. Who looked curiously at his two companions as she slid into the seat across from him.
"Luffy. I take it these two are the partners you said would be helping? I have to admit I thought you were crazy when you asked me to find Kuro. But if they are as good as you are…"
Luffy grinned and gestured to his companions, indicating Kuina first.
"Nami, this is Kuina, she's honestly the best swordsman among the three of us. She only losses out to me in a pure fight because I have a few advantages she doesn't. Even then, she's a difficult fight for me."
He waved at Zoro next, who was looking a little annoyed at the comment about Kuina being the best…even if he couldn't exactly argue with it. He still hasn't actually managed to beat her, though he had come close a few dozen times over the years.
"And this is Zoro! He's got an interesting style, unique like my own, that is seriously hard for people to beat. Like Kunia, he'd good enough to give me a serious fight. Or give her one, for that matter."
Shifting to an expansive open-arms gesture in Nami's direction, Luffy continued.
"Guys, this is Nami! The best navigator you'll likely ever meet, as well as a great source of information on where various pirates like to hang out in the East Blue. She's not up to our level as a fighter, but she's not helpless either, being quite skilled with a staff. Given the other skills she brings to helping us actually track our targets in the first place, we'll be giving her an equal cut of the bounties and ship sales."
Nami tried not to look surprised at that, clearly having expected her cut to be reduced with more people. She looked like she wanted to argue for more, even so, but bit back the impulse. She already knew Luffy was being fair…and even at an equal cut it was no small amount. Kuro alone was worth 18 million, with the rest of his crew being worth another 14. That meant she was looking at 8 million exclusive of anything else. If they managed to take his ship, plus any treasure he had, it could easily be 10 million or more. A serious boost towards the amount she needed to pay off Arlong.
Kuina and Zoro shrugged it off, having already discussed it with Luffy. In point of fact, they would actually only be taking 20 percent cuts each, with the remaining five percent from each going into the fund for the ship still being built. Luffy himself would be adding 15 percent of his own quarter to that same fund…but then, it was going to be his ship. The relatively token amount the other two were putting in was merely their own way of indicating they were serious about being part of his crew in the long run.
"Well, I'll trust your judgement, Luffy." Despite saying that, Nami seemed pleased with what she was seeing from the other two, smiling as she continued. "As for a location, Kuro has been seen near the Gecko Islands, which is why I wanted to meet here. He's believed to be looking to pick off ships traveling the route between the Organ and Gecko islands."
Luffy nodded at that, even as he wanted to narrow his eyes. He'd been surprised to realize that Kuro was still active. Not too surprised, given that he'd already changed some major events and he'd noticed that some things just flat out weren't the same even before he'd started mucking things up. This was a real, living world, not a story. Yet, the fact Kuro was hovering near the Gecko islands meant that some things were likely the same. He might well be preparing to fake his death and head to Syrup village. If that was the case, it was all the more reason to eliminate him now. And to possibly visit Syrup afterward, as well. Usopp and Kaya were both people whose measure he wanted to take.
"Excellent. We'll run the route between here and…let's say Syrup Village. There's a remote seat for a fairly wealthy family there that he might be thinking of targeting. If we can get within a few leagues of him, I should be able to pick up his ship with Observation. Taking him at sea would be ideal, as there's less chance of him doing a runner."
All three of his companions nodded, even if Nami looked a little worried about the idea. Understandable, given that his catamaran wasn't armed. But, then, he had no intention of taking the Black Cat Pirates in daylight. And even if they did, he was confident in his ability to handle cannon balls at this point. Kuina could probably redirect them as well, with Wado Ichimonji. Though none of Zoro's current blades were up to that sort of strain without Haki, and he couldn't completely coat his blades with armament just yet. At least he'd let Luffy replace the trash swords he'd been using with a set Luffy forged of Wootz steel for him. They were no Meito blades, but they were leagues better than the generic trash Zoro had possessed before…
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Luffy wasn't sure if he was more pleased or worried with how well Nami and Kuina were getting along. Kuina had been lacking female friends for a long time, basically her entire life, and had surprised both him and Zoro by eating up certain bits of 'girl talk' with Nami. It might not have worked out so well if Nami herself wasn't mostly a tomboy. But, as it was, she was able to connect to Kuina and enflame previously unknown interests that...probably boded well for Zoro? Even if he was clearly disturbed by some of them for now. I mean, he certainly hadn't protested Kuina's change of clothes already. So, a Nami-influenced wardrobe would probably be of considerable interest to the hormonal teen trapped somewhere under Zoro's love of swords.
Honestly, Luffy was just worried that either Zoro might kill him for seeing Kuina in such a wardrobe, or that a few of Nami's less admirable traits might infect Kuina. He didn't think that was very likely. But, then, he hadn't missed a certain spark of mischief igniting in the swordswoman's eyes as she chatted with Nami. Hopefully, whatever that spark meant would be firmly aimed as Zoro. In the meantime, Luffy at least had the excuse of meditating to extend his Observation range, which let him pretend to ignore the snippets of their conversation he did pick up. The fact his cross-legged pose at the front of the ship also hid the boner his treasonous body had popped when he caught entirely too much discussion about a wide range of feminine undergarments and where Nami had found the best ones was, in fact, also a plus.
Thankfully for his sanity, something entered his range a moment later. He didn't speak up just yet, trying to puzzle out what he was sensing…only for his mind to finally sort it out and harden with anger. He stood abruptly, drawing attention to himself in the process, and barked out an order.
"Nami! Heading Up 23 Degrees! Absolute best speed you can get us!"
There was only a tiny hesitation before Nami began barking her own orders, and Luffy immediately helped direct Kuina and Zoro on to how to obey them. The two of them had only begun to properly learn sailing terms, but both had the brute strength to be useful as Nami adjusted their barring, Luffy calling minor corrections via what he sensed of the distant ships. Which is the other thing he quickly cleared up as the catamaran raced up to its full speed.
"We're heading into an emergency! Pirates, which I assume are the Black Cats, are firing on a Merchant Vessel which is trying to flee. We're cutting the angle on the fight, but we're likely to get there a minute or two after the Pirates have already boarded. Upside, the Merchant Vessel is armed and there will likely be fighting on deck, which means the Pirates are unlikely to notice us until it's too late. Downside, we'll be heading into an active fight. Check your targets, make sure to identify yourself if you need to, and don't hesitate to finish your targets. I know that's a big ask for you two, Zoro, Kuina. But we don't have time to be as gentle as I normally would be."
Both of them were grim faced but clear-eyed, if a little pale. They'd understood from the start what they were getting into with this profession. Both nodded acknowledgment, even as they did their best to contribute to the sail rigging. Which was the best he could ask for. Even with the other ships moving toward them, there was a full twenty minutes of tense silence, broken only by Luffy continuing to shout out minor corrections based on evasive maneuvers taken by the fleeing merchant ship. That ship actually did amazingly well for itself…and the reason why became clear as it finally came into view. It wasn't a Merchant Vessel at all. Instead, it was a Naval Auxiliary. A Marine supply ship that was likely ferrying powder, ammunition, and rations to a base somewhere in the East Blue. Lightly armed and unescorted here in the weakest sea, it must have made a hell of a tempting target for the Black Cats. And it was the Black Cats, the ship that was now alongside the Marine vessel being easily recognizable as theirs.
Luffy's predication that there would be fighting still going on was proven true, though it was painfully obvious the Marines were rapidly losing. Gritting his teeth and unwilling to take any longer, Luffy braced himself to use another technique he'd copied after seeing Garp use it. He still wasn't that great at it, but it would get him there quicker than anything but his Devil Fruit. He shouted a quick command to Nami.
"Angle to drop Kuina and Zoro on the Marine ship! Their Captain is still on the Pirate Vessel, I'll deal with him myself!"
He kicked off, sailing as far as he could on that Soru powered leap, then grimaced as he pumped his legs in the brutally-powerful fashion required for Geppo, the Marine technique that allowed someone to 'jump' off the air itself. The truth was that he wasn't quite strong enough to pull the move off naturally, he was using Spirit Manipulation for brief boosts to let him manage the handful of jumps needed to reach the Pirate Ship. Thankfully, those brief bursts weren't enough to leave him tired as he slammed down onto the deck of the ship. The six-shot revolver he'd worked for years to make real snapped on target the instant he touched down, a pulling of the trigger crippling one pirate, even as his jian snaked out to end the life of another. There was no time to play around, not when he knew most of that ship they were raiding was filled with merchant mariners, civilians in all but name that only technically answered to Marine command.
Of course, the fire on his revolver as it kneecapped his first target, sending that pirate screaming to the deck, attracted the complete attention of the handful of remaining crew aboard the pirate ship. Not that there were many, and not that most of them mattered. He chewed through the handful of barely-fodder-level sailors that had been left behind even as the Captain lept down from where he'd been observing the fight. Kuro was the only serious fighter present, and he engaged just as Luffy knocked the last scrub sailor unconscious. Kuro was fast, managing to dodge the revolver round that Luffy fired, if only barely, and then they were close enough to engage in a furious duel of Cat Claws against jian and pistol barrel.
An abbreviated glance with Observe had told him Kuro was level 30, and it showed. Yet, Luffy was the stronger still and that showed too as the Captain was placed quickly on the back foot. The man shifted stance, attempting to speed up in a barely-controlled parody of Soru, but Luffy knew the real deal, and so did all three of his regular sparring partners. As a result, the lack of control cost the Captain and he found himself with one hand out of position, the other blade-locked with Luffy's jian, and a revolver pressed to his forehead. Time seemed to freeze as Luffy pulled the trigger with angry eyes. No one could dodge at that range and Kuro didn't have Haki. The round, a proper bullet instead of the musket balls most of the Marines still used, ripped through the man's brain. His face, as the point of entry, was nice and intact for the bounty…but the back of his skull was a wreck as the high-caliber round ripped out the other side. Kuro fell to the deck, dead before he hit the ground less than three minutes after the fight had started.
Luffy breathed out, hardened his resolve, and breathed in again. In the next instant he disappeared into Soru again as he headed toward the sounds of fighting aboard the Naval Auxiliary vessel. There was still work to do, and if he hurried, his new partners might not have to kill too many people on their first ever bounty…
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Their intervention had been a success. Most of the actual Marines aboard the supply ship had been dead or dying before Kuina and Zoro had managed to board. But, with Luffy's medical knowledge put to work, a few of them had survived. A serious-faced Nami had surprised the hell out of him by prioritizing helping him with the wounded over looting…and he hated himself for giving her too little credit. Nami cared, deeply, or she wouldn't be doing what she was in the first place. Even more, this Nami was younger and less ripped at the seams. Indeed, the embers still burning in her soul seemed to have been properly ignited by the battle, where she hadn't hesitated to join in cracking a few skulls. Pirates raiding more-or-less innocent people pushed a button or two for her, he supposed.
Kuina and Zoro had been shaky in the aftermath, of course, having made their first kills against the Black Cats' first mate and the Nyaban brothers. The effusive thanks and praise of the supply ship crew, as well as Luffy taking them aside to talk to them about it after he finished with the wounded, seemed to have mostly gotten them through it. Though they would definitely be heading back to Dawn Island and staying there for a bit, after making a stop in Syrup village to drop off Nami and possibly meet a certain potential crewmate.
That extra stop was made possible because the supply ship had called in the attack by Den Den Mushi, with a Marine vessel showing up about an hour after the battle was over. That vessel had been commanded by a decent sort, who had expressed nothing but relief that they had managed to intervene. So much so, that he'd bent his authority to the maximum to get them an extra reward, by paying them the absolute most he legally could for the Black Cats' Ship. That had resulted in a 48 million belli payday total, paid in government bank bonds that would be cashable at any of their branches.
Nami had been gleeful at the 12 million belli boost, particularly as she'd added to that by managing to raid another 3 million in treasure from the Black Cat Pirates. Kuina, Luffy, and Zoro were in no mood to argue over a split of that, leaving Nami to walk away with a cool 15 million. Luffy had been slightly alarmed to hear her mutter 'almost enough,' at that. He knew there was no way Arlong was going to actually honor his deal with her…and he didn't think they were ready to handle him and his crew yet. Still, that was a problem for Future Luffy. For the moment, he had his hands full with more immediate issues.
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Nami had stayed for just two days on the Gecko islands. Luffy had been pleased to realize after the first day that she was staying to make sure Kuina was okay. Apparently, they really had hit it off, and Nami had lived a rough enough life he was unsurprised she seemed to have killed before. Whatever she said to Kuina as they talked quietly on the second day had seemed to help the older girl, even as Luffy getting Zoro thoroughly sloshed and forcing him to talk about it had seemed to help him in turn. Given his drinking habit wasn't actually a thing yet, Luffy was forced to wonder if dealing with his grief in a bottle had been where it started for Zoro, assuming he truly would have gone that way. Thankfully, he seemed far less likely to do so as he bemoaned his horrible hangover the next day, and glared at Luffy for teasing him about it.
It was on the third day, however, that one of the reasons for stopping at the village surfaced. Apparently, he really did pull that ridiculous 'Pirates are coming!' routine with a couple of village kids. Though there were several more of the kids, a good half dozen, and the villagers actually seemed to treat the whole thing as a game for the children. It was another stark reminder for Luffy that this was a real world, and that the caricature of the people he vaguely knew from Alex's memories were just that… caricatures. Garp, Makino, Ace, Sabo, Zoro and Nami. All of them were far more nuanced than he'd expected, despite repeatedly trying to force himself to assume they would be. This time, at least, he was grateful for it as Usopp spotted them and separated from the kids he'd been entertaining to stop at their table.
"Hey! You're the bounty hunters people are saying stopped the Pirates that were patrolling the waters around here, right?"
Since Nami had already left the day before, their table had a free spot and Luffy waved Usopp into the seat even as he responded with a broad grin.
"That's us! Well, most of us. Our last sometimes-member was with us, but she already headed back to her home island. She mostly helps us find our targets, as well as serves as a hell of a navigator to help us catch them."
Usopp nodded, producing a big smile of his own.
"Yeah, the super-intimidating redhead, right? I saw her haggling with one of the fishermen over using an old boat. Scary girl."
All three of them chuckled at that, knowing the fisherman had gotten off lucky that Luffy had warned Nami off from just stealing a boat. He'd told her they wouldn't debate over the Black Cats treasure if she actually paid for anything she needed in town. It had worked, but hadn't stopped her from charming and haggling her way into the lowest prices possible.
"That's Nami, yeah." Luffy gestured at himself and each of his crew. "And we're Kuina, Zoro, and Luffy. What about you, stranger?"
Usopp started, then laughed, rubbing the back of his head.
"Ah! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself! Captain Usopp, of the Usopp Pirates…or at least that's what the kids call me. Just Usopp to everyone else!"
Luffy grinned. This kid was definitely different than expected, in a good way. Better yet, that line was also the perfect opening.
"Oh? There's got to be a story behind that. Though I think I already know at least a part of it. There was a pretty amazing Sniper named Yasopp that stopped in my village with his crew a few years back. Wouldn't shut up about his kid, named Usopp, and from the Gecko islands he said. That you?"
Usopp looked taken aback, and Luffy could feel the surprise radiating from his two partners. He'd mentioned Shanks to them before, but never Yasopp or Usopp.
"Yeah…that's me! Haven't heard from dad in a few years, though. Not since he stopped in to visit once a few…oh, probably when he was staying at your village! He'd kept in touch and sent money back before then, and for a bit after. The last I heard though he sent a lot more and said he might not be able to contact me again, unless I set out to sea myself."
It was Luffy's turn to be surprised. Though not too much. He'd learned that little detail about him sending money back home from Yasopp, back when Yasopp had been teaching him about guns. Luffy had also encouraged him to visit his son during those lessons, and apparently the man must have listened. As for the lack of contact...
"Yeah, I'd bet I can guess at the why of that. He ever tell you whose crew he was on?"
Usopp sat up at attention, clearly very interested all of a sudden.
"No! He always said it was too dangerous."
Luffy grinned and shrugged.
"He wasn't wrong. Still, you're old enough you probably should know. If you ever want to meet him again, you're going to have to get serious about getting strong after all. Hell, you'll need to do that if you even just want to publicly tell people who he is. You'll end up dead pretty quick if you shout it out where the Marines can hear, if you can't protect yourself after you do. You sure you want to know, knowing that?"
Usopp looked shocked, and a tiny bit fearful. But, to his credit, he braced himself and nodded. Luffy took a moment to assess him, feeling a rock-solid determination under the fear via his Empathy Perk. Smiling and deciding that he could, in fact, work with this…he decided to tell.
"Yasopp is one of the senior officers of the Red Hair Pirates, the Yonko Shanks' crew. Shanks and his crew made their move to declare as a Yonko shortly after they returned to the New World from the East Blue. I'd wager a lot that knowing they were planning that was what caused your pops to cut off contact. If the World Government found out you were the son of a Yonko's officer, they'd grab you in a heartbeat to use against him."
Usopp looked…well, stunned, frankly. A dozen different expressions flitted across his face. Admiration, happiness, fear, worry, and more. Clearly, he was proud of his father, but also realized that Luffy was probably right about the danger. Eventually, however, that underlying determination rose to beat them all down.
"Well, then…I'll just have to get strong enough that I can go to him! That way, the Marines can't use me against him! I'll become a Brave Warrior of the Sea!"
He could feel Kuina and Zoro's amusement at the childish title…but it was mixed with a degree of respect as they too recognized Usopp's determination. Luffy smiled more widely than ever.
"Oh? Well, I happen to know a few tricks that might help you. And the three of us are planning to head to the Grand Line with our own ship in a couple of years. If you get strong enough, we might just have a spot for you to come along. Doubly so if you have even a fraction of your old man's skill with a gun."
Usopp looked surprised at the half-offer, but then puffed up with self-confidence.
"You bet I am! Dad sent me one of his old pistols with his last message! I'm the best marksman in the East Blue! I'll show you!"
Oh? Now that was another change. But a good one. A slingshot was no weapon to use on the Grand Line, no matter what you loaded it with. Curious, all three of them stood as Usopp lept to his feet. Time to see if he really was that good…
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The last meeting Luffy had wanted to happen occurred later that day. Usopp had, in fact, manage to impress the heck out of them with his accuracy, performing numerous trick shots with ease. He'd gotten antsy after about an hour and admitted that a friend of his was due to see the town's doctor soon, saying he wanted to be there to see if there was any good news. Luffy, suspecting it was Kaya, had managed to convince Usopp to take him along by explaining he spent quite a bit of time learning from the doctor in Foosha village and might be able to help.
It was even true, though he hadn't learned directly from the man since being packed off to Dadan's Mountain Bandits. Knowing how important medicine could be at sea and having no certainty of Chopper being recruited, Luffy had gotten some lessons before that shift, though. He'd also continued consuming a lot of medical literature since then, both to improve his medical skills and because it was a great source of experience for his Int stat. It had even, unexpectedly, led to him qualifying for the Spirit Healing Perk which he'd immediately taken. Both because the effect itself was useful, and because Luffy was very interested in getting to the bottom of how Spiritual Energy worked and what it could do. He'd played with Spiritual Energy as much as possible, taking every related Perk he qualified for, as soon as he qualified for them.
All of which explained how Luffy found himself being introduced to Kaya…and trying not to gawk at just how pretty she was. Despite showing the signs of a wasting illness, this Kaya hadn't been sick nearly as long, and showed all the signs of budding beauty. Not quite up to Kuina's refined elegance or Nami's budding levels of drop-dead-sexy, Kaya was more akin to the gorgeous neighborhood girl that everyone had a crush on. Combined with kind eyes that held a fair bit of pain, she was breathtaking in a heartbreaking sort of way. Well, hopefully Luffy could do something about that.
It took a bit of doing to convince the doctor, a woman named Mereda, to allow him to examine Kaya…but the moment he did, he realized something was very wrong here. Frowning, he went through the motions of a standard medical exam for this world, even as he used his Spiritual Senses to feel out Kaya's own Spirit. Something there was…fucked up, not to put too fine a point on it. She not only had a lot more Spiritual Energy than she should, but it was spikey, like it had been disrupted and wasn't flowing through her body the way it should. He almost immediately realized it had to be what was causing the wasting sickness, along with the constant low-grade pain she was reporting. But how it had happened he had no idea. Still, there was a good chance he could do something about it. If, that was, he could bullshit them well enough. Time to get a start on that.
"Huh, I actually think I know what this is. Though I have no idea what it's doing here."
The town doctor blinked, looking at him skeptically.
"What do you mean?"
Luffy leaned back, frowning as he considered how to properly lie his ass off about this. Shrugging, he went with an excuse that would make a vague sort of sense.
"I've heard about this, but it wasn't from the village doctor I study with. It was actually from my grandfather, Monkey D. Garp."
Every set of eyes in the room fixed on him when he gave that name, all of them filled with shock. He hated trading on that name, even for this. But he needed to give himself some credibility.
"As you might expect, there's a lot of weird shit on the Grand Line, medically speaking. Bizarre diseases like Sapphire Scales, or islands out of time where ancient bacteria can cause lethal infections. This one, though, is both more common and pretty esoteric. A wasting disease that occasionally afflicts users of certain combat techniques. Obviously, that isn't the case here. But…"
Luffy hummed and moved around behind Kaya, lightly touching her at a couple of points on her back. Those points were pressure points the doctor would likely know, but it was only a cover for what he was actually doing. He channeled Spiritual Energy into Kaya in a small stream, deliberately trying to smooth out the spikey flows he'd sensed. Her breathing hitched, then she practically sobbed with relief.
"That feels…I feel better than I have in months! Even the pain is gone!"
Luffy nodded, reluctantly releasing the stream, causing Kaya to gasp and slump again.
"That hollow feeling is back, as is the pain, but…not as bad as it was?"
"Yeah, that was just a test to see if I was right about what this was. I have no idea how you contracted something normally limited to high-level Marine and Pirate combatants. But I do know how to treat it. In theory, at least. It will take some time, but there are certain medicines that can help at least relieve the symptoms in the interim."
The village doctor was looking just as relieved as confused. Frankly, Luffy got that. He wasn't lying at all when he said he wasn't sure how the heck she could have ended up with some sort of spiritual imbalance or wound. He didn't know of a way of that happening at all, save for perhaps an improper consumption of a Spirit Fruit. The bit about high level combatants was nonsense, of course. Someone hit by some sort of malicious spike of Haki might experience something like it, he supposed. But he'd never heard of such a thing. Still, he could feel that her flows were less tangled after even that short session. Given enough time and retreatment, he could probably straighten them out.
"It felt like you did something. Some sort of energy flowing into me, smoothing something…"
Luffy's eyes widened and he instinctively covered her mouth with a hand.
"You felt that?"
Kaya, looking confused and a little fearful, slowly nodded her head.
"Fuck. Um…okay. So…damn it. You can't tell anyone about this okay?"
Luffy pulled his hand away and raised it between them, letting his Fruit spark lighting between his fingers. There was a gasp from the village doctor, even as Kaya and Usopp stared in shock.
"Devil Fruit!"
Huh, apparently the doctor knew about them. Luffy met the woman's eyes and nodded.
"Yeah. Not common here in the East Blue. And the only reason I know about what she's experiencing is that it normally only happens to Devil Fruit users. Which I can tell she's not. There's a way to treat it, but I didn't expect her to be able to feel it. That's…a complication. Possibly a good one, possibly a bad one, but absolutely one that can't get out. For any of our goods. It would interest the wrong sort of people in the World Government. The mad science types that like to dissect people to figure anomalies out."
Luffy was carefully feeling out the emotions of the doctor, and nearly sighed in relief as she felt only fiercely protective of Kaya. This one was a good one, there shouldn't be any worry about the truth leaking from her.
"The good news is that I might actually be able to teach Kaya herself the method, given that she can feel it. Which would mean she could treat herself. Given that I can't exactly stay here long, and equally can't return nearly as often as would be ideal, that would be good. Heck, since the trick involved helps diagnose more mundane issues once you learn it, she could even maybe be a heck of a doctor herself someday."
Kaya perked up at that, clearly interested in the idea. Luffy smiled at that. The world could always use more healers.
"I'll give you a more through treatment today, and another tomorrow. After that I'm afraid I need to leave, but I can get you a special tea and teach you a few exercises that will both help. The tea will ease the issue and the exercises are the first step to being able to do the treatment yourself. I'll try to return to Syrup Village as quickly as a can to do a few more treatments, but there are things involving the follow up on the Black Cat Pirates I need to take care of. And I need to stop back home, too."
There was a bit of argument from Usopp that he should just stay, but Kaya put a stop to it, pointing out that Luffy was going out of his way to help them when he didn't need to at all. That shut up both Usopp and the doctor, who'd looked like she wanted to argue too. Now, he'd need to actually buy some Spirit Tea from his System Shop. He didn't actually know what was in the stuff and normally only used it to try working on his own manipulation of spirit energy. Given that it enhanced and smoothed that energy, though, he suspected diluted doses would help her symptoms, at least…
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A/N 1: Here we go, a nice 5k+ stat block free chapters ;-).
A/N 2: Alright folks! Just a quick reminder. This is in the process of being Cross Posted here to QQ. You can find more of it (up to chapter 21) on Scribblehub and Fanfiction.net currently. I also run a Patreon Page for Early Access to new chapters of all of my works (including this one). Currently, as of first posting to QQ, it goes up to chapter 25 for Patrons.