On Kujaku's side, the street was slowly coming back to life. Marine soldiers were beginning to regain consciousness one after another, still dazed by the wave of Haki that had struck them. Some civilians were getting back to their feet with groans while others tried to understand what had just happened. Above them, the completely frozen building shimmered under the sunlight, trapped in a thick shell of perfectly stable ice.
Kujaku was still holding the Den Den Mushi in her hands when it suddenly began to vibrate again. The little creature lifted its head and the connection reestablished itself on its own.
"My dear, are you alright?" Tsuru's worried voice asked immediately.
Kujaku raised her head slightly.
"Yes, Grandma…" she replied, still a little shaken. "But they're really strange…"
She glanced toward the frozen building before continuing.
"Jordan froze an entire building to stop it from collapsing… but I thought Nami was the crew's elemental magician?"
On the other end of the line, a thoughtful silence settled for a few seconds.
Then Garp spoke.
"Keep that to yourself, kid."
His tone was surprisingly serious.
"But according to some hypotheses… it seems that Jordan might be the source of several abilities within that crew."
Kujaku frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"We're not certain," Garp continued. "It could also come from his Zoan. But there are too many strange things surrounding that kid."
He let out a small laugh.
"That guy attracts weird things like a magnet."
Kujaku felt her curiosity growing.
"Really?"
Before she could ask more questions, Tsuru's voice cut in, clear and firm.
"Kujaku."
The young woman straightened instantly.
"I forbid you from following that crew."
Her tone left no room for discussion.
"You will return to Marine Headquarters immediately."
Kujaku lowered her shoulders slightly.
"Yes, Grandma…"
"You're exaggerating, Tsuru. It could be beneficial for her to follow my grandson. She might even end up bringing him back to the Marines with her," Garp said, trying to soften Tsuru, but he quickly backed down after receiving a sharp look from her.
Kujaku still had many questions, but she knew it was useless to argue when Tsuru spoke with that kind of authority.
Then a detail suddenly came back to her.
"By the way… Vice Admiral Garp?"
"Hm?"
She took a small breath before saying:
"Did you know your grandson has Conqueror's Haki?"
On the other end of the line…
Silence fell abruptly.
Garp froze, completely stunned. His mouth opened slightly… but no sound came out.
Even Tsuru seemed surprised for a moment.
Then she sighed softly.
"Return to HQ, Kujaku."
Her voice had regained its usual calm.
"You'll give us a full report."
She picked up her teacup again.
"And we may need to reassess certain bounties… once again."
Beside her, Garp remained silent for a few more seconds… before suddenly bursting into laughter.
"BWAHAHAHAHA! Sengoku's going to yell at me again!!"
On the deck of the Vogue Merry
I landed heavily after our hurried return from the city. Luffy, Koby, and Elise were still clinging to me, and I almost immediately set them down on the ship's wooden planks. Barely had my feet touched the deck when muffled cries rose from below. Desperate groans, distorted by the thickness of the ship but clearly audible.
Before I could even react, Merry came running.
"Books!" she shouted with a big smile when she saw the volumes in Elise's arms.
She grabbed them immediately with almost childlike enthusiasm.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Then she grabbed a completely confused Luffy by the sleeve.
"Come on, we need to put them in the library!"
"Huh? But—"
He disappeared into the cabin, dragged away without mercy by the little girl determined to organize her new treasures.
I didn't even have time to laugh before Nami turned toward me, arms crossed.
"Jordan…"
She tilted her head toward the lower deck.
"Go tell Kaya to slow down. She's been on them since you left… and it's honestly disturbing."
Another scream rose from below to emphasize her words.
I sighed.
"I'm going."
I walked down the stairs leading to the lower deck. As I went deeper into the Merry's corridors, the screams became clearer.
The infirmary…
…now looked much more like a torture chamber.
When I entered, the smell of blood and antiseptics hung in the air.
Captain Hugh and his vice-captain Wade were each strapped to a table. Several severed limbs littered the floor or rested on metal trays. Despite the horror of the scene, their bodies continued to regenerate slowly, flesh gradually reforming.
Kaya stood above them, her eyes shining with scientific excitement.
She was carefully observing Wade's arm regrowing, mentally noting every detail.
I simply raised my hand.
Ice instantly burst from the floor and trapped Kaya in a solid block, leaving only her head free.
She blinked in surprise.
I walked toward her calmly.
"Kaya…"
My voice was calm, but firm.
"You're disturbing the entire crew with this."
I glanced at the two mutilated pirates.
"And is repeatedly dismembering them actually teaching you anything?"
She puffed her cheeks slightly.
"Of course it's instructive!"
Her tone sounded almost like that of a sulking child.
I sighed softly.
"I'll find you a real chief doctor to guide you. Otherwise… what you're doing here is just pointless torture."
At those words, Hugh and Wade managed to turn their heads toward me with difficulty. Their movements were heavy, exhausted.
Hugh's eyes were hollow from pain.
"I… I'm sorry… for everything…" he groaned. "Please… just kill me… I can't take it anymore…"
I immediately noticed something: his regeneration had slowed. His body clearly lacked the energy to keep repairing the damage.
Kaya protested immediately, a hint of madness in her voice.
"No! Let me keep them, Jordan!"
I slowly raised my eyes to look at her.
My pupils changed.
They became narrow, vertical… like a crocodile's.
The look I gave her instantly wiped the excitement from the Rabbit Heartless within her.
"Don't forget…" I said in an icy voice, "who gave you the strength to fight."
I stopped just a few centimeters from her face.
"And what I gave… I can also take away."
The Heartless inside her trembled.
The dark creature amplifying her instincts tried to resist… but it couldn't. It was bound to me. It had to obey.
Kaya's darker side immediately shrank back, like a beaten animal. Her rabbit ears drooped slightly.
I eased the pressure in my gaze before speaking again in a calmer tone.
"But don't worry. You can still play with your opponents during battles—I have no problem with that."
I gestured vaguely toward the two mutilated pirates.
"But this… what you're doing here… it's neither useful nor acceptable for the crew."
Kaya looked away, clearly frustrated but aware that I was no longer joking.
I then turned toward Hugh. The pirate was breathing with difficulty, his body exhausted from endless cycles of regeneration. Without saying another word, I summoned my Keyblade and drove it straight into his chest.
A shiver ran through the room.
The moment the Keyblade pierced his body, my crocodile Heartless manifested behind me, slowly emerging from my shadow like a primitive creature rising from the depths. Its massive jaws opened as it leaned over Hugh's body.
It did not attack.
It devoured not the flesh, but the dark energy.
The power of Hugh's Devil Fruit, that abnormal regenerative ability, was drawn out like a black mist, torn from his body by the creature.
The pirate's body began to tremble violently.
Then it disintegrated.
The remaining energy briefly condensed before taking a tiny form.
A small lizard Heartless appeared on the table, black with bright blue eyes.
All the power of the fruit had been absorbed by my crocodile.
I let the creature dissolve back into my shadow and picked up the small lizard in the process. It immediately joined the rest of my shadows.
A new sensation ran through my body.
I could feel the ability.
I could now transform into a small lizard.
A faint smile appeared on my face.
Behind me, Wade had watched the entire scene.
And terror was clearly visible in his eyes.
"Don't come near me!" he shouted, pulling against his chains.
Unlike his captain, he had never given up. All this time, he had been hoping to find an opening, to free himself and take his revenge.
But seeing Hugh disappear like that…
Something inside him had broken.
I slowly approached.
"I wonder…" I murmured, tilting my head slightly, "what interesting things you're going to show me."
I drove the Keyblade into him again.
The reaction was far more violent.
Wade's body suddenly swelled under the unstable energy of his Hydra Fruit. Dark veins appeared beneath his skin as the energy tried to burst out in every direction.
With a single motion, I opened my shadow and absorbed the forming creature before his body could grow further and destroy the room.
I disposed of the severed limbs by tossing them into the sea through a dark portal.
Kaya watched the scene with fascination.
"You can turn others into Heartless?" she asked.
I turned toward her.
"Yes."
I gently pointed at her chest.
"Your power comes from there."
She lowered her eyes.
"And the only reason I let you keep the Rabbit… instead of giving you another power far less unstable… is because you were already on a bounty poster. So I hope you'll limit this," I said, gesturing toward the blood-covered room, "to the battlefield."
I felt a faint unease as I left the infirmary. Putting that much pressure on Kaya wasn't something I particularly enjoyed. Yet I knew it was necessary.
I really hope her somewhat… psychopathic tendencies calm down over time, I thought as I gently closed the door behind me.
The Merry creaked softly beneath my steps as I climbed back up toward the upper deck, leaving behind the metallic smell of blood and the cold of the ice slowly fading away.
When I stepped onto the deck, I immediately spotted Usopp checking his tools near the mast. I walked over and spoke to him in a low voice.
"Usopp, go see Kaya, please. I think I might have been a little harsh with her… she could use someone to calm her down."
The sniper looked up at me, immediately understanding the situation.
"I'm on it!" he replied before almost running toward the stairs leading to the lower deck.
Meanwhile, Luffy and Merry were just coming back from the library. Merry was holding one of the new books tightly against her chest while Luffy scratched his head, still a bit confused by the sudden organization of their small floating library.
When he saw me, Luffy tilted his head. His instincts told him something wasn't quite right.
"What happened, Jordan?" he asked with a seriousness that was rare for him. He knew that normally, I was the one who always kept a cool head.
I shrugged slightly.
"Nothing serious. Just a difference of opinion… and a little correction about her methods."
I glanced toward the hatch leading to the lower deck.
"But we're going to need to find a real chief doctor to guide her. Otherwise… her experiments might go a little too far."
My tone remained neutral, almost detached.
Around us, the rest of the crew immediately understood that I was simply exercising my role as vice-captain. No one seemed particularly surprised; in a crew like ours, someone occasionally had to restore a bit of order.
I quickly changed my expression, letting my usual smile return.
"So… did Law come back?" I asked while looking around the deck. "I hope we'll be able to set sail soon. I'd really like to test my new abilities."
Zoro, sitting on a barrel near the railing, gave an amused smile as he crossed his arms.
"Looks like our vice-captain wants to throw us back into another intense training cycle…"
A few meters away, Koby was watching the reflection of his blade under the sunlight. He was thinking about how far he had come since his clumsy beginnings.
"I owe almost all my strength to Jordan…" he said calmly. "So I'm always ready to train more."
I raised an amused eyebrow.
"Good, Koby. Because I plan to take you with me to completely clean up Alice's world."
I gave him a wink.
"That way, maybe we can free your girlfriend."
Koby instantly turned as red as a tomato.
Behind him, several crew members raised their heads curiously. Nami sighed slightly before quickly explaining the story to the others, talking about the strange world we had explored and the mysterious girl imprisoned there.
Meanwhile, I calmly walked toward the edge of the ship. My gaze fixed on the dock below.
I could feel a familiar presence approaching quickly.
Law.
But he wasn't alone.
Other figures were chasing him, their hurried footsteps echoing across the harbor's cobblestones.
I leaned slightly over the railing of the Vogue Merry, watching the silhouettes running along the dock behind Law. The stones echoed beneath their rushing steps while the Surgeon of Death ran straight toward us, his arms full of several Den Den Mushis he had apparently managed to buy before being spotted.
I smiled.
"Looks like our surgeon brought some company with him…" I said casually. "Anyone want to blow off some steam? There are five opponents… around Zoro's level, I'd say."
"Oye!" the swordsman protested immediately, lifting his head.
I raised my hands with an innocent expression.
"I meant… your level before you joined the crew."
An amused smile spread across my face.
Sanji instantly seized the opportunity.
"Perfect!" he declared, cracking his neck.
Kazuki, already ready for action, placed a foot on the railing.
"We'll take them. It's been too long since we've had a chance to blow off some steam."
The two jumped off the ship in the same motion. As they fell, Kazuki spread her arms and manipulated the air currents around them. The wind bent to her will, slowing their descent and guiding their trajectory.
They landed smoothly behind Law, cutting off the pursuers' path in an instant.
Law appeared on the dock at the same time, slightly out of breath but still dignified, his arms full of Den Den Mushis of various sizes.
"Seriously…" he grumbled.
Behind him, the five men chasing him stopped abruptly. Their gear and greedy looks left no doubt.
Bounty hunters.
"Thirty million for some members of this crew!" one of them shouted excitedly.
"And eighty-five for the captain!"
But the fight didn't last long.
Sanji vanished in a flash of movement. His foot crashed into the first hunter's jaw with surgical precision.
CRACK.
Kazuki spun a cutting gust of wind that swept the next two away, slamming them into a stack of crates.
The last two tried to draw their weapons.
They didn't have time.
In just a few seconds, the five bounty hunters were lying unconscious on the cobblestones.
The reason was simple: their information was outdated. The crew's bounties no longer reflected our true level.
Since East Blue…
we had improved tremendously.
I jumped down from the deck to join Law.
"So?" I asked him. "Do you want to stay around here or come with us?"
I gestured vaguely toward the horizon.
"We need to train a bit before continuing our exploration of North Blue. Doflamingo has sent the Marines after us… and there are probably other squads on nearby islands waiting to ambush us."
Law's face darkened immediately.
"Damn flamingo…"
He tightened his grip on the Den Den Mushis.
"I'll come with you. That way I won't have to look for you when you leave to explore again."
At that moment, Luffy jumped onto the railing with a wide grin.
"Then it's decided!"
He raised his fist toward the sky.
"Jordan, let's go!"
Sanji and Kazuki climbed back onto the deck while I turned one last time toward the dock.
The Heartless I had left disguised as animals were still lurking in the shadows. They watched the unconscious bounty hunters… but they hadn't transformed them.
I nodded slightly.
"Good."
I gave them a new mental order.
"Go into the city. Return to your instincts. Hunt the wicked hearts."
The creatures immediately vanished into the alleys.
At the same moment, Merry gently manipulated the currents around the ship and the Vogue Merry moved away from the dock.
Once we were out of sight of the harbor, I raised my hand.
A gigantic black portal opened in front of us.
The water seemed to bend around it like a liquid surface.
Law's Polar Tang surfaced as well and followed our path.
Both ships passed through the portal together.
A few seconds later…
We arrived at Heartless Island.
A dark island surrounded by loyal shadow creatures.
I jumped onto the beach and turned toward the crew.
"Alright, everyone off."
The sand crunched under my feet as I pointed to different groups.
"Koby and Nami with me."
Then I pointed toward Law and his crew.
"The rest of you… I'll let you give Law and his men the guided tour."
An amused smile appeared on my face.
"After that, go see Charyzax to refine your Haki."
I crossed my arms.
"And work hard…"
My smile widened slightly.
"I'll be testing you."
(Author's note: Here's the chapter, a little late. See you next week! ^^)