Once the final preparations with the Rum Runner Pirates were complete, I arranged to meet them again that evening. This time, I intended to bring the rest of our crew so everyone could enjoy the party and, incidentally, allow Zoro to continue his drinking duel without Kuina being able to complain that he had wandered off on his own.
Before that, however, I still had a much more important problem to deal with.
I left through the back door of the tavern with Meredith tucked under one arm. By now, the poor woman looked more like a statue than a spy, her entire body still trapped inside a thick layer of ice that left only her head exposed. Her hateful glare followed my every movement, but at least the frozen gag covering her mouth spared me from having to listen to her insults.
Once I was far enough away from the harbor, I discreetly took flight and soared over the buildings before heading toward a small wooded area several kilometers away from Rubeck's port. I descended into a clearing surrounded by trees tall enough to conceal us from the coast, then immediately extended my Observation Haki as far as possible.
My senses swept through the woods, the surrounding paths, and even part of the coastline.
Nothing.
No one was close enough to observe us.
I relaxed slightly before setting Meredith against a tree. With a flick of my fingers, I made the ice gag covering her mouth disappear.
She took a deep breath.
"You son of a—"
"At first, I thought you were CP0."
The unexpected remark was enough to cut her insult short.
I calmly studied her.
"But that's clearly not the case. If you really belonged to CP0, you probably would've broken through this ice with Armament Haki by now."
I lightly tapped the frozen prison surrounding her.
"You must belong to one of the regular Cipher Pol branches."
Meredith glared at me contemptuously.
"Idiot! If I belonged to CP0, do you really think they would've sent me to watch over a bunch of drunken hillbillies for three years?!"
She struggled violently, without managing to move her prison even a millimeter.
"This kind of information is mostly of interest to the Marines! Trade routes, agreements with the Emperors, crews passing through Rubeck..."
Her face twisted with rage.
"Just wait until I find a way out of this! I'll make you regret humiliating me in front of those pigs!"
A greenish mist immediately began seeping from her body. The unmistakable scent of absinthe spread through the clearing as Meredith clearly attempted to use her power against me.
I sighed.
"Gust."
A circular current of air formed around her and immediately scattered the mist in the opposite direction.
Meredith tried again a few seconds later.
Same result.
She tried once more.
I simply kept the current of air constantly swirling around her.
"You can keep doing that if it entertains you."
I calmly walked closer.
"But you're never getting out that way, Madam Spy."
"Go fuck your—"
She stopped.
Because my appearance had just changed.
A shadow slid across my body, altering my clothes and features until Jordan disappeared completely.
Sora now stood before her.
For the first time since her capture, the anger completely vanished from Meredith's face.
Her eyes widened.
"No..."
Her face went deathly pale.
"No, wait..."
I materialized my Keyblade.
"Sora and Jordan..."
Her eyes frantically swept over me.
"You're the same person?!"
I didn't answer.
"Wait!"
She desperately tried to pull away despite the ice holding her in place.
"We can negotiate! You want information? I have it! Bases, agents, Marine operations! I can—"
I plunged the Keyblade directly into her purple heart.
No wound appeared.
No blood was spilled.
But her entire body froze.
A light suddenly surged through her entire body before her silhouette seemed to split into two distinct manifestations. A violet flame immediately burst from her chest and shot straight toward me.
By now, I knew this phenomenon well enough to understand the danger.
I stepped aside.
"Not this time."
The flame passed only a few centimeters from my face.
My shadow immediately stirred.
An enormous maw emerged from my body.
Ammit.
The Heartless opened its jaws and swallowed the violet flame before it could return to me. The energy vanished between its fangs, and a dark pulse immediately rippled through its body.
I watched it carefully.
"That should keep all that darkness from ending up inside my soul..."
Ammit remained perfectly still for several seconds. Its body seemed to grow slightly denser as it calmly assimilated the energy it had just consumed.
I then waited for Meredith's Heartless to appear.
One second.
Then two.
Nothing.
I frowned.
"Strange..."
Meredith possessed a Devil Fruit. I should have gotten something from the extraction, yet no new Heartless had appeared.
I gave Ammit a questioning look.
The creature, however, seemed perfectly content simply digesting its meal.
"We'll figure that out later."
My attention returned to Meredith.
Or rather...
To what she was becoming.
A faint light now surrounded her body. The features that had been twisted by hatred, fear, and anger only moments earlier gradually began to relax. Her eyebrows were no longer furrowed. Her jaw unclenched. Even something deep within her gaze changed completely.
I made the ice disappear.
She staggered when she suddenly regained the use of her legs, but managed to remain standing.
For a long moment, she stared at her hands.
Then she looked at me.
There was no hatred left.
Only overwhelming confusion.
"I... remember everything."
I said nothing, preferring to let her understand for herself what had just happened.
"My missions... my contacts... my training... the information I gathered..."
A small amount of green mist appeared above her palm.
She stared at it in surprise.
"Even my Devil Fruit is still here."
She slowly closed her hand, and the mist vanished.
Then her expression became troubled.
"But something is missing."
She placed a hand over her chest.
"All those years... everything they taught me... I genuinely thought it was normal."
Her voice gradually grew quieter.
"Lying. Manipulating people. Using them. Following orders without ever asking why. I could spend three years with people who considered me a friend and still despise them simply because I'd been taught that they were criminals."
She remained silent for several seconds.
"Now I still remember everything... but I can't even understand how I ever thought that way."
I gradually understood what had happened.
By removing the evil part of her heart, I hadn't erased her memories, her skills, or her personality. I had only torn away the darkness that had accumulated within her and, along with it, much of the conditioning that had distorted her perception of the world for years.
For the first time, she could look back at her own actions without the filter that had been forced upon her.
The woman finally raised her head toward me before bowing slightly.
"I don't want to carry the name they gave me anymore."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Meredith?"
She slowly nodded.
"Meredith was their spy. Their tool. Their slave."
She took a deep breath.
"If I really am going to start my life over... give me a new name. Something that belongs only to the person I choose to become from now on."
I thought for a few seconds.
Then a name came to me naturally.
"All right."
She looked up.
"From this day forward, your name will be Dextremih."
She softly repeated it.
"Dextremih..."
A small smile—probably the first truly sincere one I had seen from her since we met—appeared on her face.
"Dextremih. I like it."
I then opened a shadow portal a few meters away from us. On the other side was the familiar landscape of Heartless Island.
"For now, you'll stay there."
Dextremih studied the portal curiously.
"Once you arrive, find Charyzax. Tell him I sent you and explain exactly what you can do. Espionage, infiltration, intelligence gathering, your Devil Fruit... everything. He'll know what to do with you until I return."
She nodded before walking toward the portal. Just before stepping through, she stopped and turned back toward me.
"Jordan... or Sora, I suppose."
I smiled slightly.
"Jordan is fine."
She inclined her head one last time.
"Then thank you, Jordan."
And with that, she stepped through the portal.
I closed it behind her before returning to my normal appearance. Ammit, having now almost completely assimilated the energy it had absorbed, calmly slipped back into my shadow before merging with my body once again.
I remained alone in the middle of the clearing for a few seconds.
Meredith, the World Government spy, had officially disappeared.
In her place now stood Dextremih.
And with all the intelligence she had retained after her transformation, something told me my newest recruit would quickly become extremely useful.
I leisurely made my way back to the Vogue Merry after leaving Dextremih on Heartless Island, and when I reached the harbor, I immediately realized that the small evening gathering we had planned had already grown into something much bigger.
The Rum Runner Pirates had ultimately decided to move part of the celebration directly onto the docks, with several long tables set up near our ship. Open barrels stood everywhere, music echoed between the warehouses, and the smell of grilled meat mingled with the various kinds of alcohol produced by Scott and his companions.
Several members of the three crews ruling Rubeck had even joined the festivities, gradually turning our simple meal into a full-blown neighborhood party.
Unsurprisingly, Luffy was probably the happiest man on the entire island.
"SANJI! MORE MEAT!"
"You just ate three plates!"
"Exactly! They're empty!"
Sanji nearly threw his frying pan at his face while Luffy laughed at the top of his lungs, an enormous leg of meat in one hand and an almost forgotten mug in the other.
Despite the Rum Runners' reputation, our captain seemed far more interested in their food supplies than their alcohol. Scott had eventually burst out laughing when he realized that Luffy was practically using his beer for the sole purpose of washing down even more meat.
"Your captain really is a strange pirate," Scott remarked.
"You haven't seen anything yet," I replied with amusement.
A few meters away, Zoro, on the other hand, had perfectly understood the main appeal of the evening.
The swordsman sat in front of a veritable collection of bottles, continuing his personal battle against everything the Rum Runners could offer him.
Bourbon, whiskey, shōchū, wine...
Everything was fair game.
Kuina sat right beside him and was participating with worryingly obvious enthusiasm, though thankfully she was showing considerably more restraint.
"You're going to drop before I do," she declared, casually swirling a glass of wine between her fingers.
Zoro emptied his cup before giving her a challenging look.
"Keep dreaming."
"Zoro, you're already starting to talk louder."
"I'm talking normally."
Kuina exchanged a glance with Shirley.
"He's drunk."
"Completely," the Pink Lady cheerfully confirmed.
"I CAN HEAR YOU!"
The two women burst out laughing while Komu was already filling Zoro's next glass.
"Then prove it, swordsman! Another round!"
"Gladly."
Kuina placed a hand against her forehead.
"Hopeless..."
Farther away, Sanji had discovered someone he could discuss cooking with for hours. Mary was showing him several recipes using her own wine, and the cook had temporarily forgotten all his usual theatrics to listen with genuine professional interest.
"You reduce the wine directly while cooking?" Sanji asked as he studied the sauce she was preparing.
"Not always. For certain meats, I prefer to let them marinate for several hours first. My power allows me to slightly alter the wine depending on what I'm cooking. More fruity for certain sauces, more tannic for others."
Sanji's eyes lit up.
"You can control that directly?"
Mary smiled at his enthusiasm.
"Within certain limits."
Sanji immediately pulled out a notebook.
"You absolutely have to show me. Kazuki is going to love it if I can recreate some of these recipes."
While everyone enjoyed the evening in their own way, Nami and I had chosen a much quieter spot.
We sat side by side on the railing of the Vogue Merry, close enough to the party to enjoy the music and conversations without getting caught up in all the commotion.
I casually held a mug of beer while Nami sipped a glass of rosé that Shirley had offered her.
"Not bad," she admitted after taking a small sip.
"Careful. You might end up like Zoro."
Nami immediately gave me a flat look.
"Jordan..."
She pointed toward the swordsman, who had just emptied yet another glass to Komu's cheers.
"They'd probably have to throw me directly into a barrel before I could reach his level."
"Fair point."
We both chuckled.
Merry, meanwhile, had found the best seat possible.
The little girl was sitting directly on my shoulders, her legs dangling on either side of my neck while she carefully held her glass of juice in both hands. From her improvised perch, she had a perfect view of the entire party.
"Higher!" she suddenly demanded.
I looked up.
"Merry, if I put you any higher, I'm going to have to make you fly."
She considered the possibility very seriously.
"I'm okay with that."
Nami burst out laughing.
"Don't give her ideas."
So I simply kept hold of Merry's legs while she happily continued watching the festivities.
For several minutes, I said nothing.
I simply drank my beer while watching Luffy laugh with Scott, Zoro attempt to defeat a probably endless supply of alcohol, Kuina make fun of him, Sanji exchange recipes with Mary, and the Rum Runners welcome our crew as though they had known us for years.
Nami gently rested her head against my shoulder, just beneath Merry's leg.
"You know... for an island full of pirates, it's surprisingly peaceful."
I smiled as I watched the harbor lights reflecting across the water.
"That's exactly what I was thinking this afternoon."
I slightly raised my mug.
"For once, nobody's trying to kill us, no monster is destroying the town, and no gigantic conspiracy is falling on our heads."
Nami immediately raised her glass.
"Don't say that too loudly."
I froze.
Then looked around with exaggerated suspicion.
"You're right. I take back everything I just said."
Nami stifled a laugh while Merry proudly raised her glass of juice above my head.
"To the party!"
I raised my beer and Nami lifted her rosé.
"To the party."
The evening continued peacefully until the sound of particularly heavy footsteps began echoing from the far end of the dock.
With every impact, the thick wooden planks trembled slightly beneath our feet, and several pirates gradually stopped their conversations to look in that direction.
I turned my head as well and quickly spotted a gigantic silhouette approaching us.
"Ah..."
I immediately recognized the man's long horns and monstrous build.
Jack the Drought.
Beside me, Nami very slowly turned her head in my direction.
She didn't say a single word.
But the look in her eyes was more than enough to convey her message.
I told you so.
Just a few minutes earlier, I'd had the brilliant idea of declaring that, for once, nobody was trying to kill us and that no trouble seemed about to come crashing down on our heads.
I raised my hands in surrender.
"Okay. I officially take back what I said."
Nami gave me a small, satisfied smile.
"Too late."
I calmly set down my mug, ready to intervene if necessary, while Merry straightened up on my shoulders to get a better look at the newcomer.
Yet Jack showed no hostility whatsoever.
He walked past several members of the Rum Runners, who greeted him naturally, further proof that he had been here long enough to be regarded more as a business partner than a threat.
Eventually, his gaze found Luffy.
Our captain was still sitting in front of a mountain of empty plates.
Jack stopped in front of him.
"Straw Hat."
Luffy looked up, his mouth still full.
"Oh! Mammoth!"
A silence followed.
I closed my eyes for a second.
Nami stifled a laugh into her glass.
Jack, meanwhile, remained perfectly impassive.
"Jack."
Luffy finally swallowed his mouthful.
"Yeah, Jack! Want some food?"
He immediately held out a huge piece of meat to him as though their fight the day before had never happened.
Jack looked at the meat.
Then at Luffy.
Then back at the meat.
Finally, he took it.
"Why not."
He sat down heavily nearby, making the bench creak under his weight.
Several pirates around them watched the scene in disbelief. Two men who had violently fought each other on Minion were now peacefully sharing a meal.
Luffy, of course, saw absolutely nothing strange about it.
"You're really tough!" he declared cheerfully. "Aspida and I hit you a whole bunch of times, and you were still standing!"
Jack tore a huge chunk of meat away with his teeth.
"So are you."
He paused briefly before adding with surprising honesty:
"I thought you were just a loud rookie. I was wrong."
Luffy's grin immediately widened.
"Shishishi! Next time, I'll win!"
"Try."
And that was it.
No resentment.
No pointless threats.
A few minutes later, they were already comparing their abilities while eating, Luffy enthusiastically explaining some of his techniques while Jack occasionally replied between bites.
He knew his ship would be leaving Rubeck the next day with the cargo intended for the Beasts Pirates, and he seemed to have decided to enjoy his final evening on the island.
I spent a long moment simply watching the scene.
The more I thought about it, the more obvious something became.
The world I had arrived in was incredibly similar to the one I remembered...
But it wasn't identical.
The broad strokes were still there. Names, islands, organizations, and events I could recognize.
Yet the people themselves could be very different from the image I had of them.
Circumstances had changed.
Some encounters had happened far earlier than they were supposed to.
And my own actions were already changing so many things that my original knowledge was becoming less reliable with each passing day.
Jack was a perfect example.
Only a few hours ago, we had been enemies.
Now he was peacefully eating with Luffy.
I took a small sip of beer as I thought.
Until now, I had relied too heavily on my knowledge of this world as though it were a reliable map.
It still worked well enough to help me.
But if I kept relying on it blindly, sooner or later it would lead to disaster.
I was supposed to be the crew's strategist.
So it was time I actually started acting like one.
Information networks.
Political maps of the different seas.
Alliances between pirate crews.
Trade routes.
Marine movements.
The distribution of the World Government's forces.
Relations between the Emperors.
Bounty hunters, independent kingdoms, black markets...
And now, I even had Dextremih, a former spy with three years' worth of intelligence and genuine training in the field.
I smiled faintly.
In the end, perhaps Rubeck had given me something far more valuable than a new power.
A lesson.
(Author's Note: Let's leave it here for this week, but I'll still treat you to this beautiful picture of Dextremih ^^)