I'd like to thank those who support the fic and, at the same time, complain about those who upload content and ask for money and Patreon for their work. If you're a writer, you should write a book or a novel instead of sitting here begging. For my part, I never plan to do that. For the same reason, I'm a student trying to get a job. That would take away my time from writing, and that would be the only bad thing.
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Leaving Alabasta wasn't as complicated as arriving. We already had a reputation within the country, so the help they offered us saved us a lot of travel time.
While we were moving, I decided to start writing on the sheets of paper I had, and I had written the Iliad, the famous Trojan adventure written by Homer. Of course, I didn't write it completely, not only because I couldn't write well in the circumstances we were in, which was why it took so long, but also so that this bird, upon reading it, would want to join us and finish reading on its own.
The fact that we had already appeared in the newspaper was a signal to begin this plan; I just need to find one of the newspapermen, talk about the exploits we accomplished here in Alabasta so that afterward I'll just have to confirm them in the country, and then deliver this incomplete tale to him.
There should be someone in the coastal city; if not, I'll have to wait a little longer to be able to do this.
In one of the towns we stopped in, there was an old woman who knew about birds, so now we can call Hunter like her.
After six days of travel, we reached the coast; there were no incidents during this time. We can safely say that while we're here, the bandits will be hiding and won't do anything wrong.
However, when we set foot in the town, a scandal broke out. A troublesome pirate crew had parked here; a crew with a bounty of 112,000,000 berries. Their captain had a bounty of 62,000,000 berries, their vice-captain had a bounty of 30,000,000 berries, and another crew member had a bounty of 20,000,000 berries.
The Navy was having trouble with the situation, so we immediately went to help them.
Dante: "I'll take care of your captain; you take care of the other two. You shouldn't have any problems with all the training we've had, right?"
Arthur: "No problem, boss."
Trini: "Pfff, it'll be a piece of cake."
Dante: "You took care of them well." At that moment, we split up; I went straight to where the captain was.
The guy was surrounded by 20 lower-ranking marines along with a sergeant.
Marine 1: "Careful, he's a Devil Fruit user."
Marine 2: "We can't beat him; he's very strong."
???: "HAHAHAHA, fear the fury of those who try to get in the way, my way; I, Captain Wade, will destroy them one by one."
Marine 3: "Wade, is it...?"
Sergeant: "Wade, 'The Immortal,' captain of the Dark Blood pirates, has a paramecia-type regeneration fruit."
Wade: "Exactly, and if you don't step back, so much blood will flow from your bodies that the amount of it will look black on the ground."
The Marines were trembling; I saw the sergeant hesitate for a moment; that was my cue to appear.
Dante: "Wow, you're so confident, just a little bug in a jungle. From where I'm sitting, you're no big deal." I saw him start to get angry; that way, he'll focus on me, leaving the Marines or any innocent person behind.
Sergeant: "Wait a second." he looked at me. "Are you...?"
Dante: "It doesn't matter who it is; what matters is what I can do, and that's easily take this guy down with this." At that moment, I pulled out my sangetsukon, which I had hanging from my hip. "Let me fight this guy alone; the others are annoying."
Sergeant: "A sea stone weapon." The sailor recognized the weapon's material immediately, staring at the weapon, then at me, then at the pirate. "Fine, but if anything happens, we'll be on the lookout to intervene."
Dante: "I have no problem with that." At that moment, I got into a fighting stance with my weapon.
I just realized the weapon doesn't have a name, so I decided to give it one right away. Since it was designed to fight Devil Fruit users, I named it "Nemesis."
Once I was positioned with Nemesis, as soon as Hunter went flying, my man, I threw myself at the pirate with a crushing blow to the stomach.
The blow sent him crashing into a house, breaking the wall; just a few seconds later, the guy immediately stopped.
Wade: "That really hurt him. What the hell did you do to me?"
I didn't answer; he quickly got me within close range. The pirate has spiked gauntlets, so it's a close-quarters fight.
As soon as I was a good distance away, I began to relentlessly hit him with Nemesis. He tried to counter my assault, but I didn't give him the chance, and whenever he tried to hit me, I just deflected his blow with extreme ease.
The blows I landed with Nemesis didn't heal; since being made from sea stone, his fruit was weakened, making it very ineffective. This guy had no skill; he relied on his fruit to win fights.
In about three minutes, I had him covered in blood and bruises. He looked furious and confused.
Wade: "Why? WHY ISN'T MY FRUIT WORKING?!" he yells in frustration.
Dante: "Easy, because you're ugly and pathetic." With that, I kicked him, sending him a few steps away from me.
With a high jump, I launched myself at Wade; with Nemesis, I began to spin in the air, and the moment I was close to him, I hit him in the head. With the speed and force of the spin, I managed to both knock him out and crack his head. Luckily, when I checked him, I realized he was still alive. It would be bad to accidentally kill him.
Suddenly, the system message sounded: [You have defeated a pirate with a bounty greater than or equal to 50,000,000 berries. For this achievement, you have been awarded 20,000,000 LP to use in the system.]
A lot of points. I'll leave it aside this time; besides, I want to save up so I can buy some really cool accessories and weapons.
The fight lasted three minutes and a few more. The marines approached me to take the pirate to a cell and thanked me along the way.
Sergeant: "Thank you very much, kid; if it weren't for you, we might not have been able to capture him without casualties."
Dante: "It's okay; that's the job of a hero," I said as I walked away.
Sergeant: "Tell me, kid, what's your name?"
Dante: "Dante, no last name," I said as I went to my companions.
When I arrived, I noticed they had also defeated the rest of the crew. They both looked fine; Hun was with them. Arthur had a few injuries, but nothing serious.
Dante: "I see they're finished too. Any problems?"
Trini: "There were no problems, thanks to my human shield, who was protecting us the whole time."
Arthur: "Why did I have to be the human shield? It wasn't enough to block the attacks aimed at me, but yours as well; you didn't have to be hiding behind me all the time."
Trini: "Don't be so upset; you did very well for your first time as a human shield. Lighten up, human shield; you're a good human shield," she said, patting him on the head.
Arthur: "If you're going to talk to me, at least give me my name and not some nickname I didn't ask for; I'm out of here."
Arthur walked toward a bar, followed by Trini, who was half-apologetic.
I stayed behind with Hun while they captured the rest of the crew. I was then going to the barracks to collect the reward; those 112,000,000 berries will come in very handy.
As I walked, I noticed a guy on the roof; he had a camera hanging from the ceiling and a small notebook, writing everything down. This is my chance. Let's hurry to the barracks and get the money without delay.
As soon as I left, I climbed onto the roof of a house. I tried to use Observation Haki, but I couldn't find him; I don't think I have that skill yet. I started scanning the area until I found him, and I saw him on the dock, talking to a fisherman. I wasted no time and approached.
Dante: "You're one of those who works at the newspaper, aren't you?"
The guy stiffened and turned to look at me. As soon as he saw me, he tried to escape, but I was faster. I grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
Dante: "Relax, I'm not going to do anything to you. I just want you to do me a favor." I handed him the draft of the story and also a letter, which was about the idea of the alliance I wanted to form with him. "I want you to give this to Morgan. It's an important message. This could be very beneficial, both for you and me. Do you understand?"
The guy nods, a little calmer.
Dante: "Well, go ahead. I hope no problems arise." I was already approaching him when the guy stopped me, asking for a photo. I happily oblige: I draw my sword from my back, bury it in the ground, and pose.
*2 Weeks Later*
During the time that passed, there wasn't anything very important to mention, except for this week's newspaper. It named us the heroes of Alabasta for all the achievements and exploits we'd done in the country, including, of course, what happened with the Dark Blood pirates.
I felt very comfortable with this, since when Crocodile enters Alabasta, he will somehow be compared to us, giving him a high bar to face.
As the journey progressed, something always happened every other day: pirate attacks, the islands filled with bandits, a huge storm, paying taxes, and many difficulties. The good thing is that Trini and Arthur gain experience with all this; I pay my subordinates with work experience.
But back to business, when the pelican appeared with the usual newspaper, it had a letter in its paw. The bird stood next to me and held the letter out for me to take.
I did exactly that: read the letter immediately and keep it short. Morgans agreed to my proposal and wanted me to give a place to meet, since I was on the move and it was difficult to track me at the moment.
In the end, I wrote the letter stating when and where to meet; this ship is heading to Offspring Island, which is five days away. I let him know we would be waiting there to make the deal.
Already, he put the letter in an envelope and tied it to the bird; after that, it flew off into the horizon and disappeared.
With all this ready, we can say that we are getting closer to being recognized as the best—I mean, as the best heroes that have ever existed in this world of pure sea and pirates.