Good morning, I'm here to tell you three things.
First, please update the information about the protagonist and the others in the character section. Second, I've already written the part I said I would, about the Holy Grail War; I didn't include much information, as it would lose the fun if you knew everything, even before the arc. And third, I'm taking all of Saturday off to work on my university research.
That's all; I hope you like the chapter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dante: "Well, we got scammed." I said, looking up at the empty sky, cloudless and empty, just the sun's rays covering everything, along with a breeze that hits your face.
Trini: "They think the guy's still there, so they can beat him up and give us our money back."
Sulli: "I don't think so. It's been four days, and the guy must have left."
Arthur: "Well, we'll have to hunt down another scammer again."
Isis: "At this rate, we'll never find the crazy old man."
We've been searching for clues and traces of Shiki for four months; most of it has been pure lies and false information.
This has been about six times they've sold us false information. We're already somewhat bored.
Something's not right; we're failing at something. I think they don't take us very seriously, since they keep giving us false information.
I need some advice, some guidance from someone who knows all this stuff, and I like where this is going. I don't really like owing that bird a favor, but if we keep going at this rate, maybe someone will find the One Piece before we find Shiki's meadow.
Dante: "Let's go back. The guy may have taken off, but he couldn't have gone that far."
...
Dante: "Hey, Garp, are you free?"
Garp: "Oh, Dante, it's been a while. What brings you here? Are you asking about Gil or Marie?"
Dante: "No, not this time. Remember when you made me find Shiki, the golden lion?"
Garp: "Yeah, what's up with that?"
Dante: "Well, we're hunting him right now."
Garp: "Oh, I can see if you have to..." "WAIT A MINUTE, THEY'RE HUNTING SHIKI."
Dante: "Well, yeah, it's so amazing."
Garp: "Honestly, yeah, a little. Do you know how elusive he is? There's no way they'll find him."
Dante: "Have you forgotten we have a flying ship and a super-sensor called Trini?"
Garp: "...sometimes I forget you guys are weird. Hang on a minute, Bogart, come on."
* 5 minutes later *
Cachan
The sound of the hanging den den mushi was heard.
Trini: "Did you get anything?" she said from beside me; I just looked at her, bored, knowing she heard everything.
Dante: "Nothing," I said, making a vein pop out on his head.
Isis: "Really?"
Both of us: "No," Trini and I said to Isis.
She just looked at us with a sniffle in her head. I just want to clarify that I'm fed up with being sent from one place to another without any results; I'm feeling quite frustrated.
Dante: "He said that in South Blue, about two months ago, some islands were reported missing, but."
Sulli: "We can't trust information from two months ago; from what I understand, Shiki, with his Devil Fruit, doesn't move around much."
Dante: "Information brokers are useless. We can't trust them. We only have other people to ask."
...
In the end, I had to ask Morgans, who told me we were giving them too little money to risk their lives to give them the information. Besides confirming what Garp told us through Bogart, he also told us that there's a guy who saw an island flying into the sky, all this in the South Blue, about six days ago. So, we're heading to the South Blue right now.
And after a week, we arrived at the place where the person saw the island flying. But when we met the person, all we saw was a collapsed, alcoholic guy.
???: "What do you want? He's coming to make fun of me too, like the other scumbags in this city? Get out of here, you scumbags!"
The six of us stared at him when we heard this.
Arthur: "Hey, what if we sacrifice him?"
Dante: "What's wrong with you? Why are you proposing something like that?"
Arthur: "Can't you see he's suffering? He's in total agony and despair. A quick death won't hurt anyone."
That will hurt this guy. I can see the frustration is already taking its toll on his mental health, and the others aren't really any better, including me.
Dante: "Look, we're not going to kill anyone, much less an innocent person."
Arthur: "Okay, if I've gone too far, how about we bring him more alcohol so he gets super drunk, chokes, and dies alone? That way we won't have killed anyone; he'll kill himself."
Trini: "That won't work. We'd be just as guilty. What we have to do is bring another drunk and have them have a knife fight."
I think my influence has hurt the four of them; Hun doesn't realize he has the mind of a 4- or 5-year-old.
Dante: "We're not going to do any of that. You heard me."
Trini: "You're a babe, Dante."
Dante: "I don't know if you should say that as a woman," I said to Trini as I moved past the man lying on the floor nursing a jug of wine. "If we came to make fun of you, it doesn't matter, since we'll pay you for what you know about the flying island."
???: "I'm not interested in money; if you want the information, you'll have to do something for me."
...
Up, down, up again, and then down again. I didn't know this could relieve the stress in my body.
Just then, Isis arrived with a glass of water and handed it to me.
Isis: "Here, Dante, for your effort."
Dante: "Thank you. I've never done this before, but I'm surprised at how far we've come. Maybe I'm not at Arthur's level, but I don't feel like I'm winning by much. At least I'm not lying on the floor breathing like there's no air, like Sulli."
At that moment, we turned to look at Sulli, who was shirtless, wearing a hood covering only his head, and lying on the ground.
Isis: "Well, he's a doctor, not a farmer; it's only reasonable that he can't handle all that much."
Dante: "Well, since you're doing your part, are you done?" I said, putting the hoe on my shoulder.
Trini: "No, it turns out we're short on lettuce and tomato seeds."
Dante: "Well, that section isn't left, and that would be enough for us. If we could help plant for a sol."
???: "No need. What you've done is enough for today," said the drunken, not-so-drunk man. "Once I finish preparing the remaining section, I'll give you all the information I know." And with that, he left.
Isis: "He came just to say that."
Dante: "I think so," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
It turned out that most of the man's land had dried up due to his lack of care, so he had no income and would most likely become poor; his entire investment would be ruined. And he did all this so that when his son and his wife came to live here, they would have something to live on.
He didn't care about the money we were going to give him, since, first, it wasn't much, and second, it was temporary. He didn't have the strength to fix everything on his own land; he was alone there; his wife had died a few years ago. That's why he drank as if he had nothing to live for, because that's what he really was.
Once we finished fixing the entire land, which took two days, we had to dig up the good soil, look for fertilizer, and figure out how to place everything. Finally, he told us everything he knew.
And the truth is, it wasn't much for all our efforts.
The man was walking along the beach, far away with wine, since something had happened on his land a few days ago, and as he was about to start drinking, he saw an island in the distance.
He tried to report it to the others, but since they saw him with the jugs of alcohol, they thought he was crazy.
Later, it was discovered that one of the deserted islands in the area had disappeared, and for a moment they were about to believe him, but that wasn't the case, since it was impossible for the island to disappear.
The good thing about all this was that we knew where the island was, and the direction indicated that it was deep in the South Blue.
So that's all over now; we went to follow the trail.
...
???: "If you help me fix my tractor, I'll tell you everything, so you don't come back until then," said the farmer as we looked at the machinery with a big bump on our foreheads, along with instructions on how it was made and how it worked.
Arthur: "Has anyone taken a mechanics course?"
Sulli: "I think it's better to find a mechanic on another island."
Trini: "That's not a bad idea."
...
A bunch of children were seen playing at a birthday party. It was a party themed after the book I wrote about Arthurian legends. The birthday boy was dressed as King Arthur, the male version.
Sulli was organizing the music, Trini was blowing up balloons, and Isis was hosting, while I was overseeing the food for the children and adults who were at the party.
Isis: "But knights, your crusade isn't over yet, for the dreaded Albion dragon is still stalking Camelot, and there's the dreaded Albion dragon about to invade us." She said, and at that same instant, Arthur emerged dressed as a rare version of a silver-white dragon.
Arthur: "Grrr, I'm going to destroy Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table."
Isis: "Oh no, he's about to attack. Stop him, brave knights."
The children screamed with fake swords, spears, and shields, and some not-so-fake ones.
I watched as Arthur pretended to fall to the ground only for the children to start kicking him in the face, some still bearing traces of poop from their games.
Dante: "How great ones fall."
...
The six of us were fishing in a large river with an old man. All four of us were bored, obviously, except for Grandpa and Trini, who were concentrating hard.
Dante: "How big is the fish?"
Sulli: "According to Grandpa, it's the size of a giant whale."
Dante: "I don't believe it."
While we were ranting about the old man's mental health, Trini suddenly stood up, eyes wide open, only to go to Grandpa and hold his hands as if she'd already caught something.
Arthur: "It's not fair. We said no one would use Haki to do this."
Trini: "Shut up and help me so Grandpa doesn't sink into the depths of the river, fish and all."
At that moment, the reel began to accelerate rapidly, causing the line that had been full to become empty in seconds.
I quickly realized the situation, so I stood behind Trini, supporting her. Only to feel an incredible force pulling me down.
The pressure I felt was incredible, and at that moment I thought we weren't hunting a fish but a king of the sea.
I imbued the rod with Haki to prevent it from breaking, but it was a mistake. Since the rod didn't break, the pressure continued to increase, and suddenly, the dock we were standing on collapsed, causing us all to fall into the water.
And the worst part was that Grandpa, knowing how weak he was, didn't let go of the rod, causing it to sink into the depths of the lake, along with his prey and, incidentally, Trini and me.
...
We were at a nobleman's house; he was having a gala party, which is what nobles do when they don't know how to spend their money. What was characteristic of all this was that the host was having a couples dance competition. The best dancer would win a prize, in this case a necklace.
It turns out the necklace is a family heirloom from a third-class family, obtained by the noble through less-than-noble means, and we had been asked to retrieve it in exchange for information about Shiki. Current information—that was very important.
This was a couples competition, male and female. And currently, there were only two of us out of six, or five if we consider that Hun is a little bird and couldn't participate in this.
I looked at Arthur, who was my partner for this, since the two of us had better motor skills for dancing and a chance at winning the necklace. He had polished shoes, ironed black pants, a white shirt, a red tie, and a red coat, and his hair was neatly combed.
He looked at me with a brain-dead expression, since, as announced, it was time to dance.
Dante: "We'll take this to our graves."
Arthur: "I agree," he said, extending his hand, which I answered.
I walked with him to the dance stage; I hope this ends soon. I hate walking in heels, and the dress makes my balls cold.
...
Dante: "She went out to the club to dance, a virtual diva. Uh! Check out her moves. Uhh."
Arthur: "How long until we get there?"
Trini: "Not much." And that ended the conversation.
Arthur: "What's wrong with her?" I wondered.
Dante: "I have no idea; she's on her last days." I said, only for her to turn around and glare at us.
Arthur: "That's scary."
Sulli: "Hey, Dante, I have a question."
Dante: "What's up?"
Sulli: "How did you get Morgans to tell you the information about Shiki?" "He hadn't done that before."
Dante: "I let him write my bibliography."
Isis: "And that's a good idea?"
Dante: "No, but it was the best thing to do to get her to spill the beans."
Trini: "We're almost at the island, and I don't like what I see."
Isis: "What's going on?"
Trini: "The island city is completely destroyed," she said, a little frustrated.
Dante: "Then let's hurry."
Once we arrived at the island, we saw how the entire place was destroyed, as if pieces of earth had fallen on it. It smelled like Shiki everywhere.
When we arrived, people were scared, thinking we were pirates, but when they realized we weren't, they were happy and asked us for help.
They asked us to rescue people who were still buried in their houses with the pieces of earth.
While we were doing that, a man with a mustache and a shabby look approached me.
???: "Nice to meet you, Mr. Hero. I'm the mayor of this city. I'd like you to help us see the people here."
I was surprised that he realized who I was, since some places we went didn't, even though I haven't published books or been in the newspaper for a while.
I'd like to say that few people recognize me as both a hero and a writer; it's almost always one or the other.
Dante: "No problem, but first let's rescue the people who are still alive. But how come they're still alive?"
Mayor: "This didn't happen that long ago, more than four hours later."
Okay, that means that guy is close.
Dante: "Explain more to me later; we have to do this first."
And when we went to the house, a piece of earth fell through the air.
After finding everyone who was still alive, we went to the rest, searching for the bodies for their families.
In the end, everyone gathered so Sulli could examine their wounds and bandage them properly, since the island doctor was one of those who drowned on land.
I decided to set up a communal table, preparing communal meals, especially for the children. While I was doing so, the mayor of the city approached me.
Mayor: "Thank you very much for everything, Mr. Hero."
Dante: "Call me Dante. Mr. Hero sounds strange." "Now, tell me what happened here."
Mayor: "I understand, as I told you, this happened almost at the end of the night; this place was surrounded by islands, three of which were inhabited, but suddenly, these islands began to levitate. Ironically, this island is also being lifted, but the island above us was destroyed, and most of the land fell onto ours, causing the island to stop floating and fall back into the water."
Shiki must have seen the island was being destroyed, so he abandoned it because it was in such miserable condition.
Dante: "Did you see any people floating through the skies?"
Mayor: "I didn't see anyone, but some people claim there was a guy with long hair dressed in yellow floating in the middle of the islands; this was seen through binoculars."
Dante: "Do you know where the islands went?"
Mayor: "Everything was moving southwest."
Dante: "Understood, thanks for your warning."
And with that, the mayor left. I continued making a decent meal for the homeless, since most, if not all, had lost their homes.
Once finished, I contacted the nearest marine barracks I could to report this and then left with my companions.
Dante: "Well, anything to comment on?"
Isis: "I didn't understand why this pirate was doing this."
Arthur: "Do what?"
Isis: "Hijacking islands has been rampant for over five years, and he's still hijacking islands like fish and bread."
Trini: "Maybe he's just looking for the natural resources on these islands; then he throws them back into the sea. Islands that should be in one specific place have been reported to appear in other places, but in different conditions."
Sulli: "Maybe he's looking for a specific island with special characteristics."
Dante: "Maybe he's creating his own kingdom, something like Hachinosu." "But it doesn't matter; when we see him, we'll know his true intentions."
Arthur: "So, shall we leave now?"
Dante: "No, this guy is built for chasing and escaping, so we have to infiltrate his base without him knowing. So if we go to where he is, it has to be at night."
Trini: "From what I understand, he was part of the Pirates Rocks and fought with the Pirate King, so he must have some skill with Haki."
Dante: "We also have no idea how strong his members are, so we have to be cautious, and if possible, drive a stake through his heart while he's sleeping."
Sulli: "But the mayor said he did all this almost at the end of the night; maybe he sleeps during the day and does things at night." I just shrugged as if I had no idea. "So they're presenting a plan that has a high probability of failing." I just gestured back.
Dante: "I don't care if he sleeps at night or during the day, or at noon or midnight. I say we infiltrate at night, since they won't see us, neither his men nor Shiki himself, since I'd be disappointed if we fought him."
Trini: "Maybe getting a little information about what he's doing wouldn't be bad."
Dante: "Well, let's wait until nightfall to go to where he should be; in the meantime, let's help the people of this city as much as we can."
And with that, we stood up and went to check on the people.
*Elsewhere*
Third-person POV
A laboratory could be seen where a guy with a clown-like face was holding a notebook, taking notes on a monitor. Next to him was a cabinet filled with water and a large glass pane. Inside was a mutant creature with many animal parts.
At that moment, a bald, blond guy with a rudder embedded in his head approached.
???: "How's the experiment going, Indigo?"
He responded with gestures and mimes, then handed him the notebook with his notes.
???: "I see. In a few hours, it should be stable and ready for field testing. Good work."
The mime responded with a smile and gestures.
???: "I'm going to rest a bit. Then I'll ask Scarlet to give you the information about the new islands we got." And with that, he left the mime alone.